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THOMAS ANDERSON, M_D., F.B.S.E., Sm WILLIAM JARDINE, Barr, F.RSE.: JOHN HUTTON BALFOUR, A.M., M.D. F.R.SS.L. & E., F.L.S., REGIUS KEEPER OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, AND PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE AND BOTANY, UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH. FOR AMERICA, HENRY D. ROGERS, LLD., Hon. F.RSE, F.GS, STATE GEOLOGIST, PENNSYLVANIA; PROFESSOR OF NATURAL HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW. DUUNEEA EY. «0 25's APRIL 1858. VOL. VII. NEW SERIES. EDINBURGH : ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK. LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS, LONDON. MDCCCLVIII. 6? ‘BUIMINTY PUB UOIT JO opixo1ag “. 99-48 = 99-26 za [6.96 “et 66-96 * i i ‘i : Z “eomg “AUOIg Pout ‘auoyg ofUUTE “YOOY WOMMOD YROTIwIQ =" JOOY OAT ypopFre1p “SLUVd OOT NI NOILISOCNOO ‘epog pus ‘vIsouseyg “ure18 @ JO TTI. ‘auury ‘Woiy Jo PAALOSSIP ‘SUID OOP “qooy o1qnd 10d “Joos O1qnod 10d *qooy o1qno 10d *yooy o1qnd x8d “ALIEN? 91 The Rotatory Theories of Storms. By R. RussEtt, Kilwhiss, Fife. “* Making certain authors dictators instead of consuls, is the principal cause that the sciences are no farther advanced. Learners owe to their masters only a temporary belief, and a suspension of their own judgment till they are fully instructed, and not an absolute resignation and perpetual captivity. Let great authors therefore have their due, but not so as to defraud time, which is the author of authors, and the parent of truth.’""—Zord Bacon, The object of this paper is to draw the attention of the readers of this Journal to the anomalous condition of that branch of meteorological science which relates to the action of winds during storms. On this question meteorologists are chiefly divided into two classes—one holding that storms are usually vast portions of the atmosphere in a state of rotation— the other that there is no evidence of rotation. It is not a little singular that opinions of so opposite a nature should exist upon a subject which can be so readily tested by observation. If there be no rotation of winds during storms, it must one day be a matter of historical interest to look back upon the nature of the evidence which has been adduced in support of the rotatory theory, and which has led so many to adopt it. We may premise, however, that the general term rotatory theory is so far a misnomer; for there are several rotatory theories—five at least—all differing very widely from each other. That so many different theories have been put forth by thinking men in their endeavours to explain the phenomena of storms on the principle of rotation, indicates the difficulties of the subject. It is likely that those who have not examined the question carefully will be somewhat surprised and amused at the curious variety of opinions comprehended under the title of the Rotatory Theory. Impressed with the conviction that the phenomena of winds and storms cannot be accounted for by any of the rotatory theories which have been put forth, we shall proceed to state the physical objections to the rotatory theories of Reid, Red- field, Dove, Thom, and Herschel. Then we shall point out the erroneous method of observation which has led to the supposi- tion that the wind in storms moves in circles. In another paper we shall explain the difference in our mode of accounting for the action of winds from that of Professor Espy. 92 R. Russell on the Of all the theories which have been proposed to explain the phenomena observed during storms, or even during our ordinary weather, no one at first sight appears more simple than that which has been advocated by Sir William Reid. According to this authority, the veerings of the wind, the changes of tem- perature, the precipitation of moisture, the fall and rise of the barometer, can be readily explained on the supposition that storms are vast bodies of air in a state of rotation and transla- tion; in short, vast whirlwinds moving over portions of the surface of the globe. The following extract gives a very lucid exposition of Sir William Reid’s rotatory theory :— “The discovery that great storms are progressive whirlwinds, led Mr Redfield to the explanation of what I believe to be the true cause of the fall andrise of the barometer in gales of wind. His explanation is, that a whirlwind which sets an extended portion of the atmosphere into a state of rapid revolution, diminishes the pressure of the atmosphere over that portion of the earth’s surface, and most of all at the centre of the whirl. “This idea may be exemplified by taking a tumbler half full of water, and after putting the water in rapid revolution, hold- ing it up against a strong light, the surface of the water will be depressed in the centre of the whirl. The liquid will serve to represent the atmosphere ; and if the tumbler be moved over a fixed point in the manner in which a progressive whirlwind gale would move over it, it will show how the barometer begins to fall as the storm sets in, how it continues to fall until the centre has passed, and afterwards rises and resumes its former level.” With Sir William Reid all other rotatory theorists have been led to the conclusion that these so-called vast whirl- winds gyrate in the Northern Hemisphere from right to left, or in a direction contrary to the movement of the hands of a watch, while in the Southern Hemisphere may move from left to right. In the meantime we may here point out the difference betwixt the rotatory theory of Sir William Reid and the rota- tory theory of Mr Redfield. The former, in his endeavours to account for all the phenomena, supposes that the air in the centre of a revolving storm, like the water whirling in a tumbler, descends ; the latter, that the air in storms moves = ‘ ? Rotatory Theories of Storms. 93 spirally inwards, and ascends in the centre. Thus, upon this point, these two authorities hold quite opposite opinions. “ Great whirlwinds, by lowering the upper atmosphere, bring down portions of the colder regions of the air, and these, mingling with the warmer and moister air at the sur- face of the sea, form very dense clouds.” —Reid. “ We may expect to find, in the path of the whirlwind, strong evi- dence of the inward or vorticular course of the wind at the earth’s surface ; the violence of which in- ward motion is clearly indicated by the force with which various objects, often of much weight, are carried spirally upward from the axis of the revolving body.”—Redjield on the New Brunswick Tornado. Not only does Mr Redfield consider that the winds in the famous New Brunswick tornado blow spirally inwards and upwards, but he applies the same principle to more extended storms, such as in the case of the Cuba hurricane, when he writes—“The involution seems to afford a measure of the air and vapour which finds its way to a higher elevation by means _ of the vortical movement in the body of the storm.” Mr Redfield, it would appear, is now quite aware that Sir William Reid’s theory of the rain being produced by a descent of air in the centre of storms is altogether untenable, seeing it is the ascent of air saturated with the vapour of water to a higher elevation, which is one of the chief causes of precipita- tion. To escape from a number of phenomena which indi- cate an inblowing of the winds during storms, Mr Redfield now maintains that the motion is spiral instead of direct, as is advocated by Professor Espy. Both Mr Thom and Professor Taylor advocate a rotatory theory, wherein the winds gyrate, and at the same time move spirally inwards. In the last edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, Sir John Herschel, in the article Meteorology, (73), gives his assent to the views of Professor Taylor, by which the veerings of wind are explained on the supposition that the air must flow spirally towards a centre and ascend. ‘These views of Taylor were laid before the British Associa- tion at Glasgow, in 1855, when their author explained that he considered Espy’s views were untenable, inasmuch as alow barometer could not be maintained in the centre of storms, whilst the winds continued to blow towards the area of mini- 94 R. Russell on the mum pressure. But we submit that both Professor Taylor and Sir John Herschel must fall back upon Espy’s mode of explana- tion; for, by their own reasoning, the winds would blow di- rectly toacentral space, if the earth had not moved on its axis. To show the dilemma in which the advocates of the rotatory theories are placed, when endeavouring to explain the observed phenomena of storms, let us first have clear ideas of the points on which Reid and Redfield agree. Rotatory storms are supposed to be generally of great extent in extra-tropical latitudes, according to Mr Redfield, sometimes 2000 miles in diameter. Now, it is evident, that whether a rotat- ing and progressive storm have a diameter of one mile or two thousand miles, there must be a stream or current of air of as great breadth as the diameter of the whirlwind storm, to bear it along and to regulate its rate of progression. It is not possible that rotation and translation can take place in any other circumstances. A large body of air in a state of rotation and translation must be borne on in the general current in the same way as a balloon is in the stream of air in which it floats. Revolving gales of wind in a state of translation could only exist with such a broad stream of air acting as its precursor and vehicle. ———————— a5) ~ 0 $e See SS Thus, if a storm AB, having a diameter of 500 miles, is progres- sing at the rate of 25 miles an hour, then there must also be a current CD, having a breadth of 500 miles at least, and blowing at the rate of 25 miles an hour. In regard to this point, Mr Redfield says, with truth, “ That the progression of rotatory storms is caused by the predominant current in which they are imbedded, appears nearly a self-evident pro- position,” simply because such a mass of air could not force Rotatory Theories of Storms. 95 its way through, or displace the air in front of it. We could as soon suppose that a storm in a state of rotation and trans- lation might proceed against a current of wind moving at the rate of 10 miles, as that it could make its way through air in a state of rest at the rate of 20 miles an hour. But it is a characteristic of storms in the tropics, and it is usually a characteristic of storms in the temperate latitudes, that acalm precedes them. The air in front of what have been supposed to be rotatory gales is commonly in a state of rest. The greatest of all observers says— “ We often see, against some storm, A silence in the heavens, the rack stand still, The bold winds speechless, and the orb below, As hush as death.”—HAMLET. Instead of a current of wind preceding the storms that are supposed to be vast whirlwinds, there is a mass of air to remove. What, we would ask the advocates of Reid or Redfield’s rotatory theory, becomes of the air at rest in front of their revolving storms ? So much, apparently, did the difficulty of giving an expla- nation of the manner in which the air in front of rotatory gales is disposed of present itself to Sir John Herschel, that he at one time proposed another theory, which differs entirely from the rotation-and-translation one of Reid and Redfield. He considers that, although the air of storms revolves round a cen- tre, and by its centrifugal force causes the fall of the barometer, the revolving mass is not translated from one place to another. Writing of tropical hurricanes, he says,—‘‘ They consist of a re- volving movement, propagated from place to place, not by bodily transfer of the whole mass of air, which at any moment constitutes the hurricane, from one geographical point to ano- ther, but by every part of atmosphere in its track receiving from that before it, and transmitting to that after it, this re- volving movement.” Itis somewhat difficult to conceive how such a congeries of independent circles of air could be main- tained, and, if we mistake not, Sir John Herschel has already abandoned this hypothesis. Far less, however, can we give our assent to the supposition that two rotation-and-translation storms could come in contact 96 R. Russell on the by the one overtaking the other. Physical objections of the same nature as we have already stated in regard to these par- ticular storms moving onwards and revolving through a mass of air at rest, apply still more strongly to the proposition as stated and illustrated by Sir William Reid. It would scarcely be possible to adduce stronger arguments against the rotatory theory, and its utter inadequacy to cope with the explanation of phenomena, than his statement, that “ gales succeed each other so fast, when passing over the British Islands in the winter season, that it is not easy to identify any particular gale which it may be desirable te study. As storms proceed northward, even if they do not increase in diameter, they may be expected to meet, owing to the contraction of the meridians, and to neutralize each other on the sides in contact, as represented in this figure.” “From the same cause, gales may subdue each other, and sub- side. If we conceive two gales of great extent to co-exist on the same latitude, one of them on the meridian of Greenwich, and the other on the thirtieth degree of west longitude, which is the middle of the Atlantic, and conceive both to be moving north at the same rate of progression, they would meet ; when gales follow in close succession, overtaking each other, the one may have the effect of neutralizing the other as in the figure.” There is another objection to the rotation-and-translation ro- iat ae Rotatory Theories of Storms. 97 tatory theory, which applies with great force. more especially to extra-tropical storms. Why do there exist so great differ- ences in the temperature of the air supposed to be in a state of rotation and translation ? S Let ABCD be a rotation-and-translation storm, imbedded in a current flowing from S.W. to N.E., it must appear very curious why the front part CD is often wet, warm, and cloudy, while the rear AB is dry, clear, and cold. The most northerly part of the supposed whirlwind is not the coldest; itisthe south- westerly. These differences in the temperature of the south- erly and westerly winds are often great in Britain, but not nearly so great as in North America, where it is not uncommon for the thermometer to sink 60 degrees of temperature in the course of 24 hours, on the changing of the wind in winter. The rotatory theory of Professor Dove now requires to be noticed, as it is quite peculiar. The centripetal theory of Espy agrees much more closely with the rotatory theory of NEW SERIES.—VOL. VII. NO. I1.— January 1888. G 98 R. Russell on the Taylor, than the rotatory theory of nse does with the ro- tatory theory of Dove. It is thus seen that the rotatory theories of Reid, Redfield, and Herschel, are totally distinct from each other; and to each grave objections can be urged, when it is attempted to deal with the actual phenomena of storms. In a previous number of this Journal (October 1856), we showed that the remarkable storm of 6th and 7th February 1856 was altogether inconsistent with the idea of rotation, for, instead of the wind blowing at right angles to the area of minimum pressure (as would have been the case had it been revolving round a cen- tre of minimum pressure), it blew towards the area of minimum pressure. As an instance of the obstruction that arises to the cause of science from the prevalent practice of referring back to authority, we give the remarks of a critic in the Scots- man, in noticing our paper on this storm. ; “The author asserts that the storm on this occasion had not a rotatory character; and some of the facts mentioned go far to prove that, taken in this peculiar form, the theory will not apply. When, however, we take the more philosophic views of Dove of Berlin, that the winds in the temperate zone are the contests of the opposing north and south currents in the atmosphere, and that the rotation is merely one of the results of this contest, the facts mentioned by Mr Russell seem by no means difficult of explanation.” We only wish that our critic had made the attempt to ex- plain the phenomena by Dove’s theory, which we will shortly show is as inconsistent with facts as any other of the rotatory theories that have been proposed. We would remark, that it is altogether “ unphilosophical” to talk about “ opposing winds,” simply because there is no such thing as one wind opposing another. But in the very next sentence, our critic almost con- fesses that he has great doubts ifDove’s theory will do; for he is yet in search of “the law” of storms. “ One of the important results that we may expect from the Meteorological Association for Scotland will be fuller means of verifying these and other theories of winds, which, however, we may here remark, will require to be tested, not by storms, but by the more ordinary changes of the atmosphere. Here, as * - Rotatory Theories of Storms. 99 elsewhere, we believe that the Jaw will befoundin ordinary every- day events sooner than in the extraordinary and anomalous.” But storms do afford a much better means of testing or verifying the true “law,” simply because, when the distur- bances are greatest, they are susceptible of being more readily measured by our instruments. The imperfections of our instruments, indeed, do not enable us to trace the principles upon which the more ordinary motions of the air depend. Even in the case of the land and sea breeze, our barometers are not delicate enough to indicate the differences of the pres- sure over the land and over the sea to which the breeze owes its force. It is universally admitted, however, that the law, in the case of the sea-breeze, is, that the air is propelled from a higher towards a lower barometric pressure. Surely there is nothing “ unphilosophical” in the assertion that the same law may hold good in the case of storms ; in fact, “in the extraor- dinary and anomalous,” as well as “in ordinary every-day events.” The rotatory theory of Dove may be called the parallel-cur- rent theory. Instead of the whirlwind storm being imbedded in a broad aerial current, as Reid and Redfield maintain, Dove alleges that the whirlwind is produced by two currents, which are supposed to flow side by side. He has been led to believe that there are only two atmo- spheric currents in all latitudes—the one polar, the other equa- torial. In the tropics the one stratifies over the other ; in the temperate latitudes they flow side by side. By this view the trade-wind of the northern tropic is overlaid by a south-west current. On the other hand, a south-west wind in our latitude should indicate that a north-east wind should be blowing in another longitude, to restore the balance of air flowing from the southern quarter. He supposes that rotatory storms are in- duced by the contact of two currents flowing side by side. Thus, if we suppose a 6 is the north-east or polar current, and ¢ d the south-west or equatorial current, flowing side by side at x y, a whirlwind storm revolving from right to left will be the result of these parallel currents moving in opposite directions. One might endeavour to explain the extraordinary differences in the temperature of the differeut winds in storms e 2 100 R. Russell on the on Dove’s hypothesis, did there not exist great objections to the idea that storms originate from parallel currents. The well-known fact that our winter gales are usually preceded by a calm, completely disproves the existence of such currents, which, we are glad to say, are not recognized by Reid and Redfield. 5G ASW It is very-common to cite collectively the authority of Reid, Redfield, Dove, Thom, Herschel, and others, in support of the ro- tatory theory; but how many antagonistic views do we find em- braced by the term! Our readers, we hope, will now have some curiosity to learn the grounds for this theory having been ac- cepted by so many observers and generalizers. The error of observation which has been committed will one day be looked back upon as one of the curiosities in the history of meteorology. It is admitted by all parties, that in this latitude the wind, during storms, often veers from south-east to north-west. All the advocates of the rotatory theories assert that this can only be accounted for on the supposition that a revolving storm, having a progression from south-west to north-east, has passed Rotatory Theories of Storms. 101 over the spot where the wind has veered from south-east to north-west. Thus, if a whirlwind passed over a spot at A, N NE SW, s from south-west to north-east, the wind would set in from the south-east, and suddenly change to the north-west, when the centre passed over A. ‘This appears so simple an explana- tion of a common phenomenon, that the rotatory theory has been founded upon it. To explain such a veering in the wind, it is necessary to assume that the storm has a progression from south-west to north-east. For example, if a whirlwind storm had a progression from west to east, and if the wind set in at south-east, it would veer to north-east as the storm passed over any spot, and also from due south to due north. Such veer- ings rarely happen, however, and hence rotatory theorists have assumed that all storms must have a progression from south- west to north-east. The theory is grounded on this supposi- tion, which is altogether a fallacy; inasmuch as it is now in- contestably proved that the winter storms of North America and Europe have a progression from a point a little to the north of west to the south of east. This discovery entirely sweeps away the premises upon which the different varieties of the rotatory theory are founded. Sir J. Herschel informs us, in his article in the Encyclo- pedia Britannica, that, ‘‘ In the West Indies, they [rotatory storms| are confined to a pretty definite area; their usual course being in a parabolic curve, having some point near Ber- . 102 R. Russell on the muda for its focus—originating in the Gulf of Florida—and running along the coasts of the United States, following gene- rally the course of the Gulf Stream.” In order to promote the advance of meteorology, we would anxiously ask this emi- nent man of science to re-examine this question ; for there is an overwhelming mass of evidence to show that storms do not generally follow the course of the Gulf Stream. Elsewhere we have already pointed out the errors in the mode of observa- tion which have led Redfield and others to the conclusion that storms have such a course.* All the American storms have an apparent progression from south-west to north-east, that is, along the course of the Gulf Stream or the coast, if obser- vations are merely confined to either. This circumstance is readily explained by the fact, that the area of disturbance and low pressure of the barometer extends from north to south— being often about 600 miles in breadth, and upwards of 2000 miles in length. These elongated areas of atmospheric dis- turbances travel, or rather, according to our mode of explain- ing the whole phenomena, are propagated from west to east simultaneously across the eastern portion of the North Ameri- can continent. For this reason the disturbances reach the Atlantic coast sooner in Florida than in Maine, because the former State is farther west than the latter, and not because it 1s farther south. All the atmospheric disturbances have thus an apparent progression from south-west to north-east, if observations are only taken at stations along the coast ; but it is now well ascertained, in the case of the winter storms at least, that the true direction is from a point to the north of west to one south of east. Even Lieut. Maury admiits,t and so agrees with Espy, Loomis, Hare, and others, that the winter storms of America travel in this direction. This admission, however, is fatal to the supposition that the winter storms are rotatory in their character, seeing that they usually begin as north-east winds in the north-eastern States; and it must be admitted to be physically impossible that a rotatory storm can com- mence with a north-east wind when its course of progression is from the north of west to the south of east. * North America: its Agriculture and Climate. t Physical Geography of the Sea. Rotatory Theories of Storms. 103 Among numerous instances that could be adduced of the extraordinary mode in which difficulties are explained when they stand in the way of the rotatory theory or theories, is the supposed great dilatation of the West India storms, when they reach the Atlantic coast of the United Siates. The area of disturbance, which is asserted to be some- times 150 miles in the Gulf of Mexico, suddenly expands to a storm upwards of 1000 miles in diameter in the Atlantic. This phenomenon is easily accounted for when we remember that the atmospheric disturbances are apparently rapidly pro- pagated along the United States as the wide elongated area of diminished pressure travels from west toeast. Had the North American coast run due north and south, the atmospheric dis- turbances would have been found to occur simultaneously along the coast, and the rotatory theory would never have been applied to the storms of these regions. The error of applying the rotatory theory to the winter storms of Europe which begin in many parts as north-east winds, is proved by the fact that they have a progression from the north of west to the south of east. It must be remem- bered that no rotatory storm can begin to blow from the north- east, and at the same time have a progression from west to east. What Sir J. Herschel and Mr Birt term “ Atmosphe- ric waves,” whose crests they admit extend from N.N.E. to S.S.W., and having the direction of their progress from W.N.W. to E.S.E., prove that the winter storms of Europe have a course nearly at right angles to that which Dove and other rotatory theorists have inferred, from their having ex- amined merely the changes at stations situated along a line running from S.W. to N.E., in which case the progression is only apparent from that quarter. If meteorologists would lay aside the rotatory theory and discuss the phenomena of what are termed “atmospheric waves,” we should entertain some hopes of the advancement of the science. ‘“ The atmospheric waves,’ says Sir J. Herschel, “were considered as those which originate, not from the gene- ral movement of the whole body of the atmosphere, but from internal displacements; the result of winds diverted from their course, or of great local disturbances of temperature, due 104 R. Russell on the to a concurrence of circumstances which may be termed casual, forasmuch as we cannot trace their laws.”* This, at least, is an admission that the centrifugal motion of the air cannot account for these barometric depressions. And how can this be assigned as a cause, sceing the area of low barometer, instead of being circular, is often from three to four times of greater length than breadth !! While Reid, Redfield, and many others, contend for the universality of rotatory storms as a means of accounting for the fall of the barometer and the veering of the wind, some consi- der that there are two kinds of storms. We have always held, however, that if you apply the rotatory theory to one storm, you must apply it to every breeze that blows. A letter from the President and Council of the Royal Society, to the Board of Trade, dated 22d February 1855, contains the following sug- gestion :|— ‘Tt is much to be desired, both for the purposes of naviga- tion and for those of general science, that the captains of Her Majesty’s ships and masters of merchant vessels should be correctly and thoroughly instructed in the methods of distin- guishing in all cases between the rotatory storms or gales, which are properly called cyclones, and gales of a more ordi- nary character, but which are frequently accompanied by a veering of the wind, which, under certain circumstances, might easily be confounded with the phenomena of cyclones, though due to a very different cause.” None ought to have been more fit to have given instruction as to the manner in which one kind of storm could be distin- guished from another than the Council of the Royal Society ; but they leave the subject as they found it, or rather make mat- ters worse, by subscribing to the doctrine of Cyclones, and atthe same time cautioning seamen against confounding them with other veering gales, without giving the slightest hint how such a thingis tobe done. Have the Council of the Royal Society made up their minds whether their theory of Cyclones is con- sistent with the views of Reid, of Redfield, of Dove, of Thom, or of Herschel ? * Encyclopedia Britannica, article Meteorology, page 651. + Report of the Meteorological Department of the Board of Trade. Rotatory Theories of Storms. 105 At the request of Professor Espy, Washington, I made an effort, along with Sir David Brewster, to obtain a committee of the British Association to inquire into the theory of storms, but did not sueceed. The very contradictory opinions which are entertained in regard to the nature of the so-called rota- tory storms, is surely sufficient to show the necessity of re- examining this question. I cannot conclude this paper, with- out giving a short extract from a letter received from Pro- fessor Espy, on learning that the British Association declined to entertain his proposal :— “Tam disappointed and grieved that the British Associa- tion did not appoint a committee to examine this subject. I wish you would prevail on Sir John Herschel to examine the decision which he made against my theory some seventeen or eighteen years ago, on the ground that the barometer did not rise in the centre of storms, as he thought it ought to do, if the wind blew inwards towards the centre, as my theory indicated. I know the result of such an examination; for he will imme- diately see that my theory explains, not only why the baro- meter is low in the middle of a storm, but why it continues to stand low, notwithstanding the wind blows inwards towards the centre. Sir John Herschel has sufficient reputation in various departments of science to enable him, without fear of injury to his high standing, to retract what he said on this subject many years ago, when the Association met at Cam- bridge. After examining the subject for himself, he might then think it an act of justice to use his influence to induce somebody of authority (the Board of Admiralty for example) to appoint a committee to examine the subject thoroughly, with the works of Redfield, Reid, Espy, and Piddington, before them ; and determine, for the good of science and the safety of the mariner, what the facts in this case really are.” But as already stated, while Sir John Herschel and Pro- fessor Taylor, Glasgow, object to the principle of Espy’s theory of storms, they have to fall back upon it if they attempt to explain why the barometer remains low in the centre to which the winds are blowing spirally. Yet al- though the belief in the rotatory theory has become pre- valent in this country, through a great array of contradic- 106 ~——-R. Russell on the Rotatory Theories of Storms. tory authorities, the truth is beginning to ooze out. Some years ago Mr Thomas Hopkins was a great opponent of Espy’s views, and delivered a lecture to show their inapplica- bility to the storm of January 1839. This gentleman then hinted* that the phenomena might be explained by supposing that that violent gale was a descent of air from the higher strata of the atmosphere; now, however, in a paper which he read before the Royal Society on 19th March 1857, we find him an out-and-out supporter of Espy’s theory, without any acknowledgment. “In this paper it was maintained that the great disturber of the equilibrium of atmospheric pressure is the aqueous vapour which is diffused through the gases. The gases, when ascending, cool (say 5° through expansion, by diminution of incumbent pressure, whilst the vapour that is within them cools only 1°), and a consequence is, that when a mixed mass ascends, the vapour is condensed by the cold of the gases. It is well known that condensation of vapour gives out heat, and this heat warms and expands the gases, when they are forced to ascend, taking vapour with them; and the process being repeated and continued, an ascending current is produced in the atmosphere, cloud is formed, the barometer sinks, rain falls, and wind blows towards the part.’”’+ The advocacy of Espy’s theory of storms by an old opponent is certainly very encouraging. The principle, as stated by Hopkins, is theoretically impregnable. We have no doubt that it is the mode in which the violent winds of the tropical seas are produced, for a careful examination of observations shows that the winds are in-blowing, In regard to the winds of extra-tropical latitudes, we maintain that a modification of Espy’s theory best accords with all the phenomena. In an- other paper we shall explain upon what points we agree with Espy, and upon what we differ. * Espy’s Philosophy of Storms, page 485. } Edinburgh and London Philosophical Magazine, for October 1857. 107 Relative Path of the Components of 61 Cygni. By Captain W. S. Jacos, H.E 1.C., Astronomer. yf Scale, 4” to one inch. 1 Bradley, . = - - 1753.) 6. Smyth, . : - . . 3837. 2. W. Herschel, . : : - 1780.) 7. Jacob, . : s ; . 1847. 3. Struve, H. & S., : : - 1821.) 8. Do. : - : - . 1851. 4. Dawes, . - - é - 1830:| 9: Do: . = P - = - 1856. 5. Do. z s : : . 1834.10. Do. a 3 p . . 1857. The above diagram represents the relative motion, for a period of 104 years, of the two stars composing the pair called 61 Cygni. This pair is remarkable for its very large proper motion, exceeding 5” per annum, and has also been long con- sidered as one of the binary systems, the periodic time being supposed to exceed 500 years. An inspection of the diagram will show that this view must be erroneous, since the relative path of the two stars is a straight line. (Ais the pine of the principal star considered as a centre, and DO &e., the successive places of the other star). The mutual action of the two stars is therefore insensible, and they will continue to recede from each other for an indefinite period. The mean annual parallax of the pair was determined by Bessel to be 0-31, but as it would appear that the two stars are noé very nearly at the same distance from us, it would be worth the while of any astronomer, having the means, to measure the parallax of each star independently, when the difference might perhaps be found a sensible quantity. W.S. J. MADRAS OBSERVATORY, October 12, 1857. 108 Observations on British Zoophytes. By THOMAS STRETHILL Wricut, M.D., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh.* DESCRIPTION OF PLATES. Pilate I. Fig. 1. Laomedea acuminata, highly magnified—a polyp with tentacles expand- ed—» bud with growing polyp—c empty cell—d polyp disturbed— e capsule containing medusoid. ; 2. L. acuminata, magnified two diameters, to show the branched and un- branched states of the polypary. Plate 11.—Laomedea acuminata. Fig. 1. a bases of three tentacles of polyp united by their connecting mem- brane, and studded with large thread-cells and masses of granules— b unconnected portion of tentacles, furnished with small thread- cells. . Ideal section of capsule containing medusoid taken at an early stage— *corallum, tectoderm, tendoderm—a reproductive polyp—b me- dusoid inclosed within c, asac formed by alayer of ectoderm. Cir- culation indicated by arrows. 8 and 4. Medusoid of ZL. acuminata, compared with fig. 5, medusoid of Campanularia Johnsioni—a tentacles—b rudimentary tentacles— to ¢ auditory capsules. Pilate Il. Trichydra pudica. Fig. 1. Polyps—g e ¢ in various stages of contraction—f with buccal cavity everted—d b extended—a young polyp. Tubularia indivisa. 2. Transverse section of polypary near the summit—a corallum—b ecto- derm—c endoderm pierced by e longitudinal canals. 8. Summit of polypary from which the polyp has recently fallen—a lon- gitudinal spiral canals—d irregular transverse striz, indicating the fall of successive polyps. Course of circulation marked by arrows. Laomedea acuminata. A beautiful zoophyte was discovered by Mr Alder, and de- scribed by him in the last December number of the “ Annals of Nat. Hist.,” under the title of Laomedea acuminata, which I am disposed to consider identical with the subject of this notice. It has been familiar to me since March last, when I found an old pecten shell in one of the tanks of my friend Dr Paterson * Communicated to the Royal Physical Society, on the 25th March 1857. Observations on British Zoophytes. 109 of Leith, covered with its flower-like polyps. In May it was dredged up on an old oyster shell from the Frith of Forth, and sketched by myself and Dr Mackay; and in August, a fine specimen occurred on a living oyster in the vivarium of the Edinburgh Zoological Gardens, which has been domesticated with me ever since, and which I place on the table to-night. Mr Alder describes it thus: ‘* Laomedea acuminata—Poly- pary minute, scarcely branched, with a slender annulated stem ; cells thin, membranous, finely striated longitudinally, elongo-ovate or pod-shaped, squared below and tapering to a fine point above; margin slightly crenulated; polyp reaching, when extended, to two or three times the length of the cell, with about twenty muricated tentacles.” He remarked, also, that the tentacles were united by a web for about one-sixth _ of their length, which he has well shown in his figure of the polyp. In all the specimens in my possession the tentacles, in- stead of being erected asin Mr Alder’s figure, were alternately erected and depressed (fig. 1, a), as they reached the top of the membranous funnel which united their bases together. The distinguished discoverer of this Zoophyte found much difficulty in ascertaining the true shape of the margin of the cell, on account of its exceedingly thin and membranous tex- ture. This membrane, however, appears to me to be an addi- tional softer structure, which incloses the cell proper, and, projecting beyond the mouth, falls twisting together when the polyp retires within its cell. Old cells, accordingly, which have long lost their tenants, are destitute of this membrane, and present an even rim like old cells of Campanularia syringa. In my specimens, moreover, the cells were inclined to their annulated stems. The long lax tentacles were muricated with small thread-cells, while the inner surface of the membranous web or funnel was studded with thread-cells of very large size, ranged along each side of the tentacles. (P1. II. fig. 1.) Similar large cells were also found scattered on the body of the polyp. In September last buds were put forth from the foot of many of the polyp stems, which became slowly developed into cylindrical capsules, supported on long pedicles, and of large size compared with the minute polyps to which they were attached. As I was obliged to leave home at that time, 110 Observations on British Zoophytes. I examined the capsules, and found in each a single large Acaleph or medusoid, imperfectly developed within a fleshy sac, which was thickly covered with large thread-cells. During the present month similar capsules again appeared ; and Alemena never wearied more of her prolonged gestation of Hercules than I did, as day after day these capsules slowly increased in size and revealed the young giant within. At length fierce throes commenced; but Latona sat cross-legged at the threshold for a night and a day before the sac burst, and a pale-emerald green medusoid was brought forth. The umbrella of the Acaleph is colourless, and sub-hemispherical, becoming mitrate during contraction. It is covered with the large thread-cells, which are congregated in greater num- bers about the middle and upper parts, and give the animal a shiningly dotted, or gemmed appearance. The sub-wmbrella is tinted ~vith pale emerald-green by reflected light, and is colourless or faintly orange by transmitted light ; effects probably due to interference of light produced by the fibrous structure of its highly-developed contractile layer. The sto- mach or alimentary polyp is quadrangular. The tentacles or prehensile polyps are four in number—two long and two rudi- mentary ; they are ringed as to their bulbs with deep blue, and are without eye-specks. The auditory capsules are eight in number, situated one on each side of the four tentacles. The tentacles and alimentary polyps are furnished with small thread-cells. The Acaleph has no ovaries or sperm-sacs. The general appearance of this Acaleph resembles that of the Acaleph of Campanularia Johnstoni, Alder, of which Mr Gosse has given a figure in his “ Devonshire Coast.” Great numbers of the Acalephsof L. acuminata were given off at the same time, and after living a few days, became affected with the convulsive attacks so feelingly described by Professor Edward Forbes, to which infant Acalephs are so prone, and died in contortions shocking to see. [Since the foregoing observations were communicated to the Royal Physical Society, I have several times obtained JL. acuminata, and it is now growing in great luxuriance in my tanks. One of the specimens covers a space of 4 by 8 inches on the surface of the glass, with a net-work of creeping fibres, Observations on British Zoophytes. 111 from which polyp-stems spring at very regular intervals of about a tenth of an inch. The polyp-stems of this specimen bear each a single polyp only. In otherspecimens which are seated on univalve shells, and cannot therefore so readily spread themselves, the polyp-stems become repeatedly branched. In these cases the single polyp-stem gives off one, two, or three branches beneath its cell; these branches in like manner originate others, until the polyp-stem becomes transformed into a more or less bushy shrub, covered with polyps (PI. I. fig. 2), and rarely bearing a large medusa-bud, which is ge- nerally developed from the first stem. The medusa-bearing stem (Plate II. fig. 2) at an early stage resembles one of the ordinary polyps (Plate I. fig. 1, 6), in an imperfect state of development, having the same transparent globular summit, in which, as well as in the stem, an active circulation of granules may be detected. It may be considered as a reproductive branch or polyp. The medusoid 6 buds forth from beneath the enlarged head, and is inclosed in a sac ¢ form- ed from the ectoderm of the polyp. As the medusoid grows, first the head, and afterwards the body, of the reproductive polyp ais absorbed, and the sac of the ectoderm is afterwards ruptured by the vigorous flapping of its inmate. Absorption of the connection between the stem and the medusoid then takes place, and the latter is freed in about six or eight hours afterwards. The striz of the empty polyp-cells appear to be due to a folded state of the membrane, as they disappear when the cells are fully distended by their inmates.—Dec. 3, 1857.] Trichydra pudica. Shells and stones which have been kept quiet in an aqua- rium for some time, are occasionally covered with a flocculent net-work of shining fibres, which appear as fine as the lines of a spider’s web. This net-work, under microscopic power, is found to be composed of the interlacing tentacles of a multi- tude of closely-congregated polyps, attached together by a linear creeping polypary (Plate Ili. fig. 1). The polyp of this. minute Zoophyte (which Ihave called Trichydra pudieca, “ the modest hair polyp”) is about {th of an inch in length, and 112 Observations on British Zoophytes. resembles in shape a miniature fresh-water hydra. The whole body is exceedingly attenuated and transparent, with the ex- ception of the buccal cavity, which is of a dense silvery white, and may be distinguished by reflected light as a shining speck, while the rest of the animal is almost invisible. The tentacles vary in number from 4 to 12, with the increasing age of the polyp. They are arranged in a single row, and are long and waving, and muricated with clusters of minute thread-cells, from which project long and finely acuminated “ palpocils,” the soft prehensile spines I have described in former com- munications. The buccal cavity is small and conical, and occu- pies a scarcely-elevated papilla situated in the centre of the tentacular circle. Its walls are exceedingly dense, and open superiorly by five motile lips. The buccal cavity is frequently everted as a flat disk, when the tentacles are depressed along the body 7. For along time I considered that the polyps were naked and single, as I was unsuccessful in detecting either a connecting polypary or a corallum, while the Zoophyte re- mained in situ, and any attempt to remove it caused the polyps to disappear altogether. Afterwards, the stones on which they grew became coated with fine dust, deposited from the water, and afforded no hold for the creeping polypary ; the latter, therefore, floated unattached as tortuous white threads bearing polyps. The polypary was inclosed in a transparent mem- branous sheath or corallum, which at intervals bore short, cylindrical, even-rimmed cells of unequal length, for the re- ception of the polyps. This interesting little zoophyte is re- markable for the laxity of its habit, and the extensibility and transparency of its polyps, arising from the extreme vacuo- lation of their tissues. When at rest the polyps extend their bodies and tentacles to their utmost length; but a sudden glare of light, or shaking of the vessel in which they are confined, causes the modest hair polyp to contract itself, or to bend the buceal cavity and tentacles loosely downwards, like a flower drooping on its stalk. It seldom entirely withdraws itself into its cell unless irritated. I have never observed any reproductive apparatus or. acaleph-bearing capsules on this zoophyte; and, in default of their appearance; I am disposed to class it with the Corynide Observations on British Zoophytes. 113 of Johnston ; and that on account of the progressive develop- ment of the tentacles, which, as in Coryne, Clava, and Hydrac- tinia, become more numerous with the increasing age of the polyp, while in the Campanulariade, to which I at first referred it, under the name of C. trichoides, the growing polyp has its full complement of tentacles when it issues from its opening cell. The polyps of Trichydra also differ from those of the Campanulariade and Sertulariade generally, in showing no disposition to hold the tentacles in a double row; an arrange- ment of these organs which has not been sufficiently noticed in the figures and descriptions of authors on these classes. On Tubularia indivisa.* The object of this notice is to elucidate some points in the anatomy and physiology of Tubularia indivisa which have escaped detection by, or presented difficulties to, the nume- rous authors who have written on this zoophyte. This species of Tubularia, as many members of the Society are well aware, is common in the Frith of Forth, where it is dredged up from the oyster-beds in considerable quantities. It resembles, as Ellis has remarked, an oat-plant with the straws topped or truncated at from two to eighteen inches from the root, each stem bearing at its summit a single polyp of a white, pink, or rich crimson colour, and furnished with a double row of tentacles. In describing the anatomy of this zoophyte, I shall take the different parts in the order I have observed in my communication on the anatomy of Hydractinia, viz., 1st, the corallum ; 2d, the polypary ; and, 3d, the polyp. The corallum, or polypidom, is a simple yellowish chitinous tube, straight or slightly flexuous. It is often divided at the base, so as to form sinuous guasi roots, which creep over shells and stones, and occasionally the coralla of other zoophytes, re- sembling, as Ellis quaintly observes, ‘‘ the guts of small ani- mals.” Many tubes are often found twisted together by the roots. The tube of the corallum increases in diameter from its attachment upwards, and is marked at irregular distances by wrinkles or annulations. The chitinous substance is brit- tle, cutting cleanly between the scissors, without splitting, but * Communicated to the Royal Physical Society, 27th April 1857. NEW SERIES.—VOL. VII. ON. I.— JANUARY -1858. H 114 Observations on British Zoophytes. its illuminating action on the dark field of the polariscope indicates that it is composed of fibres running in a longitudi- nal direction. The polypary, or that part of the animal which is inclosed within the corallum, presents a structure of great interest. Johnston describes it as a soft, almost fluid, reddish-pink pulp or medulla in organic connection with the polyp. Dalyell states that the tube is replete with a yellowish tenacious .mucous matter completely occupying the whole, or accumulated in irre- gular ruddy masses. These naturalists were therefore ignorant of the anatomy of the polypary, though Johnston remarked that the recent stalk was marked by longitudinal pale lines placed at equal distances, which he justly considered were evidences of some peculiar structure in what he termed the interior pulp ; and he inquires, ‘ What is their relation to the currents observed by Mr Lister?” It is probable that John- ston referred from memory to Lister’s discovery of the cireu- lation in Tubularia, as the latter writer, in the 124th volume of the Philosophical Transactions, clearly describes these lines, and their relations to the currents. Heremarks, “ when mag- nified about one hundred times, a current of particles was seen within the tube that strikingly resembled, in its continued steady flow, the circulation in plants of the genus Chara. The general course of the stream was parallel to the slightly spiral lines on the tube. On the greater part of the side first viewed, it set as from the polypus; but on reversing the glass trough so as to show the other side, the flow was there towards the polypus: each current thus occupying half the circumference.” ‘* The tube had, between the lines of more conspicuous spots, a granular appearance, and beneath this the currents ran.” Dalyell, though he examined a great num- ber of specimens of all sizes and ages, was never able to detect any such circulation, and appears strongly to doubt, although he does not deny, its existence. It certainly is not readily observed in healthy individuals, as the moving fluid is very clear, and generally contains little or none of the granular mat- ter which is carried along by the circulation in most of the hydroid zoophytes. Its existence, however, indicated by the passage of a few flying particles, may be detected in all living Observations on British Zoophytes. 115 specimens, especially in those which have cast off their polyps, and in which the process of the renewal of those organs re- quires the conveyance of solid matter to them from all parts of the stem. Lister’s observations were conducted on a single specimen which he had found thrown up on the sea-shore, and in which the polyp was in course of being absorbed, and its solid matter stored in the circulating fluid for the production of its successor. On first obtaining a favourable specimen of Tubularia in- divisa, I directed my attention to the structure of the polypary, and the phenomena of the circulation within it. I found that each of the spiral lines was generally formed of two narrower lines running close and parallel to each other (Plate IIL. fig. 3), and that the circulation took place along the wider interval between the double lines. These intervals had the appear- ance of canals situated immediately beneath the corallum, and occasionally communicating with each other by cross branches. A thin transverse section of the stalk, readily made by the aid of a fine pair of scissors (Plate III. fig. 2), showed that (with the exception of a thin layer of ‘“‘ ectoderm” 6, which lined the inside of the corallum a), the whole of the tube was filled with a highly-vacuolated or cellular ‘“ endoderm” ce, having the appearance of the pith in the section of an exo- genous plant, and was generally impervious to the passage of fluid. Immediately within the ectoderm, the endoderm was - perforated by eight or more equidistant canals d, finely ciliated in their interior, and having their walls loaded with coloured granular matter. The interstices between these canals corre- sponded to the double lines seen in the longitudinal view (fig. 3). As the polypary emerged from the corallum, the tubes became wider, and opened into each other until they formed a single cavity immediately beneath the lower range of tentacles of the polyp; here the circulation became influenced by a mecha- nical provision, hereafter to be described. The circulation in Tubularia indivisa, therefore, as far as relates to the polypary, is carried on by ciliary motion in canals which permeate the periphery of the endoderm in the longitudinal direction of the stem. The movements in the different canals are not related ; in some of the canals the fluid is passing upwards, in H 2 116 Observations on British Zoophytes. others downwards, and in others it is at rest, previous to its commencing to flow in an opposite direction. The polyp of Tubularia is distinguished by two rows of filiform tentacles,—the one short and fringing the mouth, the other long and forming a circle round the base of the buccal papilla. The buccal papilla is striated by crimson longitu- dinal markings, produced by aggregations of the doloured granular matter of the endoderm, and generally continuous with lines passing upwards from the spiral tubes of the poly- pary. In healthy specimens, the buccal papilla is constantly slowly dilating, or contracting, and pumping the fluid con- tained in the polyp backwards and forwards alternately between its own cavity and that which exists below the tentacles, and which, as I have stated, is formed by the anastomosis of the spiral tubes of the polypary. Hence Dalyell has called the polyp the heart of the zoophyte. And one might, though incorrectly, call this the cardiac circulation, and that of the polypary the capillary circulation of the animal. In specimens kept in captivity the flower-like idee gene- rally drops off, and is renewed every four or five days, and at each renewal a ring, sometimes a circular spathe, is formed by the tip of the old Came as the corallum secreted by the growing polyp rises up within it. Hence, the length of the interval between the rings indicates the age which has been attained by each successive polyp. I have already stated, that three modes of reproduction occur in Hydroid zoophytes. 1st, Oviparous; 2dly, Larvi- parous ; and 3dly, Polypiparous, in which last the young become developed into complete polyps before leaving the ovarian sac, as in the zoophyte we are now considering. Thefemalereproductive process in Tubularia has been investi- gated by Baster, Dalyell, and Van Beneden, and their researches have been confirmed by Mummery. The ovarian sacs are attached to stalks which spring from the base of the buccal papilla, above and close to the lower tentacles, and between the crimson strize, and resemble bunches of grapes hanging down on all sides. They are frequently developed in such numbers, and attain so great a size, as to almost hide the polyp in their clusters. The stem of the cluster, and each of the grape-like Reviews and Notices of Books. 117 ovisacs, is formed of the usual three (ectodermic, muscular, and endodermic) layers, and in each ovisac a single ovum, or some- times two ova appear, which become developed into perfect polyps, are extruded from the summit of the ovisac, and fixing themselves by their base, commence the development of a poly- pary, like the parent zoophyte. In male specimens, for this zoophtye is dioecious, the sper- matic capsules resemble in shape and structure the ovarian sacs of the female, except that instead of ova, we have a gela- tinous plasma, secreted between the endoderm and muscular layer, in which spermatic cells, and afterwards spermatozoa, are developed. The spermatozoa of Tubularia were discovered by Krohn in 1845. Their existence, of which there is no room for doubt, has since been denied by Van Beneden and Johnston. REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS. The Rambles of a Naturalist on the Coasts of France, Spain, and Sicily. By A. DE QUATREFAGES, Member of the Institute, Professor of Ethnology in the Museum of Natural History, Jardin des Plantes, Paris, &c. Translated, with the Author’s sanction and co-operation, by E. C. OrTe’, Honorary Member of the Literary and Philosophical So- ciety of St Andrews. 2 vols. post 8vo. London, 1857. In these volumes we have an admirable translation by Miss Otté, the accomplished translator of Humboldt’s Cosmos, of a French work in many respects of great interest, by the well known naturalist whose name it bears. The articles composing it for- merly appeared in the Revue des deux Mondes, but the author’s desire to commend the pursuit of sciences so dear to himself to unscientific readers, has led him to publish his papers in their present form, with copious notes, and an appendix, enriched by sketches of the lives of authors to whom he refers. M. de Quatrefages is one of those enthusiastic lovers of na- ture who cannot fail to attract very many in their train. Na- ture is truly to him a mother, to whom he may flee in trouble, sure of a kindly welcome ; and who, after soothing her child, will unfold to him certain of her wonders, knowing that in their search he will leave the sting of grief behind. Let us hear his opinion 118 Reviews and Notices of Looks. of this. “If you still preserve any of those illusions which, day by day, are vanishing amid the turmoils of life, if you regret the dreams that have fled never to return, go to the ocean side, and there on its sonorous banks you will assuredly recall some of the golden fancies that shed their radiance over the hours of your youth. If your heart have been struck by any of those poignant griefs which darken a whole life, go to the borders of the sea, seek out some lonely beach, an Archipelago of Chaussey, or an Isle de Brehat, beyond reach of the exacting conventionalities of society ; and when your spirit is well-nigh broken with anguish, seek some elevated rock, where your eye may at once scan the heaving ocean and the firmament above ; listen to the grand har- monious voices of the winds and waves, as at one moment they seem to murmur gentle melodies, and at another to swell in the thundering crush of their majesty ; mark the capricious undula-- tions of the waves, as far as the bounds of the horizon, where they merge into the fantastic figures of the clouds, and seem to rise before your eyes into the liquid sky above. Give yourself up to the sense of infinitude, which is stealing over your mind, and soon the tears you shed will have lost their bitterness ; you will feel ere long that there is nothing in this world which can so thoroughly alleviate the sorrows of the heart as the contempla- tion of nature, and of the sublime spectacle of the creation, which leads us back to God.” (P. 120, vol. i.) Miss Otté is a kindred spirit, able to sympathise with our author’s joy in finding a new er rare specimen ; able also to ap- preciate his scientific researches and original discoveries: and in the society of these two gifted minds, we gladly join in spirit the excursions and enterprises they communicate to us. M. de Quatrefages appears in these pages, not as wedded to one science, as is sometimes the case with men of his class, but rather as having a fraternal affection for them all. Though ma- rine zoology was the special object of his devotion, yet natural history in all its branches, geology, and botany, has each a high place in his records ; while his eyes are open to all that is novel, curious, or instructive around. Lighthouses, mussel-beds, vol- canoes, historical associations, with pleasant or unpleasant travel- ling incidents, are by turn brought before us, and of each he has something to say full of interest. Avoiding technical details, he yet never allows himself “in the slightest degree to sacrifice the substance to the form;” so that, while enjoying his rambles, we can place perfect confidence in the strictly scientific accuracy of his descriptions of natural history. The longest excursion noticed was to the coasts of Sicily, and M. de Quatrefages, with two gentlemen, the celebrated M. Milne- Edwards, and M. Blanchard, formed a scientific commission ap- pointed by Government. Previously he had spent a considerable Reviews and Notices of Books. 119 time in the Archipelagoes of Chaussey and Brehat, lying off the coast of France, at the entrance of the Channel; and lastly, he gives us the results of visits to the coast of the Bay of Biscay, and that of Saintonge. He justly supposes that the great problem of life, so puzzling to physiologists, may be solved in part by help of the inferior crea- tures, whose transparent bodies often admit the actions of the various organs to be visible in a way impossible in the higher organisms. The submarine excursions of one of M. de Quatrefages’ party in the visit to Sicily, are worthy of special notice. By means of an apparatus having a flexible tube passing from a metallic hel- met to an air-pump, M, Milne-Edwards was able to remain for nearly an hour at a time under water, collecting and observing the zoophytes which live from 10 to 13 feet below the surface of the water, These hazardous experiments were rewarded by important discoveries respecting the embryology of Molluscs and Annelids. At La Rochelle, M. de Quatrefages had the opportunity of observing the organization of that remarkable parasite of the Tor- pedo, the Branchellion, a worm from an inch to an inch and a-half in length, which is undisturbed by shocks so powerful as some- times to compel the fishermen to drop the net in which a Torpedo happens to be. For particulars of this, and many other impor- tant investigations, we must refer our readers to the volumes before us. They will thank us for introducing to their notice such a storehouse of facts. The appendix enters more fully into minute details, and gives abundant references. We feel grateful to Miss Otté for the labours which yield us such fruit. M. de Quatrefages has recently been appointed to the chair of Ethnology at the Museum of Natural History in the Jardin des Plantes, and he concludes by a gentle reference to the pain it has cost him “ to retire from the direct pursuit of paths of inquiry, which have yielded so many moments of unalloyed enjoyments.” Ueber das Verhiltniss der Boghead Parrot Cannel-coal zur Steinkohle. Von H. R. Géprert, Konig]. Preuss. Geh. Medizinal-Rath und Professor zu Breslau. Berlin, 1857. In the “Zeitschrift fiir das Berg-Hiitten und Salinenwesen en dem Preussischen Staat, Vol. I..” is a Report by Professor Géppert of Breslau, “On the Relation of the Boghead Parrot Cannel-coal to Coal.” In this report Professor Goppert first describes, accurately, the generally prevailing views as to the origin of the coal mea- 120 Reviews and Notices of Books. sures; which he represents as derived from a luxuriant land vegetation of Coniferee, Lycopodiaceee, Ferns, Calamites, Sigillaria, Stigmaria, &c,, submerged, and in process of time carbonized. The beds of coal are separated by deposits of sand or clay, which ultimately form sandstones and slaty rocks. These beds of coal, which are often very numerous in the same locality, have generally been deposited in still waters. He considers bituminous shales to have originated from the very same vegetable deposits, only formed in waters somewhat agitated, and thus mixed with a large proportion of mineral matter. He is of opinion that the presence of this foreign matter pre- vented the entire carbonization of the organic remains, such entire carbonization being only possible in beds of unmixed organic matter. Hence the combustible matter in shales is brown or yellow, with a brown or grayish-brown streak, and contains more hy- drogen than that of true coal, the streak of which is black. As the Boghead coal has a brown streak, and contains 25 to 30 per cent. of ash, he declares it to be a shale, not a coal. We cannot accept this conclusion, which seems to be not justly deduced from the facts. In the jirst place, although those who in Edinburgh supported the view that the Boghead mineral was not a coal, denied that it had the same origin as true coal, or that it contained remains of vegetable structure, Professor Géppert not only ascribes to it the same origin as he does to coal, but declares that the brown matter contains cells of the true coal-plants. As far, then, as origin is concerned, there is no ground for a specific distinction. Secondly, as concerns the colour, it is known that all coals contain more or less of a brown matter, mixed with a black one, the latter, from its nature, determining the colour of the streak in most cases. But Professor Gdéppert himself speaks of gray, brownish-gray, and brown streaks, which are just what might be expected when the proportion of the friable black matter is diminished, or that of the brownish-yellow matter increased, be- yond a certain point. We may add, that the remains of cells are chiefly found in the black friable part of ordinary coals, and in the brown matter of shining cannel-coal; they are rare in the brilliant coal with con- choidal fracture, and in the dull varieties of cannel-coal, both © of which, under the microscope, exhibit a dark brown, nearly opaque mass, with occasional yellow portions containing vegetable remains, These observations indicate that all these varieties of coal are mere mixtures. Thirdly, as to the amount of ashes. The published analyses of coal prove that the percentage of ash in true coals varies to a great extent, and is not confined to the limits of from 5 to 10 Reviews and Notices of Books. 121 per cent., especially if we include cannel-coals, some of which con- tain as much, or even more ash than the Boghead coal. It is obvious that the amount of mineral matter beyond that belonging to the plants must have varied from the state of the water in which the plants were submerged, and of the rocks and soils con- tributing to form the mineral beds. Accordingly, we find the percentage of ash varying from 2 or 3 to upwards of 30 per cent. in undoubted coals. The Boghead coal, with its 25 to 30 per cent. of ash, is not a solitary case. But Professor Géppert maintains that to admit the claim of Boghead coal to the title of a true coal will abolish all distinction between coal and shale. We do not think so; but what then 2 If, by his own account, the organic matter of coal and shale be identical in origin, but in shale it is less carbonized by reason of the presence of foreign impurity, is this a true, philosophical, specific difference? Even the true coals of Professor Géppert consist of brown matter and black matter; of yellow matter in uncertain proportions; and the amount of ash also certainly varies. The question arises, Can we fix a point in the percentage of ash, where the mixture ceases to be coal, and becomes shale? We do not see that this can be done in the case of a series of minerals, all mixtures, except on one principle, namely, the quality of the mineral as a combustible. Whatever the percentage of ash, if the mineral has any value as a fuel, we should call it coal; if not, shale ; considering neither coal nor shale as true mineral species, but as members of a series of mixtures, in variable proportions of vegetable matter, more or less carbonized, and in two, or rather three, different states—black, brown, and yellow, with mineral matter. Professor Géppert illustrates the difference between Boghead coal (or shale) and true coal, by comparing them to what is called red, or imperfectly burned, and black, or perfectly burned charcoal. But surely we cannot consider an imperfect, half-made product, such as red charcoal (charbon roux), as a specifically distinct com- pound. It must, from the nature of the process, be a mixture; and no doubt many such mixtures might be obtained at different stages of the burning. But these cannot all be distinct ; and how are we to select one as being so. It is precisely so with coals and shales, if we attend to the pre- sence of foreign mineral matter. The series exhibits many stages, more or less complete, of car- bonization in the organic matter (even the complete carbonization occurs, though in another formation, in anthracite) ; each stage yielding a mixture of several products of the imperfect change, these products occurring in most variable proportion, while the percentage of mineral matter is also highly variable. 122 Reviews and Notices of Books. Under such circumstances it is not easy to see how a true mineral species could occur. No such species does occur in this series, if by a true species be meant a definite compound. And if we felt disposed to constitute a mineral species, at what point is this to be done, and how is the species to be defined ? On the whole, it appears to us that the facts adduced by Pro- fessor Géoppert do not support his conclusion, but rather confirm the views we have always held on this subject. Memorials, Scientific and Literary, of Andrew Crosse, the Electrician. London: Longman & Co. 1857. In this biography of Mr Crosse, the electrician, modestly and judiciously penned by his widow, we have a history of the life and death of a knowledge-seeking, simple-minded, and truly re- ligious man. Of Andrew Crosse it has been well said, by one who knew him intimately, “In him was indeed united the philosopher’s head and the Christian’s heart.” Possessed of a marvellous apparatus for extracting and retain- ing the electric fluid, the electrician brought down the lightning from the thunder cloud, or drew it from the November mist, and imprisoned that subtle yet mighty power in huge voltaic batteries and electrical jars, which poured forth their supplies into a large brass conductor, over which was inscribed the warning words, “* Noli me tangere,” Broomfield, as described by Mrs Crosse, must have been a strange residence, surrounded with galvanic wires externally, and filled with galvanic batteries internally. It is beautifully situated among the picturesque Quantock Hills. There is a cave near Broomfield called “ Holwell Cavern,” where the traveller may rest awhile, and learn a lesson of the value of observation, and the cultivation of an observing mind. The walls of Holwell Cavern are eflloresced with crystals of arragonite. Other men would have admired and passed on’; the electrician determined to inquire by what process the crystals were formed. Many preserved the crystals as cabinet specimens ; Crosse subjected the water which held their constituents in solution to the action of his voltaic battery. After an interval of ten days, he found that the nega- tive wire was coated with crystals of carbonate of lime; and at the end of three weeks the whole of the salt was extracted from the cave water, and deposited at the negative pole. Acting upon this discovery, he prosecuted his researches, until, from his voltaic forge came forth “specimens of quartz, arragonite, chalcedony, carbonates of strontia, barytes, lead, and copper; sulphurets of Proceedings of Societies. 123 lead, iron, copper, silver, and antimony, with many other com- pounds.” The history of the development of the “ Acari Crossii” is well known, as also the persecution he underwent. So far as he would venture upon an opinion, Mr Crosse’s solution of the phenomenon was, that they rose from ova deposited by insects floating in the atmosphere, hatched by the electric action. It is, however, more especially to the FORMATION OF CRYSTALS under the power of the voltaic battery that we wish to direct attention. If these researches of Mr Crosse be followed with diligence and enthusiasm, what may yet be revealed to us re- specting the SEGREGATION OF MINERAL VEINS, or the phenomenon of SLATY CLEAVAGE. We know that heat is developed by electricity when the free passage of electricity is IMPEDED; and we know, also, that this force is most powerful in dissolving and recon- structing the bonds of chemical union. May not the galvanic battery yet reveal the secrets of mineralogical affinities and se- gregation ; as also of that aromicat change which is probably the history of slaty cleavage, a change produced by thermo-elec- tric currents acting upon stratified deposits, subjected for un- numbered ages to their influence? The slaty cleavage brigade would do well to arm themselves with the weapons of Volta ere they carry on another campaign against the rocks of Cambria. PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. British Association for the Advancement of Science, Dublin, August 26—September 2, 1857. Continued from Vol. vi., p. 539. Section E.—GEOGRAPHY AND ETHNOLOGY. Dr O'Donovan on the Characteristics, Physical and Moral, of the Gaels of Ireland and Scotland. He said—It is now universally admit- ed by the learned that the Gaedhil, or ancient inhabitants of Ireland and of the Highlands of Scotland, and the Cymri, or Ancient Britons, are the descendants of the Celt of Gaul, and retain dialects flowing from the language of that people. The invariable tradition of the Gaed- hil themselves is, that they came from Spain into Ireland. The earliest writer who mentions the Celtz is Herodotus, who flourished about 413 years before Christ. He states that the Celtee and Cymbre dwelt in the remotest quarters of Europe, towards the setting sun; but the most copious and valuable account of them which has descended to us is con- tained in “ Czsar’s Commentaries on the Gallic War.” In this work they -are described as a numerous and warlike people, who occupied nearly one- 124 Proceedings of Societies. half of Gallia, or France. A colony of the same people occupied a great part of the north of Spain, where they were called Ce/tiberi, having crossed the Pyrenees from Gaul, and settled at first on the river Iberus, or Ebro, whence the name Celt Iberi. These, who were probably the ancestors of the Celtz or Gaedhil of Ireland, are described as the most powerful and warlike of all the tribes or nations of Spain. Cesar says that the people called Celtz in their own language were styled Galli in the Ro- man or Latin tongue, but nothing is to be found in the ‘“‘ Commentaries” to throw any light upon this difference of name. The probability, how- ever, is, that the Romans called them Galli, t.e., ‘“‘ Cocks,” from their pomposity and courage; though some think that Galli was but the Romanized pronunciation of Celte. At the present day the Welsh call the Irish and Highlanders Guydhill, but the two latter now style them- selves Gaoidhill, or Gaedhil, aspirating the dh, as the English do there gh, although it is probable that the di was pronounced originally. The identity of the race of the Celtze of Gaul with that of the ancient inha- bitants of Britain and Ireland may be argued from the same work, where it is stated that the great school of the Druids of Gaul was in Britain. The next authority relied on in proof of this identity is Tacitus, who, in his “* Life of Agricola,” states that there is very little difference between the soil and climate, the religious worship and dispositions of the inhabi- tants of Ireland and those of Britain. The paper then enumerates, after a German writer, a number of ancient Gaulish words that have been preserved by classic writers, and that afford strong grounds for believing that the language was a kindred one with the original dialects of the British Islands. The name of Celt was never applied to the Trish before the seventeenth century. They never applied it to them- selves, but always understood it to be the name of the ancient inhabi- tants of France—‘“ Sco i swmas non Galli,’ they said—‘‘ We are Gaels, not Gauls.” It is clear that the Celtee of Gaul had made consi- derable progress in civilization—that they had an order of priests called Druids, who believed in, and inculcated the doctrine of, the immortality of the soul and the metempsychosis—that they offered various sacrifices— that they worshipped Mercury as their favourite god, because they be- lieved him to be the inventor of all the arts, and the promoter of mercan- tile affairs, and that next after Mercury they worshipped Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, and Minerva. Cesar says, on the other hand, of the Germans, that they had no Druids to preside over religious affairs, and that they paid no attention to sacrifices, that they only worshipped those gods whom they saw with their own eyes—as the Sun, Vulcan (fire), and the Moon. In these passages the true line of distinction between the Teu- tonic and Celtic races is drawn by this great Roman general and states- man—a distinction which nearly holds good to the present day, after the lapse of nineteen centuries, and the various admixtures of the two races. Dr O'Donovan next proceeded to lay before the meeting certain facts regarding the ancient condition of the Gaedhil and Cymri, of which little notice had as yet been taken by any writers, introducing them by some remarkable instances of similarity between peculiarities recorded by Caesar of the ancient Gauls and those of the Irish. Among these he alluded to the great stature of the Celte of Gaul and of the Gaedhil of Ireland, as compared with that of the Romans, and produced Proceedings of Societies. 125 a number of authorities to show the stature, vigour, and valour of the ancient Irish. The paper next quotes Anglo-Norman and French testi- monies of the stature and physical capabilities of the Irish in the reign of Richard II. (a.p. 1399), and in subsequent reigns, such as Froissart, Hollinshed, Spencer, &c., many of them exceedingly curious, from the quaintness of their style, as well as the statements which they contained. Dr Wilde said—There were several modes by which we were enabled to arrive at an opinion as to the source of a people—the origin from which they spring. One of these modes was by the language of the people, another was history, and it was to this ground of opinion alone that his friend Dr O'Donovan had been referring ; it was with that he dealt when he quoted Cambrensis on the stature of Dermet MacMurrogh; nor, in doing so, did he mean that that description of the King of Lein- ster was necessarily applicable to the people who inhabited Ireland a thousand years before. Another means of judging of ancient races was the monuments which they left behind; and a fourth was their own remains found in their tumuli, and accompanied by their weapons of war or implements of industry, or even objects of religion. These grounds of opinion had not been introduced by Dr O'Donovan; but as the results of the experience which he (Dr Wilde) had acquired in arranging the great Celtic Museum of their National Academy, the conclusion to which he had come was, that the first wave of population which visited this country was a very rude and simple race, which knew not the use of metals, and which formed its weapons by wearing two stones on each other. These were followed by another vital tide, composed of a totally different race, as the forms of their crania, discovered in the ancient tumuli, sufficiently demonstrated them to be. One of these races was long-headed, with low foreheads, high cheek bones, sunken eyes, and heads flattened on the sides. Some supposed these people to have been those called the Firbolgs. After these came a globular-headed race, with high foreheads, and every indication of a high degree of intellect; yet the remains of both of these races were found accompanied by the same kind of weapons, and in the same kind of tumuli or tombs. It remained to be seen whether future researches would confirm the theory on the subject; but it was right to know that those were the races which primarily constituted the people called the Gaedhil. He would take that opportunity to mention that he had been favoured with interesting specimens of these typical remains—namely, two skulls found in an ancient tumulus near Mullin- gar, which exhibited all the characteristics of the two races, and which, with-the permission of their president, he would submit to their inspect- tion on a future occasion. Dr Norton Suaw, of the Royal Geographical Society of London, then proceeded to read Captain Sherrard Osborne’s paper on the Sea of Azof, and the Sivash, or Putrid Sea. The rapid evaporation and the extraordinary mirage, from the heated atmosphere playing over the sur- face of this area in a summer’s day, was very striking, and between sun- rise and sunset at that season of the year it was as utterly impossible to distinguish objects but a mile or so distant upon it as it would be had a cauldron of boiling water been there in its,place. The southern portion of the Sivash is about 40 miles long, commencing at the southern Chakrak, and ending at Fort Arabat. The Arabat spit throughout the whole of this 126 Proceedings of Societies. distance is low and sandy, varying from 300 yards to 300 feet in width. Down the centre of the southern basin a maximum depth of about four feet six inches was found to exist, the water stealing away to either shore, until in calm weather 100 yards on each side was merely a quag- mire, consisting of water, mud, decomposed vegetables, filth, and a foul, unctuous, bituminous deposit. * * Wherever the writer examined it, however, it was bitterly salt, and the hands tingled as if placed in strong brine. A most remarkable and general feature of the Sivash is the fluctuation of its depth according to the diversion of the wind. Next to these changes of level, and the rapid currents they occasion, the disagree- able exhalations from the shores of this sea have long been a subject of remark. Dr Beppor, on the Physical Character of the Ancient and Modern Germans. The subject of the paper was almost exclusively confined to the colour and complexion of the German races, as described by Tacitus, and as observed at the present day. Mr Crawford, in making come comments on the paper, observed that, with reference to some of the preceding discussions on the Celtic races, it was curious that, in that Himalayan region, from which all the Celtic races were supposed to have come, not a single white person was now to be found. Sir Jonn Davis on China, in more immediate reference to Pending Operations in that Quarter. The paper, after some general remarks on the interest of the subject at the present moment, enters into a running but graphic description of the coasts of Canton river, Chusan, Shanghai, &c., showing the facilities which in many places they afford for defence, and for annoying the hostile fleet, but at the same time the facility with which any such annoyance on the part of the Chinese could be overcome. Mr Gorpon M. Hitts, on the Round Towers of Ireland, detailed the results of a survey of those most interesting monuments which he had undertaken, and had already carried far towards completion. The drawings which he had made would, as already stated by the President, be exhibited at the Academy. Mr Santiaco Jackson on Routes from Lima to the Navigable Branches of the Amazon, with Remarks on Eastern Peru as a Field for Emigra- tion. The Rev. Dr Hinks read a paper on the Ethnological inferences de- ducible from the Assyrian Modes of Writing. Herr Scutacintweit, on the Route pursued by Himself and his Brothers in the Himalayas, Thibet, and Turkistan. He said—that by the liberal arrangements made with himself and his brothers by the Right Hon. the Directors of the East India Company, they would be enabled at once to begin the publication of their researches in India. Their work would be entitled ‘‘ Results of a Scientific Mission to India and High Asia during the years 1854, 1855, and 1856, by Herman, Adolphe, and Robert Schlagintweit.” It would be accompanied by atlases containing topo- graphical and geological maps of different parts of India, and of the Hima- layas and mountains of Thibet. In 1854 he and his brothers Adolphe and Herman went from Bombay to Madras through Southern India, viz., the Decean, Mysore, and the states of Nizam, on different routes, and met again all three in Madras. Already during their sea voyage they had Proceedings of Societies. 127 - oceasion to make some observations on the temperature and specific gravity of sea water and the currents of the sea, and these observations they continued during their voyage from Madras to Calcutta. In the beginning of the year 1855 Herman Schlagintweit went through Bengal to Sikkim, and examined there the Himalayas, chiefly on the frontier between Sikkim and Nepaul. This route particularly afforded the ad- vantage of enabling him to measure from a comparatively short distance the eastern Himalayas, including the peaks far to the eastward from Chamalari to a point considerably to the west of the high mountain of Nepaul. This was the same peak which had been recently measured by Colonel Waugh, who named it Mount Everest, after his distinguished predecessor. Its height was stated by that officer to exceed 26,000 feet. He and his brother obtained two names for it—one was Gorori- shanka, which was its sacred name, connected with Hindoo mythology, and only to be found in the Nepaulese holy books; the other was its Thibetan name, which was Chingofaumari. The name Deodunga, which was mentioned by Mr Hodgson in connection with this peak, was, as they were told in Katmando, the name of a low mountain, about 8000 or 9000 feet high, which was visible from the central parts of Nepaul, in about the same line as Mount Everest, and was remarkable for having upon its summit asacred stone. After leaving Sikkim, H. Schlagintweit examined a part of the Bhootan Himalayas and Upper Assam, and returning to Calcutta, along the Brahmapootra and the delta of the Ganges, joined his brothers in Oude, in May 1856. He (Herr Robert Schlagintweit) and his brother Adolphe left Calcutta in March 1855, and passing through the north-west provinces, reached Naing Tal, whence they took different routes to Milum: from Milum they crossed over to Thibet, and in the disguise of merchants from Delhi, having merchandise but no money with them, succeeded in penetrating as far as thesource of the Indus. Among the most interesting geographical features on this journey he might mention the following :—First, the alluvial deposits met north of the Himalayas formed by no means a plain, bordering the Himalayas to the northward, asthe plain of Hindostan does tothe southward. These alluvial and lacustrine deposits are merely filling up the irregularities in one of the greatest longitudinal valleys of the world. This valley included between the Himalayas to the south and the chief crest of the mountains of Thibet to the north, contains the course of the Indus to the west and the Dihong, the chief tributary of the Brahmapootra to the east. Both these rivers were separated only by a small rising of the surface of the valley. A well-known example of a similar formation in Europe was the form of the watershed between the Inn and the Dran-a-to-blach in the Tyrol. Second, North of the Indus a new high mountain range rose, covered with snow, and forming the watershed between Thibet and Eastern Turkistan. This range had been confounded with the Kuenheins, and its direction had never been properly defined, as it did not stretch from east to west. -It was called in Ladak and Ballistan, the Karo-karum range, which signified black mountains—a characteristic name, for here the snow line was the highest in the world, being 18,600 feet above the level of the sea. From the peak of Goonashankur, 19,640 feet, they had the finest view which they had ever beheld, the course of which they could trace one hundred and 128 Proceedings of Societies. fifty miles to the east of Gartok. They went from Gartok to examine the glaciers upon the high peak of Hi Ganwri, and having encamped on the 18th of August at the height of 19,220 at the top of the glacier, they succeeded, on the 19th of August, in attaining, on Ibi Ganuri a height of 22,260 English feet—the greatest height perhaps which, up to the present time, had been attained on any mountain. They returned by different routes. He himself crossed over a succession of passes into the valley of the Upper Ganges, where he examined a number of hot springs. In the cold season of 1855-6 they examined together the north-western provinces, and parts of Central India. Adolphe went to the south, along the course of the Godavery, and embarked for Madras, He (Herr Robert Schlagintweit) availed himself of the cold season to examine chiefly Central India up to the plateau of Amarkantak, the important watershed of Central India. Here he made some observations which, in a geographical point of view, were extremely interesting. The height of the plateau, which has never been measured before was 3300 feet ; it was the culminating part of Central India, and the hills in its neighbourhood formed the watershed between four rivers, viz., the Nerbudda, the Soane, the Johilla, and the Mahammuddy. From Amarkantak he went to Simla, via Delhi. In the year 1856 Adolphe Schlagintweit left Simla for the Himalayas and Thibet on the 28th of May. On the 29th of July he reached an elevation of 19,500 feet on the Chorkonda Peak, on the mountains of Balkistan. On the Ist of September he arrived at the capital, and subsequently examined the group of mountains where the Indus makes its great bend to the south. One of these mountains, which reaches the height of 26,000 feet, is very remarkable on account of its position, which is at the end of the Western Himalayas. In the end of the year he proceeded to the Punjaub, where he made many geographical observations. At the western termination of the Himalayas, on the western side of the Indus, the range north of the Thibet and the Kuenhein, can no more be traced as separate chains, but form one mountain mass. Here they have lost to a great extent their alpine character, and no more large glaciers are to be met with. Western Thibet did not form a plateau, but was an undulating country, intersected by many high mountain ranges. One of the features of those parts, chiefly near the Moostak Pass, was the depression of the snow line here at an elevation of only 17,900 feet, which was perhaps owing to the great amount of snow and rain which fell in that country. At this time the heat of the deep valleys of Balkistan, which had an ele- vation of 7000 and 8000 feet, very little distant from the foot of the glaciers, was excessively high—the mean temperature from the Ist to the 20th July being 73 degs. to 75 degs. Fahrenheit, the minimum of the night being 59 degs. and the maximum being 90 degs. Herman Schlagintweit followed from Simla, first in a north-easterly direction, chiefly the line of the Thibetan Salt Lakes. Tsogan, Tsogar, Tsomikpat, and Tsomognalari, which was the greatest of all, and lay in Tsangkoog. These lakes showed a very different degree of concentration of the water. The lake Tsangkong had a specific quantity of 1003, and the water had no more a maximum of density above the freezing point, but contracted regularly till its freezing point at 31°5 degs. Fahrenheit. He reached Lehin Ladak, and rejoined his brother there. In the meantime he(Robert) Proceedings of Societies. 129 travelled from Simla by Kooloo, Lahol, and Koopshoo to Ladak, passing over the Bara Lacha, Lacha Loong, and Trong Loong Passes. They went on from Leh on the 24th of July to Noobra, where, during a stay of three months, they reached the summit of Sassarda (about 20,000 feet). They then had to cross the plateau to the south of Karakorum, already visited by Dr Thompson, 17,100 feet high, and found afterwards much more extensive ones to the north of Karakorum Pass. They were nearly perfectly barren, and covered only with hills from 200 to 400 feet eleva- tion, so small that they were enabled, for instance, to cross in one day from passes of more than 17,000 feet, which were but slightly elevated above the surrounding plateaus. After some further observations Herr Schlagintweit gave some details of researches in the territory of Ne- paul. Mr Beamisa, F.R.S., on the Human Hand, an Index of Mental Development. Dr Barts read a paper on the Anomalous Period of Rising of the River Niger. He said—Just at the present moment, when the route across the desert to the northern half of Central Africa seems to be cut off almost entirely, and when two more travellers by that route have fallen a sacrifice to their zeal, it may seem not quite unprofitable to con- sider the nature of that stupendous river, which, although not less ill- famed in consequence of the numerous sacrifices of valuable life which it has consumed, nevertheless affords a more easy access to the heart of the continent, and holds out the hope of a regular legitimate intercourse with the natives : for commercial intercourse, and exchange of produce and manufactures, and not conquest by way of arms, will be the means of bringing those vast and fertile tracts in contact with Europe. The Nile begins to rise in May or June, and to decrease in August or September, according to the more northerly or southerly position along its long course, and this is the general rule of all the rivers in the northern half of Central Africa, as well as in other parts of the world north of the equator; and it even obtains, with regard to the Benuwe, or the eastern branch of the Niger, where the waters at that point, where it is joined by the Faro, commence to decrease at the very end of September. But now the upper part of the Niger shows a quite anomalous state of things, for, during the month of August or September, the communication through the whole of the provinces along the Kwara is so difficult, on account of the numerous swollen rivulets and their swampy valleys, which do not in many cases admit of pontoons, and the climate is so unhealthy, that the travellers would certainly meet with a serious check in traversing the provinces of Nufe and Kebbi, during that season of the year. It is very remarkable, that in the lower part of the river, a second or later rising seems not to have been accurately observed and established, for there is no doubt that the phenomenon of which I am going to speak must exer- cise a full effect even upon that part of the river to which the name Kwara belongs. No doubt a large proportion of the aqueous element collected in the Upper Niger, or rather in that part which particularly deserves to be called Dhuliba or Juliba, the river of the Mandingoes or Juli, is lost by evaporation in the middle course between Sansanding and Timbuktu, where the river, called here Isa or Mayo, spreads out in a NEW SERIES.—VOL. VII. NO. I.—JANUARY 1858. I 130 Proceedings of Societies. most extensive and marvellous net of backwaters, lakes, and creeks, affording free access to a vast area of fertile low grounds, and opening an immense line of inland navigation. In April it is possible to reach Kabara by water ; the rising of the river continues without the slightest interruption till the month of February, filling out all the creeks, and inundating all the low grounds to a width of from twenty to thirty miles, and even closely approaching the very borders of the town, so that, from the beginning of January 1854, the smaller craft were able to approach within a few hundred yards of the great mosque which adorns the western end of the town of Timbuktu. Indeed, after having pre- served the highest level for a fortnight or so, with an appearance of a little decrease now and then, followed by another rising of a few inches, a vacillation such as has been observed in other rivers, and is not but natural in sheets of water of such size, the inundation did not begin to diminish till the 17th of February, when the decrease became plainly visible, and continued without further interruption, It is this late rising of the river which gives to the climate of Timbuktu a very pecu- liar character, different, too, from other quarters of Negroland ; and it follows that those very months, which all over India are the most healthy period of the year—December and January—constitute the most unhealthy season in Timbuktu,—a great deal of sickness prevailing there at that time of the year. The swelling of the river, and its foliowing inundation, reached a rather unusual height in the season 1853-54. The river annually continues to rise till the end of January, and although it is true that it does not obtain such a height every year, nevertheless the inundation reaches the walls of Timbuktu almost regu- larly every third year. If we look for the probable reason of this un- usual period of the rising of the river (disagreeing so completely with the period of swelling of the Nile), as well as of the other rivers in the northern half of Central Africa, including even the Benuwe, or the eastern branch of this very Niger, it is not easy to descover it. As for myself, I can only explain this phenomenon by a very heavy fall of rain, or a second rainy season in the month of November, in those quarters which lie at the back of Ashanti and the Gold Coast, and which are intersected by mountains of considerable elevation, but without being high enough to harbour even the smallest particle of snow, except per- haps for a couple of cold days in December or January. If we con- sider the long winding course of the river, the rain which falls in Kong and the other provinces of the Mandingoes or Wakore would naturally continue to swell the middle course of the river till the end of January, or eyen the middle of February. Sir Joan Ricuarpson’s Report of Mr Anderson's Search after the Crews of the Erebus and Terror. Sir John Richardson believed it was quite certain that the boat—the fragments of which Mr Anderson had found on the shore of the lake Franklin—had been abandoned by Sir John Franklin’s crew, and broken up by the Esquimaux ; but he did not believe the story of the Esquimaux about the death of the crews from starvation at that particular place. He believed that the party had gone farther inland, and then died, and that their officers and best informed men had previ- ously died, else they would have known of the depdt of provisions which lay to the north of where they then were, and which they did not un- Proceedings of Societies. 131 fortunately find out. When the expedition went out in 1845, they had provisions for 2} years, or for 3 years, on short allowance ; and in those regions of rigorous and perpetual cold, short allowance meant starvation, At the end of 3 years few of the men would have had strength enough left to enable them to travel far, and he had no doubt that they had all perished. If Sir James Ross had been able to penetrate by sledges to the point where it was intended that he should go, when first sent out on the search, he had no doubt that he would have found Sir John Franklin’s ships, and if the new expedition arrive at that point, they most poe would find at least the remains of those unfortunate vessels. Mr Marguam on the Search for Sir John Franklin, by M‘Clintock’s Expedition. Mr Ws. Oaitsy, F.L.S., on the Dispersion of particular kinds of Domestic Animals as connected with the great Ethnological Divisions of Menkind, Admiral Fitzroy on the Possible Migrations and Variations of the Earlier Families of the Human Race. Papers were also communicated by Herr Hermann Schlagintweit on some Measurements of different Races in India and the High Asia, and by Professor W. R. Sullivan, on the Influence which Physical Charac- teristics exercise wpon the Language and Mythology of a People, as a means of tracing the Affinities of Races. Major-General Cuesney read a paper on our Communication with India by the line of the Euphrates and other Routes. If adirect line be drawn along the globe from London to Bombay or Kurrachee, it exactly takes in the route by the valley of the Euphrates ; consequently this portion of the line has necessarily formed a part of all the various pro- jects that have been advanced with a view to facilitate and shorten our communication with India, with one exception, brought to my notice in a paper read last year at Cheltenham, which is supposed to go from Acre across the Desert to Bussorah. The distances by the two overland routes are as follows :— English miles, From London to the entrance of the Red Sea, 43723 From the entrance of the Red Sea to Kurrachee, which will no doubt become the oe port of India in place of Bombay, - - 1705 Total, . . - 60774 London to the entrance of the Persian Gulf, : : ; : = - 4271 From the entrance of the Persian Gulf to Kurrachee, “ 5 “4 UL02 Total, « = . 4973 —the difference in favour of the Euphrates valley being 11043 miles. The great gain, therefore, is from the entrance of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf onward. From the Red Sea to Kurrachee we have 1705 English miles ; whilst we have only 702 from the head of the Persian Gulf to the same port, or less than one-half. In the one case we have the monsoon right ahead towards Aden ; in the other it is nearly abeam 5 132 Proceedings of Societies. to Ormuz. A difficult and dangerous navigation in the one case, and a perfectly safe one in the other. The Rey. Dr Hincxs read a paper on the Relation between the Newly- discovered Acadian Language and the Indo-European, Semitic, and Egyptian Languages ; with Remarks on the Original Values of certain Semitic Letters, and upon the State of the Greek Alphabet at different periods. Mr Gerorce V. Du Noyer, M.R.ILA., on the Remains of Early Stone-built Fortresses and Habitations in the County of Kerry. He called attention to a class of Celtic antiquities hitherto but slightly noticed by archeologists, and especially to a Celtic city discovered by him in the summer of 1856. These buildings, which occupy an extent of three miles along the southern slope of Mount Eagle, consist of cireular beehive-shaped houses, often surrounded by a massive circular wall, as if intended for warlike purposes ; or of one, two, or three separate apart- ments, more or less circular in plan, and evidently intended for residences merely. Some are yet quite perfect, but generally the roofs have fallen in. One of the largest and most important of the former kind of building is called cahernamarturagh ; and another called caheradurras, which is a triple-chambered building, offers a subject of study of the highest interest to the antiquary or inquirer into the architecture of the pre-historic inhabitants of Ireland. Admiral Fitzroy said that it was curious that at the present time, in some countries in a partly savage state, the first kind of fortification erected by the natives during the time of which traces of their conduct could be obtained,—he alluded particularly to the New Zealanders,— corresponded exactly to the Irish fortifications, which might, he considered, be looked on not only as fortifications, but also as places of worship. The construction of the New Zealand places of defence consisted of an outer circle, in which the whole party and their cattle were protected, also a watch tower, and an inner citadel. There were also numerous passages from which sallies could be made. If wood were substituted for stone, the western Irish and New Zealand fortifications would be found almost identical. The Rey. Dr Graves, F.T.C.D., remarked that the mode of archi- tecture alluded to in the valuable paper read, should not be regarded as exclusively Irish, but as Celtic generally. He was of opinion that the stone caher were built by a race, kindred, though perhaps not identical, with the race that built Pictish towers in the north of Scotland. Mr Babington mentioned that on the summit of a mountain in Carnarvonshire he had examined a building almost identical with those which were the subject of Mr Du Noyer’s paper. Mr Joun Hoae, F.R.S, read a paper on the Supposed Biblical Names of Baalbec and on the Position of Baalgad. The Rey. Cartes Russert, D.D., read a paper on the Inhabitants and Dialect of the Barony of Forth, in the County of Wexford. Mr Kennetu SurHertann, R.N., Observations on Vancouver's Island. Dr O'Donovan on the Moral and Intellectual Characteristics of the Gael of Ireland and Scotland. Dr Srterriep on an Inscription in the Language of Ancient Gaul, and on the recent Researches of Zeuss and others into that Language. Proceedings of Societies. 133 Mr Grattan of Belfast, on some Skulls discovered in an Ancient Sepul- chral Mound near Mount Wilson, in the King’s County. He commenced by explaining a well-contrived and neatly-constructed apparatus for tak- ing and recording cranial measurement, by which the exact value of any of the dimensions of the human skull can be taken and delineated with mathematical precision. Dr Humeurey Mincuin’s paper on the Macrocephali was then read. Mr Cuttread a paper on the Ethnological value of the Indo-European Element in the Language of Finland. He drew attention to the exist- tence of Indo-European words in the Finn language, and after showing the changes which took place in the forms of Swedish words on their incorporation into the Finn language, he proceeded to consider similar changes in Greek and Latin words. Accepting those already identified by Palmroth, Juslenius, Idman, Key, Wedgewood, and others, he ex- tended the list very considerably, and pointed out Sanscrit words, which showed that words of all the Indo-European dialects are common to the Finn; and as these are words of daily life, he argued that the Finn language is Indo-European; and thence that all the Trisude dialects are so too, and thus he extends the term Indo-European to comprise the whole of the Turanian dialects; and as the Indo-European tongues have many roots in common with the Semitic tongues, he considers that the whole of the three families of tongues may be grouped as of one origin when the whole earth was of one speech. Dr Livineston gaye a short Statement of Discoveries made by him in Southern Africa. Dr Wutson’s paper on the Supposed Unity of the American Race, and Mr Crawrorn’s on the Affinities of the Hebrew and Celtic, were read. Professor ANTOINE D’ABappiE£, the African traveller, gave some par- ticulars as to iis Travels in Abyssinia. He stated that the colour of the Negroes, in his opinion, was caused by the influence of a tropical sun, joined with vegetable diet. Before he went out he found from some books, and likewise learned from Dr Hodgson, that the eastern Negro had a large facial angle, and was much more intelligent than the western Negro. When he asked the natives of Ethiopia what a Negro was, they always said his skin is black, his heel protruding, he had a deep furrow near the top of his head, and his hair was no longer than his little finger. Both the Ethiopians and Negroes agreed in saying that their origin was from the east, that they crossed by the Isthmus of Bab-el-Mandeb—not the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, but the Isthmus—before their Hercules cut it through, as the Hercules of the Europeans did the Straits of Gibraltar. The Negroes admitted that the white men were their superiors. He had that opinion chiefly from children. But even the red men of Ethiopia admitted the superiority of the whites. Both Negroes and Red Ethiopians say that the Negro race resulted from the curse of God, and the direct interference of the Almighty. They say that all men were born white formerly, and they point out that they are still born white, even amongst themselves. He found two races living close by each other in the same cli- mate, separated only by a few miles of mere ground—the Haggo and the Belaw race. The Belaws, according to their tradition, came from the Turks, and they still have Turkish names among them. Their appear- ance was European, but they lived on vegetable diet, and they were strictly 134 Proceedings of Societies. black. They had even introduced Turkish into the Sematee language, which they used. The Haggo tribe eat milk and flesh, and there was not a black Haggo to be seen, and the same fact he had noticed on the southern borders of Ethiopia. He had known, on the upper table-land of Kthiopia, persons who had become black on being cured from a particular kind of disease, and he had seen them grow black beneath the eyes. There was something peculiar in the Ethiopian air, which sometimes thickened so much, even when there was no clouds, and when the atmo- sphere was perfectly dry, thata mountain some thousand feet high, could not be seen a few miles off. Such air, he thought, must have a peculiar influence on the skin, especially of a race living in it for many genera- tions. He found that on the hands of the Negroes there was not the line which runs from the wrist to the middle finger, and he only found it amongst the nobility of the Galla tribes, who pretend that they are sprung from a white man, whom he supposed to be a Portuguese. None of this tribe could marry a relation~ nearer than the thirteenth degree. He found that these were the only race of men in the country stronger than himself; all the rest were weaker. Amongst the Danahil they always married their nearest kin, and they were each fallen away morally and physically. The Yeman sore, it was remarked, healed quite black in Africa, and remained black for months. These were the chief facts he had to commemorate ; but the formation of races was a thing unknown. He found sometimes in the same family black, red, and almost white persons. Section G.— MECHANICAL SCIENCE. C. Vienotrs, Esq., read a paper on the Adaptation of Suspension Bridges to Sustain the Passage of Railway Trains. The subject was comprised under the following heads :—1st, the maximum load to pass the bridge; 2d, the velocity of the train; 3d, the strength of the chain; 4th, the rigidity of the platform; 5th, prevention of undulation, vibration, and of oscillation. The novelty of the author’s inquiry in the matters he adduced was confined to the question of the rigidity of the platform, He instanced the bridge over the River Dnieper, at Keiff, in Prussia, erected according to his designs, and stated that the successful resistance of the well-braced platform of this bridge to the effect of hurri- canes and winds had been long remarkable. This bridge was completed about four years ago, just before the commencement of the Russian war, and at a time when he little thought the result of his exertions would be so soon used in facilitating military operations of the Russians against the allied forees. He alluded to the severe tests which it had success- fully withstood in the conveyance of armies with heavy ordnance, and he came to the conclusion that the adaptation of suspension bridges to railway purposes is quite practicable ; recommending, at the same time, that the speed of the trains, when passing, should be kept moderate, as compared with ordinary speed on railways. The next paper read was by P. W. Bartow, on the Mechanar _ Effect of Combining Girders and Suspension Chains. In this paper he described experiments which he had made, with a view of determining Proceedings of Societies. 135 the applicability of the suspension principle, with a stiffened roadway, to a bridge proposed to be erected at Londonderry. He found that by a combination of a roadway of moderate stiffening with suspension chain, he was able to produce a bridge which, as a whole, was possessed of stiff- ness increased in a remarkable degree. Mr NasmytH made a report On the Ventilation of Collieries, and de- scribed a new and simple means of ventilating, which would have the effect of rendering explosion impossible by the instantaneous removal of the explosive gas. It consisted essentially of the placing at the head of the ventilating shaft a fan of enormous dimensions, not unlike those fans which are used in large factories as a substitute for bellows, worked by a steam-engine, the efiect produced being the pumping out of the air from the shaft, which, of course, necessitates a corresponding current of air into the down shaft, and a rapid and continuous current through all the galleries, as is now attempted to be done ineffectually by placing a large fire at the exit shaft. One great advantage of this plan of Mr Nasmyth’s is, that the amount of fuel necessary is about one-hundreth part of that used by the fire ventilators; there is no risk from explosion, as in the case of a fire, which is obviously exposed to such incidents, many of which he narrated; and in case of an accident from falling in, or other- wise, fresh air can be sent to the unfortunate sufferers below, because of the machine being placed at the top of, and altogether out of, the mine, and therefore beyond the reach of injury. Mr J. Macerecor read a paper on Early Modes of Propelling Ships. Mr J. Scorr Russetu proceeded to lay before the section some of the mechanical details of the construction of the great ship now building at his establishment at Millwall (the Great Eastern steamship). The first point related to the peculiarity of her great size; the second, on which her merits or demerits as a piece of naval architecture depended, was the general structure or lines of the ship; the third point would be the distribution of materials in the construction of the ship, so as to obtain the safest and strongest possible structure with the minimum of materials ; and the last point would be the mechanical arrangements for her pro- pulsion. In every case the smallest ship that would supply the conve- nience of trade was the right ship to build. The Great Eastern was the smallest ship capable of doing the work she was intended to do; and he believed that if she answered the-purpose for which she was designed, she would continue to be the smallest ship possible for her voyage. It was found by experience that no steamship could be worked profitably which was of less size than a ton to a mile of the voyage she was to perform, carrying herowncoal. ‘Thus,aship intended to ply between England and America would not pay permanently unless she were of 2500 or 3000 tons burden. In like manner, ifa vessel were intended to go from this country to Australia or India without coaling on going out, but taking her coals with her, she would require to be 13,000 tons burden; and turning to the case before them, it would be found that the big ship was a little short of the proper size. Her veyage to Australia and back would be 25,000 miles; her tonnage, therefore, should be 25,000 tons, whereas its actual amount was 22,000 tons. The idea of making a ship large enough to earry her own coals for a voyage to Australia and back again was the idea of a man famous for large ideas—Mr Brunel. Wherever they 136 Proceedings of Societies. found a steam-vessel with a high reputation for speed, economy of fuel, and. good qualities at sea, he would undertake to say that they would find she was constructed on the wave principle. Now, the first thing to be done in building a steam-vessel was to make a caleulation of the size of the mid-ship section in the water. In sailing from one place to another, it was necessary to excavate a canal out of the water large enough to allow the whole body of the ship to pass through. The problem was how to do that most economically, and this was effected by making the canal as narrow and as shallow as possible, so that there would be the smallest quantity of water possible to excavate. Therefore it was that the ship- builder endeavoured to obtain as small a mid-ship section as he could, and that had been effected in the case of the big ship, whose mid-ship section was small—not small absolutely, but small in proportion, In in- creasing the tonnage of a ship three things are to be considered—the pay- ing power, the propelling power, and the dimensions. Mr Russell then entered into a calculation to show that while he doubled the money- earning power of a ship by increasing its size, he only increased its mid- ship section by 50 per cent. For instance, a ship of 2500 tons would have 500 feet of excavation through the water to do; the big ship had 2000 feet of excavation, and the lineal dimensions of the one were to the lineal dimensions of the other as 1 to 2°1. The excavation to be done by the big ship in relation to that to be done by the small ship was as 2000 to 500 feet, or four to one ; but the carrying power was as 25,000 to 2500. To propel the big ship they had a nominal horse power of 2500, while to propel the smaller vessel there was a nominal horse power of 500; so that the big ship would be worked quite as economically as the small one. Referring, again, to the wave line, he would suppose that it was given as a problem to any one to design a ship on the wave prin- ciple. The first thing to be done was to settle the speed at which the ship was intended to go. If the speed were fixed at ten miles an hour, a reference to the table of the wave principle would show that in order to effect that object the length of the ship’s bows ought to be about 60 feet, and of her stern about 40. Ifa larger vessel were required, say a ship of 130 feet long, there would be nothing more to do than to put a middle body of 30 feet in length between the bow and the stern. Having then made the width of the ship in accordance with the mid-ship section agreed upon, it would be necessary to draw what was known as the wave line on both sides of the bow, and the wave line of the second order on both sides of the stern. Constructed in this manner, and propelled by the ordinary amount of horse-power, the ship would sail precisely ten miles an hour. They could go slower than ten miles an hour if necessary, and in doing so they would economise fuel, in consequence of the diminished resistance of the water, whereas there would be a vastly increased resistance if an attempt were made to drive the steamer more than ten miles an hour. Now, with respect to the big ship. For the speed at which it was in-= tended to drive the Great Eastern, it was found that the length of the bow should be 330 feet, the length of the stern 220 feet, of the middle body 120, and of the screw propeller 10 feet, making in all 680 feet in length. The lines on which she was constructed were neither more nor less than an extended copy of the lines of all ships which he had built since he first laid the wave principle before that Association. He would Proceedings of Societies. 137 next refer to the mechanical construction of the ship, the arrangement of the iron of which she was made, and the objects of those arrangements. There was this great difference between the strength of iron and of wood, that, whilst the latter was weak crossways and strong lengthways, or with the grain of the timber, iron was almost equally strong either way. This had been clearly ascertained by experiments made by Mr Fairbairn and Mr M. Hodgkinson, at the request of the British Association, in whose Transactions the results were published to the world. The conse- quence was, that the ribs or frames used to strengthen wooden ships were rendered unnecessary in ship-building. Instead of the mass of wooden rubbish, which didnot strengthen the ship, and involved enormous expense, he placed inside the iron shell as many complete bulkheads as the owner permitted him to do, and then constructed in the intermediate spaces partial bulkheads, or bulkheads in the centre of which holes had been cut for the purposes of stowage. The deck was strengthened by the introduction of pieces of angle iron and other contrivances ; and, as an iron ship when weak was not weak crossways, but lengthways, he strengthened it in this direction by means of two longitudinal bulkheads, and the result was a strength and solidity which could not be obtained in any otherway. The Great Eastern had all these improvements; and, in addition, the cellular system, so successfully applied in the Britannia Bridge, had been intro- duced all round the bottom and under the deck of the ship, giving the greatest amount of strength to resist crushing that could be procured. On the Development of Heat by the Agitation of Water, by GzorcE Rennie, F.R.S., Vice-President. M. Maya was the first who announced that heat was evolved from agitated water. The second was M. Joule, who, in 1842, announced that heat was evolved by water passing through narrow tubes, and by this method each degree of heat required for its evolution a mechanical force of 770 Ibs. Subsequently, in 1845 and 1847, he arrived at a dynamical equivalent of 772 lbs. These experiments had since been confirmed by other philosophers, such as Seguin, Helmholtz, Frement, and Favre, on the Continent. In the present paper Mr Rennie stated that his attention was called to the subject by observing the evolution of heat by the sea in a storm, by the heat from water running in sluices. He therefore pre- pared an apparatus similar to a patent churn—somewhat similar to the churn adopted by M. Joule, but on a larger scale. In the first case he experimented on 50 gallons, or 500lbs. of water enclosed in a cubical box, and driven by a steam-engine, instead of a weight falling from a given height, as in M. Joule’s experiment. Secondly, on asmaller scale, by 10lbs. of water enclosed in a box. The machine or churner in the large box was driven at a slow velocity of eighty-eight revolutions per minute, and the smaller machine at the rate of 232 revolutions per minute, so that the heat given off by the water in the large box was only at the rate of 33° per hour, including the heat lost by radiation, whereas the heat evolved by the 10 gallons of water contained in the small box, agitated at 282 revolutions, was 56° of Fahrenheit. per hour. Thus, the tempera- ture of the water in the large box was raised from 60° to 144°, and the temperature of the water in the small box to the boiling point. As an illus- tration, an egg was boiled hard in six minutes. The mechanical equiva- lent in the first case was found to approximate very nearly to that of M. 138 Proceedings of Societies. Joule, but in the latter case it was considerably above his equivalent, arising, very probably, from the difficulty of measuring accurately the retarding forces. Mr Rennie concluded his paper by remarking the great importance of the subject in mechanical science, and which had attracted the attention of the most eminent physical philosophers of the age, and particularly of the Royal Society of Berlin, which had offered a large prize for the accurate solution of the question. Mr B. Sroney read a paper on the Form of Entrances to Tidal Basins. The chief points to be arrived at in constructing a dock or tidal basin were—lIst, facility of ingress and egress; 2d, freedom from silting up. To these may be added, 3d, economy of quay room; and 4th, facilities for the land traffic in connexion with the shipping. These _requisites were, he believed, in a great measure fulfilled in the form of basin and entrance which he now advocated, viz.,—a lozenge, a trapezium, or arectangle, whose width was equal to the breadth of two vessels, together with sufficient space between them for another vessel to turn with facility, say from 350 to 400 feet between the walls for vessels of ordinary length. The entrance was at the lower end, and sloped, so that a ship could pass from the river into the dock without warping or any such annoyance and delay. Similarly, on leaving, a vessel, when once her head was round, could pass through with as much ease as at entrance, and without risk of being carried by the current against the lower pier-head. Every locality would, of course, require a distinct modification of the general principles described. Mr Frrru read a paper on the Construction of Macadamized Roads. Mr G. Moresworrtu read a paper on a Tangent-wheel as a Hydraulic Motor. Mr W.F. Dopps on Improvements in Iron and Steel, and their Appli- cation to Railway and other Purposes. By the improvements of the author, the furnaces for conversion are so constructed that they can be charged and discharged without reducing the temperature to any great extent, rendering it unnecessary for the men to enter the furnaces, excepting when stopped for the purpose of repairs. The malleable iron in the furnace is placed as in the ordinary method—the charcoal being mixed with a small percentage of lime and alkaline matter (limestone and soda ash by preference, being cheaper than any other), rendering the process of conversion more rapid—the heat in the furnace is not required nearly so strong as by the commom mode—and the time required for the com- plete conversion of the iron into steel is only from three to five days, being a saving of at least 60 per cent. in the amount of coal used in the process, and a saving in time of nearly fourteen days; so that one furnace, con- taining an equal amount of iron as an ordinary furnace, would be capable of converting from three to four times the quantity in the same time. The cost of the converting material is only 5 per cent. dearer than char- coal, and the quality of the steel made from any class of iron is much supe- rior to the steel made from the same iron by the ordinary method. Again, the saving is further made apparent by the fact that less area of ground is required for doing a certain quantity of work, only one-third the num- ber of furnaces being required, and the cost of the improved furnace being 20 per cent. less than those generally in use. The improvements also ee Proceedings of Societies. 139 extend (by the use of the same furnace and converting materials) to the partial conversion of iron into steel, whereby the surfaces only are made into steel (which is applicable to numerous articles where the cost of steel precludes its use)—the depth of steel being generally governed by the length of time the iron or manufactured articles are left in the fur- nace to the action of the converting agent. Mr A. Henperson read a report on the Statistics of Gua-Boats. Mr Rozert Matter read a communication on the Construction of the 36-imch Mortars made by order of the Government during the late Russian war. The problem to be solved was the best mode of dealing with masses of earth and masonry in fortifications which were so large as to resist their ordinary ordnance. How could the range of projectiles be so increased that the ships employed in throwing could be comparatively out of reach of the guns of the fortress? He found that the largest shells used in modern warfare were 13-inch shells, weighing from 180 to 200 lbs., containing 9 lbs. of powder, and having a maximum range of 4700 yards. Such a shell penetrated about three feet into a mound of earth, but was incapable of piercing a wall of masonry twenty inches thick, save by reiterated blows. It occurred to him that if they could project a shell of much greater weight, containing mere powder, and with an enormously increased projectile power, they would be able to effect the demolition of fortifications with greater ease and rapidity. He therefore proposed a shell of three feet in diameter, which would contain about 500 lbs. of powder, and have an increased range. This would give an enor- mously increased power of demolition. Such shells entering into the midst of a fortification would act like a mine or series of mines, ex- ploding with great force, and causing an immense destruction of masonry. He calculated that a shell of that description would have a penetrative power into compacted earth of fifteen feet, and that the range might be probably increased by as much as twice that of the 13-inch shell, proving an instrument of destruction immeasurably superior to anything which they already possessed. It appeared a necessary condition to this pro- blem that the mortar should be constructed in several pieces, because so large an instrument could not be forged without sustaining flaws in the process of cooling. Mr James O_pHamread the continuation ofa report read in 1853, on the Rise and Progress and Present Position of Steam Navigation in Hull. Mr T. Strver, U.S., on the Importance of Regulating the Speed of Marine Engines. There was exhibited a model governor, constructed upon a new principle, and possessing this advantage over others, that it was not in the least affected by the pitching of the vessel. Mr James Barron proceeded to describe the Principles upon which the Boyne Viaduct had been constructed, and, in explanation of his state- ment, referred to a large model of the viaduct. The dimensions of the work were—height above high-water mark, 90 feet ; opening of the centre span, 204 feet ; and of the two side spans, 140 feet each. Professor THomson made a statement on Machinery for Laying Sub- marine Telegraph Cables. ‘Mr Anprew S. Hart, F.T.C.D., read a paper on the Effect of the Re- sistance of the Water to an Extended Cable. ¢# 140 Proceedings of Societies. Mr H. Wricut communicated a paper by Palestrini on his Sub- marine Electric Telegraph Cable. Mr J. 8. Warp communicated a paper from J. Brackenridge, on the Working and Ventilation of Coal Mines. i i James Murray read a paper on the Laying of Submarine Telegraph aves. The Chairman remarked that, assuming the cable to be of the right description, he believed there was sufficient mechanical talent in this country and in America-to construct such machinery as would pay out the cable safely. Mr Neyiite read a communication with reference to the Flow of Water through Circular Pipes. Mr B. A. Murray made some observations on the Spinning of Silks from the Cocoon, and exhibited a model of the machinery by which the new process was effected. He said that silk spun in this manner was perfectly free from knots, and, consequently much superior to the article produced by the old system ; in addition it caused a considerable saving of labour. Mr J. Haves made some observations on the Mode of Rendering Peat Economically Available as a Fuel, and as a Source of Illuminating Gas. Mr Tuomas Moy read a communication on Improvements in the Work- ing of Steam-Engines, and on the Philosophy of the Wave-Line System. Dr Gray on a New Railway Signal, which had been tested very satisfactorily upon the Midland Great Western Railway. Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. On the Varieties and Mode of Preservation of thé Fossils known as Sternbergie, by J. W. Dawson, F.G.S.—The fossils which have been named Sternbergiz, and sometimes Artisiz, are usually mere casts in clay or sand, having a transversely wrinkled surface, and sometimes an ex- ternal coaly coating, and traces of internal coaly partitions. They are found in the coal formation rocks of most countries, and very abundantly in those of Nova Scotia. Until the recent discoveries of Corda and Williamson, they were objects of curious and varied conjecture to geolo- gists and botanists, and were supposed to indicate some very extraordi- nary and anomalous vegetable structure. They are now known to be casts of the piths or internal medullary cavities of trees, and the genera to which some of them belong have been pointed out. Many interesting truths with respect to them, both in their geological and botanical rela- tions, still, however, remain to be developed; and in the present paper I propose to offer some further contributions toward their history, and the geological inferences deducible from it. In a paper communicated to the Geological Society of London, in 1846, to which Professor Williamson, in his able memoir in the Man- Proceedings of Societies. 141 chester Transactions,* assigns the credit of first suggesting that connec- tion between these curious fossils and the conifers, which he has so successfully worked out, I stated my belief that those specimens of Stern- bergiz which occur with only thin smooth coatings of coal, might have belonged to rush-like endogens ; while those to which fragments of fossil wood were attached, presented structures resembling those of conifers. These last were not, however, so well preserved as to justify me in speaking very positively as to their coniferous affinities. They were also comparatively rare; and I was unable to understand how casts of the pith of conifers could assume the appearance of the naked or thinly-coated Sternbergie. Additional specimens, affording well-preserved coniferous tissue, have removed these doubts, and, in connection with others in a less perfect state of preservation, have enabled me more fully to com- prehend the homologies of this curious structure, and the manner in which specimens of it have been preserved independently of the wood. My most perfect specimen is one from the coal-field of Pictou (fig. 1). It is cylindrical, but somewhat flat- tened, being 1,2, inch in its least diameter, and 1,%, inch in its greatest. The diaphragms or trans- verse partitions appear to have been continuous, though now somewhat | broken. They are rather less than ‘ zith of an inch apart, and are more regular than is usual in these fos- sils. The outer surface of the pith, except where covered by the remains Fig. 1. of the wood, is marked by strong Pe ie wrinkles, corresponding to the dia- Portion of Sternbergia (nat. size), (a) Re- phragms. The little transverse ridges mains of woody fibre. are in part coated with a smooth tissue similar to that of the diaphragms, and of nearly the same thickness. When traced around the circumference, or toward the centre, the - partitions sometimes coalesce and become double, and there is a tendency to the alternation of wider and narrower wrinkles on the surface. In these characters, and in its general external aspect, the specimen per- fectly resembles many of the ordinary naked Sternbergie. On microscopic examination the partitions are found to consist of con- densed pith, which, from the compression of the cells, must have been of a firm bark-like texture in the recent plant. The wood attached to the surface, which consists of merely a few small splinters, is distinctly coniferous, with two and three rows of discs on the cell walls. It is not distinguishable from that of Pinites (Dadoxylon) Brandlingi, of Witham, or from that of the specimens figured by Professor Williamson, The wood and transverse partitions are perfectly silicified, and of a dark-brown colour, The partitions are coated with small colourless crystals of quartz and a little iron pyrites, and the remaining spaces are filled with crystalline lamine of sulphate of barytes. Unfortunately this fine specimen does not possess enough of its woody * Vol. ix. 1851. 142 Proceedings of Societies. tissue to show the dimensions or age of the trunk or branch which con- tained this enormous pith. It proves, however, that the pith itself has not been merely dried and cracked transversely by the elongation of the stem, as appears to be the case in the Butternut (Juglans cinerea), and some other modern trees; but that it has been condensed into a firm epidermis-like coating and partitions, apparently less destructible than the woody tissue which invested them. In this specimen the proctss of condensation has been carried much farther than in that described by Professor Williamson, in which a portion of the unaltered pith remained between the Sternbergia-cast and the wood. It thus more fully explains the possibility of the preservation of such hollow-chambered piths, after the disappearance of the wood. It also shows that the coaly coating investing such-detached pith-casts is not the medullary sheath, properly so called, but the outer part of the condensed pith itself, The examination of this specimen having convinced me that the struc- ture of Sternbergiz implies something more than the transverse crack- ing observed in Juglandacez, I proceeded to compare it with other piths, and especially with that of Cecropia peltata, a West Indian tree, of the natural family Artocarpacee, a specimen of which was kindly presented to me by Professor Balfour of Edinburgh, and which I believe has been noticed by Dr Fleming, in a paper to which I have not had access.* This recent stem is two inches in diameter. Its medullary cylinder is 8ths of an inch in diameter, and is lined throughout by a coating of dense whitish pith tissue, 315th of an inch in thickness, This condensed pith is of a firm corky texture, and forms a sort of internal bark lining the medullary cavity. Within this the stem is hollow, but is crossed by arched partitions, convex upward, and distant from each other from $ths to 1}th inch. These partitions are of the same white corky tissue with the pith lining the cavity; and on their surfaces, as well as on that of the latter, are small Fig. 2. patches of brownish large-celled pith, being the remains of | | | (I | P that which has disappeared Hi at | i from the interyening spaces, | | i ; | i Each partition corresponds {f)||||\||| | Mh MATL with the upper margin of one % 4 a of the large triangular leaf fongitudinal section of recent Cecropia scars, arranged in quincun- peltata (nat. size). (a) Bark; (6) Wood ; cial order on the surface of the (¢) Pithlining medullary cavity ; (¢) Diaphragm stem. (fig. 2.) onus Inferring from these appearances that this plant contains two distinct kinds of pith tissue, differing in duration, and probably in function, I obtained, for comparison, specimens of living plants of this and allied families. In some of these, and especially in a species labelled Ficus tm- perialis from Jamaica, I found the same structure; and in the young branches, before the central part of the pith was broken up, it was evident that the tissue was of two distinct kinds—one forming the outer coating and transverse partitions opposite the insertions of the leaves, and retaining its vitality for several years at least ; the other occupying the intervening * Dr Fleming’s remarks occur in the Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh.—Edit. Phil. Jour. Proceedings of Societies. 143 spaces or internodes, of looser texture, speedily drying up, and ultimately disappearing. Another variety of the Sternbergia-like pith structure appears in a rapidly growing exogenous tree with opposite leaves, cultivated here, and I believe a species of Paullinia. In this trunk there are thick nodal partitions, and the intervening spaces are hollow, and lined with firm corky pith, with its superficial portion condensed into a sort of epi- dermis, and marked with transverse wrinkles; a cast of which would resemble those Sternbergize which have merely wrinkles without diaphragms. fi The trunks above noticed are of rapid growth, and have large leaves ; and it is probable that the more permanent pith tissue of the medullary lining and partitions serves to equalize the distribution of the juices of the stem, which might otherwise be endangered by the tearing of the ordinary pith in the rapid elongation of the internodes. A similar struc- ture has evidently existed in the coal formation conifers of the genus Dadoxylon, and possibly they also were of rapid growth, and furnished with very large or abundant leaves. I have no means of ascertaining to what extent this structure may characterize certain botanical families, nor what gradations it may present between the mere transverse cracking observed in the trunks of the Butternut and other Juglandacee, and the perfect partitions developed in Cecropia. Professor Gray states that the transverse pith structure is characteristic of the North American trees of the genus Juglans but _ wanting in the closely-allied genus Carya—a parallel case with its appa- rent restriction to one genus, or perhaps species, of extinet conifers. It is quite possible that some of the more rapidly growing and thicker- branched species of southern conifers still present similar structures. The axes of cones also deserve study in this respect, since I have observed that the pith of the cone of Pinus Strobus shows, though obscurely, a tendency to the formation of transverse dissepiments. Applying the facts above stated to the different varieties or species of Sternbergia, we must, in the first place, connect with these fossils such plants as the Pinites medullaris of Witham. I have not seen a longi- tudinal section of this fossil, but should expect it to present a transverse structure of the Sternbergia type. ‘The first specimen described by Pro- fessor Williamson represents a second variety, in which the transverse structure is developed in the central part of the pith, but not at the sides, In my Pictou specimen the pith has wholly disappeared, with the excep- tion of the denser outer coating and transverse plates. All these are dis- tinctly coniferous, and the differences that appear may be due merely to age, or more or less rapid growth. Other specimens of Sternbergia want the internal partitions, which may, however, have been removed by decay ; and these often retain very imperfect traces, or none, of the investing wood. In the case of those which retain any portion of the wood, sufficient to render probable their coniferous character, the surface-markings are similar in character to those of my Pictou specimen, but often vary greatly in their dimensions, some having fine transverse wrinkles, others having these wide and coarse. Of those specimens which retain no wood, but only a thin coaly invest- ment representing the outer pith, many cannot be distinguished by their 144 Proceedings of Societies. superficial markings from those that are known to be coniferous, and they occasionally afford evidence that we must not attach too much importance to the character of their markings. A very instructive specimen of this kind from Ohio, with which I have been favoured from Professor New- berry, has in a portion of its thicker end very fine transverse wrinkles, and in the remainder of the specimen much coarser Wrinkles. This difference marks, perhaps, the various rates of growth in successive seasons, or the change of the character of the pith in older portions of the stem. I have not been so fortunate as to find any of the Sternbergia or Artisia casts associated with the wood of plants allied to Lepidodendron, as observed by M. Corda. ‘There are, however, in the collection of Pro- fessor Newberry, as well as in my own, specimens which present very considerable differences in their external characters from those of the varieties known to have been coniferous, and which may be the axes of such plants. The state of preservation of the Sternbergia casts in reference to the woody matter which surrounded them, presents, in a geological point of view, many interesting features. Professor Williamson’s specimen I suppose to be unique in its showing all the tissues of the branch or trunk in a good state of preservation. More frequently, only fragments of the wood remain, in such a condition as to evidence an advanced state of decay ; while the bark-like medullary lining remains. In other specimens the coaly coating investing the cast sends forth flat expansions on either side, as if the Sternbergia had been the mid- Fig. 3. rib of a long, thick leaf. This appearance, at one time very perplexing to me, I suppose to result from the entire removal of the wood by & decay, and the flattening of the bark, so that a | perfectly flattened specimen, like that in fig. 3 may be all that remains of a coniferous branch nearly two inches in diameter. - A still greater amount of decay of woody tissue is evidenced by those Sternbergia casts which are thinly coated with structureless coal. These must, Flattened Sternbergia, with . compressed bark (nat. size). in many cases, represent trunks and branches which have lost their bark and wood by decay; while the tough, cork- like chambered pith drifted away to be imbedded in a separate state. This might readily happen with the pith of Cercopia ; and perhaps that of these coniferous trees may have been more durable; while the wood, like the sap-wood of many Fig. 4, modern pines, may have been susceptible of rapid decay, and liable, when exposed to alter- nate moisture and dryness, to break up into those rectangular blocks, which are seen in the Flattened trunk, one foot in diameter, with decaying trunks of modern coni- Sternbergia. (a) Portion of Sternbergia cast. fers, and are so abundantly scattered over the surfaces of coal, and its associated beds, in the form of mineral charcoal. Some specimens of Sternbergia appear to show that they have existed Proceedings of Societies. 145 in the interior of trunks of considerable size. The best instance of this that I have found is that presented in fig. 4, from the South Joggins, and which appears to show the remains of a tree a foot in diameter, now flattened and converted into coal, but retaining a distinct cast of a wrinkled Sternbergia pith. Are we to infer from these facts that the wood or the trees of the genus Dadoxylon was necessarily of a lax and perishable texture? Its structure, and the occurrence of the heart-wood of huge trunks of similar character in a perfectly mineralized condition, would lead to a different conclusion ; and I suspect that we should rather regard the mode of occurrence of Sternbergia as a caution against the too general inference from thé state of preservation of trees of the coal formation, that their tissues were very destructible, and that the beds of coal must consist of such perish- able materials. The coniferous character of the Sternbergie, in connec- tion with their state of preservation, seems to strengthen a conclusion, at which I have been arriving from microscopic and field examinations of the coal and carbonaceous shales, that the thickest beds of coal, at least in Eastern America, consist in great part of the flattened bark of conifer- ous, sigillaroid and lepidodendroid trees, the wood of which has perished by slow decay, or appears only in the state of fragments and films of mineral charcoal. This is a view, however, on which I do not now wish to insist, until 1 have further opportunities of comfirming it by observa- tion. The most abundant locality of Sternbergia with which I am acquainted, occurs in the neighbourhood of the town of Pictou, immediately below the bed of erect calamites described in the Journal of the Geological Society (vol. vii, p. 194). The fossils are found in interrupted beds of very coarse sandstone, with calcareous concretions, imbedded in a thick reddish- brown sandstone. These gray patches are full of well-preserved calamites, which have either grown upon them, or have been drifted in clumps with their roots entire. The appearances suggest the idea of patches of gray sand rising from a bottom of red mud, with clumps of growing calamites, which arrested quantities of drift plants, consisting principally of Stern- bergia and fragments of much decayed wood and bark, now in the state. of coaly matter too much penetrated by iron pyrites to show its structure distinctly. We thus, probably, have the fresh-growing calamites en- tombed along with the debris of the old decaying conifers of some neigh- bouring shore; furnishing an illustration of the truth that the most ephe- meral and perishable forms may be fossilized and preserved, contempo- raneously with the decay of the most durable tissues. The rush of a single summer may he preserved with its minutest strie unharmed, when the giant pine of centuries has crumbled into mould. It is so now, and it was so equally in the carboniferous period. NEW SERIES.— VOL. VII. NO, I.—JANUARY 1858. K 146 Proceedings of Societies. Proceedings of the Royal Institution of Cornwall. Remarkable Ancient British Caves near Penzance. By R, Epwarps, Junior—The following is the most remarkable of all ancient British eaves hitherto discovered in Cornwall. Half of a mile W.S.W. of Caér Bran, and four and a-half miles W. by S. of Penzance, there is, in the village of Chapel Euny, a cave, con- sisting for the most part of a deep trench, walled with stones, and roofed with huge slabs. It extends 30 feet from N.N.W. to S.S.E., and then branches eastward, and probably also to the S.orS.W. So far it accords with the description of an ordinary British cave. But its floor (as I was informed by the miner who opened it about three years ago) was well paved with large granite blocks, beneath which, in the centre, ran a narrow gutter or bolt, made, I imagine, for admitting the external air into the innermost part of the building, from whence, after flowing back through the cave, it escaped by the caye’s mouth—a mode of ventilation practised immemorially by the miners in this neighbour- hood, when driving adits or horizontal galleries under ground. Another peculiarity is still more remarkable. Its higher or northern end consisted of a circular floor, 12 feet in diameter, covered with a dome of granite, two-thirds of which are still exposed to view; and my informant had observed a still greater portion of the dome-roofed cham- ber. Every successive layer of the stones forming the dome overhangs considerably the layer immediately beneath it; so that the stones gra- dually approach each other as they rise, until the topstones must origi- nally have completed the dome; not, however, like the key-stones of an arch, but by resting horizontally on the immediately subjacent circular layer. These topstones, and probably the layer next under them, had all fallen into the cave before the miner opened it; some being so large that he could not remove them until he had broken them by blasting. He found no pottery, nor anything else in the cave. The height of the present wall of the dome is about 6 feet above the lowest part I could see; how much lower the original floor might have been, I could not ascertain. The cave, although partially opened, would still occupy a labourer some days before the stones and rubbish could be removed for its complete examination, This is probably the cave referred to by the late Rey. John Buller fifteen years ago, in his account of St Just (p. 82), but which then had “ not been examined.” Another British cave, not even referred to in any publication, is to be seen at Chyoster, nearly three miles north of Penzance, the walls of which, instead of being perpendicular, are constructed on the same principle as the inmost part of the cave at Chapel Euny, so that the tops of these walls, which support the huge slabs forming the roof, are much nearer each other than their bases. This I observed at the higher or northern end of the cave, which remains undisturbed; whereas the walls and roof of the lower part, to the extent of several yards, have been re- moved. The higher part of this excavation has not yet been completely explored; and it possibly may contain a dome-roofed chamber like that Proceedings of Societies. 147 now described. Each cave formed part of a British village, that of old Chyoster being decidedly in the best state of preservation of all the British villages in this neighbourhood. It is due to the Cambrian Archzological Association to mention, that what I have above communicated will appear in their next quarterly Journal as part of ‘my paper on British Villages, being the fourth of a series, which I am writing at their request, on the Celtic Antiquities of the Lands and District. (Read 30th October 1857.) Note on Subterranean Temperature observed in Chili. By Wii1t1aM Jory Henwoop, F.R.S., F.G.S., Member of the Geological Society of France, &c. &c.—The mountain of Chanarcillo, about fifty miles from the Pacific, and the same distance south-east of Copiapo, the chief city in Atacama, the northern province of Chili, rises about 4000 feet above the sea, and rather more than 2000 above the undulating plain which isolates it from the lower Andes, It presents a steep escarpment to- wards the north-east, but on the south-west it slopes gradually to the plain. In this declivity the rich and well-known silver-mines of the district are wrought. The position of the mines presents every facility for natural drainage; whilst the less than half a dozen showers—the only fall of rain during the year—scarcely penetrate more than a few inches into the parched soil. No water, therefore, occurs in any of the mines; and the surface is destitute alike of springs and of vegeta- tion. The rocks of which the mountain is composed consist of three beds of grayish limestone (destitute, so far as I observed, of organic remains), —which alternate with two of hornblendic rock, which, for brevity sake, may be called greenstone. All of them are equally traversed by three separate and distinct series of Zodes, which suffer neither interruption of course, alteration of dip or dimensions, or indeed any change, except of course in mineral composition, on passing from one rock into another. The chief, or most productive of them, are the Colorada, which bears about 20° E. of N., and W. of S., and dips towards the N.W.; the Descubridora, which bears about N. and S., and dips towards the W. ; and the Candelaria, which bears about 35° N. of E., and S. of W., and dips towards the N. or N.W. On the course of each of these lodes several mines in succession have been opened; and each of them is oc- casionally accompanied by branches, which sometimes reunite with the parent vein, and sometimes dwindle, and ultimately die away in the (country) adjoining rock. It is in the limestones alone that these lodes and branches are metalliferous ; in the greenstones they are all alike un- productive. Several cross-veins traverse, and usually heave the lodes, but the strata are displaced in a single instance only, in the mine of San Franciseo Viejo. Having lately visited Chili professionally, Iembraced the opportunity thus afforded me to make a few observations on subterranean temperature, —a subject which has not, I believe, hitherto attracted attention there. The deepest mine below the surface of the district is the Colorada ; of which the mouth is 3656 feet above the sea, and about 1750 above the surrounding low ground; its depth is 1500 feet (about 250 fathoms), its deepest point, therefore, has not yet reached down to the level of the plain. My observations were made in holes, which, by the kindness of K2 148 Proceedings of Societies. Edwin Price Waring, Esq., the resident superintendent, had been bored about two feet into the rock near the Jodes, some days before my visit, to give time for the dissipation of any heat which might have been gene- rated by the boring ; they were, however, carefully plugged during the interval, to avoid, as far as possible, any influence from the air circu- lating through the mine, which is admirably ventilated, even to the bottom. As my stay in Chili was limited to a few weeks during the depth of the southern winter, I do not know the range of temperature throughout the year at the surface;* nor could I ascertain at what depth in the earth climatic changes cease to be appreciable. Tomperstare Tomperture ee a anal Part of the Mine. eee * lating through feet deep Tes a ; locality. 48 fathoms. First limestone rock, between Waring’s lode E. and Co- ° ' eee. lorada lode W. ~ ’ 64 8 66 0 uke) eee Second limestone rock, be- tween Waring’s lode E. and Colorada lode W. : 67 5 66 76 LOO %, Second limestone rock, at the bottom of shaft, . 3 67 (tT) 65 0 bi aa ee Third limestone rock, W. wall of Colorada lode. Unfre- quented part of mine, N. 72 0 TCG i Third limestone rock, E. wall of Colorada lode. Fre- quented part of mine, S. 74 5 76 5 Although these results exhibit undoubted evidence that the temperature * Temperature of air in the shade, at the surface of the Colorada mine 3656 feet above the Pacific ;— 1857. 7 AM. 9 A.M, Noon. 3 P.M. 6 P.M. 9 P.M. June 9 58°5 62°8 3 10 a 61° 66°5 61°6 56°5 50°5 fer ans 46°8 53°8 i: if 48°8 es eS 45° ee aS Rt e: jie) ) B0eb 43°8 ae oe 44° 49° ead 38096 42° 48° 46° 49° 41°8 5 16) 49°8 43°8 ie Oe Pi —— Means, 44°9 49°3 56°1 53°8 47°5 45°8 If in the absence of observations at midnight and at 3 A.M., we assume the mean temperatures at those hours to be 45°, which at this period cannot be very wide of the truth, we have an average of about 48°5 during the 24 hours, We cannot fail to notice the conspicuous change of climate which took place on the 11th of June; on that day a thermometer exposed to the sun at noon stood at 66°8. + This observation, made at the bottom of the shaft, where the draught is of uncommon velocity, ought, perhaps, to be excluded from the general average. Proceedings of Societies. 149 increases as we descend, they also present anomalies difficult, if not im- possible, to reconcile. They may, however, possibly be due to some dis- turbance of the natural equilibrium between the respective temperatures of the rocks which form the walls, and of the air circulating through the interior of the mine; dependent, perhaps, on its greater or less velocity, which may make each in turn the vehicle and the recipient of heat. The ratio of progressive increase in temperature is much slower in the case before us than in the schistose, or even in the granitic rocks of Cornwall and Devon )* a fact of which, as far as relates to the stratified rocks of some other countries, I became long since aware, from a compa- rison of my own observations here, with those of others elsewhere; but whether it has been already published I do not, at present, recol- lect; nor can I at this moment refer to the details on which that con- clusion was grounded. A much wider field of research must, however, be examined before we can venture to pronounce on its generality. What function, if any, in the economy of nature, may be connected with the contact of two series of rocks, in which the progressive elevation of temperature is so different for equal increments of depth as it is in the granite and slate rocks of this country; or with—as in the order of geological sequence—the interposition of a formation in which that pro- gression is a rapid one, between two others—differing as well from it as from each other in structure and compositiont—in which the ratio is much slower, is perhaps an obscure and a difficult inquiry ; but it must be an interesting, and may be an important one. German Scientific Meeting at Bonn in 1857. The thirty-third annual meeting of German Naturalists and Physicians was held this year in Bonn, and having had an opportunity of witnessing a portion of the proceedings, it has occurred to me that a short account of what came under my notice may possess some interest for at least a por- tion of your readers. You are aware that it is to these meetings that the plan of the British Association owes its origin. The late Professor Oken is the man to whom the Germans are indebted for their first organization, and he himself re- ceived his idea from Switzerland. In noticing the proceedings of the Swiss naturalists in his Isis, Oken frequently took occasion to represent the advantages which Germany might derive from similar reunions, where the members, becoming personally acquainted, could interchange their opinions, communicate and endeavour to resolve each other’s doubts, and afford each other mutual encouragement in the path of scientific inquiry, The first meeting took place at Leipzig i in 1822, but it was several years before the number of participators rose so high as thirty. The stream, however, if not broad, was deep from the outset, Gradually it became wider. "The meeting just closed, though by no means so numerously * Cornwall Geological Transactions, vol. v. 387. Edinburgh New Philoso- phical Journal, 1843. ’ + Asthe slate series does from the granite below, and from the interstrati- ‘fied limestones and greenstones above ; and as they do from each other. 150 Proceedings of Societies. attended as that held last year at Vienna, mustered to the number of nine hundred and sixty, and included many of the most eminent names of Europe in the various departments of science. In the geological sec- tion, of which I formed an unworthy member, I observed Merian, Rose, Von Carnall, Blum, Noeggerath, Murchison, Elie de Beaumont. The proceedings of the first general meeting were opened on 18th September by Professor Noeggerath, who greeted the assembly with genuine German bonhomme. His appearance reminded me of a weather- beaten column of basalt, which seemed to bid eternal defiance alike to time and to tempest. Dr Kilian then read various letters of compliment or apology, the most interesting of which was a note from Alexander von Humboldt, who had been specially invited to assist at the proceedings, but excused himself on the ground of the necessity he felt himself to be under at his advanced period of life to employ every available moment of his time in the completion of the works which he had now in progress. On Professor Noeggerath’s motion, the whole assembly rose up, with acclamation, to testify their respect for the illustrious veteran; and a telegraphic message was despatched to him on the instant, informing him of this grateful tribute of homage. Humboldt’s acknowledgment, I may here add, was received a few hours afterwards. After the proceedings had been duly opened, Professor Shultz-Shultz- enstein delivered an address on the value of the natural sciences as a means of educating the human mind. Professor Madler of Dorpat then read a contribution on the subject of the fixed stars, The motions, he said, of certain fixed stars were not compatible with the assumption of a central sun; nor did the assumption of partial systems appear admissible, inasmuch as, for the explanation of the size of the measured motions of individual fixed stars, the central masses—if such existed—must possess a mass incredibly great. The centre of gravity of the fixed sidereal sys- tem, which may possibly lie in empty space, was to be regarded as the centre of motion. If the system possessed a globular form, with a nearly uniform distribution of the masses in the interior of the globe, the period of revolution of the various masses would be of nearly similar length, so that the whole, viewed from one of the stars in conjunct motion, must appear nearly immovable. A more definite decision was to be expected only from later centuries enriched with the spoils of long series of obser- vations. The speaker considered it probable that the central point lay in the region of Taurus, perhaps in the group of the Pleiades, the appa- rent motions of which seemed best to harmonise with that assumption. Dr Hamel, of St Petersburg, then delivered a discourse, in which he endeavoured to trace the history of the invention of the Electric Tele- graph. The first telegraphic apparatus worked by galvanism was that exhibited by Soemmering on the 29th August 1809, before the Academy of Sciences at Munich, in which the mode of signalling consisted in the development of gas-bubbles from water placed in a series of glass tubes, each of which denoted‘a letter of the alphabet. Baron Schilling, attached to the Russian embassy at Munich, was a particular friend of Soemmering’s, and a frequent visitor at his laboratory in 1807 and 1808, when he was occupied with his galvanic telegraph. When Oersted, in 1820, published his important discovery, it occurred to Schilling that the instant declination of the magnetic needle on the application of a stream Proceedings of Societies. 151 of galvanism through a surrounding wire might be applied to telegraphic purposes ; and although Ampere, no doubt, so early as the autumn of 1820; had announced an application of Oersted’s discovery to telegraphy, as something that was perhaps possible, Schilling was the first to realize the idea by actually producing an electro-magnetic telegraph, simpler in construction than that which Ampére had imagined. By degrees he succeeded in producing an apparatus with which, by means of a wire several (German) miles long, he was able successfully to transmit electro- magnetic signals, previously sounding an alarm when required. His journey to Mongolia (commenced in May 1830) interrupted for a time his telegraphic labours, but he speedily resumed them upon his return home in 1832. The services of Professor Weber of Géttingen in the same cause in 1833, Dr Hamel passed over, as already known to his auditory. In May 1835 Baron Schilling left St Petersburg on a tour through Germany, France, and Holland, and he attended the meeting of German Naturalists which took place that year in Bonn. At the sitting of the Physical Section on the 23d September, of which the President for the day was Professor Muncke of Heidelberg, Schilling exhibited and explained his telegraphic apparatus, with which Muncke was greatly taken- He frequently spoke of it after his return to Heidelberg, and on the 6th March following (1836) he explained the whole thing to William Fothergill Cooke, who was then occupied at the Anatomical Museum, with Professor Tiedemann’s sanction, in the preparation of wax models for his father, then recently appointed Professor of Anatomy in the Uni- versity of Durham. Cooke, although he had never previously studied physics or electricity, was so struck with what Muncke told him, that he instantly resolved on abandoniug the work he was engaged on, and on endeavouring to introduce electro-magnetic telegraphs upon the English . railways. With this object in view he reached London on the 22d April. On the 27th February 1837 he became acquainted with Pro- fessor Wheatstone of King’s College; and early in May the two gentle- men resolved to labour in common for the introduction of the telegraph into England—an object which they successfully accomplished. On the 12th June they obtained their patent, and on the 25th July the first trial was made at the London terminus of the North-Western Railway with a wire a mile and a-quarter long. About a fortnight previously, Steinheil of Munich had placed the buildings of the Academy of Sciences in electric communication with the Observatory at Bogenhausen; and his discovery, the following year, of the possibility of bringing the galvanic current, in telegraphing through the earth, back to the battery, de- serves greater recognition than it has yet received. Schilling, on his return to St Petersburg, had renewed his efforts to turn the telegraph to useful account with more energy than ever. After a serious of experiments, he believed he had succeeded in effecting a suf- ficient isolation of the conducting wire to admit of the transmission of signals through water, and he proposed to unite Cronstadt with St Peters- burg by means of a submarine cable. He had got a rope prepared with several copper wires isolated agreeably to his instructions, when death put a stop to his labours on the 7th August 1837. In the course of the summer of that year intelligence reached Ame- rica of what had been done in Germany and England in the way of elec- 152 Proceedings of Societies. tric telegraphy. This news stimulated Samuel F. B. Morse to construct, with the assistance of Dr Dale, Professor of Chemistry, an apparatus with which he hoped te be able to telegraph. The subject was not at that time quite new to Morse. He had been twice over in Europe to improve himself in his profession as a painter; and in the course of his second homeward voyage in 1832, he had had his attention awakened to fhe pos- sibility of electro-magnetic telegraphy by Dr Jackson, his fellow-passenger on board the Sully. On the 4th September—a month after Schilling’s death—he made what he termed a “ successful attempt.” The speaker was in possession of a sketch prepared by Morse himself of the apparatus with which this successful attempt was effected. By means of a set of flat-toothed types there was impressed upon a sheet of paper, moved hori- zontally over a cylinder, a set of zigzag marks like the teeth of a saw, which were meant to denote figures. In this manner a set of numbers was presented to the eye, each denoting a certain word or number, for the ascertainment of which the receiver of the despatch required to consult a voluminous dictionary, The stripe of paper operated upon on the 4th September 1837, represented, in teeth shaped somewhat like the letter V, the following numbers, viz. :—215, 36, 2, 58, 112, 04, 01837, which, according to the dictionary, denoted “ Successful experiment with tele- graph, September 4, 1837.” This cumbrous process, of course, never came into actual use; but, notwithstanding this, Morse boldly terms himself the inventor of electric telegraphy, and dates his invention from the year 1832. Nay, more, the Supreme Court of the United States pronounced a judgment in 1854, finding that in this respect he had the priority of all Europe. It may possibly be worth while to observe that Morse is not, as seems to be commonly supposed, a Professor of Physics. In 1835 he was appointed ‘‘ Professor of the Literature of the Arts of Design” in the educational institution termed the University of New York; but he never delivered a single lecture. The instrument now known by the name of Morse’s Telegraph was brought to perfection by degrees, long subsequently to 1837, and after Morse had made two more voyages to Europe. In November 1889, Cooke and Wheatstone executed in London a contract of copartnery, and on the 12th December they gave in their specification. Their process was founded essentially on the same prin- ciple as Schilling’s, only giving the needle a vertical, instead of a hori- zontal position. In August 1839 there were completed thirteen miles— namely, from Paddington to Drayton—of a telegraphic line along the Great Western Railway, then in progress. Other extensions followed ; and in 1845 Cooke received commissions for a number of lines in various directions throughout the country. The telegraph had re- ceived asudden accession of popularity from the aid it had afforded in the discovery and apprehension of John Tawel the murderer. In 1846 Cooke succeeded in forming the Electric Telegraph Company, which after- wards amalgamated with the International. Their head station is at Lothbury, and down to the present day most of the apparatus employed by them are constructed on the principle originally applied by Schilling, though now greatly improved by Wheatstone. From these apparatus proceed 150 different wires at the least, which run below the pavement to various localities. Thus it was Baron Schilling of Lanstadt who was the first man by Proceedings of Societies. 153 whom electro-magnetic telegraphy was really applied; and it was the telegraphic seed from St Petersburg which, after finding its way vid Bonh and Heidelberg to England, struck its roots in London—roots from which a tree-has sprung up whose gigantic branches, laden with golden fruit, now stretch and ramify over land and sea, After the delivery of Dr Hamel’s address, and a few words upon the subject of it from Colonel yon Siebold and Dr Drescher, the meeting separated into the various sections, where the only business performed was the election of their respective presidents. _ On Saturday, September 19th, the proceedings of the Geological Sec- tion commenced with some observations by Dr Jager of Stuttgart, on the origin of regular forms in rocks, which he referred to processes of crys- tallization in the sedimentary masses. Dr Otto Volger of Frankfort exhibited a series of specimens with the view of demonstrating the results of his inquiries (already published) on the history of the development of mineral bodies, and the mode in which the various rocks originate. Dr Pichler of Innsbruck exhibited a geognostic map of the northern lime- stone Alps of the Tyrol, from the borders of the Vorarlberg to the borders of Salzburg, and spoke at some length upon the different for- mations. Dr Von Dechen gave information with respect to the geo- gnostical map of Rhenish Westphalia, of which eleven sections had al- ready appeared, and nine others were in course of preparation. Professor Plieninger spoke upon the difference in the formation of the teeth between the Microlestes antiquus, from the upper breccia (betwixt the Keuper and the lias) of Wurtemberg, and the Plagiaulaw of the Purbeck oolite. Herr yon dem Borne discoursed on the geology of Pomerania, referring to the alluvium, the diluvium, the tertiary strata, and the Jura forma- tions. The alluvium is found chiefly on the sandy coasts, greatly changed by currents. It is washed away from the Pomeranian, and de- posited on the Prussian coast. In the diluvium he distinguished a dis- turbed recent formation and a regularly deposited older one. On Monday (21st September) I happened to take a look in at the Physiological Section. Professor Mayer was just taking the chair, and thanking the meeting for the honour of his election. He then referred in a feeling manner to the deep loss which science and the medical art had recently sustained in the too early death of Dr Marshall Hall, who, however his claims may have been contested, was undoubtedly the author of the theory of the reflex function of the spinal marrow. Dr Mayer proceeded to notice the merits of the deceased in regard to the physiology of the nerves and the doctrine of asphyxia. In reference to the latter subject, he laid before the meeting a little work which he had received only a few weeks ago from the deceased, on the method of re- storing persons apparently drowned, and concluded by calling on the meeting, in recognition of the deceased’s services to medical science and suffering humanity, to rise from their seats and honour his memory with a sit ei terra levis. The manner in which the President's proposal was instantly responded to showed the high estimation in which our country- man was held by his brethren in Germany. On getting into the Geological section I found Gustay Rose making some observations on the gneiss which forms the north-western limit of 154 Proceedings of Societies. the granitite of the Riesengebirge, and of the granite which occurs in it: he also spoke of the relation of granite to gneiss in general. ‘The boundaries betwixt the two could, he said, be very distinctly drawn in the Riesengebirge. Last year at Vienna the learned Professor had given an account of some recent investigations which he had made in the Riesengebirge and Isergebirge, with a view to determine the exact limits betwixt granitite and granite, and assigned the reasons which had induced him to regard the former as a separate species of rock from the latter. These reasons were :—first, the distinct mineral composition — the white mica of the granite being entirely wanting; secondly, the accurate limits which can be drawn betwixt it and the granite of the Isergebirge ; and, thirdly, the circumstance that a mixture of similar composition to the granitite of the Riesengebirge and Isergebirge occurred in the most diverse localities. From the relations of the granitite to the granite, the Professor considered that the former must have pene- trated to the surface more recently than the latter. [See also a con- tribution by Rose, “‘ Ueber die zur granitgruppe gehérigen Gebirgsarten” in the first volume of the “ Zeitschrift der Deutsch-geologischen Ges- ellschaft.’’] Sir Roderick Murchison laid before the meeting the most recent pub- lications of the Geological Survey, consisting of maps, sections, &c., as illustrative of the Silurian or older paleozoic rocks, the coal measures, and the secondary and tertiary deposits; and he also referred to the re- cords of the School of Mines and the Decades of Organic Remains, which exhibited the labours of various distinguished English geologists. M. E. de Verneuil observed that, whilst Sir R. Murchison had borne such willing testimony to the distinguished merits of his colleagues, he had entirely overlooked his own services; and pointed out that, in regard especially to the School of Mines, Sir Roderick had had the greatest share in its extension and results, both through the great works which he had himself accomplished, and through what others had accomplished under his guidance and superintendence. Her Von Carnall exhibited a copy of the new edition of his geognos- tical map of Upper Silesia, and explained in what respects it differed from the first edition. He took occasion to remark that of the ironstone rocks of Upper Silesia, it was only a portion that could be regarded as middle Jurassic ; the portions of this formation lying to the north and west of Oppeln, and the Rybnik and Rattibor portions must be regarded as tertiary-miocene. Under thesestrata lay the Upper Silesian gypsum and marl rocks (tegel), with traces of salt, which were now in the course of being investigated. Professor Von Zepharovich (of Cracow), spoke of the progress that had recently been made in the knowledge of Austrian minerals, and pointed out the necessity of collecting and arranging the results of inquiries made during long periods of time in order to obtain a synoptical view of what had really been accomplished. He then exhibited a few printed sheets of a large work of this description applicable to the Austrian empire, and mentioned that the work itself would probably be published in the course of next year. He then handed to the President a piece of fossil iron from Chotzen in Bohemia. Thereupon Dr O. Volger, with reference to the aqueous origin of iron, mentioned the fact, that Herr Proceedings of Societies. 155 Von Baer had found, in a fossil tree imbedded in the turf of a floating island on the coast of Sweden, which only occasionally emerged from the water, that the mass by which the cells had been replaced consisted of native iron. The proceedings of the day were concluded by a few short but ex- ceedingly interesting remarks from Professor Blum (Heidelberg) on the causes of the formation of different combinations of crystals in the same species of mineral, On this subject, he observed our knowledge was exceedingly scanty. We had scarcely a single observation or inquiry to which we were able to refer. Experiment alone presented us with facts by the aid of which we might possibly make some progress. It was a familiar fact, that when an easily soluble salt (alum) crystallized from a pure solution, the forms exhibited differed from those which were obtained from impure solutions. This fact was sufficient of itself to show beyond a doubt that the mediwm in which substances crystallize exerts an influence upon the form of the crystal. Taking this for our principle, and applying it to nature, we find it to be a fact that certain minerals, when they occur in certain rocks, appear under one and the same form of crystal—when magnetic iron ore, for example, occurred in chlo- rite schist, it was found in general to occur in the form of an octa- hedron. The subject was worthy of careful investigation, and might turn out to be of very great importance in a geognostic point of view. At the sitting of Tuesday, September 22, Professor Daubrée of Stras- burg spoke on the formation of sulphuret of copper and apophyllite from the thermal springs of Plombicres. In the course of certain excavations, undertaken with the purpose of fencing in these springs, the speaker had found two recent substances, which were of geological interest, from the resemblance they bore to certain minerals. On a bronze cock, of Roman workmanship, which had been lying amidst the rubbish of ancient build- ings for more than fifteen centuries, sulphuret of copper had been formed in the shape of beautiful crystals. ‘They belonged to the hexagonal system, and could not be distinguished from natural crystals. From a similar composition, artificial crystals belonging to the regular system had already been obtained. ‘The circumstances under which they had been formed seemed to differ from those under which the formation of similar crystals occurred in veins. The ancient mortar into which the warm water percolates includes in its cavities small colourless crystals identical in form and composition with apophyllite. They owe their formation to the operation of the silicate of potash from the hot springs on the lime of the mortar, The formation both of the apophyllite and of the hexagonal sulphuret of copper had here taken -place in water of which the temperature did not exceed 70° C. Dr Volger spoke on the subject of earthquakes, and particularly the earthquake in the Valais in the year 1855. The cause of it he referred not so much to Volcanic action as to aqueous erosion, whereby the superior strata had lost the stratum on which they had rested. Dr Abich spoke on the subject of mud volcanoes, and their importance in geology. He founded this importance on an analysis of the history of the development of these formations as they occur in the environs of the Caucasus, particularly in the two Caucasian peninsulas, Taman and Apsoheron, and endeavoured to establish the following propositions :—1. 156 Proceedings of Societies. The stratographic facts of the before-named localities afford a proof that the structure of these formations, notwithstanding the Neptunian origin of the masses of which they are composed, is determined by precisely the same laws which regulate the various forms of mountains composed of strictly Vulcanic masses that have arisen in the mode of igneous fluidity. 2. The distribution of those small independent systems of mountains is most distinctly subordinate to the grand lines which determine the di- rection of mountain ranges, and therewith the fundamental features of our continents. 3. The linear grouping and serial arrangement of these mountains in accordance with these lines of elevation, was regulated by the same laws which regulated the foundation and successive completion of the mountain systems and ranges of every portion of the earth’s sur- face. In conformity with these principles, Dr Abich maintained that every view was to be rejected which might incline to refer the eruptive phenomena which still retain their permanent seat in the bosom of these formations to so-called secondary causes, that is, in the present case, to any other causes than such as depend upon Vulcanism. Herr J. Beissel spoke on the marl of Aix-la-Chapelle, and laid before the section a geological collection from the Friedrichsberg, and the Will- kommsberg, in the neighbourhood of that city. The distinction hitherto assumed between the Aix and Bohemian chalk on the one hand, and the Westphalian on the other, grounded on the occurrence of polythalamize and cirrhipeds in the former, must now be done away with. Ehrenberg’s discovery that marl consists of organic bodies is confirmed. The green- sand has arisen from a marly rock by the loss of its carbonate of lime. Down to the present time the marl is passing into sand-beds under the influence of fresh water. The proofs which he adduced were :—1. Those fossils which characterize the greensand are found in banks of sandstone which have lost every particle of lime, in banks of sandstone containing lime, in the banks of Dumont’s psammite glauconifére. 2. The speaker had himself found the characteristic fossils of the upper beds of the Aachan chalk in dry deposits of Greenland. 3. The glauconite granule is in most cases the result of the formation of a stone nucleus in “the shells of polythalamie. 4. On dissolving the mar] in muriatic acid we obtain a residuum of greensand. That the lower portions of the chalk are precisely those which have lost their lime is explained by the cir- cumstance that, being the last to be elevated above the sea, they were the longest exposed to the influence of the sea water ; moreover the meteoric waters flow over the clay strata of the Aachan sand, and thus fill the lower division whilst they merely filter through the upper. The speaker then discussed the residuum of the marl and sandstone :—1. The double- refracting siliceous splinter ; 2. The single-refracting glauconite granules ; 3. The double-refracting spongiolites. The siliceous splinters originate : —1. From spongiolites which become crystalline on the change of the amorphous silica; 2. From the disintegration of the white stone granules of polythalamie ; 3. From glauconite granules which have burst and lost their colouring matter, and of which the amorphous silica had been changed into crystalline. The speaker’s collections, and especially his microscopic preparations, of the finest organisms, excited in the section the utmost admiration. At the sitting of Wednesday, September 23, General von Panhuys Proceedings of Societies. 157 explained a small geological map of the southern portion of the Duchy of Limburg, which he had prepared in 1850, by instructions of the Dutch _ War Office. The object had been to ascertain whether the coal measures extended to the Dutch territory. The speaker endeavoured to show that the Bardenberg district, north of Aix-la-Chapelle, is connected with the Liege coal trough, and forms a portion of it. Were this the case—a fact that can be perfectly ascertained only by borings—Limburg would be in possession of two square miles of coal measures, of which one-half is covered merely by greensand, and the other half by greensand and chalk. Herr Von der Marck spoke on the subject of some petrifactions of the Westphalian chalk, and exhibited a number of new and well-preserved fossils—amongst others, the remains of huge saurians from the Schéppin- ger Berg, near Minster. Herr Heymann spoke of the changes of certain constituents that had oceurred in trachytic and basaltic rocks in the Siebengebirge. He ex- hibited specimens of oligoklas transmuted into kaolin andred Ehrenbergite; of hornblende transmuted into steatite ; of transmuted augite and olivine in the basalt of the Menzenberg, near Honnef; radiated mesotype from the basalt of the Minderberg, and also partly changed into a steatitic mass. Professor Noeggerath denied that the black mica in the trachytes was altered hornblende. Her Max Brann observed that the occurrence of blende at the Wet- ternsee in Sweden was something very different from what it is in our known veins and beds in the district of the Rhine. In Sweden the blende- formed beds which were imbedded in the gneiss, following the gneiss strata, with similar strike and dip, for a considerable extent, and with a thickness of 15 to 20 feet or more. The blende is for the most part finely granular, and always intimately mixed with more or less feldspath. In these beds of blende are found concretions of green feldspath and of quartz, including crystalline particles of blende. The gneiss in imme- diate contact with the blende contains a bed of granular lime, containing garnet and pistazite and thin layers of Wollastonite. Parallel to the blende strata is a bed of brown garnet, containing mica and dichlorite, and in like manner subordinate to the gneiss. There were similar layers of white cobalt and copper pyrites imbedded in quartzose mica-slate. This occurrence of zine blende is peculiar, and does not seem to har- monise well with our common views regarding mineral veins. Sir Roderick Murchison exhibited the plates of a new edition of his Siluria, and explained the most important additions that had been made to our knowledge of the Silurian rocks during the last three years. He maintained that it was now proved, both by physical and by zoological facts, that the Bala beds of Wales were identical with the Caradoc beds, resting similarly upon the Llandeilo formation, in the lower division of which a number of new fossil species had been discovered. He then referred to the group of the Llandovery rocks in South Wales (contain- ing the Pentamerus oblongus) lying between the lower and upper Silu- rian, and closely connected with each. Finally, he exhibited figures of gigantic crustaceans (Pterygotus) found in the upper Silurian beds, which had been published by Mr Salter in the Degades of the Geological Survey. M. Ch. St Claire Deville exhibited his topographical map of the island of Guadaloupe. In the centre rises the cone of the Sonfriere, surrounded 158 Proceedings of Societies. by a crater of elevation. The latter consists of dolerite; the central cone of a trachyte, the feldspath of which approaches in chemical com- position to Labrador. The Sonfriere is an extinct volcano. At the request of Sir Roderick Murchison and Mr Merian, the speaker then communicated his views with regard to the volcanoes of Italy and their mode of action. He held by Von Buch’s theory of elevation, but laid considerable stress upon étoilement. Vesuvius and Etna, as central yol- canoes, he regarded as the points of intersection of radiating fissures, in which volcanic action bursts forth. The Phlegnean fields, the Rotta Monfina, the Lago d’Amsanto, Ischia, and other points, he considered as lying upon these fissures. Herr von Carnal exhibited maps of the coal formation in Russian Poland on a scale of y545,5, and of Lower Silesia, at which Bey- rich, Rose, and Roth, had been working for years, on a scale of by Professor Blum, reported the result of a series of experiments under- taken with a view to the arbitrary production of secondary surfaces on artificial crystals. He described the method employed by him, by means of which he found that the number of surfaces became greater in proportion to the slowness with which crystallization proceeded, a fact of which he cited several examples. He stated, in conclusion, that his ex- periments should be continued. Professor Rémer communicated the result of a survey of the Jurassic Wesergebirge between Hameln and Osnabriick. He referred especially to the striking alterations which the members of the Jura formation com- posing the range undergo in the course of their extent. In consequence of such a change, for example, the Oxford appears in the western spurs of the chain as compact quartz, whilst in a section of the Porto Guest- phalica it is developed in layers of loose sandy marl-schist, which crumbles to pieces in the atmosphere. As something altogether peculiar to the Wesergebirge, and differing from anything to be found either in other parts of North Germany or in any other district, he denoted the oceur- rence of thick beds of brown sandstone in the uppermost member of the series, which is distinguished chiefly by Exogyra virgula, the member which in North Germany has hitherto been denoted as Portland, but would more properly be termed Kimmeridge. Such sandstone strata may be observed in the neighbourhood of Liibeck and of Preussisch Oldendorff.— Correspondent of Scotsman. 159 SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. BOTANY. The Climate and Cultivated Plants of Norway.—The comparative mean temperature of Christiania and of the few places on the coast under the moderating influence of the sea, and especially of the Gulf Stream, where any meteorological observations have been made, give the following results :— Mean of Three Mean of Three Mean Annual ; “2 S Temperature. Coldest Winter Hottest Summer Months. Months. Christiania, lat. 59°-54, 41°-675 F. 23° F. 59°°9 F. Tiere in Hardanger, } Ane 33°-8 60°-125 217 See Drontheim, lat. 63° 30’, . 39°65 27° 59° North Cape, lat.71°, . 32°:225 2a° 43°25 The result of this extraordinary winter mildness is, that the sea never freezes on the whole of the western and northern coasts. Wheat is eul- tivated up to Inderoen, lat. 64°; oats to Salten, lat. 68° 30'; rye, both as winter and spring corn, to Dyro, lat. 69°, and has yielded even twenty- two fold at Hassel, lat. 68° 30’; barley ripens at Alten, lat. 70°, but one degree from the North Cape; potatoes succeeded well at Vadré, in the Russian frontier, rather above 70°; and turnips are there also very gene- rally cultivated. These results are facilitated by the great rapidity of summer growth, evidently influenced by the long duration of light at these high latitudes. At Alten, lat. 70°, the sun remains above the horizon from the 24th May to the 10th July. Bariey, which on account of the night frosts (by day- light), cannot be sown before about the 20th to the 24th June, is often reaped before the end of August, yielding six to seven-fold. Mr Thomas, an Englishman settled there for many years, and now a member of the Norwegian Diet, has observed that barley will grow 2} inches in 24 hours, and pease full 3 inches. Owing to the abrupt termination towards the sea to the westward of the great mountain mass of Norway, the fall of rain on-the western sea- coast presents a striking contrast to that of the western. Whilst at Chris- tiania the average annual amount of rain for the last twelve years is under 20 inches, it amounts at Bergen to about 80 inches. The summer heat is, however, so much moderated along the western coasts, that it sometimes happens that in the islands and along the shores of the main- land the corn has to be cut green, when further to the north it has ripened well inland. The extremes of heat and cold in the interior are sometimes considerable. At Valle in the Scetersthal, lat. 59° 15', at an elevation of 1100 to 1200 feet, and far from the coast, the maximum summer heat reaches 108°°5 F., and the minimum winter cold descends to — 31° F. The following are the fruit trees and shrubs of Norway as enumerated by Mr Schuebeler :— The apple is wild, and grows as far north as 63° 30’. The pear is not wild,—cultivated as far north as the apple. Quince and medlar and mul- berries in gardens about Christiania. Cherry succeeds as far north as 66° 15’. Plum will succeed as far north as 63°. Peaches on espalier ripen in South Norway. Apricots are grown on espalier up to 63° of lat. Wal- nuts ripen up to lat. 61°. Juglans nigra ripens its fruit at Christiania. Hazel-nut will ripen its fruit up to 66° lat. ; in lat. 63° it thrives up to an elevation of 1000 feet. Chestnuts in favourable summers ripen their fruit in lat. 58° to 59°. Almonds also occasionally ripen fruit near Cape 160 ; Scientific Intelligence. Lindernes. Grape vine, cultivated on espalier, will ripen on the Sogne- fiord; it is usually covered in winter at Christiania. Elder in warm summers ripens fruit up to 63° 30' lat., and so also the barberry. Red currant ripens up to 70°; black currant to about 63°. Gooseberries are wild in South Norway; varieties are cultivated up to 60° 15’. Rasp- berries are wild up to 70° lat. Rubus arcticus, rare in South Norway ; it is common in northern parts, and in favourable summers ripens its fruit up to 70° lat. Rubus Chamemorus extends to the North Cape. The strawberry, Vaccinium Myrtillus, V. uliginosus, V. Vitis-Idwa, and V. Oxycoccus, are diffused abundantly over the whole of Norway. Rosa canina bears fruit up to lat. 66°; 2. cinnamomea up to lat. 70°. R. vil- losa up to 65° or 66°; while R. rubiginosa is found only on the south coast.—Schuebeler on the Geographical Distribution of Fruit Trees and Berry-bearing Shrubs in Norway, as translated in Gardeners’ Chronicle. Properties of Urticacee.—Urtication or blistering with nettles, accord- ing to Weddell, is still used both by civilized and savage nations, in cases where sudden irritation is required. Laportea gigas is the tree nettle of New South Wales, which is famous for its blistering qualities. The most important fibre-producing species are Urtica dioica, U. can- nabina, U. parviflora, Behmeria nivea, Maoutea Puya, Lapertea ca- nadensis, Girardinia heterophylla, Pipturus propinquus. In the cells of the epidermis of Urticacee there exist concretions of carbonate of lime called cystoliths, which are suspended by stalks of cellulose. CHEMISTRY. Constitution of the Fatty Acids, Aromatic Acids, Aldehydes, Acetones, dc.,and their Relations to Carbonic Acid.* By Professor Kotse.—In 1848, Professor Kopp put forward the view that formic and acetic acid, as wellas the fat acids generally, contained conjugate radicals, having two atoms of carbon as a common constituent, together with one atom of hydrogen, methyl, ethyl, or some other of the ethylic radicals, associated with C?. He also considered cacodyl to be such a conjugate radical, consisting of one atom arsenic, together with two atoms of methyl (C? H®) As,; the methyl and ethyl-dithionic acids to contain conjugate sulphur radicals (C? H®) S? and (C+ H®) S?, and that other elements, such as selenium, phosphorus, and antimony might be capable of forming similar conju- gate radicals, ~* ; This latter conjecture has since been confirmed by the discovery of methyl, and ethyl-zine, ethyl-tin, &c. by Professor Frankland ; methyl- antimony, by Professor Lowig, and ethyl-tellurium and methyl-selenium by Professor Woéhler. He considers that the mode in which these sub- stances are produced, their direct formation from their constituents, by, simple or double decomposition, especially indicates that they are conju- gate radicals. If it were possible to produce in a similar manner, by- the action of iodide of methyl upon carburetof iron (F C?), a radical, having the composition (C? H*) C*, which would combine directly with oxygen, producing acetic acid, there would be no doubt that this radical was acetyl, and that it should be classed with methyl-mercury, ethyl-tin, and similar substances. Meanwhile Professor Frankland has put forward an idea, which Pro- fessor Kopp considers is likely to be productive of good results, if further followed out, and which would modify the views entertained as to the constitution of the fat acids, their analogues, aldehydes, acetones, &c. Professor Frankland has obseryed that the organic conjugate radicals, con- taining metals always evince a smaller capacity of saturation for oxygen, chlorine, and similar elements, than the corresponding metals themselves * Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, vol. ci. 267. Chemistry. 161 in their normal state. In this respect there is definite uniformity ob- servable, which is indicated by the following facts. Every metal—and probably every element—that is capable of com- bining with hydrogen, methyl, ethyl, &c., so as to produce conjugate radicals, not only acquires thereby a more strongly-marked positive cha- racter than it possesses in the normal state, but this also increases with each additional atom of hydrogen, methyl, &c., which enters into the con- jugate radical. The number of atoms of a negative element with which a conjugate radical combines is always dependent upon the number of atoms of the positive element present in the substance. Both together—for instance, oxygen and methyl, in the oxide of cacodyl, and in cacodylic acid—form a whole, in such a way, that their sum is equal to the number of oxygen atoms in those oxides of arsenic which are the analogues of oxide of cacodyl and of cacodylie acid, viz., arsenious acid, and arsenic acid. It is therefore obvious that the number of positive and negative atoms together, present in the compounds of a conjugate radical, is never greater than the highest number of negative atoms—oxygen, chlorine, &c.,—that the respective positive element is capable of combining with in its normal state. The oxide of tri-ethyl-antimony (C* H®), Sb 02, and the oxide of tetra-ethyl- antimony, correspond with the acids of antimony. The oxide of ethyl-tin (C+ H®) Sn O, corresponds with the oxide of tin ;"methyl-zine (C? H*) Zn, with oxide of zine. It is especially interesting, in reference to the latter substance, to observe that, notwithstanding its great affinity for oxygen, it does not, as is the case with ethyl-tin, give rise to a basic oxide, and, for this reason, that the metal zinc itself does not combine with more than one atom of negative elements. Professor Frankland suggests, as an explanation of this remarkable fact, the assumption that the affinity—or capacity of saturation—of anti- mony,—for instance, in antimonie acid, in oxide of tri-ethyl-antimony and in oxide of tetra-ethyl-antimony, in oxide of antimony and in tri-ethyl- antimony, that of tin, in oxide of tin and in oxide of ethyl tin, as wellas that of other elements in analogous compounds,—requires only a given number of atoms, irrespective of their chemical nature. It is considered that in the oxides, sulphides, chlorides, &c., of the several metals, some, or even all the oxygen, or other negative atoms, may be replaced by an equal number of atoms of some positive element, such as hydrogen, methyl, and perhaps also by the oxygenous acid radi- cals; and that, in consequence of this remarkable substitution, conjugate compounds would be produced, which would be the oxides of independent conjugate radicals, such as cacodyl, ethyl-tin, methyl-antimony, &c. ; or else, when all the oxygen were replaced, either the radicals themselves, trimethyl, antimony, or hydrides, methylides, &c., methyl-zine, hydride of copper. In every instance the positive characters of an element are considerably increased when it is combined, in the above manner, with hydrogen, methyl, and similar positive radicals. In like manner the capacity of saturation of the oxides, containing several atoms of oxygen, decreases, in relation to acids, when these oxides are bases, and in rela- tion to bases, when they are acids. Oxide of tin (Sn O°) is a weak base, and saturates two atoms of acid; oxide of ethyl-tin (C+ H*) Sn O, has strong basic characters, and combines with only one atom of acid, forming a neutral salt. The tribasic arsenic acid (8 HO, As O°), by the substitu- tion of two atoms of methyl for two atoms of oxygen, becomes monobasic eacodylic acid (HO, [C? H*], As 03), or dimethyl arsenic acid. In a simi- lar manner, when an atom of hydrogen is substituted for an atom of oxygen in tribasie phosphoric acid, a bibasic acid—phosphorous or hydrophospho- ric acid (2 HO, HPO*)—is produced; and by the further substitution NEW SERIES.—VOL. VII, NO. I.—JANUARY 1858, iF . 162 Scientific Intelligence. of another atom of hydrogen for an atom of oxygen, a monobasic acid, hy- pophosphorous or dihydrophosphorie acid (HO, H? PO?) is produced. It may be conjectured that the succeeding substitution product (H? PO) would be an indifferent substance, or at the most of very weak basic cha- racter, and that the further substitution product (H* PO) would be a base. Since selenium and tellurium, together with the ethylic radicals, give rise to conjugate radicals analogous to those containing metals, phosphorus, or nitrogen, as has been shown by Professor Wohler, it may be assumed as certain that analogous conjugate radicals containing sulphur may be produced. Professor Kopp is of opinion that the substances known as methyldithionic acid, phenyldithionic acid, naphthyldithionie acid, are oxygen compounds of such conjugate sulphurous radicals, consisting of two atoms of sulphur associated with one atom of an ethylic radical, and that these acids—for instance, methyldithionic acid or monobasic methyl- sulphuric acid (HO [C* H®*] S? 0%)—hbear the same kind of relation to bibasic sulphuric acid (2 HO, S* O®) that monobasic dimethyl arsenic acid (HO [C? H*], As O*) bears to tribasic arsenic acid (8 HO, As 05), The acid which corresponds to, and contains one atom of methyl in the place of the sulphuric acid, or one of the six atoms of oxygen bibasic, is ca- pable of neutralizing only one atom of base. The bibasic acid obtained by Professor Hofmann, by introducing two atoms of anhydrous sulphuric acid (2 SO*), to methyl-sulphuriec acid (HO [C? H?] St 05), and represented by the formula 2 HO, C? H? S# 01°, is regarded by Professor Kopp as being a double acid, analogous in constitution to the benzosulphuric and aceto- sulphuric acids, as viewed by him. \ Benzosulphuric Acid. Acetosulphuric Acid. New Acid. gif HEN Ge H? H? 2 10 © (sox) Oo H0 © [so:]°° 2x0 } © [sor] & So* So8 S08 The assumption that methyldithionie acid contains a conjugate sulphu- rous radical, having the composition (C? H®) S?, is not in any way opposed to the general custom of representing this acid as sulphuric acid, in which one atom of methyl is substituted for an atom of oxygen, and which has thus become monobasic. The above considerations have led Professors Kopp and Frankland to the opinion that, in a similar manner, hydrogen or ethylic radicals may be substituted for some of the oxygen in carbonic acid (C? 04). Supposing one atom of oxygen to be replaced by hydrogen, methyl, ethyl, &c., the substances produced would be the fat acids. In like manner the acids of the series HO, C* H*-* 08, such as acrylic acid, &c. ; and the acids ana- logous to benzoic acid, &c., as well as other monobasic acids of analogous composition, might all be referred to carbonic acid as the type. There are a number of facts referring to the production and chemical characters of the above-named acids which would furnish good evidence for the pro- bability of this view ; but the question which it raises is of such import- ance that nothing short of positive proof, in the production of these acids direct from carbonic acid, would be sufficient ground for its adoption. The following formule will indicate what other classes of substances are regarded by Professor Kopp to bear a relation to carbonic acid similar to that existing between the acids already spoken of. It must be observed that, in these formule, the symbols of those positive elements, which oc- cupy the place of the oxygen atoms of the inorganic oxygen compound, are always placed to the left of the symbol representing the radical of the inorganic oxide :— Dimethyl arsenic acid is represented in accordance with the views above described by the formula Chemistry. 163 HO, [C? H®], As 03, instead of the formula HO, As { [o* ay \ jandin conformity with this, acetic acid or methyl carbonic acid is represented by the usual formula HO, [C? H*] C? 0%. If, as is supposed, a positive radical may be substituted for a second atom of oxygen in carbonic acid C? 04, an indifferent substance would probably be produced. If the elements substituted for the second atom of oxy- gen were hydrogen, an aldehyde would be obtained. Conversion of Aldehydes into Alcohols. By Professor Limpricut.— The production of different alcohols, or the discovery of new methods of obtaining those already known, have long received much attention from chemists, and recently several important results have been obtained, such as the production of benzoic alcohol from bitter almond oil and toluol, by M. Cannizzaro ; of ethylic aleohol from elayl, by M. Bertholet; of allyl alcohol from iodide of propylen, by MM. Bertholet, Zinin, Cahours, and Professor Hofmann; and of glycol, the first biacid alcohol, by Wurtz. Moreover, the investigations of glycerine and mannite by Bertholet, have led to a knowledge of so many ways in which the alcohol series may be completed, and of so many of the characters peculiar to this series, that there is no doubt this subject will be followed out by many chemists. Professor Limpricht has succeeded in producing the alcohol corresponding to benzoic acid from chlorobenzol, which he regards as Ct H® Cl?. He finds that it is not a substitution product of bitter almond oil, but the chloride of a biacid alcohol, which he calls benzol alcohol, C'* H® O+. The ready convertibility of benzoic alcohol into benzoic acid rendered the examination difficult. Chlorobenzol is not affected by sodium, even when boiled with it. Con- centrated alcoholic solution of potash does not act upon it in the cold, but at 212° F. converts it into chloride of sodium and bitter almond oil. Chlorobenzol may be distilled without alteration in a current of dry am- moniacal gas, but when heated to 212° F., with solution of ammonia, chlo- ride of ammonium and bitter almond oil are produced. When an alcoholic solution of chlorobenzol is heated to 212° F. for some time, with two equivalents of alcoholate of soda, there are produced ehloride of sodium, and a double ether—ethylbenzvic ether—which re- mains in solution, and is obtained by fractional distillation at 412° F. This substance is a pleasant-smelling oil, the constitution of which may be expressed by the formula :— cu He \ Ot [C* H®), When chlorobenzol is brought in contact with silver salts, the compound benzoic ethers are produced. The acetobenzoic ether is crystalline, and has a composition represented by C4 Hé } 0! [C* H? 0}, and if both atoms of oxygen were replaced by an ethylic radical, the pro- duct would be an acetone. In this way there may be derived from bi- basic carbonic acid, 2 HO, C2 0+ Monobasic Acids. Aldehydes. ene 2 3 2 HO [C? H2] C2 0° he \c202 ta \ C2 02 Methyl carbonic acid, Methyl hydrocarbon, Dimethyl carbonic or acetic acid. oxide, or aldehyde. oxide, or acetone. Dit 164 Scientific Intelligence. 2 C4 Bs 7 C2 H®) pe HO [C2 H5] C2 03 i } C708 Gua Hs } 02 08 taf ae Phenyl hydrocarbonie Diphenyl carbonic rap carbonic at on oxide, or hydride oxide, or ben- ie ata of benzoyl. zophenon. Several characters of carbonic acid, especially its relations to carbonic oxide and chlorocarbonie acid, indicate clearly that two atoms of its oxygen—those which belong to the lower oxide, C2 O?—are in a state of more stable combination than the other two. Consistently with this fact, it is found that in those derivatives of carbonic acid, where one of the more easily displaceable atoms of oxygen is replaced by a positive radical, there is one of the three remaining atoms of oxygen, which may be more readily replaced by negative elements than either of the other two. Thus, for instance, in the conversion of acetic acid into sulphacetie acid (HS [C? H*] C2 O02 S), or into chloride of acetoxyle ( [C? H*] C? O02 Cl). It is interesting, in this respect, to perceive how, by the substitution of a posi- tive element for one of the four atoms of oxygen in bibasic carbonic acid, there may be produced monobasic acid oxides of new oxygenous radicals, which latter may be substituted for hydrogen in many compounds, par- ticularly the ammonias, and which may, like other radicals, be transferred unaltered from the exterior third atom of oxygen to other elements. To express this relation symbolically by rational formule, the neutral car- bonates would be represented by 2 MO [C? O?] O?, or perhaps more cor- rectly b sive CO, O 2MO COO y] and the neutral acetates by MO [.C?-H?] C2 Oz 0: The above considerations lead to the question whether it may not be possible to replace three atoms of the oxygen in carbonic acid by positive radicals? If this is the case, the ethers and alcohols might, in the same manner, be regarded as derivatives of carbonic acid.—Annalen der Chemie and Pharmacie, ci. 291. GEOLOGY. The Pikermi Fossils. By Cuas. Mactaren, Esq.—In September last I gave an account of a collection of fossils brought to Paris from Greece by Messrs Lartet and Gaudry, and described, in a memoir submitted to the Academy of Sciences. They were found at Pikermi, a village twelve miles E.N.E. from Athens (supposed by Major Leake to occupy the site of the ancient Attic Demus Epacria.) It stands at the south-east foot of Pentelicus, in a ravine cut by streams descending from that mountain, and about four miles from the Aigean Sea. The collection is remark- able for the singular variety of species it includes, of which we men- tioned the following :—Semnopithecus, a monkey; a hedgehog, or per- haps castor; two giraffes, one taller than the living species; a huge edent quadruped, resembling the sloth in form, named by them Macro- therium Pentelicum, as large as an elephant; with various bones of gallinaceous birds ; but no fishes or reptiles. They consider the deposit as intermediate between the Molasse and the Subappenine marls—miocene or lower pliocene. The fame of these fossils had also spread to Germany, and Dr Roth, a Bavarian, after spending many months in exploring the deposit, has brought home a rich collection of the bones, which are described by him- self and M. Wagner in a report to the Royal Academy of Munich. They Geology. 165 make a large addition to those above named, including remains referable to no less than nineteen distinct species of quadrupeds. The monkey, in Dr Roth’s opinion, is not the Semnopithecus, but an animal intermediate between that and the Gibbon. He found five species of carnivora:—l. A viverrine, which he has named “‘ Ictitherium;”’ 2. A glutton, (G@ulo primi- genius); 3. A hyena (H. ewimia); 4. A wolf, smaller than the living European one; 5. A leonine animal (Macherodus), larger than the living lion or tiger ; 6. A rodent (Lamprodon, beaver), believed to be a hedge- hog by Lartet; 7. An edent, the Macrotherium previously mentioned ; 8. The Hippotherium gracile, or ancient horse, whose bones were so abundant as to enable Dr Roth to construct a complete skeleton ; 9. Three jaw-bones of an animal termed “ Hipparion,” a doubtful species, supposed to have been a three-toed horse; 10. Sus erymanthus, a hog larger than the wild boar; 11. The femur of a Mastodon ; 12. Part of a cranium with five teeth of a rhinoceros. Of ruminant animals there are the re- mains of five species of antelopes, a goat, and an ox (Bos Marathonius) larger than the bison. Of the nineteen species of extinct animals exhumed from this rich deposit, thirteen are considered new. Dr Roth met with no bats or insectivora, and Lartet and Gaudry, as already stated, found no fishes or reptiles. The bones were much broken, and no complete skeleton was found with all the parts united. Now, this singular assemblage of bones was found at the foot of Pente- licus, on the south side, at a point where several streams unite, just in the position where we would expect to find them if the animals had lived and died on the mountain, and left their spoils to be swept down by rains and torrents, and buried in the mud and sand they brought with them. Is this, then, a picture of the fauna of Attica towards the end of the tertiary period—thousands of years before man existed? Were races so dissimi- lar denizens of the mountain at the same time? Did the giraffe, the monkey, the horse, the ox, the goat, the antelope, the hog, dwell in com- pany with the mastodon, the rhinoceros, the lion, the wolf, the hyena ?— and upon a single mountain of very limited extent? In Major Leake’s map of Attica, Pentelicus is only nine or ten miles long, its breadth can- not exceed three miles, and its height, if our memory may be trusted, does not exceed 3000 feet.* In the living world are there spots where a fauna so diversified and heterogeneous exists within so narrow a space—narrow even if the animals belonged to all Greece? Does it not look rather like a group collected from different countries and different climates? This is, in reality, the conclusion to which Messrs Lartet and Gaudry arrived. Founding on the apparent improbability of so many and such gigantic ani- mals living on a peninsula so narrow as Greece, and so intersected by ele- vated chains, they have been led to suppose that the Greece of our days and its isles are only the debris of a great continent (which they term Greco-Asiatic), now buried under the waves of the Archipelago and the Mediterranean. It was in this state when the hippurite limestone (a mem- ber of the chalk formation) was deposited, and afterwards the nummulitic or lower tertiary. The whole was then raised up, forming one continuous range of land with Asia Minor. Upon this land the extinct quadrupeds of Pikermi lived, and here the animals of Armenia, Syria, and Arabia might meet and mingle with those of Illyria and Thessaly. Subsequently, two great lines of fracture, nearly at right angles to each other, shattered this Greco-Asiatic continent, sinking the part of it which forms the gean Sea, separating part into islands, and leaving a Greece something like the * A table attached to the French map of Greece makes the height of Mount Hymettus 1028 metres, or 3373 feet, That of Pentelicus is not given, but the writer of these notes, who passed the west end of the mountain in 1847 on his way to Marathon, estimated its height as rather less than that of Hymettus. 166 Scientific Intelligence. present. A yet later movement, ‘de bascule,” or see-saw, like the two ends of a scale-beam, depressed the southern part of the country under the sea, about the Subappenine period, and forced the land animals to seek refuge in the mountains ; those in or near the plain of Athens escaped to Pentelicus, where, cooped up within a narrow space, they perished from insufficiency of food, and their bones, exposed to the elements, were washed down by rains and torrents to the ravine of Pikermi. The bones, with the exception of a monkey, are those of quadrupeds only, because we presume the slow-paced reptiles had not time to save themselves ; and no fish are found, probably because the Subappenine sea had not remained long eer at the foot of the mountain to allow the finny tribes to settle and reed. This hypothesis will strike most persons as very complicated, and some- what extravagant, if not fantastic. All the assumed movements of the crust of the earth are perhaps separately consistent with geologic science ; but we can scarcely conceive that so many changes, and so great, followed each other so closely, at one spot, and within one limited period. Anda second question may be raised, whether they are all indispensable to an explanation of the phenomena? We may suppose, for instance, that the variety of animals whose bones are mingled at Pikermi were not all con- temporary occupants of Attica. The gentle herbivorous races probably came in first, and the carnivorous, which cannot subsist without prey to feed on, followed them, devoured the weaker, and drove out the stronger, or became co-tenants with them of the mountain. But does the variety of genera afford such clear evidence of a wide region, that it was neces- sary to imagine a Greco-Asiatic continent to make room for them, and then to create a temporary flood to drive them all into one locality ? Discussion, however, in our case is rather premature, as we have not seen the memoir of Messrs Gaudry and Lartet, but merely the abstract given in the Institute journal. And in justice to M. Lartet, it should be stated that he is not one of the enthusiasts who erect vast speculations on a very smallbasis of knowledge. Onthecontrary, few men are so well quali- fied by their previous labours to throw light on the problem of the Pikermi bones. We owe to him nearly all our knowledge of the still richer and more varied collection of fossils discovered in the lacustrine deposit at Sansan, close to the north foot of the Pyrenees, which is as great a riddle as that of Pikermi, and not yet solved. From that spot, and the adjacent localities of Simorre, Lombez, and Tournan (department of Gers), M. Lartet disinterred no less than ninety-eight genera, subgenera, or species of mammalia and reptiles, a gigantic bird (Pelagornis), and some fresh- water fishes. Among the quadrupeds are nearly all those found fossil over the rest of France, and representatives of nearly all the mam- malian family—the plantigrade carnivora, except the bears properly so called, the digitigrade carnivora, the Edentata, Rodentia, Pachydermata, and Ruminantia, and also a bat anda monkey. Among the genera be- longing to these families we have the rhinoceros, elephant, mastodon, deer, antelope, tapir, hog, dog, wolf, civet, marten, hyena, ox, paleotherium, anoplotherium, and dinotherium. They exceed the Pikermi fossils in variety as much as the Pyrenees exceed Pentelicus in length and breadth. The late M. Prévost, an able geologist, attempted to explain how so many land animals were swept into one small fresh-water lake (Bulletin dela Société Géologique, 1845-6, p. 338), but D’Archiac, a very high authority, pronounces his explanation a failure.— Scotsman. On the Origin of Greensand, and its Formation in the Oceans of the Present Epoch. By Professor J. W. Battey.—As an introduction to the subject of this paper, it is proper to refer to various observations which have been made of facts intimately related to those which I wish Geology. 167 to present. That the caleareous shells of the Polythalamia are some- aac replaced by silica, appears to have been first noticed by Ehrenberg, who says :— ‘* T may here remark, that my continued researches on the Polythala- mia of the chalk have convinced me that very frequently in the earthy coating of flints, which is partly calcareous and partly siliceous, the ori- ginal calcareous shelled animal forms have exchanged their lime for silex without undergoing any alteration in figure, so that while some are rea- dily dissolved by an acid, others remain insoluble; but in chalk itself all similar forms are immediately dissolved.” The first notice of casts of the cells and the soft parts of the Polytha- lamia was published by myself in the American Journal of Science for 1845, where I stated as follows :— ‘‘The specimens from Fort Washington presented me with what I believe have never been before noticed, viz., distinct casts of Polythala- mia. That these minute and perishable shells should, when destroyed by chemical changes, ever leave behind them indestructible memorials of their existence, was scarcely to be expected, yet these casts of Polythalamia are abundant and easily to be recognised in some of the Eocene marls from Fort Washington.” Dr Mantell also noticed the* occurrence of casts of Polythalamia and their soft parts, preserved in flint and chalk, and communicated an ac- count of them to the Royal Society of London. To Ehrenberg, however, appears to be due the credit of first distinctly announcing the connection between the Polythalamia and the formation of greensand, thus throw- ing the first light upon the origin of a substance which has long been a puzzle to geologists. In a notice given by this distinguished observer upon the nature of the matrix of the bones of the Zeuglodon from Ala- bama, he says :— “« That Greensand, in all the numerous relations in which I have as yet examined it, has heen recognised as due to the filling up of organic cells, as a formation of stony casts mostly of Polythalamia, was stated in July of the preceding year.” He then refers to the nummulite limestone of Traunstein, in Bavaria, as rich in green opal-like casts of well-preserved Polythalamian forms, and mentions them as also occurring, but more rarely, in the glauconite limestones of France. He then proceeds to give an account of his detection of similar casts in the limestone adher- ing to the bones of the Zeuglodon from Alabama, and states that this limestone abounds in well-preserved brown, green, and whitish stony casts of recognisable Polythalamia, This limestone is yellowish, and under a lens appears spotted with green. These green spots are the greensand casts of Polythalamia, and they often form as much as one- third of the mass. By solution in dilute chlorohydric acid, the greensand grains are left, mixed with quartzose sand, and with a light yellowish mud. The latter is easily removed by washing and decantation. The casts thus obtained are so perfect that not only the genus, but often the species of the Polythalamia, can be recognised. Mingled with these are frequently found spiral, or corkscrew-like bodies, which Ehrenberg con- siders as casts of the shells of young Mollusks. With reference to the perfection of these casts of the Polythalamia, and the light they throw upon the structure of these minute animals, Ehren- berg remarks :— «The formation of the greensand consists in a gradual filling up of the interior space of the minute bodies with a green-coloured, opal-like mass, which forms therein as acast. It is a peculiar species of natural injection, and is often so perfect, that not only the large and coarse cells, but also the very finest canals of the cell walls, and all their connecting 168 Scientific Intelligence. tubes, are thus petrified, and separately exhibited. By no artificial method ean such fine and perfect injections be obtained.” Having repeated the experiments of Ehrenberg upon the Zeuglodon limestone, I can confirm his statements in every particular, and would only add, that besides the casts of Polythalamia and smal! spiral Mollusks, there is also a considerable number of green, red, and whitish casts of minute anastomosing Tubuli, resembling casts of the holes made by bur- rowing sponges (Cliona) and worms. In the Berlin Monats-Bericht, for July 1855, Ehrenberg gives an account of very perfect casts of Nummu- lites, from Bavaria and from France, showing not only chambers connected by a spiral siphuncle, but also a complicated system of branching vessels. He also gave at the same time an account of a method he had applied for the purpose of colouring certain glass-like casts of Polythalamia, which he had found in white tertiary limestone from Java. This method consists in heating them in a solution of nitrate of iron, by means of which they can be made to assume different shades of yellow and brownish red, still retaining sufficient transparency when mounted in balsam to show the connection of the different parts. The interesting observations of Ehren- berg, which are alluded to above, have led me to examine a number of the cretaceous and tertiary rocks of North America in search of green- sand and other casts of Polythalamia, &c. The following results were obtained :-— 1st, The yellowish limestone of the cretaceous deposits of New Jersey occurring with Teredo tibialis, &c., at Mullica Hill, and near Mount Holly, is very rich in greensand casts of Polythalamia and of the tubuli- form bodies above alluded to. 2d, Cretaceous rocks from Western Texas yielded a considerable number of fine greensand and other casts of Poly- thalamia and Tubuli. 3d, Limestone from Selma, Alabama, gave similar results. 4th, Eocene limestone, from near Charleston, S. C., gave abun- dance of similar casts. Sth, A few good greensand casts of Polythalamia were found in the residue left on dissolving a specimen of marl from the Artesian Well at Charleston, S. C.; depth 140 feet. 6th, Abundance of organic casts, in greensand, &c., of Polythalamia, Tubuli, and of the cavities of corals, were found in the specimen of yellowish limestone, ad- hering to a specimen of Scutella Lyellii from the Eocene of North Caro- lina. 7th, Similar casts of Polythalamia, Tubuli, and of the cavities of Corals, and species of Encrinitis, were found abundantly in a whitish limestone adhering to a specimen of Ostrea selleeformis from the Eocene of South Carolina. The last two specimens scarcely gave any indications of the presence of greensand before they were treated with dilute acid, but left an abundant deposit of it when the caleareous portions were dis- solved out. All the above-mentioned specimens contained well-preserved and perfect shells of Polythalamia. It appears from the above, that the occurrence of well-defined organic casts, composed of greensand, is by no means rare in the fossil state. 2 I come now to the main object of this paper, which is to announce that the formation of precisely similar greensand and other casts of Polytha- lamia, Mollusks, and Tubuli, is now going on in the deposits of the pre- sent ocean. In an interesting report by Count Pourtales, upon some speci- mens of soundings obtained by the U. S. Coast Survey in the exploration of the Gulf Stream, the sounding from Lat. 31° 32', Long. 79° 35’, depth 150 fathoms, is mentioned as “a mixture in about equal proportions of globigerina and blacksand, probably greensand, as it makes a green mark when crushed on paper.’’ Having examined the specimen alluded to by M. Pourtales, besides many others from the Gulf Stream and Gulf of Mexico, I have found that not only is greensand present at the above locality, but at many others, both in the Gulf Stream and Gulf of Mexico, Geology. 169 and that this greensand is often in the form of well-defined casts of Poly- thalamia, minute Mollusks, and branching Tubnli; and that the same va- riety of petrifying material is found as in the fossil casts, some being well-defined greensand, others reddish, brownish, or almost white. In some cases I have noticed a single cell, of a spiral Polythalamian cast, to be composed of greensand, while all the others were red or white, or vice versa, The species of Polythalamia whose casts are thus preserved, are easily recognisable as identical with those whose perfectly preserved shells form the chief part of the soundings. That these are of recent species is proved by the facts that some of them still retain their brilliant red colouring, and that they leave distinct remains of their soft parts when treated with dilute acids. It is not to be supposed, therefore, that these casts are of extinct species washed out of ancient submarine deposits. They are now forming in the muds as they are deposited, and we have thus now going on in the present seas a formation of greensand by processes precisely analogous to those which produced deposits of the same material as long ago as the Silurian epoch. In this connection it is important to observe that Ehrenberg’s observations, and my own, establish the fact that other organic bodies than Polythalamia produce casts of greensand, and it should also be stated that many of the grains of greensand accompanying the well-defined casts are of wholly unrecognizable forms, having merely a rounded, cracked, lobed, or even coprolitic appearance. Certainly many of these masses, which often compose whole strata, were not formed either in the cavities of Polythalamia or Mollusks. The fact, however, being established beyond a doubt, that greensand does form casts in the cavities of various organic bodies, there is a great probability that all the masses of this substance, however irregular, were formed in connection with organic bodies, and that the chemical changes accompanying the decay of the organic matter have been essentially connected with the de- posits in the cavities, of green and red silicates of iron, and of nearly pure silica. It is a curious fact in this connection, that the s¢/iceouws organisms, such as the Diatomacee, Polycistinee, and Spongiolites, which accompany the Polythalamia in the Gulf Stream, do not appear to have any influ- ence in the formation of casts. The discovery of Professor Ehrenberg of the connection between or- ganic bodies and the formation of greensand, is one of very great in- terest ; and is one of the many instances which he has given to prove the extensive agency of the minutest beings in producing geological changes. Artesian Wells on the Plains —With a view of facilitating the over- land intercourse with California, the American War Department, two years ago, despatched Captain Pope, of the Engineers, with a party, to endeavour to procure water by means of Artesian wells on the great plain of Llano Estacado, in the thirty-second parallel of latitude, between New Mexico and the Mesilla Valley. Captain Pope went out to the scene of his labours in the spring of 1855, from Indianola, by the way of San Antonio, and formed his camp on the banks of the Pecos River, where it is intersected by the thirty- second parallel of latitude.. From this point he proceeded with his working parties due east a distance of fifteen miles, and there sunk the first well. From the Pecos River the country seems to the eye to be a perfect level, but instrumental observation shows that there is a rise of about six hundred feet in a distance of thirty-five miles; and from that point, which may be termed the summit of the plain, it continues with a gradual descent eastwardly, to the hills from which run the head waters of several of the forks of the Colorado River. In sinking the wells Captain Pope found no difficulties in the geological 170 Scientific Intelligence. formation. This is entirely composed of alternate strata of indurated clay and cretaceous marls, of every variety of colour, easily bored through, but sufficiently hard to prevent the walls of the boring from falling and incommoding the labour. The first stream of water was reached at a depth of three hundred and sixty feet, and it rose to a height of seventy feet in the tubing. Con- tinuing the labour through the same formation, the second stream of water was struck at the depth of six hundred and forty-one feet, which rose four hundred feet in the well, or about fifty feet higher than the first stream. These labours demonstrated the existence of water streams be- neath the surface; but winter approaching, and the material which he had -brought having been exhausted, Captain Pope went into winter quarters on the banks of the Rio Grande. Having received fresh supplies in the spring of last year, he returned to the Llano, and in April last resumed his labours there. His former results having demonstrated the existence of abundant water beneath the surface, he went five miles eastward from the first well, and there sank the second. In the prosecution of this work he struck the same streams that he had found in sinking the first well, and on reaching a depth of eight hundred and sixty feet he encountered another which rose seven hundred and fifty feet in the tubing. At this point the material was again exhausted, and the small appropriation made by Congress for the experi- ment had been expended. Captain Pope was therefore obliged to sus- pend his labours, and await further orders from the government. The results of this work have been eminently successful, for they de- monstrate the feasibility of the plan of procuring water on this great plain by the sinking of Artesian wells, and it is much to be hoped that Congress will make another appropriation to continue and perfect the work. Through the absence of water the Llano Estacado forms a complete bar- rier to travel between the western towns of Louisiana and Arkansas to New Mexico and the Mesilla Valley, along the line of the thirty-third parallel, by a route which is some hundred of miles shorter than any other. It is covered throughout with gama grass, which is one of the most nu- tritious of the grasses for cattle, and which has the greater advantage, that it is not killed by the cold of winter, affording abundance of pasture all the year round.— Well’s Annual of Scientific Discovery for 1857. Conducting Power of Rocks—Altitude of Mountains not Invariable. By Cuartes Mactaren.—Mr Hopkins of Cambridge has made some rather interesting experiments on the conductivity or conducting power of different substances for heat, of which an account was laid before the Royal Society of London in June last. Without attempting to describe his processes, we give his more important results, and in decimals, the conductivity of ‘‘ igneous rock” (trap or granite, we presume), saturated with moisture, being taken as unity. Chalk, in the state of dry powder, : 5 s “056 Clay, do. do., z : r : “07 Sand, do. do., P : ° ° 15 Sand and clay, do., ‘ < ‘ll The conductivity of the following rocks is given in two states—dry, and saturated with water :— Dry. Saturated. Chalk, in block, vA Hf “30 Oolite rock, . - : : A : 30 40 Hard compact limestones, . F : : 50 55 Siliceous New Red sandstone, = s - 25 “60 Freestone, . : . : = 33 45 Hard compact sandstones (Millstone Grit), : 51 “76 Hard compact old sedimentary, - 50 61 Igneous rocks, . . a . . 58 1:00 Geology. 171 The effect of presswre on the conducting power of substances was also tried, and proved to be almost nothing. A pressure of 7500 lb. on a square inch of beeswax, spermaceti, and chalk, had no appreciable effect. Uncompressed clay, which had a conducting power of +26, had the same raised to °33 by a pressure of 7500 lb. Sandstone, with conducting power of *5, divided into strata each 1 foot thick, when compared with a similar mass in one block, had its conducting power diminished 1-20th. When the strata were only 6 inches thick the diminution was 1-10th. The effect of discontinuity of substance is there- fore small. Saturation with moisture, on the other hand, produces gene- rally a great effect, as will be seen on comparing the dry and saturated blocks of chalk, the dry and saturated New Red sandstone, and again the dry and saturated ‘‘ igneous rocks.”’ -These facts have a certain bearing on a geological question—namely, the transmission of heat from the interior of the earth to the crust. The oolite, for instance, conducts heat much better than the chalk, the sand- stone better than the oolite, the igneous rock better than the sandstone, and in all cases the rock charged with moisture better than the dry rock. But Mr Hopkins would have added to the value of his paper if he had ascertained by experiment the quantity of water absorbed by each rock at given temperatures, and whether the conductivity is exactly in proportion to the absorption. In illustration of the use that may be made of the tables, we would refer to certain remarks made by Dr Robinson on a paper read by Professor Hennessy at the recent meeting of the British Association. The subject was ‘“‘ The Direction of Gravity at the Earth’s Surface.” In alluding to certain supposed local and temporary changes of level, he mentioned the following curious fact :—‘‘ He found the entire mass of rock and hill on which the Armagh Observatory is erected, to be slightly, but to an astro- nomer quite perceptibly, tilted or canted at one season to the east, at another to the west. 'This he at first attributed to the varying power of the sun’s radiation to heat and expand the rock throughout the year; but he subsequently had reason to attribute it rather to the infiltration of water to the parts where the clay-slate and limestone rocks met. The varying quantity of this (water) through the year he now believed exerted a powerful hydrostatic energy, by which the position of the rock is slightly varied.”’ With the light furnished by Mr Hopkins’ experiments, we may pronounce the explanation satisfactory. Armagh and its observatory stand on a hill at the junction of the mountain limestone with the clay- slate, having, as it were, one leg on the former, and the other on the latter, and both rocks probably reach downwards one or two thousand feet. When rain falls, the one will absorb more water than the other ; both will gain an increase of conductive power, but the one-which has absorbed most water will have the greatest increase; and being thus the better conductor, will draw a greater portion of heat from the hot nucleus below to the surface—will become, in fact, temporarily hotter, and, as a consequence, expand more than the other. In a word, both rocks will expand at the wet season; but the best conductor, or most absorbent rock, will expand most, and seem to tilt the hill to one side; at the dry season it will subside most, and the hill will seem to be tilted in the oppo- site direction. The fact is curious, and not Jess so are the results deducible from it. First, hills are higher at one season than another, a fact we might have supposed, but never could have ascertained by measurement. Secondly, they are highest, not as we would have supposed at the hottest season, but at the wettest. Thirdly, it is from the different rates of expansion of different rocks that this has been discovered ; had the limestone and clay- 172 Scientific Intelligence. slate expanded equably, or had Armagh Observatory stood on a hill of homogeneous rock, it would have remained unknown. Fourthly, though the phenomenon is in the strictest sense terrestrial, it is by converse with the heavens that it has been made known to us. A variation of probably a second, or less, in the right ascension of three or four stars, observed at different seasons, no doubt revealed the fact to the sagacious astronomer of Armagh, and even enabled him to divine its cause; which has been confirmed as the true cause, and placed in a clearer light by the experi- ments of Mr Hopkins. One useful lesson may be learned from the dis- covery—to be careful to erect Observatories on a homogeneous founda- tion. METEOROLOGY, To the Editor of the Edinburgh Philosophical Jowrnatl.. Epinesuren, 25th Nov. 1857. Dear Srr.—I have this moment received from Mr Forbes of Culloden the accompanying very interesting table and notes regarding the pheno- mena attending the very high barometer, which all must have remarked, during the second week of November. It is to Mr Birt chiefly that the scientific world is indebted for the discovery of a great atmospheric wave which passes over these islands about the middle of November, and to which he has given the title of “the Great November Wave.’ He has shown that this wave probably passes over the whole of Europe, that it extends in adirection from N.E. to S.W., that the direction of its progress is from N.W. to S.E., at right angles to the line of the wave, and that it moves with a velocity of about 19 miles an hour. From the observa- tions made, this wave is of enormous size, and as it takes about 14 days to pass over one spot, its total breadth cannot be less than six thousand miles. The observations of Mr Forbes refer to the crest of the wave ; but he has rendered these doubly valuable by appending the simultaneous readings of the wet and dry bulb thermometers, the direction and force of the wind, the form and amount of cloud, and the direction of the upper currents as indicated by the movement of the upper strata of clouds. By these it appears that during the period at which the barometric pressure was highest, south-west winds prevailed both on the surface and in the upper strata of the air, and that the air was unusually loaded with mois- ture. Thus the dry-bulb thermometer, during the period of observation, had a mean temperature of 44°-2, that of the wet bulb being 43°-2, show- ing a mean difference of only onedegree. The dew point temperature was consequently 42°, the elastic force of vapour ‘267 of an inch, the weight of vapour in a cubic foot of air 3-04 grs., so that it required only 0-28 of * a grain of aqueous vapour fully to saturate with moisture a cubic foot of air; and consequently the mean degree of humidity of the atmosphere was so high as 92°. Now all these states are just the very opposite of what usually prevails when such a high barometric pressure is dependent on causes which are on or near the earth’s surface. With a S.W. wind, the barometer (or atmospheric pressure) is almost always low, and the same occurs when the air is so loaded with moisture as these observations show it to have been. Sir John Herschel therefore considers these great atmospheric waves to be rather dependent on great internal displacements of the atmosphere ; ‘‘ the result of winds diverted from their course, or to great local disturbances of temperature due to a concurrence of circumstances which may be termed casual, forasmuch as we cannot trace their laws.” This great wave, as it has a notable crest, so it has a corresponding 1738 trough, and in a short note which accompanied these observations, dated 23d November, Mr Forbes says, ‘‘ A heavy storm to-day from the N.E., with barometer (corrected and reduced) down to 28-989 inches at 1 P.m., showing a range from its greatest height on the 11th, of 1-768 inches.” Very nearly the same range was noticed in Edinburgh. Trusting these few remarks will prove interesting to your readers, and induce them to take a greater interest in Mr Forbes’ valuable table. I remain, ever truly yours, James Srark. Meteorology. Great height of the Barometer. On Wednesday the 11th inst., the barometer attained an elevation rather unusual for this month of the year. The following table, compiled from the Meteorological Register kept at Culloden, shows the fluctuations of the mercurial column for each hour on the 11th, and for every third hour on the following day. The readings being reduced to the temperature of 32° Fahr., and to the level of the sea, can be easily compared with any simultaneous observations taken elsewhere. Lat. 57° 31’ N.; Long. 4° 5 W. :— | Barometer es : Sethin corrected to Thermo. | : Wind. Clouds. Hour, Lo- |"reduced to i2e= | Upper cal Time. the level of | Dry | Wet = 32 |Direction/Force| Form. |Amt.| Current the Sea. | Bulb. | Bulb. |~ “ j9-10) From. Noy. 11. | | 5 a.m. | 30°732 | 42-2) 41-2) 1: |S.S.W.| 0°71] Ci-st. | 0°5|Stationy. 6 “732 | 41-6] 40-7| 0-9 |S.S.W.| 0-1] Ci-st. | 0°7 |Stationy. 7 —-731 | 41-0] 40-2| 0:8 |S.S.W | 01} Ci-st. | 1- |Stationy. 8 746 | 41:3] 40-9| 0-4.| Calm.| 0° | Scud. | 2- | S.W. 9 "746 | 41-9] 41-6] 0-3 |S.S.W.| O11} Ci-st. | 3° | S.W. 10 +°748 | 43-0) 42-7| 0-3 | Calm.| 0° |Ci.-st. st.| 5° | S/W. 11 —"747 | 44-1| 43-4] 0-7 | Calm.| 0° |Ci-st. st.) 7°7| S.W. Noon. | +°752 | 46-0| 43-9| 2-1 | Calm.| 0° | Ci-st. | 9° | S.W. 1pm "746 | 46-2) 45-4) 0°8 | Calm.| 0° |Ci.-st. st.) 9° S.W. 2 "746 |46°3| 45: | 1:3 | Calm.| O° |Ci.-st. st.) 8° S.W. 3 744 | 46-0 44-9) 1-8] Calm.| 0° \Ci.-st. st.) 6" |W.S.W. 4 744 |44°2/ 42-9 1-3 | Calm, | 0: |Ci-st. st.| 65 /W.S.W. 5 —-743 | 44-2) 42-9, 1:3| S.W.| 0:2 \Ci-st. st.) 9:5 /W.S.W. 6 ‘744 | 44-6) 43-1] 1:5| S.W.| 0°2/ Stratus, | 9:3 |W.S.W. 7 ‘749 | 44-5] 43-1] 1-4| S.W.| 0-1| Stratus, | 8°5|W.S.W 8 "753 | 44.5|43°1) 1-4] S.W.! 04! Stratus. | 9° |W.S.W. 9 +°757 | 44:8] 43-6) 1:2) S.W.| 0-1) Stratus. | 9° |W.S.W. 10 — “747 44-1] 42-9 1:2] S.W. 05] Scud. | 4:5/W.S.W. 11 +-750 | 43°4| 42°5| 0-9| S.W.| 0-1] Stratus. | 8'5|/W.S.W. \Midnight] -745 | 44-1) 42-9) 1-2) S.W. 0°7| Stratus. | 9°7/W.S.W Noy. 12. 3 A.M. "734 |43-1)/42-1) 1- | S.W.) 0°2| Ci.-st. | 5:5 |Stationy. 6 —-722 | 43-3| 42-8] 0-5 |S.S.W.| 1- |Ci. Ci-st.| 1° |Stationy. +°726 |43-9| 43- | 0-9| S.W.| 0.3 |Ci. Ci-st.| 3° | NNW. | Noon. “681 | 48-0| 46:6 1:4| S.W.| 0°7 |Ci. Ci.-st.| 4° | Stationy. 3pr.m.| —°638 | 47-8] 46-2) 1-6) S.W.] 1° | Ci-st. | 5° |W.S.W. 6 | +°640 | 45-1) 44-1) 1- S.W.| 0°6 | Stratus. | 3° |W.S.W. 9 | *601 | 44-4| 43-6| 0-8] S.W.) 1:2| Stratus. | 6-5|W.S.W. Midnight 556 |45°6| 44-5] 1-1| S.W.| 1:5| Stratus, 10° [|W.S.W. 174 Scientific Intelligence. General Remarks. November 11.—Night of the 10th nearly clear, fine ; faint aurora over northern horizon; fair; day very fine and settled; generally calm, but occasionally a very gentle breezefrom 8.S.W. to S.W. ; morning nearly clear, and partly so about 3 pP.m., rest of the day nearly cloudy; a little sunshine in morning and evening ; fair. November 12.—Night of the 11th fine; partially cloudy ; a gentle breeze ; fair; day very fine ; dry and pleasant ; sky partially covered with cirrus and cirro-stratus clouds, in which appeared a broken solar halo at 10 and 11°30 a.m.; more clouded by evening, and wind rising ; fair. On the 4th of March 1854 the barometer attained the extraordinary height of 30°878 inches, but its elevation on the 11th inst. is the greatest recorded in any November during the last seventeen years, the nearest approach to it being on the 12th of the same month in 1848 ; when the mercurial column, corrected to 32° Fahr., and reduced to the level of the sea, stood at 30°685 inches. Norr.—The barometer used in taking these observations is a standard used by the British Association ; tube in brass, and ‘31 of an inch in dia- meter; cistern adjusted by a fine point, which dips into the mereury. The readings are severally corrected for capillarity, and reduced to 32° Fahr. by means of the tables in the Royal Society’s Report on Physics and Me- teorology, published in 1840. Table showing the fluctuations of the Barometer, and the direction and force of the Wind, during the storm of Monday, November 23, 1857. Lat. 57731" N. Culloden. Long. 45° 5' W. Barometer Day and poneetier to Wind. Hour, Local Pe aa! Force in Ibs. Time. | the level of |Direction| on Square the Sea. Foot. Noy. 23. | inches. 5 a.m. | 29°380 |Calm.| 0 9 156 | N.E.| 0°30 10 “101, | IN-B. | 225 11 052 | N.E.| 2°25 Noon. | 28°989 | N.E.| 25 1 p.m. -990 | N.E. | 16 2 29-032 | N.E. | 25 3 070 | N.E 9: 4 “135 | N.EB. | 16° 5 "198 | N.E. | 16: 6 "993 (koN Bice os ff 267 | N.E. 2:25 8 *306 | N.E. aay 9 “345 | N-E. it 10 °359 | N.E. 225 Remarks. Night of the 22d overcast and rainy; calm ; barometer fell -457 of an inch during the night ; morning very rainy, but calm till 9 o’clock, after Miscellaneous. 175 which hour the wind gradually rose from the N.E., becoming strong by 10, and then blew a gale, with heavy rain, mixed at times with hail, throughout the rest of the day. Quantity of rain registered in the gauge by 4 r.m., fallen since last night, 1°607 inches ; faint aurora borealis at 7 and 10r.m. At the commencement of the storm, the temperature of the air was 44° 3’, but at the time it abated only 35° 2’, having fallen in the interval 9° 1’. During this storm much ozone seemed to be present in the atmosphere ; but for some weeks previous to this date the air was unusually calm, and very little ozone could be detected by the test-papers. MISCELLANEOUS. Cetonia aurata and Hydrophobia.—In 1851 M. Guerin Meneyille in- serted a notice in his Revue et Magazin de Zoologie, that in Russia the Cetonia aurata, or common Rose Beetle, was used successfully as a remedy against hydrophobia. The beetles were reduced to powder, like cantha- rides, and administered internally, in doses of greater or less amount, ac- cording to the state of the disease and the age and strength of the patient. From time to time since 1851 M. Meneville has introduced other notices mentioning cures of the disease by the above remedy, giving at the same time the anthority for them; and in a late number of the Revue for the present year (1857), additional facts are stated, and a request is made to the Academie des Sciences, that it should order an examination to be made of the substance or principle contained in these beetles, which he judged to be analogous to cantharidine, for which he proposed the name of cetonine. In various parts of the Continent, and in Russia particularly, rabies is annually almost a scourge, and in the latter country sportsmen are in the custom of administering a cetonia to theirdogs. Whether it pro- duces a cure, or even acts only as a preventive, we have no authority for stating; the fact of the administration of the insects only points out the prevailing opinion, and it would certainly be interesting to ascertain if any peculiar active principle existed in any of the Cetonide. Jay from Algeria.—M. Jules Verreaux has figured a new and remark- able jay from Algeria. It is remarkable as being almost the prototype, except in size, of the common jay of Eurepe, Garrulus glondarius. The differences will be best seen by comparing the size of the principal parts. The measurements are French, as given by Verreaux :— Garrulus glondarius. Garrulus minor, Verr. Cent. mill. Cent, mill. Entire Length......... 35 «(0 Entire Length......... 27 0 oy ee a Be Ce RE epe epee 18°29 Wie) 202.25, Kop ee ab 14 3 een est oneeuee oosaue 14-4 Ly eae ee» 13*..A2 PEREESUS 2a. vereecnos aes ENED PERERA so «anor soca. ee 3. «6 Planetoids.—M. Luther of Bilk discovered another of these small planets circulating between Mars and Jupiter, on the 19th October, rais- ing the number known to fifty. Bilk is the name of an Observatory in Rhenish Prussia, near Dusseldorf, of which M. Luther is the astronomer. —C. Maclaren. Fossil Mammalian Footmarks.—M. Daubree, a French geologist, laid before the Academy of Sciences lately casts of certain impressions found in sandstones of the Gres Bigarré (Trias or New Red Sand- stone) in the department of Haute Saone. They are compared to some impressions found in Thuringia—namely, those of the Labyrinthodon, a reptile noticed by Sir C. Lyell (Manual, p. 342). ‘‘ They have some re- semblance to the paw of a dog, and seem to afford a new proof that mam- 176 Scientific Intelligence. mifers existed when the last beds of the Trias were deposited.” That the footmarks may be those of a quadruped is credible, since the Microlestes antiquus belongs to this formation, but the Labyrinthodon was also supposed to be a quadruped till Owen pronounced it a reptile. At all events the fact must remain doubtful till some competent authority pro- nounce an opinion.—C. Maclaren. Volcanic Eruptions.—An official report, sent to the Dutch Govern- ment from one of its settlements in the Spice Islands, describes two de- structive eruptions in the island of Sangir, north of Celebes, on the 2d and 17th March 1856. Several villages, and a great part of the crops, were destroyed by the lava, or the fragmentary matter ejected, or by the tor- rents of water which escaped from the sides of the voleano, and 2806 human beings fell victims. No change was observed on the summit of the mountain, but some portions of its sides on the coast had sunk in the sea and disappeared, and in consequence thereof a precipice 70 metres (230 feet) in height had replaced what was formerly a gentle declivity. A translation of the official report was laid before the Academy of Sciences on the 26th October.—C. Maclaren. Meteoric Stones with Detonations.—M. Seguier presented to the Aca- demy of Sciences, on the 2d November, an aerolite which fell at Ormes, in the department of Yonne (106 miles S.E. of Paris). It was a fragment, gray externally, blackish within, and weighing about 4 ounces (125 grammes). It was found by a mason, who was nearly hit by it while standing at work on a scaffold, which it struck, and afterwards sunk an inch or two (quelques centimetres) into the ground. He added that he heard at the same time a detonation and a noise as of a shower of such fragments, believing, he said, that a ‘‘ hodful of stones had fallen over his head.” A striking phenomenon, witnessed by M. Seguier himself, re- siding within seven miles of the place, led him to attach importance to the mason’s story, which only reached him afterwards. About a quarter before five on the afternoon of the same day, when the atmosphere was clear, calm, and cloudless, a loud detonation was heard, which M. Seguier compared to the sound of a cannon-shot of the largest size. It was fol- lowed by seven or eight others of equal intensity, and to this succeeded a great noise, resembling the tumbling of ballast into the hold of a ship, accompanied with furious gusts of wind, while the ground trembled so violently that M. Seguier felt a strong tree vibrate against which he leaned for security. The agitation of the ground also made the glasses of garden-frames shake and slide over one another. In a short time the atmosphere returned to a state of tranquillity, when inquiries arose on all sides as to the cause of the phenomenon, and it was then that M. Seguier heard, from a person worthy of credit, of what had occurred to the mason. From another party he learned that a large fire-ball was seen moving towards Ormes at a low elevation. The facts observed render it probable that there was a shower of aerolites, and M. Seguier intends to search for them by digging. A dozen of years ago a meteoric stone, weighing 35 pounds, fell in an adjoining locality. The Academy referred the frag- ment to a commission for examination.—C. Maclaren. Geoffroy Saint Hilaire.—A statue of this great naturalist has been re- cently erected at Etampes, his native place, about forty miles south from Paris. Three distinguished savants, Dumeril, Serres, and Milne-Ed- wards, attended the inauguration, and delivered short addresses, comme- morating the talents and labours of Saint Hilaire. In 1793, at the early age of twenty-one, he was appointed Professor of Zoology by the recom- mendation of Hauy and Daubenton. When his nomination was an- Miscellaneous. By Ws nounced to him by the latter, he replied,—‘* How am I to teach a science that does not exist ?”” ‘‘ True,” said Daubenton, “it does not exist ; it must be created ; let the bold task be yours, and yours the glory of en- abling us to say, twenty years hence, that France has created zoology.” He devoted himself to the work with enthusiasm, and the product of his labours appeared in a long succession of Memoirs which were afterwards embodied in his voluminous Histoire Naturelle des Mammiferes. He la- boured zealously to enrich the Museum, or Cabinet of Natural History, and to enlarge the menagerie. He was one of the savants selected to go with Bonaparte to Egypt, where he employed himself with great dili- gence in collecting specimens of the higher animal tribes from the delta of the Nile to the cataracts, and along the shores of the Red Sea. When Egypt was conquered by the British his collections and those of the other savants, were claimed by a commissary as part of the victors’ spoil. ‘* We will burn them sooner than suffer them to be taken from us (said Geof- froy), and write on your forehead the brand of Omar, whose name glares on posterity through the flames of the Alexandrian Library.” The claim thus roughly repelled was not persisted in, and the treasures gathered in Egypt formed the base of great scientific collections now seen in Paris. Geottroy continued his labours on his return to France, and fully realized the anticipations of Daubenton; but we must give the result in the words of M. Serres, so characteristic of the taste of our vivacious neighbours. “ Geoffroy lentreprit (the task of creating the science) et les vingt années, n’étaient pas écoulées, que l'Europe savante inscrivait la Zoologie aw rang des titres glorieux de notre nation, déja si plein de gloire.— (Charles Maclaren in Scotsman). New Scientific Expedition.—Austria, generally so apathetic in matters of science, has equipped a frigate, the ‘* Novara,” for an expedition round the world. It has a complete staff of astronomers, botanists, zoologists, geologists, ethnologists, &c. The crew, with the officers and men of science, includes 357 persons. She is to sail from Trieste, and hold her course by Rio Janeiro, La Plata, the Cape, Bombay, China, Manilla, the Pacific Isles, Panama, and round Cape Horn. The duration of the voyage is expected to be two years. Coal in the Rocky Mountains. Letter from W. P. Brake, Esq., of the U.S., to the American Editor—‘ My tour through Texas and New Mexico the past summer proved most interesting and instructive. I spent a few weeks in Santa Fé and the vicinity, observing the geology, and paying special attention to the gold region of the Placer Mountains and to the carboniferous rocks. One of my most interesting results is the determination by fossils of the existence of the veritable coal-measures on the west slope of the first range of the great Rocky Mountain chain. They contain beds of bituminous coal; and about 25 miles south of Santa Fé anthracite is found in a bed thick enough to be profitably worked. Hitherto, you are aware, there has been much doubt about the age of the coal-beds found in these mountains, and beyond. They have been regarded as more recent than the carboniferous. My observations. settle the fact that the true coal occurs there. The fossils are identical, specifically, with those in the coal-measures of Missouri. The coal-fields are thus shown to extend 1090 miles west of the Mississippi, and to crop out at an altitude of from 6000 to 7000 feet above the sea,—the lime- stones being much higher, up to 12,000 feet, asbefore observed by Marcou, These coal-seams are accompanied by thin layers of gypsum in dark shales, which, in some places, bear the impress of ferns. ‘The strata are coarse grits and limestones, the latter in thin beds, and usually highly charged with Producti, Spiriferes, Althyris, andstemsof crinoids andcorals, NEW SERIES.—VOL. VII. NO. I.—JANUARY 1858. M . alle 178 Scientific Intelligence. Dust-Shower at Baghdad —From a letter of the Hon. C. A. Murray to Sir Cuartes LYett. Bacupap, May 23, 1857. My pear Sir Cuartes,—We have lately witnessed here a phenomenon so strange, that a brief description of it may not be uninteresting to you. On the 20th instant, a few minutes before 6 p.m. (which is here about an hour before sunset), I was sitting with my Mirza reading some Persian letters, when on a sudden I became sensible of an unusual obscuration of the light on the paper. I jumped up, and going to the window, saw a huge black cloud approaching from the north-west, exactly as if a pall were being drawn over the face of the heavens. It must have travelled . with considerable rapidity, for in less than three minutes we were enve- loped in total darkness, a darkness more intense than an ordinary mid- night, when neither stars nor moon are visible. Groping my way amidst chairs and tables, I succeeded in striking a light, and then feeling assured that a simoom of some kind was coming on, I called to my servants to come up and shut the windows, which were all open, the weather having been previously very sultry. While they were doing so, the wind in- creased, and bore with it such a dense volume of dust or sand, that before they could succeed in closing the windows the room was entirely filled, so that the tables and furniture were speedily covered. . . . Aftera short time the black darkness was succeeded by a red lurid gloom, such as I never saw in any part of the world, and which I can only liken in imagination to the effect that might be produced if all London were in conflagration in a heavy November fog; to me it was more striking (I may almost say fearful), than the previous utter darkness, and reminded me of that ‘‘ darkness visible” in which the poetic genius of Milton placed the demons and horrid shapes of the infernal regions. This lurid fog was doubtless occasioned by the rays of the western sun shining obliquely on the dense mass of red sand or dust which had been raised from some distant desert, and was borne along upon the blast. I inclose you a specimen of the dust. The Arabs here think that it came from the Nejd. The storm seems to have travelled in a circular direction, having appeared first from the south, then south-west, then west, then north-west. After about two hours it had so far passed away, that we were able to open the windows again and breathe the outer air. It cannot have been a simoom, for during those which I have experienced in Arabia and Egypt, the wind is hot and stifling. On the 20th the wind was high; but only oppressive from the dense mass of dust that it carried with it.—I remain, &c., Cuas. A. Murray. *.* Professor J. Quekett, of the Royal College of Surgeons, who examined the specimen of red dust from Baghdad, which accompanied Mr Murray’s letter, could detect, under the microscope, only inorganic particles, such as quartz-sand, in the dust. There are no relics of Diato- mace apparent; and though a small portion of caleareous matter was present in the sand, yet he could observe no microscopic shells or other organic matter. OBITUARIES. Notice of the Life and Writings of Baron Cauchy. By Prof. Kerzanp.* In Baron Cauchy the world has lost the last of those eminent culti- vators of mathematical science who sprung up in the early part of the pre- sent century, formed in the school of Laplace and Lagrange. The names of Poisson, Gauss, Fourier, Abel, Jacobi, and Cauchy, form a constella- tion of abstract mathematicians such as the world never before saw existing ’* Read before the Royal Society, Dec. 21, 1857. Obituaries. 179 together, and will probably never see again. Augustin-Louis Cauchy was born on the 2Ist of August 1789, the period of universal confusion throughout France. His father, who was keeper of the archives of the senute, appears to have been exempt from the turmoils which embroiled every grade of society at that time. Perceiving the mathematical bent of his son’s mind, he took pains to bring him frequently under the notice of Lagrange. This illustrious philosopher interested himself in the educa- tion of the lad, and gave the father a piece of advice which no doubt greatly surprised him, and which, coming from such a source, it is worth our while carefully to note. These were his words :—‘‘ Do not allow your son to open a mathematical book, nor to touch a single diagram, until he has finished his classical studies.” Sound and excellent advice under the circumstances. Preliminary education has for its object the cultivation of all the faculties, not the development of any one to the exclusion of the others. It fulfils its functions as well when it tends to check and keep down an overwhelming bias in one direction, as when it aims at drawing out the dormant powers in another. The wisdom of the advice of Lagrange may be inferred from the whole life of Cauchy. In his classical studies he was eminently successful, and received the highest award of his class. The taste which he now acquired for languages never forsook him. In his later years he read deeply in patristic theology, and delighted in pouring forth his divinity for the instruction of the young. Nor did his exclusive de- votion to classical study stand in the way of his professional advancement. After a single course of mathematics under a public professor, Duret, he presented himself, at the age of sixteen, for the entrance examination of the Ecole Polytechnique, and was ranked second on the list. It is not necessary to trace, step by step, his advance in his profession. Suffice it to say, that he became ingénicur en chef in 1823, and was em- ployed on many public works. Prior to this date, however, he had been brought prominently before the world. ‘The French Institute had proposed as the subject of the Prize Essay for 1816, the determination of the wave motion of a disturbed fluid. M. Poisson, who, as he himself states, had been for a long time engaged on this problem, sent in a first memoir on the subject in October 1815, followed by a second in December. There is reason to suppose that one object which the Institute had in view in proposing this problem was to draw out M. Poisson. That any living man should have succeeded in wresting the prize from him, who was justly regarded as a giant in investigations of the kind, is matter of astonishment to this day. That that man should have been Cauchy, who justly looked up to Poisson as his model for imitation, and who, years after, acknowledges with grati- tude his obligations to that great mathematician as the guide of his early career, must have greatly surprised even Poisson himself; yet such was the fact. The prize was awarded to Cauchy on the ground of the greater generality and freedom from limitations which his solution of the problem presented. Iam not sure that M. Poisson was satisfied with the decision. At any rate his own memoir was immediately published, whilst that of M. Cauchy, who was not then a member of the Institute, lay twelve years in manuscript. In this case the Institute, by following their ordinary vicious practice, conferred a real benefit on science, by allowing M. Cauchy to add copious notes to his essay. The two works of Poisson and Cauchy now stand together as masterpieces of analytical investi- gation, and form the starting-points from which all future writers on the subject must commence their progress. Prior to this period M. Cauchy had published several admirable papers on subjects connected with pure geometry ; and the proof now afforded of the fertility of his genius would at once have secured him an admission into the Insti- 180 Obituaries. tute, had there been a vacancy. The termination of the brief struggte of the hundred days unhappily too soon created the desired vaeancy, in a manner little to the benefit of M. Cauchy, who was named to fill it. The Institute had been remodelled by Napoleon in 1803, and the legitimate monarchy, on their second restoration, at once resolved to re-establish it in its original form. In effecting this re-establishment it is not much to be wondered at that the Government should see fit to strike out the names of two members, Carnot and Monge—names not more dis- tinguished by the brilliant talent of their possessors, than by their con- nection with that of the first consul Napoleon. Great as was Cauchy’s genius, amiable as was his disposition, it could not prevent his sharing in the general feeling of disgust and dissatisfaction at the expulsion of Monge. Connected as the latter had been with the revolution, he had raised his hand when in power only asa shield to protect his colleagues from the proscription of the Reign of Terror. To sit in his place was to partici- pate in the obloquy attached to his removal. Looking at the matter from this distance of time, however, we cannot impute the slightest blame to Cauchy. He was a legitimist by conviction. In the depth of his ardent piety he believed that the interests of religion were bound up with those of the monarchy; and as he never fora moment doubted the propriety of the act which placed his name on the roll, so he accepted the appointment without hesitation, firmly and conscientiously believing that it was his duty so to act. About the same time he was appointed a professor adjunct in the Ecole Polytechnique. He oceupied besides two other chairs. The lectures which he delivered are well known to the world under the titles of ‘‘ Cours d' Analyse Algebrique,” “ Lecons sur les Calculs, dc.,” “ Resumé des Lecons sur le Calcul Infinitesimal,” “ L’ application de VAnalyse a la Théorie des Courbes.’”’ He published also at this period various impor- tant memoirs, especially one on integrals taken between imaginary limits. In 1826, he undertook the Herculean task of conducting and carrying on a scientific periodical, under the title of Exercises de Mathématiques, confined exclusively to his own writings. After the lapse of little more than four years the work had advanced into the fifth quarto volume, with- out any abatement of originality or of interest, when it received a sudden interruption. M. Cauchy, as we have said, was a warm adherent of the legitimate monarehy, and its overthrow was his own. Following the ex- ample of its predecessors, the new government demanded an oath of alle- giance from all men holding public situations. This oath appears to have made no stringent demands, none whichascientific man mightnotsafely have conceded, whatever his political principles. But M. Cauchy’s conscience was tender even to excess; and although he had now a wife and two children depending on him, he resigned all his employments and retired into voluntary exile in Switzerland, sacrificing his prospects ‘‘to devo- tion to the unfortunate and the sincere love of truth.” The King of Sar- dinia, informed of the circumstance, created for him a Chair of Mathema- tics in Turin. This appointment he accepted, and lectured in the Italian language with great success. There he recommenced the publication of his Ewercises, under the appellation of Resumés Analytiques. Having remained in Turin about two years, the voice of his sovereign (Charles X.) called him to Prague to take part in the education of the Count de Chambord. At Prague he was rejoined by his wife and family ; and for the succeeding six years he attached himself to the persons of the royal exiles. Again he resumed his Ewercises ; and having, | believe, plenty of spare time on his hands, he appears to have amused himself with litho- graphy. In this new form he issued his publications; and it is to be feared that a complete set does not exist. I have the impression that M Obituaries. ; 181 Cauchy informed me, with his own lips, that he did not himself possess copies of all his lithographed memoirs. At any rate, they are almost unknown even in France. Charles X. died on the 6th of November 1837 ; and M. Cauchy’s fune- tions as tutor to the Count of Chambord having ceased, he returned to Paris in 1838, and resumed his place at the Institute. He now took the title of Baron Cauchy, but whether by succession or by creation I do not know. Having no publie occupation, he divided his time between the pursuits of science and the performance of deeds of benevolence. In both his voluntary labours he was indefatigable. The time he bestowed on each seemed to preclude the possibility of his having a moment for at- tention to the other. During the last peaceful nineteen years of his life he published in the different volumes of the Institute, and in the Comptes Rendus, upwards of rive HUNDRED memoirs, besides a multitude of re- ports and criticisms. This immense mass of work abounds in new thoughts, new methods, and sweeping generalizations, and may be re- garded as an immense storehouse from which the next generation of ma~ thematicians will draw their resources. It is to be regretted that M. Cauchy did not concentrate his attention more. Many of his papers are in a very rude state, containing only the germ of an idea, which he failed fully to develope. In fact, during his later years he reminds one a little of Hooke, who was wont to rise at the conclusion of every memoir which he heard, and declare that he had something in store on the same sub- ject. The notation, too, of some of his papers is a notation peculiar to himself ; and the methods employed are often those of a new calculus, the Calcul des Residus, invented by him, but not generally adopted by ma- thematicians. All these circumstances will conspire to lock up M. Cauchy’s papers for a considerable period. But no one hesitates about their value. In those subjects where the results of his analysis can be easily tested, such as in the determination of the motion of elastic media, with its application to the undulatory theory of light; or in the doctrine of planetary disturbances as applied to the movements of the small planet Pallas, M. Cauchy was, and will continue to be, the received authority. No sooner had he settled at Sceaux, in the neighbourhood of Paris, than, for the fourth time, he commenced the publication of his Ewercises, which he continued to the day of his death. The extraordinary amount of work thus performed by one man strikes the mind with astonishment. It is true that many of his papers are but the exhibition in type of the pages of his scribbling book. He had the habit during life of preserving all his loose thoughts and unsuccessful attempts by working constantly on paper bound in volumes. Thus whatever he penned was sure to be pre- served. We may perhaps be permitted to regret this circumstance, as its evident tendency was to present a bar to the operation of that polishing process which most writers find so essential to the success of their works. But M. Cauchy was not allowed to remain nineteen years in the silence of the study. On the 13th of November 1839, the Bureau des Longitudes called him to the place previously occupied by M. Prony. This was an unfortunate event. It was evident to all those who knew M. Cauchy that he would never consent to take the requisite oaths. Negotiations were accordingly at once set on foot by those who desired his presence amongst them, with the object of inducing the Government to dispense with the formality. Men of science of every shade of political opinion interested themselves in the matter; but without success. The Government did, indeed, consent to reduce the oath to the merest matter of form, but an absolute dispensation it would not concede ; and Cauchy was less likely to move towards the opposite party than they towards him. With an obsti- nacy quite puerile, to use M. Biot’s phrase, he doubled on their path at 182 Obituaries. every turn they took to encompass him. Jis resolve rendered all their efforts hopeless ; and finally his appointment was cancelled. Those only who know what Cauchy was capable of will be able to estimate the loss astronomy has sustained from this untoward event. In 1848 France saw another revolution, and a new republican government. Oaths were now dispensed with, and M. Cauchy re- sumed his chair of mathematics in the Faculty of Sciences. But the events cf the 2d December 1851 once more unseated him. Again the scientific men of France (to their infinite credit be it recorded) used every effort to induce the newly constituted authorities to make his an excep- tional case, and dispense with every formality. At first without success ; but after a while, when the Emperor had become securely established in his government, he had the good sense to cause M. Cauchy to be restored to his chair, fettered by no conditions. Whether from conscientious seru- ples or otherwise, it is certain M. Cauchy never appropriated to his own use one farthing of his salary. The whole was devoted to deeds of cha- rity. As the dispenser of blessings to the poor, he knew neither mo- narchists nor republicans. In the neighbourhood of Sceaux, where he resided, he was the prime mover in every labour of love. On one ocea- sion the mayor remonstrated with him on the prodigality of his benefi- cence. His reply was. ‘ Be not concerned; I am only the channel; it is the Emperor that pays the money,” alluding to his salary as professor. The scientific character of M. Cauchy requires no exposition. I am content to adopt the judgment of a competent authority, the Dean of Ely, pronounced nearly a quarter of a century ago, which will be fully con- firmed by future eulogists. ‘‘ M. Cauchy, ‘‘ he says,” is justly celebrated for his almost unequalled command over the language of analysis.”’ With the private life of a scientific man the biographer has properly little to do. But in the present instance, the brilliant virtues of the Christian shine so brightly upon his genius, that the latter, dazzling as it is, fails to eclipse the former. M. Cauchy’s labours among the in- firm, the destitute, and the young, are the labours of a true apostle. His march always was forward; his watchword always duty. As seen by the eye of the man of science, he was absorbed in study ; as seen by the eye of the man of God, he was absorbed in labours of love. In every scheme for the instruction, for the sustentation, for the elevation of his commune, he was ever active, ever devoted. No amount of labour, no sacrifice of time or of money, was too great for him. He was accus- tomed to wait on the mayor almost daily, and often several times in the day ; and he brought with him all his resources of heart, of head, and of purse—now to recommend a poor infirm man to the charity which pri- marily came from himself; now to suggest the adoption of an orphan whom he had hunted out ; now to restore a wounded soldier to his family ; now to organize a school; now to forward the working of an hospital. ‘ He had (says the eloquent mayor of Sceaux) two distinct lives—the Christian and the scientific life—each so full, so complete, that it would have served to confer lustre on any name.” “a . : ’ 7 . * : : ‘ 8 a ae = . € . ~ - t p =) i . \ : . — a a New Sertes Vol. Vi PL q 1 FR v ig ee i ee. Ss =Xi7 qtreccerttrr,. ra eek SONOS, c oes PTGS ee SS, es * PLL. URS to Xs oS XR ' fi a, H = ¥ gf eensenlcarewsae Re wy i (y pee AY = Faaees ee CA VY ‘ KY XG aL Irry <>, a ve iN aioe ne Mi et _ so SSQ 4 rtl7 Yat ey ‘ SO rr IY LD Fidin® New Phil. Journa = > Schenck 4M °Parlane Luh® Edi LT Streéfull Wright ciched/on stone. Laomedea acuminata. =| 8 = hy ‘SI ‘ a = ; : = oo _ R X 5 8 : S a) ow rs =f = \ é s i Schench uM"; a Fd? New Phul.. Journal LT Strethill Wright etched on stone 1, Trichydra pudica — 283, Tubularia indivisa CONTENTS. PAGE . Contributions to the Natural History of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Territories. Part I.—Rein-Deer. By Anprew Murray, Edinburgh, . F 189 . On the Polarized Condition of the Muscular and of the Nervous Tissue in the Living or Recently Killed Animal :—Muscular Force and Nerve Force, PoLar Forces. By H. F. Baxter, Esq., : ; 211 . On the Base of the Carboniferous Deposits and the Lower ** Old Red Sandstone.” By W.S. Symonns, F.G.S., Rector of Pendoch, Worcestershire, . - 222 . On the Ancient Physical Geography of the South-East of England. By H. C. Sonny, F.R.S., F.G.S8, 9 226 . Theory of Linear Vibration—(continued). By Epwarp Sane, Esq., F.R.S.E., ; - ; 237 . On the Colouring Matter of Persian Berries. By Joun GeLLATLy, Assistant to Dr AnpErson, College La- boratory, Glasgow, ; ‘ ’ 252 CONTENTS. PAGE 7. On the Fall of Rain in Scotland during the year 1857 ; 10. iG 12. with remarks on the best form of Rain-gauge, and the position in which it ought to be placed; and on the causes which appear to influence the deposit of Rain in different localities. By James Starx, M.D., F.R.S.E., V.P.R.S.S.A., Secretary to the Meteorolo- gical Society of Scotland, ; ; P 259 . On the Tides in the Sound of Harris. By Henry C. Orter, Esq., R.N., Captain of H.M.S. Porcupine, 272 . Notes to Captain Otter’s Paper on the Tides in the Sound of Harris. By James Stark, M.D., F.R.S.E., 274 Description of New Protozoa. By Tuomas STRETHILL Wricut, M.D., Fellow of the Royal College of Phy- sicilans, Edinburgh, . ; ; 276 Observations on British Zoophytes. By Tuomas Srre- THILL Wricut, M.D., &., . : : 282 On the Density of Bromine Water of various Strengths. By J. Sxessor, Assistant to Professor ANDERSON, Glasgow University, : : : 287 EXTRACT FROM CORRESPONDENCE :— Letter from G. Garcra Moreno to Professor W. JAMEson, relative to the exploration of the Volcano of Pi- chincha, : Ras : , : 290 CONTENTS, PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES :— Royal Society of Edinburgh, Royal Physical Society, * Botanical Society of Edinburgh, SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE :— BOTANY. 1. Gutta Percha of Surinam. 2. Urtical Alliance, as di- vided into Orders. 3. Auguste Trécul on the pre- sence of Latex in the Spiral, Reticulated, Barred, and Dotted Vessels of Plants. 4. Vegetation around the Volcanic Craters of the Island of Java. 5, The Lo- tus or Sacred Bean of India. 6. Hairs of Urticacex, il PAGE 308 313 319-324 BOTANICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY. 7. An Elementary Course of Botany, Structural, Physiolo- gical, and Systematic. 8. Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States. 9. First Lessons in Bo- tany and Vegetable Physiology. 10. Flore de Lor- raine. 11. Hooker’s Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany, : 325-327 ZOOLOGY. 12. Zoological Museum of Professor Van Lidth de Jeude. 13. Cervus Euryceros, or Great Irish Elk. 14. Earliest Specimen of Animal Life. 15. Supposed iv CONTENTS. PAGE Antiquity of the Human Race. 16. On the Electrical Nature of the Power possessed by the Actiniz of our Shores, : : : 327-328 GEOLOGY. 17. On some peculiarities in the Microscopical Structure of Crystals. 18. Pliocene Deposits of Montreal. 19. Vesuvius. 20, The Tertiary Climate, . 331-334 MISCELLANEOUS. 21. Report of an Expedition undertaken to explore a route by the rivers Waini, Barama, and Cuyuni to the Gold _ Fields of Caratal. 22. Kélliker on the Poison of Upas Antiar. 23. Magnetism. 24. Abstract of the Meteorological Register for 1857, kept at Arbroath. 25. Astronomy, : : : 334-344 OBITUARIES. 26. William Henry Playfair—William Scoresby—Marshall Hall—M. Thénard, ; : . 344-349 PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED, . : : 352, INDEX, , . . : : : 353 THE EDINBURGH NEW PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL. Contributions to the Natural History of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Territories. Part 1—Rein-Deer. By ANDREW Murray, Edinburgh.* Perhaps I may be allowed, before proceeding to the proper subject of this paper, to say a few words in explanation of the somewhat ambitious title I have given to it, and of how I come to be ina position which entitles me, with a reasonable prospect of keeping the promise thereby implied, to offer the first part of “ Contributions to the Natural History of Northern Ame- rica.” In the Hudson’s Bay Company’s charter, which was granted by Charles II. in the year 1670, the preamble, or narra- tive of the cause why it was granted, bears that certain indi- viduals had, “at their own great cost and charges, undertaken an expedition for Hudson’s Bay, in the north-west part of America, for the discovery of a new passage into the South Sea, and for finding some trade for furs, minerals, and other considerable commodities, and by such their undertaking, have already made such discoveries as do encourage them to proceed further in pursuance of the said design, by means whereof there may probably arise very great advantage to us and our kingdom ;” therefore his Majesty had resolved to grant them the tracts of land therein specified, and the sole trade and commerce thereof. This, it will be seen, was no condition that the Company should do anything for science, or future expeditions, or dis- coveries. Whatever was the motive which led to the charter * Communicated to the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, Nov. 25, 1857, NEW SERIES,— VOL. VII. NO. 1.—AFRIL 1858. G 190 Contributions to the Natural History of the being granted, the grant itself was unfettered by any restric- tion or condition relating to such matters. The Company, however, has always acted as if the motive which may have led to the grant, viz., the merit of past and the hope of future discoveries had imposed an express obligation on them to do everything in their power to foster researches in the dominions so conferred on them. The extent to which the assistance of the Company has thus been given to science cannot be estimated; butitis not toomuch to say, that no public or private expedition was ever conducted through their territories which did not draw largely upon the liberality and assistance of the Company. Their own nume- rous explorations, their extensive geographical surveys, and the able and ready help which they have given to the search after Franklin and his crew, are instances which it is. scarcely necessary to recal to the mind of the reader. I have, however, had special opportunity of seeing the liberal mode in which they extend their assistance to scientific ob- jects, on the occasion of a botanical expedition being sent out a few years ago by an association formed in this city, to pro- cure seeds of new and valuable hardy trees and plants from Oregon and the neighbouring districts. I acted as secretary to that association, and conducted the negotiations with the Hudson’s Bay Company for securing their assistance to the collector (Mr Jeffrey). The liberal spirit in which I then found that the Company looked at things impressed me no less than the extent of the power they possessed. But there were other things which struck me with equal force. In studying the route followed by Jeffrey, I had the enormous extent of their territory forced strongly upon my attention— thousands of thousands of miles still inhabited only by the “ wild ;” and all this territory dotted over by the trading or hunting stations of the Company. I found also, in the occa- sional correspondence I had with the officers stationed at some of these remote posts, that they were obliging and intelli- gent. I imagined that many of them (from their hunting propensities, which may have led them to the life they fol- lowed) must have an instinctive taste for natural history ; and when I put all this together, I felt that here was a great oppor- Hudson’s Bay Company's Territories. 191 tunity for enlarging our knowledge of the natural history of a considerable portion of the globe, which was lying fallow only because no one advanced his hand to seize it. Seeing that no one else did so, I resolved to try what I could do myself, and I applied to the Governor and directors of the Hudson’s Bay Company for permission to circulate throughout the posts scattered over their territory a paper which I prepared, entitled, “ Instructions for Collecting Objects of Natural History ;’ in which, in few words, I gave general directions for collecting, preserving, and sending them home ; and concluded by requesting those officers of the Hudson’s Bay Company who might have a taste that way, to aid me by col- lecting for me, and transmitting to me the proceeds of their exertions. Through the kind assistance of Mr Edward Ellice jun., my application was favourably received; and the Governor and directors not only sanctioned the distribution of my circulars, but charged themselves with it, and undertook to forward to me any collections that might be made,—the only condition imposed being, that the officers of the Company should not allow sueh collecting to interfere with the proper duties of their stations. Five hundred copies of my instructions were accordingly sent out last year, and scattered over the length and breadth of the land; and the first-fruits of the seed so sown is the arrival, a few weeks ago, of six cases containing different ob- jects of natural history, a portion of which will furnish the text for this paper. I begin with the largest objects, viz., four magnificent heads and antlers of rein-deer, which have suggested some remarks on the disputed point of the identity of the European species with that of America, and on one or two other points of inci- dental interest. The specimens received were sent by Mr Hargrave of York Factory. In his letter announcing their despatch, he says, —* Since writing the above, I have received from our trad- ing station at Church-hill some specimens of “ Esquimauz” rein-deer horns, obtained from the natives who visit that post from the south shores of Chesterfield Inlet,—two pairs 02 192 Contributions to the Natural History of the of the handsomest of which, and two more from their very peculiar shape, I have caused to be bound into two bundles, under your address, and will ship them to London next month.” It thus appears that the locality from which they come is that known as the Barren Ground, which is that sterile district forming the northernmost part of Canada, and bordering the shores of the Icy Sea, and that they belong to the variety described by Sir John Richardson under the name of ‘* Cervus Tarandus, var. « arctica (Barren Ground caribou).” Whether that variety is or is not a distinct spe- cies is a question still open among naturalists. The weight of opinion certainly is in favour of its being merely a va- riety, and not a species. Sir John Richardson himself treats it as a variety; but at the same time he says (/auna Bo- reli-Americana, vol. 1.), “ The rein-deer or caribou of North America are much less perfectly known (than the European). They have, indeed, so great a general resem- blance in appearance and manners to the Lapland deer that they have always been considered to be the same species, without the fact having ever been completely established ;” and again, in speaking of the two North American varieties which he describes,—viz., the Barren Ground caribou,* and the Woodland caribou, he says, “ Neither variety has as yet been properly compared with the European or Asiatic races of rein-deer, and the distinguishing characters, if any, are still unknown.” Colonel Hamilton Smith, in Griffith’s edition of Cuvier’s Animal Kingdom, had previously spoken much in the same doubtful way, but still had not ventured to erect the varieties into species. He said, “ The North American rein- deer or caribou are still very imperfectly known. There ap- pear to be three varieties, one or more of which may actually form different species.” The most recent evidence on the point, however, is that of Dr Gray, who, in his Catalogue of the Specimens of Mammalia in the British Museum (Un- gulata furcipeda), 1852, has included the North American rein-deer, along with the Lapland rein-deer, under the old name of Tarandus rangifer, noticing them only as varieties. It does not matter whether we take this as an evidence of the views of naturalists in general at that date, or merely as the Hudson's Bay Company’s Territories. 193 expression of the opinion of Dr Gray himself. No one ought to oppose the general opinion of concurrent naturalists, or the individual opinion of such a man as Dr Gray (admittedly one of our first living mammalogists), without at least distrusting his own judgment, and carefully weighing the arguments for and against the opinion which they have sanctioned by their authority ; and itis only after having done so, to the best of my ability, that I have come to a different conclusion. The grounds on which these naturalists retain the American as part of the European species are wholly negative. They do not find any differences sufficient to constitute specific cha- racters. Let us, therefore, see what the differences in the characters of the two varieties really are, and examine their extent and value. In the first place, the form of the horns is different. Sir John Richardson, indeed, by way of qualifying the value of this character, says, “It is to be recollected, however, that the antlers of the rein-deer assume an almost infinite number of forms, no two individuals having them alike.” True; andthe same may be said of the characters of all variable species; but in them, as in the rein-deer, there is a character of form which, constantly varying in individual detail, is constantly perma- nent in the general effect. The Lapland deer have one charac- ter, the North American another. Sir John Richardson gives figures of two heads of Barren Ground rein-deer, and although the minute details somewhat vary from those I received, the general effect is so much the same, that the figures of the one and the other might be taken for the first two heads sent to me by Mr Hargrave, one of which is figured below (fig. 1). The most characteristic points in the American species are the triangular-bladed brow antler, the longer and more slender stem, and the fewer processes; but the first of these (the brow antler) is that on which I would chiefly rest, for it is a structure prepared and adapted to a condition of life, and therefore of more value as a specific character than any ‘peculiarity not so adapted. In it the antler descends al- most parallel to and close above the front, reaching down as far as the muzzle, there turning upwards in an abrupt, nearly straight line; the whole antler forming an elongated triangle, 194 Contributions to the Natural History of the of which the apex is next the root of the horn. In the Lap- land species the brow antler projects more directly out from the forehead, not being parallel to the front, but at a somewhat acute angle from it, and it is not formed in the triangular Vig. 1. (North American Species.) Zs RNY shape of the other, but, although palmated, has the ends curved up, as in the upper prongs or antlers (see fig. 2). Now, as Fig. 2, (Lapland Species.) pr ON ae ~ NS + W\ Fai PPS & Hudson's Bay Company’s Territories. 195 already said, this character has more significance than the mere difference in form implies. We know that the deer with palmated horns are confined to the colder regions of the earth, and when the palmation is much developed it is probable that its purpose is to scrape and shovel away the snow from their food. But we see that all the deer with palmated horns are not equally provided with these shovels. Some are better and some worse; but none of them bears any comparison with the apparatus of the North Ameri- can Barren Ground caribou. It has, in addition to the basal palmated triangular shovel, a second projecting prong with terminal points or fingers curved inwards, very like the brow antler of the Lapland deer. The use of these pieces of appa- ratus is sufficiently obvious. The upper projecting antler with curved points is to scrape into and break the surface of the hard crust of frozen snow; the triangular ploughshare or spade is to shovel away the softer snow below; and its struc- ture is so admirably adapted for this purpose, that it is im- possible to doubt the evidence of design exhibited in it, In the more perfect specimens the two projecting basal prongs fill up the whole space above the head, and the termination of the right prong is slightly curved towards the right, like a shovel, or an open hand looking in that direction, and the other is slightly curved in the opposite direction; so that, actually, we have a double-actioned shovel, no motion being lost—the reverse motion to the left, which was necessary to enable it to give the impetus of a fresh sweep to the right, clearing away in its course a shovelful to the left, and the returning motion to the right to give impetus to the motion to the left, shovelling away in its course a portion to the right. The less furnished specimens have only one single basal antler, but its straight upright position renders it nearly equally available for this double-actioned power. The habits of this species also are known to correspond with this structure. Every author who treats of the North Ame- Yican species speaks of its using its horns to clear away the snow ; and whether this was recorded or not, the well-used and much-worn state of the palmated divisions in the specimens now received proves sufficiently that this is their habit, and, by inference, that this is the purpose for which the peculiar form 196 Contributions to the Natural History of the which these horns possess has been bestowed upon them. That the Lapland deer also use their horns, more or less, in removing the snow from the food which it covers, may be true; but that their horns are much less used for this purpose appears, not only from the form of the horns, but also from the notices of their habits, which we find in the works of those authors who have treated of them. In some of these a trivial notice occurs of their using their horns as well as their feet (which are their principal implements), but in most of them the feet are mentioned alone as used for this purpose, and no notice taken of the horns; so much so, that Colonel Smith says, in continuation of the passage already quoted,—* With them (the horns) they (the North American species) are also said to remove the snow, but it does not ap- pear that this process has been noticed in Lapland.” This flat triangular blade, therefore, which is the proper and full- grown form of horn in the adult animal, and thus the normal and specific form, I consider to be one of the principal cha- racters of the North American species. It may, however, be said that this habit, and corresponding apparatus, in the American rein-deer, are mere variations in- duced by climate, and not specific distinctions. But it humbly appears to me that this character cannot be so treated. That a species inhabiting a colder and more barren district should degenerate in size may be admitted; and we should not, on ac- count of its smaller size, think of making it anything more than a climatal variety; but that an animal should be pro- vided with a different or a more developed apparatus in order to accommodate it to a different condition of life, seems to imply much more than such a variety. If the North Ame- rican Barren Ground animal is provided with this triangu- lar spade or shovel because the snow is deeper in America than in Lapland, and a more efficient implement is neces- sary to enable it to get at its food, Ilook upon this as being in itself proof of the distinctness of the species. If, on the other hand, the snow is not deeper in America than in Lap- land, then the difference in the apparatus makes still more against the climatal theory ; for here we would have a differ- ent form for the same conditions of life. There are other differences besides those of the horns. The Hudson's Bay Company’s Territories. 197 colour of the North American species is lighter, both in its summer and its winter garb—being yellowish-brown or fawn- coloured, instead of dark-brown, in summer, and white, instead of grey, in winter—matters which per se are not of much con- sequence, but which, taken along with other differences, are of some weight. Another most important point is, that the North Ameri- can species has never been domesticated; but this in- volves a question much too long and too important to be fully discussed in the present communication. My own view of it is, that those social animals which are capable of being thoroughly domesticated are invariably found do- mesticated, and that the fact of an animal not being do- mesticated is proof that it is not domesticable. It may be said that it is the fault of the Esquimaux that the North American species are not domesticated, that they are a less intelligent race than the Laplanders, or that they have less aptitude for domesticating animals. But this is not the case. They have domesticated their Esquimaux dogs; and that they have tried to domesticate the rein-deer, and failed, is, I think, to be inferred from the following remark of Hearne :—“ The moose is the easiest to tame and domes- ticate of any of the deer kind ;” implying that the attempt had been made upon them all; and as we know from other sources, that the moose and other deer have been tamed, but never domesticated, the inference from this remark of Hearne’s is, that if the North American species had been do- mesticable, they would have been domesticated by them. Mr Hutchins, indeed, speaking of the woodland caribou, says that several of the fawns had been brought up at the factories, and had become as tame as pet lambs; so have antelopes and deer of all kinds. But we must bear in mind that taming and do- mestication are two widely different things—a lion can be tamed, but not domesticated. Our common bull is domesticated, but often nottamed, The taming ofa wild animal must thus not be confounded with the domestication of a social animal, and does not bear upon the point in question. Indeed, I firmly believe that this is not a matter which is left by nature to chance. How it is managed I do not pretend to say—possibly by an 198 Contributions to the Natural History of the imperious instinctive desire impressed on the animal, cray- ing that it should be domesticated, and compelling it to make the first advances; but whatever be the mode, I enter- tain no doubt that the securing the object has been carefully attended to by nature from the first; and where an animal is domesticable, there is as little chance of its being found undomesticated as there is of an undomesticable animal being found domesticated. The adoption of this (its domestica- . tion) as a specific character, would relieve our comparative anatomists and systematists from the inconsistencies and dif- ficulties in which they have become involved in their attempts to determine the wild stocks from which our domesticated breeds have originally sprung. All inquiries on this subject have hitherto proceeded on the foregone conclusion that the domestic breeds must be referable to one or other of the wild species. Let this view be abandoned, and let it be conceded that it is at least possible that domesticable species have been created for the special use of man, and let the species, then, be compared with one another with as great a willingness to find them distinct as there hitherto has been a determination to find them the same, and I am sure that (in some of them at least) as good specific characters will be found for distinction as are thought sufficient in other species; and it must be kept in mind, that we are left, in considering the subject, almost -entirely, if not wholly, to the characters of the animals them- selves; for no instance “occurs in which the actual period ‘or process of domestication of any species has taken place under the eyes of man, or even has occurred within the period of authentic history. Neither can we point to any undisputed instance of a species having been once domesticated, and hay- “ing afterwards relapsed into wildness. The African elephant, which we know from history was used, both in peace and war, by the Carthaginians and other North African nations in the time of the Romans, may be cited as an instance contradictory of this ; but, in the first place, we do not know that the species possessed by the Carthaginians was the same species as that now found to the north of the equator in Africa, nor even that the species so found now is the same as the South African spe- cies. The effigies of some of the elephants represented on an- Hudson's Bay Company’s Territories. 199 cient Roman medals are no doubt figured with the large ears of the present South African species ; but there may have been, and may still be, more than one species with large ears; and, in the second place, it is possible that there may be some spe- cies (among which the African elephant should possibly fall) which are only half domesticable,—such, perhaps, as our com- mon duck (which has always a disposition to wander), the alpaco, &c., and which may not fall properly under the defini- tion of domesticable animals, but rather form the link between those which are wholly so, and those which are not so at all. At the same time, I confess I prefer the undiluted theory, and hope at some future period to submit to the reader a more detailed explanation of my views and arguments on the sub- ject. Before leaving the horns, there is a statement made with re- gard to them by most authors which appears to me to call for revision, and regarding which I shall hope to get some of my new Hudson’s Bay friends to make fresh observations. The statement is, that the male sheds his horns in November. Now, it appears to me so opposed to all the usual proceedings of na- ture that she should provide this admirable apparatus for clear- ing away the snow, only to throw it off at the very period when it would come into use, that I cannot bring myself to believe that there is not some error in the statement. I have therefore examined as many authorities as I could, in order to trace from whence this statement originated ; for we often find in Natural History, that a statement originated by some one individual is repeated by subsequent writers without inquiry or consideration. The oldest statement on the subject which I find is that of Pen- nant in his “ Arctic Zoology,”* where he says, “They go to rut in September, and the males soon after shed their horns.” Hearne, who had ample opportunity of judging from per- sonal observation, makes the following remarks in his jour- ney to the Northern Ocean, 1795:+—“ The month of Octo- ber is the rutting season with the deer in these parts, and after the time of the courtship is over, the bucks separate from the does: the former proceed to the westward to take shelter in the woods during the winter, and the latter keep out * Vol.i. p. 26, t P. 197. 200 Contributions to the Natural History of the in the barren ground the whole year. This, though a general rule, is not without some exceptions, for I have frequently seen many does in the woods, though they bore no proportion to the number of bucks. This rule, therefore, only stands good re- specting the deerto the north of Churchhill River; for the deer to the southward live promiscuously among the woods, as well as in the plains, and along the banks of rivers, lakes, &c.,the whole year. The old buck-horns are very large, with many branches, and always drop off in the month of November, which is about the time they begin to approach the woods. This is undoubtedly wisely ordered by Providence, the better to enable them to escape from their enemies through the woods, otherwise they would become an easy prey to wolves and other beasts, and be liable to get entangled among the trees, even in ranging about in search of food. The same opinion may probably be admitted of the southern deer, which always reside among the woods, but the northern deer, though by far the smallest in this country, have much the largest horns, and the branches are so long, and at the same time spread so wide, as to make them more liable to be entangled among the underwoods than any other species of deer that I have noticed. The young bucks in those parts do not shed their horns so soon as the old ones. I have frequently seen them killed at or near Christmas, and could discover no appearance of their horns being loose. The does do not shed their horns till the summer, so that when the buck’s horns are ready to drop off, the horns of the does are all hairy, and scarcely come to their full growth.” This certainly is the testimony of a man appa- rently conscientious and desirous to tell the truth, with no ob- ject to do otherwise, and, moreover, with ample opportunity of getting at the truth, and with his attention specially directed to the subject, all which of course make the matter only more embarrassing. Next comes Colonel Smith: “ The males drop their horns after the rutting season in November, but the fe- males, if gravid, keep theirs till May; under other circum- stances, they drop theirs at the same time with the males ; the new ones are eight months growing, not being complete till August.” The anomaly to which I am alluding appears, how- ever, to have struck him as well as Hearn, for he offers the Hudson's Bay Company's Territories. 201 following explanation of the rein-deer shedding its horns so early as November :—“ The horns of the rein-deer, indeed, drop in winter, but this takes place only at a period when the snow is already not only very deep, but frozen hard, and even then we see that the females, when gravid, and therefore in want of a greater supply of food, preserve theirs till May.’’* Of the two, I must say I prefer Hearne’s reason for the horns dropping in November. The harder frozen the snow, the more need of good implements to get at their food, which is under it; andif it is necessary for the females getting their food that they should retain their horns through the winter, the additional claim arising from their bearing an embryo or a foetus scarcely seems sufficient to account for their having the means of securing it, while the males have not. Another, and not the least formidable testimony, is that of Sir John Richardson.t He says—‘ This (the velvety covering of the horns peeling off) takes place in September, previous to the commencement of the rutting season, and by the end of No- vember most of the old bucks have shed their horns. The young males retain theirs much longer, and, the females do not lose their horns until they are about to drop their young, in the month of May.” Now, Sir John had a good opportunity of ascertaining how the fact stood; but I do not wholly read the paragraph I have quoted as a statement depending upon his own personal observation, for he goes on—‘‘ Hearne ob- serves that the Barren Ground caribou bears horns twice the size of those of the woodland variety, notwithstanding that the latter was a much larger animal ;’—thus showing that at the very time he wrote the paragraph he had been consulting Hearne, and it is just possible that it is his (Hearne’s) obser- vation that he is repeating, instead of giving the results of his own. His statement of the movements of the rein-deer is more important, and it corresponds more with Hearne’s view of the reason why the horns are shed in November. He says{—‘“ The Barren Ground caribou, which resort to the coast of the Arctic Sea in summer, retire in winter to the * Griffith’s Cuvier’s Animal Kingdon, vol. iv., p. 70. ¥ Fauna Bor. Am. i., p. 241. t Loc. cit., p. 242. 202 Contributions to the Natural History of the woods lying between the sixty-third and sixty-sixth degree of latitude, where they feed on the Usnee, Alectorie, and other lichens which hang from the trees, and on the long grass of the swamps. About the end of April, when the partial melt- ing of the snow has softened the Cetrarice, Cornicularie, and Cenomyces, which clothe the Barren Grounds like a carpet, they make short excursions from the woods, but return to them when the weather is frosty. In May the females proceed to the sea-coast, and towards the end of June the males are in full march in the same direction. At that period the power of the sun has dried up the lichens on the Barren Grounds, and the caribou frequent the moist pastures which cover the bottoms of the narrow valleys on the coasts and islands of the Arctic Sea, where they graze on the sprouting carices and on the withered grass or hay of the preceding year, which is at that period still standing and retaining part of its sap. Their spring journey is performed partly on the snow, and partly, after the snow has disappeared, on the ice covering the rivers and lakes, which have in general a northerly direction. Soon after their arrival on the coast the females drop their young ; they commence their return to the south in September, and reach the vicinity of the woods towards the end of October, where they are joined by the males. This journey takes place after the snow has fallen, and they scrape it away with their feet to procure the lichens, which are then tender and pulpy, being preserved moist and unfrozen by the heat still remain- ingin the earth.” <‘‘ The lichens on which the caribou princi- pally feed whilst on the Barren Grounds, are the Cornicularia tristis, divergens, and ochroleuca, the Cetraria nivalis, cucul- lata, and islandica, and the Cenomyce rangiferina,’*—all low ground-growing species. The statements, however, of the latest observer on the subject, Dr Armstrongt, are some- what different, both as regards the shedding of the horns and the migration of the deer. As to the first, he says, “The calving season, as far as my observation enables me to judge, is in June, prior to, and coeval with which the bucks shed their antlers, which appear to be again entirely * Loc. cit., p. 243. + Personal Narrative of the Discovery of the North-west Passage, 1857. Hudson’s Bay Company's Territories. 203 reproduced in the latter end of August and early in Septem- ber;” and elsewhere he especially notices the rapidity of growth of the new horns. As regards the second part, he makes the following remarks; and observations to the same effect occur in “Osborn’s Voyage of the Investigator :’—“It has hither- to been the generally received opinion that these animals mi- grate to the southward, on the approach of winter, to lands where the cold is less intense and the pasturage more abun- dant, an opinion formed from the writings of distinguished Polar voyagers who formerly wintered amid the icy solitudes of the North; but the experience of four winters enables me to speak from the result of observations in contradistinction to this. In the Prince of Wales’ Strait rein-deer were seen in January—our distant position from the shore not en- abling us to hunt during the winter; and in the Bay of Mercy, for two successive winters, they were constant inhabitants of the land, and were killed throughout the winter months of the coldest season in the records of arctic voyaging. How far the migratory habits of the animal may be established in a more southern latitude on the coast of America, in their instinctive resort to localities where pasturage may be more abundant, I shall not attempt to decide ; but this I will say, that from the more distant lands of the Polar Sea they do not migrate on the approach of winter, but remain there constant inhabitants. I have remarked, however, that as the season of thaw sets in (May and June), coeval with the calving of the does, these ge- -nerally resort to the ravines and valleys bordering the coast, where the pasturage is so much more abundant.”* These narratives of the habits and food of the animal at different periods, and in different regions, are sufficiently dis- cordant to induce us to pause before coming to an opinion upon them. They show the necessity of further observa- tions, and indicate the points to which attention should be directed. Their tendency, on the whole, however, is in fa- vour of what appears to me the necessary inference to be drawn from the horns. To the statements of the foregoing au- thors, where opposed to this view, I reply by pointing to the horns themselves. Not only is the ploughshare there, but it is evident * Loe. cit., p. 276. 204 Contributions to the Natural History of the it has been much and hard used; the edges are all rubbed off, and the inequalities smoothed down; and it is plain that this cannot have been done by removing snow in the summer-time, when it is all melted. From the specimens I have received I draw the following inferences :—lst, That they are the heads of old bucks : the size of the horns and worn teeth prove this; 2d, That the triangular palmated plates on their horns are formed and used for the purpose of shovelling away the snow to get at their food; 3d, That they have been used for this. Ath, That they have been so used for a longer period than the month or six weeks after snow has fallen (in September and October) which Sir John Richardson gives them for re- turning over the Barren Grounds, where the lichens grow which they disinter for their food; 5th, That it is in the winter they have been so rubbed and worn, and not in the summer ; and, lastly, It should follow from these premises that the jane are not shed in November. Another argument against their being shed then may be drawn from what takes place with other deer. The red deer, for instance, in this country has its rutting season in September (the same time as the rein-deer), and the horns are not shed till April or May—the oldest, however, shedding them first. It is to be kept in mind that the rutting season and the growth of the horns are intimately connected together, the reproducing power under which the new horns advance in growth being then exerted to the utmost. The other North American deer, like the red deer and other stags, do not shed their horns before winter. The moose keeps them the whole winter; and the instance in question, if true, seems to bea solitary exception to the economy of all the rest of the deer tribe, so far as I have been able to ascertain. Still, the statements on the subject are too explicit, and from too high authority, to be evaded by an argument or an inference; although I must say that it is long since I have been of opinion that circumstantial evidence is of ten times more value than the best direct testimony in the world. All that I mean, therefore, by making these remarks, is to invite the attention of those who may have the opportunity of observ- ing the animals to a more careful examination of the economy of the old bucks in respect to the shedding of their horns, Hudson's Bay Company’s Territories. 205 The two smaller heads sent me by Mr Hargrave as ex- ceptional, from the form of their horns, are interesting. The one, from the state of its worn teeth, is obviously an old deer, although small in size, and with small horns. Its horns have, however, met with a distortion by which they have a curious bend in the middle, as shown in this figure. The Fig. 3. cause, whatever it may have been, has affected them both equally, which is not usually the case where horns are dis- torted—it generally happening that if one horn is injured so that it takes reduced dimensions, the nourishment which was meant for it is diverted to the other horn ; and we have the two horns characterized, one by defect, and the other by excess. It is not easy to say what may have been the cause of this curious distortion. It may be that the poor animal, when its horns were still soft and young, got entangled among brush- wood; and that here is the silent evidence of long struggles on the part of the animal, and of perhaps days of famine, be- fore it succeeded in freeing itself from the bonds which held it. Or it may merely be a distortion consequent upon the old age of the animal, for we often find the horns in old deer stunted and distorted, although it is not usual to find them ' so symmetrically disfigured. It will be observed that this head wants the triangular ploughshare in front, but as it is obviously an abnormal and exceptional head, this want goes for nothing in the question of species. One of the other heads sent by Mr Hargrave is a young one, as shown by the teeth, and has not yet got the fan-shaped ploughshare, which, like NEW SERIES.—VOL. VII, NO. U.—-APRIL 1858, P 206 Contributions to the Natural History of the other antlers, only appears after the animal has acquired a certain age. It is unnecessary, moreover, to say, that in the observations I have previously made as to the form of the horns in the different species, I have spoken of characteristic examples of the full-grown animal, not of young or exceptional horns. The dentition in the young deer is deserving of notice. The incisors overlap one another in a curious manner, ex- cept the outermost, which fits into a groove on the edge of the penultimate tooth. In the older heads the teeth stand apart. They are all very small; and the mode in which they are worn away in the older animals is peculiar. In- stead of being worn flat on the crown, or somewhat inwards, as is the case with other ruminant animals, the front of the central teeth are worn down obliquely outwards. This arises most-certainly, not from nipping Usneas hanging from the trees, or from cropping grass like a sheep, but from grub- bing up the Cenomyces and other lichens growing flat on the surface of the ground—an additional argument in favour of these being their principal food. Another interesting structure in these animals remains to be noticed ; I mean the fur or hair. Of this Sir John Richard- son says—‘ In the month of July the caribou sheds its winter covering, and acquires a short smooth coat of hair of a colour composed of clove brown, mingled with deep reddish and yellowish browns; the under surface of the neck, the belly, and the inner sides of the extremities remaining white in all seasons. The hair at first is fine and flexible, but as it lengthens it increases gradually in diameter at its roots, be- coming at the same time white, soft, and compressible, and brittle, like the hair of the moose deer. In the course of the winter the thickness of the hairs at their roots becomes so great that they are exceedingly close, and no longer lie down smoothly, but stand erect; and they are then so soft below that the flexible coloured points are easily rubbed off, ~ and the fur appears white, especially on the flanks. The closeness of the hair of the caribou, and the lightness of its skin when properly dressed, renders it the most appropriate article for winter clothing in the high latitudes. The skins of the young deer make the best dresses, and they should be Hudson’s Bay Company’s Territories. 207 killed for that purpose in the months of August or September, as after the latter date the hair becomes too long and brittle. The prime parts of eight or ten skins make a complete suit of clothing for a grown person, which is so impervious to the cold, that with the addition of a blanket of the same material, any one so clothed may bivouac on the snow with safety, and even with comfort, in the most intense cold of an arctic winter’s night.” * On a close examination of the skin, I have not found any- thing particularly different from the skin of any other animal. The hair is more patent to examination, and is interesting, not only in relation to its own economy, but also in relation to the views held by histologists of the structure of hair in general, and by physiologists of its mode of growth and de- velopement. It has already been made known by Professor Busk, that the hair of the deer tribe is peculiar, being almost entirely cellular ; and the hair has been described and figured by Dr Inman, in an able paper “ On the Natural History and Microscopic Character of Hair,” published in the “ Proceed- ings of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool,” No. 7 (1851 to 1853) ; but as my observation somewhat differs from his, and he has limited his figure to what appears to me an inaccurate representation of the larger hair in one aspect, and has not described the equally interesting finer and smaller hairs, I have thought it desirable to give a careful view of both, with magnified representations of different sections ; and that there may be no exception taken to their accuracy, I have got the drawing made by Dr Greville, whose name is a sufficient guarantee for its fidelity. The subject figured is the skin and hairs of one of the above-mentioned North American rein-deer; but the structure seems to be the same in all deer— at least it is so in all which I have examined—in the moose in the red-deer, roe-deer, musk-deer, &c., but not in the antelopes. The figure on the right hand represents a somewhat magnified portion of the skin, with both kinds of hair issuing from it; the left hand figure represents a more highly magnified small hair ; the upper centre figure shows a highly magnified portion of the * Loc. cit., p. 242. P2 208 Contributions to the Natural History of the large hair; the lower centre figure a transverse section of this ; and the middle centre a longitudinal section. >. <2 a — ee I 4' t tt i 5 (| ‘ () nk 4 rt) sees ere rAd () () ¢; +) es P{ } 1) agenee ° ae -«) () Dr Inman says :* “In the deer the cells are so numerous as to occupy the whole of the body of the hair, and so irregular that no particular place of subdivision can be traced ;” and his figure quite corresponds with this, the cells being there shown as amorphous; but it will be seen from the above figure that they are truly polygonal—for the most part hexagonal, and there are very distinct septa and lines of separation. In fact, as Dr Greville pointed out to me, one of the most striking points in this structure is its close resemblance to (I might al- most say identity with) polygonal cellular tissue seen in the hairs and other parts of plants. The difference between the long and thick hairs, and the fine small hairs, is interesting and suggestive. We have here types of the two great sections into which hair may be divided growing side by side; the one wholly cellular, the other appa- rently without cells at all, and wholly horny and cortical. I do not doubt that, by the use of proper agents, we would find * Loc. cit., p. 89. Hudson's Bay Company’s Territories. 209 that the latter has a central cellular medulla or pith, as in the human and other hairs of a similar appearance. Like them, and most other hairs of that texture also, these fine hairs are imbricated, as may be faintly seen in the woodcut. It is held by physiologists that both these kinds of hair are modelled on the same plan, viz., that of a cellular interior, sur- rounded by a horny cortical exterior, and that the difference in texture arises from the difference in the extent of development of the internal cellular pith or of the external cortical covering. In the one extreme forming the soft hair of the deer ; in the other, the hard bristle of the sow. This view recommends itself hy its simplicity and the unity of the modus operandi; but although it may be correct, so far as it goes, it does not explain the whole of the phenomena. For example, it does not explain why the hairs, where the horny covering predominates, are imbricated while those which are cellular are not; and it is to be observed, that there is a want of transition between the two characters of hair which certainly is opposed to a common mode of develop- ment. If it were the same, we ought to find hairs exhibit- ing all the gradations of passage between the two extremes, which we do not. Furthermore, they appeared to be designed for different purposes. Speaking in a general way, the horny or bristly hair is characteristic either of carnivorous animals, who have a greater supply of caloric than vegetable feeders, or of graminivorous animals inhabiting warm climates; while the cellular hairs in question are confined to the deer tribe, most of whom inhabit cold climates. It has usually been said, that the fine hair found at the roots of the coarser hair in these animals is an additional provision of nature for the warmth of the animal. It rather appears to me thatin the deer at least it is the larger cellular hairs which haye been added for this purpose (no one can look at them, I think, without seeing how admirably they are adapted for this), and that the horny hairs, whose office may possibly be as much that of a regulator of tempera- ture as of a heating apparatus, are the normal hairs of the animal reduced to the smallest dimensions. If these two kinds of hair have distinct functions, their mode of development may also possess distinctive characters. We see that their roots extend to very different depths in the skin, and although 210 Contributions to the Natural History, Se. we know that the hair is a mere appendage of the skin, pro- duced by its involution or evolution, it may be that, by draw- ing more of its substance from one layer than from another, the differences in its appearance, which we have been consi- dering, are produced. These are points on which the recent researches of Kolliker, Leydig, Queckett, Inman, and other microscopists have not touched. It is only a skilful histologist who can take them up with any chance of success; and as I have no pretensions to such a title, I am glad to have enlisted my friend Dr Turner (Demonstrator of Anatomy) in the ex- amination of the subject, and he has undertaken to see if he can throw any further light upon it. Another interesting provision with regard to the hair is, that in the rein-deer and the moose or elk (the only two arctic species or families) the part of the muzzle called the muffle, instead of being left bare and moist, as in other ruminants, is clothed with hair—this forming the generic character of the group. A moment’s consideration of what the effect would be of plunging a bare and moist muzzle into frozen snow, in the search after lichens, will show how necessary a deviation this is from the normal structure of that part. At first sight one might expect, on like grounds, some analogous deviation from the normal condition of the stomach in arctic animals, but there is none such, and the reason probably is that that organ is not very sensitive, and any special protection to it against the coldness of the food is therefore unnecessary. The skin appears to be a good deal cut up before winter by the gad-flies and Wstré, and we have no account how the damage done by these creatures is repaired before the severity of the winter begins to be felt ; doubtless, the sores quickly heal as soon as the originators of the mischief drop out, and the part will only be thicker on account of the healing process; so that itwould be rather curious if the unattacked part of the skin turned out to be in reality the weakest. The hair, too, is cast and replaced at this time, so that the comfort of the animals is sufficiently provided for. 5 Bit On the Polarized Condition of the Muscular and of the Nervous Tissue in the Living or Recently Killed Animal: —Muscular Force and Nerve Force, PoLaR Forces. By H. F. Baxter, Esq. Having arrived at the conclusion, in a previous paper,* that the muscular and nervous tissues are, during life, in a pecu- liar state or condition, which has been termed polarized, the following question naturally arises,—Can this state, dependent as it evidently is upon nutrition, be increased by any artifi- cial means? That it may be diminished or easily destroyed is to be inferred from the fact, that whatever interferes with the proper nutrition of a muscle or nerve, or disorganizes their structure, whether by mechanical or chemical agencies, destroys also the conditions upon which the ewistence of the muscular or nerve currents depends; and it is, it may be ob- served, from the manifestation of these currents that the ex- istence of this polarized condition is inferred. It is reason- able, therefore, to suppose, that it might be by the employment of the electric force (or current) that we should perhaps obtain some evidence to assist in solving this problem. In considering the question of the influence of electricity upon the muscular and nervous tissues, we are necessarily brought to the examination of the various experiments that have been undertaken from the period of Galvani’s celebrated discovery up to the present time, in which muscular contrac- tion has been induced by means of the agency of electricity upon the nerves. On the present occasion, however, as lt is by means of the galvanometer rather than by muscular con- traction alone that the evidence proper for the solution of our question might be obtained, it will not be necessary to enter into a critical review of the various results made known to us by our predecessors; but those facts may be stated in the form of a few propositions which appear to have been well-established by the labours of Volta, Marianini, Nobili, Matteucci, Marshall Hall, Du Bois Reymond, and * Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, New Series, January 1858. 212 On the Polarized Condition of others,* and to which we shall have occasion to allude in the course of the inquiry. 1st, When an electric current traverses a nerve, it is only at the opening and closing of the circuit that muscular con- traction ensues. 2dly, No muscular contraction occurs during the passage of the current. 3dly, After the inverse current has passed for some time along a nerve, upon opening the circuit, tetanic contractions are produced; with the direct current no contraction takes place. The question may now arise,—Can the muscular contrac- tion of a limb be considered as evidence of an increase of the polarized state or condition of the nerve going to that limb ? Previous to considering this question, let us endeavour to ascertain whether any increase occurs in the muscular or the nerve current under these circumstances. MaRiANINI,} under the supposition that electricity, in these experiments, accumulated in the tissues, says,—‘* En appli- quant avec soin les fils du galvanométre aux fibres palpitantes ou aux nerfs adhérens, on pourrait, peut-étre, détourner en partie ces courans, et les faire passer par le galvanométre ; mais les expériences que j’ai faites jusqu’ a’présent sur ce point aussi délicat ne me permettent pas encore de rien affirmer avec assurance.” Marreuccrt adds, ‘“ How is this tetanic action produced ? It is easy to convince oneself, if any doubt could be enter- tained upon the subject, that there is no electricity rendered latent either in the nerves or in the muscles by the passage of the inverse current. My endeavours to discover signs of any, by the aid of the condenser, have been entirely fruitless. Likewise there are no signs, on opening the circuit, of any electric current in circulation. I have made myself quite cer- tain of this fact by means of the galvanometer, employing at the same time a pile of tetanized frogs.” * In BECQUEREL’s Traité de l’Electricité, will be found an account of the views of the earlier inquirers, and also some valuable observations of his own in regard to animal electricity. + Annales de Chimie et de Physique, tom. lvi., p. 387, 1834. ¢ Phil. Trans., 1848, part ii., p. 236. Muscular and Nerve Fibre. 218 In the following experiments, the current either from 1, 3, or 6 of Grove’s middling-sized cells was passed through a de- tached muscle, or a portion of the sciatic nerve, the platinum electrodes being so arranged that the anode or platinum extremity was in contact with the base or transverse section of the fibre, and the cathode or zinc extremity in contact with the external or longitudinal surface; the direction of the current being in accordance with the normal direction of the muscular or nerve current, or that which is called the inverse current. The muscle or nerve, which was from rabbits, guinea- -pigs, and frogs, was placed upon two pieces of glass, separated from each other, so that the current should traverse the substance of the tissue; but how far it was conducted by the surface and not by the fibre alone, may be a question difficult to decide. Be The normal effect of the muscular or nerve current was first ascertained and noted ; the former amounting to 4° or 5°, the latter to 2° or 3°, depending, however, upon the state of the nerve or muscle, and also upon theanimal. The current from the battery was allowed to pass along the fibre for different periods of time, when the effect upon the muscular or nerve current was then examined. The eftects, generally speaking, were as follow :— With the current from one cell, after it had passed five minutes, the amount both of the muscular and nerve current was slightly diminished ; after ten minutes, the nerve current was not obtained, the muscular current still existed; fifteen minutes, no nerve current, nerve dry, muscular current but slight ; twenty minutes, no effect; twenty-five minutes, no effect. With the current from three cells, after five minutes, the nerve current very slight, the muscular current somewhat diminished ; after ten minutes, no nerve current, nerve dry, muscular current slight; fifteen minutes, no effect from nerve, muscular current very slight ; twenty minutes, no effect from either; twenty-five minutes, no effect. With the current from siz cells, after five minutes, no nerve current, nerve dry, muscular current very slight; after ten minutes, indefinite indications of the needle with the nerve, no muscular current; fifteen minutes, no effect with nerve, 214 On the Polarized Condition of with the muscle the current occasionally indicated a reversed direction ; twenty minutes, no effect with the nerve, indefinite indications of the needle with the muscle; twenty-five minutes, effects similar to those last observed. As no distinct evidence of an increase either in the muscu- lar or nerve current was obtained, it has not been thought necessary to particularize the results. Great care was taken in all these experiments to depolarize the platinum electrodes after the completion of each circuit, and to have them well cleaned. In the next series of experiments, the current was passed direct, so as to traverse the fibre in the contrary direction to that of the muscular or nerve current. As the results did not indicate any increase, or even any decided diminution in the muscular or nerve current, and were in many respects similar to those we have already related with the inverse current, they need not be detailed. Employing litmus paper to test the indications of the two surfaces of the fibre in contact with the electrodes, the effects were the same; there was no distinct acid or alkaline de- posit on either of the two surfaces. The tissues soon became dry. The results in all these experiments, after the current had passed for some time through the nerve or muscle, and especially when more than one cell was employed, evidently arose from the electro-chemical actions set up in the moist animal substances, by means of the electric current employed destroying the conditions necessary for the existence of the muscular or nerve current, and setting up new actions. It is extremely doubtful whether the current traversed the fibre ;* it might have been conducted by the surface alone; and, in considering the action of the current upon the tissue, it is not difficult to perceive that its effect (its mode of action) would not be that of increasing the electrical state of the tissues, but more of a disorganizing action. What is evidently required is, to induce the negative electrical state of the fibre, which constitutes its polarized condition ; and it does not appear that, * MATTEUCCI believes that the current is conducted by the liquid part of the nerve. Phil. Trans. 1850, p. i., p. 288. Muscular and Nerve Fibre. 215 by merely passing a current through it, we should be able to produce the effect we wish. Instead of a constant, an intermitting current, from an ordinary medical electro-magnetic machine, was employed, and made to traverse the muscular or nerve fibre as before. In these instances, there was no indication of an increase in either of the muscular or nerve currents. The limbs of a galvanoscopic frog were now placed in separate glass vessels, employing the current from the battery of six cells, the current being inverse in one limb and direct in the other, as in Matteucci’s experiment. When tetanic contrac- tions were produced in the inverse limb, an attempt was made to ascertain whether any difference existed between the muscu- lar and nerve currents of both limbs. No decided difference between the two limbs could be detected; differences were occa- sionally observed, but the nerve current in the direct limb was apparently as frequently increased as that of the inverse limb, but the muscular and nerve currents of both limbs, and in other parts of the same frog, generally indicated a greater amount of deflection previous to the passage of the current from the battery than afterwards. It may be asked, Do not these tetanic contractions indicate an increase in the polarized state or condition of the nerve? Du Bois Reymond* states, that he has obtained indications of an increase in the nerve current, by passing an electric cur- rent along a portion of the same nerve. He says, “If any part of a nerve is submitted to the action of a permanent cur- rent, the nerve, in its whole extent, suddenly undergoes a material change in its internal constitution, which disappears on breaking the circuit as suddenly as it came on. This change, which is called the electro-tonic state, is evidenced by a new electro-motive power, which every point of the whole length of the nerve acquires during the passage of the current, so as to produce, in addition to the nerve current, a current in the direction of the extrinsic current. As regards this new mode of action, the nerve may be compared to a voltaic pile, and the transverse section loses its essential import. Hence *Oa Animal Electricity. Edited by H, BENcE Jones, M.D., p. 213. 216 On the Polarized Condition of the electric effects of the nerve, when in the electro-tonic state, may also be observed in nerves without previously dividing them.” The experiment was repeated in the following manner :— Platinum wires, connected with the galvanometer, were placed in contact with the two portions of the nerve (the longitudinal and the transverse sections), so as to obtain the nerve current. The current from one, three, or six of Grove’s middling-sized cells was then passed along another portion of the nerve, at different distances from that portion connected with the gal- vanometer, the electrodes of the battery being pointed. When the current from the battery was confined to a small portion of the nerve, and at some distance (an inch or more) from the other portion, it very rarely happened that we could obtain any effect upon the nerve current. When the electrodes of the galvanometer comprised half-an-inch of the nerve, and the electrodes of the battery also the same extent, and were not far from those connected with the galvanometer, then an effect was frequently produced upon the nerve current; the effect, however, was, generally speaking, that of a decrease in the nerve current, and this took place whatever might be the direction of the current from the battery, whether coinciding with, or in opposition to, the direction of the nerve current. It very seldom happened that an increase in the nerve current was obtained; and, as these results were chiefly observed to occur when more than one cell was employed, the effects—the apparent increase, and perhaps the decrease, of the nerve cur- rent—may be more correctlyreferred to some disturbance in the position of that portion of the nerve between the electrodes of the galvanometer, arising during the passage of the current in the other portion; an increase occurring when the nerve pressed against the electrodes, and a decrease when separated from them. It may be just remarked that the nerves soon be- came dry in these experiments. The nerves were taken from the frog, guinea-pig, and rabbit. Similar results were obtained when muscles were employed in the same manner for the purpose of ascertaining the effect upon the muscular current. Muscular and Nerve Fibre. 5 ly Although the effects observed may partly arise from an alteration in the contacts of the two surfaces of the nerve between the electrodes of the galvanometer, we nevertheless believe, with Du Bois Reymond, that the passage of an electric current in another portion of the same nerve is capable of affecting the conditions upon which the nerve current de- pends; but we have not been so fortunate as Du Bois Rey- mond in obtaining such decided and definite evidence as could have been wished in regard to the increase of the nerve current. In all these experiments the distance of the electrodes, both of the galvanometer and battery, from each other, and the extent of the nerve between each of the electrodes, and also the state of the nerve in regard to the dryness of its surface, are points of the utmost importance to be considered and attended to in judging of the final result. The only conclusions that can be deduced from the fore- going investigations, contained in the former as well as pre- sent paper, are the following :— Ist. That we have no evidence of being able to increase the polarized condition of the nervous and of the muscular tissue by artificial means, such as the electric current; but it is highly probable. 2d. That an inerease of this polarized condition may arise from an increased action of those changes which take place in the living animal, such as nutrition, being the same means by which it is produced and maintained in the living animal. Before acceding to these conclusions, it may be reasonably asked, Have we not other evidence besides that afforded by means of the galvanometer to indicate an increase in the polarized condition of the nerve? Do not the tetanic con- tractions which are observed in a limb whose nerve has been subjected to the action of an electric current (inverse), in- dicate an increased action of the nerve? Previous to dis- cussing this question, which will be considered in the conclud- ing remarks, the following experiment was performed :— A current from six of Groye’s cells was passed through the limb of a galvanoscopic frog in the inverse direction, and as soon as tetanic contractions were produced, the nerve was divided at the junction of the nerve with the muscles of the 218 On the Polarized Condition of limb; the tetanic contractions ceased. The two ends of the divided nerve were now placed in apposition, but no tetanic contractions ensued. This inverse current was again allowed to pass for some time through the nerve thus united, but no tetanic contractions occurred upon the breaking of the cir- cuit. Great care, however, is required in this experiment to divide the nerve at the exact point where it emerges from the muscles, as pointed out by Matteucci, otherwise the tetantic contractions take place. The results of this experiment only tend to confirm what has been already satisfactorily proved by others, that the continuity of the nerve fibre in the nerve leading to the muscle, is necessary for the conduction of the impression ex- cited at the distal end of the nerve in order to arouse muscular contraction. It need scarcely be added, that the muscular and nerve currents may, however, be obtained under these circum- stances between the separated portions. Concluding Remarks. The results of our recent investigations having led to the conclusion that the muscular and the nervous tissues are both, during life, in a polarized state or condition, and from our inability to énerease this state by any artificial means, it being produced and maintained by nutrition, would almost stamp it as being peculiar to the organic kingdom. All the experiments tend, moreover, to show that it must be by acting upon and employing the means by which it is produced and maintained, viz., through the act of nutrition, that we can hope to succeed ; for it is reasonable to suppose, that whatever would increase this act would also increase this condition, as shown by an increase in the muscular and nerve currents under these circumstances. That tetanic contractions may be produced by means of the electric current upon the nerve, might perhaps be adduced as an argument in favour of the supposition that an increased action of the nerves is produced, and, consequently, an increase in the polarized condition ; but how far the peculiar state of the nerve which produces tetanic contractions under these circumstances is due to an Muscular and Nerve Fibre. 219 increase of the normal polarized condition is open to remark, as we shall endeavour to point out. When an electric current from a voltaic circle or any other source traverses a nerve or muscle, the muscle or nerve forms a part of the conductor, as any other moist substance or fluid (electrolyte) might do, and becomes polarized; the polarized condition of the muscle or nerve under these circum- stances being manifested, as the other points of the circuit, in the longitudinal direction, one extremity being positive or negative to the other ; and when the electrodes of a galvano- meter are applied, one to each end, an electric current is mani- fested. Nothing of this sort, however, is manifested in the normal polarized condition of the muscular or nerve fibre as it exists in the animal body; the polar action, as then mani- fested by the galvanometer, is more in the transverse direction, or, more correctly speaking, the tissue is in one electric state negative, and the positive state is external to it either in the sarcolemma or neurilemma or in the blood. Hence we see the important difference between these two modes or con- ditions or states. To suppose, therefore, that an electric current, in traversing a muscle or nerve, increases its normal polarized condition, would only lead to erroneous ideas of the subject ; it may, however, induce a change, under certain circumstances, in the condition of the nerve, tantamount to an increased action of the nerve or nerve force ; but it may be very much doubted whether we should be justified in calling it an increase of its natural polarized condition. Since, then, the nerve fibre and the muscular fibre present this peculiar polarized condition, we may, without any hesi- tation, infer, that the two forces, the muscular and the nerve force, are both POLAR, and consequently, that muscular action and nerve action are polar actions. During life the muscular and nerve fibre may be considered as existing in a state of tension,* a forced state, and muscu- * It would be of some importance to ascertain the state or condition of the prisms in the electric organ of the fish, prior to their discharge of electricity. Theoretically, it might be supposed thatjall the tissues in the animal body may be considered as being in an electric or polarized state, presenting, however, great differences in regard to each other. 220 On the Polarized Condition of lar relaxation may coincide, and would be synonymous with, this polarized condition or state of tension and contraction, the result of a depolarization of the muscular fibre. In the normal state this depolarization is induced by means of ner- vous agency, but it may also occur from other means, such as chemical or mechanical agencies, or whatever is likely to produce disorganization. Depolarization having occurred, the polarized state is easily and readily restored by the act of nutrition; hence contraction may be partly considered as the result of molecular attraction.* The particles constituting the muscular fibre being in a state of self-repulsion whilst in this polarized condition, would resist the force of molecular attraction unless depolarized ; and, according to this view, the results of muscular contraction would necessarily follow in con- formity to the law as laid down by Schwann. The nerve-fibre existing also in a state of tension, whatever influences this state would also produce a depolarization of its fibre, the result being manifested by muscular contraction, or pain. oR ear will represent one of the values of R; so that equation (14) becomes A . 0, +6,B . 0, + eC . 90, + &e. 95.) =R, {a,A.2,+6,B.v,+¢,C.v, + &e.} } os or if, for the sake of shortness, we put aA. 2,+b,B.xv,+¢,0.27,+&.=X, (26.) EE Whence, for positive values of R we have X,=U fe+wR, + (e-tVR,) + V(etwR,—e-tVR,) (27.) an equation which falls to be used in the case of repulsion, and in which U and V are quantities determined by the condition of the system at a given epoch; to this equation we need not further advert. Also, for negative values of R X =U, sn (/=Br4m) « «| ) 0 ee in which U, and wu, are constants introduced during the in- tegrations, the first having reference to the extent, the second to the epoch of an oscillation. Exactly similar reasoning may be followed in regard to the other co-ordinates y and z, and it is evident, from the nature of the operations, that identically the same equations (15) would be obtained ; so that the values of R; a, b, c, &., which relate to the ordinates 2, also relate to the ordinates y and z. Therefore, the complete solution of the problem before us is contained in the following equations :— aA + xr, +bB . 2 +¢,C0 . Xo + &e. =X, OB: «Bo OB lg GO ac (29.) aA. 2 + bB. z +¢,C : z,+ &e.=Zy Theory of Linear Vibration. 241 X,=0U, sin (t,/ —R, + u,) Y,=V, sin (t/—R,+ w) (30.) Z,=W, sin (¢/ — Rv + w,) | If we suppose X,, Y,,Z,, to be the co-ordinates of an ima- ginary point y, which, for the sake of facility of expression, I shall call the nucleus of oscillation, this point y must describe an ellipse, the centre of which coincides with the centre of gravity of the system, and the position and magnitude of which are determined by the values of U,, V1, Wy; ws, vs, Ws The periodic time of the revolution of the point y in its orbit must be —_ ig easly and neither the periodic time nor the orbit is changed by the mutual attractions of the bodies. But for each one of the roots of equation (23) we have a distinct set of values, so that for each of the n—1 values of y we have a distinct nucleus of oscillation: and thus it appears that, in such a system of attracting bodies, there are n—1 points each of which describes its own ellipse around the cen- tre of gravity in its own periodic time. These nuclei may be regarded as pseudo-centres of gravity ; that is, as the centres of gravity, not of the masses A, B, C, &c., but of fictitious masses aA, b,B, ¢,C, &.; and the centre of gravity itself may be classed amongst these, and may be regarded as that y which results from supposing the multipliers a, b, ¢, &c., all equal to each other, or their differences all zeroes. The R correspond- ing to the centre of gravity is zero; that is to say, the perio- dic time of the centre of gravity is infinite ; in other words, its motion, if it have any, must be rectilineal. Reckoning the centre of gravity amongst them, there are as many nuclei whose positions can be computed as there are moving bodies; and, therefore, by help of equations (29), which are linear, the position of each one of the bodies may be ascertained. Now it is obvious that the elimination of the quantities &, «x, &¢., from the first set of equations (29), must be ex- actly similar to the elimination of the y’s from the second set, 242 Edward Sang on the or of the z’s from the third set, and therefore the compositions of the values of the ordinates #, must be exactly similar to those of the ordinates y. These values, then, will take the forms a, =(1,) X,+ (2,) + (8,) X, + &e. y,=(1,) ¥, + (2) ¥+ (8) Yj+&e. } (81,) “> (1,) Z, + (2,) Z, + (3,) Z; + &e. and similarly for the other bodies of the system. From this it follows, that the motion of each one of the at- tracting bodies may be regarded as composed of n—1 elliptic motions superadded to each other; and that, therefore, the path of each must be a complex epicycloid traced by carrying the centre of one ellipse round the circumference of another, the centre of that other round the circumference of a third, and so on. The values of the quantities U, V, W, which determine the magnitudes of the oscillations of the nuclei, and the values of u, v, w, which determine their epochs, depend on the acci- dental conditions of the system ; that is, on the impulses which had been communicated to the various bodies before they were abandoned to the effects of their mutual attractions; the co- efficients (1,), (2,), (1,), (2,), &c., which regulate the distri- bution of the motions of the nuclei among the bodies, depend, on the other hand, on the masses of the bodies and on the co- efficients of attraction. Among the infinity of original impulses which we may ima- gine to have been given, there may be some that render one or more of the orbits zero, or that may render them all zeroes but one. In such acase it follows that the bodies A, B, CO, &c., would describe similar ellipses around the centre of gra- vity, and that the epochs of their anomalies would be the same ; the orbits, too, would all lie in one plane. In such a case the inhabitants of the several planets would perceive no angular change of position in the bodies composing their sys- tem; they would simply appear to approach and recede. - But if two of these elliptic motions were to coexist, the phases would be different, both because their periodic times Theory of Linear Vibration. 243 would be unlike, and because they would be differently dis- tributed among the several planets. The motions of a system of bodies attracting each other in this peculiar way have little interest for any but the specula- tive analyst. Such arrangements can scarcely occur in na- ture. The investigation which I have given includes, how- ever, that of the motions of a linear elastic series, and, on that account, becomes of great practical importance. I may be allowed to remark that this is the first case of the PROBLEM OF THREE Bopres which has been resolved when the resultants of the attractions do not all pass through one point ; and I may be excused in adding, that however lamely the investigation may have been given, its intrinsic import- ance, and the interest which attaches to it, as almost the first pioneer on the road to the great problem of physical astronomy, can well assert its claim to the close attention of every student of physico-mathematics. The resolution of the analogous problem, when the attrac- tions vary as the second inverse powers of the distances, is of the highest importance in physical astronomy. This import- ance has procured for it the most intense exertions of the ablest analysts; yet not a single step has been made toward its resolution, and physical astronomy remains a collection of approximative methods, of great value indeed, but ill fitted to satisfy the mind. The difficulties which surround the subject are enough to dishearten the most sanguine ; nor is this success in another variety of the general problem calculated to raise a more than ephemeral hope ; because in this particular variety of the law of attraction the variations of the three co-ordinates are al- ready separate, whereas in the actual law of planetary attrac- tion they are intimately involved. The peculiar oscillations of the bodies A, B, C, &c., may be regarded as modifications of a set of phenomena of which I gave the analysis in the Edinburgh ne wear Journal for April 1832. When a long wire, fixed at one end, and carrying a polished ball on the other, is bent, and allowed to vibrate, the image of a light seen in the polished surface reveals the path of the 244 Edward Sang on the vibrating extremity. This phenomenon was first pointed out by Professor Wheatstone. On analyzing the conditions of the motion I discovered that every wire, whatever may be the form of its cross section, has its directions of greatest and least rigidity at right angles to each other, and that the vi- brations in these two directions go on simultaneously, but without interfering with each other. Mr Wheatstone had used the ordinary round wire, of which the coefficients of rigidity are nearly equal, and the curves which he obtained were ellipses and elliptic epicycloids ; but my analysis showed that a change in the form of the wire might produce any one of the classes of curves represented by the equations «=U sin (6¢+u); y=V sin (9¢+), and that, if the wire be struck so as to cause it to vibrate in parts, other terms analogous to these come to be superadded. . When the wire is bent, motions in the direction z are in- troduced, and the complexity of these motions affords, per- haps, the best and readiest illustration of the movements of our imaginary system of attracting planets. Ill. Irregular Linear Series. When a system of bodies, A, B, C, &c., connected by elas- tic ties, is distributed in space, the investigation of their mo- tions is attended with great difficulty, because the intensities of their attractions are proportional, not to their mutual dis- tances, but to the variations in their distances; and thus the motions in the directions a, y, and z, are intricately mixed. But when the bodies are all ranged in one straight line, to which their motions are confined, the investigation can be completed by an operation analogous to that which I have just ex- plained. ‘Such a series may be represented by a number of balls ranged in a straight line, and linked together by means of helical springs. In the general statement of the problem the bodies must be supposed to be of various weight, and the springs to be of various degrees of stiffness. Complete generality would also require that one of the bodies, as E,should not merely Theory of Linear Vibration. 245 be connected with its antecedent D and consequent F, but that it should be connected also with every other body in the series. ‘The method which is, given in the preceding part ap- plies directly to this general supposition, and indeed, as will become manifest immediately, no other change is needed in the formula than to suppose that the ordinates x of the various bodies, are to be reckoned, not from the common centre of gravity, but from the mean position of each body. It is more interesting, and is also quite sufficient for my pre- sent purpose, to suppose that each body is connected only with those adjoining to it. I shall, throughout this inquiry, assume as the linear unit twice the distance through which a heavy body falls in the first unit of time. The mass of a body I shall consider as re- presented by its weight, and I shall define the coefficient of elasticity of a spring (or its stiffness) to be the weight which would be necessary to distend or to compress it through one linear unit. By this arrangement the formule are rendered applicable to all units of time, and to all intensities of gravi- tation. Let then x, x,,v,, &c, be the ordinates of the different bodies, each measured from the place which the body would occupy, if all the springs were uncompressed, so that 7, —w, may be the measure of the compression or distention of the spring placed between them; and let «8, By, &c, be the coefficients of the elasticity of the different springs; then a6 (a,—.s) re- presents the pressure which the spring exerts on each of the two bodies. The general equations of motion take the form A. 2fes =a (z, —2,) if a8 (2, in ®,) B. ait, = a8 (t,—2,) + By (w,—2,) G. fo= BY (2,—«,) + 76 (#,—2,) K. 2¢?K = in (, a a) + xh (2, Pao? @,) L . oa, = 4A (a, —2,) + AM (,—2,) 246 Edward Sang on the M. ay = Me (2,—2,) + my (2,,—@,) “68 (37.) where A is supposed to be the first, and M the last body in the series. For the sake of preserving uniformity in appear- ance, zero has been added to the first and last equations under the forms gm (a,—7,) and py (%,—*,), aa and wy being the coefficients of elasticity of two arbitrary springs, which haying no points of attachment, have, in reality, nothing to do with our present inquiry. Now, I have shown in the preceding section, that the motions of any system of bodies connected by pressures proportional to their distances, are composed of as many oscillations, less one, as there are bodies; and the application of the same reasoning to the present case is so obvious, that it is quite needless to take up time with the repetition of it. These various oscilla- tions do not interfere with each other, so that if one oscillation which is consistent with the conditions of a system be super- added to another oscillation which is consistent with the same conditions, the compound motion will also be so. We are therefore at liberty to assume, that one of the con- stituent vibrations is represented by equations of the form a, =aU sin (66+); t,=bU sin (+4); &e,, in which U is the half extent of the oscillation of the nucleus; w an interval of time, which gives the epoch of the oscillation ; 6a multiplier, which gives the rapidity ; and a, b, c, &e., co- efficients which determine the particular shares of that vibra- © tion which belong to the several bodies. Inserting these values of w,, x,, &c., in equations (37), and dividing all by U sin (¢¢+z), there result the following equa- tions :— —aAl?+ oe (a—a) +a8 (6—a), — bBe? =a (a—b) + By (c—b), — Ce? = By (bc) +96 (d—c), —kKe =ix (i, k) + xa (1, b), Theory of Linear Vibration. 247 —IL@=xa (k, 1) +24 (m—1), —mMe?=ru (Il—m)+ uu (m—m); . (88) which give, by addition, the equation aA+bB+cC+dDié&.,=0.. . . (89.) The equations (38) may be put in the form a —— ee a = b, a8 a8 _ 28, + SH Uy ae) By By Be By, ES eS oa EO iy yo 7é wy, Yi xA+ eked ay Aw Afb Aw, w-+ w— OM PR aoe + Maik ts bint m=m; | (40.) [oy Wf From these equations, it is seen that the series of quantities ES aire k, l, m, m closely resembles a Brounck- erian progression ; also, from the very nature of the equations, the quantities a, 6, c, &c., may all be changed in any ratio, since that would merely cause a change of the value of U in the inverse ratio. In other words, we may arbitrarily assume any one of these, and thence deduce the values of the others. Having then assumed a, we can go on deducing successively the values of b, c, d, &c., in terms of the unknown quantity &; and then, in order to satisfy the conditions of the system, the value of m deduced from the penult equation must agree with that deduced from the last one. If we can discover that value of 6, which conducts us from two equal values @ and @ to two other equal values m and m, the same value of é* will conduct us back from m and m to a and a. Whence we arrive at this conclusion, that if the series be repeated in inverse order, so as to make a double system, Gp kb Meme, Ce ed. , by as 248 Edward Sang on the every value of @ which suits the original series will also suit the double one. In the same way, if a third, fourth, fifth, &c., series be annexed, the vibrations of them all may go on simul- taneously, and as if they were detached. The elasticities of the connecting springs @* and ww are never brought into ac- tion; since v,=«, and x,=#,; wherefore, a simple oscilla- tion in the first series could never have communicated a simple oscillation of the same kind to the adjoining part: since a com- pression or distension of the springs represented by ,, and aw 18 incompatible with the existence of any vibration in the system A,B....L,M. If two portions of different lengths be taken from a uniformly stiff helical spring, their coefficients of elasticity are inversely proportional to those lengths. Hence the arrangement of the system of bodies A, B, C, &c., may be represented by assum- ing an imponderous uniform continuous spring, and by mark- ing off portions AB, BC, .... KL, LM, inversely propor- tional to the coefficients «8, By; xa, Au. At these points we have to imagine the bodies A, B, . . . L, M, securely fixed to the spring, in order to obtain a graphic representation of the system when in a-.state of rest. For the sake of uniformity, we shall annex at each end the arbitrary portions ‘AA and MM’, observing that the magnitudes of these have no real part in our investigation. This much being arranged, let the perpendiculars Aa, BB . . .. Li, Mm represent the coefficients of U sin (¢¢+u) be- longing to the several bodies. Our first business is to examine how these are successively derived, on the supposition that the value of @is known. E ¥ G Let E, F, G be the positions of the three bodies E, F, and Theory of Linear Vibration. 249 G, upon such an elastic line; and let Ee, F/, Gg, be the three coefficients e, f, g; then, according to equations (38), observing that EF and FG take the places of = and Be , we ought to > i>) have alg 1 es Fy+ @Z—0 . . (41) or Ee. FG+{EF.FG. aE ee Je; Now, if we draw the straight line eg, cutting the intermediate ordinate in 7’, Ee. FG—EG.F/+Gg.EF=0.. . (42.) wherefore, subtracting EF .FG . #?F . F/=EG . //’; or, EF . FG D-FE_ EG So long, then, as 4’, which has taken the place of the —R of our first investigation, is positive, the point 7’ must be towards the line of abscissze, and therefore efg must be concave to- wards EFG. In order that the system A, B,C... K, L, M mayvibrate without any extraneous influence, it is necessary that the or- dinates beyond Aa and Mm, should be respectively equal to Aa and to Mm; therefore, we have to discover such a value of 6°, that having started from the two equal ordinates A’a’ and Aq, at the one end, we may reach two equal ordinates, Mm and M’m’, at the other end of the series. Now, in the first place, if R had been positive, the distances ff would have been measured from the line of abscisse; and therefore, none but the two first could ever have been equal to each other. 7 are Cos a A B C In the next place, if ¢? were zero, the distances //’ would be zero, and the line a’abe .__. mwould be straight. 250 Edward Sang on the On supposing é? gradually to increase from zero, the line wabe. .. from being parallel to A’ABC . . . would bend down more and more, and would at last come to cross the axis. / a Whenever any ordinate, as Dd, has come to be négative, the portion dd’ of it, determined by the formula must have the same sign; and, therefore, the line ede is again concave to the axis, wherefore it appears, that the equality of M’m’ to Mm can only occur after the line abe . . . has crossed the axis. As the value of 6? gradually augments, the line aabe .. . after having crossed the axis and begun to bend upwards, may come to give Mm=M'm; this value of 6 is the least root of equation (36), and corresponds to the slowest vibration of which the system A, B.. . L, M is capable. By continuing still to augment the value of 67, the line aabe . . . may be made to recross the axis, and, in the course of the gradual change, the two ordinates Mm and M’m’, this time above the axis, will come again to be equal. The value of & then, is the second root of equation (86), and gives the vibration second in point of length. Thereafter, the increase in the value of 6° will give more and more numerous crossings, with intermediate cases of Mm=M’m’; but no value of @ however great, can give more than one crossing in each inter- val,—that is to say, more than n—1 crossings in all ; and thus we see, that equation (36) has all its roots positive and real. Every linear elastic series, then, is capable of as many dis- tinct simple vibrations as it has constituent parts less one; and it is capable of no other simple vibrations ; therefore, every Theory of Linear Vibration. 251 internal motion of a linear elastic series, not subjected to extraneous influences, may be represented by the formula a = Zif,U,sin (t,+4,)}; - (44.) in which the sum is to be taken for every value of y from 1 to n—1 inclusive. One of these separate vibrations may be thus illustrated :-— Let the ordinates Aa, Bb. . . Ll, Mm be supposed to be jointed at A,B. . . L, M, and to be by mechanical means preserved parallel to each other. If one of them, as Ag, oscillate backwards and forwards, so that the projection of a upon the axis oscillate according to the law vz, =aU sin (66), then the projections of all the other points b, ¢, &c., will oscil- late in such a way as to represent the motions of the bodies B, C, &e. Since we have @.A+6.B+&c.=0, it follows that if all the masses A,B. ..L, M, were transferred to the points a,b... 1, m, the position of their common centre of gravity would not be altered, in whatever direction the lines Aa... Mm are placed, provided they be all parallel to each other, and thus the position of the centre of gravity of the system is not influenced by any of its vibrations; which is in accordance with the universal law, that the internal actions of any system do not affect the motion of its centre of gravity. The quantities 7, and 4 of equation (44), are deduced from the data of the system, and are therefore invariable; the quantities U, and w,, on the other hand, have to be determined to suit the circumstances of the impulse which was originally given ; that is, to suit the positions and velocities of the several bodies at a given epoch, as at the commencement of the time t. Wherefore, if (w,) represent the position, and (v,) the ve- 252 John Gellatly on the locity of the body A at the instant of time ¢=0, we must have the equations (@,)=3 {a,U, . sin u,} : (46.) (v,)=2{04,U,.cosu,} . - (47.) If, then, the state of the system at the epoch t=0 be com- pletely given, we shall have as many equations (46) and (47) as may serve to determine the whole of the quantities U and uw; and from these the positions of the various parts at any future time. On the Colouring Matter of Persian Berries. By JOHN GELLATLY, Assistant to Dr ANDERSON, College Labora- tory, Glasgow.* Several species of the genus Rhamnus have been examined by chemists, and all have been found to contain yellow co- louring matters, which, so far as our present knowledge goes, appear to be different. The Rhamnus catharticus has been investigated by Fleury,t the Rhamnus frangula by Buchner and Casselmann,§ and the Rhamnus tinctoria by Kane.|| Two varieties of the seed of the latter plant are found in commerce, known by the names of Persian and Turkey ber- ries, the former being considered superior to the latter. Both of these have been examined by Kane, who considers the for- mer to be unripe and carefully dried, the latter ripe and ill preserved. He gives the following account of the properties of these substances :— “‘T have found the unripe berries of the Rhamnus tinctoria (Persian berries, grains d’Avignon) to contain a substance soluble in alcohol and ether, aud crystallizing from its ethe- real solution in minute silky needles of a brilliant yellow colour; it gives, with metallic oxides, yellow lakes. When * Read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 15th March 1858. + Journal de Pharmacie, vol, xxvii. p. 666. ; Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, Ixxxvii. p. 218. § Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, vol. civ. p. 77. || Philosophical Magazine (3) vol. xxiii. p. 3. Colouring Matter of Persian Berries. 253 cautiously heated it is not volatile. In the ripe berry this substance, to which I have given the name Chrysorhamnine, is totally replaced by another, which I term Xanthorhamnine, which is of a much less beautiful yellow, and does not crys- tallize; this change is effected also by boiling the chrysor- hamnine for a few minutes with water, or by contact with alkalies. The xanthorhamnine is totally insoluble in ether, but easily soluble in alcohol and water. It is formed by the union of the elements of water with chrysorhamnine. Its silver salt is yellow when first thrown down, but rapidly be- comes black, metallic silver separating, and a colourless organic substance being formed. The Persian berries are much used for dyeing yellow, but from the processes employed, the xan- thorhamnine alone is actually brought into play.” The Persian berries which I examined were very different from Kane’s, for, on digestion with ether, they yielded only a small quantity of a greenish resin, and no chrysorhamnine ; but alcohol extracted a considerable quantity of a yellow sub- stance easily obtained in fine crystals, in which respect it differs from Kane’s xanthorhamnine, although I believe it to be that substance in a higher state of purity than that in which Kane obtained it, and have therefore retained his name. Xanthorhamnine is prepared by digesting the coarsely ground berries for a short time with boiling methylated spirit, filtering and expressing the residue. The fluid, on standing for twenty-four hours, deposits a considerable quantity of a dark brown resin, from which it is poured off and again al- lowed to stand, and this is repeated as long as resin deposits. After some days crystals begin to make their appearance, and gradually increase until the fluid is converted into a semisolid mass. The rapidity of this change appears to depend to a great extent upon the concentration of the fluid, and it takes place best when it is not too strong. Agitation for a quarter of an hour occasionally produces crystals abundantly ; but the solid matter separated in this way is very impure, and it is better to allow them to deposit slowly. The dark mother liquor being pressed out, the substance is purified by three or four crystallizations from alcohol. It NEW SERIES.—VOL, VII, NO. 11.—APRIL 1858. s 254 John Gellatly on the separates from the solution much more readily a second time, and, when nearly pure, deposits as the alcohol cools. Xanthorhamnine appears in dense tufts of silky needles of a pale yellow colour, and nearly tasteless. They dissolve readily in both cold and hot water; but no crystals are ob- tained from the aqueous solution. It dissolves in cold, and very readily in warm alcohol; and if the hot solution be highly concentrated, the xanthorhamnine deposits in the form of a pale yellow semifluid resin, resembling turpentine in con- sistence, but which becomes crystalline if left standing with fresh alcohol above it. It is quite insoluble in ether, even on boiling. The following analyses were made on the substance dried at 212°. They are of three separate preparations :— 7493 grains substance gave I 14-404 ... carbonic acid, 3°942 ... water. 6-811 grains substance gave 13:045 ... carbonic acid, 3510... -water. 7'874 grains substance gave III. < 14:960 ... carbonic acid, 4-070 ..: ‘water. 6°817 grains substance gave IV. < 12975 ... carbonic acid, 3°654 ... water. 1 fl III. IV. Carbon, 52° ‘43 52°24 51:82 51:91 Hydrogen, 5:85 5°58 5°74 5:95 Oxygen, re: sits Lan Kane assumes C,,H,,0,, as the formula of the substance dried at 212°, and C,,H,,0,, for that dried at 320°, which, however, do not agree in a very satisfactory manner with his experimental results, as may be seen by the subjoined num- bers. Calculation. Experiment. 6. 52:67 5255 ere 4-58 5-15 On (oie dee Independently of the odd number of equivalents of carbon, Colouring Matter of Persian Berries. 255 the hydrogen found by experiment is too high for his formula, and my results being still higher than his, render it necessary to propose another. The decomposition to be afterwards re- ferred to give for it the formula C,, H,, O,,, which agrees very well with the experimental numbers, as is seen by the follow- ing comparison :— E : Uae Theory Se Sache 2) ee) o6210. + eat icy, | 276 Hydrogen, . 5°78 530 H,, 28 Oxygen, : 42-12 42°43 O,, 224 100-00 100-00 028 The air-dried substance contains, besides, ten atoms of water, as shown by two different determinations on different prepa- rations. L { 5°593 grains substance lost “793, --- at 212°, fl 9:698 grains substance lost TSE T3295" <2. -at-202?. I. Il. Theory. 14°36 14°38 14°56 The formula of the crystals is therefore C,,H,,O,,, 10 HO. These crystals do not fuse in the water-bath, but give off all their water. They remain solid even when heated to 300°, in which respect they differ from Kane’s substance, which, fused under 212°, and continued to lose water until the tem- perature rose to 350°, at which point decomposition com- menced. That this substance was really the colouring matter of the berries was shown by dyeing a piece of mordanted cloth with it, when a fine yellow was got with the alumina, and a black with the iron portion. It forms bulky yellow lakes with the oxides of tin, lead, and alumina, which cannot be obtained of definite composi- tion without much difficulty. The lead compound, which is the most easily obtained, was prepared by adding a solution of neutral acetate of lead to an alcoholic solution of the colouring matter keeping the latter in excess. It isa pale s2 256 John Gellatly on the yellow and somewhat granular precipitate, which acquires an orange colour on the addition of excess of lead salt. The ex- cess of colouring matter seems to adhere to it rather obstinately, and it is only by careful washing that it can be obtained in a state fitted for analysis. It is somewhat soluble in water, and not very insoluble in‘aleohol. Dried at 212°— { 6:905 grains substance gave 1-850 ... oxide of lead. 5:505 grains substance gave 7-610 --- carbonie acid, 22205) ssny Teer: Calculation. a iE i: Cr 276 36°75 ; 23 37°70 ine 28 3°73 ; ~o 4:08 O05: 224 29-82 : cs un 2 PbO 23°12 29°70 : 26°79 75112 100°00 The air-dried substance appears to contain 8 atoms water, as 7°56 grains lost ‘655 grains at 212°. Experiment, 8°66 L Theory, 8°75 approximating the formula C,,H,,0,,, 2 PbO, 8 HO. Xanthorhamnine gives brown solutions with alkalies, which become pale on the addition of acids. From an alcoholic solution, caustic potass separates a hard reddish resin, and the alkaline earths give yellow precipitates in not too dilute solu- tions. When the colouring matter is boiled for some time with baryta water, a red substance separates, which, on ex- posure to the air, immediately becomes quite black. Solutions of iron produce a black colouration. Chlorine and bromine give dark resinous products with a watery solution. Nitric acid oxidizes it, yielding a red fluid containing oxalic acid. Strong sulphuric acid dissolves the colouring matter, giving a yellow precipitate on dilution with water. When xanthorhamnine is boiled with dilute sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, a pale yellow matter immediately separates, and on filtering this off, and testing the filtrate with sulphate of copper, grape sugar was easily detected, showing that the colouring matter is a glucoside. In the proportion of its con- Colouring Matter of Persian Berries. 257 stituents, its softish, nearly tasteless, crystals, and insolubility in ether, it agrees with these bodies generally. The pale yellow matter separated by boiling with the dilute mineral acids, according to the nomenclature in use for this class of substances, should receive the name of Xanthorham- netine, but for convenience I propose to drop the prefix and call it simply Rhamnetine. A very few minutes suffices to separate the greater portion of the rhamnetine; but the last traces cannot be obtained without protracted boiling. Metallic salts have a singular tendency to retard this decomposition. If an acidified solu- tion, for instance, be divided into two portions, and sulphate of zinc added to one of them, the latter requires much longer boiling before the rhamnetine shows itself. It is almost in- soluble in water, alcohol, and ether; alkalies dissolve it, and acids re-precipitate it from the solution. ‘Three separate pre- parations were analyzed, with the following results :— 8-010 ,, carbonic acid, 3°665 grains substance dried at 212° gave I 1-485 ,, water. 11640 ,, carbonic acid, 5°348 grains substance gave II 2-040" \.., > water. 5'255 grains substance gave III 11:420 ,, carbonic acid, 27150 45 water: I. Il. Il. Carbon, 59°61 59°36 59°27 Hydrogen, 4:35 4°24 4:55 Oxygen, These numbers agree with the formula C,,H,,0,,, as is seen by the following comparison of the experimental mean with the calculation :— Mean. Calculation. i Carbon, 59°41 59°46 Cra) ee Hydrogen, 4-38 4:50 iA 10 Oxygen, 36-21 36:04 0,, 80 100:00 100:00 222 258 On the Colouring Matter of Persian Berries. On adding the formula of rhamnetine to that of grape sugar, we have xanthorhamnine plus six atoms of water— C,, Hy, O,, + GHO=C,, Hy, O24 + Coo Hyy O19 Xanthorhamnine. Glucose. Rhamnetine. The accuracy of this view was further proved by ascertain- ing the quantity of rhamnetine yielded by a given quantity of the original substance, when 32-91 grains gave 13°60 grains, equal to 41:3 per cent.; theory requires 42 per cent.—the loss is attributable to the slight solubility of the rhamnetine. A sugar determination by Fehling’s method, gave 68-9 per cent. ; theory 68:2. Kane gives for chrysorhamnine the formula C,,H,,90,, ; his numbers are,— Theory. Experiments. Ee GL a 23 Carbon, 58:23 58°23 57°81 11 Hydrogen, 4:64 4:77 4:64 11 Oxygen, 37°18 37:00 37°55 160-00 100-00 100-00 If this formula be doubled, a simple relation is seen to exist between it and the xanthorhamnine I have described. C,, Hy. On. + 6HO = C,, H,, O02, Chrysorhamnine. Xanthorhamnine. As chrysorhamnine is converted into xanthorhamnine by boiling for a few minutes in water, the above equation satis- factorily explains the change. The further examination of chrysorhamnine is most desirable, as the previous history of any glucoside during its formation in the plant is quite un- known. I may state that I have examined several samples of Persian berries, but have failed to obtain it, even when they appear likely to yield it. The only other point to be noticed is, that when the entire berries are stirred up with water and filtered, they give a solution which immediately begins to deposit a large quantity of a yellow powder, having the character and composition of rhamnetine, as shown by the following analysis :— 10°64 4, carbonic acid, 493 grains substance gave 2°00 ,, water. The Fall of Rain in Scotland during the year 1857. 259 Experiment. Theory. Carbon, ‘ 58:86 59°46 Hydrogen, : 4:51 4°50 The solution is feebly acid, but the appearance of this preci- pitate is not easily explained, as the pure colouring matter requires boiling with acids before it is decomposed, while this comes down spontaneously from a cold solution of the berries. The preceding pages form a small contribution to our knowledge of the colouring matter of the Rhamnus tincioria. It is beyond a doubt that some species of the genus contain compounds of an entirely different character from that found in Persian berries. Franguline, the crystalline product of Rhamnus frangula, is certainly not a glucoside; but of the substance obtained from the Rhamnus cathartica, too little is known to enable us to pronounce upon its chemical nature, although it seems to be different from all the others. The whole subject wants further inquiry.- In conclusion, I have to thank Dr Anderson for the use of his laboratory, and also for his advice during the progress of this examination. On the Fall of Rain in Scotland during the year 1857; with remarks on the best form of Rain-gauge, and the position in which it ought to be placed ; and on the causes which appear to influence the deposit of Rain in diferent localities. By JAMes Stark, M.D., F.R.S.E., V.P.R.S.S.A., Secretary to the Meteorological Society of Scotland.* It is to the want of a knowledge of the amount of rain which falls in different localities that the failures in draining land are for the most part to be attributed. An engineer accus- tomed to drain land situated in a low-lying level country, by placing his drains at the distance of 30 or 40 feet from each other, finds he does not clear the land of its superabundant moisture in another locality by placing his drains at the same distance, although the soil and subsoil appear to be the same, and in his eyes the situation seems not very dissimilar. Hence has arisen that great diversity of opinion and of * Read before the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, March 22, 1858. 260 Dr Stark on the Fall of Rain practice among agricultural engineers which we find at the present day. All, however, are now beginning to look to the rain-fall as the probable cause of this want of success ; and as the drains must be put so close as to carry off the rain which falls on the land, and is not required for the growth of the plant, or is lost by evaporation from its surface, it is now acknowledged, that just in proportion to the amount of rain which falls in a district must the drains be put close to each other. Agricultural engineers are therefore anxiously look- ing to meteorologists to guide them to some principles which will enable them to guess at the probable rain-fall in any district to which they may be called. If we turn to any work on Meteorology, we shall find that the most vague statements are made relative to the causes which influence the deposit of rain in any locality, and no principles are laid down which can guide the agricultural engineer in his drainage operations. True it is that these works do mention many of the causes of this deposit ; but this is done in such a manner as to show that the writers them- selves had no clear idea of the mode in which these varied causes ‘operated, nor how they were connected with, or mutually influenced, each other. Mr Denton, engineer to the Land Drainage and Improve- ment Company, painfully experiencing the want of some guide to the rain-fall in the different districts of Great Britain, in a very able paper which he read before the Society of Arts in London, propounded a scheme for dividing the country into squares of 5 or 10 miles, appointing a person in each square to register the daily fall of rain, and have the whole returns classified and published at some head office. This, he caleu- lated, could be done for about L.26,000 per annum. The scheme is far too expensive ever to be thought of, either by Government or by private enterprise ; and the whole practical results which are desired could be obtained much more easily and surely, and at an expense to Government of a very few hundred pounds yearly, through the Meteorological Societies of England and of Scotland. It is only for the two past years that Scotland has had the advantage of having the meteorological phenomena, which were observed at different parts of the country, collected, in Scotland during the year 1857. 261 classified, and reduced to a tangible form. Of these returns not the least valuable are those of the fall of rain at each of the different stations; and as every care has been taken to secure, as far as practicable, the employment of the same form of gauge, and to place that gauge in a like position, and as all the observers whose results are printed are thoroughly competent to the task, their observations may be depended upon. The rain-gauges in common use over Scotland are those known by the name of that distinguished naturalist, who has just passed from us, the late Professor Fleming. These gauges consist of two copper cylinders, of which the one fits within the other. The outer cylinder is sunk in the ground to within an inch of its top, in a spot covered with close-shaven grass. The inner cylinder, which is 3 inches in diameter, has a pro- jecting rim on its outer surface, about 3 inches from its top, which overlaps the junction of the two cylinders, and prevents water finding its way into the outer cylinder which is sunk in the ground. The throat of the inner cylinder is nearly closed by means of a funnel-shaped diaphragm, through which passes the stem of the hollow copper float; and a stop- cock is fixed to the bottom of this cylinder, to allow the water which collects to be drawn off, and weighed or measured if considered desirable. The stem of the float is divided into inches and tenths of inches; and in using the instrument enough of water is added to float the copper float, and raise the stem so far that the cross-bar cuts the stem exactly at the zero point. The smallest fall of rain can thus be easily read off by drawing out the inner cylinder, and bringing the graduated stem to the level of the eye; or, if still finer read- ings are wanted, the water is drawn off by the stop-cock till the stem is lowered to the zero point, and is measured in a graduated glass vessel. After having seen much of the work- ing of this form of gauge, I have no hesitation in saying that I prefer it to most others. The most minute readings can be got by drawing off the water by the stop-cock daily, and measuring it in a graduated glass jar; and its non-liability to get out of order, its moderate price, and easy management, as well as the circumstance of the float preventing loss by evapora- tion, are no small recommendations to its general employment. 262 Dr Stark on the Fall of Rain From experiments which were made, it was ascertained that there was no advantage in exposing a large surface for the reception of the rain; and that this 3-inch gauge, when placed alongside of others of larger size and different con- struction, but all on the same level and exposure, collected a depth of rain equal to that of any other gauge. On placing the gauge at various elevations, the fact which has been long known was also observed, that the quantity of rain collected in the gauge which was on a level with the ground was much larger than that collected at the height of 4, 6, or 10 feet above the surface. The true quantity of rain which fell on the ground (and that is the important point both for agricul- turists and meteorologists) was invariably best ascertained by having the rain-gauge placed as close to the ground as pos- sible. It is perfectly surprising to observe the number of hypo- thetical explanations which have been given in the attempt to account for this excess of rain collected by rain-gauges placed on the surface of the ground. Even Sir John Herschell, in his Essay on Meteorology, published last year in the “ Encyclopedia Britannica,” says on this point, “ The real cause is yet to seek, and there is no more interesting problem which can fix the attention of the meteorologist.” And he then adds, as his own hinted explanation,—* visible cloud rests on the soil at low altitudes above the sea but rarely ; and from such clouds only would it seem possible that so large an ac- cession of rain could arise.” Little trouble was taken by me to investigate the cause of this supposed mysterious agency of nearness to the ground in inducing a greater deposit of rain in the gauge ; a few visits to gauges at different elevations, during storms of wind and rain, convinced me that the agency was a very simple one indeed. It was the wind which made all the difference; and just in proportion as the gauge, when raised above the ground, occupied a situation more or less exposed to the force of the wind, in the same proportion did that gauge catch less or more of the rain which fell ; so that while one four feet above the ground only caught one-tenth of an inch during a heavy thun- der storm, which was accompanied by a driving wind, the gauge on the ground had collected upwards of half an inch. in Scotland during the year 1857. 263 Several of my correspondents have noticed the same fact, and all agree with me that the effect is produced by the wind. The swirl of wind round the mouth of the elevated gauge not only prevents the rain from falling into it, but even blows out of the funnel drops which have fallen into it. Until, then, the plan is universally adopted of placing the rain-gauge as near to the level of the ground as possible (é.e., within four inches), in a place as free as possible from trees, houses, and walls, and surrounding the gauge with at least one foot in breadth of close-shaven turf, to prevent the rain-drops re- bounding from the ground into the gauge, no comparable re- sults can be obtained. During 1856, which ail acknowledge to have been a “ wet” or “rainy” year, the mean fall of rain, as deduced from ob- servations made at 37 stations in Scotland, was 37 (36-96) inches. During 1857, which all will equally acknowledge to have been a “dry” year, the mean fall of rain, as deduced from observations made at 55 stations, was 35 (349) inches. This single fact, then, shows that, to prove of any practical utility it is absolutely necessary to know much more about the rain-fall than the mere quantity of water deposited from the clouds. Even the knowledge of the average number of days on which rain fell will not help us: for we find that in 1856— the wet year—rain fell on 160 days; whereas in 1857—the dry year—rain fell on 163 days! In other words, the number of days on which rain fell was greater during the dry than during the wet year. But though rain fell during 1857 on three days more than it did during 1856, the general charac- ter of the showers, during the summer and autumn in especial, was quite different, and it was this which to no small extent constituted the difference between the character of the one year and that of the other. The showers during the summer and autumn of 1857 were heavy, but of short duration, and for the most part fell during the night; those of the summer and autumn of 1856 consisted chiefly of constant showers of drizz- ling rain, which kept ground and atmosphere in an unusually moist condition. This state of matters seemed to be principally produced by the kind of wind which prevailed during each of these periods. During August and September 1856 the rains principally came with a south-east and east wind, and were 264 Dr Stark on the Fall of Rain accompanied by that haziness which so often attends easterly winds during the summer and autumn months. In conse- quence of coming from the easterly side of the island, the quantity of rain which fell at stations on or near the east coast exceeded somewhat that which fell at west-coast stations simi- larly situated as to surrounding localities. During the cor- responding months, however, of 1857, the rains chiefly came along with south-west or west winds, and though heavier for the time, were soon over, and rapidly dried up. The rain-fall during 1857 presented several peculiarites as contrasted with that of 1856. Thus, March was the driest month in 1856, seeing only 0°37 of an inch of rain fell during that period; whereas, in 1857 least rain fell during May, yet the quantity was nearly two (1°85) inches. March, on the other hand, during 1857, instead of proving one of the driest, proved one of the wettest months of the year, no less than 3'41 inches of rain having fallen over Scotland during that period. In 1856, after March, the next driest months were October and November, the quantity of rain which fell being under two inches in depth (1°91 inches in October, and 1:98 inches in November) during each of these months ; whereas in 1857, upwards of 2} (2:57) inches of rain fell during October, and upwards of 3 (3°05) inches during November. In 1856 the greatest depth of rain fell during December, and the next greatest quantity during September. In 1857, the greatest quantity of rain fell during September, and the next great- est depth in December. During both the wet and the dry year, therefore, September and December were the months when most rain fell; and the corollary I would draw from this fact is, that in farming operations the kind of seed se- lected for the grain crops should be such as shall either ripen early, and be cut down during August, before the September rains set in, or ripen late, so that they do not come to matu- rity till October. In either case, the chances of the crop being secured in good condition would be greater than if the grain harvest were interrupted by the rains when half of the crop was cut down. It has long been taken as an established fact, that more rain falls on our western than on our eastern shores ; and if we take inland stations near that coast, and contrast the fall of in Scotland during the year 1857. 265 rain at them with the coast stations on the eastern side of the island, there can be no doubt of the fact. But I am clearly of opinion that this statement has done much to blind the eyes of meteorologists to the true state of the case, by inducing them to overlook the true cause, and ascribe to winds and adjoining seas what is truly due to the physical peculiarities of the country. Now, what is the cause of rain? Speaking in a general way, we are accustomed to say, it is a deposit from the clouds, and so are thrown back to the inquiry as to what clouds are. Clouds consist for the most part of aqueous vapours in a state of partial deposition, which remain suspended, we know not how, in the air. In fact, the vapour is in that exact state which we term fog or mist. The character of these clouds is, however, very different,—some being peculiar to dry, settled weather ; others to rainy weather. But it is not intended to enter into this subject at present. Any one who has lived in a mountain district may any day witness the manner in which clouds are formed; nay, we may see them forming in all situations every fine warm summer day. Whenever the warm air at the surface of the ground rises into the higher regions of the at- mosphere it loses part of its temperature, when, not being able to retain in solution the whole of the aqueous vapour which it held dissolved at a higher temperature, the excess of vapour assumes that visible form which we term cloud or mist; and, if formed in this manner during summer, it takes the form of those large, rounded, lazily-moving masses termed the cumulus cloud. Anything, however, which will reduce the temperature of a warm current of air will cause it to deposit its superfluous moisture in the form of a cloud, or, if the reduction of tempe- rature be great, in the form of rain. Our chief rains come to us with the westerly or south-westerly winds, which blow over the Atlantic, and arrive at our shores loaded with moisture. If this warm current of air therefore should, in the upper regions of the atmosphere, encounter the cold counter-current from the north or east, its temperature will be reduced, and as it is thus no longer able to hold in solution, at this lower temperature, that quantity of moisture which it retained when its temperature was higher, the redundant vapour is deposited 266 Dr Stark on the Fall of Rain in the form of a cloud; or, if the quantity of moisture which is set free be great, that excess will fall in the form of rain. This cause, however, of the deposition of rain, though in con- stant operation, and very visibly seen in action during storms, is not that one which chiefly conduces to produce the differ- ence in the amount of rain deposited in different localities. This latter cause must be sought for in the physical configu- ration of the land ; and it is to this point that I desire, in especial, to direct attention, as of the highest importance to the agricultural engineer. When the warm westerly current of air reaches our western shores, if the temperature of the land be equal or superior to ~ that of the current itself, and this is the case during the greater portion of the year, then no moisture, no rain, will be deposited on the land, merely because it is land on our western coasts. Butif this current of air meets with some obstruc- tion to its horizontal progress, as by encountering a range of hills or mountains, and-is thereby thrown up more or less into the colder upper regions of the atmosphere, it is more or less chilled, and deposits its moisture in the form of rain. Now, it so happens, from the peculiar configuration of our island, that the great ranges of hills approach much nearer our western than they approach our eastern shores; and as _ the first ranges of hills or mountains which this Atlantic at- mospheric current meets throw it up more or less in propor- tion to their extent and height, so just in proportion is the deposit of rain on their opposite or eastern sides. It is not, then, the single circumstance of the station being on our eastern or western coasts which causes it to receive a less copious or a more abundant fall of rain, but the circumstance of its being nearer to or further away from hills, which would throw the current of air into the upper regions, and, by thus chilling it, cause it to deposit its moisture. If any station, therefore, on the west coast be chosen, near the sea-shore, and with no high hills near it, nor between the station and the sea, and the fall of rain there be compared with a station on the eastern coast in all respects. similarly situated, I suspect it will be found that, if anything, the comparison will be rather in favour of the greater fall of rain at the eastern coast station. It most unfortunately happens, for the full illustration of in Seotland during the year 1857. 267 this most important point, that I have only succeeded in getting ten months’ returns of the rain-fall at two stations on the western coast which are situated between the sea and the hills, these stations being the town of Ayr, in Ayrshire, and Gal- son, on the west side of the Isle of Lewis. The imperfection in the Ayr returns was caused by the removal of the Ord- nance Survey Staff to Stirling ; that in the Galson returns by the removal of the observer to another part of the island. The ten months’ returns, however, from these two stations, on the purely western shore, may be compared with the same ten months’ returns from three stations on the eastern coast, si- tuated very nearly exactly similar with respect to hills, and the result is highly instructive. Ten Month’s Rain, Jan. to Oct. inclusive, 1857. Galson, A : 5 L6°00 West Coast, pian ; 18-19 Pittenweem, : =~ iG LG East Coast, <¢ Arbroath, . ; 2 2075" East Linton, : s°.-95-75 At Galson, there fell during the first ten months of 1857 only 16°5 inches of rain. At Ayr, during the same period, there fell 18:19 inches. On the east coast there fell at Pitten- weem, during the same months, 18-16 inches of rain; at Ar- broath, 20°31 inches; and at East Linton, 25-75 inches of rain during the same period. From this it appears that a station on the west coast, if free from the influence of hills, has no greater a deposit of rain than if it were situated on the east coast, or any other open level locality. The compa- rison of the fall of rain at the above-named stations is of pe- culiar value this year, seeing that all our great rains came from the west and south-west, and, notwithstanding of this, the fall of rain was greatest at the east-coast stations. But the influence of hills or mountains in increasing the deposit of rain is very marked. Stornoway, which is still on the west coast of Scotland, but on the eastern side of Lewis, and separated from the Galson station by the central hilly ridge of that island, instead of exhibiting a fall of rain to the extent of only 16°5 inches in ten months, had no less a fall of rain during the same period than 395-88 inches, or just 268 Dr Stark on the Fall of Rain about double the amount which fell on the western side of the same island. To contrast with Ayr there is no station on the other side of the hills nearer than Wanlockhead, a station so surrounded by high hills, that the Atlantic breezes, in blowing over them, are greatly chilled, and consequently deposit so much moisture that there fell in 1857 no less than 57-9 inches of rain, and in 1856 the quantity amounted to 64:8 inches. For further illustration of the same subject, let us take two stations in the same parallel of longitude, but only about twenty miles distant from each other—the one, however, in an open plain, the other at the very base of hills,—I mean Glas- gow and Greenock. Glasgow lies in an open plain, having no hills so near to it as to influence the deposit of rain. - Greenock, on the other hand, is situated at the north-eastern base of hills which rise to the south-westward of it to the height of upwards of 600 feet. The fall of rain at Glasgow during the year 1857 amounted to 33:65 inches, while at Greenock, during the same period, the amount of rain collected amounted to 52°62 inches. ° Let us take another instance, to illustrate the same fact,from the district of Eskdale, in Dumfriesshire. In Eskdale the country is comparatively level from the Solway Frith to Canonbie, so that when the Atlantic winds blow up the Sol- way they meet with no hilly or mountain barrier till they have passed over Canonbie. In this respect, then, Canonbie resembles, to some extent, Ayr or Galson in situation. During 1857 the fall of rain at Canonbie amounted to 30°95 inches. Ewes is only some twelve miles from Canonbie, but higher up the vale, and is surrounded by high hills; and, as might have been expected, the fall of rain there was much greater, amounting to 44°10 inches during the year. KEttrick Pen is at the head of Eskdale. It forms one of the Hartfell group of mountains, and rises to a height of 2265 feet above the level of the sea, and the fall of rain on it during the same year amounted to 67:15 inches. These few instances, therefore, may serve to illustrate the point to which I wish to direct attention, viz..—the influence of hills and mountains in determining the amount of rain which falls in any particular locality. Wherever the station is situated, this influence may be remarked; but the quan- in Scotland during the year 1857. 269 tity of rain which falls at the station appears to be dependent on which side of the mountain or hill the station may be placed, on the height of the mountain, its nearness to this or that side of the Island, and whether the chief falls of rain during any particular year are accompanied by easterly or westerly winds. Thus, in 1856, the chief falls of rain during the third quar- ter of the year came from the south-east; and, as this south- _ easterly current met with no interruption to its course before passing over East Linton, in Haddingtonshire, only 34:95 inches of rain fell at that station during the year. But Yes- ter, though only about ten miles to the south, is situated at the northern base of the Lammermuir Hills, which threw this south-easterly current into the upper regions, and thereby caused it to deposit more of its redundant moisture. The consequence was, that the fall of rain at Yester, during that year, amounted to 42°35 inches. In so far, then, as Scotland is concerned, if we know the exact geographical relations of the station, we cannot go far wrong in our estimate of the average fall of rain. If the station is situated in a plain, or gently undulating country, most of which localities occur on the eastern side of the Island, the yearly fall of rain will range from 25 to 30 inches, or thereabouts; and the rain-fall at stations nearer the hills will vary from 30 to 70 inches, or more, depending on the height of the hills, their position relative to the wind’s course, their proximity to the western or eastern side of the Island, and the prevalent direction of the winds. Mere ele- vation alone, independent of other circumstances, will not iIn- crease the quantity of rain, as is strikingly illustrated by the amount collected at Braemar (which is 1110 feet above the sea level), being only 32°69 inches during the year 1857. The reason of this is abundantly apparent. Before the west- erly currents of air have reached that station, they have de- posited the greater part of their superfluous moisture on the sides of the numerous high ranges of mountains which they have to cross before they reach that locality; so that, not- withstanding its elevation, it receives not much more rain than if it had occupied a situation in the plain below. NEW SERIES.—VOL. VII, NO. 11.—apPRIL 1858, T 270 Dr Stark on the Fall of Rain Looking to the geographical features of Scotland, several spots might be pointed out where the rain-fall will probably be quite tropical in amount ; and we have, fortunately, secured one such station at the Marquis of Breadalbane’s mines at Tyndrum, where I expect to find that the fall of rain during the year will not be much short, if it do not exceed, 90 inches. These few facts, then, will serve to show that we have yet much to learn relative to the rain-fall in different parts of the Island ; and many years will no doubt elapse before we ascer- tain all the laws which regulate its deposit. Before concluding, I may be permitted one remark relative to the principle for which some agricultural engineers con- tend, viz.,—that the underground drainage should provide for the greatest fall of rain which does or may occur, within a limited period of time, in any locality. Having had some practical experience in the drainage of land in a district where the rain-fall is great, and where the occasional thunder- showers are of excessive severity, my attention has naturally been much directed to this point. During the summer and autumn, these sudden and great falls of rain most commonly occur during the course of dry weather, and when the ground is more or less parched with the heat. After some very heavy showers, which caused the overflow of all the burns and surface water-runs, and washed down much soil from fields which lay at any considerable slope, I have been much surprised to find that the flow of water from the underground drains had not perceptibly increased, and that the rain had not penetrated the ground beyond a few inches. Almost all had run off by the surface. Jam therefore of opinion that it is a mistaken notion to provide underground drainage for the occasional heavy falls of rain. It has always appeared to me, that as such heavy falls of rain run off by the surface, their case ought to be provided for by surface drainage alone ; while the underground drainage should be regulated by the mean amount of rain which falls in the district. By this rule I have allowed myself to be regulated in my own practice, and I have not met with anything as yet which has induced me to change my opinion or my practice. in Scotland during the year 1857. 271 Fall of Rain at 55 Stations in Scotland during each Month of the Year 1857. al/2/3/8|/ 8) s|2| S| ale] el ¢| STATION AE ed all Be 214/218 |s| A rer Hereeny cnc... ‘6-00 3-40 3-40 3-00 0-90 1-40 3-40 1-40 1-902-002.40) 4:50 33-70) Sandwich ................../5°45 2.96 4-12 3-700-89 0 056277 2752-75 2811-93 3:55 34-24) Se 4°80 1:00 4-10 0:90 0-60 0°50 3-30 1°80 3-40 3-302-00 4-60) 30-30) Mamet cs). .! 5°85 2-80 2:20 0-85 0°80 1:50 4-61 1:65 4-79 3°85 3.90 6:80 39-60 Stornoway..........s0000.-- 4°74 5°71/4-75'1-77 2:39 1-62 3°57 2-95 4-503:87 3-78, 6-19 45:84! Gullodettge.. sos ccsessc. '1-94 0-78 1-37 0-83 0°67 289 2-42 0-64-16 0-61 2-62 2-62 21-77 | LCS eae ee ae ee '2-88 0°33 1-53 1-36,0°84 2°54 1°37 1-515-42:0-°853-50 1-79 23-92 Castle Weir............... 4-801-72 519 1-98'1-65 218 1-05 1-245-99 1943-84 1-47 33-05! Braemar.......s00e-+-+ee++/3 O4 0°87 4:09 254 1°59 2°77 228 1°56 5-36 1-29:3-37| 3:93 32-69) Fettercairn................ 3°40 0-20 3-90 4.00 1-601-80 1-20 1°10 4-60 1-203:10 1-40 27-50) 5 2-01 1-11 2-69 3-26 2:13 2°67 0:96 1°63 2-57 1-28 2-37 1-01 23-69) Barry... veeeee./ 1-26 1:00/3-31 3°55 2°47 2-96 1-46 1°61 3-58 1-80.2°09 0°92 26-01 Lie 2-00 0°73 4°62 3.03 212 285 2-47 2-22 4-51 2612-69 1-45 31-30) Se 2:32 0-93 3°81 3:22 2-41 3°47 1-57 2:23:3-76 1-93'2-63 2-22 30-50 Trinity-Gask ............. 2-60 1-00 3-00 2:40 2°80 2:90 1°60 2-20 4-70 1:90 2-30, 3-30 30-70 ittenweem............0... 11-54/0°71 '2°57|1°87|1°56'3°14/1- 02 1°52|2-79)1-44'1-98) 1-17|(21-31 To ae 0-90 0°65 2-40 3°30 2-59 3-28 1°12 2:50 3.44 1-97.2-64) 1-26 26-09) Millfield ........ ....2-63'1-58 2-91 3-06 0-94 4341-62 2°02 4-21 1°97 256 4-26 32°10) Callton More ./4°35 2°90 3-09 2°33 1°40 2-06 2-77 2-46 3-08 3233-29 6-34 37-30 Greenock.................-.(6°20 5°85 /5°18/4:74 2°50 2 55 2-302-004" 504-45 3°60, 8-75 52 62) Tp 2:33 2°31 2:28 162229367 2:31177475275261 4:96) 33-65) Baillieston ............... 2-47 131 230 2:53 2-443 53/180 1803.06 2382-56 3:70 29-88) Auchingray.............-. ‘1-85 1-00 208/235 1:49 4-70 2-25 1-60 4-49 3:05 2:90 3-00, 3076) Newliston +-+++2++/0°50 0°50 2:00 2:00 1°10 3:80 1-00 1:10.3-201-30 1-80, 1-70 20-00) i ‘56 211 1°58 3-61 1-54 2084-33 1-08 1-86! 1-39 22-51) "30/200 1°30 380 2-70 2:90 5-70 1:90 2-60, 1-00 29-35) "10 2-40 1:10 5-20 1-80 3705-30 1-90 1-70, 0-80 28-20) 70/245 1°56 4-70 2°55 2:90 5-10 2103-35) 1-95/33-96) i ‘76 210 1°80 2-28 1-40 2-303 66 1822-75 2-05 23-68) i : 70/1-20 1'703-403-40 1-805 30110560 0-30 29-40) [eae soe 1-30|1-40 1-20 0-50 0-70 2-80 1-40 1-00 3-20 1-20 1-90. 026 16:86 Tae ae 2 60'1-50/3°39 1-07 1:78 3-57 1-20 1-44 3-45 1-26 2-29 1:80 25°35 Makerstoun..............- 2-51 0-29 1-84 1-86 1°66 2:62 2-01/1-76 3-76 1°69 2-19) 0-97, 23 16) Syramlanris .2....cc0s..0-. '4-00/3°65 4° 102 50 2°20 2°50 2-40 270 3-30 3:60 3-50) 5:50 39:95) Kirkpatrick Juxta.......!3-90/3-85 4-40/2-50 2°45 2-40 3 43 2-40 4-95 3:20 3-40, 6-00 4298) J oIGin oes 3:00 1-55|2-40 2-60 2:10 5°35 1:55 2°20 6-25 2153-80 3:25 36-20 Swanston .............000. 1-900 90/250 2-50 1-90 4-80'1:80 2°60 5-90 2103-70 3-00 33-60 2 oo = ia 230.0-90 2 07 2:90 2:00 5-10'2-40 2-40'5-80 2-60 3-20 2:90 34-57 Canonbie .................. 14-15 /2-00'2-20 1-00 1°50 3-80 2502-70 4-90 1:80 1-80 2-60 30-95 ae 5'80/4-20 4-80 2:60 1:50 2:50 3-70 330/450 2.50 3-30 5-40 44-10 artes... '4-80|4-80|4-50 2-20 2°50 2 104-20 3:504-70:3-003.50, 6:10 45-90) Do. Hill-top ........5-00)5- 30/4: 50/2:00 2:70 2-50 5-00 3°70'5 30 4°50 3-50 8°70 52-70} Westerkirk ee: 5+20|4-00/4-70 2-20 1° 90/3-20 3-90/3-00'4-70 3°70 3-00) 6-00 45-50) Eskdalemuir --+---+|5°70/3-70/4:80 2-30) 1°60/3-60/3°30 3°50'7-10 2°60'3-60| 8-20)'50-00) Ettrick-pen-top ......... 6-50|3-40 3-50 3-50 3°40/5-50'5-40 4-00 7-00'6-50 5-70 12-75 |67-15| _ oe 3°30 2-80 4-20 2-80 270 3-30 2-40 2-50 3 60 3°30 2-10F 4-90 37-90) Durrisdeer ............... 3-40 2-90'3-00 2°50 2°10 2-10'3-20 1-103 40 2903-20 4°30 34- 10) Closeburn ................ 3:00 '2-40'4-00'2-20 2-20 2-10 2°10 2-01/2-303-402.50 4:10 32:30 2 3:20 2-70 430 2-30 2°30 2:50 2:303-203302:703-30 430 36-40 Keir .................22++.--'3'50 4:00 4°60 2°50 2°60 3°30 2°70 3-40/3-80 4103-80) 5 40 43-70 ne ae’ 3:70 2°60 4-10 2:30 1-70 3°80 3°50 2805-50 3°504-20 5°75 43°45 Glencairn.......++.......-+ 5°20 480 6-00 3:30 2 50 430 3°50 3:50 6 30 4503-60 575 53-25) Kirkeonnell............... 2003-10 4:80 2:90 2:75 280 2:30 2.50360 3.00340 6-40 39-50) Sanquhar.................. 3°20 /2-10)5-10 3-00 1:70 290 2-40 2 50)3-60 3:203-50, 6-30 /39-50) Wanlockhead............. 4-65/3-60 60 6-60 3" 90 220 3°60 430.290.6775 4°85 5°55 8:90 57-90) Mean, 1857...... lolol 143-412-401 855-08 248 228 £99 257 3-05 3-96 34-90 Mean, 1856... le 86.5 55 0° 37 2:69 296 4 362 64 4-004" 71 911: 98) 4-85 85) 8696 7 2 272 Captain Henry C. Otter on the On the Tides in the Sound of Harris. By HENRY C. OTTER, Esq., R.N., Captain of H.M.S. Porcupine.* (Plates IV. and V.) Tides.—The law of the tidal stream in the Sound of Harris is very remarkable, and does not appear to be influenced to any great degree by the wind. It may be generally stated, that in summer, in neap tides, the stream comes from the Atlantic during the whole of the day, and from the Minch during the whole of the night. In winter, the reverse takes place, the Minch stream flows during the day, the Atlantic during the night. In spring tides, both in summer and winter, the stream comes in from the Atlantic during the greater part of the time the water is rising, but never exceeds 5} hours, and flows back into the Atlantic during the greater part of the fall of the tide. The stream from the Atlantic is therefore denominated the flood stream, that from the Minch the ebb stream. The rise and fall of the tide was found to be influenced much more by the force and direction of the wind than the moon’s parallax. A strong S. or S.W. wind raises the water to equinoctial height, but produces a very poor ebb. The ebbing or falling tide takes 15 to 20 minutes longer than the flood. Where the water is confined by rocks and islands, such as inside of Strome, the Red Rock, &c., the velocity is nearly 5 miles an hour during springs, and not much less during neaps; but in other places it does not exceed 2 to 24 miles an hour. Summer.—The ebb stream commences at full and change 14 hours before high-water, or 5 a.M., and runs about 6 hours ; it then gradually loses upon the time of high-water, so that at mean tides the ebb does not commence until an hour after high-water, and only runs for 4 hours; this lasts for one or two days, when the ebb stream is suddenly found running all night, and continues to do so from one day before the quarter to two days after. At the next mean tides the ebb is found * Read before the Royal Society, lst March 1858, — Tides in the Sound of Harris. 273 commencing early in the morning, and gradually approaching the time of high-water. The flood stream commences at full and change 1} hour before low-water, and continues to do so for about 3 days; it then rapidly takes an earlier turn, until, at the quarter of the moon, it is found coinciding with the morning low-water, or 6 A.M., and continues to run flood the whole of the day un- til8 p.m. The greatest velocity of this stream is in the fore- noon, or whilst the tide is rising,—sometimes in the afternoon, about 3 hours after high-water. The stream is very slug- gish ; and, if blowing hard from the S. or S.W., a faint ebb stream will be felt for an hour, or an hour and a-half; after which the flood resumes its place, and continues rather longer than it would otherwise have done but for this. Winter.—The ebb stream commences at full and change the same as in the summer, about 14 hours before high-water, or 5 A.M.; it then gradually gains upon the time of high-water, until the quarter of the moon, when the ebb commences 3} hours before high-water, or 8:15 a.M., and runs until 7 P.M. The greatest velocity of this stream was found to be about 3 hours after high-water, or 3 P.M. The flood stream, after running all night in neap tides, has only a short duration in the forenoon of mean tides; but, as an approximate rule, the flood commences in the day-time about the time of the moon’s transit. The above remarks apply to the eastern side of the Sound. In the middle and on the western side of Berneray, the law is modified, and in some places altogether different. Narrows of Berneray (Summer).—At full and change the flood stream commences half an hour before low-water by the shore, and continues to run in that direction 5 hours—the greatest velocity being 23 to 3 miles an hour. The ebb stream turns an hour before high-water by the shore, and runs with the same velocity. In neap tides there is from 8 to 9 hours’ flood in the day- time, and not more than 2 to 4 hours’ ebb. In winter, in neap tides, there is from 2 to 4 hours’ flood during the day. Hermetray Group, as before mentioned, at all times re- 274 Notes to Captain Otters Paper on the ceives the flood stream from the Minch, which turns three- quarters of an hour later than high-water by the shore. Groay Group—In spring tides, the flood stream, or the stream from the Atlantic, only runs for 2} hours after high- water, and then turns to the north; the greatest velocity is 13 miles an hour. Further to the northward the flood stream runs longer. The diagram, which is appended, will give a close approxi- mation to the turn and duration of the stream in the day-time during the summer and winter months; but at the equinoctial, when the change is about taking place, the table can only be depended on at full and change. Explanation of Diagram. (Plates IV. and V.) To find the time of high-water, look out the moon’s A.M. meridian passage, for the day required, at the top of either table ; and at the side, where the two lines intersect the black curve, the time of high-water will be found. To find when the ebb and flood stream. begins and ends, look out the moon’s A.M. meridian passage at the top, as before, in the summer or winter table, according to the time of year, and the white space will show the duration of ebb, the shaded space the duration of flood. Notes to Captain Otter’s Paper on the Tides in the Sound of Harris. By James Stark, M.D. F.R.S.E. An interesting subject of inquiry is the probable cause of the flow of the current through the Sound of Harris. As the tidal wave in its progress from the south flows up both sides of the Western Isles, as far as the Sound of Harris, at the same time, so that at both the eastern and western extremity of the Sound the time of high-water is attained at the same hour, it is evident that the peculiar flow of the current through the Sound cannot be due to the tidal wave. The circumstance of the stream flowing from the Atlantic into the Minch all day during the summer months, but during the winter flowing all day from the Minch into the Atlantic, suggests the idea that, Tides in the Sound of Harris. 275 during summer, the level of the Atlantic must be higher during the day than during the night; while, during winter, the level of the Atlantic must be lower during the day than it is during the night ; in fact, that this peculiarity in the tidal current is somehow connected with the length of the day. The influ- ence of the sun on the tides is known to all in the phenomena of what are termed “spring” tides, which occur when the sun and moon are in conjunction, or in opposition; that is to say, at the periods of new and full moon. But the phenomena described by Captain Otter are evidently to be ascribed to a different cause. If we suppose that the sun exerts a strong attractive power over a large body of water like the Atlantic, which is unde- niable, then we should expect that attraction to be greatest, and its effect in raising the level of the water most marked, when the sun was more immediately over that body of water. Taking it for granted that the sun’s power of attraction is just in proportion to the length of time when it shines on any par- ticular body of water, then the great mass of the Northern Atlantic in the same parallel of latitude as Harris, would have a higher level during the day in the summer months than it would have during the night when the sun’s attractive power was removed. As the Minch is, to a certain extent, a confined sea, the current from the Atlantic would, therefore, flow into it all day ; but when the level of the North Atlantic fell during the night, in consequence of the sun’s attractive power being removed, the current would flow from the Minch into the Atlantic. During winter, again, the sun’s rays being most powerful over the Southern Atlantic, as it is now to the south of the equator, the waters of the North Atlantic would be attracted southwards during the day, so that its level would be lower than that of the confined waters of the Minch. Consequently, during the winter months, we should expect that the stream would flow through the Sound of Harris from the Minch into the Atlantic all the day. When the sun’s attractive power, however, over the Southern Atlantic was removed during the night, the waters would fall to their level and allow the North Atlantic to regain its level; so that during the night the cur- 276 T. Strethill Wright’s rent during the winter season would flow through the Sound of Harris from the Atlantic. On the supposition that this explanation is the true one, it appears to me that it throws light on a phenomenon which has been long remarked, but never satisfactorily accounted for,— viz., that during one period of the year the highest tides occur when the moon is above the horizon, but during the other half of the year when the moon is below the horizon. Now, if the moon be above the horizon during the summer when the level of the Atlantic is higher than usual from the greater attractive power of the sun, the day tide will be higher than the corre- sponding night tide. But if the moon be above the horizon during the day, when the Atlantic level is bedow its mean, as during winter, then the day tide will be lower than the corre- sponding night tide, It would be interesting to ascertain, by actual measurements, whether there is any difference in the level of the waters in the Atlantic and Minch, and to what extent that difference exists during day and night, and during summer and winter; and I expect that this will be ascertained during the present - year through the zeal of Captain Otter and Lieutenant Thomas, who are both engaged in the survey of the western coast. Description of New Protozoa. By T. STRETHILL WRIGHT, M.D., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Edin- burgh.* EXPLANATION OF PLATES. Plate VI. Fig. 1. Lagotia viridis, showing rotatory organ from lateral aspect. 2. Front view of do. 3. Tip of one of the lobes of rotatory organ—a large ciliary band— striz bearing cilia. 4. Young animal of L. viridis. on - Vagincola ampulla (Miller). 6. Vagincola valvata, animal extended, and (7.) contracted —a@ valve raised—b do. closed. 8. Diagram of upper part of tube of V. valvata—a tube—b sarcode lining do.—c valve closed—d sarcode coating tube on outside. * Communicated to the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh on the 25th April 1857. Description of New Protozoa. 277 Plate V1IT. Fig. 1. Ephelota coronata—a with tentacles contracted—s with do. expanded. 2. Diagram of tentacle of £. coronata. Family Ophrydina—Genus Lagotia.* (Mihi). Lagotia viridis. (Plate VI., figs. 1,2.) This remarkable member of the Ophrydina was discovered about two years ago, occurring in great profusion on a shell dredged up from the Firth of Forth. It rapidly multiplied itself until it studded the sides of the vessel in which it was kept, and various Algw contained therein, with its dark-green cells. In March last it was again dredged from the same locality. In general appearance the animal resembles Vagincola, though it differs from that genus in some important particu- lars. The cell resembles an amphora or flask lying on its side, having the neck bent more or less sharply upwards, and dila- ted into a trumpet-shaped mouth. Its colour is dark sea- green, in the larger specimens nearly opaque. The trans- parent green animalcule is long and cylindrical, as in other genera of the family Ophrydina, and is attached by its pos- terior extremity to the bottom of the tube. Its anterior ex- tremity is crowned by a rotatory organ, the form of which is unique among the Protozoa, but which is the homomorph of the hippocrepian type, occurring in Alcyonella and others amongst the Polyzoa, and in Phoronis amongst the Annelida. This organ, when seen in front, and erect (fig. 2), appears like a narrow horse-shoe; whilst from the side the anterior ex- tremity of the animalcule bears a resemblance to the head and ears of a hare. A thick muscular (?) band passes round the border of the horse-shoe, and forms the basis of a wreath of long vibratile cilia (fig. 3), the motion of which produces the optical illusion of moving cogs or teeth. The whole surface of the body and rotatory organ is seen (under a power of 300 diam.) to be striated with fine lines, which bear cilia in most active motion. The gullet (2) in the first specimen taken, was, in every case examined, a shallow sac placed within the bend of the horse-shoe and between the ciliary bands; but in * Zayic, a hare; w#riov, an ear-flap, an ear. 278 Dr T. Strethill Wright's the last batch of specimens, which were of much larger size, it invariably passed deeply within the body as a tapering canal, in which the motion of large cilia could be clearly de- tected. Although both colonies were exceedingly numerous, and lived a considerable time with me, I was never able to dis- cover their mode of increase. They were never seen double— “two single gentleman rolled into one”—as the convivial Va- gincola appears to be when undergoing multiplication. Two Lagotias, indeed, keeping house in the same bottle would doubtless lead a most unhappy life. The single tenant is an ill-conditioned and restless fellow, constantly rotating this way and that, and wagging his long ears; and, when sitting for his portrait, assuming as many changes of character as Charles Matthews himself. The colour of the body of L. viridis is not caused by an accumulation of green granules as in Stentor Ophrydium and Vorticella, but is a transparent and uniform staining of the sarcode—a lighter tint of that of the cell. In young specimens found growing amongst the second batch, the lobes of the horse-shoe were blunt and short, and the ciliary band placed at a little distance from their edges, as in fig. 4. L. hyalina.—Colourless ; lobes of rotatory organ wider and blunter than those of Z. viridis. Cell buried in the substance of Aleyonidium hirsutum, and therefore not seen. Found at low-water, Granton and Queensferry. Not uncommon. L. atro-purpureus.—Colour of animal that of a mixture of ink and water. Cell yellowish-brown. Probably a variety in colour of LZ. viridis with which it was found. [Since the above was communicated to the Royal Physical Society, I have learnt from Mr Alder that he has occasionally seen L. viridis, and he has sent me drawings of specimens ob- tained in autumn last near Tynemouth. In these the spiral gullet does not appear. Mr Alder thinks that the animalcule sometimes burrows in the shells which it infests, as I have noticed in the case of L. hyalina. At fig. 5 I have givena sketch of Vagincola ampulla (Miil- ler), which has a bilobed rotatory organ, and so far bears some resemblance to Lagotia. | Description of New Protozoa. 279 Vagincola valvata. (Mihi). (Plate VL., figs. 6, 7). This marine animalcule was found growing plentifully on the zoophytes and sea-weeds in one of my tanks. It resem- bled Vagincola erystallina, an inhabitant of fresh water, ex- cept in its being colourless, whilst V.crystallina contains glo- bules of green matter. It possesses another remarkable dis- tinction also from V. erystallina, in the presence of a valve (a) situated within its cell, which shuts down in an inclined position (6) over the animal as it retreats therein. On exa- mining the valve in situ I found it to consist of a rigid plate, imbedded in a thick layer of transparent sarcode, which lat- ter was continuous at the lower end of the valve with a thin layer of the same substance, lining the whole of the interior, and coating the upper part of the exterior of the tube. The valve was closed by a contractile process passing from its un- der surface (fig. 8, c.) to the wall of the tube. I have not been able to come to any conclusion as to the shape of the solid frame-work of this remarkable provision for closing the cell of this animalcule, as it is visible only in profile; but Iam disposed to consider the whole apparatus to consist of an oval plate of soft sarcode, supported by an included bar or narrow plate of horn or chitine. It is evident that a rigid oval plate accurately closing the bore of the tube would be immoveable. The animal was generally double, as in the figures. In some specimens the tube was marked with close transverse or cir- cular striz. Ephelota coronata.* (Mihi). In the seventh volume of the “ Annals of Natural History” (1851), Mr Alder has described three new animals, belonging to the Protozoa, two of which are marine, and found parasitic on Sertularia, while the third is an inhabitant of fresh water, and a parasite on Paludicella. Mr Alder gave no names to these animals. It therefore fell to Mr Pritchard (who, in his work on the Infusoria, has included them in the family Enchelia) to invent a name for them. Mr Pritchard chose the designation Alderia, and specified the animals as apicu- * Communicated to the Royal Physical Society, Nov. 25, 1857. 280 Dr T. Strethill Wright's losa, ovata, and pyriformis. “ Alderia’” had, however, been previously appropriated to one of the nudibranchiate Mollusea, so that the animals still remain without generic names. On carefully reading Mr Alder’s descriptions, and comparing them with the descriptions and figures given by Ehrenberg of Podophrya fixa and Acineta Lyngbyei, I have concluded that Mr Alder’s animals should be placed in two genera; that Pritchard’s two species, ovata and pyriformis (the tentacles of which are slender and capitate, or knobbed) belong, together with Acineta Lyngbyei, to the genus Podophrya; whilst apiculosa (the tentacles of which are pointed) must be referred to a new genus, for which I propose the name Ephelota (from ext and 7Aos, a peg, andtits derivative adjective 7Awros). The body of Hphelota apiculosa (Alder’s first described animal) is cup-shaped, set round with numerous pointed ten- tacles abruptly thickened towards the base, and forming more than one row. ‘They have very little motion, but are occa- sionally bent forwards, and sometimes slowly retracted. ‘Body attached to a stout stem. In Mr Alder’s figure the stem appears of the same thickness throughout. I have occasion- ally found an animal, which I believe to be identical with Ephelota apiculosa, growing on Coryne. It differs from Ephelota coronata (the animal I have figured, Plate VI, fig. 1), in having the body more cup-shaped, elongated, and wider than the stem ; the tentacles more irregular, soft, retrac- tile, and unsupported by the solid matter which occurs in the interior of those of Hphelota coronata ; and, especially, in the shape and structure of the stem, which is nearly of equal diameter throughout, and consists of a medullary substance, the fibres of which pass in a longitudinal direction, inclosed within a cortical substance, formed of circular fibres, passing at right angles to the fibres of the medulla—which cortical fibres are absent in the stem of Ephelota coronata. I have found Ephelota coronata only twice, each time in large colonies, situated within the mouth of shells inhabited by the hermit crab, where the dense white bodies of the animalcules, seated on their transparent pedicles, form sufi- ciently remarkable objects. The body consists of a short cylinder of densely granular sar- Description of New Protozoa. 281 code, slightly enlarged above and below, so as to resemble the circlet of acrown. It is surmounted by a circle of thick, acumi- nate, and radiating tentacle:,which are capable of being slowly curved inward, but cannot be contracted. They remain stiffly extended, even when the animal is immersed in alcohol. The structure of the tentacles is, I believe, unique. Under high microscopic power, they are seen to consist of a bundle or frame-work of fine parallel rods of horny (?) texture, em- bedded in soft contractile sarcode. The more central rods of the bundle (as in the figure 2) protrude continually beyond those exterior to them, so that the point of the tentacle is formed of only a very small number. In the animals of the second colony—under a power of 800 diameters—each rod assumed a beaded structure (fig. 2), which I had not before observed. The animal secretes beneath itself, or from its base, a pedicle of diaphanous and colourless substance, which in- creases in length and breadth with the increasing growth of the animal, until it assumes the form of a long glassy club, on the thick upper extremity of which the animal is seated. The whole of the pedicle is covered by a growth of scattered hairs, but it may be doubted whether these have any organic connection with it, and whether they do not belong to one of those minute classes of Alge, the structure of which eludes microscopic research. A longitudinal fibrous structure is faintly seen in the axis of the pedicle, but it gradually disap- pears towards the periphery. After immersion in spirit, this fibrous structure becomes much more apparent. The action of the spirit, also, causes a fine membrane to separate from the surface of the pedicle, which appears to be continued down- wards from the body of the animal, and is probably analo- gous to the membrane which I have already shown to exist as a lining and covering to the cell of Vagincola valvata, and which secretes and hides within itself the valve that closes the cell of that curious animal. 282 Dr T. Strethill Wright’s Observations on British Zoophytes. By THOMAS STRETHILL Wriaut, M.D., &c. EXPLANATION OF PLATE. Fig. 3. Medusoid of Campanularia Johnstoni—a ovaries. 4. Ovary of do., with ova. 5. Coryne gravata, with medusoids—a peduncle=sperm-sac—b polyp undergoing absorption. 6. Stauridie of Dujardin (after Gosse). 7. Stauridia producta single polyp. 8. End of one of the capitate tentacles of S. producta—a head covered with thick prehensile palpocils, and containing thread-cells—b ectoderm, with acuminate palpocils springing from tactile (?) corpuscles— e central chain of endodermal cells, with vacuolated contents, nucleus, and brown granules, Jo) - Thread-cell of S. producta, with thread exserted. Coryne gravata.* (Mihi). (Plate VIL., fig. 5.) In the spring of 1856 I noticed, in a rock-pool near North Berwick, a number of small milk-white bodies, apparently floating in irregular lines, at about half an inch from the sur- face of the friable sandstone. When these were transferred to the collecting-bottle, they were seen to be attached to the bue- cal papillz of small coryneform polyps, and proved to be the greatly enlarged peduncles of fully-developed medusoids. The polyps of the Coryne were colourless, with ten or twelve short capitate tentacles; the polyp-stalks smooth, about a quarter of an inch long, springing from a creeping polypary ; the medusoids colourless, long, cylindrical, with four lateral canals and four rudimentary tentacles, represented by small bulbs containing brown pigment; the peduncle, pyriform, in- flated,—nearly filling the cavity of the sub-umbrella ; the um- brella without thread-cells, wrinkled on its external surface. Further observation showed that the peduncle of the medu- soid, though still attached to the Coryne by a thick fleshy pro- cess, had become little else than a sac of spermatozoa, which were secreted between its ectoderm and endoderm. These mem- branes were continuous with each other at the mouth, where they were furnished with a ring of thread-cells. * Communicated to the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, on the 25th April 1857. Observations on British Zoophytes. 283 In several cases the bodies of the Corynes had lost their tentacles, and were reduced by absorption to mere tubercles (fig. 5, a), the medusoids still remaining firmly attached ; hence it is possible that the medusoids of this Coryne never become free. In the “ Annales des Sciences Naturelles,” vol. xv., 2d series, Lowen has described a Coryne (Syncoryne ramosa) bearing a fixed medusoid, strongly resembling the above, with the ex- ception that the peduncle contained ova instead of spermato- zoa. Iwas at first led to believe that my Coryne was the male polypary of Lowen’s female ; but the wrinkled corallum, or polypidom of the latter, and the presence of thread-cells on the umbrella of its medusoid, indicate that the species, although similar, are distinct. The “ Syncoryne ramosa (Ehr.)” of Lowen, differs, I think, altogether from the Coryne ramosa described by Johnston as “ bipollicaris, hyalina, ramosa, ramulis basi contractis, eapitulis valdé elongatis, prole in capitulo sparsa, (Ehr.)” (a large branched Coryne with a ringed corallum, found in the Firth of Forth, and remarkable for the length of its cylindri- cal polyps, and the number of ovisacs or sperm-sacs scattered amongst its tentacles), and will have to be referred to a new species. For the subject of this notice I propose the name of Coryne gravata. The Rey. T. Hincks informs me that he has seen a Coryne with cylindrical medusoids resembling fig. 5, but he did not observe its sexual character. Stauridia producta (Mihi). In the “ Annales des Sciences Naturelles,” 3d series, vol. iv., p. 271, M. Dujardin remarks, “J’y vis une sorte de Syn- coryne que j’ai nommée Stauridie a cause de ses quatre tenta- cules disposés en croix ;” and he proceeds to describe the structure of the animal, and its reproduction by means of free medusoids, to which he gives the name of Cladoneme. Mr Gosse, also, in his “‘ Devonshire Coast,” has described and beautifully figured the same animal, under the name of Coryne stauridia, or “the slender Coryne.” This zoophyte, 284 Dr T. Strethill Wright’s one of the polyps of which I have sketched at Pl. VIL. fig. 6., is remarkable, not so much on account of the cruciform disposi- tion of its tentacles, as for the dissimilarity in character of those members ; the upper row being capitate, as in the genus Coryne, while the lower are filiform and pointed, as in Clava, Cordylophora, &e. The dissimilar character of the tentacles, however, must re- move the animal of Dujardin from the genus Coryne or Syii- coryne, and place it in a new genus, which will rank inter- mediately between Coryne and Cordylophora in the classifi- cation of Johnston. For this genus I propose the name * Stauridia,” derived from Dujardin’s Stauridie, although the construction of the word and its meaning are imperfect (cravgos, crux, signifying a stake, of any shape, to which a criminal was nailed.) The characters of the new genus are :— Stauridia. Polypary sheathed in a tubular corallum or polypidom (branched, the apices of the branches) bearing polyps furnished with two or more whorls of dissimilar tentacles,—the upper whorl or whorls capitate, the lower whorl filiform, four in number. Thread-cells very large, many-barbed. In the spring of 1857 I picked up, on the shore at Caroline Park, near Edinburgh, a specimen of Plumularia falcata, on which grew a coryneform zoophyte belonging to the genus Stauridia. The polyps were very long and cylindrical, and furnished with twelve capitate tentacles, arranged in three whorls, and also with a fourth whorl of filiform tentacles, situ- ated at a considerable interval beneath the third whorl, as shown in fig. 7. The filiform tentacles were held, not at right angles as in Dujardin’s species, but at an acute angle with the body of the polyp. The globular tips of the upper tentacles exceeded in size those of any of the Corynes with which I am acquainted, and contained many-barbed thread-cells (fig. 9), half a diameter larger than similar cells in C. pusilla. When first found, the smooth polyp-stems sprung singly from a creeping fibre; but after a few weeks of plentiful entomostracean diet, they be- Observations on British Zoophytes. 285 came irregularly branched, as in Gosse’s figure of Coryne stauridia. I have named this species Stauridia producta. S. producta.—Polyps much elongated, cylindrical (red- dish) ; capitate tentacles in two or three whorls ; filiform ten- tacles semi-erect. Dujardin has described, in his Stauridie, the production of medusoids whose strange form and precautions for the safety of their ova are well worthy of note. I anxiously watched my Stauridia for many weeks, but it grad#ally died away, * without issue.” The tentacles of Coryne and Stauridia are not hollow, but contain a core or central chain of endodermic cells, placed in single series (as atc, fig. 8). 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Sg) eS AUT i “Wy ts LV ‘SQNIM “WMAOAWNOUDAL UALAWOWUING “UALANOUVE *TLOF [key to MOUs TOIT A UO sXkup osoyy sopnypour « skuqy Aureyy ,, JO soquinte OT, yoo) Z fodnVy-UIvY OF JO pure “Yoo TT *punods OY} ULOT) LOJOWOULLOYT, OF JO VUSoY £2005 08 Vag OY} VAOQE LoZoULOAvg OF JO qq soy ‘OTHA BJO SUGE ‘Vag OF WHOdy OOUTASICT “AV CE 06 epupysuoT “N FS o9G OPHPIVT sory SAYOLOOY [ROLIO[O.L00}0 J, : YsIIO0g oy} Jo LoquIay SurarasqO ‘ saoupuy yg ‘Ayoro0g [eorqdosoyry pus ArvsoqrvyT 04g Jo LOG Moy] Arer0u0y] ‘NMOU UANVXATY 4q ‘qyworqry 4v 4doy ‘198 LSIOGU TVOINOTOUOULAN GHL JO LOVULSAV 344 Scientific Intelligence. Astronomy— Academy of Sciences, February 8, 1858.—The Lalande prize this year was divided between Messrs Goldschmidt of Paris and Bruhns of Berlin. The former has added four to the number of small planets ; the latter discovered the comet of March 1857, which has since been identified with that discovered on 26th February 1846 by M. Bror- sen, and which was looked for in 1851, but not seen. Its period must be about 11 years. At the meeting on 15th February, M. Leverrier announced that another comet had been placed on the periodical list. Mr Maclear, at the Cape of Good Hope, had succeeded in finding the comet discovered by M. D’Arrest in 1851. Its periodicity had been recog- nised by M. Yvon Villarceau, who had computed its ephemerides, by means of which Mr Maclear, knowing exactly the position it ought to occupy, was able to find it on its return, in spite of the feebleness of its light. Its period must be about six years. The 52d of the group of small planets was discovered by M. Gold- schmidt on the 4th of February, in the constellation of the Lion. It is a star of the tenth magnitude.—(Charles Maclaren, in Scotsman.) OBITUARIES. Obituaries. By Dr Curisrtison, in his address to the Royal Society. 1. Wittram Henry Prayrair, a Scotchman by descent, and a citizen of Edinburgh from his youth, was born in London, where his father, the brother of our former Professor, Philosopher, and Secretary, John Play- fair, practised as an architect of repute. Educated here under the eye of his uncle, and living much in the society of a host of his uncle’s pu- pils, comprising a multitude of young men of talent, who have since risen to great eminence in many departments of human knowledge, Mr Playfair acquired an extensive acquaintance with Learning, Science, and Art, and above all, in his own profession, a correct and fastidious taste, of which we now reap the fruits in this city. At the early age of twenty-six Mr Playfair was chosen by ne Ma- jesty George the Third’s Commissioners to carry out the erection of the buildings of the University,—his first great work, in which he was at one and the same time aided by the general grandeur, and cramped by the faulty details of his precursor Adam,—and in which he ultimately triumphed over every difficulty.—There is nothing in our northern me- tropolis to compare with the simple stateliness and chaste details of the interior quadrangle of the University,—which is mainly Playfair’s own, —for his predecessor contemplated the monstrous and fatal blot of a double quadrangle, with differently elevated courts ;—and we have no- where else any single apartment that combines so chastely and harmo- niously the vastness of space, architectural splendour, and bibliothecal fitness of the upper Library Hall. It would be out of place for me to notice here all Playfair’s public works, which have been principally erected in Edinburgh, and constitute a large proportion of the most conspicuous architectural decorations of the city, and bid fair to immortalize him, so long as the capital of Scotland shall continue to attract, as it does now, visitors of taste from all quar- ters of Europe and America. Among critics in architecture it may be wished that some of them were better. But was it the architect’s fault that they are not so? In every one of his works, except Donaldson’s : Obituaries. 345 Hospital, he had to encounter great difficulties of site, or neighbourhood, or both together,— difficulties, indeed, sometimes unconquerable by any skill. And yet even in these, when he is said to have failed, the critics who think so appear to me to proceed for the most part upon the assump- tion, that he had within his choice plans of far greater magnitude than bis limits, and a command of means far beyond his actual treasury. Who, for instance, can say what might not have been the felicity of an architect, so pure in his style, and so fruitful in his resources, had he been told when he designed the columned temple in a portion of which our Society is now accommodated, that he was afterwards to cover the Mound, from the bottom to the crown of its slope, with public edifices ? —and that he was at liberty to do so at a cost of twice, thrice, or four times the L.100,00) which have been actually expended on them ?—for that seems conditional to the criticisms to which one often hears Playfair subjected, on account of his designs for the Royal Institution’s Building, the National Gallery, and the Free Church College. Of all his works none has called forth such unqualified applause as Donaldson’s Hospital; and his success there was all the more remark- able, because the style was altogether new to him. This has been de- scribed by one of his most successful ephemeral biographers,—plainly a zealous, yet impartial and able admirer,—as a type of Gothic style; for which the author is obliged to admit, with evident compunction, the un- happy cognomen of ‘‘ Debased Gothic.” But let us call this work of Playfair’s hands more fitly the ‘‘ Inhabitable Gothic ;” and no one has been more perfectly successful in making the Gothic habitable than our deceased fellow-member. No pleasure however is without alloy. There are few who will not regret that so magnificent a pile had not been des- tined for a more conformable object. Scotchmen were usually charged in former days by their neighbours with presenting, by a species of elec- tive attraction, the frequent union of poverty and pride. It may be al- lowable in a native of the Scotch metropolis to lament that the old sneer should be verified in these present times by the pride of lodging poverty in such a palace. I am assured that Playfair was so conscientiously fastidious in dis- charging the trust reposed in him as a professional man, that he executed all his drawings with his own hands. When engaged in this task, he for many years constantly worked in the standing posture, often for twelve hours a-day. To this habit he himself ascribed, not without justice, a paralytic affection of the spine, which gradually stole upon him when he was a man of middle life only. Slowly increasing year after year, it at last prevented in a great measure locomotion. But his aptitude for exercise of the mind continued unimpaired long afterwards, And even when his sad malady, spreading upwards, enfeebled his arms, and at length invaded also his mental faculties, it only required a new point in his plans to need consideration, when he was aroused to his old perspicuity and decision, and the point was settled. Playfair was, in every good sense of the words, a scholar and a gen- tleman. As such his society was courted on all hands. But for many years his infirmities had withdrawn him very much from the social cir- cle; so that few except one or two old intimates can now tell how much so- ciety has lost in this respect by his death. He died in his sixty-eighth 346 Scientific Intelligence. year. No one can doubt that his memory will long survive in his works. 2. The biography of W1i.1am Scorespy belongs not so much to us as to the parent Society of the sister kingdom. But as this remarkable man frequently visited us, joined us as an Ordinary Fellow, sometimes con- tributed to the business of our meetings, and was in early life a student of our University during the winter intervals of repose from his voyages of arctic adventure, it becomes me to advert shortly to the departure of one so eminent in science, so amiable in disposition, so distinguished for Christian virtue. Scoresby was the son of an experienced whaler and able navigator of Whitby, in Yorkshire. The father’s zeal in his profession was so intense and catholic, that he actually carried off his child to his favourite arctic regions at the age of ten, without the previous knowledge of Mrs Scoresby,—an attached wife, and no less fond a mother. The idea, it must be adde.!, did not occur to the father till he one day detected, with much trouble, the urchin hidden below in the Resolution, while the “ Blue Peter” was flying from the mast-head, and when the boy had a clear intention of running away from home in this remarkable manner. Entering thus early on a life of fearless adventure, it is no wonder that the second Scoresby outstripped the first in eminence as a navigator. At the age of sixteen, he discovered with his father an open sea near Spitzbergen, apparently stretching towards the North Pole; and he actually sailed in it to the latitude of 78° 46’,—the highest known to have been ever attained up to that time. At the age of twenty-ore he succeeded his father as commander of the Resolution whaler of Whitby ; and for twelve years afterwards he annually fished the Greenland Seas, carrying on at the same time constant researches in geography, mag- netism, geology, and zoology ; for which he had prepared himself by several winters of study under Jameson and other Professors of the University of Edinburgh. The results were published in his ““Account of the Arctic Regions,” and in his “ Voyage to the Northern Whale Fishery.” A deep, pure vein of piety, fostered by careful early training on the part of his parents, everywhere pervaded his pursuits, whether profes- sional or scientific. No whale was hunted, and no other work that could be dispensed with was done by the crew of the Resolution on the Sabbath. Their captain was constantly as assiduous in maintaining the religious condition of his men as in preserving their health, and availing himself of their seamanship. But it is also recorded of him, that he generally contrived to reward the forbearance of his men while their game was sporting securely on all sides around them on Sunday, by in- suring that they should make prize of a whale or two at the first entrance of the hours upon Monday morning. The depth and sincerity of his feelings as a responsible creature he has recorded in his “ Sabbaths in the Arctic Regions.” The ultimate consequence of his following this bent of his mind was, that, while still in the prime of life and vigour, he deserted his favourite the sea, studied at Cambridge for the English Church, took, soon afterwards, the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and became a zealous and efficient member of the ministry, first among his co-mates as chaplain to the Mariner’s Church Obituaries. 347 at Liverpool, and eventually at Bradford, as pastor of an extensive manufacturing population. The ardent and conscientious discharge of his religious duties, how- ever, did not prevent him from applying also to the favourite scientific pursuits of his youth. Only a year before his death, indeed, he under- took a voyage to Australia, for the purpose of testing his theory respecting the aberration of the compass in iron ships; and one of his last scientific observations was the measurement of the ocean wave in a storm off the Cape of Good Hope, when he ascertained that the elevation of the highest, when the sea ‘‘ran mountains high,” was forty feet from trough to crest. I cannot, consistently with the indispensable brevity of this sketch, even so much as enumerate Dr Scoresby’s many contributions to science ; but must hasten at once to the close of this theme. Scoresby died, after a tedious illness, at a fair old age, in his sixty-eighth year. Few men can at that age console themselves with the retrospect of so long an existence so usefully spent. The intrepid seaman, the skilful navigator, the philosopher of no mean order, and the pious divine, was throughout his entire life full of good works in each and all of his multifarious vocations, : 3. The connection of Marsuatt Hatt with our Society has been some- what similar to that of the arctic navigator. Born in Nottinghamshire, and trained there till his nineteenth year, he then came to thiscity in 1809 to pursue the study of medicine. He graduated at our University in 1812; remained two years longer as one of the resident physicians of the Royal Infirmary; was elected during that period President of the Royal Medical Society, an office which has generally been the forerunner and presage of future distinction ; delivered, it seems, a short course of lectures on the Diagnosis of Diseases, ever afterwards a fayourite subject of inquiry with him; and on leaving this, to settle as a physician in Nottingham, continued to maintain his predilection for Edinburgh, as is shown by his having joined its Royal Society as a Fellow in 1819, But this has been the full amount of his connection with us. He had been scarcely twelve years in Nottingham, when the prompt- ings of genius induced him to seek a fitter field for its development in London, where he slowly attained a respectable place as a physician. His contributions to the practice of his profession, both before and after he settled in London, were numerous, always ingenious, often original, generally valuable, but sometimes controvertible. Of all these contribu- tions, none perhaps will convey a higher idea of his acute and inventive discrimination as a physician than his inquiry, begun in 1824, and perfected some years afterwards, into the constitutional effects of the loss of blood, of which he successfully investigated the phenomena, sup- plied the explanation, and detailed the conclusions, in the shape of valuable instruction, for distinguishing between inflammation and nervous irritation, thereby laying down the means of escape from fearful errors at that time often committed by the incautious and uncompromising ad- mirers of blood-letting as a remedy. But the credit which may be justly claimed for Marshall Hall for his contributions to medical experience and practice sinks into insignificance when compared with his higher fame as a physiologist. It belongs 348 Scientific Intelligence. properly to the sister Royal Society to sketch biographically the details of his discoveries in physiclogy. From me they can receive but a brief and passing notice, without too great a demand on your time and atten- tion. I must confine myself, indeed, to only one of them, but that the greatest of all, the precursor and foundation of all the rest, and sufficient of itself to stamp Marshall Hall as an inventive genius, whose name will go down to posterity as one of the pillars of physiological science in the present century. It is evident from his works that Marshall Hall’s attention had been eagerly turned to the immortal discoveries of our greatest Scottish phy- siologist in these recent times, the late Sir Charles Bell, in regard to the functions of the brain, spinal marrow, and nerves. From that moment the nervous system was his great centre of attraction. Sir Charles first sighted, and laid down in an undeniable shape, the grand fact in the physiology of the nervous system, that sensation is conveyed, and motion governed, by different nerves, or different filaments of nerves, having different origins in the cerebro-spinal system. Hall, however, was the first to see that this separation of what were once conceived to be common functions of all, or almost all, nerves, was not enough to account for the whole phenomena of nervous action. He showed that, sensation being conveyed from the circumference to the centre, the brain, by one set of nerves, or filaments of nerves,—as Sir Charles first indicated,—and motion being excited by volition sending an influence from the centre to the circumference by means of other nerves or nervous filaments,— also a branch of Bell’s discoveries,—there is another class of actions caused, independently of volition or of consciousness, by external im- pressions made directly on the spinal marrow itself; and, above all, that there is another set of numberless mysterious movements and actions, mysterious formerly,—but intelligible and clear as noon-day since his inquiries have been accepted,—which are excited by an agency, conveyed first from the circumference along afferent filaments of nerves to the spinal marrow as their centre, and thence along other or efferent nervous filaments to the circumference where action is eventually mani- fested, and all this independently of volition, often too of sensation, and not unfrequently of consciousness. These actions, which are constantly illustrated in the exercise of our functions, such as in the acts of breath- ing, swallowing, discharging the excretions, sneezing, coughing, winking, and the like, constitute what are called by Hall Rejflew Actions. They are also exemplified by a thousand phenomena occurring during disease. Let me instance one example, which will at once render his discovery of reflex actions intelligible to any common understanding. When, in poisoning with prussic acid, the sufferer is perfectly insensible and motionless, and no muscular action is discoverable except a spasmodic upturning of the eyeballs, and a slow, short, imperfect respiration,—if we pour upon the head suddenly a full stream of cold water, instantly a deep inspiration is drawn, which fills the whole chest. By repeating this process, we remove several of the immediate and sure causes of death, and may-restore consciousness, sensibility, and at last perfect health. But this by-the-by ; the main purpose in quoting the fact now is to exemplify an action caused by an impression on a part of the ner- vous circumference, conveyed by certain nervous filaments to the spinal Obituaries. 349 marrow, and transmitted instantly by certain other nervous filaments te the muscles which maintain respiration,—and quite independently of volition, of sensation, of consciousness; of all the cerebral functions, in short, which, in the case supposed, are totally dormant and suspended. This is a reflex action, one of a countless multitude of phenomena which were entirely, or almost altogether, misunderstood, until Marshall Hall caught the first glimpse of them, investigated, elucidated, and classified them, and deduced innumerable conclusions from them for explaining previously incomprehensible phenomena occurring in health, and still more in disease. This is the grand fact, the discovery of which we owe to Marshall Hall, and from which he afterwards proceeded to further discoveries in the physiology of the nervous system. Like other discoverers, he at first encountered much opposition to his new views. But all physiologists and physicians are now agreed in adopting the most important of them, and in acknowledging the obliga- tions which physiology and medical practice owe to him. For many of the latter years of his life he was esteemed as one of the most successful physiological inquirers in Europe. He persevered in his researches till near the end of his life, which terminated in a slow and painful illness before the close of his 67th year. Obituary of M. Thénard. By Professor Krtuanp.— For the informa- tion I have acquired relative to this excellent chemist, I am indebted to Dr Christison, who has furnished me with his personal recollections, and with a biographical souvenir of the deceased by one of his former assist- ants, M. Le Canu. The association of the name of Thénard with the progress of che- mistry dates back to the period of history. His first contribution to the science was made so early as the year 1799; the subject being ‘‘ The Oxygenated Compounds of Antimony, and their Combinations with Sul- phuretted Hydrogen.” His last was presented in 1856, fifty-seven years later, and is entitled ““ Memoir on the Bodies whose Decomposition is effected under the influence of the Catalytic Force.” To detail all the discoveries of an author whose writings are scattered over so vast a period would be a work of some labour, and might justly be regarded by many of my hearers as a dry and unnecessary detail. A few of the more im- portant only can be noticed. We owe to him the production of muriatic ether. It is true, how- ever, that Boullay in France, and Gehlen in Germany, made the dis- covery about the same time with himself. We owe to him also the dis- covery of oxygenated water, or the binoxide of hydrogen, and conse- quently that of the peroxide of calcium of copper, &c., which it pro- duces by reacting on the inferior oxide sof these metals. M. Le Canu admits, in reference to this discovery, that a happy accident exhibited to M. Thénard the dissolution of binoxide of barium in water acidulated with nitric acid, without the disengagement of oxygen; but he argues very justly that the merit consisted in the far-seeing power which could divine the existence of a definite combination of oxygen and hydrogen, essentially distinct from ordinary water. M. Thénard had the good fortune to labour in conjunction with a host of great men—with Fourcroy, with Dulong, with Biot, with Dupuytren, NEW SERIES.—NO. lI. VOL. VII.—APRIL 1858, pA 350 Obituaries. but, above all, with Gay-Lussac. It is in this last connection, I imagine, that his name comes most frequently under the eye of non-chemical readers amongst us. Gay-Lussac and Thénard published, in conjunction, a series of most valuable memoirs, which were afterwards united in two volumes, Of these volumes Berthollet thus speaks : ‘‘ They seem to con- stitute a new science, raised on the old sciences of physics and chemistry as their groundwork.” Amongst the vast mass of discoveries which these researches make known, I have space to mention only two: 1. A highly important series of facts tending to throw light on the relation between the chemical and the electrical energy of the voltaic pile. For example, that accidulated water, as compared with pure water, increases the chemical action of the pile, but diminishes the electrical; and that those fluids which were found most efficient in exciting the chemical powers of the battery are the most rapidly decomposed when subjected themselves to its action. 2. The indication of the means of obtaining considerable quantities of potassium and sodium by subjecting caustic potash and soda to the contact of iron at a high temperature ; and the train of consequences which flowed from the facility of producing those metals. ‘he Memoir which contains the process referred to appeared in the Moniteur of the 15th and 16th November 1808. In it was an- nounced the existence of a particular radical, boron, which Davy described a month Jater in a valuable paper read to the Royal Society of London. Not the least important, however, of M. Thénard’s publications was his Traité de Chimie, which has gone through six editions. He had a happy talent for popularizing, without the sacrifice of strict scientific accuracy. His genius lay in arranging the parts, in developing truths in succession, in bringing out the characteristic facts, and causing the whole science to rest symmetrically on them. And the same power of popularizing and arranging was observable in his lectures. ‘The courses which he delivered at the Atheneum, at the Faculty of Medicine, at the Ecole Polytechnique, at the College of France, were admirable of their kind. Notwithstanding his intimate acquaintance with the subject, and his long experience as a lecturer, he never presented himself before an audience, without having carefully planned the lecture, and determined the exact order and position which every part should occupy. He used to say that each fact had its own proper place, where alone it could be exhibited in relief, and that it was the duty of the Professor ‘to deter- mine this place beforehand, just as much as it is the duty of an author to clear his sentences of feeble tautology, and to attach the right word to every idea. In consequence of this care, his lecture was always com- plete, always a continuous lesson on the subject in hand; free alike from deficiency and from exuberance. It is indeed in his character as a lecturer, that M. Thénard is best studied. On the public platform, the peculiar idiosynerasies of the whole man came out spontaneously, Let me endeavour to present him to you, as he stands before his class. Imagine a vast amphitheatre capable of holding a thousand persons—every seat occupied—the very lobbies and passages crowded to overflowing. At the back of the contracted space allotted to the Professor and his apparatus, stands a huge black board, well covered with chemical formule. ‘The assistant whose duty it has been to prepare the experiments, stands anxiously regarding his work. Obituaries. 351 The lecturer enters. Your ideas, derived from Hogarth, have perhaps pictured to you a thin spare man with a hatchet face, and you start when your eyes rest on a figure placed in strong relief against the black board, whose firm build and massive countenance more than come up to the typical John Bull of your own land. His broad full eye, set off by a dark mass of hair, first glances at the apparatus, then rises and haughtily seans the audience, as if to measure their capacity, and finally drops on the assistant, who quails beneath its weight. The lecture begins. So clear. so forcible, so continuous, is the stream which flows from the speaker’s lips—so appropriate, so neat, and so well performed are the experiments, that the hour passes over quickly and insensibly. But should any accident happen ; should the unfortunate assistant have mis- taken his directions ; woe betide him. The presence of a thousand per- sons places no restraint on the lecturer’s indignation. On one occasion, when he had given way to an unusually violent outburst, an illustrious hearer, said to be Baron Humboldt, thought it his duty to interfere, and request the master to have a little more patience with his assistant. The request was granted, and all went smoothly during the remainder of the lecture. For two days sunshine continued. On the third day, M. Thénard, on entering the room, perceived a portion of the apparatus in a condition which foretold the failure of the experiment. Placing him- self right in front of the benevolent stranger, and looking him full in the face, with his finger pointing to the unhappy apparatus, he cried out in the theatrical voice which he inherited from the tragedian Talma, * Friend, I promised to restrain my anger, and I have faithfully kept my word; give me back my promise, or you will see me expire before your eyes.” The stranger had no alternative but to bow assent. You may imagine what followed—I will not attempt to describe the scene. Report says that the assistant was sometimes a match for the pro- fessor. On one occasion M. Thénard ironically commiserated him in these words, “ Poor fellow, you will never do any good.” To which the other replied, “ Sir, you compliment me ; it is the very same thing Four- croy predicted of yourself when you were his assistant.” Beneath that rough exterior, and that fiery temper, there lay an honest conscience and a warm heart. Again and again did his assistants tender ‘their resignation, but it was never accepted; and public exhibitions of anger were followed by private acts of kindness. When in 1832, M. Thénard lay ill of a fever, his two assistants, M. Le Canu and M. Clé- ment Desormes, undertook the duty of sitting up alternately by his bed- side. One night the latter was so ill of a cough, that the patient forgot his fever in his anxiety to wateb over his nurse. M. Thénard died full of years, and rich in honours and titles. 352 Publications received. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. L’Institut, November 1857 to February 1858.—From the Editor. Canadian Naturalist and Geologist, Vol. Il, No. 5.—From the Editors. Hennessy, Henry, on the Physical Strneture of the EarthFrom the Author. Acland, H. W., Note on Teaching Physiology in the Higher Schools. — From the Author. Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, March 1856 to March 1857.—From the Society. Report on the Natural History of the Pearl Oyster of Ceylon, by Dr Kelaart.— From the Author. Silliman’s American Journal. January 1858.—From the Editors. Transactions of the Manchester Philosophical Society for October, November, and December 1857, and January and February 1858.— From the Society. Bibliothéque Universelle, Revue Suisse et Etrangére, Geneva, Feb- ruary 1858.—F yom the Editor. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, No. IV., 1857.—From the Secretaries. Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, Vol. II. New Series, No. 2,1857. Singapore.— From the Editor. The Geologist, Vol. I., No. 1., Jannary 1858.—F rom the Editor. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Rock Specimens of the Museum of Practical Geology by Messrs Ramsay, Bristow, and Bauerman. 1858. —From the Editors. , Manual of Geology. By J. Beete Jukes.—From the Author. Jahrbuch der Kaiserlich-Koniglichen Geologischen Reichsanstalt, for October, November, and December 1856, and January, February, and March 1857.—From the Society. Quarterly Journal of the Chemical Society, January 1858.—From the Society. Three Reports on the use of the Steam Coals of the Hartley District of Northumberland in Marine Boilers. By Messrs Armstrong, Long- ridge, and Richardson, 1858.—From the Authors. The Radical Theory of Chemistry. By J. J. Griffin. 1858. IN DEX. Abyssinian Travels, 133 Acids, Fatty and Aromatic, and their Relations to Carbonic Acid, 160 Actiniz, Electrical Powers of, 328 Aldehydes, their Conversion into Alcohols, 163 Allman, Professor, on the Structure of the Reproductive Organs in certain Hydroid Polypes, 294 American Scientific Association, Proceedings of, 140 Amphora, Structure of, 306 Animal Life in Cambrian Rocks, 328 Antennularia antennina, 299 Antiaris Toxicaria, 342 Artesian Spring, 310 Artesian Wells, 169 Astronomical Intelligence, 344 Bailey, J. D., on the Origin of Greensand, 166 - Barometer, Great Height of, 173 Barth on the Niger, 129 Baxter, H. F., on Polar Forces, Muscular and Nerve Force, 211 Baxter, H. F., on the Origin of Muscular and of the Nerve Current in the Living or Recently Killed Animal, 63 Biographies, 344 Bituminous Coals, the Decomposition by Heat, 33 Bloxam, T., on the Composition of the Building Sandstones of Craigle ih, Binnie, Gifnock, and Partick Bridge, 83 Boghead Coal, 119 Bonn, Scientific Meeting at, 149 Botanical Bibliography, 325 Botanical Intelligence, 159, 319 British Association, Proceedings of, 123 Bromine Water, Density of, 287 Brown, Alexander, Meteorological Register, 343 Bryson, A., Notice of Dr Fleming, 183 Buist, Dr, on Lotus of India, 323 Campanularia caliculata, 301 Campanularia Johnstoni, 286 Campbell, W. H., and Holmes, W. R., visit to Cuyuni Gold-Fields, 334 Carboniferous Deposits, Base of the, 222 Cauchy, Baron, Obituary of, 178 Caves near Penzance, 146 Cervus Euryceros, or Great Irish Elk, 327 Cetonia aurata and Hydrophobia, 175 Chemical Intelligence, 160 Chili, Subterranean Temperature in, 147 Clava multicornis, 296 Coal in the Rocky Mountains, 177 Cochrane, J. J., Observations on the Temperature of the Pentland Frith, 79 Colouring Matter of Persian Berries, 252 Coprinas, Notice of Peculiar Specimen of, 314 Cornwall, Royal Institution, Proceedings of, 146 Coryne gravata (Wright), 282 Coryne ramosa, 296 354 Index. Cranial Type in America Aborigines, 1 Craters of Java, Vegetation of, 322 Cryphea Lauryana noticed, 317 Crystals, Microscopical Structure of, 331 Davy, Dr John, on the Black Lustrous Varnish of Ancient Pottery, 303 Dawson, J. W., on Sternbergiz, 140 Dust-Shower at Baghdad, 178 Edwards, R., on Remarkable Ancient British Caves near Penzance, 146 Egyptian Plants, Notice of, 315 Ephelota coronata (Wright), 279 Fleming, John, Obituary of, 183 Fossil Mammalian Footmarks, 175 Gaels of Ireland and Scotland, 123 Galathea Andrewsii, 312 Garrulus minor from Algeria, 175 Gellatly, John, on the Colouring Matter of Persian Berries, 252 Geography, Ancient Physical, of South-East of England, 226 Geological Intelligence, 164, 133 Gold-Fields of Caratal, &c., in Cuyuni, 334 Goodsir, Professor, on the Mechanism of the Knee-joint, 304 Goppert on Boghead Coal, 119 Greensand, Origin of, 166 Gutta Percha of Surinam, 319 Hall, Dr Marshall, Biography of, 347 Harkness, Professor, on the Records of a Triassic Shore, 75 Harris, Tides in the Sound of, 272, 274 Hayes, A. A., on some Modified Results attending the Decomposition of Bitu- minous Coals by Heat, 33 Heat produced by Agitation of Water, 137 Hematite, on the Discovery of, in Ayrshire, 309 Henwood, W. J., Note on Subterranean Temperature observed in Chili, 147 Himalayan Travels by Schlagintweit, 126 IIudson’s Bay Company’s Territories, Natural History of, 189 Human Race, Antiquity of, 328 Hydractinia echinata, 295 Hydroid Polypes, Reproductive Organs of, 294 Jacob, W.S8., on the Relative Path of the Components of 61 Cygni, 107 Kelaart, Dr E. F., on the Natural History of the Pearl Oyster, 310 Kelland, Professor, the Life and Writings of Cauchy, 178 Kelland, Professor, Obituary of Thénard, 349 Kirk, Dr John, on Egyptian Plants, 315 Kirk, Dr John, on a new Species of Muscari from Mount Ida, 316 Knee-joint, Mechanism of, 304 Kolbe, Prof., on the Constitution of the Fatty Acids, Aromatic Acids, &c., and their Relations to Carbonic Acid, 160 Kolliker on Antiar Poison, 342 Lagotia viridis (Wright), 277 Laomedea accuminata, 108 Laomedea flexuosa, 298 Latex in Spiral and other Vessels, 320 Lawson, Dr George, on the Microscopical Analysis of Tobacco, 315 Limpricht, Prof., on the Conversion of Aldehydes into Alcohols, 163 Linear Vibration, Theory of, 237 Lotus, or Sacred Bean of India, 323 M‘Bain, Dr James, on the Skull of a Seal from the Gulf of California, 312 M‘Bain, Dr James, on the Skull of a Wombat from the Bone Caves of Australia, 308 M‘Nab, James, List of Plants Flowering in Botanic Garden on 14th January 1858, 317 Maclaren, Charles, on Conducting Power of Rocks, and on Altitude of Moun- tains; 170 Index. 35 Maclaren, Charles, on Pikermi Fossils, 164, 331 Magnetism, 342 Medusoid of Campanularia Johnstoni, 286 Meteorological Register at Arbroath for 1857, 343 Meteorology, 172 Meteoric Stones, 176 Montreal, Pliocene Deposits of, 333 Moreno, G. Garcia, Descent into Voleano of Pichincha, 290 Mountains, Altitude of, not Invariable, 170 Murray, Andrew, on Rein-Deer, 189 Muscari, new Species of, from Mount Ida, 316 Muscular and Nerve Force, 211 Muscular and Nervous Tissue, Polarized Condition of, 63 Niger, the Rising of, 129 Norway, Climate and Cultivated Plants of, 159 Obituaries, 178, 183, 185 Oldhamia, 328 Olive-crop in Corfu noticed, 318 Otter, Henry C., on the Tides in the Sound of Harris, 272 Ozone Observations, 35 Palezopyge Ramsayi, 328 Pearl Oyster, Natural History of, 310 Peltogaster Carcini, Notice of, 311 Pentland Frith, Temperature of, 79 Persian Berries, Colouring Matter of, 252 Peruvian Climates, Diseases of, 43 Pichincha, Descent into Volcano of, 290 Pichincha, Plants in Crater of, 202 Pikermi Fossils, 164 Planetoids, 175 Planets, New, 344 Playfair, William Henry, Biography of, 344 Pliocene Deposits of Montreal, 333 Plumularia cristata, 302 Plumularia pinnata, 301 Polygonatum verticillatum, Notice of, 314 Protozoa, Description of New, 276 Rain, Fall of, in Scotland in 1857, 259 Rain-Gauge, best Form of, 259 Redfield, W. C., Obituary of, 185 Rein- Deer, 189 Reviews and Notices of Books, 117 Rhamnus tinctoria, 252 Robertson, Dr William, Excursions in the Troad, 293 Rocks, Conducting Power of, 170 Rocky Mountains, Coal in the, 177 Rogers, W. B., Notice of W. C. Redfield, 185 Rogers, W. B., on Ozone, 35 Rose, Alexander, on the Discovery of Hematite Iron Ore on the Garpel, Ayr- shire, 309 Royal Society, Proceedings of, 293 Russell, J. Scott, on Great Eastern Steamship, 135 Russell, R., on the Rotatory Theories of Storms, 91 Saint-Hilaire, Geoffroy, 176 Sandstone, Lower Old Red, 222 Sandstones, Composition of, 83 Sang, Edward, Theory of Linear Vibration—(continued), 237 Sapota Mulleri, 319 Schlagintweit on Himalaya, 126 Seal, peculiar Skull of, 312 Slessor, J., on the Density of Bromine Water of various strengths, 287 or 356 Index. Smith, Archibald, on the Geography of Diseases in the Climates of Peru, 43 Sorby, H. C., on the Ancient Physical Geography of the South-Hast of Eng- land, 226 Sorby, H. C., on some Peculiarities in Microscopical Structure of Crystals, 331 Scoresby, Rev. William, Biography of, 346 Stark, James, on the Fall of Rain in Scotland, during 1857, 259 Stark on the Tides in the Sound of Harris, 274 Stars, 61 Cygni, Relative Path of, Components of, 107 Stauridia producta (Wright), 283 Sternbergiz, Remarks on, 140 Stevenson, T., on Temperature of Pentland Frith, 79 Storms, Rotatory Theories of, 91 Symonds, W. S., on the Base of the Carboniferous Deposits, and the Lower Old Red Sandstone, 222 Tertiary Climate, 334 Thénard, Obituary of, 349 Tobacco, Microscopical Analysis of, 315 Trecul on Latex, 320 Triassic Shore, Records of, 75 Trichydra pudica, 111 Troad, Excursions in the, 293 Tubularia coronata, 297 Tubularia indivisa, 113 Upas Antiar Poison, 342 Urticacee, Hairs of, 324 Urticacez, Properties of, 160 Urtical Alliance, 320 Vagincola crystallina, 279 Vagincola valvata (Wright), 279 Varnish of Ancient Pottery, 303 Vesuvius, Eruption of, 333 Volcanic Eruptions, 176 Walker-Arnott, Professor, on the Structure of Amphora, a genus of Diatoma- cee, 306 Wilson, Daniel, on the Supposed Prevalence of one Cranial Type throughout the American Aborigines, 1 Wilson, G., on Building Sandstones, 83 Wombat, on the Skull of, 308 Wright, T. S., Description of New Protozoa, 276 Wright, T. S., Observations on British Zoophytes, 108, 282 Zollinger, on Vegetation of Java Craters, 322 Zoological Intelligence, 327 Zoophytes, British, 108, 282. END OF VOLUME SEVENTH—NEW SERIES. PRINTED BY NEILL AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH, Edin? New. Phil. Journal lol. VW PL VT ot . tS ad id aan trte ‘ aaa eG ta ; Ha stata Meee Mi nes Be rth rns ee : ett vey ity: be s Fy tet oy : ve seal ey tah Gases stress ogo ig A ‘ & 2387 £ & paeeatck y PYAR Pe he tps ete phiry baa peg rare ‘ i Mew rade ian stata tek, thon! 9 o Serene ‘ef woke ro os por btntye Pepsi : FARCE Se bet Boots oe ad weet Suite se eve Fy dent be tele k we +} Manatee xf Bence coon ah june ae eit gS rhe wenleel eee Wt Tew te wimeyzt $'35 str as Ate SEpjjotade Le ces Aft Rin 4a HA 8 “sie tr Cats is Mel feeeee shperansioatse ¥ “ess ae 04: SEMA Rehab ae Th et sete _~ ; + ; Mae SA Dea Cea yf ia baa S Pin alee a rots z 3h INES hee “ js ¢. , vais ae eerste: 2 ‘ ; wie: wat x. mut aE arora