rae hy Bt heitee rats ety, * \ : te at staat. Se isis kes ay abe Rs ; Soa Sie PrEne Rae aia He ORS) u ‘ Fete s Cty SU if qc be 3} ‘} sph jo pase es Flaathaee st Migs as aes nea ra i ne iy , eae - iat ates ve ste ae : a f a ie ak eee be eye) Wisi se oF , Falieg Uibine fd ih oes Pesce Ae a 5 dehet pie sin ene? 2 Teeny sare if yb Te Boactegveaeere of, am * aU any ‘ie renueD " ¥ THE e EDINBURGH NEW i ee PHILO SOPHICAL JOURNAL, EXHIBITING A VIEW OF THE ____ PROGRESSIVE DISCOVERIES AND IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SCIENCES AND THE ARTS. EDITORS. THOMAS ANDERSON, M._D., F.R.S.E., REGIUS PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY, UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW} Sm WILLIAM JARDINE, Barr., F. RSE. ; JOHN HUTTON BALFOUR, A.M., M.D., F.R.SS.L. & E., F.L.S., \EGIUS KEEPER OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, AND PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE AND BOTANY, ; UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH. FOR AMERICA, ; STATE adekaiane, cbbiehamta: vusiinbs OF NATURAL HISTORY a THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW. JANUARY ...... APRIL 1859. VOL. 1X. NEW SERIES. EDINBURGH : ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK. LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS, LONDON. MDCCCLIX. CONTENTS. PAGE 1. Some Observations on the Fishes of the Lake District. By Joun Davy, M.D., F.R.S. London and Edin- burgh, &., . P ; ; , 1 _ 2. Chemical Examination of Cotton-Seed Oil. By J. Sixs- : sor, Assistant to Dr AnpEersoy, University of Glas- ' gow, ; é } ; ; 11 3. On the Geology of the Lower or Northern Part of the _ Province of Moray; its History; Present State of Inquiry, and Points for Future Examination. By the Rey. Grorcr Gorpon, A.M., Birnie, - 13 7 4, On the Rude Unsculptured Monoliths and Ancient For- tifications of the Island of Arran. By Mr Joun M‘Artuor, Partick, . : 2 ; 59 5. Some Ethnographic Phases of Conchology. By Danteu Witson, LL.D., Professor of History and English Literature, University College, Toronto, _ 65 li CONTENTS. 6. Theory of Linear Vibration—(concluded). By Epowarp Sane, F.R.S.E., 7. On the Origin of the Permian Breccias of the Southern PAGE 82 Portion of the Vale of the Nith. By Ropert Harx- ~ ness, F.R.SS.L. and E., F.G.S., Professor of Geology and Mineralogy, Queen’s College, Cork, 8. Observations on British Zoophytes. By T. Srreraiut Wricur, M.D, Fellow of the Royal College of Phy- sicians, Edinburgh, REVIEWS :— 102 106 1. Blick pa Ethnologiens narvarande Stiindpunkt, med af-_ seende pi Formen af Hufvudskilens Benstomme. Af Anpvers Retzivs. View of the Present State of Ethnology, in reference to the Forms of Skulls. By Anpers Rerzrvs, 2. A Manual of Qualitative Chemical Analysis. By A. BeaucHamp Nortucore, F.C.S., and Arrnur H. Cnurcnu, F.C.S, of Lincoln College, Oxford, CORRESPONDENCE ;— 1. Letter from Dr W. Bartrovr Barkie to Sir Joun RIcHARDSON, 2. Letter from Dr James Stark to Professor Barour, 115 123 124 125 CONTENTS. iil Pacr PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES :— Eiisveintion, aft 18198 Association, 159 " SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE :-— ) BOTANY. Big Trees of California, ig ; : 162 : ZOOLOGY. ical Distribution of the Trout, Salno fario, 164 _ GEOLOGY a the hina 4, On the Existence of siete et “Rocks of Kansas a Nebraska, 3 165-166 MISCELLANEOUS. y Ornithe Periodical. 7. On the Density and Siw Comets: 8, The Discovery of America by the Northmen. 9. Connection of the Northmen with th 170-175 |ATIONS RECEIVED, ae : ; : 177 wa Rady = A pens <3 sie a Sn ae a. I wall THE EDINBURGH NEW PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL. Some Observations on the Fishes of the Lake District.* By Joun Davy, M.D., F.R.S., London and Edinburgh, &e. On this subject I can hardly flatter myself that it will be in my power to offer any observations new to the icthyologist familiar with British fishes. I shall be satisfied if any of the _vremarks I may make should have the effect of exciting dis- cussion, and calling forth information from those gentlemen present so competent to afford it. From the very nature of the district, implied in its name, it might be expected to be a favourite habitat of the finny race; and that, as the physical conditions of its waters— such as depth, extent of surface, stillness and motion, eleva- tion above the level of the sea, &c.—are so various, go likewise would be the varieties or species of fish inhabiting them— an inference tolerably according with the facts. I may commence with giving a list of the fish,—of such as have come to my knowledge, belonging to the district, occur: ring in lake, river, and estuary,—not doubting that, on further and more careful inquiry, other species may be discovered, and the catalogue somewhat extended. Belonging to the Sal- monide are the following :—The salmon, sea-trout, common trout, charr, vendace, schelly, and smelt. The remaining spe- cies, as to classification, are miscellaneous; they are the pike, perch, tench, roach, chub, barbel, eel, millar’s thumb, thorn- back, minnow. ; * Read at the last meeting of the British Association. NEW SERIES.—VOL, IX. NO. 1,—JaNn. 1859. A 2 Dr Davy’s Observations on the It would be superfluous and out of place here to enter into minute particulars respecting any of the fish named. I shall confine myself to some general remarks, chiefly regarding points which are not altogether settled, and are open to in- quiry, or to some few others which I hope are settled, but which need to be dwelt on and enforced to make them gene- rally known and popular. 1. Of the Habitats of the Species —Of all of them, the common trout of the Salmonide is the most widely diffused. There are few streams and no lakes in which this fish is not to be found. Its being so widely spread indicates a hardi- hood of nature, an absence of that delicacy which seems to mark the next I shall mention—the charr. Of its hardi- hood, indeed, we have the strongest proof, if we extend our view from a district to a country, or continent, and consider its wide range, reaching from the extreme north of Europe almost to the extreme south, and in Asia found even so far south as Palestine—if I may rely on the assurance of an intelligent traveller, well acquainted with that country, who informs me that it occurs in the Jordan, and that he has partaken of it caught in that river, and of excellent quality and goodly size. And this may easily be credited, as we know for certain that the trout flourishes in some of the streams of the south of France, the Sorgue for instance, even at its source, at Vaucluse,* and in some of the rivers of Portugal, Sardinia, and Corsica. The charr, I have said, is a more de- licate fish. It is confined to certain of the many lakes of the district, viz., Windermere, Coniston Water, Hawes Water, Buttermere, Crunmock Water, Waswater, and Ennerdale Lake. The sensitiveness of this fish to noxious influences is indicated by the circumstance, that since the mines have been opened in the vicinity of Ulswater, the charr, before abundant in that fine lake, have gradually diminished in number, and have now entirely disappeared ; and the same effect of mine water, though in a less degree, has been witnessed in Conis- ton Water, where, before the copper mines in that neighbour- hood had been opened, charr were far more plentiful than they * On the 10th of April 1830, I found the temperature of the water at Vau- cluse, just where the stream gushes from the rock, 54°. . 4 ; Fishes of the Lake District. 3 have been since. The delicacy, too, of this fish is shown by the failure of attempts to introduce it into other lakes, such as Derwent Water, in which the trial has been repeatedly made without success. Iam disposed to infer, that in all the instances of these abortive attempts, the failure has been _ chiefly owing to the water not being sufficiently pure, and not to the circumstance of insufficient depth of water. That this fish is intolerant of heat seems indeed certain, and that in sum- mer it retreats to the deepest parts of the lakes it inhabits ; yet mere want of great depth of water seems hardly to be an ade- quate cause, as it is met with in other countries, in Ireland, for example, where it occurs in comparatively shallow water, and also in the Highlands of Scotland, in certain lakes where I believe the wateris not deep. Of the latter I speak from what I have heard related ; of the former from my own experience. I may add, in confirmation, the difficulty of keeping it in stews or wells in which trout can be kept in health for a long while: so confined, Iam assured, the charr rapidly gets out of condition, and often becomes blind, and infested with a parasitical growth. Even less diffused than the charr are the vendace and its _ congener, the schelly, both of the coregonus genus, and allied to the greyling—this last a fish unknown in the district, though many of its rivers are well adapted for it. Both the vendace and the schelly are restricted to a very few loca- lities. The schelly has been long known as occurring, and’ that abundantly, in Ulswater, Hawe’s Water, Brother’s Water, and Red Tarn. The vendace, which was supposed to have been peculiar to the lochs in the neighbourhood of Lochmaben in Dumfriesshire, has recently been ascertained to be an in- habitant of Derwent Water and Basenthwaite Lake, the two connected by a short reach of the River Derwent. Of the rivers frequented by the more interesting and va- luable fish, the migratory species of the Salmonide, the prin- cipal are the Derwent, Duddon, Leven, and Irt; but besides these there are many smaller streams, which are the resort either of the salmon or sea-trout for spawning purposes, as is proved by the presence of their fry, though the parent fish are seldom seen by the honest angler, these commonly falling a prey to the poacher. a2 4 Dr Davy’s Observations on the Of the other fish, as regards their habitats, having paid less attention to them, I have little information of any value to offer. The pike, perch, and eel are of very common occur- rence. The eel, indeed, is found in almost every lake and river in the district, and even in the mountain tarns. The minnow and thornback are also widely diffused in both lake and river. The tench and roach are less frequently met with, and are confined chiefly to ponds into which they have been introduced, brought from other counties. The barbel, too, is of rare occurrence as a river fish. And the same remark ap- plies to the smelt, an estuary migratory fish. Hitherto I have heard of it as taken only in the estuary of the Kent. 2d. Of the Causes affecting the Dispersion or Limitation of the Species.—The preceding brief notice of the habitats of the fishes of the district naturally leads to the inquiry, how is it that some are so widely distributed,—such as the pike, the trout, the perch ; and others are so limited,—to be found in so few waters,—such as the vendace, the schelly, and charr? The causes operating must be of two kinds, either natural or arti- ficial; the latter of course implying the interference of man. Which of these have been most concerned it may not be easy to determine in the majority of cases. I shall request atten- tion chiefly to those fish of very limited distribution, and which, considering the habits of the fish, and the places in which they are found, it is difficult to suppose could owe their introduction to other than natural means. The vendace and schelly are the best examples. As these fish are rarely taken by the angle, or by any method except the net, and are compa- ratively of little value, we can hardly infer that where they occur they were originally placed by man, especially in the instance of the schelly, in a tarn such as the Red Tarn, situ- ated under the brow of Helvellyn, many hundred feet above Ulswater, and so difficult of access. Much the same reflection presents itself as regards the vendace in Derwent Water and Basenthwaite Lake, taking into account the distance of these lakes from Lochmaben. If, as more easy of credence, we have recourse to natural causes, I fear we can only indulge in conjectures as to their nature, founded on probabilities. The first conjecture I would venture to offer is, that their ova, after Fishes of the Lake District. 5 pregnation, may have been conveyed by birds (water fowl), 2 ering either to their feet, or retained in their bills. The circumstances which seem to favour this view are, that the ‘ impregnated ova (at least of the salmon) preserve their vitality for many days in a moist air, and are capable of re- sisting a degree of cold sufficient to freeze water, so as to be included in ice. And the fact of the spawning season of the ; ‘schelly and vendace being in the winter season, as in the in- of the other Bidacnbdes is favourable to this view. _ The only other conjecture I can presume to offer is, that the _ ova, having the power of resisting cold, might possibly have 2 found their way originally to the places where the fish now exist by means of glaciers. Of the two, the first, which we owe to a distinguished naturalist, Mr Charles Darwin, seems the most probable, especially in the instance of the schelly of Red Tarn. As regards the vendace, another conjecture may be _ proposed, and which would become probable could it be proved - that this fish is capable of enduring the sea. I mention it, - arising out of an observation of Sir John Richardson, that he __ has known a vendace to have been taken in the brackish water of the Solway. If, in the way of objection to either of these 4 conjectures, it be asked—Granted that any one of them has had effect, how is it that the fish in question are not more widely _ spread? May it not be answered, that the presumed causes must be held to be only occasional ones, the favouring cir- cumstances rarely occurring together ; moreover, that a limit _ may arise, from the quality of water, comprising the feed it yields, not being suitable to the species. The charr affords an instance; so do the salmon and sca- trout ; the former, it _ would appear, as regards impurity of water; the latter prin- _ cipally as regards its temperature, a comparatively low tem- _ perature being essential to the health and wellbeing of these - fish. Were it not so, it can hardly be doubted that they would _ be found in the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. I have : known a stray salmon taken in the sea, off the coast of Malta. ) Had that sea suited its habits, and could it have met another _ stray wanderer from the Atlantic of a different sex, the breed _ might have been propagated ; that is, if they could enter the _ same river in company, and the temperature of its water, and 6 Dr Davy’s Observations on the other circumstances belonging to it, were such as would allow of the hatching of the ova. The subject, in its generality, is well adapted for experiment, and on that account mostly I have ventured thus to bring it under your notice, keeping clear from all speculations relative to the habitats ab origine of species—a matter even more obscure than the preceding, and truly transcendental. 3d. Of the Growth of Fish.—This, I am disposed to think, has hardly received the attention it deserves, whether we con- sider the effect, the growth itself, or the peculiarities of orga- nization with which it is connected. It may be difficult to assign what are the limits of each species as to size, and still more as to progress of growth. This is certain, that some species, such as the minnow and thornback, always remain of compara- tively diminutive size ; whilst others, the majority of the other species, under favouring circumstances, are capable of attain- ing a great size. Appropriate food, and abundance of it, seem to be most concerned. The Salmonide afford striking ex- amples. It is now well ascertained, that the young salmon, which, as a smolt, enters the sea only two or three ounces in weight, in five or six weeks may return to its native river augmented in weight to four or five pounds. Itis equally well known, that the same fish may remain in fresh water several months without gaining weight—on the contrary losing, in its fasting or low feeding in lake or river, that fat which it acquired in the sea from high feeding, and losing also the rich colour of muscle characteristic of the fresh run fish. The common trout is scarcely a less striking instance. How small is the brook trout, especially in hungry streams, such as mountain torrents in a country of primary rock formation! Rarely is it taken exceeding a very few ounces. Yet, change its position; put it into water where it can satisfy its appetite,—where there is abundance of rich food,—and in a short time it will start into active growth, and soon become a large fish, and this chiefly from increase of muscle and fat. Very recently a remarkable instance of such rapid growth has come to my knowledge. About two years ago, I am informed, some small brook-trout were put into the ponds which have recently been formed at Rivington as reservoirs for securing a supply of water for Fishes of the Lake District. 7 Liverpool. So soon as July last,—that is, in about two years,— _ these fish had attained a goodly size, and had become of ex- ae "cellent condition, like the finest lake trout; and one was taken eI: by an angler that weighed seven pounds. Other instances of 3 _ the like kind might be mentioned of rapid growth of brook- — — trout put into made pieces of water, well authenticated, _ though not quite so remarkable as the foregoing. _ __ By some it is supposed that as regards size of fish there is _ some relation between it and the volume of water,—a relation _ of dependency. It is true that large fish of any kind are _ seldom taken in very small streams or ponds, and that the _ largest are to be found rarely excepting in water, either rivers or lakes, of ample dimensions; but is not this owing to the larger pieces of water affording more ample food, and also a better chance of escaping capture. For the mere purpose of respiration,—in the performance of which function, water, owing to the air it contains, is to the gills of the fish what _ atmosphere is to the lungs of the higher classes of animals,— ‘no great quantity is required. The water of a small swiftly- flowing brook might answer, almost irrespective of size; and accordingly, sometimes a trout of two or three pounds is caught in a neglected pool of such a stream; and I have it on _ good authority that a charr of the extraordinary weight of four _ pounds was once captured in a tarn (Lillytarn, the water of _ which is remarkable for its purity) a few miles from Kendal, into which some charr had been placed as an experiment; the exact time it had been there I could not learn. No charr I be- lieve of the same size was ever known to have been taken in Windermere, an ocean as it were in comparison, but severely fished and poached, whilst the Tarn was carefully preserved. _ Passing from the main cause, that which is external, the abundance and good quality of food, I would beg to advert __ briefly to the other, the internal, that connected with organi- 9 zation and function. These, I am led to infer, consist chiefly ‘ina stomach possessed of great power of active digestion, with associated parts conducive to a rapid assimilation, unchecked or little abstracted from either by the kidneys or gills ;— these two organs acting in harmony, the one excreting chiefly azote,—i.e., matter abounding in azote,—the other exclusively 8 Dr Davy’s Observations on the carbon. We know for certain, and it has been long known, that in accordance with the low temperature of fishes, the quantity of oxygen they consume respiring by their gills is very small; and such experiments as I have made have brought me to a similar conclusion as regards their urinary secretion: and hence, whilst feeding largely, losing little by excretion, their increase in size, it is easy to understand, must of necessity be rapid. 4. Of Varieties of Species.—In the instance of the Sal- monide we have striking and instructive examples of varieties of the several species depending on external causes, and pro- bably chiefly on the quantity and quality of food, the quality of water, and the nature of the bottom in relation to light. How different is the well-fed lake trout, or the well-fed beau- tiful river trout, and the trout of the mountain brook or of the peaty stream? Even in the same lake or river, how great is sometimes the difference of colour and quality of the fish ; of so rich and bright a hue, and so brilliantly spotted, where there is full exposure to light, and much reflected light from a clear gravelly or sandy bottom, and the reverse where » there is much shade and a dark bottom absorbing the rays of light. In the instance of the charr we have similar examples ; so various are they, indeed, that in no two lakes do they per- fectly agree either in their average size, form, and colouring, or even in their habits. Compare the charr of Windermere and Hawes Water; were it not for their scales and other dis- tinctive features, there would be little hesitation in saying they are different species, the charr of Hawes Water is so much smaller, and thinner, and differently spotted ; the one taking the artificial fly of the angler freely ; the other, that of Windermere, rarely so tempted, and seldom caught except by trowling with the minnow. Much the same remarks are applicable to the salmon and sea-trout, those of each river hav-- ing commonly some peculiarities by which they may be known. Age and sex also, the latter especially, at the spawning season, have a great modifying influence. Thoughout the year, independent of season, the male of the salmon is distin- guishable by the form of its head, narrower and more pointed anteriorly than that of the female. In all the Salmonide, as is Fishes of the Lake District. 9 well known, the under jaw of the male fish becomes more or less elongated and hooked towards the breeding season; and the co- lour of its belly acquires a distinctive bright red hue, by which it can be known from the female of the same species. These ‘changes are observable in all the species, but most remark- ably in the salmon and charr, and the larger varieties of trout. The changes which accompany growth with age are well seen in the young of the salmon, whilst in fresh water, in passing from the parr stage into the smolt, and again, after quitting the river, in becoming from the smolt the grilse. So remark- able is the difference of aspect of the parr and smolt, that the _ two, as you know, were for a long period held to be different species, and are still so regarded in the eye of the law and by the watchers of our salmon rivers; the capture of the former being tolerated, to the great destruction of the salmon fry, whilst the taking of the smolt is finable, subjecting the angler to a penalty of five pounds. One of the peculiarities of the parr, now well established, is the full development of its testes, and its power, in consequence, of impregnating the ova of the adult fish. It might be interesting to ascertain experimentally whether the male of the other species, of those not migratory, as the common trout and charr, in its early stage, is similarly gifted. An opinion has been entertained by one or two naturalists that there is a parr, truly a distinct species, founded on the belief that it is somewhat different in form, and that it is found in rivers, which, owing to inaccessible falls in their course, salmon cannot reach. The difference of form, as it may be affected by difference of food, seems deserving of little attention. The other circumstance, if established as a fact, would be of weight in the argument; but I believe it to be fallacious. Lately in the Highlands I examined with care a stream, one of those said to have parr, sui generis, above such a reputed fall. I found the fall one that a salmon could easily surmount ; and the parr which I caught for examination above and below the said fall proved alike in all respects. I cannot but conclude, therefore, adopting the view taken by the high- est authorities in Icthyology, that a parr, a distinct species, is 1 creature of the imagination; and that the idea of such a 10 Observations on the Fishes of the Lake District. species ought to be discontinued, as affording a pretence to allow of the wasteful, mischievous capture of the salmon and sea-trout fry. In most salmon rivers fish are occasionally taken of an ambi- guous character, having the markings, and the transverse bands of the parr, undiminished in intensity, and yet of the size of the smolt, or even larger, sometimes reaching half a pound, or even ten ounces. It has been conjectured that these fish may be across between the salmon and common trout, and that, owing to the mixture, the migratory habit has been checked. This is possible, as it has been ascertained that the ova of the salmon can be impregnated by the milt of the com- mon trout. I think it however more likely that the fish in question are salmon or sea-trout parr, which have missed their time of passage to the sea, and have owed their growth to their remaining in the river, and the retention of the mark- ings to the want of such food as is essential to effect the change to the smolt state,—/.e., the growth of a new crop of scales so amply provided with the white lustrous lining as to entitle them to be called silvery scales. This food, I am in- clined to think, is a sufficiency of insects,—insects, like the scales and their colouring matter, containing a considerable proportion of phosphate of lime. In confirmation of this view I may relate, that parr put into a pond from which they could not escape have grown in two or three years to be about half a pound in weight, and when caught were found to be in ex- cellent condition, though still retaining their original transverse markings. The subject, it must be confessed, is obscure, and re- quires further and more exact observations for its elucidation. Under the head of varieties, mention perhaps deserves to be made of a fish of Waswater, there called “a botling,” which is chiefly taken in the fall of the year, in the spawning sea- son, in the streams which flow into the lake. It is always a male, and is distinguished by its large size and thickness of body, and by the marked projection and curvature of the ex- tremity of the lower jaw: in weight it often reaches seven pounds. By the people of the country it is held to be a dis- tinct species. It seems more likely to be an example of the modifying influences of the causes referred to, and merely a - a aT ee J. Slessor’s Ewamination of Cotton-Seed Oil. il lake trout of a certain age, well fed, that for successive sea- sons has escaped being captured, more fortunate than its less active mate when intent on spawning. Before concluding, I must express regret, which I am sure is shared by very many of the inhabitants of the Lake Dis- trict, that a region in its numerous lakes and rivers so pecu- liarly fitted for fresh-water fish, and where one might expect to find abundance, should, generally speaking, be so disap- pointing, affording as it now does but a scanty supply, and this mainly owing to want of due protection from the poacher, and, from the nature of the fishing laws, the difficulty of afford- ing such protection. Whether we view fish in the light of a source of national wealth, as a wholesome diet, or in their cap- ture by the angler as an innocent and healthy recreation, the subject, surely, is important, and deserving the attention of the legislature. What seems to be the main desiderata are, that a close season should be established by law; that regulated by the spawning time, and applicable to the trout and charr and other fish as well as to the salmon; and as regards the last-named fish and the sea-trout, that the parr, unquestion- ably their young, should be protected as well as the smolt. It is at the spawning season that the depredations of the poacher are carried on on the largest scale, when the fish are most easily taken, when they are of most value for keeping up the supply, and of least value as articles of food; and, if 1 may add another consideration, when the season of the year is least inviting for the angler’s sport. Chemical Examination of Cotion-Seed Oil. By J. SLEssoR, Assistant to Dr ANDERSON, University of Glasgow. Cotton is cultivated to so great an extent, that the seeds of the plant are of considerable importance. The cotton of each pod is wrapped round these seeds, which are nearly the size of coffee beans, and are therefore got in large quantity. They have been pressed on the large scale, within the last few years, to extract the oil from them, which is now becoming a com- mercial article. A sample of the seeds examined by me con- tained 23°50 per cent. of oil. The cake left after pressing is 12 J. Slessor’s Examination of Cotton-Seed Oil. now largely used for feeding cattle, and still retains oil, in various samples to the extent of from 5-0 to 8-0 per cent. One sample examined contained as much as 18:0 per cent. ; but this is unusually high. The crude oil at common temperatures is somewhat thick, has a dark colour, and when fresh a faint sweetish odour. It soon becomes rancid on standing, from the action of an al- buminous ferment causing decomposition. Its specific gravity at 60° Fahr. is 9246. At the common temperature it slowly deposits a small quantity of solid fat, and when cooled to 32° Fahr., this in- creases considerably. The purified oil, which is also a com- mercial article, has a pale yellow colour, and becomes solid below 32° Fahr. It readily yields, when boiled with caustic soda, a hard compact soap. This, after dissolving in water and separation by common salt, was decomposed with sulphuric acid. The cake of fatty acid obtained in this way was softer than butter. It was pressed to free it from oleic acid, when it yielded about 30 per cent. of hard fatty acid, which fused at 130° Fahr. This is about the fusing point of Price’s large-sized candles ; but the quantity obtained from the cotton-seed oil itself is only about 25 per cent., whilst palm oil yields about 30 per cent.* The fatty acid was dissolved in alcohol, and allowed to stand for a day, when a considerable deposit was obtained. Three additional crops were procured from the mother liquor. The first deposit was thrice crystallized from alcohol, and its fus- ing point was then found to be 143-5° Fahr.. It was then erys- tallized from ether, when the fusing point remained unaltered. It solidified at 130° Fahr. These being exactly the numbers given by Heintz for palmitic acid, a portion of the substance was burnt with chromate of lead, which gave results likewise agreeing with this body. The following are the numbers obtained :— 4815 grains gave 13°222 rote carbonic acid, 5°410 ‘ae water. * Muspratt’s Dictionary, p. 410. On the Geology of the Province of Moray. 13 Experiment. Calculation. (era PRs Met ee See Carbon, . 74:89 75:00 C,, Hydrogen, . 12°84 12°50 H,, Oxygen, ; ey 1250 O, 100-00 A portion of a baryta salt was ignited, when { 8987 grains gave 2710 Sia carbonate of baryta. Experiment. Calculation. E ae Dn ep we TEST : Carbon, , ote SOR Oe 7 Hydrogen, . Ves 958 H,, Baryta, : 23°43 23:67 BaO f Oxygen, . 742 O, 100-00 As the first deposit after crystallization retained the fusing point of palmitic acid, it shows the absence of stearic acid, unless present in very minute quantity. To ascertain the pre- sence of lower acids, the other crops of material were recrys- tallized several times from alcohol, when it was soon found that their fusing points and crystalline characters agreed with palmitic acid. In the mother liquors of the crystallization of the fourth deposit, it was expected that lower acids, if pre- sent in any quantity, would be found. A portion of the warm alcoholic fluid had acetate of baryta added to it, to remove, on cooling, a large part of the palmitic acid, a second addi- tion of acetate of baryta produced a salt, which, when decom- posed by boiling for about ten minutes with weak hydrochloric acid, gave a fatty acid, fusing at 143° Fahr., showing that the solid fat consists almost entirely, if not altogether, of pure palmitic acid. From these results it appears that cotton-seed oil consists, like palm oil, of palmitine and oleine, the difference being that cotton-seed oil contains a smaller proportion of the former. peehitc ia nieeniad'’ .., e 3 i * uy Northern part of the Province of Moray. dl the underlying formation, which, together with the gneiss to which Dr Malcolmson refers, we presume are Silurian. No organic remains have as yet been detected in this inferior or great conglomerate within the province of Moray. The Central or Cornstone is the largest of the three divi- sions made of the Old Red system by Dr Malcolmson. It extends over a wide area, as indicated by its different beds cropping out at distant localities through the superincumbent clays and sands of the drift. These beds are best seen on the Findhorn, from Sluie to Cothall. At the former place they abut against the side of a fissure of the underlying strata (gneissose) of about twenty feet. Dr Malcolmson says, “ The appearance is exactly what would be produced by the deposit of sandstone against any of the ancient elevated shores near the coast. It would also be caused by a fault. The strata next to the older rocks consist in great part of unrolled frag- ments of the micaceous gneiss on which they rest (the felspar being in a state of decomposition), cemented together by a red argillaceous sandstone, the bands of which alternate with the conglomerate. No fossils have been found in this part of the strata. They pass rapidly through micaceous thin-bedded strata, with ripple marks, into a soft laminated freestone with- out pebbles, buat full of deep-red clay-balls, and alternate with laminated clays of the same colour. In the upper part of this portion one or two scales have been found. Then it passes rapidly into, and alternates with, a coarse-grained, pretty hard sandstone conglomerate, containing rolled pebbles of common gneiss and quartz, and of a greenish quartzose gneiss common to the higher mountains to the west. Partially rolled frag- ments of the fine red felspar of the neighbouring granite veins also occur, as they do in all the other strata below the corn- stone and in the upper silicious sandstones near the coast. In these beds a few scales, teeth, and bones, have been found. A good deal of iron is diffused through these strata in streaks, and portions of brownish-red sandstone, spotted with round white or yellowish markings, forming a round compact case around the organic remains. The sand, as in almost every part of the central division of the formation, is coarse and angular, and more resembles that of rivers or of temporary 32 On the Geology of the Lower or floods than that of a permanent sea. The same fossils occur in great abundance higher in the series, above a stratum of a very coarse conglomerate, twenty feet thick, containing rounded pebbles of great size, united by calespar, and a small quantity of red sandstone which is composed of a ferruginous cement and coarse particles of white quartz and mica. The lower part of this conglomerate is irregular, filling up the hollows that had been worked out of the inferior sandstone, of which it con- tains a few angular fragments. Several remarkable faults are seen below Sluie, where contiguous masses of this conglome- rate have been raised or depressed a few feet, by which move- ment the larger boulders near them have been split in the manner so often observed throughout the inferior great con- glomerate. Much saline matter is diffused through this and other parts of the formation. A specimen from the soft sand- stone under the Cothall cornstone consisted of common salt and a little sulphate of soda, much of which is also diffused through the silicious conglomerates of Burghead. This bed of coarse conglomerate acquired a fictitious importance, from no fossils having for some time been found under it; but its occurrence cannot be considered unimportant, as it shows the violence of the changes that were in progress during the period in which the animals lived whose bony armour is entombed in these rocks, and which we cannot believe to have been given them without an object. The cuirass of one species appears to have consisted of very solid bone, one-third of an inch thick. No remains have been found in this conglomerate; but they occur abundantly immediately above in the coarser strata of a series of white and reddish sandstone conglomerates, and may also be detected by their plum-blue colour for nearly a mile down the river, through a succession of soft calciferous conglomerates, containing small rounded concretions of car- bonate of lime, more compact yellowish and reddish beds, and soft crumbly marls and incoherent red, brown, and variegated sands. Everywhere indications are afforded of the various and sudden changes in the force and direction of the currents of waves of the ancient sea by the interposition of nests of gravel, sand, and clay among the other strata, by their thin- ning off, and by the various directions of their lamine consti- Northern part of the Province of Moray. 33 _ tuting their false bedding. Between these beds and the cornstones of Cothall other similar strata occur in which I have not yet found fossils. This limestone of Cothall has - been so accurately described by Professor Sedgwick and _ Mr Murchison, that it is only necessary to add, that its lower beds pass into a conglomerate, in which I observed some _ angular fragments of a yellow sandstone. This limestone is also seen a mile down the river at the Suspension-bridge, beyond which the country is covered by drift, alluvial gravel and blown sand. Butin a morass behind the House of Moy, and within the line of ancient shore, under a stratum of recent sea shells, a reddish-brown silicious sandstone, containing no lime, has been quarried. “The red conglomerate, forming the lower part of the strata of the section just described, has very much the appear- ance of a local deposit; and, accordingly, in the burn of Forres, two miles to the north-east of the Findhorn, and three _ quarters of a mile from Altyre, red, white, and gray marly _ sandstones are exposed for a hundred and eighty paces rest- ing on the gneiss, of which fragments are seen in a thin bed of __ limestone, three feet thick, forming the base of the secondary _ rocks. In the upper part of these marly beds I have found b fragments of scales identical with those of the Findhorn.” In order to show the position, in this part of the series, of : the nodular fish-beds of Lethenbar and Clune, in Nairnshire, — Dr Malcolmson then describes the sections as unfolded in the Meikleburn and burn of Lethen—a continuation of the same | i. stream—which at Boghole approaches within two miles to the north-west of the Findhorn, and ultimately falls into its es- ‘ i tuary. ‘ This burn,” says Dr Malcomson, “ is separated from ___ the Findhorn higher up by the hill of Osirnbar, which is in part composed of gneiss ; and on the south side, near Coulmony, of _ granite, in which portions of the gneiss are entangled. To the east of this hill the sandstones extend between the river of _ Findhorn and the burn of Lethen, over a slightly undulating _ plain, encumbered with drift, much intermixed with fragments of sandstone, and covered by the forest of Darnaway, which is one of the finest in the kingdom; the soil, like that of the cornstone districts in Herefordshire, being favourable to the NEW SERIES.—VOL, IX. NO. I.—JAN. 1859. C 34 On the Geology of the Lower or growth of oak. Along the burn from Earlsmill to Cauldhame fine sections of sandstone, calciferous conglomerates, and marls of the same character as the Findhorn beds, with which they are continuous, are laid open, and the same organie remains are found in considerable numbers and variety. In addition to these, the singular buckler-shaped bones, allied to Cepha- laspis, were procured near the Chapel of Boghole, from a soft yellowish sandstone, which dips under marly sandstones, and rests on a structure of red laminated micaceous schist and conglomerate. Ina compact part of the same rock, a. little higher up, the very remarkable impression and smooth bones ( Randolphi) were found, to which I am inelined to refer many smooth bony plates found at Scaat Craig and on the Findhorn.” In a note, he here adds— Remains were first discovered on the Findhorn 6th October 1838, and in the course of the same month I found them here (Lethen Burn). I would suggest that this specimen should be named after the cele- brated Randolph, Earl of Moray, one of the most distinguished leaders in the wars of Robert the Bruce, and to whom the neighbouring domains belonged. It was in the adjoining forest that he baffled Edward III.’s army, as described in ‘ Winton’s Chronicle.” So completely seems this paper to have been unknown to those into whose hands Dr Malcolm- son’s specimens fell at London, that even this simple patriotic wish of his does not appear to have been realized. For in none of the lists of the fishes of the Old Red Sandstone do we find Randolphi as one of the specific names. Again weask, why was it so? « At Cauldhame these fossiliferous rocks rest on thin bedded sandstones, alternating with harder bands of conglomerate ; and from underneath these, and having the same dip and direction, a considerable thickness of hzmatitic red’ schistose sandstones crop out in several places, and appear to rest on the Clune limestone, containing ichthyolites, which is situated on the eastern slope of Cairnbar, about five hundred feet above the level of the sea. Where these slaty beds appear to wrap round the eastern extremity of the hill, they dip to the east- ward of north ; but they resume their usual dip a little west of north, when traced along the lengthened ridge which ex- Northern part of the Province of Moray. 35 tends from Cauldhame to the gneiss hill of Rait. They resemble _ the upper ved sandstones of Cromarty and Ross, and decom- pose readily into a fertile argillo-calcareous wheat soil. In a '_ small quarry in the grounds of Lethen, thin beds of shale and _ clay dip under the red sandstones, and contain nodules like _ those of Gamrie, except in being of a darker colour. Many of them contain black elastic bituminous layers, arranged like _ the seales of fish, which burn with a bright flame. Ata sub- _ sequent visit Mr Gordon found portions of fish sufficiently well _ preserved to be identified with the Cheiracanthus, and two _ other species found at Clune, &c. The shales abound with remains of plants resembling fuci; imperfect specimens of which we also found in the nodules. They appear to have been compressed. The more solid part, forming the centre of the impression, is sometimes so well preserved that it retains its elasticity, and can be removed from the stone, while a soft coaly powder marks the softer structure. These plants I have if _ identified with specimens associated with the ichthyolites of b Gamrie and Cromarty. A fact of much greater importance is _ their appearing to belong to the same plants recently dis- _ overed by Professor Sedgwick and Mr Murchison in the _ Old Red Sandstones of Devonshire. These fucoids, and all , oe the other fossils in this neighbourhood, and in the valley of the Nairn, were discovered by Mr Stables, jun. of Cawdor, _ and myself, between the 25th January and the 4th ult. (May - 1839). *“ There are a few feet of soft white freestone visible below the shales; and, on the opposite side of the burn, and dipping Fe under them, the great inferior conglomerate appears in its __ most characteristic form, and can be traced in a series of a steep cliffs and rounded slopes several miles up the stream, and is in one or two places covered by fine-grained sandstones. _ Ifthe shales were prolonged across the stream in the line of dip, they would pass over this conglomerate, and strike the a hill of Cairnbar near an excavation lately made at Lethenbar, _ from which the finest fish have been procured. At Lethenbar the fossils occur in large nodules, which are thickly deposited in a soft reddish-brown schist, which is intersected by nume- -rous vertical joints, many of which pass through the nodules, c2 36 On the Geology of the Lower or and hence the corresponding parts of many of the finest speci- mens are lost. These fractures were probably the effect of the same movements which rent the boulders of the great con- glomerate. The nodules are flattened, and, when they contain a fish, are generally of a lengthened form. The colour of the fish is pale blue when first extracted, but they soon acquire a reddish tinge when exposed. At Clune, a mile to the east- ward, nodules and flat slabs of limestone occur in a stratum of clay and decomposed shale, which abound in the same fish. Five hundred yards up the hill, the slop of which corresponds to the dip, the same beds were formerly quarried. Under them, at this spot, there are a few thin strata of gray con- glomerate, which have a dip of 12° N. The conglomerate rests on gneiss. As has been already mentioned, these strata (of Lethenbar and Clune) dip under the red schistose beds of Cauldhame, and the other members of the series on the Find- horn. It is hoped that the minuteness of these details will be excused on account of the great importance of establishing by actual sections the superposition of the central or corn- stone division of the Old Red Sandstone to these beds, from which so many beautiful and characteristic fossils have been procured, not one of which has yet been found in the upper series.” ‘‘ The beautiful specimens of Dipterus macrolepi- dotus from Clune and Lethenbar, and the plants found along with them, connect the whole of these fossils with the English strata of the inferior division of the Old Red Sandstone, and render it probable that the fish, about which so many discor- dant opinions have been entertained, inhabited salt water. We also found these plants at the termination of the ridge of red schistose sandstone near the hill of Rait, where there are some thin beds of limestone containing nodules exactly resembling those of Lethen. “In the valley of the Nairn, although none have hitherto been found in the conglomerates and sandstones that lie be- tween the granite of Park and the gneiss hill to the west of Cawdor Castle, yet fossils appear at Balfriesh on the confines of Invernesshire. On the south bank of the river, opposite Cantray House, the great conglomerate appears in the bed of a small stream resting unconformably on the gneiss, which Northern part of the Province of Moray. 37 3 is traversed by several thick dykes of a beautiful red felspar and yeins of granite, fragments of which abound in the con- * glomerate. This rock passes into a compact blue limestone containingmany angular fragments of the neighbouring gneiss, _ porphyry, &c. The limestone is still worked at Balfriesh, 7 where it is about ten feet thick, and is covered by a very hard red conglomerate. A deal of heavy spar occurs in layers, and is disseminated through the limestone and conglomerate; and an imbedded angular fragment of porphyry, which had been pre- viously fractured, had the rents filled with it. Through this limestone, and the conglomerate immediately covering it, we found fragments and casts of tuberculated scales and bones resembling some of those at Lethenbar.” “These beds dip, west of north, at an angle of about 10°, under black slates and sandstones exposed on the opposite side of the river. Above them, again, there is a fine reddish freestone, which has been quarried for the erection of the neighbouring mansion. Higher _ up the river, at the south-east extremity of Culloden Moor, and opposite the Druidical temples of Clava, the same bitu- ‘s - minous beds occur. Their upper strata consist of very fissile ae shales, passing into a black compact calcareous rock formerly __ burned for lime, extremely foetid when struck, and having all é the characters of the Caithness pavement. Of this many slabs have been employed in the erection of the Druidical -eircles. In some of these beds nodules occur, in several of which are found scales of fish and ill-preserved vegetable impressions of the same general character as those of Lethen. Many of the nodules are very small, appearing to have been - formed around single scales, and others are studded with smaller nodules, or composed of a congeries of them. These __ appearances are explained by what occurs at Dipple on the _ Spey, where all the fish have suffered some degree of decom- ~ position previous to their being included in the stone, and _ many of the nodules are studded in the same manner with _ little exerescences, each of which contains a scale. This fact _ is in accordance with the opinion of those who ascribe the _ foetid bituminous character of the Caithness rocks to putrescent - animal matter. These strata rest on a coarse compact con- _ glomerate, which reposes in the usual manner on the gneiss. 38 On the Geology of the Lower or This bituminous rock is no doubt continuous with that at Inches, four miles to the west, and two miles south-east from Inverness, described by Professor Sedgwick and Mr Mur- chison, and which they showed to be a continuation of the bituminous schists of Caithness and Strathpeffer. The rela- tions of these strata are therefore established, not only by similarity of lithological and zoological characters, but by careful investigation of numerous sections along the shores of the Moray Firth from Caithness to the Findhorn.” Between the rivers Findhorn and Spey, except at the Scaat Craig and at the influx of the Shoggle Burn into the Lossie, where we discovered many years ago casts of large scales in a coarse whitish sandstone, no fossils of the central division have been met with. Indeed, few of its beds appear at the surface of this wide drift-covered plain, save the cornstone itself, which is singularly devoid of organisms, none haying _ yet been detected in it. The cornstone crops out, or is quarried, at the following places, where, so far as its beds have been laid bare, it dips at a low angle a little to the west of north. The localities are named as they succeed each other, beginning at the most westerly. All of them, save the last two, are in the immediate vicinity of the town of Elgin, which stands on this part of the system, They are Sheriffmill; Palmercross; Wood of Main; the limeworks of Bilboahall, Ashgrove, and Links- field; Waulkmill; Stonewells, near Innes House; and the ~ Boar’s Head, a rock in Spey Bay. The cornstones of the province of Moray, although burned and used both for build- ing and agricultural purposes, are not properly limestones. They are rather to be regarded as concretionary sandstones. —the matrix being sand and miarl, and the concretions of lime being largely developed throughout such of the beds as have been quarried for the kiln. Some of the lower beds have so little lime that they are used for dykes, fences, and eyen for the inferior sort of housebuilding. The debris of these lime- stone quarries is admirably adapted for binding the loose metal, whether of the public road or garden walk. The corn- stone, unlike the rocks with which it is associated, maintains, even in its most widely separated localities, a striking litholo- gical character, so that the description of one escarpment or Northern part of the Province of Moray. 39 quarry may serve for the rest. Generally of a yellowish grey colour, the solid portions are compact or sub-crystalline. They are seldom of great extent, but are mixed with and pass into masses which are less coherent, and have a greenish, reddish, or variegated colour, derived from the marls with which they are associated. Where the softer parts are wasted away, the forms become so irregular as to give the rock a brecciated appearance. Some parts of the beds are cherty, containing chalcedonic veins and small flattened cells, coated over with mammilated reddish chalcedony. Dendritic stains are not unfrequent, of some size, and of beautiful tracery. Crystals and radiating concretions of calespar are abundant. Agaric mineral, iron pyrites, and galena (the last at Sheriff- mill), may be mentioned as some of the accompanying minerals. The pieces of calespar that have long been lying near the surface of the rock are not unfrequently found decomposed into a dark powdery substance which leaves stains not un- like plumbago. For fuller particulars of this portion of the Series, we refer to the paper by Messrs Sedgwick and Mur- chison, already noticed, and published in vol. iii., second series, of the Geological Society’s Transactions. _ The fish-beds of Dipple, on the left bank of the Spey, where the great north road crosses the river at the bridge of Boat 0’ Bog, lie on the inferior great conglomerates which are seen so largely developed on the opposite or right bank. These conglomerates extend from near Fochabers to near where the railway now crosses the Spey, and where they rest upon the quartzy beds of the still older rocks. The fish nodules are found at Dipple imbedded in a soft unctuous argillaceous ‘schist, containing a good deal of iron and very little lime, and which has proved injurious to the soil to which it was applied -asamanure. Although several species have been determined, yet this locality does not invite the collector for the cabinet, as its specimens of fishes are ill preserved, compared with those at Tynat and at the Nairnshire localities. We have here, however, a fine section of the beds that overlie the ich- thyolites, running down to and passing the bridge, and sink- ing under the gravel and river terraces about half a mile to the north. These overlying beds consist chiefly of thick 40 On the Geology of the Lower or bands of red sandstone passing into conglomerate, with some thin layers of red and grey micaceous shales. The harder and more compact varieties, although quarried to some extent, do not well withstand exposure to the weather, and hence, for purposes of building, are greatly inferior to the white and yellow silicious sandstones around Elgin. “Following,” says Dr Malcolmson, whose views we have chiefly adopted in the two foregoing paragraphs, “the strike of the Dipple beds into Banffshire, we discovered at the burn of Tynat, four miles from Fochabers, another series of beds con- taining ichthyolites. They consist of thin bands of shale, in- terstratified with red sandstones and conglomerates, which dip to the north in the usual manner. The fossils occur usually in small, flat, compact, nodules of the same outline as the fish. Fragments of the tuberculated bones have also been found in the finer conglomerates. There are two beds con- taining ichthyolites, separated by about twenty feet. “The burn of Buckie, descending from the hills near Letter- furie, passes through great beds of northern drift, containing many angular fragments of the Morayshire sandstones and cornstones, and at the mains of Buckie runs over strata of gneiss and fine micaceous chloritic schists, dipping to the south at a high angle. A little lower down, a thin vein, resembling serpentine, crosses the strata (of which it contains fragments) at right angles. On the sharp edges of these underlying rocks, and filling up the depressions between the projecting ledges, a coarse hematitic red conglomerate rests, inclined to the north at a low angle. Near high-water mark some of its beds pass into a coarse limestone, which is occasionally worked. The conglomerate does not exceed thirty feet in thickness, and the only strata seen resting on it are a few patches of a red schistose sandstone, in which we found a distinct fragment of a tuberculated bone, and some scales.’’ The following list, drawn up from Agassiz’s monograph, gives the names and the provincial localities for the fish chiefly imbedded in the strata just described. Although but one locality is mentioned for a species, yet we believe that Clune, Lethenbar, Dipple, and Tynat hold many of them in com- mon. s latus, Lethenbar. Pterichthys Milleri, Clune. Pterichthys productus, Lethenbar. Pterichthys cornutus, Lethenbar. Pterichthys major, Findhorn and Scaat Craig. Placothorax paradoxus, Scaat Craig. Coccosteus oblongus, Lethenbar. Coccosteus maximus, Lethenbar and Boghole. Acanthodes pusilius, Tynat. Cheiracanthus microlepidotus, Le- thenbar. Diplacanthus striatalus, Lethenbar. Diplacanthus longispinus, Lethen- bar, Cheirolepis Cummingic, Lethenbar. Osteolepis major, Tynat and Le- Northern part of the Province of Moray. 41 Holoptychius giganteus, “‘ Dans le couches de Old Red en Escosse a Elgin.” Holoptychius nobilissimus, Elgin. Actinolepis tuberculatus, Findhorn. Dendrodus latus, Scaat Craig and Findhorn. Dendrodus strigatus, Scaat Craig. Lamnodus bifurcatus, Seaat Craig. Lamnodus Panderi, Seaat Craig. Lamnodus sulcatus, Elgin. Cricodus incurvus, Scaat Craig. Asterolepis Asmusii, “ Environs de Elgin.” Asterolepis minor, “ Environs de Elgin.” Asterolepis Malcolmsoni, Elgin. Bothriolepis favosa, Elgin. thenbar, Bothriolepis ornata, Monachtyhill, Diplopterus macrocephalus, Leth- and also near Nairn. enbar. Cosmacanthus Malcolmsoni, Scaat Stagonolepis Robertsoné (a reptile ?),) Craig. Lossiemouth. The silicious sandstones and conglomerates form the third or upper division that has heretofore been commonly made of the Devonian or Old Red Sandstone formation, as it appears within the province of Moray. But we must here premise that it is not yet finally settled that they are really superior to the cornstone beds. Mr Duff, in his “ Sketch,” p. 24, says, “ Great difference of opinion exists among geologists as to the exact position in the scale of this bed (cornstone)—some think- ing that it passes under the yellow sandstone, in the usual manner, with cornstone, and I believe I stand single in main- taining that it does not do so; and I am so far safe in my assertion of the fact, that no instance can be pointed out in Morayshire of its passing under the sandstone, while it certainly overlies and passes into it. The town of Elgin stands on this limestone ; and it is to be traced following the undula- tions of the surface two miles to the south of that town in a continuous scurf, and three miles to the eastward, without a single particle of sandstone covering it. At Cothall again, it is to be seen cut through by the course of the River Findhorn, and lining it northwards for at least a mile, during which stretch no sandstone rests on it.’ Mr Martin, also, in his 42 On the Geology of the Lower or “ Essay,” takes the same view, and states that, “ above the sandstone an extensive deposit of limestone is found. Its structure is sub-crystalline, compact, and of a bluish grey colour. It inclines with the sandstones to the north.” Eyen Dr Malcolmson himself did not reckon it a fixed point, for on 2d March 1840 he writes to Mr Duff,— [The following Note, with reference to the foregoing Paper, has been communicated by Sir Robert I. Murchison.] Additional Notice on the Old Red Sandstone of Morayshire. From the forthcoming edition of “Siluria,” by Sir Roderick Murchison. (Appendix.) Already in 1828 the tract was so far described by Professor Sedgwick and myself, that we not only united into one geo- logical group its lower red conglomerate and sandstone, inter- __vening cornstones, and superior light-coloured sandstones of > Elgin, but we further showed that the fish-bearing zone of Caithness was traceable to the south-east of Inverness as a thin course of shale ; though we there detected no fishes in it. (Trans. Geol. Soc. Lond., 2 Ser., vol. iii., pp. 147, 150, et seq.) The remains of fishes were not discovered until nine or ten years afterwards; in the first instance, I believe, by Lady Cumming Gordon, so well known to all the readers of the works of Hugh Miller and Agassiz. About the same time, my zealous and able friend Dr J. Malcolmson, then on leave of absence from the East Indies, detected several of the Caith- ness fishes at Clune and Lethen Bar, in Nairnshire; and, having followed up his discoveries into Morayshire, presented to the Geological Society a detailed memoir descriptive of these tracts in 1839, as stated p. 558. This valuable paper was recommended by myself to be printed in the Transactions of that body; but, as the author spoke doubtingly respecting the genera and species of his fossil fishes, and did not feel himself competent to describe them, it appears, by a reference which I have just made to the records of the Society, that the order for the publication of the memoir was deferred by the Council until Agassiz, the great authority on ichthyolites, should have determined the specific characters of the fossils. In the meantime a clear abstract, giving the main features of the labours of Malcolmson (above referred to, p. 558), was published (Proceedings Geol. Soc. Lond., vol. iii. p. 341); and shortly afterwards that accomplished man, having returned 4 P| F e 4 EI 60* The Old Red Sandstone of Morayshire. to India, fell a victim to his zeal in pursuing geological re- searches in the jungles of the Bombay Presidency. Doubt- less it is to be regretted that the original memoir was not completed for publication; but the absence of the author, the want of a scientific description of the fossils, and my own oc= cupations during the next five years, when pursuing my researches in Russia, seem to have combined to let the period pass when justice ought to have been done to the field-labours of poor Malcolmson. very effort will be made to honour his memory. My respected friend the Rev. G. Gordon, who explored parts of Morayshire and the adjacent country with the deceased, having recently put into my hands the article on this subject before alluded to, which will appear in the January number of 1859 of the “Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal,” and in which he gives most of the data ascertained by Malcolmson, as taken from a copy of his memoir, and from letters addressed to him, and, further, expostulates with the Geological Society for their remissness in respect to that memoir,—I take this opportunity, now that I have looked into the subject, and have seen the original paper with its illustrations, of explaining thus fully the circumstances which led to the memoir never having been printed. In mentioning those persons who, in addition to Hugh Miller, Malcolmson, and others, have done good geological service on the north-east coast of Scotland, Iam bound to go as far back even as my own earliest researches of 1826, and to state, that my friend Mr George Anderson, of Inverness, has thrown much light upon parts of his native country, and has been of great use to many an-explorer besides myself. Mr Anderson is well known to all tourists as the author of the * Guide to the Highlands,” in the third edition of which (pp. 344 to 349, &c.) the reader will find an able summary, by the late Mr Alex. Robertson, of the Geology of the Moray Firth. On the Rude Unsculptured Monoliths, Se. 59 _ days or hours the sojourn of the traveller, and perhaps for ultimately fixing him as a permanent resident. To these attractive objects and motives may now be added the circum- stance, that the country around Elgin is yearly rising in the estimation of the scientific world as a good field for the study _ of an important part of that series of rocks of which the crust of the earth is formed, as well as of other departments of learned research. If a Murchison and an Egerton this autumn. deemed their time well spent in examining it, there are doubt- less many more to follow on the same instructive ground. The chief object of attraction, or the starting point for such visitors, is the museum, where they naturally expect to find in its specimens not a heterogeneous mass of objects from foreign lands, but rather an outline or epitome of the sur- rounding country ;—hence a strong reason why this institu- tion, in its local department, should have a large share of civic patronage. We can here but barely hint at other reasons, of a more powerful, lasting, and ennobling nature, such as the diffusing of a taste and affording materials for ‘one of the most rational and laudable recreations to which a person’s spare hours could be devoted,—expanding the powers ____ of the mind, and cultivating the habit of correct observation, ___ enlarging the views of creation, and for bringing more fully | ; before the eye the power, the wisdom, and the goodness of ‘ Him in whom we live, and move, and have our being. On the Rude Unsculptured Monoliths, and Ancient Fortiji- cations of the Island of Arran. By Mr Joun M‘ArtuuR, Partick. The single erect, and circles of upright stones, so numerously scattered over the Western Islands and mainland of Scotland, England, and Ireland, are to be found in most of the countries of the eastern and western continents. Of the single columnar structures there are many speci- mens in Arran. Four at one time existed near Brodick Bay, one of which, measuring 14 feet in height, may still be seen by the roadside, and another in a neighbouring field. 60 On the Rude Unsculptured Monoliths and On the bank of the river near Slidry, there is a long grave-like mound, distinguished by two large erect stones standing, the one at the head, the other at the foot, atan intervening distance of about 30 feet. This is supposed to be an elongated trench, in which the warriors slain in battle have been buried ; tradition claims it as the grave of one of Fingal’s heroes. On the south side of Kirkmichael River there is an erect stone, upwards of 15 feet in height; near its base there was dug up a stone coffin filled with human bones. Similar strue- tures exist at Sannox, Largiemore, Glen Shant, Glen Iorsa, Blairmore, and other parts of the island. The monolithic circles are even more numerous in Arran than the single structures. The most remarkable of the former is a group near Tormore, towards the south-west of the island. During the past summer I traced here eight circles, all more or less complete, each consisting of from four to fourteen columns of rude, unhewn sandstone. The stones measure from 3 to 18 feet in height, with an average circumference of 8 feet ; the diameters of the circles range from 15 to 30 feet; one of the largest embraces an inner circle of eight stones, the outer consists of fourteen stones, through one of which a small hole has been perforated. Several of these perforated stones have been found in Scotland, and in modern times have been re- garded with the most superstitious reverence. Stone circles, similar to those above described, existed or imperfectly still exist, in Arran, at Blairmore, Monquil, Glen Sherrig, Mony- more Glen, &c. The single monoliths are frequently referred to both in sacred and profane history. Beneath a pillar Jacob buried his beloved Rachel, and Joshua set up a stone in Shechem as a witness of the covenant he there made with the people of Israel. In primitive times, it was the custom for the newly-elected chief to stand beside a large upright stone, and swear fidelity to the trust reposed in him ; thus, “ Jehoash was crowned king, standing by a pillar as the manner was.” One of these rude Scottish tanist stones (tanaista, a thane or lord) not more remarkable for its great antiquity than for its singular history, Ancient Fortifications of the Island of Arran. 61 forms a part of the coronation chair of the British sovereign in Westminster Abbey. In old deeds and charters, erect stones are sometimes referred to, as boundaries or landmarks; and Mr Ure, in his “ History of Rutherglen,” mentions that it was an old custom for the magistrates of that ancient borough to ride round the march stones, which formed the boundaries of the royalty, followed by a pompous procession of council- men and people. The erecting of stones to mark the spot of some bloody battle-field; to distinguish the grave of the warrior slain in conflict ; and to commemorate some friendly compact between & rival chiefs and people, were also ancient customs common to ® many primitive nations. B. Much extravagant speculation has been expended in at- i tempting to assign to the monolithic circles the period and object of their construction, whilst the uncertainty and ob- : security which still attend the inquiry have been much in- creased by many antiquaries mistaking for, or confounding with, the origin of these circles, the purposes to which they may have been applied in succeeding ages. The circles in Arran exhibit the three following charac- teristics, which appear to furnish unquestionable evidence of a sepulchral origin :— 1st. Their occasional connection with the cromlech (a sepulchral monument) which they enclose. 2d. In their neighbourhood, urns and cistvaens have been dug up. 3d. The cairn-like peculiarity of their construction. On removing the moss and earth which covered the areas of the circles at Tormore, large stones and boulders were ex- posed. These I removed to the depth of about 3 to 4 feet, without arriving at the original soil. Farther investigation convinced me that these stones had not been placed there be- neath the surface soil, but over it, and that the accumulating moss had gradually grown up around, until it had reached the level of the superincumbent mound enclosed. Their singular resemblance, indeed, to the British encircled barrow is at once apparent, and it is extremely probable that future systems of archeology will embrace these and other similar monolithic 62 On the Rude Unseulptured Monoliths and circles within the class of sepulchral monuments, and within the division of encircled tumuli. Many of the single stone structures of Arran possess, in the urn and stone chest, the accompanying proof of their sepul- chral origin. Contemporaneous with the custom of rearing the single stone in honour of the distinguished hero, was that of raising over the grave of the illustrious warrior as many stones as he had slain of the foe on the field of battle; and we may not far err in referring to this ancient custom the origin of not a few of the monolithic circles. In comparatively modern times, Ossian indicates the sepulchral circle, when he makes the dying Foldeth exclaim, “ Raise the tombs of those I have slain around my narrow house; often shall I forsake the blast to rejoice over their graves, when I behold them spread around with the long whistling grass.” The Ancient Fortifications of Arran.—The most important of these ancient strongholds has been that of Drumidoon, situated on the shore at the south-west of the island. Towards the sea, the cliffs rise to a perpendicular height of about 300 feet. On the land side the ascent is steep, and near the sum- mit there still exist the ruins of a wall, which appears to have surrounded the top from cliff to cliff. Within the enclosed area are the remains of this interesting structure, which are still considerable, though a great portion of the stones have been carried away for the building of dikes and other pur- poses. . Further south, and near to Slidry, there are the ruins of another fort, known as Torcastle, situated on an artificial mound of about 50 feet in height. The walls are about 4 feet in thickness, and enclose an area of 54 feet in diameter. A small outwork protects the narrow entrance from the land. On some of the stones which fill up the area of the fort being removed some years ago, several human bones were discovered. The natives in the neighbourhood have a tradition, that, in early times, a great battle was fought here: . On the Eastern shore of the island, at Kingcross, Dunfiun, Dounan, Glen Cloy, and North Sannox, there are forts of smaller size; their central area ranging from 15 to 20 feet in diameter, and their walls from 3 to 4 feet in thickness. Ancient Fortifications of the Island of Arran. 63 These structures (with the exception of Dunfiun) are situated upon low natural or artificial mounds, compactly built, though without cement, of rude unhewn stones. _ Many writers indiscriminately assign a Danish origin to these and other primitive strongholds of the Western Islands. That the Danes, during their occupancy of the islands of Scotland, erected several of these buildings is more than pro- bable, but, on the other hand, there is abundant existing evi< dence to prove that, long ere Roman or Norseman set his foot on Caledonian soil, the rude fortress of the early Britons crowned many of its hills and eminences. The rudeness of their materials, and the simplicity of their construction, claim for the forts of Arran, or at least for those on its eastern coast, a very early antiquity. Starting from this position, I have been led to adopt the following theory of their origin, and which may apply in prin- ciple to many of the ancient fortifications of the Western Islands and Highlands of Scotland. The necessity of strongholds as places of defence and attack would naturally arise, when, consequent upon the ad- yance of civilization, the scattered inhabitants of our island formed themselves into communities or tribes. When invaded by Agricola in the year 81, North Britain was divided into twenty-one tribes, connected by no political tie, but animated towards each other by feelings of jealousy and hostility, which frequently broke out into feuds and open warfare. The island of Arran and the south-west of Argyleshire were inhabited by one of these tribes called the Epidii, whilst the neighbouring coast of Ayrshire was occupied by a rival and powerful tribe called the Damnii.* The necessity and advantage, therefore, of a line of forts along the eastern coast of Arran are obvious, and an examina- tion of their position proves that they command almost every spot on this side of the island where a landing could be safely effected. Besides, at Clachland promontory, the most easterly point of Arran, there rises from the shore the * Chalmers’s Caledonia. 64 On the Rude Unsculptured Monoliths, &c. Hill of Dunfiun, about 1000 feet above the sea-level, upon the summit of which are the remains of a fort, the stones of which bear evidence of vitrifaction. It was scarcely possible for the ancient Epidii of Arran to have selected a more advan- tageous outpost from which to watch the movements of their unfriendly neighbours, whilst, from its elevation, the “ Baal-” fire of alarm lit upon its summit would be observed over the greater part of the island. The two forts of Drumidoon and Torcastle, already referred to, are the only traces of fortifications to be discovered along the western coast of Arran. They are of larger dimensions, and apparently of modern construction compared with those on the other side of the island. Whilst the occupation of Cantyre by the same tribe would render the erection of forts on the western coast of Arran unnecessary, the entire absence of such remains is strongly confirmatory of the soundness of the theory which I have above suggested. The origin of the forts of Drumidoon and Torcastle may belong to the period when the western islands were swayed by the fierce marauders of the north, or they may have been erected, as tradition reports, to repel the landing of the Scoti- Irish, who invaded Cantyre about the beginning of the 6th - century.* What foreign foe may have failed to accomplish, the inroads of time have effected. These early strongholds, which once bristled with’ the spears and arrows of the ancient islanders, have long since fallen into ruins. “A green mound of earth, a moss-clad stone, lifting through it here and there its gray head, are all that preserve their memory.” + * Skene. +t Ossian. 65 Some Ethnographic Phases of Conchology. By DaniEt Witson, LL.D., Professor of History and English Litera- ture, University College, Toronto. The existence of a singular class of rude primitive weapons and implements, made of stone, shell, or bone, in nearly every quarter of the globe, has excited a very general interest of late years among the archeologists of Europe. Made, as these simple relics of primitive art are, of the most readily wrought materials, and by the constructive instincts rather than the acquired skill of their rude artificers, they belong to one con- dition of man, in relation to the progress of civilisation ; though pertaining to many periods of the world’s history, and the most widely severed areas of the globe. In one respect, however,—and not in this one alone,—such relics possess a peculiar value to the ethnologist, when searching into the primeval condition of our race. The materials of such in- fantile processes of manufacture have within themselves most frequently the evidences of their geographical origin, and in some of them also of their chronological eras. Among such relics as serve to fix the geographical centres of ancient arts, the sources of early commerce, or the birth-places of migrating races, might be noted the tin and amber of the Old, and the - copper of the New World. So also in minuter analysis, we recognise among primitive American relics the local origin of various favourite materials: as the Mexican obsidian, the clay slate of the Babeens, and the favourite red-pipe stone of the Couteau des prairies. But it is to a more widely diffused and greatly varied class of natural products that I now refer, alike in their bearings on the chronological and geographical rela- tions of ancient and living races, and on the affinities trace- able between primitive and modern arts and customs. Among the productions of nature employed as materials for ornament and use, scarcely any have commanded more uni- versal acceptance than the shells which abound, under such varied forms, on every sea coast, as well as in the deposits of fresh-water lakes and rivers. To the conchologist they pre- sent an interesting and singularly beautiful department of NEW SERIES.—VOL, IX. NO. I.—JAN. 1859. E 66 _ Dr Daniel Wilson on some nature, inviting to research amid their seemingly endless forms, and to inquiry into the habits of the “living will’’ that once tenanted each lovely cell. Did he stand at the diamond door Of his house in a rainbow frill ? Did he push, when he was uncurl’d, A golden foot or a fairy horn Thro’ his dim water-world ?”’ * To the geologist the shells of the testaceous molluses offer a department in paleontology of very wide application and pe- culiar value. They constitute, indeed, one of the most im- portant among those records which the earth’s crust discloses, whereby its geological history can be deciphered. But to the ethnologist and the archeologist also, they have their phases of interest, not unworthy of attention. Like the precious metals, shells have been used, both in the Old and New World, not only for ornament, but as a recog- nised currency. Of such the Cyprea moneta is the most fa- miliar. The cowry shells used as currency are procured on the coast of Congo, and in the Philippine and Maldive Islands. Of the latter, indeed, they constitute the chief article of ex- port. On the Guinea Coast, and throughout a considerable portion of Central Africa, the cowry is still the current coin. In many parts of India, in Siam, and throughout the Bur- mese empire, it is universally employed as small change, and has a recognised though fluctuating value. About the middle of last century, 2400 cowries were equivalent, in Bengal, to one rupee, but increasing facilities of intercommunication have tended to multiply them and depreciate their worth. The influence of European civilisation, under British rule, has in many districts displaced the primitive cowry by a cop- per and a silver currency, while the increasing monetary transactions of the most favoured districts lead to the circu- lation even of the gold mohur, so that now, in Bengal and similar centres of commercial exchange, it requires nearly an additional thousand cowries to make up the value of the sil- ver rupee. . Corresponding to the cowry currency of Asia and Africa, is * Tennyson’s Maud. Ethnographic Phases of Conchology. 67 3 ie use by the American Indians of the North West, of the ioqua, a shell found in the neighbouring shores of the Pacific, _ and employed by them both for ornament and as money. The _ Chinooks and other Indians wear long strings of ioqua shells as necklaces and fringes to their robes. These are said to be _ procured only at Cape Flattery, at the entrance of the Straits of De Fuca, where they are obtained by a process of dredg- ing, and have a value assigned to them increasing in propor- tion to their size. This varies from about an inch and a half to upwards of two inches in length. They are white, conical, and slightly curved in form, and taper to a point. Their cir- cumference at the widest part does not greatly exceed the stem of a clay tobacco pipe, and they are thin and translucent. Mr Paul Kane, writes to me in reference to them: “ A great trade is carried on among all the tribes in the neighbourhood of Vancouver’s Island, through the medium of these shells. They are valuable in proportion to their length, and their value increases according to a fixed ratio, forty shells being the _ standard number required to extend a fathom’s length. A _ fathom thus tested is equal in value to a beaver’s skin, but if _ shells can be found so far in excess of the ordinary standard . 4 that thirty-nine are long enough to make the fathom, it is worth two beavers’ skins, if thirty-eight, three beavers’ skins, and so on: increasing in value one beaver skin for every shell Jess than the standard number.” No evidence has yet appeared to indicate the use of the marine or fresh-water shells of Europe as a species of cur- rency during the era of its primitive barbarism; but it is in- teresting to notice the fact that the same simple mode of em- _ ploying the spoils of the sea for personal decoration, as is _ found prevalent among the rude Indians of the North-West _ at the present day, prevailed among the primitive occupants of the British Isles in that dim dawn of their primeval history revealed by the disclosures of their most ancient sepulchral deposits. Among the personal ornaments found in early British graves, seemingly pertaining to a period long prior to the acquisition of the simplest metallurgic arts, are necklaces formed of the small shells abounding on the neighbouring coasts, such as the Werita littoralis the Patella vulgata, and E2 68 Dr Daniel Wilson on some others equally common at the present day. ‘These are per- forated, like the ioqua shells of the Chinook Indian, appa- rently by the simple process of rubbing the projecting point on a stone, and thus converted into shell-beads, they were strung together with a fibre or sinew. It may also be noted that, as among the savage Indians of the American continent such personal ornaments are not confined to the squaws, but more frequently adorn the person of the- brave, and mingle with the scalp-locks and other war trophies of the most cele- brated chief: so was it with the allophylian savage of Britain’s primevalcenturies. Bead necklaces occur alongsideof the stone war-hatchet and flint lance-head, as the property of the war- rior, and one of his most prized decorations. Possibly, indeed, they may have constituted symbols of rank, and the special badge of office, as considerable variety marks their forms. An Orkney stone cist, for example, contained about two dozen of the common oyster-shells, each perforated, and in all proba- bility designed to be strung together as a collar, abundantly noticeable for size, if not for beauty. In some cases, these shells, as well as those of the limpet (Patella vulgata), and the cockle (Cardium commune), are taken advantage of to form a novel shell-ornament. They are rubbed down until they are reduced to rings, which were either strung together, or attached, as ornaments, to the dress. Underneath a large cromlech, accidentally discovered in the Phoenix Park at Dublin, in 1838, in the process of levelling a mound, which thus proved to be an ancient tumulus, two male skeletons were found, and beside each skull lay a quantity of the common littoral shells (Werita litioralis). “On examina- tion,” it is noted in the report of the Royal Irish Academy, “these shells were found to have been rubbed down on the valve with a stone, to make a second hole, for the purpose, as it appeared evident, of their being strung to form necklaces ; and a vegetable fibre, serving this purpose, was also disco- vered, a portion of which was through the shell.” Alongside of these also lay a knife, or arrowhead, of flint, and a small fibula of bone, but no traces of metallurgic arts. Sir Thomas Brown has remarked in one of his quaint, beau- tiful fancies: “ Time conferreth a dignity upon the most tri- i eae 2 SAN NLA TEE BREE LENE, SET NEA tated my ~ — er eres ee Ethnographic Phases of Conchology. 69 7 fling thing that resisteth his power ;” and as the uses to which the primitive British savage applied the commonest and least _ attractive of the shells of his island coasts, for the purposes of personal adornment, confer an interest on them for us, as il- lustrations of the universal prevalence of certain innate ideas which may almost be characterized as instincts in man: s0, - too, may we discover, even in the rudest traces of primeval culinary arts, some glimpses of forgotten truths, that will help to illuminate the past history of the human race. Amid the widening clearings of the American continent, where the na- tural forest still bounds the horizon, and the rude Indian savage who once found in it his free hunting-grounds, has not entirely disappeared, it requires no great stretch of imagina- tion of the colonist to picture to his own mind what the re- searches of the archeologist have disclosed relative to Europe’s primeval human era. From evidence of a very varied kind, it has been deduced that, many ages prior to the earliest authentic historical notices, the British Islands were occupied by a human population, even more imperfectly furnished with the means of coping with the difficulties and privations of savage life than the rude tribes of the north-western wilds. Nor was it man alone that then existed in a savage state. Searching amid the records of that debatable land to which the geologist and the antiquary Jay equal claim, we learn that vast areas of the British Islands were covered at that remote era with the primitive forest; that oaks of giant height abounded where now the barren heath and peat-bog cumber the land ; and that even, at a period recent when compared with that primeval era, the fierce Caledonian bull, the wolf, and the wild boar, asserted their right to the old forest glades. The scanty human population was thinly scattered along the skirts of this continuous range of forest, occupying the coast and river valleys, and retreating only to the heights, or the dark recesses of the forest, when the fortunes of war compelled them to give way before some more numerous or warlike rival tribe. Thus confined to the open country along the coasts and estuaries, the products of the sea, and especially the edi- ble mollusea, formed no unimportant source for their preca- rious supplies of food. ae 70 Dr Daniel Wilson on some Among the interesting illustrations of that common transi- tional ground on which the geologist and the archeologist meet, few have attracted greater attention than the celebrated Kent’s Hole Cave, near Torquay, Devonshire. It has furnish- ed many of the latter paleontological specimens which now enrich the collections of the British Museum ; and to its dis- closures both Buckland and Owen have acknowledged their obligations for some of their most important data. The roof of the cave is clustered with pendant cones of stalactite, and the floor thickly paved with concretions of stalagmite, the ac- cumulations of many centuries. Beneath, and embedded in this, have been found numerous relics of primitive savage life, intermingled with the remains of the rhinoceros, the hyena, and great cave-tiger, Felis and Hyena spelea, the Ursus speleus or cave bear, along with those of other extinct mam- mals. Among these, though in more superficial deposits, lay traces of the rude culinary practices, illustrative of the habits and tastes of the primeval British savage. These are minutely described in the notes of the Rev. J. McEnery, by whom the cave was first explored. Fragments of sun-baked primitive pottery of the rudest description, rounded slabs of slate of a plate-like form, broken and calcined bones, charcoal and ashes, all served to show where the hearth of the old barbarian Briton had stood; and along with these lay, dispersed, flints in all conditions, from the rough pebble as it came out of the chalk, through the various stages of progress, on to the finished spear and arrow-heads and hatchets of flint—indicating that the ancient British troglodyte had here his workshop as well as his-kitchen, and wrought the raw material of his primitive manufactures into the requisite tools and weapons of the chase. Other articles, including lance-heads, bodkins, and objects of unascertained uses,—hair-combs or netting tools,—all made of bone, lay amid the accumulated chips and splinters of flint and bone; while nearer the mouth of the cave lay a larger collection of shells of the mussel, limpet, and oyster, indicating that the ancient British aborigines found their precarious sub- sistence from the alternate spoils of the chase and of the sea. Nor were indications wanting of just such applications of the pearly inner lamine of the oyster and other shells for the pur- - Ethnographic Phases of Conchology. 71 F poses of ornament, as may be observed in the grotesque inlaid carvings of the Polynesian savage at the present day. The q _ like traces of the primitive habits of the aboriginal allophyliz of the northern parts of the British mainland and the neigh- bouring islands have been noted. On exploring one remark- able example of the subterranean stone dwellings of the ancient population of the Orkneys,—opened by my friend Lieutenant Thomas, R.N., and a party of the Admiralty Survey Service in 1848,—+the remains of the charcoal and peat-ashes of the long-extinguished hearth lay intermingled with bones of the horse, ox, deer, and whale; and also with some rude imple- ments illustrative of primitive Orcadian arts; while a layer of shells of the oyster, escallop and periwinkle, the common whelk, the purpura, and the limpet, covered the floor and the adjacent ground, in some places halfafoot deep. Of these, the limpet, though common on the coast, formed only a very small propor- tion of the whole ; while the periwinkle was the most abundant. The relative accumulations of the other shells,—differing as they did from the present ratio of the various mollusca on the neighbouring shores,—in like manner furnish some slight index of the culinary taste of the aboriginal Briton in those long- forgotten centuries. - It is curious and instructive thus to note even so small a matter as the tastes of the rude barbarian Briton of these past centuries, for they supply a means of comparison between the very diverse races of the British Islands in remotely ancient and modern times. The periwinkle is now annually shipped in large quantities from the Scottish coasts to supply the markets of the British metropolis; and at the recent meeting of the British Association at Dublin, Mr Patterson read a paper before the zoological section, tending to show that such is the demand for that favourite mollusc that it is in danger of being extirpated on the Irish coasts. The quantity of Littorina, (littoral periwinkles) shipped at Belfast during the four previ- ous years, according to the returns of the Secretary to the Harbour Commissioners of that port, amounted in 1853 to 1034 bags, containing 181 tons; in 1854 to 2626 bags, or 4594 tons ; and in 1855 to 2286 bags, or 400 tons; while in 1856 it fell off to 786 bags, or 137 tons. The diminished exports of 72 Dr Daniel Wilson on some the last year have not arisen from any decrease in the de- mand. Such of the mollusca as are not procured for this ex- port trade in the Bay of Belfast are principally collected on the coasts of the county of Down; but the banks from which they were formerly derived are no longer capable of supplying the market, and the deficient quantity is at present brought from Stranraer to Belfast, and thence re-shipped to London. But the attention of the scientific zoologist must now be turned to the habits of these and others of the favourite mollusca, and to the circumstances and seasons in which their ova are developed, otherwise they will speedily be classed among those extinct species which have owed their extirpation to the pre- sence and influence of man. By such facts the remote past is brought once more into in- timate relation with the present; and even in matters so ap- parently trivial as the nice discrimination of the palate between the Patella vulgata and the Turbo littoralis, we thus detect a correspondence between the tastes of the rude aboriginal savage of primeval centuries, and the civilized Anglo-Saxon of the British metropolis ; though now, as then, it is as a popu- lar favourite, and not as a coveted delicacy, that the peri- winkles, and also the larger Buccinum undatum or waved whelk, are imported into London, and gathered on the Scot- tish and Irish coasts. At Skara, near the House of Skaill, in the west mainland of Orkney, one of a singular class of stone structures, designat- ed Picts’ Houses, is remarkable for an immense accumulation of ashes around it, several feet in thickness, plentifully mixed with shells, and the horns and bones of deer and other animals. The building itself has been only very partially explored, but many curious relics have been recovered from the surrounding debris. Among these are circular discs of slate, similar to those found in Kent’s Hole Cave, a large tusk of a wild boar, horns of the red deer, and numerous implements made of horn. But not the least curious of these primitive relics was a box— already referred to—constructed of stones laid together, in the form of a miniature cist, within which lay about two dozen oyster shells, each pierced in the centre with a hole about the size of a shilling. Oysters, it may be remarked, are rare in. Ethnographic Phases of Conchology. 73 Orkney. They now occur only at two places, Deersound and Frith, the nearest of which is eight miles distant from Skaill; while the osteological remains which accompanied them are those of long extinct Orkney mammals. ‘There is no tradi- tion of the presence either of the deer or the boar in the Ork- ney Islands, unless the names of the Deerness headland and the neighbouring sound be assumed as topographical me- morials of the presence of the former within Norse or Saxon times. It is scarcely possible, indeed, to conceive of the ex- istence of such fere nature for any length of time, within so small an area, after the occupation of these isinats 7 a hu- man population. At a period which may be assumed as greatly more modern than the era of those singular subterranean dwellings of primitive centuries, we once more meet with extensive accumu- lations of oyster shells, with those of the cockle and mussel, among the miscellaneous remains on Romano-British sites of the first centuries of the Christian era, alongside of bones and tusks of the British boar, and of other extinct animals, deer and oxen—the latter the Bos longifrons, which appears to have been the domesticated ox of early Celtic times. But such Roman deposits of the shells of British mollusca are no longer confined to coast stations; as indeed might be antici- pated when it is remembered that the voluptuous Roman esteemed the oysters of the British seas so great a delicacy, in comparison with those of his own Mediterranean shores, as to transport them to Italy to add a new zest to his luxu- rious board. Pliny records the high estimation in which the British oyster was held at Rome; and Juvenal has satirized the excessive refinement of the epicurean taste which could discriminate between the oyster of the Kentish coast, and those of Circzean sands or rocky Leucrine shores :— “ Circeis nata forent, an Lucrinum ad saxum, Rutupinove edita fundo, Ostrea, callebat primo deprendere morsu ; Et semel adspecti littus dicebat echini.”—Sat. [V., 1. 140. It may also be noted that the shell of the common snail is found in such quantities on Roman sites, and occasionally also in Anglo-Saxon graves, as to lead to the belief that it 74 Dr Daniel Wilson on some constituted another choice delicacy at the tables of those suc- cessive colonists of Celtic Britain. Considerable interest has been excited among Danish anti- quaries, in recent years, by the explorations of large accumu- lations of the shells of mollusca, met with at various points on the coast of Denmark. These, which were at first regard- ed merely as natural deposits, the remains of the abundant fauna of the neighbouring seas, have proved on examination to come within the province of the archeologist, and special steps have been taken to secure their thorough investigation. Within them have accordingly been found implements of bone, pottery, hatchets formed of stags’ horns, &.; and in one examined by the distinguished Danish antiquary, Mr Worsaae, chiefly consisting of oyster-shells, he found numer- ous skulls and bones of animals, flint celts and arrow-heads, bones broken, as has been supposed, for the purpose of ex- tracting the marrow, charcoal, and other traces of the early occupants of the Danish coasts. Similar accumulations of the shells of a species of Ampul- lacera, largely eaten by the New Zealanders, have been ob- served, along with various marine and other debris, including relics of native art, on deserted sites along the New Zealand shores, although they have not hitherto attracted more than a passing notice. But a greater interest has been excited by extensive deposits of marine shells on different points of the North American coasts, accompanied with evidence of arti- ficial accumulation, not likely to escape the attention of those who in the New World watch with so keen an eye for the slightest traces of an ante-Columbian history. The abundant and large-sized edible mollusca. of the North American sea- coasts could not fail to attract the notice of an improvident and savage people, dependent on the precarious products of the chase. Large banks of fossil shells occur in many locali- ties, where the changes in the relative levels of sea and land have left these at considerable elevations, and far removed from the modern beach. On such a bed of shells, of the Gnathodon—formerly a favourite food of the Indians— the city of Mobile is built; and amid these natural accumulations of older centuries, occasional indications of the former presence ; 4 ; : Ol ml A a a a hd ie" een Oe Ethnographic Phases of Conchology. 75 of the American aborigines have been met with on the site of the modern city. But the following narrative, by Sir Charles Lyell, in his second tour in the United States, furnishes an interesting illustration of primitive American traces of ancient culinary tastes and habits, analogous to those of Europe already referred to. Describing his journey through a part of Georgia, and his explorations of the lagoons of the Alta- maha, Sir Charles remarks: *‘ We landed on the north-east end of St Simon’s Island, at Cannon’s Point, where we were gratified by the sight of a curious monument of the Indians, the largest mound of shells left by the aborigines in any one of the sea islands. Here are no less than ten acres of ground, elevated in some places ten feet, and, on an average, over the whole area, five feet above the general level, composed throughout that depth of myriads of cast-away oyster shells, with some mussels, and here and there a mediola and helix. They who have seen the Monte Testaceo, near Rome, know what great results may proceed from insignificant causes, when the cumulative power of time has been at work, so that a hill may be formed out of the broken pottery rejected by the population of a large city. To them it will appear un- necessary to infer, as some antiquaries have done, from the magnitude of these Indian mounds, that they must have been thrown up by the sea. In refutation of such an hypothesis, we have the fact that flint arrow-heads, stone axes, and frag- ments of Indian pottery have been detected through the mass. The shell-fish heaped up at Cannon’s Point must, from their nature, have been caught at a distance, on one of the outer islands; and it is well known that the Indians were in the habit of returning with what they had taken, from their fish- ing excursions on the coast, to some good hunting ground, such as St Simon’s afforded.’ This remarkable “ Monte Testaceo ” of the New World is interesting to us as one of the melancholy memorials of its aboriginal races, already vanished, or hastening to extinction; while in this case the edible treasures of the deep, unlike those of the cleared forests, still remain to supply the means of subsistence, or to furnish coveted luxuries for the tables, of the old Indian’s supplanters, 76 Dr Daniel Wilson on some Another interesting class of illustrations of the subject in hand might be derived from tracing, in the diverse applica- tions of convenient or graceful univalve and bivalve shells to purposes of ornament or use, affinities in the tastes and ideas — of man under the most diverse social conditions, and in ages widely remote from each other. In the mother-of-pearl work, and other applications of shells in modern ornamentation, we have examples of art which find their analogous types in the rudest traces of primitive taste and artistic skill. Still further, in the adaptation of many beautiful marine shells as brooches, jewel cases, drinking cups, bowls, and lamps, and even as reliquaries and fonts, we may study the matured de- velopment of such applications of these spoils of the ocean to the purposes of personal adornment or of convenient use. But it would tempt us into too wide a field to illustrate all such economic and artistic adaptations of shells from the Fusus antiquus, still used as a lamp in the humblest cottages of the Zetlanders, to the varieties of the exquisitely graceful, and often richly jewelled, nautilus cup, or to the Tridacna gigas employed in churches for benitiers or holy water stoups, and the still larger bivalve, the Chama gigas, which may be seen tastefully adapted, not only as the basin for the orna- mental garden fountain, but even as the singularly appro- priate and beautiful baptismal font. Among the charges of medieval heraldry, the scallop shell (Pecten Jacobus), plays a prominent part as the ancient badge of pilgrimage. Fuller, in his Church History, repeatedly re- fers to such heraldric bearings; noting, for example, in his own quaint way, in reference to the arms of St James’ Abbey, Reading—azure, three scallop shells, or,— Here I know not what secret sympathy there is between St James and shells, but sure I am that all pilgrims who visit St James of Com- postella in Spain (the paramount shrine of that saint), returned thence obsiti conchis, all beshelled about on their clothes, as a religious donative there bestowed on them.” On another occasion the old Church historian suggests no unlikely origin for the escallop as the pilgrim’s badge, noting in reference to the Dacres Arms (gules, three scallop shells argent),—* Which scallop shells (I mean the nethermost of them, because most . Ethnographic Phases of Conchology. 77 concave and capacious), smooth within, and artificially plated without, was ofttimes cup and dish to the pilgrims in Pales- tine, and thereupon their arms often charged therewith.” But thotigh the scallop undoubtedly came to be adopted as the general badge of the palmer, its true heraldic symbolism is referred to St James the Great; whence its designation as St James’s cockle shell, coquille de S. Jacques, and Pecten Jaco- beus ; and its strict ecclesiastical significance was as the memorial of pilgrimage to the shrine of St James of Compos- tella. Southey has translated from the Annales de Galicia, the ancient legend of the Sanctoral Portugues, relative to the origin of St James’s cognizance, and the miraculous conversion of a Paynim knight of Portugal to the Christian faith ; the truth of which legend is avouched by the bulls of three suc- cessive Popes, which empower the Archbishops of Compostella to excommunicate all who sell the scallop shells to pilgrims except in the city of Santiago. A still more extraordinary and miraculous legend of “ Saint Cock and the Holy Hen of Compostella,” derived from the Acta Sanctorum, and other equally authentic sources, forms the subject of the metrical tale to which the poet Southey has appended the notes above referred to in vindication of Santiago of Galicia’s exclusive right to the scallop badge. “The poor with scrip, the rich with purse, They took their chance for better or worse, From many a foreign land, With:a scallop shell in the hat for badge And a pilgrim’s staff in hand. “ For the scallop shows, in a coat of arms, That, of the bearer’s line, Some one in former days hath been To Santiago’s shrine.” - For the adoption of the cognizance of St James of Com- postella as the general badge of pilgrimage, the scallop not only took its place in the arms of various religious houses, as well as of individual palmers and crusaders of rank ; but it was adopted among the insignia of more than one medieval order, and as such re-appeared in a form analogous to the more ancient collars and necklaces of primitive British graves. The Knights of the Order of St Louis, instituted by the royal 78 Dr Daniel Wilson on some crusader, Louis IX., received, from their escallop badge, the title Du Navire et des Coquilles ;” and those of St Michael, another French order instituted by Louis XI., wore a golden collar of scallop shells, and thence were styled “Chevaliers de la Coquille.” To the absence of all knowledge of the metallurgic arts among primitive nomade tribes, or to the want of the metals themselves, as among the natives of the Australasian Archi- pelago, may be ascribed many of the economic uses to which sea shells have been so widely applied. They illustrate in a striking manner the adaptability of man to the most varied physical conditions of the globe, and frequently exhibit the imperfectly developed reasoning faculties of the savage, work- ing within narrow limits, akin to the instincts of the lower animals. Thus we find curious accidental affinities between the rude primitive arts of the European savage in the dim dawn of the ancient world’s prehistoric centuries, the equally rude arts of the Carib or the Guanche of the Antilles when brought to the knowledge of the old world in the fifteenth century, and the simple devices of the Polynesians occupying the volcanic, or coral islands of the Southern Ocean, first visited by Europeans in the eighteenth century. Owing to the absence, on many of the islands of the Australian Archi- pelago, not only of metals, but even of stone and wood, marine shells form the most important available material alike for economic utility and ornament ; and the same appears to have been the case, to a great extent, among the Indians of the Antilles in ante-Columbian centuries. The extreme beauty of many of the marine productions of the tropics and the Southern Ocean, sufficiently accounts for their adoption for personal adornment, as in the case of the Cyprea aurantia, or beautiful orange cowry, of which specimens are rarely to be met with undrilled, owing to its use as a favourite orna- ment of the natives of the Friendly Islands. But these spoils” of the ocean acquire an additional value, when, as in Central Africa, or among the American Indians around the head waters of the Mississippi, they have all the added virtues which rarity confers. Dr Livingston, when leaving the Be- londas after a brief sojourn among them, thus records his eel Se a al Ethnographic Phases of Conchology. 79 friendly parting with their chief,—‘‘ As the last proof of friendship, Shinte came into my tent, though it could scarcely contain more than one person, looked at all the curiosities, the quicksilver, the looking-glass, books, hair brushes, comb, watch, &., &c., with the greatest interest ; then closing the tent, so that none of his people might see the extravagance of which he was about to be guilty, he drew out from his cloth- ing a string of beads, and the end of a conical shell, which is considered, in regions far from the sea, of as great value as the Lord Mayor’s badge is in London. He hung it round my neck, and said, “There, now, you have a proof of my friendship.” My men informed me that these shells—a species of Conidee—are so highly valued in this quarter as evidences of distinction, that for two of them a slave might be bought, and five would be considered a handsome price for an ele- phant’s tusk worth ten pounds.’ But even more curious is it when such sea-wrought treasures are found employed not as the ornaments, but as the substitutes for dress, as among the natives of Darnley Island, an island of volcanic origin, off the coast of New Guinea, visited by Her Majesty’s ship Fly in 1842-6. The natives are described as fine, active, well-made fellows, rather above the middle height, of a dark brown or chocolate colour. “They had frequently almost handsome faces, aquiline noses, rather broad about the nostrils, well- shaped heads, and many had a singularly Jewish cast of fea- tures. * * * They were entirely naked, but frequently wore ornaments made of mother-of-pearl shells, either circular or crescent-shaped, hanging round their necks. Occasionally, also, we saw a part of a large shell, apparently a cassis, cut into a projecting shield-shape, worn in front of the groin.” Among these islanders also, the larger sea shells have to per- form the functions which are so abundantly provided for, in the Western Archipelago, by the calabash. Their adaptability for this purpose, indeed, naturally suggests such an applica- tion of them wherever they abound, as in the case of the Buccinum dolium, frequently in use by the fishermen and mariners of the tropics as a convenient utensil with which to bale their boats. So in like manner the graceful trumpet-like form, and richly variegated colours, of the larger species of the 80 Dr Daniel Wilson on some Tritons, such as the beautiful Triton variegatus, render their early and independent application as horns or musical instru- ments, alike by the islanders of the Pacific and the Carribean Sea, sufficiently natural and obvious. . Though the rude natives of the Antilles, when first visited - by the Spaniards, possessed some natural advantages over the inhabitants of the volcanic and coral islands of the Pacific, yet the large marine shells with which the neighbouring seas abound, constituted an important source for the raw material of their primitive implements and manufactures. The great size, and the facility of workmanship of the widely diffused Pyrule, Turbinella, Strombi, and others of the larger shells, have indeed led to their application, wherever they abound among uncivilized nations, to numerous purposes elsewhere supplied from other sources. Of these the Charibs made knives, lances, and harpoons, as well as personal ornaments ; while the mollusc itself was sought for and prized as food. The Strombus gigas is still fished for the table, off the island of Barbadoes, and numerous ancient weapons and implements made from its shell have been dug up on the island. Pearls also, of a beautiful pink colour, are occasionally formed by this shell-fish, and from their rarity are greatly valued ; while the modern adaptation of the ancient cameo-engraver’s art to shells, as well as their employment in the production of the finer porcelain and miniature statuary, have led to those beautiful marine products of the American tropics being more sought after in Europe for the manufacture of personal ornaments and other works in the highest class of art, even than the coveted secretions of the Meleagrine, brought from the pearl fisheries of Ormus or Ceylon, or from the Bahrein Islands in the Persian Gulf. Thus the necessities of man in the savage state, and the ever-varying devices to gratify the luxurious exactions of civilization, have equally contributed to the ingenious applica- tion of the shells, and other products of molluscous animals, to the use of man. Under this head we might refer to the Murex traunculus of the Mediterranean, the source, as is believed, of the celebrated Tyrian purple of the ancient world; and to others of the genus Purpura,—such as the Purpura ol sie Bo 4 * 4 Rs I" « zi Mog Einar’ = bre Ethnographic Phases of Conchology. 81 lapilius,—which have also been turned to use by the dyer. The various pearl-producing species of the Meleagrina, in like manner, illustrate the refinements and excesses of ancient and modern luxury. The orient pearl of the Egyptian queen, * the treasure of an oyster,’ and the occidental pearl of Philip IL., from St Margaritas, the pearl island of the New World, which weighed 250 carats, and was valued at 150,000 dollars ; or, again, the still more costly pearl of Louis XIV., brought from Catifa on the Arabian Coast, by his eccentric protégé, Jean Baptiste Tavernier, the son of an Antwerp engraver, whom the Grand Monarch created Baron d’Aubonne, and who paid for his Arabian pearl the almost incredible sum of L.110,000. Great as are the sums still annually expended on the produce of the pearl fisheries for the gratification of eastern and western luxuriance of ornamentation, the Antwerp adven- turer has secured the palm for the licentious Court of Louis le - Grand. The most abundant annual pear! harvest in the world is believed to be the product of the Bahrein Island fisheries, in the Persian Gulf; but the revenue of this falls somewhat short of L.100,000 sterling, even in the most prolific years. Pearls to the value of from forty to sixty thousand pounds sterling are annually imported into Britain. France and other coun- tries of Europe also receive large annual importations of the same costly marine production ; while oriental luxury absorbs a still greater amount. Ingenious means are accordingly re- sorted to for supplying the enormous demand. The Chinese practise one successful mode, by inserting into the living ani- mal a silyer wire with a nucleus for the pearl to form upon. Still further improving on this process of making the living pearl-mussel an obedient worker in their service, they not only produce pearls of various sizes and qualities by the introduc- tion of pieces of wood, baked earth, &c., into the living animal, which it covers with the nacrous deposit which converts them into marketable pearls; but also small metal figures of Buddha, in the sitting posture in which the divinity is usually pourtrayed, are treated ina similar manner. These miniature pearl-encased penates are highly valued by the Chinese as charms, and produce large prices. But while thus dwelling on the prolific pearl productions of southern seas, it must not NEW SERIES.—VOL. IX. NO, 1.— JAN, 1859. F » 82 Edward Sang on the be forgotten that Britain has also her pearl-producing bivalve. The river pearl-mussel (Unio margaritiferus), is found in various Scottish rivers, but chiefly in the Tay. There was formerly an extensive pearl-fishery extending from Perth to Loch Tay, and the pearls sent from thence from 1761 to 1764. have been estimated in value at L.10,000. Single pearls are still procured from the Tay, which readily sell at from one to two pounds sterling. The discovery of the economic use of the larger Strombine as an important material in the manufacture of porcelain, as well as the introduction of the practice of working camei on these shells, and the increasing demand for this beautiful and artistic class of personal ornaments, have united to create a novel trade in the gigantic tropical shells. Immense quan- tities of the Strombine are now annually brought to Europe ; and so many as 300,000 shells of the Strombus gigas and Strombus pugilis have been imported from the Bahamas to Liverpool alone in a single year. Theory of Linear Vibration—(concluded). By Epwarp Sane, Esq., F.R.S.E. VI.—Alligated Vibrations. The slightest attention to the phenomena of sound is enough to convince us that few, if any, sounds are occasioned by a solitary impulse. Sounds arise, last, and cease with their causes. As long as the string of a harp vibrates, the sound endures; so soon as the vibration of the string is ar- rested, the sound ceases. The continuous application of a disturbing cause, seems to be essential to the production of such aérial pulsations as affect our organs of hearing; and it seems also that the viscidity (so to call it) of the air is so powerful as to arrest the internal vibration of its particles al- most as soon as the disturbing cause has passed away, while it is not so powerful as to prevent the transmission 3" part of the influence to the adjoining particles. In order, then, to prepare for a discussion of the phenomena Theory of Linear Vibration. 83 of sound, we must investigate the effects of a disturbing cause applied, not for a minute interval of time, but continuously and perseveringly to an elastic system. This we may do by supposing one or more of the points of the system to be com- pelled to move in some peculiar way by an extraneous influ- ence. Such a supposition introduces an entirely new element into our formule, and therefore, for the purpose of rendering the investigation as general as possible, I shall resume it at the beginning. In addition to the bodies A, B, C, .... K, L, M, which are free to obey the attractions by which they are solicited ; let there be another set of bodies, R, S, T, &c., moving each , according to its own determinate law, and attracting the bo- dies of the first set with intensities proportional to their dis- tances, and to certain coefficients of attraction. Then the equations of motion become ee Ay, =a (@,—2,) + a0 (vs—a,) + ar (@,—av,) + Ke. +48 (a3—a,) + ay (a@o— 2) + 08 (a@p—x,) + Ke. By d’s =e (@2— 2s) +B (@s— &z) + Br (@_— Hy) + Ke. + a8 (@,—2,) + By (@o— #s) + Bs (@p — ay) + Ke. &e. &e. &e. . - (100.) and on multiplying these by the indeterminates a, 6, c, &e., and collecting, we obtain GAg 8, + DByw, + CCye, + &e.= ay { a.ag+b.Be+o.7e +6. } +0, { a.ar+b.Be+e.7a+ée.\ +a, { &e. } +0, { —a. 3ag+ 68 (b—a) +07 (c—a) +é&e. } +a, { —b. 38,408 (a—) + By (e—0) +4. } + &e. &e. &. . . (101) The second member of this equation consists of two sets of terms; the first containing the ordinates of the extraneous bodies R, S, T, and the other containing the ordinates of A, B, C, &e. ee F2 84 Edward Sang on the ‘Tf a, b, c, &., be now determined so as to render the co- efficients of 4, 2%, &c., proportional to those of #,, #,, &e. ; that is, if aA. R= —aXag+ a8 (b—a) + ay (c—a) + &e., (102.) and similarly of the others, we shall have n{ @A.0,+0B. 0,400.2, 4&0. } = Wy 3A. ag +H,3a.a0+ &e. +R{ aA. a,40B.m,+0C. a+ de. } which, in respect to its integration, may be put under the form ok = gi+R.X . «. « » (103) This equation can be integrated, when the function 9¢ con- tains only integer positive powers of ¢, and also when its de- rivatives recur. Now the equations (102) are n in number, so that the equa- tions in R, obtained by eliminating a, b, ¢, &., from them must rise to the n™ power; there are then ways in which equation (108) may be produced, so that we shall ultimately have as many equations as will determine all the unknown quantities 7, @, @, &c., at any future time, when the state of the system at the instant t=0 has been given. Without insisting farther on this branch of the inquiry, I proceed to apply this method to a linear series A, B, C,.... K, L, M, of which the first is attached to a body W by means of a spring, of which the coefficient of elasticity is a#; the body W being compelled to move in a prescribed manner by extraneous influences. 1 : The equations of motion, analogous to equations (37), are A. ot, = t0 (y —2,) Es a8 (a, — 2,4) B. or = a8 (a, — Wp) + By (@o— &z) L . 9, =¥A(a—2,) + Aw (@y—~2,) M. oy = At (@,— au) + uf (y—au) . . (1092 Theory of Linear Vibration, 85 whence, using the multipliers a, b, c, &c., we have GAy@, + bBy aw, + CCy0, + &e. = @. dis. ay+ay { a (0—a) +08 (6—a) } +a, { #8 (a—b) +87 (eb) } + ag4 (kD) + m9} + aty { He(l—m) —nu(m—m) } s+ (AI) and we have now to determine aq, b, c, &., so as to satisfy the conditions aw. 0+(@A=-aw+aB)a+ a8b =0 a8 .a+ (?Ba=a8+By)b+ Bye =0 rh e+ (PLAFA+ Ku)l +20 .m=0 Wal +(P@M=FAu+ mu)m+uym =0 .. (111.) . d b @ x B C D } The solution of this equation may be represented geometri- cally, as was done for that of (40). Having measured off the distances WA, AB, BOC, &c., inversely proportional to the coefficients waz, a8, By, &c., we begin with two ordinates erected at W and.at A, but in this case the ordinate at W is zero. If # were zero, the line Wabe, &c., would be straight, but on giving to 4a small value, that line bends down to be- come more and more nearly parallel to the axis; and when such a value of ¢ is reached as makes the part mm’ parallel to MM’, we have the first root of the equations (111). If the 86 Edward Sang on the value of 6 go on increasing, the line Wabc, &c., will come to cross the axis between A and M; becoming concave upwards when on the under side of the axis, the line may have its last portion mm’ again parallel to MM’, and this will indicate the second root of the equation. In this way, by augmenting 4, we shall obtain altogether as many roots as there are bodies a sss a For each one of these values of 6 we shall have equation (110) under the form— ~X=0.aday—-XP . . 5 When the series of bodies is uniform, the coefficient aw being supposed equal to a@ or to e, the equations become —aP = 4 0—2a +b } —me@== {1 —2m+m’} a Here if we put 2-— 9 =2 cos 29, and if we assume the first ordinate a to be sin 24, which is allowable since one of the multipliers may be arbitrarily assumed, we have a@ = sin 29 b = sin 49 ” 1 i — sin 69 m = sin 2ng m’=sin(2n+2)p9 ... . (114) and therefore the solution is obtained whenever m=m’; that is, When: sin 2ng=sin (2n+ 2) 2, which can only be when (2n +1)¢ is an uneven multiple of 5 : Theory of Linear Vibration. 87 ref ®, for the first root of the equation we must have PRE Md P= on+1 2 3 of this, so that for the »” root we must have : ual 2y—1 Cs Snel 2 | 6,2 4— (sin 9,)?. a The aggregate equation of motion thus becomes a { sin 2p. #,+sin49.v,+sin 69. a+ &e. } a =<. sin 29 : @y—4 < sin g? { sin 2p . &+sin 49 .a@,+ We. } or as, for convenience, it may be more shortly written Bh} -. | ee eee” 2a=—- sin 29. y— 4 sin Geek ie ERB ___ If we now suppose that the point W is compelled to oscil- te, by some influence foreign to our system, and that the ~ law of its oscillation is Myer sin (tte). V-: .. + (116) uation (115) becomes integrable. _ The general equation Wt, od =P sin (¢t+0)-Q?X .. . (117) bas its integral of the form XHK, em Qe ye +929 { sins. cos Qt-+-& q COs 6. sin Qt—sin (gt +0) } eee which X, and ,,X, are the values of X and of its first de riyative at the instant of time t=0., This value of x represents the compound of two oscillations, oi oa of the ine 06 OU MT... BA, WW, A,B... 1, M, 88 Edward Sang on the This integral, however, is inapplicable when the two velo- cities of oscillation are equal to each other, for then the de- nominator ¢?—@Q? is zero. In this particular case, the equa- tion is oX=P sin (Qé+o)—Q?X . . . . (119) and its integral takes the form X= X, cos Qi + Xn — 3Q7 on | | Qt. cos (Qt +0) —cos ¢ . sin Qé } (120.) which represents an oscillation augmenting in extent with the lapse of time. Whenever, then, the time of oscillation of the compelling body W happens to agree with one of the alternate oscillations of the system, M, D3 > B, A, Wh By Se the extent of the vibrations of the system goes on augmenting without limit. The leading phenomena of such alligated oscillations may be best studied by taking the cases in detail. Case I.—One Alligated Body. To begin with the simplest possible case, let the single body A be attached to the oscillating mass W; and, for the sake of comparison, let the law of oscillation of W be expres- sed by the equation > é Ca ST BID (te JZ + :) then the equation of motion of A becomes EE “fe é ol, =r sin (t/< a ‘) — wo ee (121.) which gives, in all cases when g is not equal to unit, the in- tegral w= {e+e ai) (Wie) + {wale eter | sin (JZ) -3 >—; sin ; sin (@ Jee) . a From this it isseen that the motion of A is composed of Theory of Linear Vibration. 89 two oscillations, one of them in the time due to the elasticity of the spring, and the other in unison with the oscillation of the compelling body. The magnitude and epoch of the first a illation depend partly on the condition which we may suppose the system to have been in at the epoch ¢=0, and _ partly on the magnitude of the oscillation of the body W. If _ the body A had been at rest in its mean position, when the oscillation of W came to act upon it, the two terms a, and 1,2, would both be zero, and the remaining terms would exhibit purely the effect of bringing suddenly such an oscil- lation to bear upon A. That part, then, of the motion of A which is due to the impulse of the oscillating body W is ex- pressed by (z,)= zai { sin 6 cos («J/=) + gcose. sin («/<) —sin (te, /<4+2) } Peet nites Mee eRe) _ If we assume 2 such an angle that g tana = tane (@)=34 {a (sine? + ¢e0s ) sin («/ 242) ~sin (#/2 40) } eeaiines ely s Me The most remarkable feature of this formula is, that the extents of the oscillations are inversely proportional to ¢?—1 ; so that when ¢ is unit, that is to say, when the time of oscil- lation of the compelling body W is equal to that of the oscil- lation of A, the extents of the resulting oscillations become infinite, and although, in this very case, another form of in- tegral must be taken, still when ¢ is very little different from unit, the extents of the oscillations must be very large; and we are naturally led to inquire how the alligation of the mov- ing body W to the end of the spring which is attached to A can, all at once, as it were, communicate a motion to A much more extended than the motion of W. The phases of the phenomena depend, to a certain extent, upon the value of ¢: let us begin by assuming o=0; that is 90 Edward Sang on the to say, let the body W impinge, with its full velocity, upon the end of the spring. Then = 0 [7,.]= xy {esin (w/< 2) sin (te/< =) \ . (124, so that ims motion of A is, in this case, composed of two oscilla- tions, the extents of which are inversely proportional to the angular velocities with which they are performed, or are di- rectly proportional to their periodic times. o Oo we = Cs Oe S Ay Let A be the mean position of the body A, AW the length of the spring to which it is attached; let also E, F, on either side of W, be the extreme limits of the oscillation of W, so that having described round W a circle with the radius WE, the uniform motion of a point in the circumference of that circle may represent, being transferred to EF’, the oscillations of W. The time of a complete oscillation of the body A, when urged by the spring WA (supposed to be held fast at W), being taken as a standard, let the time of oscillation of W be 7 then if we make AG = WE—; = and Al= WE ro the circles described round A by the two radii AG hes AI will represent the two oscillations of which the motion of A is com- pounded; W and A being the positions of the two bodies at the instant, =0; W having then its full velocity, and A being at rest. When ¢ is less than unit (in the above figure, ¢ is taken as 21), the motion in the several circles are as represented by the arrows. Now the angular velocities in the two circles GH and IK being inversely as the radii, it follows that the linear velocities must be alike: and therefore, two points starting Theory of Linear Vibration. 91 : Re 0 and 0 in these circumferences, the one to the right, and ____ the other to the left, will have at first equal velocities, esti- mated in the directions AH and AI, so that the sum (alge- - braically) of the two will be zero. If we transfer the centre of the circle IK to the circumference of the circle GH, sup- os posing the motions to be carried on as before, the abscisse of the epicycloid produced by the combination of the two mo- s tions, will represent the successive positions of the vibrating body A. as nl = F 5 T=1, p=#, o=0, 144,=0; a =0. Since the linear velocities in the two circumferences are 92 Edward Sang on the alike, the epicycloids must be cusped, and the apices of the cusps must lie in a circle having its radius equal to the sum or to the difference of the two radii, according to the arrange- ment of the figure. The first of the adjoining figures represents the epicycloid © for the value of g=}. Starting from the point marked 0, the tracing-point passes along the first branch of the curve, reaches the point marked 3, after a lapse of time equal to $ of the time of the fundamental oscillation, or to one-fourth of the time of the oscillation of W : thence it proceeds along the second branch in the same way—its velocity augmenting from the cusp to the middle of the branch, and then decreasing to zero at the next cusp. The body A, then, accompanying the ordinate of the tracing-point, oscillates from the point marked 3 to that marked 2}, but not smoothly ; it makes, as it were, a halt in the middle. The second figure shows the phases of the vibration of A when e=3: the radii of the partial oscillations are, in this case, 27 and $r, and the cusps are reached at intervals equal to 2 of the time of the fundamental oscillation, or 2 of the time of the oscillation of the compelling body W. Starting from its mean position A, the oscillating body reaches B, where its velocity is zero; thence it starts across to C, where it is again brought to rest, having made a much larger oscillation than before. From C it takes a still longer sweep, reaching D as far on the other side of its mean position; thence it goes to E, whence it returns merely to pause at A on its onward pro- gress to B. When the value of g approaches to unit, the radii become greater, and each branch of the epicycloid stretches over nearly one-half of the circle; and thus we see how, when ge is almost unit, the very extensive oscillations indicated by the formule are reached to by successive steps. Thus when e=}, the successive resting-places of the body A are obtained by dividing the circumference of a circle into 25 equal parts, and by following the chords of 13 of those parts, as shown by the successive numbers in the adjoining figure, and then by letting fall ordinates from these points. When ge comes to be exactly unit, we must use the form of Theory of Linear Vibration. 93 ES EEG a | 22 ae “a 20 | 22 | 24 2 5 > | 7 |ol||¥ 4 2 Oo 23 Sz Ig 17 | 15) u 20 xe ae 22 3 24 2 integral given in equation (120). In this case (121) takes the more simple form é es é€ é ot =Srsin (4/4 6 — Sty + «+ (125) and its second integral becomes 2, =X, . C08 (w/<) +e 2 . sin («/2) —) ; w/e cos (/< +2) +5 coss.sin (t/<) » » (126.) and this, adapted to our present case, in which a, 4a,, and are all taken as zeroes, becomes [eJ=5 { sin (w/2) mil =. cos (/) } 2 0aZ) which is the equation to the involute of a circle having its EK cs e\ or radius > and its involved arc («/ <) x5 Having described a circle with the radius Aa, equal to half the radius of the oscillation of the body W, construct the in- volute of that circle, then the ordinates Bb, Cc, Dd, &c., ap- 94 Edward Sang on the plied to touch the curve at its successive half turns, mark out the limits of the successive oscillations of the point A. — The motion thus indicated is the limit to which that shown _ by the preceding figure tends as the value of g approaches more and more closely to unit ; and the infinite magnitudes of the radii are represented by the endless extension of the inyo- lute. In such a case, the oscillations of A would go on in- creasing without limit, being continually instigated by the os- cillation of W. When the value of ¢ exceeds unit, that is, when the oscilla- tion of W is more rapid than that which the spring would in- duce in A, the sign of the denominator ¢*—1 changes, so that the bodies A and W are on opposite parts of the oscillation represented by r sin (ctr/ =) : as e continues to increase, the radii AG and AI of figure, page 66, decrease, while AI has be- Theory of Linear Vibration. 95 come the greater of the two. The adjoining figure shows the arrangement of the motions when e= 5 As the vibration of W becomes very rapid, the radii AG and AI become minute, AG more particularly so; and thus we see that the intervention of a soft spring WA almost de- stroys the effects which a rapid vibration in W has upon A. I have hitherto only considered minutely those cases in which the epochal angle ¢ is zero, and might now proceed to consider the results of giving different values to it; but there is hardly any general principle to be illustrated by such a proceeding ; it may be enough to remark, that when the sine of o is not zero, the linear velocities in the two circumferences are not alike, and that, therefore, the epicycloid cannot be cusped—it must ape be nodated or waved ; and also to indi- cate, that when =~, the two circles have equal radii for all 9’ values of ¢. _ When a series consisting of two or more parts is acted on by an oscillating body W, the investigation of the various movements becomes much more intricate on account of the superposition of vibrations having their periodic times incom- mensurable. The investigation, however, of the separate vi- brations is more simple, and leads to the detection of a very beautiful general law. On substituting for av, its value : e ly =r sin (eo 2 + ‘) in equation (115), and then taking the integral, we obtain X=X, cos (2¢ sin ga/ 2 oa, ws ie “sin (2¢ sin gv/ a 2 sin 9 r sin 29 % +324m a? sin o. cos (2¢ sin p/<) Pen > cos ¢. sin (2¢ sin pr/ =) 2 sin — sin(t—r/ = +0) }. See ae 96 Edward Sang on the which represents one of m similar conditions which must sub- sist among the n quantities a,, w,, &e. These equations (128), then, are just sufficient to determine the positions of the bodies A, B, C, &c., at any future time, if the condition of the system at the time ¢=0 be given. Each one of these equa- tions indicates an oscillation performed with the angular ve- locity due to the particular value of », combined with another oscillation synchronous with that of the compelling body W. From the form of these equations, it is obvious that all these oscillations, the periodic times of which depend on the elasticity of the system, are distributed among the various members of the series, precisely as they would have been if the body W had been kept at rest. But each of these equations contains a term aoe? g i a (¢/< +0), iw; 2 —Asin ? of which one factor, viz., sin (uv 2 ad s) , 1s common to all, but of which the other factor varies from one equation to ano- ther, according to the value of »; therefore this oscillation is not distributed among the several bodies in the same manner as any of the others is. The true character of this vibration may be best studied by returning to the more general form of the problem. Suppose that B, C, D are three bodies of the series, con- nected with the springs By, yd: that the body B is a oscil- lating according to the law #,=b sin (¢6), it is required to investigate the conditions necessary that while D is also kept vibrating-in a similar manner, C may also oscillate synchronously with them. The elementary equation of motion Cc. alo = By; CA Bo) +7 (@p—&c) at once takes the form By b—(By + y8-@C) C+ ySd=0, by help of which any one of the three quantities b, c, d, may be found from the other two; and into which the only weight which enters is that of the middle body C. TEV Theory of Linear Vibration. 97 Let the motion of the body W be given by the equation and 2, =r sin (6°), suppose that the extent of the oscillations of A is also given; then from these two, r and a, we can ob- tain 6, from that ¢, and so on, until we arrive at m, which re- presents the extent of the oscillation of M, the last body in the series. If, while W is kept oscillating according to the above law, M is also made to oscillate so that v,=m sin (6), then, provided the intermediate bodies have been all started properly, the elasticities of the intervening springs will keep them ever after oscillating synchronously. Tf, now, it happen that on pushing the operation one step farther the value of m’ should come out exactly equal: to m, then the elasticity of the spring yp would never be called into action, so that no extraneous influence would be needed to keep M in motion. In order to determine how an oscillation performed with the angular velocity @ must be distributed among the members of an elastic series, of which the last body is M, we have only to assume two equal values m’ and m, and thence to compute backwards the appropriate values of J, k,....b, a, andr; and thus we ascertain the proportions which the extent of the oscillations of the various bodies A, B, C, &c., bear to that of the oscillation of the compelling body W. When it happens that r comes out zero, the oscillations of the bodies A, B, C, &c., must be infinite in extent, as com- pared with that of W, and this is in accordance with equations (128), for, in such a case, one of the denominators e°—4 sin 9? has become zero. Let, then, the body W, attached by the spring wa to an elastic system A, B, C, &c., be made to oscillate very slowly; that is, let the value of @ be very minute: the quantities m, k,l... would be nearly equal to each other, and the whole system would move slowly backwards and forwards with W: but with any real value of 6, the motions of the various parts of the system would be unequal. Considering, for the mo- ment, only that part of the general vibrations which is syn- chronous with the motion of W, we observe that, as the oscil- NEW SERIES.—VOL. I¥. NO. 1.—Jan. 1859. G 98 Edward Sang on the lation of W becomes more rapid, the extent of this vibration becomes greater, until, when ¢ has reached the first value which is consistent with the vibration of the system when at- tached to a fixed point W, the vibration becomes infinite, and is represented in kind by the abscissee of the involute of a circle. When é passes this limit, the extent of the vibration decreases, and the epochs of W and M are separated by half a revolution ; that is, the value of «,, is maximum, when the va- lue of z, is minimum. This diminution reaches its limit when 6 is between the first and second roots of equation (111); and as § nears the second root, the extent of the vibration again augments to become infinite. When é is between the second and third roots, the epochs of W and M are again coinci- dent. Thus it seems that whenever the periodic time of the oseil- lationof the compelling body W agrees with any of the odd vibrations of the double series ME. . 31, .B, Ay Wy A, Boe it induces oscillations of infinite extent. But, along with the synchronous vibration, the action of the oscillating body W creates as many other vibrations as there are bodies in the system, and the periodic times of these are, in general, incommensurable with each other; so much so, that certain very special conditions would need to subsist among the constituents of the system, in order that the ratios of these periodic times may be expressible in integer num- bers. In every uniform series, these periodic times, being inversely proportional to the successive chords of the multi- ples of an aliquot part of the circumference, are incommen- surable, and hence the periodic.recurrence of any phase of vi- bration is impossible. When, in order to attempt the investigation of the velocity of sound, we supposed the system to be at rest, and to receive a sudden blow on one end, the resulting formula showed that every vibration of which the system is susceptible would be called into action. ‘The determination of the extents and epochs of these was a matter of enormous difficulty, requiring the resolution of equations involving the sines of incommen- surable ares. These extents and epochs can only be obtained, My 1% —™ Theory of Linear Vibration. 99 in each individual case, by the method of trial and error, and even when obtained, they leave a much more formidable diffi- culty behind, namely, to determine what particular phase of the motion is to be regarded as indicative of the transmission of the impulse to the other end of the series. When, instead of receiving a solitary blow, we suppose one end of a quiescent series to be suddenly subjected to the ac- tion of an oscillating body W, the inquiry is very greatly simplified ; for if, in equations (128), we put X,, and its first derivative zero, the remaining terms give at once the extents and epochs of ali the simple oscillations of which the actual vibration is composed, and we are able to predict the exact con- dition of the system at any future time by direct calculation. These equations, with the change in the form of the inte- gral which must be made when the periodic time of W agrees with that of any of the internal vibrations, contain the com- plete solution of the problem “ 7'o determine the effects of an extraneous oscillation upon a linear elastic series,” without either redundancy or deficiency ; but they leave us quite as much in the dark as ever concerning what constitutes the transmission of an impulse from one end of the series to the other. The methods of infinitesimal analysis yet known are quite inapplicable to this question, for if we suppose the bodies A, B, &c., to be subdivided into parts acting on each other, we multiply the number of internal vibrations, and complicate instead of simplifying the inquiry; for it is to be remarked, that not a single one of the elementary vibrations can be left out of consideration, without vitiating the conclusions. If we imagine a finite series to consist of an infinite number of infi- nitely minute parts, the slower vibrations, or those which we may suppose to be appreciable by our organs of sensation, will have their periodic times sensibly as the numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, &e., because the chords of very small ares are very nearly proportional to the ares themselves ; but we cannot, on that ac- count, neglect the infinite number of quicker vibrations, nor can we conceive of any criterion whereby to decide on what classes of vibrations may be neglected and what not, even if it were possible to neglect any. 100 Edward Sang on the No more can the method of development in series be brought to our aid; for, if we attempt to represent the compound mo- tion of any one of the bodies by a series arranged according to the powers of t, we find the periodic times of the oseilla- lations accompanying ¢ as divisors, so that the summation of- the series becomes impossible, except by help of the angular calculus. This difficulty arises from the multitude of elementary vi- brations: singly, the characters of each one of these can readily be investigated by the infinitesimal process. On comparing the result of this analysis with the pheno- mena of sound, we have to remark, that if an infinite elastic series, consisting of infinitely small parts, be acted on by an extraneous oscillation, the periodic time of that oscillation will agree with that of some one of the infinite number of internal oscillations of which the series is capable, and that, therefore, the extent of the induced oscillations must go on augmenting in- definitely with the time. But we do not observe that the inten- sity of a note increases with the time during which a sounding body acts; or rather, it is a common matter of observation, that so long as an organ-pipe is sounded with a uniform force of wind, the strength of the sound remains the same. Again, the ear is sensible only of vibrations isochronous with those of the sounding body: yet if the air be perfectly elastic, we cannot doubt that all manners of vibrations would be in- duced by the local disturbance of its repose, and among these there must be some not far different in point of periodic time from that of the note produced; yet the effects of such yvibra- tions are not perceived. Besides, it clearly results from our investigation, that that part of the compound vibration of a linear series which is isochronous with the inducing oscilla- tion is also synchronous with it. Now, according to the usually received ideas, sound consists in a series of waves or pulsations proceeding from the sonorous body, so as to induce, in the successive particles, vibrations isochronous with those of the exciter, but gradually deferred as to their epochs. This, indeed, is the basis of Newton’s reasoning, as well as the fundamental proposition of the Wave Theory of Light. Yet the above strict and complete analysis Theory of Linear Vibration. 101 of the motions of a perfectly elastic linear series shows most conclusively that no such pulsation can arise from the action of an extraneous oscillation, or can be consistent with it. And although we be unable to carry the same strictness of reasoning into the case of a non-linear elastic system, we have no symptoms of any such progressive vibration, for, under all circumstances, the constituent motions of our imaginary pla- netary system are synchronous. If any such pulsations do occur in air, it must be in con- nection with some quality altogether distinct from elasticity ; there must be, in the mutual attractions and repulsions of the parts, some deviation from that law which has been supposed, and which is, indeed, the only law under which the periodic times of the vibrations can be independent of their extents. From the suddenness with which vibrations cease, when their exciting cause is removed, we may infer that viscidity, or what may be called imperfect elasticity, has to do with the actual phenomena; and perhaps, if we could investigate the effects of this viscidity, we might find that it is sufficient to explain the known appearances, and even to account for pro- gressive undulation. But until this investigation shall have been completed, or the hitherto unknown quality of air shall have been discovered, we can only class a¢rial and luminous pulsations among imagined or imaginary phenomena. And, in the present state of our attainments, we can only confess that no approach has been made to any theoretical determina- tion of the velocity of sound, or of the characters of those vibrations which convey sound through the air. The advocates of the undulatory theory of light imagine a highly elastic etherial medium to pervade all space, and hold that the undulations of this medium occasion what we call light. From this hypothesis the supposition of imperfect elasticity is altogether excluded; the rectilineal motion of light, as contrasted with the devious propagation of sound, being accounted for by supposing the elasticity of this fancied medium to be altogether perfect. The luminousness of a body consists in a tremor among its particles; and this tre- mor is communicated to the surrounding ether, just as the Vibrations of a harp-string are diffused in the air. Grant- 102 = On the Origin of the Permian Breecias of the ing all of these positions, our first step, in reasoning from them, is to investigate the manner in which the tremor of the luminous body affects the particles of the ether. Now neither this investigation, nor any approach to it, has yet been made. All the difficulties of it are overleaped at once, and we arrive at undulations or waves of light. Knowing nothing of how the vibratory motion of a single particle affects the particles around it, we yet are able, if not by reasoning, at least by bold hypothesis, to predict the manner in which one such wave influences another. We frame our suppositions to suit our knowledge of the phenomena, and then cite the coincidence as proof of the truth of the theory from which we imagine our conclusions to have been drawn. Without denying the benefits which such fanciful hypo- theses have at times conferred on experimental science, I may point to the preceding strict analysis, as affording conclusive evidence that the whole undulatory theory of light is a tissue of ingenious conjecture. On the Origin of the Permian Breccias of the Southern por- tion of the Vale of the Nith. By Ropert HARKNEss, F.R.SS.L. and E., F.G.S., Professor of Geology and Miner- alogy, Queen’s College, Cork. In two memoirs I have described in detail the nature of the deposits which constitute the Permian strata of the vale of the Nith.* These have such an arrangement, owing to their litholo- gical character, as to be naturally separated into three distinct groups. It is to the middle member of these groups which I have more immediately to refer. This middle member, which is a well-marked breccia, occupies a considerable area in the lower portion of the valley of the Nith, and, from its mine- ral nature, presents itself as a distinct feature in the contour of the district where it occurs. Its hardness and durability give it a ridgy form, and on its outcrop it offers steep escarp- ments, covering the ordinary building stone of the locality. * Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc., vol. vi. p. 389, et seqg.; and vol. xii. p. 254, et seq. Southern Portion of the Vale of the Nith. 103 With reference to its lithological character, which is well marked, and for the most part local, it may be said to be made up of fragments of lower Silurian sandstones and shales, and these are usually sharply angular; in most instances as sharp as if only just detached from their parent rock. Some of the Silurian shales are found in situ to be beautifully jointed, being cut up, by these divisional planes, into rhomboids; and some of the fragments of these shales, which help to make up the breccia, have the jointed nature well exhibited. These Silu- rian fragments, embedded in the breccias, can be referred to their parent rocks, which are rarely at a greater distance than about three miles from any locality where the breccias make their appearance. Silurian sandstones and shales are not, however, the exclu- sive components of these breccias. Angular fragments of porphyry are also common, and in many instances these are of a somewhat larger size than the Silurian fragments. These porphyries have not the same local origin as the Silu- rian fragments, but have been transported from a consider- able distance. .The porphyry consists of a purple base, including white crystals of felspar, and bears great affinity to masses of porphyry which occur on the coast of Colvend in Kirkcudbrightshire,—and this Colvend porphyry appears to be the origin of these fragments ; the locality from whence they seem to have come being fully twenty miles from many of the spots where they are found embedded in the breccia ; and yet, in many instances, these porphyry fragments are as sharp and angular as those of the Silurians. There is about these breccias a general want of bedding,— their stratification is exceedingly imperfect; and although lines of this nature sometimes appear, they suddenly cease, and the mass seems almost to be united into one solid face of rock of great thickness. The mode in which the fragments are arranged shows that there has been a certain amount of freedom of motion allowed to them, as the fragments have generally their longer axis in a horizontal position. So intimately are these breccias made up of fragments, that each of these is generally in contact with its neighbour, and the whole are cemented together by a paste of very fine sand- 104. On the Origin of the Permian Breccias of the stone containing a large portion of peroxide of iron. This paste seems to have been infiltrated into the interspaces be- tween the fragments, and affords a strong contrast, as con- cerns the size of its particles, with the red sandstones which support the breccias, and which in Dumfriesshire afford the fossil footprints. The latter sandstones seem to have resulted from the operation of water having a greater power of trans- port than that from whence the fine cementing paste, which unites the fragments of the breccias, emanated ; and although these breccias are so coarse in their nature, the angular cha- racter of the fragments, combined with the fineness of the matrix, causes us to seek for some other force than the ordinary transporting power of water to account for the origin of these masses. The structure and condition of these Permian breccias are very well exhibited in the cuttings at Dowiel, about two miles west from Dumfries, in the line of the Castle-Douglas Rail- way, now in the course of construction. The late Mr D. Sharpe, when President of the Geological Society, made some notes on the memoir previously referred to (Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc., Vol. XIL., p. 254, et. seg.), and as these notes came into the possession of his successor in the chair, and have been published in General Portlock’s address, it is necessary to refer to them. Mr D. Sharpe is disposed to refer the Permian strata of Dumfriesshire to “ portions of a talus of broken fragments which fell from the steep faces of the overhanging mountains into basins of water at their feet, the materials of such a talus being necessarily composed of the overhanging rock ; the larger fragments are angular ; the smaller, having been disintegrated by rains, and other atmospheric agencies, have obtained the condition of sand or mud.” There are circumstances in connection with these breccias which militate strongly against this talus theory. The somewhat promiscuous mingling of fragments of both Silu- rian sandstones and shales is antagonistic to this conclusion ; and the presence of porphyries, which have been derived from a considerable distance, is fatal to the opinion that these rocks have had their origin in a talus. Professor Ramsay has described rocks appertaining to the i b , Southern Portion of the Vale of the Nith. 105 Permians of Shropshire and Worcestershire, which in many respects bear a great affinity to these Dumfriesshire breccias.* On the whole, the Dumfriesshire breccias are more regularly angular, and the fragments are not possessed of certain fea- tures which characterize the Shropshire and Worcestershire breccias. These latter have, in many instances, distinctly polished surfaces, and are in some cases marked by strie ; features which are not observed in the rocks of this age of the valley of the Nith. It is owing to the polished and grooved surfaces which occur on the Shropshire and Worcester- shire breccias, combined with the angular character of the fragments, and their remoteness from their parent rocks, which have induced Professor Ramsay to regard these breccias as the result of the transporting power of ice, acting in the form of icebergs during the Permian epoch. Although the Dumfriesshire breccias do not bear about them that polishing and striation which results from the action of glaciers, yet it is excessively difficult to account for the oc-— currence of angular fragments, in some instances, which have been transported from a considerable distance, as in the case of the porphyries, without having recourse to the agency of ice in one form or other. The condition in which ice exercises its influence materially affects the state in which fragments of rock transported by its means occur. Glaciers polish and groove many blocks of rock which find their way into these ice masses. Ice, formed on the shores of a frigid sea, and inclosing within it frag- ments of rock covering the margin of the shore, does not pos- sess the same polishing and grooving influence. It acts, in a great measure, only as a raft for mineral matter when it be- comes broken up, transporting either angular or rounded frag- ments, which may become embedded in it, to localities where the heat possesses sufficient power to dissolve these ice-rafts, scattering their contents on the bed of the sea, or, when these rafts became stranded, on shores. From these circumstances it will be seen that the absence of polished surfaces, or of grooves and striz, by no means militates against the theory of ice transport, as applied to the breccias of Shropshire and * Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc., vol. xi., p. 185, et seg. 106 Dr T. Strethill Wright’s Worcestershire by Professor Ramsay ; since the prevalence of similar conditions, only slightly modified, would give rise to results in some respects different from those upon which Pro- fessor Ramsay has based his conclusions. The angularity of the fragments of the Dumfriesshire breccias, and the circum- stance that in some instances these fragments have been de- rived from distant localities, must be regarded as features sufficient to induce us to seek for the agency of that power which, so far as we know, is alone capable of transporting fragments without depriving them of their angular nature. There are other features in connection with these breccias which appear to support this influence. In the lower portion of these rocks, where they are seen coming in contact with the underlying sandstones, the breccias often exhibit an abrupt commencement, such as would result from the stranding of an ice-raft bearing fragments of rock on a sandy shore.* Some of the sandstones which overlie the breccias also mani- fest some features in support of this conclusion. Sometimes, in these, we have detached angular blocks lying in the midst of the stratum of these sandstones in the same manner as we have masses of rock occurring in the boulder clays. The several circumstances, therefore, which we find in con- nection with these breccias of the vale of the Nith, justify the inference of Professor Ramsay as to the prevalence of arctic conditions during the Permian period. Observations on British Zoophytes. By T. STRETHILL Wricut, M.D., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh.t Description of Plates. PLATE I. Atractylis and Eudendrium. 1. Medusoid of Atractylis ramosa. 2. Same at third month developed into Bougainvillea Britannica. 8. Tentacle of peduncle of do. further enlarged. 4. Atractylis repens. 5. Medusoid of do. * Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc,, vol. vi., p. 394. + Communicated to the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, April 28, 1858. Observations on British Zoophytes. 107 PLATE II, Fig. 1. Male polyp of Z. rameum with double sperm sacs—a, b, ectoderm of un- ripe sperm sacs—e, process of endoderm—d, ripe sperm sac with spermatozoa, endoderm absorbed. 2. Female polyp of Z. ramewm—a, ovarian sac containing single ovum ¢ surrounded by ¢, c, process of endoderm, On Atractylis (new genus). - On a former occasion I read to the Society a description of two Hydroid Zoophytes, which I placed in the genus Huden- drium, on account of the similarity which their polyps bore to those of the Hudendrium ramosum of Van Beneden (‘ Me- moirs of Brussels Academy, vol. xvii., Plate [V.”), the Tubu- laria ramosa of Dalyell, although at that time I doubted, with Johnston (“ British Zoophytes,” vol. i. p. 47), whether Van Beneden’s zoophyte did not belong to a distinct genus. Since the publication of my paper, I have received the opinion of two of our most eminent authors, that my zoophytes were not Eudendria, and have been requested to place them in a new genus. The Hudendrium ramosum of Van Beneden, and Eudendria repens, and sessile, described by myself, differ from the Ludendrium ramosum of Johnston, in having their polyps destitute of the cup-shaped proboscis, the body fusiform in- stead of globular, and in the absence of the very large and dis- tinctive thread-cells which occur on the body and within the polypary of Eudendrium. I can discover no other permanent difference between Eudendrium and Atractylis (drguxrvAls, from a&rgaxros, a spindle), as I propose to call the first-named zoophytes. Itis true, that nothing can be more dissimilar than the large-branched Eudendria rameum and ramosum, with their globular bodies, opaque from the excessive deposit of red 4 granules in the endoderm, and the delicate polyps of the 4 smaller species of Atractylis; but I have on more than one oc- q casion observed an equally minute creeping species of Euden- drium, which could only be identified as belonging to the latter genus by the shape of its proboscis and thread-cells. The last systematic writer on zoophytes, Mr Gosse, describes Eudendrium as “Inclosed; Corallum fibrous, rooted, erect, branching ; Polyps protruding from tips of the branches, not retractile.” This description is, however, incorrect and in- 108 Dr T. Strethill Wright's sufficient, as it does not notice the proboscis, and moreover, Eudendrium is not uniformly erect or branched. The repro- ductive system is also unnoticed. The following description will, I believe, give the characters of the genus :— Eudendrium.—Polypary sheathed, creeping, or erect and branched. Polyps not retractile, globular, fleshy, with an alternating row of nume- rous filiform tentacles; proboscis cup-shaped, fleshy ; endoderm of body dark; thread-cells on tentacles minute, on body large, bean-shaped, containing simple style apparent. Diccious. Ovaries single sacs, de- veloped from polyps or polypary. Spermaries arranged in moniliform series on pedicles, which arise beneath tentacles of polyps, or on separate stalks from the polypary.* The characters of Atractylis are :— Atractylis.—Polypary sheathed, creeping, erect, or branched. Polyps fusiform, incompletely retractile, with transparent filiform alternating tentacles (mouth closed by a dense muscular ring). Thread-cells incon- spicuous. Reproduction by medusoids. Atractylis ramosa (Van Beneden, Dalyell).—Polypary sheathed, erect, and branching ; stem composed of many minute sub-parallel tubes ; ends of branches dilated. Medusoids springing from branches and polyps; umbrella sub-globose; peduncle with four undivided capitate tentacles ; -marginal tentacles eight, in four pairs, each pair springing from a bulb having two eye-specks; auditory sacs absent.t * Note on the reproduction of H. rameum.—Mr Alder, in his ‘‘ Catalogue of Zoophytes of Northumberland and Durham,” says, “ according to Sir J. Dalyell the reproductive capsules of this species are of two kinds (probably sperm and ovicapsules). Those I have met with form a cluster round the base of the ten- tacles, and are arranged in a linear or moniliform series, two or three on each pedicle.” The double sperm sac consists of two ectodermic sacs placed end to end (Plate IL., fig. 1, a, b), permeated by a tubular process of endoderm (c), and containing the spermatic gelatinous plasma. As the spermatozoa first ripen in the distal sac (d), the endoderm in that sac is absorbed and withdrawn. The same process afterwards takes place in the proximal sac (e). The ovarian sac (fig. 2, a), contains a single yellow ovum-(b), which at an early stage is encircled by a looped tubular process of the endoderm (c); subsequently this loop is ab- sorbed, and the ovum becomes a ciliated larva filling the sac. Its further change has been described by Dalyell. t Note on the development of Bourgainvillea Britannica from Atractylis ra- mosa.—In August last I found Atractylis ramosa growing in great profusion.on the Bimer Rock and on Inchgarvie, both near Queensferry, Firth of Forth. When taken, the specimens were in high condition, each branchlet possessing its terminal polyp; but after being kept in one of my tanks for a few days, I found that a great change had taken place; the polyps wefe all absorbed, or undergoing the process of absorption, and in their place, and also from the branches themselves, a great number of medusa buds were put forth, which zs 3 Z. oon . casi a ra aa cae Observations on British Zoophytes. 109 Atractylis repens (mihi).—Polypary creeping, sheathed; polyp-stalks erect, single, or bifurcate (wrinkled); ends of stalks dilated or not. Medu- soids springing from polyp stalks, mitre-shaped; peduncle quadrangular ; tentacles four, two very long, two rudimentary. Eye-spots and auditory sacs absent. Atractylis sessilis (mihi).— Polyps sessile on creeping polypary, or searcely stalked, sheathed up to the tentacles. Medusoids developed from creeping fibre, similar in shape to those of Atractylis repens, were rapidly developed into the Medusa ocilia of Dalyell. The zoophyte had in fact assumed its reproductive phase. It had changed from a creeping hydra- bearing zoophyte, to a multitude of free and actively swimming medusew. It is well known that the Aphis, as long as its pasture is good and the weather is fine, will produce a continued succession of wingless and sexless individuals by internal gemmation. It will continue its phase of nutrition. But should its circumstances fall adverse—should Flora and Jove become unpropitious—then it undergoes its last change, and becomes a winged and egg-bearing creature. It assumes its phase of reproduction. So the gluttonous caterpillar, taken yet unsatisfied from his cabbage leaf and shut up in a box, becomes prematurely a chrysalis. And so, too, the medusa-bearing zoophytes, exchanging the open sea for the confined water and poor fare of g tank, become, so to speak, winged meduse, and, instead of a continued succession of polyps, produce eggs. The medusa of Atractylis ramosa, when first given off from the zoophyte, is identical with the Medusa ocilia of Dalyell. The orange-coloured alimentary polyp or peduncle has four unbranched tentacles, capitate at their extremities with bundles of thread-cells. The orange tentacular polyps are each furnished with two tentacles, and a black eye-speck at the root of each tentacle, In this stage a large number, then about a month old, were brought to Edinburgh. They fed on the minute Entomostracea (which swarmed in the tank), with avidity, and increased in size. But, to my surprise, I found that a further de- velopment was taking place in them. The tentacles of the alimentary polyp (peduncle) became first once, and afterwards twice, dichotomously divided, and each of the tentacular polyps put forth additional successive tentacles, until the greatest number observed amounted to six, each additional tentacle being accom- panied by an additional eye-speck at its root. At the same time, genital lobes were developed, springing from the peduncle, which passed for a short distance along the lateral canals of the sub-umbrella, and ultimately contained sper- matozoa. In other specimens, given off by Atractylis ramosa in the spring, but which never arrived at so late a stage of development, ova were found situated in four masses within the walls of the peduncle. This medusa, at its latest stage of development observed by me, bears a strong resemblance to the Hip- pocrene or Bourgainvillea cruciata of Forbes, and also to his Bourgainvillea Britannica, which 1 am disposed to consider as different sexes and stages of development of the same medusa. I am the more emboldened to hold this opinion, as Professor E. Forbes has already considered the Medusa duodecilia of Dalyell (which represents, as I have observed, one of the stages of that I am now describing) the same with his Bourgainvillea Britannica. (Monograph of British Naked-cyed Meduse, p. 68.)—WNov. 22, 1858. 110 Dr T. Strethill Wright’s On the fixed Medusoids of Laomedea dichotoma. Description of Plate. PLATE II. Fig. 3. Summit of reproductive capsule (female) of L. dichotoma—a, four- lobed endodermal or nutritive process of ovarian sac—b, ectoderm of do.—d, umbrella or marsupium—, ectoderm of ovary ruptured, ova having escaped into the cavity of the marsupium. 4, Summit of male reproductive capsule of L. dichotoma. 5. Alimentary polyp of Siphonophorous Zoophyte (Agalmopsis punctata), and 6. Tentacular polyp of same, compared with 7 and 8. The same organs in Sarsia. 9. False medusoid (ovary with rudimentary umbrella) of Hippopodius Neapolitanus (Kélliker). 10. False free medusoid of Diphyes (Huxley). 11, 12,13, 14. Development of false medusoid or marsupium in Sertularia fallaz. Under the title of Laomedea dichotoma, Johnston has de- scribed as varieties two very distinct zoophytes. One (the Sea- thread Coralline, Ellis, Corgll. 21; No. 18, Plate XIL., fig. a, A), a magnificent production, attains a height of twenty-four inches, its slender stem and branches hidden by thousands of snowy polyps, the whole forming a pyramidal mass, which sways to and fro with every movement of the waves; while from the axille of the branches the reproductive cells pour forth shoals of flapping medusoids, which fill the water around with a cloud of living beings. Many of these beautiful trees are joined together by anastomosing lines of creeping fibres, which wander over the rocks, and unite them as a single living being. The other variety (the Sea-thread Coralline of Ellis, plate xxxviii.) is very different from the last. It is a shrubby Zoophyte, of robust habit, the imperfect medusoids of which remain fixed to the top of the reproductive cells, where they serve as marsupial pouches for the development of the ova. The reproductive cells are developed from the axille of the branches, and are at first traversed by a fleshy column, which occupies the axis of the cell, and, being dilated at its summit, closes the orifice. This column differs in no respect from the ordinary alimentary polyp at an early stage of development, and must be considered as a polyp in which development has been arrested, in order to render it subservient to the func- tion of reproduction. Observations on British Zoophytes. 111 In the female (Plate II., fig. 3) we find a number of sacs developed from the reproductive polyp, each of which consists of,—Ist, An ovarian sac formed of two layers, a four-lobed endodermal process or layer (a), and an ectodermal layer (6), between which are contained one or moré ova; and 2dly, Of an investing capsule, which becomes converted into the umbrella, with lateral canals and tentacles of an imperfect medusoid (d), of which the ovarian sac is the peduncle. After the medusoid has issued from the top of the cell, the ova still remain in the peduncle or ovarian sac, but the outer membrane or ectoderm of the sac presently bursts (e), and the ova are discharged into the umbrella of the medusoid (f). There they become developed into ciliated larve, and are afterwards discharged, to swim away, and, after attaching themselves, become trans- formed into arborescent zoophytes. The male capsules (fig. 4, first described by Lister) resemble those of the female, but the medusoid is in a still more rudi- mentary state. Its tentacles are very short and few in num- ber, the lateral canals are not to be detected (Schultze and myself), and the peduncle and umbrella are imperfectly differ- entiated. The reproduction in this zoophyte has been already described by Lister, Loven, and Schultze, but the anatomy of the differ- ent parts has not been well distinguished. I have brought this subject before the Society to point out the distinction between the ovarian sac and the other parts of the medusoid, organs which have been lately confounded together by Professor Allman in his papers on the Reproduction of Zoophytes, and as to the homology of which he appears to me to have arrived at inaccurate conclusions. Wherever the medusoid form of generation exists, the umbrella, with its canals, will always be found not homologous with, but superadded parts to, the ovary ; which last, when single, as in the present instance, represents the peduncle of the medusa. Where several ovaries exist, as Ihave shown in Campanularia Johnstoni, and shall show in Laomedea geniculata, these organs are developed from the lateral canals, distinct both from peduncle and umbrella, or as bands between the tissues of the peduncle. The umbrella of a completely developed gymnopthalmatous 112 Dr T. Strethill Wright’s . medusoid, with its canals, is the homologue of the swimming organ of the Siphonophora. The Siphonophora are compound meduse of the gymnopthalmatous type, in which an aggrega- tion of peduncles (alimentary polyps), tentacles with their bulbs (tentacular polyps), and reproductive polyps, are joined together by a tubular polypary, the whole being buoyed up, as in Forskalia Edwardsii (Kolliker), by a swimming organ composed of numerous conjoined umbrellas, each with four lateral canals. In this animal the umbrellas are altogether segregated from the ovaries. In Hippopodius Neapolitanus and others, in addition to the common swimming organ, each ovary is associated with a minute rudimentary umbrella, as in fig. 9. In Diphyes, again, the ovary (fig. 10), furnished with a large umbrella, a serviceable swimming apparatus, becomes freed from the polypary, and floats away as a locomotive re- productive organ, like the Hectocotylus of the Cephalopod. So, also, the fixed false medusoid of C. dichotoma is nothing more than an ovary with an umbrella, which last, however, exercises—not the function of a swimming organ, but rather, as does the gelatinous envelop secreted by the ovarian sacs of Sertularia pumila, Laomedea lacerata, &. (see p. 113)—that of a marsupium. We have another instance of an umbrella-shaped sac being employed as a marsupial chamber in the reproductive cell of Sertularia fallax. In this zoophyte (as I described to the Society, April 1857) the summit of the ovary puts forth four thick lobes, consisting of endoderm and ectoderm covered by corallum ; these are gradually developed (as shown in Plate IT., figs. 11, 12, and 13,) until they form an umbrella with four or eight canals, (as in fig.14.) The ova, after leaving the ovary, are received into the cavity of the umbrella, which, on their attaining a more ma- ture stage, opens at the top, and allows them free exit. On the Reproductive organs of Laomedea geniculata. PLATE II. Fig. 15. Medusoid of Laomedea geniculata—a, ovaries. On a former occasion I described the existence of ovaries ~ “ 'd ee B: i rt e J re : i 4 ie £ & P Observations on British Zoophytes. 113 and ova in the lateral canals of Campanularia Johnstoni, and the production of the young zoophytes. On examining, in like manner, the medusoids of L. geniculata, immediately after their exit from the capsule, I discovered their ovaries with the contained ova. In some of the medusoids the ovaries were situated in close proximity to the peduncle, in others, midway between the peduncle and the marginal canal (as at fig. 15). Laomedea lacerata. Description of Plate IiI. Fig. 1. Male polypary, with polyps and sperm-cells—a, unripe sperm sac— b, ripe do. 2. Unripe ovarian cell—a, reproductive polyp—t, sac inclosing ovary—e endoderm of ovary—d, ectoderm of do. 3. Ripe ovarian cell, ovary emerging from top of cell and enveloped in gelatinous marsupium. This zoophyte was described by Johnston (“ British Zoo- phytes,” 2d edition), under the title of Campanularia lace- rata, as having “ cells on short stalks, ovato-conical, the upper half cleft in six lanceolate segments,” the cells arising from a creeping tube. In August 1852 (‘* Annals of Nat. Hist.’”’), the Rey. T. Hincks removed it from the genus Campanularia to that of Laomedea, and described it as follows :—* Stem fili- form, ringed throughout; cells on short pedicles, ovato-conical, the upper portion divided into a number of deep convergent segments.” He stated that the stems, which did not exceed the sixteenth of an inch in height, rose from a creeping fibre, and bore their cells on pedicles composed of four or five rings, somewhat irregularly disposed. And further, that this Lao- medea, in its young state, was identical with C. lacerata of Johnston. He had not observed its mode of reproduc- tion. Mr Hincks’ description, also, is taken from an imma- ture state of the zoophyte. L. lacerata may be found in‘pro- fusion at Morrison’s Haven, Firth of Forth. It attains a height of an inch and a quarter, slender and lax, but is gene- rally about half an inch high, and bushy. Both varieties are covered with ovarian or spermatic cells in the spring. Plate IIL, fig. 1, exhibits a male specimen taken with the Camera lucida. The polyps resemble in shape those of C. syringa, NEW SERIES.—VOL, IX. NO. I.—Jan, 1859. i 114 Observations on British Zoophytes. have fourteen to sixteen alternating tentacles, and are capable of extending themselves to more than twice the length of the cell. The reproductive cells are ovate, and are shortly pedicled, like the alimentary polyp cells, of which I consider them an in-development-arrested form. Each reproductive cell grows in close proximity to a polyp cell. The female cell (fig. 2.) consist of a reproductive polyp (a), from the side of which buds a single ovarian sac inclosed within a layer of the ectoderm (b) of the polyp. The endo- derm of the ovary (c) is branched or lobed, and is moulded, as it were, on and between the ova which lie between it and the ectoderm of the ovary (d). As development proceeds, the ova- rian sac (its endodermic lobes having been previously ab- sorbed) rises up to, and issues from, the top of the cell (fig. 3), and becomes surrounded by a thick gelatinous mass, secreted from the surface of the ectoderm. The ectoderm of the ovary now bursts, leaving the ova in the gelatinous marsupium, where, as in Sertularia pumila, &c., they become developed into ciliated larve. The male cell resembles the female cell. Instead of an ovary, a spermatic sac buds from the reproductive polyp. At first a transparent gelatinous plasma is secreted between the branched endoderm and the ectoderm, as at (a), fig. 1. In this plasma the spermatic cells, and subsequently spermatozoa, are developed. Meantime, the sperm-sac rises to the top of the cell, is extruded (5), and bursts. 115 REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS. Blick péi Ethnologiens nirvarande Stéindpunkt, med af- seende pd Formen af Hufvudskilens Benstomme. Af ANDERS Rerzius. Christiania, 1857. View of the Present State of Ethnology, in reference to the Forms of the Skull. By ANpERS RETztvs. The particular form of the skull has for some time been a recognised basis of distinction among the different races of men, by ethnologists. Among the most zealous students of this special physical feature is the distinguished Professor of Anatomy at the Carolinska Institute of Stockholm, Anders Retzius. About the year 1844, he laid before the meeting of Scandinavian naturalists assembled in that city, his proposal for arranging human races in four orders. His two chief divisions were into Dolichocephalic people, or those having long heads; and Brachycephalic people, or those having short heads. And, under each of these chief divi- sions he ranged a double subordinate one, according to the up- tightness of the jaws or face, or the projection of the jaws; naming the first class Orthognathous, and the second Progna- Retzius’s investigations of this subject by travel and observa- tion, and his study of skulls, both at home and abroad, have been diligently pursued ever since. And at the meeting of the same Society at Christiania, in 1856, he was prepared to elaborate his views upon this simple method in the paper the title of which is given above, In this sketch he briefly arranges the nations of Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and America, according to the principles above mentioned. All European people are orthognathous, or free from projecting jaws. The Germanic nations, in which he includes the Scandinavians, the Normans of France and England, the Dutch, Flemings, Burgundians, Germans, Franks, Anglo-Saxons, and Goths of Italy and Spain ; and the Celtic nations, which are made to embrace the Celts of Scotland, Ireland, and England, the Walloons, the Gauls of France, Switzerland, Germany, &c., the Romans, and the old Greeks and their descendants, he places among the Dolichocephali. The whole of these nations it will be observed belong to Western Europe. On the contrary, he arranges the nations of Eastern, and portions of Northern Europe among his Brachycephali. Among these he includes the people who have been denominated Ugrians, or the Samieides, Lapps, Voguls, Ostiaks, Permians, Votiaks, Tcheremis, Morduins, Tchuvatch, H 2 RS LIL TS wn 116 Reviews and Notices of Books. Magyars, and Finns; the Turks, the Sclavonic nations, and the Letts, Albanians, Etruscans, Rhetians, and Basques. To place the Romans and Greeks among Celtic people, it will be perceived, is an unusual arrangement. In a former memoir on the round, brachycephalic skull-form of the Greeks, Retzius had concluded that this was the proper shape of the Greek head; although he observed, that the Belvedere Apollo presented an oval head with projecting occiput, and expressed the opinion then that the latter—the long oval form—nevertheless belonged to the Greeks. He now regards it still as of only occasional occurrence, and never to have belonged to the greater number of the nation, which he notwithstanding arranges amongst his dolichocephalic Europeans. That the Turks, the Russians, Poles, and other Sclavonic people have short lofty heads may be said to be more or less well known, and to have been confirmed by the most accurate observers, as the learned Professor of Zoology at Leyden, J. Van der Hoeven. The oriental position of the Greeks would make them an excep- tion to the general distinction above mentioned, between the nations of Western and Eastern Europe, were the majority of them dolichocephalic. Whatever may be said of the classification of the Romans and Greeks among Celtic nations, we think it pro- bable that the Greek skull will be found to be generally short ; whether the Celtic skull itself can be properly included among doli- cocephalic crania or not. We may obeserve, en passant, that it would be difficult to account, in a rational and satisfactory manner, by any influence of climate or other secondary causes, for this dif- ference in the form of the head in people placed so near to each other as the Germanic and Sclavonic races, or other similar instances. The cause of such an essential difference is clearly radical and primary. Of the Asiatic skull-forms Professor Retzius makes the Hindoos, the Arian Persians, the Arabs and Jews (all orthognathous), and the Tungusians and Chinese (both prognathous) to be dolichocephalic. Whilst the Ugrians and Turks of Asia, the people of the Cau- easus, the Turkmans, Affghans, Tartars, Mandchu-Tartars and Mongols, both of Asiatic-Russia and Mongola, who are all prog- nathous, except the three first, he classifies as brachyeephali. This separation of the Chinese and Tungusians from the Mon- gols and Tartars, based upon skull-forms, is one of the peculiari- ties of the author, and is deserving of attention. According to this representation of Retzius, the people of the southern parts of the Asiatic continent are dolichocephalic, whilst the brachy- cephalic Asiatics are more generally distributed. He says, that in Asia as well as in Europe, the brachycephali are most nume- rous, but with this difference, that the Asiatic brachycephali are mostly prognathous. Reviews and Notices of Books. 117 With respect to Australian skull-forms, Retzius makes up his division of Australian dolichocephali of the Austral negroes alone, who are wholly prognathous. His brachycephalic Austra- lians, likewise wholly prognathous, embrace the Malays, the Poly- nesians, and the Papuans. The African nations, we are assured by the author, are wholly dolichocephalic. This is an extension of the view given by Pro- ‘fessor J. Van der Hoeven, in his “Natural History of the Negro Race,” in many respects the most complete work yet written on any distinct people, and worthy to be regarded as a model of ethnographic research. He dwells especially on the lateral flat- ness of the Negro head, and its elongation backwards, as its most distinguishing characteristics.* Whether that more thorough and complete investigation of African skulls, which we may rea- sonably expect to result from the great extension of discovery in that quarter of the globe, will leave them all in the category of dolichocephalic, seems at present to deserve to be regarded as some- what dubious. Perhaps the most important portion of this treatise of Professor Retzius is that which refers to the American races. The dis- tinguished American craniological ethnographer, the late Professor Morton, laid it down almost as an axiom, that the aborigines of America, from one end of the continent to the other, greatly re- sembled each other, and were distinguished,amongst other features, ‘by elevation of the head in the vertical region, with flatness of the occiput, producing a roundness in the skull. Still Morton admitted that the nations east of the Alleghanies, and some others, had the head more elongated than other Americans.* The further researches of Retzius have led him to the conclusion, that the short round head, described by Morton, is more limited in its occurrence ; and that the dolichocephalic form is that which prevails in the Islands of the Carribean Sea, and in the eastern regions of the great American continent, from its highest northern limits to Uruguay and Paruguay. k Reizius here mentions that, in examining the collection of skulls at Stockholm, he has often been struck with the resemblance be- tween those of the Guanches and Copts of the one side of the Atlantic, and those of the Guaranis of Brazil on the other. Besides alluding to the likeness of skull-forms in the ancient inhabitants of the Canary Islands and the Guaranis, whom he regards as allied to the former Caribs of the Antilles, he mentions the reddish- ‘brown colour of the skin, like brownish-tanned leather, common to those races of the opposite sides of the Atlantic, and the simi- * Bijdragen tot de Natuurlijke Geschiedenis van den Negerstam, 1842, bl. 23, 24, t Crania Americana, 1839, p. 65. 118 Reviews and Notices of Books. larity of their straight hair,* from which he infers a great agree- ment of features and make. On these grounds he suggests a probable alliance between the people inhabiting the opposite sides of the Atlantic. Craniography is yet very far from being esta- blished on such strict and distinct grounds as to prevent hypo- thetical conjectures like this. The author’s impression, derived from craniological observations, that the Highlanders of Scotland are descended from the Finns or the Basques, we may probably be allowed to regard as another flight of fancy, worthy of the alchemical age of ethnology. Mr Skene has, to the satisfaction of most inquirers, succeeded in referring the Highlanders to the Cruithne, or northern Picts, on reliable grounds. To derive them from either Finns or Basques, through such an ancestry, must, besides involving a great amount of vague hypothesis, have the inconvenience of a large mixture of doubt and uncertainty. We allude of course to the conjectures of Arndt, Rask, Keyser, and others. The mere fact that the Highlanders have brachycephalic heads, a remarkably short, broad face, red hair, and a freckled countenance,—if these characters were general, which is to be questioned, would almost equally ally them with other brachy- cephalic races of Europe or Asia. And here we are pressed with the question, What is the true value of craniological evidence? We are disposed to doubt whether cranial investigations have hitherto been carried out extensively enough, and in a sufficiently philosophical spirit, to determine this question. Still, we are far from being willing to undervalue their importance, when we express the opinion that they have frequently been employed to decide questions out of the compass of their teachings. We are even bold enough to believe that we should not derogate from their true value, were we to point out the extravagant pretensions they have been made to assume in some hands, far less judicious than those of our author. * The colour and structure of the hair of the American nations has been con- sidered to be uniform, with very few exceptions; the occurrence of grey hair among the Mandans being the most striking of these exceptions. The black, coarse, and lank or straight hair of the American races may be said to be uni- versal, Dr P. A. Browne attributes its properties to its cylindrical shape. (“ Trichologia Mammalium,” 1853, p. 63.) That of the Guanche mummies has also been described more than once as black and long; yet, in the Chronicles of the Conquest of the Canaries, the colour of the skin of the inhabitants of the greater parts of the islands of the western group, which Berthelot regards as of the dominant Guanche type, is described as moderately white, and that of the hair as fair, reddish, or red (cabellos rubios, rojos, dorados) ; and Berthelot informs us, that nearly all the Guanche mummies he had examined had hair more or less red (“ Ethnografia y Anales de la Conquista de las Ilas Canarias, Santa Cruz de Teneriffe,” 1849, p. 239.) The hair of a mummy derived from a cave at Taraconte in Teneriffe, in the possession of the writer, confirms this statement. It is what is called auburn, a reddish brown, without any predo- minance of red. Exactly the same colour appertains to that’on the skull of a Guanche mummy contained in the Museum of the Anatomical Cabinet at Leyden. % o a ee “arity rere Grin D ’ staves Sera em oa aos, red — ' me, | * Reviews and Notices of Books. 119 The human skull is the receptacle of that great mass of brain, which is the truest exponent of man’s superiority over all other creatures. It contains that organization which not only distin- guishes him from and exalts him over all other animals, but which characterizes and particularizes him, in himself, as a con- scious, intelligent, moral being, extending his aspirations over the whole universe, and all time, past and future. In whatever way this mass of nervous structure may be allied to man’s highest powers, observation has taught the closeness of this alliance ; and, even speaking generally and referring to races, that the special manifestation of intellect, which we will call civilizibility, is inti- mately associated with the particular development of this nervous mass. We mean that, as civilizibility, or the inherent power of improvement, is different, not only in degree but in kind also, in different races, so likewise the mass and form of the brain, pari passu, differ in the same degree. To take an extreme case, and premising that the skull is a pretty true representative of the diversity of size and shape of the brain, we cannot well compare the fine, large, oval, smooth, equably-developed skull of an English- man (or of Apollo or Minerva, if we defer to M. Courtet de L’Isle’s principle of beauty),* and the small, rugged, low-browed, ugly skull of an Australian, without the inference, that we have under our eyes the real and essential difference between the people them- selves—that which points out the one to be inherently capable of the highest intellectual and moral cultivation, and the other to pos- sess no such capability; or, we might say, occasions his gradual, but rapid and inevitable extinction when he comes into the pre- sence of the former, even where the greatest pains are taken to prevent what we cannot avoid regarding as a sad calamity. When we meet with a pretty similar low development in other equally savage races, and find that, as we ascend through races of higher powers, and evolving a more lofty civilization, we perceive a more and more close approximation in skull-forms to those of Europeans, we are satisfied that our former conclusion is correct. We therefore see that we have in this diversity of skull-form, if it can be rightly interpreted, a key to the discrimination of the most inherent and essential differences amongst human races. The study of skull-forms is probably the most valuable and as- sured means of discerning the diversities that exist among the races of men, and of determining their relations. The mode of study, which deals with the most especial characteristic of man, his nervous organization, as a first element of arrangement, need not restrict itself to this. Other physical characters, his moral and psychical phenomena, and the tongues he speaks, as an expres- *“ Pableau Ethnographique du Genre Humain,”’ 1849. An essay of extra- ordinary merit. 120 Reviews and Notices of Books. sion of these latter, may all be taken into account, and will all be required for subordinate elements. And by this means only can we arrive at any adequate and comprehensive system of the natural history of man. In this department of natural history, such is the teeming fer- tility we behold in the works of creation, such the almost unlimited diversity, that we are at first perplexed and lost in the profusion. And it is only after a well-selected and well-digested method that we can attain that largeness of view which will enable us to esti- mate the subordinate features of diversity at their proper value, as less significant features. Even then, and after every elaboration, it is believed the most perfect system will fail to reduce every indi- vidual to his place ; the most perfect system—a work of human art—will not reach and embrace all the height and depth of erea- tion. Every system must make up its account to admit of this seeming playfulness in creation—for the diversity of form which exists in every distinct race and even family of men. Diversity, within certain bounds, seems to be a rule of creation; and it is only by a judicious selection that we can attain to the proper elements of arrangement—those which touch a large number of individuals without constraining them to a rigid uniformity. Again, this apparent law of variation, within certain limits, cannot be sup- posed to be a result of deviation or degeneration from the original, as we behold in the relics of the oldest races,—the ancient Egyp- tians, the ancient Britons, and others,—that the same diversity, within moderate limits, always prevailed. As a first element of cranial arrangement, there cannot be a doubt that the one fixed upon by Professor Retzius is the sim- plest and most comprehensive. The students of anthropology must be grateful to this learned anatomist for his patient and per- severing researches, which tend to divide mankind into two great orders, the Dolichocephali and the Brachycephali. Admitting that arrangements of this kind must not be interpreted too strictly, that exceptions and varieties are scattered more or less through all races, we must allow that this is the first right step in, what we think will be found to be, the natural arrangement of the races of men. Hasty deductions, from the facts brought to light by this me- thod of Retzius, are to be guarded against. They inevitably re- duce this, which we call the natural system, to the level of the wild speculations on coincidences which have rendered the labo- rious efforts of philologists so futile and unsatisfactory. What shall we say of the view of our author, for which he admits he has only slight grounds, based upon a resemblance which he con- siders he perceives between the skulls of the Esquimaux and the Chinese, that the race to which the Esquimaux belong not only constitutes the Polar race of North America, but extends itself in Reviews and Notices of Books. 121 a thin distribution over the islands of the Polar Sea and in the northern parts of America, from west to east, over Asia to China, and there constitutes the proper Chinese population, which he allows can scarcely be separated from the Tartar-Chinese? This, we suppose, is in allusion to his peculiar ideas by which he sepa- rates the Tunguse and Chinese, as dolichocephali, from the Mand- chu Tartars and Mongols, who are brachycephali. A more care- ful discrimination will surely result in pointing out essential dif- ferences between the very diversified races thus considered to be an extension of one and thesame. Indeed, we believe skull-forms alone would be sufficient for this end, if we shut our eyes to the other physical characters of these various peoples, and took no & account whatever of their diverse civilizibilities, which leads us to r remark that this study of skull-forms must not become too ex- f clusive—must not overlook the results of that organisation which Be it takes for its base. Whilst it is, we believe, to be justly con- a sidered the prime element of a natural arrangement, it is not the only element, and must not, we suggest, be allowed to carry us to the point of allying such diversified beings as the short, ice-bound, carnivorous Esquimaux, and the fine cosmopolite and enterpris- ing Chinese, the originator of a civilisation even exalted, the fea- tures of which are probably the most singular and special of any of which we have any knowledge. In a note appended to this communication, upon the curious subject of the artificial deformation of the skull, a subject which has been frequently and well elucidated before by Professor Ret- zius himself, he appears to consider that the custom has origi- nated with the Mongols of Asia, been actually carried to America by these people themselves (whom he is pleased to designate “ American Mongols,” after Dr Latham, as if names were things), and then been spread over the “non-Mongolic” races of Ame- rica, for whom Dr Latham has equally coined another designa- tion, “‘ American Semites.”” The excellent Stockholm Professor E may obtain countenance for things equally strange, and having g bases equally slender, from the scholars of various European g countries. Still, we cannot help asking ourselves, whether such violent assumptions and liberties taken upon paper with ancient races, to all appearance as distinct in all their characters as in their places of habitation, can be reconciled with true philosophy, or be promotive of the real progress of science? If the Flat- head of the Columbia River practises the custom of deforming the head of his infant, by what necessity has this custom been imported into the regions of North America? No necessity for such importation can be induced by designating him, in pleasant drollery, an American Mongol. Are we constrained to suppose that he has not mind enough to invent such a practice of enhanc- ing himself in the eyes of the fashionables of his tribe? Or is the 122 Reviews and Notices of Books. custom itself so recondite, involving such a singular combination of efficient causes, that it could only be invented once upon earth, amid the countless races of man, in the long lapse of ages since he first appeared on the globe? Would not a sounder philosophy resolve the problem in a simpler manner, by referring this and all similar customs to a sentiment common to the human family of all races and all climes—the vanity of distinction—seen in the Boulevards of Paris and Broadway of New York, as well as among the Australian tribes, among whom it presents itself in the form of front teeth knocked out, and wheals of different patterns raised on the breast and on the arms ; seen also in the tattooing of the New Zealander, and the patterned skin-stains of the Sandwich islander? To leave out of notice the multitudinous ways in which the same feeling presents itself in all Europe of the present day, we would add—seen as clearly in the ingenious devices by which the six or eight letters of a man’s name are tortured into diversity to devise a special spelling by which all the ‘‘ Smyths” of future generations may be distinguished. Again, if there be in the nature of things a necessity which we cannot perceive, for this strange disfiguring custom having been invented in one spot and by one race, what reason can be given by M. Thierry, or any historian, why it should have been invented by Mongol nations, rather than by his own countrymen in the south of France, among whom the custom has prevailed for ages. A sound philosophy appears to us to make short work with these riddles of ethnology, and we surely can- not err in interpreting them by the help of such a key, where the mouth of history is permanently closed. How far the study of skull-forms can be carried, and by what means and to what extent the secondary skull-forms can be dis- criminated—those forms, for instance, which distinguish the differ- ent families of the dolichocephali and the brachycephali of Europe, who, we must recollect, are both admitted by Retzius to be or- thognathous, have not yet been fully determined, probably because these diversities themselves have not yet been adequately studied in a right spirit. Further investigations will decide the true ex- tent of the applicability of this method, will point out its imper- fections, and the best means by which these can be compensated. We do not expect that the simple method of Retzius will solve all problems, and suflice for all adequate arrangements, or, indeed, can do more than afford the first element of a true method. Nor do we doubt that there are other and sufficient materials for a satis- factory arrangement of all the very various races of mankind. Even if we go no further than the organization of the head, there are many elements of form to be studied besides those chosen by Retzius. ‘The various proportions in the brain-case have all, doubtless, their value, without our being under any necessity to estimate that value by the organography of Gall. And, besides Reviews and Notices of Books. 123 the numerous well recognised forms which serve to distinguish different races, other combinations will be perceived by further research. Especially if we embrace, which we ought to do, in the investigation of skull-forms, the bony frame-work of the whole head, both calvarium or brain-case, and face. In Retzius’s system the importance of the conformation of the face is fully recognised. The phrenologists have been almost wholly absorbed in the observation of the brain-case. That older sect, the physiognomists, allowed themselves to be more especially occupied with the face, its vari- ous distinct features, and their expressions. A rational observer will very properly direct his attention to both classes of features. The one is made by nature, in some measure subordinate to the other, but both are worthy of becoming objects of study in an enlightened system of craniography, which will thus be made to combine all that is useful, in both phrenology and physiognomy, of the methods of Gall and Lavater. We feel deeply thankful to Professor A. Retzius for this clear exposition of his system, and greatly admire the courteous and generous manner in which he appreciates the aid and contribu- tions of every coadjutor. If, in giving an account of this system, we have found occasion to differ from some of his views and posi- tions, we feel that we must always offer objections to such an observer with profound respect, and in a spirit of becoming hu- mility. A Manual of Qualitative Chemical Analysis. By A. BEau- CHAMP NortTHcoTE, F.C.S., Demonstrator to the Professor of Chemistry at Oxford, late Senior Assistant in the Royal College of Chemistry, London; and ARTHUR H. CuuRcH, F.C.S. of Lincoln College, Oxford, late Assistant to Pro- fessor Brodie (Van Voorst). The appearance of this excellent manual is well timed. Now that chemists are beginning to use the notation of the late deeply lamented M. Gerhardt, it is fitting that some treatise on analyses should appear, written in accordance with his system. There are several features in the one under consideration, which make it especially valuable. In the first place, the most salient reactions of the ordinary substances are condensed into tables. In the next, the entire arrangement-is thoroughly systematic, and evinces care and judgment; and, lastly, the decompositions are, whenever re- quired, expressed clearly in the form of equations. It is not only to the ordinary student that Messrs Northcote and Church’s work will prove useful, for even the experienced analyst will find much 124 Correspondence. information in its pages. The reactions of the rarer metals, &., are not omitted, but are placed in smaller type in their appropriate places. Altogether we consider this manual to be a valuable ad- dition to Mr Van Voorst’s series of class-books. EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE. Letter from Dr W. Batrour BaAIxiz to Sir JoHN RICHARD- . SON. ENCAMPMENT NEAR KITSA Napr, CENTRAL AFRICA, lst August 1858. 6. 30, A.M. My pear Sir Joun,—As I am sending off a mail this morning I shall endeavour to let you know what we have been doing since I last wrote to you. And first, as to our collections. In Mam- malia, the principal addition has been a nearly complete skeleton of the African elephant, one having been killed here very recently, It is complete, all except the lower jaw and a portion of the tail, which was carried off by the pagan hunters as sacred. In birds, hough we have several fresh specimens, there is hardly anything new, the best things being a good skin and skeleton of the crown crane. In reptiles, I have done fairly. First, I got a false gavial (mecistops), differing from any described in the British Museum Catalogue, and I have also been able to ascertain several peculiari- ties in the habits of this little known animal. Here, three years ago, my black servant shot a common crocodile, ten feet long, which I have had skinned, and I believe it will, as I mentioned, from an examination of the skull, in a paper sent to the Zoological Society, prove a distinct species. I have also some new lizards and a snake. I have many additional fish. Ihave better specimens of the large scaled one I have already written to you about, and I have also a skeleton. I have one which I do not know where to place. It is soft, and with very small scales, lengthened, and some- what cylindrical. Snout produced; eyes very small, anterior; tail tapering to a long point; dorsal fin soft, extending along whole length of back; no anal nor. ventral fin; pectoral fin small. Of this fish, besides smaller ones, I have a skin upwards of five feet long. Of Polypteri, after examining a good many specimens, I am sure there are two varieties, if not species, differing in form of tail,in form of head, and in size of teeth. One has a more rounded lengthened head and larger teeth; the other, a flattened depressed head and smaller teeth: the dorsal fin also is situated nearer the head in the one than in the other. Among the lower orders, my additions have been principally among insects. Shells, either land or water, are very scaree. I have also got another Correspondence. 125 new myriapod, and some more spiders. Our botanical collection is really extensive, and must comprise nearly 1500 species, be- sides seeds, fruits, woods, products, &c. Our last novelty was a Cycad, found a few days ago by Barter, on a height not more than from 250 to 300 feet above the river. We have also a good many living plants ready to be sent to Kew. We have found but one fossil here, and I am going to send it to Sir Roderick Murchison, with a description of the rocks, which are very interesting. Our fossil is vegetable, apparently a small stem—no leaves. Our river, since the 4th of this month, has been steadily rising, and we hope soon now to see our ship. It has been very much later than we even reckoned upon. This isavery dry spot, and though rain often falls within a few miles of us, we are without it; and yet we are living among rocky ridges and hills from 40 to 150 feet above the river. On the opposite side of the river, where the hills are 400 feet or upwards, showers often fall, and the attraction of these hills has often saved us from severe tornadoes, the storm clouds passing along that side. The weather is now however plea- sant, the maximum in the shade seldom exceeding 90° or 92°, often lower; and the minimum varying from 71° to 74°. Now, the greatest cold is from 4 to 5.30 a.m.; but in the dry season, especially in December and January, when we had extreme heat and cold, the minimum, often 60°, was from 6.30 to7 a.m. We all keep well and in excellent spirits, having abundant occupa- tion to keep us employed. I have got good living specimens of Bos d’ante and of the B. taurus of the country, and I am comparing them accurately, and drawing up a table of their characters and differences, and I am also collecting all the habits of B. d’ante, many of them being unrecorded. But I must conclude, and with kind regards to Lady Richard- son, believe me, my dear Sir John, very faithfully yours, (Signed) Wo. Barrour Balxiz. P.S.—If you are writing for mail of Oct. 24, please send your letter to my agents, Messrs Hallet, Maude, and Hallet, Great George Street, Westminster, and they will forward it. Letter from Dr James Stark to Professor BatFour. ScoTrisH METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY, EDINBURGH, 15th October 1858. Dear Sir,—Mr Angus M‘Intosh, the Registrar of Lagan, in Inverness-shire, sends the following report, which I think would prove acceptable to your readers. You can make what use of it you think proper.—Ever truly yours, James STARK. 126 Proceedings of Socteties. “ During a severe thunder-storm on the 14th of August, the top of one of the hills on the north side of the Spey was struck by lightning, and from the effects produced the flash would appear to have been of more than ordinary force. The part struck con- sists of a bare conical point of red granite about thirty feet in circumference, and rising about six feet above the surrounding ground. The flash seems to have descended perpendicularly,— splitting off a slice about three feet thick from top to bottom, and shattering it to pieces. Several of these, weighing two or three hundred weight, were thrown a distance of from twenty to thirty yards. After striking, the flash appears to have separated into two divisions, one of them plunging straight into the ground, excavating a hole about four feet deep and sixteen feet in cireum- ference, the loose stones being thrown off in all directions with great force, some of them ploughing up the ground like cannon balls ; the other division, branching off to the left, opened a trench down the side of the hill for about sixty yards, smashing every stone large or small with which it came in contact, and finally plunged into a deep peat-moss.” PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. British Association for the Advancement of Science, Meeting at Leeds, September 22 to 28, 1858, MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE. Professor StrveLLy read a communication by Professor Powell, in con- tinuation of his report of last year, on Lwminous Meteors. It stated that no further discoveries of any note had been made during the past year. The subject of spurious discs had also engaged much of his atten- tion. In the course of a conversation which ensued, it was stated that the altitude of meteors was between forty and fifty miles from the sur- face, and was the same at Greenwich or anywhere else. Mr Batrour Stewart, of Edinburgh, read a paper on Radiant Heat, the result of experiments made by himself and Professor Forbes, of the University of that city. He adduced some tables, showing the different degrees of radiation arising from lamp black, plates of glass, rock salt, and other substances, at the same degree of temperature, both as regards their quantity and quality, Dr P. A. Sizexrsrrom’s paper on the Magnetic Dip at Stockholm, con- firmed the fact that the dip reaches its minimum in winter. Mr W. Lapp exhibited a very fine specimen of a modification of Ruhmkoff’s Induction Coil, which extended to the length of six miles. Proceedings of Societies. 127 He made some brilliant experiments to show the intensity of the elec- tricity contained in the apparatus. Mr J. P. Gassior, assisted by Mr Lapp, then read notes and experi- q mented on the phosphorescent appearance of electrical discharges in va- cuum, made in tubes of flint glass, and of German glass made with potash, and on induced electrical discharges when taken in aqueous vapours. A distinction was exhibited in the flint and in the potash glasses, the former showing a bluish and the latter a light greenish tint. The glasses had been manufactured in Bonn, and at present none were obtainable in England. Mr H. Dircks on an Apparatus for Exhibiting Optical Illusions illustrative of Spectral Phenomnea. A model of the apparatus was placed on the table, and Mr Dircks explained its construction as follows :— An oblong chamber is divided into two parts, which are separated by a » glass screen, each chamber being twelve feet square. One of these cham- bers should have three of its walls solid, the other being the glass screen. The ceiling must be of different parts to let in the light. The line of vision is about 45 degrees, with respect to the glass screen, The figure placed before the screen is so strongly reflected that the spectator cannot ; tell whether it is an illusive or a real body. The reflection of the figure could not be seen, except by diminishing the light by degrees, until the proper point is reached. Mr J. Park Harrison gave some Further Evidence of Lunar Influ- ence on Temperature, pointing out the particular phase of the moon at which atmospheric changes occurred. The Rey. G. Earnsuaw on the Mathematical Theory of Sound. The author explained that the theory of sound must still be considered imperfect, in consequence of resting on an approximative step in the mathematical part of the investigation. The results were exhibited in a simple numerical form, and made use of to explain several interesting phenomena, such as the wasting away and divergence of sound ; the pe- culiarity on which the sweetness of musical sounds depends; aud it was shown that the velocity with which a sound passes through the air depends on the rapidity and intensity of its formation, but not on the length of the sound-wave. The more violent the genesis of a wave of sound, the more rapid should be its transmission. It had been one of his greatest discouragements in comparing theory with experiment, to find that ex- perimenters on sound appeared to agree unanimously that all sounds, whether gentle or violent, travel with the same speed. On this point theory and experiment seemed to be discordant ; experimenters had said that there was no difference in the speed of the human voice, and the report of a cannon, but the mathematical theory showed that the report of the cannon should travel more quickly than that of the human voice. This point, however, was fortunately set at rest by its transpiring at the meeting that in Captain Sir J. Franklin’s expedition to the north, whilst making some experiments on sound, during which it was necessary to fire a cannon at the word of command given by an officer, it was found that the persons stationed at the distance of some miles to notice the arrival of the report of the gun, always heard the report of the gun before they _ heard the word of command to fire, thus proving that the sound of the _ gun’s report had outstripped the sound of the officer’s voice, and confirm- _ ing, in an unexpected and remarkable manner, the result of mathemati- eal investigations. 128 Proceedings of Societies. The Astronomer-Royal said, he had made some experiments on the waves in acanal. The character of the wave changed as it went on. It was well known that at the mouth of a river the rise and fall was the same, but that farther up the rise was done in a much shorter space of time than the fall. He believed that the two peculiar characters of sound—roar and hiss—were severally analagous to the breaking of water. The Rev, J. Dinatz, Incumbent of Lanchester, Durham, read a paper on a New Law of Binocular Vision. Its object was to point out a singular law by which an imperfection incident to binocular vision is ob- viated. It sometimes happens that, in looking at a field of view at some distance, objects considerably nearer are so interposed as to present them- selves in the picture formed in one eye and not in the other. Thus, in looking at a landscape, if the finger or any other object is held before one eye, the image of it on the one retina only is superposed on a part of the landscape formed in the othereye. On mere physical principles this, might be expected to blot out or greatly confuse that part of the land- scape upon which it was placed in the sensorium; but upon trial this is not found to be the case, as that part of the landscape is merely a little dimmer than the rest, but is equally distinct and as truly coloured. By various experiments the author had ascertained that this was the result of a peculiar power of the will, by means of which the mind is enabled, when two different objects are superposed in the sensorium, to select whichever it pleases, to bring that object into view, and entirely to ob- literate the other—it sees, in fact, whichever it wills to see, and the other image, simply by being neglected, become invisible. In ordinary vision the determination of the image to be seen is effeeted by the same act of the will which determines the position of the optic axes, but by certain arrangements the predisposition to select either of the images may be obviated, and it may be made indifferent which of the two that occupy the same space in the sensorium shall be seen. When these arrange- ments are made, it is found that mere efforts of the will can alternately bring either the one or the other into view. The importance of this law, which enables the mind to select its image, was pointed out in different cases of ordinary vision. It obviates the difficulty already adverted to, of having two different pictures on the same spot; it also, to some ex- tent, remedies the effect of squinting, by obliterating the picture in the imperfect eye, which could not else be done without shutting it. The effect of the law in some extraordinary cases was also noticed, especially in the power of the fancy to fix images on the sight, as Sir Isaac New- ton instances in his own case. The author pointed out the great interest of the subject, not only in its practical aspect, but also as having an im- portant bearing on the connection between mind and matter. Col. Syxes called attention to the fact of Mr Broun, the astronomer, having successfully established a meteorological and magnetical observa- tory in Travancore, at 6200 feet above the level of the sea; and to the result of magnetical observations at Trevandrum, as communicated in a letter from Mr Broun to General Sir Thomas M. Brisbane. Col. Sykes also spoke of the difficulties which this eminent astronomer had encountered in his endeavour to construct the observatory on the highest peak of the Ghats. He then read a communication from Mr Broun to General Sir Thomas Brisbane as to the result of magnetical observations at Trevan- r : Proceedings of Societies. 129 drum. He said that the observations he had made respecting the sym- metrical and well characterised curves which represented the movement of the daily mean force from the beginning of January till the end of March 1844, and which were communicated to the scientific world by him on several occasions, had been found to agree perfectly with those made at Trevandrum. One result to which he had arrived was, that the changes of mean horizontal force from day to day were in the same direction over the globe, and were proportional to the horizontal _ forces at the places; the different effect of disturbance due to its diurnal period, and the different directions of the secular change being allowed for. Mr Broun further stated that he was not satisfied with the observa- tions made at Makerstoun and Trevandrum, but he undertook the dis- cussion of the subject at Hobarton, Van Diemen’s Island, the Cape of Good Hope, and other places. The reductions were laborious, as the astronomer had to obtain the temperature coefficients, and to correct the observations by his own processes. The result, however, was, not only that the annual law was the same at Makerstoun and Hobarton, but that the changes of the individual monthly means followed generally the same law. The variations of the daily mean force from hour to hour were felt simultaneously on all meridians, and they appeared to be independent of the sun or moon. He could prove satisfactorily that the diurnal varia- tion was not due to the sun’s heating power, whether on the earth’s sur- face or its atmosphere; but that it may be due to the sun’s magnetic action on the atmosphere appeared to him to be much more probable. Dr Lex read a paper on the Results of the Measures of Gamma Vir- ginis for the Epoch, 1858, as determined by Admiral Smyth.—He said, that he had again the gratification of presenting results of the position of _ this important double star, for its last apparition, as observed at the Hartwell Observatory, with corresponding results obtained at Greenwich, by Mr Airy; at Haddenham, by Mr Dawes; at Tarn Banks, by Mr Fletcher ; and at Wrottesley, by Lord Wrottesley. The discrepancies were cer- tainly greater than might have been expected under the present easy state of the object, but on the whole a very satisfactory epoch was gained. One of Sir William Herschel’s most interesting discoveries was the Gamma Virginis, whose observed and computed places have generally been found to agree within the limits assigned to probable errors of ob- servation. This star now presents a system which affords, by actual changes, both in angular velocity and distance,—the former varying in- versely as the square of the latter with the elliptical orbital elements de- ducible therefrom,— incontrovertible evidence of the physical connection of its constituent members. ‘This binary star has been very assiduously watched by various astronomers, especially during the last thirty years, and the results obtained are converting probability into demonstration ‘respecting its being subject to the same dynamical forces which govern our own system. Every advance tends to prove the universality of the Newtonian influence of attraction, obeying the Keplerian law of areas. In a word, by warranting the conclusion of the inconceivable extent of the controlling agency of gravitation, it forms a wonderful and sublime truth in astronomical science. ’ The Rev. Dr Lroyn called attention to the instruments employed in the magnetic survey of Ireland, and also stated some of the results. He NEW SERIES.—VOL. IX, NO. I.—JAN. 1859. I 130 Proceedings of Societies. said that the survey was nearly terminated, so that nothing now remained for its completion except the determination of some of the instrumental constants. The instruments employed were a theodolite magnetometer and a dip circle furnished with an apparatus for the determination of the earth’s magnetic force in absolute measure. The theodolite differed from the instruments hitherto in use, the difference consisting in observ- ing the sun and other celestial bodies by reflection, and transferring the transit adjustments to the axis of the mirror employed for that purpose. By that arrangement the observing telescope was always horizontal and in readiness for the magnetic part of the observation. He gave some details respecting the result of the experiment, which had been found to be somewhat similar to those discovered on a previous occasion, in which survey Dr Lloyd was also engaged. Dr Lex submitted a paper on the new variable Star, “ R. Sagittarit,” by N. Pogson, Esq., of Oxford.—The writer said, that on the limit of a rich and widely-spread group of stars, Professor Argelander, of Bonn, observed one of the 83 magnitude in his F zone No. 227, on the night of August 7th, 1849. Exactly seven years later, while carefully chart- ing in the vicinity, Mr Pogson found the assigned position unoccupied ; but entertaining no suspicion of variability, he supposed an erratum to exist in the published zone, and simply noted the star as missing. On July 3d of the present year, whilst looking over his chart with the Smythian telescope, Mr Pogson was struck by finding a fine star of nearly the eighth magnitude not recorded in the chart. A micrometer was immediately applied, and an observation taken, with the aid of a sidereal chronometer kindly lent him by the Royal Geographical Society, but this observation only established its fixity, and thereby proved that it was not one of the small planets, but most probably a new variable star. Subsequent comparisons confirmed this conclusion. Combining his own observations with those of Professor Argelander, it appeared to Mr Pogson to be most probable that seven maxima occurred between August 7, 1849, and July 3, 1858, in which case the period would not differ much from 465 days, and the next maximum would fall due in September or October 1859. Epwarp Josnua Cooper on the Perihelia and Ascending Nodes of the Planets.—The paper set forth, that the writer had, previous to 1851, made some observations on this subject which had been communicated by him to the scientific world. The last notice which he sent to the Royal Society was last year, when the number of known planets was 51. There were now 62, but no elements of the last had been as yet computed. Taking 61 of these, he stated that the perihelia of 42 are found in the semicircle of heliocentric longitude between 0° and 180°, and only 19 in the remaining semicircle. With reference to the ascending nodes of the 60 planets, 42 were likewise found between 0° and 180°, and only 18 in the remaining semicircle. But the appended table shows some remark- able results, viz,, that when there were only 4 known asteroids and 7 large planets, or, if adding Neptune, there was 12 in all, the perihelia of 10 of these were found between 0° and 180°, and of the nodes of the 11, none were in the semicircle 180° to 360°. The table also shows that, adding to the first 12 those subsequently discovered in groups of 10, the number of the perihelia and number of ascending nodes in each Proceedings of Societies. 131 semicircle were about almost exactly similar. It was also a subject worthy of notice that the perihelia and ascending nodes were frequently grouped together in a remarkable manner. The tables are as follow, which show the number of planets in each semicircle :— MEST aed ip avesyessss ss <.06e 0° to 180° ... 180° to 360° When 12 planets, there were ... 1 eee 2 » 22 ” 17 5 » 32 » 25 7 » 42 »» 30 12 ieee | i 37 15 ee» | y 42 19 Ascending Nodes. EN tadnk.cansa ype orseesverce 0° to 180° ... 180° to 360° When 11 planets, there were ? ae 0 % 21 ” 18 3 aoe 5 | ” 25 6 » 41 “ 30 il ja ee a Fas 36 -.., 15 is, OO ne , 42 ... 18 nam Date, on some Optical Properties of Phosphorus.—He said that, phosphorus was known to be highly refractive and disfusive. Its refrac- tive index had been determined at 2°125 or 2:224, a number scarcely ex- ceeded by that of diamond or chromate of lead. This determination was made without reference to temperature, and was that part of the spectrum measured and indicated. Their own experiments, made with instruments belonging to the Rev. Baden Powell, produced numbers which showed not merely a very high refractive power, but an amount of disfusion un- known in any other substance. The disfusive power was nearly twice that of bisulphide of carbon, and largely exceeded that of even oil of cassia ; its only rival was that assigned to chromate of lead, but some doubt seemed to rest on that determination. The determinations of the disfu- sive power of phosphorus made by persons experimenting had indicated an amount scarcely exceeding that of bisulphide of carbon, but a difficulty attending the examination of phosphorus would sufficiently explain this. Phosphorus in a liquid condition had apparently never been examined, as difficulties had arisen from its inflammability, and from the action on cement. An examination of the properties of liquid phosphorus showed a considerable diminution of both the refractive and the disfusive power, it not being in direct ratio with the diminution of density. Liquid phos- phorus exhibits a greater amount of sensitiveness than had been observed in any other substance, and it was evidently greater at the high than at the low temperatures. The effect of temperatures on disfusion could not be accurately determined. A saturated solution of phosphorus in bisul- phide of carbon was almost as refractive and disfusive as melted phos- itself. There was a certain want of clearness in phosphorus which prevented the lines being distinguished without great difficulty, which did not arise from any opacity, or from the crystalline character of solid phosphorus, or from unmelted pieces floating about, for it occurred 12 132 Proceedings of Societies. in a solution of bisulphide of carbon. The addition of phosphorus to bi- sulphide of carbon rendered the spectrum seen through it misty, aecord- ing to the amount of phosphorus, This was not due to the great refrac- tion, or the great disfusion, or the great sensitiveness, though this had undoubtedly something to do withit. To whatwasthisdue? Different specimens of phosphorus differ widely in respect to this property, and it was perhaps connected with some want of homogeneity in the substance. The phosphorus experimented on was generally colourless. It was a curious circumstance that yellow phosphorus cuts off the extreme red ray—this being the opposite of what yellow bodies usually did, and was remarkable also in connection with the red modification of phosphorus. Dr Guapstone on the Fixed Lines of the Solar Spectrum.—The author exhibited three maps, the first representing the fixed dark bands and lines in the extreme red portion of the spectrum, the second those in the extreme lavender rays, and the third those which make their ap- pearance about the orange and yellow portion when the sun is close to the horizon as described by Sir David Brewster. A long span of atmos- phere absorbs also the more refrangible rays, but affects in no way the angular position of these lines. The moon’s light shows exactly the same lines as the sunlight, and the dark bands in the orange and yellow equally appear when it traverses much air. That portion of the spec- trum which with sun-light appears violet, has a lavender or even grey colour with moon-light. Attempts have been made to determine whether these lines were entirely due to the absorbent effect of the earth’s atmos- phere, by observations of stars, and of distant artificial lights, but the author thought without a conclusive result. The light from the edge of the sun’s dise has just the same lines as that from the centre. Sir David Brewster said, that he had once made an experiment, and produced similar results to those shown by Dr Gladstone, but they were not so complete. His (Sir David’s) experiments were made by a solar telescope given by the Royal Society, the object-glass of which was not achromatic. These experiments had not as yet been brought to a close, but he had already discovered about 1000 lines more than the German philosopher, Frauenhoff. As to where these lines were produced, he was of opinion that it was beyond the region of our atmosphere. They were not produced by the earth’s atmosphere, and if they were not produced by the sun’s atmosphere, they must be the result of some law of inter- ference. Mr Joxnn Pore Hennessy, Inner-Temple, London, on some Proper- ties of a Series of the Powers of the same Nwmber.—He announced the discovery of a general law which regulates the series of the powers of any number. For instance, in the following series of the powers of 5, the number of digits in the several recurrent series may be expressed by the powers of 2 :— fy aie (eee ee Re 2nd j Regs Ae Pee aS 3rd C2b7 05 eee 4th Bi ASB os 23508 5th TS620 Avis 6th. Su) + ne . e ey te Dieu ii 2 Proceedings of Societies. 133 390,625 ... ... Sth. 1,953,125 ... ... 9th. 9,765,625 .....: 10th. 48,828,125 ... ... 11th. 244,140,625 ... ... 12th. 1,220,703,125 ... ... 13th. He pointed out that a similar law existed for every other number; and he exhibited a formula by which the sum of any of the recurrent series may be determined. He concluded by submitting a regular demonstra- tion of the theorem. A paper from Major-General Sanine was read by one of the secre- taries on the Magnetic Survey of Great Britain. It stated that the operation was not now completed, but that he hoped it would be so be- fore the next meeting, in Aberdeen. Dr Lee on Rock Crystal Prism Micrometers.—He said, that this micrometer consisted of a variable eye-piece, viz., one in which the second lens was moveable by a rack-work so as to vary the distance between it and the eye lens. After some general observations, the paper proceeded to say that on viewing a double star through the ocular crystal micrometer two pairs would be seen, the four members of which must be brought into the same straight line by turning the crystal round in its cell. When these four were adjusted, and the scale read off, the magnifying power employed became known, and the measured angular distance was equal to the constant angle of the crystal divided by the magnifying power. By placing the four stars at equal intervals, the double distance would be measured, and the uncertainty of a contact between two perhaps very unequally bright stars avoided, which was highly desirable. It was, therefore, of the utmost importance to know the constant angles of the prisms, also the limits of the magnifying power of the variable eye-piece with all possible accuracy, Dr Lee concluded by setting forth the advantages of this micrometer. Sir Davin Brewster read a paper onthe Vision of the Foramen Centrale of the Retina, on which subject Sir David said :—‘ At the meeting of the British Association which was held in Belfast, I gave an account of a case of vision in which it was performed entirely by the choroid coat, and through the foramen centrale of the retina. The space of distinet vision, as ascertained by the number of minute printed letters which the patient could read, was 43 deg. In this case, the paralysis of the retina was permanent, and the patient was blind, with _ the exception of the small amount of vision which he enjoyed through the foramen. In the case to which I now call the attention of the sec- tion, paralysis was temporary, and was accompanied with severe head- aches; but as soon as the patient recovered her health, the retina re- sumed its usual functions. In order to find the area of distinct vision, the patient observed with care the number of small and sharply printed letters which she could read at a certain distance from the eye ; and upon measuring the breadth of these letters, and their distance from the eye, 1 found that they subtended an angle of 4} deg., corresponding with the size of the opening in the retina. These facts, when viewed in connec- tion with those which I deseribed at the Swansea meeting, may throw some light on the functions exercised by the retina as a whole or by some 134 Proceedings of Societies. of its individual layers. I have placed it beyond a doubt that the mem- brane, whether choroid or retina, which occupies an area of 43 deg. at the extremity of the optical axis of the eye, is, in certain cases, less re- tentive of luminous impressions, and in others more retentive than the retina, If the microscope proves that there is no retina corresponding to that area, we should consider the choroid coat as the seat of vision. If it should prove that any one of the layers of the retina occupies that area, while the rest are wanting, it will be manifest that that layer is the seat of vision or rather of luminous impressions.” A letter from Mr Wm. M‘Craw, of Edinburgh, to Sir David Brewster, on anew Means of preventing the Fading of Photographs, was read. To accomplish this object, Mr M‘Craw had adopted the following for- mula :— 1. Take the white of eggs, and add about 25 per cent. of a saturated solution of common salt (to be well beat up, and allowed to subside). Float the paper on the albumen for thirty seconds and hang up to dry. 2. Make a saturated solution of bichromate of potass to which has been added 25 per cent. of Beaufoy’s acetic acid. Float the paper on this solution for an instant, and when dry it is fit for use; this must be done in the dark room. 3. Expose under a negative, in a pressure frame, in the ordinary manner, until the picture is sufficiently printed in all its details; but not over-printed as is usual with the old process. This requires not more than half the ordinary time. 4. Immerse the picture in a vessel of water in the darkened room. The undecomposed bichromate and albumen then readily leave the lights and half-tints of the picture. Change the water frequently until it comes from the prints pure and clear. 5. Immerse the picture now in a saturated solution of protosulphate of iron in cold water for five minutes, and again rinse well in water. 6. Immerse the picture again in a saturated solution of gallie acid in cold water, and the colour will immediately begin to change to a fine purple black. Allow the picture to remain in this until the deep shadows show no appearance of the yellow bichromate. Repeat the rinsing. 7. Immerse finally in the following mixture :— Pyrogallic acid, ‘ ; “ 2 grains. Water, : < ; ‘ 1 ounce. Beaufoy’s acetic acid, . ; 1 ounce, Saturated solution of acetate of lead, : 2 drams. This mixture brightens up the picture marvellously, restoring the lights that may have been partially lost in the previous part of the pro- cess, deepening the shadows, and bringing out the detail, Rinse finally in water, and the picture is complete when dried and mounted. The advantages of this process may be briefly stated as follows :—First, As to its economy—bichromate of potass at 2d, per ounce is substituted for nitrate of silver at 5s. per ounce. Secondly, Photographs in this way can be produced with greater rapidity than by the old mode. Thirdly, The pictures being composed of the same materials which form the con- stituent parts of writing ink, it may be fairly inferred that they will last as long as the paper on which they are printed. Proceedings of Societies. 135 A beautiful photograph of Sir Walter Scott’s monument at Edinburgh, _ obtained by this process, was exhibited. Sir Davin Brewster read a short paper on an optical instrument con- structed by Professor Petzval, of Vienna, the peculiarity of which was a new object glass for the purposes of photography. It had been tried in England and Scotland, and the results had been most satisfactory. It was made for the survey of the Austrian Imperial Government. Mr Fotterr Oster exhibited a portable self-registering anemometer of his own construction. Some new improvements were introduced into this machine, which indicated the exact time of the day, and the strength, direction, and duration of a wind storm, and the degrees of longitude and latitude. CHEMICAL SCIENCE, The Presipent (Sir John Herschel), in his opening address, said,— He could not help giving expression to his surprise at the astonishing advancement of science during the few past years, when he thought of the magnificent discoveries of Davy, Berzelius, and Faraday, and the re- searches of Dumas, Liebig, Hoffmann, and other distinguished men in or- ganic chemistry, which, as it were, had been gradually interweaving the organic and inorganic systems of composition in groups such as those of the metallic ethyles, and those of boron and silicon. He objected to the system of notation now in use among chemists, as the formule had been gradually taking a character more and more repulsive to the algebraical _-—s eye. += Ass sciences do not stand alone, but exist in mutual relation to each _ other, the language they use, and the signs they employ, should not con- ___tradict each other, but should have a free communication on their frontier § points. The time may not, perhaps, be far distant when a knowledge of ___ the family to which a chemical element belongs, and its order in that ee family might be predicated with confidence. ~ A great step in advance had lately been made by Professor Cooke of the Harvard University. According to his arrangement, the elements form six groups, each group having common properties in the highest degree characteristic. The principle affords such family groups as oxygen, fluorine, chlorine, bro- mine, and iodine; or again, nitrogen, phosphorus, arsenic, antimony, and bismuth. It packs together in two groups all the more active and soluble electropositive elements— hydrogen, lithium, sodium, and potassium ; and _ im another the more inert and less soluble ones—calcium, strontium, _ barium, and lead. This generalization appears to be a valid one. * Chemists are too easily satisfied with the idea that all the atomic numbers ____ are multiples of hydrogen. But until an almost unattainable precision ___ in the atomic numbers is obtained, the theory ought not to be held con- _____¢lusive, however seductive it may appear. If the phenomena of chemistry __ Were ever reduced under the dominion of mathematical analysis, it would ___ be by a very circuitous and intricate route. ____Dr Macapam read a paper, entitled Note on the production of a _ Frosted Surface on Articles made of Aluminiwm.— Some aluminium had a _ short time ago been obtained for the purpose of making medals, When the _ medals were struck, a peculiar grey appearance was noticed on their sur- a 4 i a face, which it was supposed arose from the uncleanness of the die. Close 136 Proceedings of Societies. examination, however, showed that this was not the case. Some of these medals were subjected to the action of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid separately, without producing much effect on their surfaces. When some of them were put in a solution of caustic potash they were acted on very violently, hydrogen being evolved, and the surface of the metal becoming beautifully frosted. This phenomenon of an alkali comport- ing itself to a metal as acids do, was worthy of the attention of chemists. After aluminium has been frosted in this manner, it does not become tar- nished on exposure to the action of the air, F. Crace Calvert considered the greatest objection to the use of alu- minium in the arts arose from the fact that it decomposed rapidly in water, at 212 deg., and indeed, at all temperatures more or less. A wire of aluminium which he had left closed in a tube of water for twelve months, had become converted into gelatinous alumina. He found the aluminium, mixed with a small portion of iron, was less acted on by water than when pure. C. W. Binexey, Ph.D., F.C.S., on the Effects produced on Glass, by Exposure to the Action of Mud in Water.—Along with several other articles lately found in the lake at Walton Hall, near Wakefield, were a piece of window glass, and the remains of an antique bottle. It is sup- posed that they have been buried in the mud ever since the hall was attacked by Oliver Cromwell’s soldiers, The interest these specimens possessed, in a scientific point of view, consisted in the remarkable ap- pearance they presented after their submersion, possessing hues of co- lour rivalling those of the first specimens of pearl shells. The mud in which they had been imbedded contained a large quantity of organic matter and sulphide of hydrogen. On scraping the glass with a pen- knife the coloured part was easily detached in minute scales, those ex- hibiting the red or deep orange rays of colour coming off easily, when green or bluish scales became disclosed to view, which were with more dif- ficulty removed. The glass underneath appeared as if it had been ground, or subjected to the action of hydrofluoric acid, The scales consisted of silicates of lime with iron, but with no potash or soda. The glass con- sisted of a silicate of potassa and soda, with a very slight trace of iron and lime. The glass appeared originally to have been a pure alkaline silicate. The potash originally in it appeared to have been replaced by lime and iron derived from the water, in the case of the detached scales. It has been known for a long time that water acts more or less on glass, slowly decomposing it into a soluble alkaline silicate. Scheele observed that water which had been boiled a long time in glass vessels became alkaline. Ebelman published, some time ago, an account of the strong action of water charged with carbonic acid on glass. That ammonia assists the action of moisture or water very materially may frequently be evidenced in the case of stable windows. It is possible that, in the present case, the silica of the glass after the separation of the alkali may have been left in a gelatinous state, as a condition necessary for its sub- sequent combination with lime and iron, derivable from the water, to form the less soluble silicate of which it is constituted. The glass, viewed by transmitted light, exhibited rays of colour complementary to . the reflective rays, The various colours doubtless owe their origin to the different refractive powers of each of the scales, according to the degree Proceedings of Societies. 137 _of thickness, the red or deep red orange rays being produced by the thick- est of them. _ Mr W. Huceon on the Alkaline Water of Leeds —This water is met with on boring into the rock from 300 to 400 feet from the surface. At present the water rises to a level in the bore hole about 80 or 90 feet from the surface. Formerly the water used to rise to the surface, but in conse- quence of its extensive use for manufacturing and other purposes, it is now as low as before stated. It marks about 8 degrees hard on Dr Clark’s scale. It sometimes rises from the sandstone rock, and at other times from the blue-band or argillaceous shale, The whole amount of earthy matter in the water is considerable. ‘The following is the analy- sis of a gallon of water from Ripley’s Well, Holbeck :— no Carbonate of Lime, 2 ‘ : 2°131 Do. Magnesia, . ? : 1023 Do. Tron, k : . 0°045 Do. Soda, . 2 2 45°620 Do. Ammonia, . J : 0°045 Sulphate of Potash, : : : 1:303 Chloride of Sodium, : , . §2°123 Todide of Sodium, ; . j 0°022 Sulphide of Sodium, : : é 0-740 Bromide of Sodium, : f A trace, Silicate of Soda, ; " 1°312 Silica, . é : ; : 0531 Alumina, R : : ; 0°150 - Organic Matter, é ‘ : 0°227 105-270 _ Total residue by experiment, . 106:250 It will be seen from the analysis that 97 grains of the whole mineral ingredients are carbonate of soda and chloride of sodium, which form the chief characteristics of this water. It also contains a large quantity of dissolved gaseous matter, in the following proportions :-— Carburetted Hydrogen, . ‘ : 1:45 Carbonic Acid, . ; . ; 10°50 Nitrogen, : : : j 2°05 Sulphuretted Hydrogen, . ° . trace. Cubic inches, : 14-00 Besides the gases dissolved in the water, a large quantity is continu- ally rising to the surface in bubbles, which explode on the application of alight. The following gases are contained in 100 parts of this explo-- sive compound :— Carburetted Hydrogen, . ; ; 75°50 Carbonic Acid, . 4 ; 11:45 Nitrogen, “ ; i : 13°05 Sulphuretted Hydrogen, . ‘ , trace. 100°000 This alkaline water appears to contain, judging from analyses given, 138 Proceedings of Societies. a larger amount of alkaline matter than any in England. The nearest approach to it is the water of the Artesian well in Trafalgar Square, which, according to the analyses of Abel and Rowney, contains 18 grains of carbonate of soda in the gallon, and 20 grains of the whole solid mat- ter is chloride of sodium. Dr Lankester exhibited an instrument for measuring the constant. intensity of ozone. This instrument consisted of two small rollers in- cluded in a box, which were moved by means of ordinary clock-work. Over the roller a strip of paper, prepared with iodide of potassium and starch, is allowed to revolve, the paper becoming exposed to the air for an inch of its surface, in the lid of the box. Twenty-four inches of paper pass over the rollers in the course of the twenty-four hours, and thus registers, by its colour, the intensity of the action of ozone in the atmosphere. By this instrument the intensity of the ozone for every hour in the twenty-four could be registered, and the minimum and maximum, with an average, be ascertained. The register of ozone could also be compared with that of the anemometer, and the relation of ozone to the direction and force of the wind ascertained. Dr Lankester pointed out the importance of ascertaining the presence of ozone, on account of its undoubted relation to health. He drew attention to a series of tables which had been drawn up from the registrations of the anemometer made at London, Blackheath, and Felixstow, on the coast of Suffolk, From these it was seen that the relation of these three places was as 0, 22, and 55. The instrument acted also as a clock, and the time could be accu- rately marked upon the ozonised paper. . MrJ.P. Gassior, V.P.R.S., on Electrical Discharges, as observed in Carbonic Acid Vacuo.—For the purpose of making these experiments, a powerful modification of Ruhmkorff’s apparatus for producing the electrical discharge was used. The novel and brilliant phenomena shown caused great applause. When through cold tubes, containing carbonic acid in a very attenuated state, electrical discharges were made, there appeared a very remarkably stratified luminous appearance, which, when the tube was heated, assumed a conical form. Mr Gassiot also showed, in a striking manner, the different phosphorescent appearances of electrical discharges in vacuum, made in flint and potash glasses. A number of glass bulbs, connected by tubes, were used for the purpose. When the current was passed through the apparatus, the bulbs were illu- minated by a pale green light, while that in the tubes was blue. Expe- riments were also made to show induced electrical discharges when taken in aqueous vapour. Dr Odling said, that a statement made by Mr Gassiot, that electricity will not pass through a tube when the vacuum is as nearly perfect as pos- sible, verified in a remarkable manner the law laid down by Mr Grove some years ago, in his work on The Correlation of Physical Forces. Mr R.J. Fower ona Process for the Estimation of Actinism.—He said, that in drawing the attention of the section to the estimation of the actinic force of the solar radiations his object was rather to add what he presumed were new facts to the science of actinometry than to present a perfect and complete process in every respect. In the 9th volume of Gmelin’s Hand- book of Chemistry he found it stated that ‘oxalate of ammonia, mixed with aqueous proto-chloride of mercury, is decomposed under the influence of Oe i es a ne al es i at Dade E ~ ‘ Proceedings of Societies. 139 light, yielding sal-ammoniac, calomel, and carbonic acid ;” it also stated that “ the mixture of the two solutions remains clear in the dark, in daylight it becomes turbid in six minutes, and in the course of an hour deposits calomel, which in sunshine quickly falls down in soft flakes surrounded with bubbles of carbonic acid. The filtrate no longer con- tains mercury, but chloride of ammonia and undecomposed oxalate of ammonia.” On seeing this he was at once struck with the idea that here might be the elements of a process for actinometry, and whether this was the fact he left them to judge from the experiments he had tried on the subject. He found it true that the solutions named might be kept un- changed for an indefinite period in the dark; that the calomel began to precipitate in from 15 to 20 seconds in full sunshine ; and also that the precipitate ceased immediately the vessel containing the solution was removed from solar influence, thus showing that the action is not con- tinued in darkness even when the change has been partially effected, and that the action of the actinism is not in this case catalytic. He had also exposed three tubes containing the mixed solutions to pretty uniform light, No. 1 for ten minutes; No. 2 twenty minutes; No. 3 forty minutes; the results being that No. 2 contained twice the bulk of pre- eipitate of No. 1, and No. 3 twice the bulk of No. 2. When the solu- tions were exposed several hours the vessel containing them was found to be completely filled with a magma of the precipitated calomel. From these experiments it appears conclusive that the mixture of solutions of oxalate of ammonia and proto-chloride of mercury is very sensitive to light, and as this action of light is not catalytic, the precipitate obtained may be considered as produced by solar influence alone; and lastly, that a definite amount of precipitate is produced by a definite amount of acti- nie force; thus proving that there are elements of certainty and uni- formity in the behaviour of the mixed solutions when exposed to solar influence, from which a certain method for estimating the actinie force may be formed. If extreme delicacy were required in the estimations, the precipitate might be collected, dried, and weighed; but, where this was unnecessary, graduated tubes might be used for exposing the mixed solutions, and from which, after standing a certain time in the dark, the amount could at once be read off. Mr Fowler stated that in his experi- ments he had used a nearly saturated solution of the two salts, but this was by no means necessary, as he found that, if a drop of the solution of proto-chloride of mercury, containing only 1-1500th part of a grain of that salt were added to 300 grains of the solution of oxalate of ammonia, and exposed to the light, the calomel would still be precipitated, the reaction in fact being so delicate that it might be used as a confirmatory test for the presence of the proto-chloride of mercury. He stated in eonclu- sion that it would be interesting to know how the absorbed actinism of M. Niepce de St Victor would affect the solutions. He had made some experiments in that direction, but not with sufficient success to warrant any positive assertions. Dr A. Marratessen, F.C.S., submitted a paper, read by Dr Odling. It embraced a description of the very beautiful metals obtained from the alkalies and alkaline earths, and was illustrated by the exhibition of a variety of these metals, as attractive as unusual, The specimens of sodium, lithium, potassium, calcium, strontium, &c., were regarded with great interest, and their combustion in an intensely brilliant white light, 140 Proceedings of Societies. elicited frequent expressions of admiration. Their extreme lightness was dwelt on, lithium being lighter than any liquid, and possessing little more than half the specific gravity of water. From magnesium the combus- tion resulted in an ash hollow throughout. The reading of the paper was followed by an exhibition, by Mr R. Reynotps, F.C.S., of The Practical Application of Aluminium.—Mr Reynolds presented for the examination of the section a spoon and fork manufactured by Messrs Coulson and Co., of Sheffield. The spoon closely resembled silver in colour, having, however, perhaps a faint tinge of blue. It could be produced at about half the cost of silver. The weight was: only 2} times that of water, and one-third that of silver. The sensation of handling so light a metal was a very singular one. On the Continent the manufacture of aluminium is pretty general—brooches, studs, &c., being made of it in consequence of its offering, with an alloy of copper, a very close resemblance to gold, in all but the property of weight. Mr Cor’sun had stated that with from 5 to 10 per cent. of aluminium he could obtain any shade of gold. In reply to Sir J. Herschel, Mr Reynolds said that it resisted the action of sulphur. On some Double Salts formed with Bichromate of Potash. By Pro- fessor Suttrvan, M.R.I.A.—The paper was read by Dr Gladstone. It commenced with an allusion to Fritzche’s. process of preparing chromic acid; Professor Sullivan stating that the result of his experiment was the separation—not of bichromate—but of sulphuric acid. The Pro- fessor then said, that if a nearly concentrated solution of bichromate of potash be treated with sufficient oil of vitriol to convert the whole of the potash into bisulphate, but not to precipitate the chromic acid and be then set aside, an abundant crystallization of anhydrous bisulphate of potash will be formed. The crystals thus formed are often of considerable size, and beautifully exhibit the peculiar reaction of the anhydrous bisul- phate with water, namely, of swelling up and becoming opaque. The crystals are always coloured yellow by the adhering solution, but some- times they appear to contain some chromate in combination, for even after having been repeatedly dried between folds of filtering paper, they yielded a mixture of bisulphate of potash in acicular needles and orange- red rhombic needles when dissolved in water and re-erystallized. The paper went on to describe the various forms of crystals—with the most extraordinary and beautiful changes of colour resulting from various ex- perimental conditions—the salts being apparently as endlessly varying as they were strikingly attractive. The remarkable mode of decomposition was described on the supposition that the salt contained bisulphate of potash. The determination of the sulphuric and chromic acids gaye numbers which upon this view lead to the very simple formula :— Ko, Ho, 28; + Ko 2 Cr Oz. The strangeness of the combination led to a natural hesitancy to attri- bute to the result a suggested explanation of the phenomena, On the supposition that double salts were obtained, a compound had been ob- tained, giving, on an equal amount sulphuric acid and chromic acid re- © spectively, the formule, KO, HO, 2 SO 5 + 2 (KO, Cr O03) KO, HO, 2SO , + 3 (KO, Cr Oz) The formation of these salts afforded a beautiful example of the influence of mass upon chemical affinity. A further series of experiments led to (bedeeircer’** > sans =p Pa e a t ‘ Proceedings of Societies. 141 ‘ the variation of the salts in residue, which presented combinations of a very singular kind. ‘Dr Gtapsrone, after exhibiting specimens of the purple dye obtained from coal tar, with specimens of silk dyed with it, proceeded to give the description of the dye afforded by Mr W. H. Perkins. Mr Perkins de- scribes it as a product of the oxidation of analine with bichromate of potash. (It is not the same as that produced with hypochloride of lime.) It is a bronze-coloured substance, dissolving in alcohol with a beautiful purple colour. It is with difficulty soluble in water. Like indigo, it is perfectly decolorized by the hydrated protoxide of iron, the colour be- ing restored again by exposure to the air. It dissolves in concentrated sulphurie acid, forming a green solution, which, upon the addition of water, precipitates the colour unchanged, when ejected with an alcoholic solution of potash. It decomposes slowly at 482 degrees Fahrenheit; so it is evidently a very stable body. It is quite applicable for dyeing—in fact, several tons of silk have already been dyed with it. It is also ap- plicable for cotton, wool, &c. The colour is quite as good, if not better, than archil. It is exceedingly intense in colour. One pound of the sold substance will dye no less than 200 lbs. of cotton a moderately dark lilac; and it may be added that the colour dyed on fabrics with it is very permanent, standing the action of light and heat, acids and alkalies ly. Sir John Herschel observed that there appeared to be no limits to the transformations effected by coal tar. After all the useful results we owed to it, it seemed that we were now to be indebted to it for the crea- tion of the most lovely colours. What would next come of it, it was impossible to say. Dr Pues on a New Method for the Quantitative Determination of Nitric Acid.—He remarked that the fact that chemists generally were familiar with the known methods of determining nitric acid induced him at once to give the method proposed, without referring to the methods already in use. Suffice to say, that none of them yet presented all that was desirable in methods that were used as much as were those for the determination of nitric acid. The highly important part which nitrogen, in the form of nitric acid, played in the vegetable economy—the various forms under which it was constantly appearing as the product of the de- composition of nitrogenous organic matter—the presence of it in all fluids that are exposed to the air—together with its commercial value—rendered it of the highest importance, both in a practical and theoretical point of view, that we should have methods, both exact and easy of manipulation, for the quantitative determination of it. The method which he pro- posed answered well in his own hands for this purpose, and he hoped it might meet with equal success in the hands of other chemists. It consisted in ascertaining how much of a solution of bichromate of potash, of known strength, was necessary to convert a given amount of a solution of pro- tochloride of tin into perchloride. The point at which the complete con- version took place was ascertained by the decomposition of iodide of potas- sium, and the liberation of free iodine in the presence of starch ;—the in- tensely blue colour of iodide of starch at this point indicating the reaction, The next part of the process was heating a like quantity of protochloride of tin with the substance containing nitric acid and free hydrochloric acid, in glass tubes, to about a temperature of 300° Fahrenheit. By this 142 Proceedings of Societies. means one equivalent of nitric acid, with 8 equivalents of hydrochloric acid, and 8 equivalents of subchloride of tin, form, on thus heating for half an hour, one atom of ammonia, eight atoms of bichloride of tin, and five atoms of water. The amount of nitric acid operated upon could be ascertained either by boiling the solution containing the ammonia formed in caustic potash, and collecting the vapour in an acid solution of known strength, as usual in ammonia determinations, or by ascertaining the amount of subchloride of tin left in the solution after boiling, and then subtracting this from the amount. found in the original solution, and calculating the nitric acid necessary to produce the difference in accord- ance with the above reactions. Both methods gave very accurate results. In five consecutive trials with ‘00539 grammes of nitric acid he found— f 00541 | ‘00114 00541 a Nitric acid 00541 Or nitrogen ‘00123 00532 ‘00120 "00546 00118 Larger quantities of nitric acid gave equally satisfactory results. He closed by expressing his obligations to the kindness of Mr Lawes, of Rothamstead, for having placed at his disposal the very great facilities afforded by his laboratory for making the investigation, without which he could not at this time have made it. Mr. J. B. Lawes, F.R.S., and Dr J. H. Girzert, F.C.S., on the An- nual Yield of Nitrogen per acre in different Crops.—The authors had stated generally at the Dublin Meeting of the Association, that the amount of nitrogen yielded per acre per annum in different crops, when unmanured, was considerably beyond that existing as ammonia and nitric acid, in the measured aqueous deposits from the atmosphere, The object of the present paper was, to illustrate the point experimentally, showing the produce of nitrogen per acre, in the case of crops, each growing for many years consecutively on the same land ; namely, wheat 14 years, bar- ley 6 years, grass 3 years, clover 3 years out of 4, beans 11 years, and turnips 8 years. It was also shown that 4 years of wheat alternated with fallow gave as much nitrogen in the 8 years as 8 crops grown consecu- tively, and 4 crops of wheat grown in alternation with beans gave nearly the same as the 4 grown in alternation with fallow, and consequently just about the same as 8 crops of wheat grown consecutively. In the case of the alternation with beans, therefore, the whole of the nitrogen obtained in the beans themselves was over and above what could have been ob- tained in wheat alone, whether grown consecutively or in alternation with fallow. Beans and clover yielded several times as much nitrogen per acre as wheat or barley, and yet their growth, taking off so much ni- trogen as they did, still was one of the best preparations for the growth of wheat; and, adding nitrogenous manures, had much the same result upon the cereal crops. But over a series of years not more than about 4-10ths of the nitrogen annually supplied in manure for wheat or barley, in the form of ammonia, would be recovered in the immediate increase of crop. Was this unrecovered amount drained away and lost? Was the ammonia transformed and evaporated ? Did it remain in the soil in more fixed combinations? Was ammonia, or free nitrogen given off — during the growth of the plant? Or, how far there was only a further : Proceedings of Societies. 143 distribution of the manureal matters applied for these crops—those such as the leguminous crops, which assimilated so much more, gathering more rapidly and from a wider area of soil, and leaving largely an available nitro- genous residue within the range of collection of the cereal crops? These questions, among others, required elucidation before agricultural facts could be satisfactorily explained. Comparing the amount of nitrogen yielded by the different crops with the amount falling in rain as nitric acid and ammonia, the result of three years’ analysis of rain showed that all the crops yielded considerably more, and some very much more, than so came down to the soil. The same was the case when the several crops had been grown in rotation with one another throughout two or three successive courses without manure. It had yet to be shown what was due to absorption of ammonia or nitric acid from the air by the plant it- self, or by the soil; what to the formation of ammonia or nitric acid from the free nitrogen of the air; or whether plants assimilated the free nitrogen of the air. Several of these points were under investigation, the authors having in this the valuable assistance of Dr Pugh. There, of course, still remained the wider questions of the original source, and of the distribution and circulation of combined nitrogen in the soil, in animal and vegetable life on the earth’s surface, and in the atmosphere above it. GEOLOGY. The Presipent (Mr Hopkins) in opening the section said, that in compliance with a notification he had received from the secretary of the Association, he had prepared a few introductory remarks, and he then proceeded to observe :—The existence of mammalian life in its earlier stages on the surface of our planet, the condition of its existence, and the period of its introduction, have always furnished questions of the highest philosophical as well as paleontological interest. You will be aware that some geologists regard each new discovery of mammalian remains, in formations preceding the older tertiaries, as a fresh indication of the probable existence of mammalia in those earlier periods in which no positive proof of their existence has yet been obtained; while others re- gard such discoveries only as leading us to an ultimate limit, which will hereafter define a period of the introduction of mammalia on the surface of the earth, long posterior to that of the first introduction of animal life. Be this as it may, every new discovery of the former existence of this highest class of animals must be a matter of great geological interest. An important discovery of this kind has recently been made, principally by the persevering exertions of Mr Beckles, who has detected in the Purbeck beds a considerable number of the remains of small mammals. The whole of them are, I believe, in the hands of our President, Mr Owen, for the determination of their generic and specific characters ; but Dr Falconer seems already to have recognised among them seven or eight distinct genera, some of them marsupial, and others probably placental, of the insectivorous order. I may also notice, as a matter of great paleontological interest, the recent discovery of a new ossiferous eave, near Brixham, in Devonshire, of which some account is to be brought before us during this meeting. The past year has been fruitful in paleontological researches, but it is not my purpose to notice them in detail. I proceed to one or two points of interest in the physical depart- ment of our science. The internal structure of rock masses, with refer- 144 Proceedings of Societies. ence to joints, planes of cleavage, and crystallization, is a subject of great interest to those who would study the operation of physical causes in pro- ducing all the modifications of state through which the matter now form- ing the outer crust of the globe must have passed in the lapse of geolo- gical time. A considerable number of observations have been made by different geologists respecting the positions of the planes of joints and of cleavage, but I confess myself little satisfied with any laws of the phenomena, unless deduced from observations of far greater accuracy of detail than that by which these observations have generally been charac- terized. I allude more particularly to this subject, because some progress has, I think, been made in the mechanical explanation of a part of these phenomena—those which relate to the laminated cleavage structure. Direct experiments have been made by Mr Sorby and Dr Tyndall, which leave no doubt of the possibility of producing this structure by direct pressure alone; and in certain simple cases, in which the divisional planes form a system of parallel laminew, this mechanical cause may be sufficient to account for the phenomena. But in many other cases in which there appear to be several systems of these planes of structure, the positions of which would seem to bear determinate relations to each other, it would appear extremely difficult to account for the phenomena by the simple operation of pressure alone. It is likely, I conceive, that more complicated causes have been at work, though pressure may have exercised an im- portant influence. Again, it has been suggested that what has been termed the force of shrinkage, or that internal tension which may be produced in extended masses by their contraction from the loss of heat or moisture, might be sufficient to account for the formation of joints, the positions of which, you will recollect, approximate more or less to verticality. But there is one curious feature in these phenomena which appears to me inexplicable on this theory. It is well known that, in conglomerate formations in which large boulders are im- bedded, the joints pass completely through the boulders without any apparent interruption. According to this theory, these boulders must have been pulled in two by the force of shrinkage. It is in this that the difficulty I allude to consists; for it would appear, I think, extremely difficult to conceive how the general motion of such a conglomerate, whatever may be the force with which it contracts, should obtain a suffi- ciently powerful grasp on the two opposite halves of a smooth and rounded boulder, a few inches in diameter, to pull them asunder. I sus- pect in all their phenomena the working of some agencies more refined than those of simple compression and extension. The subject of the motion of glaciers is one of interest to geologists, for unless we under- stand the causes of such motion, it will be impossible for us to assign to former glaciers their proper degree of efficiency in the transport of erratic blocks, and to distinguish between the effects of glacial and of floating ice, and those of powerful currents. An important step has recently been made in this subject by the application of a discovery made by Mr Faraday, a few years ago, that if one lump of ice be laid upon another, the contiguous surfaces being sufficiently smooth to ensure perfect con- tact, the two pieces in a short time will become firmly frozen together into one continuous transparent mass, although the temperature of the atmosphere in which they are placed be many degrees above the freezing temperature. Dr Tyndall has the merit of applying this fact to the ex- r Pe TS ee | ‘ ~~ i eee Proceedings of Societies. 145 planation of certain glacial phenomena, There are two recognised ways _ in which the motion of a glacier takes place—one by the sliding of the whole glacial mass over the bed of the valley in which it exists, and the other by the whole mass changing its form in consequence of the pres- sure and tension to which it is subjected. The former mode of pro- gression is that recognised by the sliding theory; the second is that re- cognised by what has been termed the viscous theory of Professor Forbes. The viscous theory appeared to be generally recognised. Still, to many persons it seemed difficult to reconcile the property of viscosity with the fragility and apparent inflexibility and inextensibility of ice itself. On the other hand, if this property of viscosity, or something of the kind, were denied, how could we account for the fact of the different fragments into which a glacier is frequently broken, becoming again united into one continuous mass? Dr Tyndall has, I conceive, solved the difficulty. Glacial ice, unlike a viscous mass, will bear very little extension. It breaks and cracks suddenly ; but the separate pieces, when subsequently squeezed together, again become by regelation (as it is termed) one con- tinuous mass. After some general remarks on the cause of the laminous structure of glaciers, during which he remarked that there was no doubt Dr Tyndall was right in supposing the lamine of blue and white ice to be perpendicular to the directions of maximum pressure, he said that it remained to be decided whether the explanations which had been offered were correct, but the actual perpendicularity of the lamin of ice to the directions of maximum pressure within a glacier, and the probable per- pendicularity to those directions of the laminz in rock masses of lami- nated structure, would seem to establish some relation between these structures in rocks and glacial ice, giving an interest to this peculiar structure in the latter case, which it might not otherwise appear to pos- sess for one who should regard it merely as a geologist. The Rey. T. W. Norwoop read a paper on the Comparative Geology of Hotham, near Cave, in which he described the lower, middle, and upper lias formations as there occurring ; and exhibited animal and vegetable remains from the latter rock. He contended, on the evi- dence both of lithological structure and fossils, that the oolite of Hotham quarry is not Bath oolite, as has hitherto been said, but the lower part of the inferior oolite. ' The Rey. E. Trotuorz, on the Geology of a part of Lincolnshire hitherto wunexplained.—His remarks were confined to the coast near the Wash, and he said there were abundant evidences of the alternate sub- mergence and elevation of a large part of the district within the human period, which he attributed to volcanic causes. Mr H. C. Sorsy, on the Currents present during the Deposition of the Carboniferous and Permian Strata in South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire.—This was a continuation of a branch of geology, on which the author has already published several papers, pointing out how the direction and characters of the currents present during the deposition of stratified rocks may be determined. The neighbourhood of Sheffield is extremely well fitted for this inquiry, and, from residing there, the author has been able to examine minutely a large tract, and lay down the direc- tion of the currents in many hundred localities on large maps, which were exhibited and explained. The chief conclusions to be derived from his observations are, that during the period of the millstone grit there was NEW SERIES.—VOL. IX. NO. I.—JAN. 1859, K 146 Proceedings of Societies. a very uniform general current from the north-east, slightly interfered with by a tide setting from the north-west, and by the action of waves and local wind-drift currents produced by the powerful westerly gales. This general north-east current was also present during the deposition of the lower part of the coal strata, but ceased towards that of the central and more productive portion, when in different localities and beds the currents were from all parts of the compass; but the relative amount of material drifted from different quarters bears a very striking analogy to the amount of wind that blows from various parts of the compass, as if the wind was the effective cause of the currents, and the tide and general north-east current had ceased to exist. During the deposition of the magnesian limestone the sea was subject to a very decided tide, rising and falling with great uniformity from W.S.W. to E.N.E., amongst a number of shoals, on which surface waves stranded, chiefly produced by easterly winds, as if the sea was far more open to the east than towards the west. ‘There must, therefore, have been a very great change in physical geography between the periods of the carboniferous limestone and the magnesian limestone, since at those epochs the directions of the rise and fall of the tide were nearly perpendicular to each other, which may perhaps indicate as great a change in the distribution of the land and sea as if the tide in the English channel was to cease to flow in its present course, and was to set right over France into the Mediterra- nean, Mr T. P. Trate, on the Deposits of the Aire Valley.—He stated that in consequence of the discovery of some bones of the hippopotamus in the valley of the Aire, near Leeds, seven years ago, the deposit in which they were found was invested with considerable interest, and with the desire to aid in determining the geological age of the deposit, he made some inquiries on the subject, which he now proposed to lay before the section. The bones which had been found included those of the hippo- potamus major, of an elephantine animal, an ox, and the remains of smaller mammalia; but before coming to the deposit in which they were found, it would be necessary to describe the superficial deposits of the dis- trict. There were three distinct deposits, namely, blue clay, yellow clay, and warp; the first overlying the outbreak of the coal formation, the second overlying the first, and the third overlying the other two, and filling in the spaces caused by denudation, being sometimes found resting both on the blue and yellow clay, and occasionally on the coal. In the blue clay they found a number of stones, the characteristics of which were that they were rolled, water-worn, and far travelled. In the yellow clay the stones were angular and sub-angular, little worn, but not far travelled. In the third deposit, namely, the warp, they found the osseous remains he had mentioned. The warp also contained both angular and rolled stones, and consisted of the debris of the blue and yellow clays, and of the gravel brought down the valley. It continued to the surface, up to a level of about 150 feet. Such was the general character of the deposits; and the inferences he drew from the facts he had stated were, first, that the blue clay was a glacial drift of submergence ; second, that the yellow clay was a glacial drift of emergence, under a more gentle current ; third, that the warp was a newer deposit than the glacial drift; and fourth, that the hippopotamus major and the elephant existed in these lands subsequent to the glacial period. oo | an Le ee ee Proceedings of Societies. 147 The bones, of which many fine specimens have been collected, were exhibited. _Mr Travis Clay expressed his general concurrence in the remarks of Mr Teale, but added that, in the valley of the Calder, warp was found at an elevation of 200 feet. Mr Teale explained, that inthe remark he made he referred to the neighbourhood of Leeds. Where the valley was narrower, the warp was found at a much greater elevation. Professor Phillips said that the facts which Mr Teale had brought be- fore them would assist in determining the succession of the various mam- malia, and the period when they lived, as well as in elucidating the gla- cial phenomena of this part of England. Professor Ramsay said he was familiar with similar phenomena in Wales to those mentioned by Mr Teale, and remarked, that there must have been a great change in the temperature after the second glacial period, as it was well known that the hippopotamus could not live ina climate where the rivers were even occasionally frozen over. He sup- posed that the hippopotami had lived in the river, and that the elephants and other animals named had roamed along its banks, all occasionally being drowned by floods and inundations, and their bones becoming imbedded in the warp. He thought it of great importance that they should endeavour to ascertain the course of the rivers in the district during the geological periods referred to. Mr J. G. Marsnatt, on the Geology of the Lake District.—The sub- ject of the paper was purely of a speculative character, the object of the writer being to explain some of the geological phenomena of the lake dis- trict, on the supposition of metamorphic, instead of igneous, action. He gave a very minute description of the geological formations, following generally the classification of Professors Sedgwick and Phillips, and maintained that both the positive and negative evidence which these for- mations afforded were in favour of the hypothesis that the granites and slates of the lake district were metamorphic, and not irruptive ; that what appeared to be now alternating and interstratified igneous and sedimen- tary or aqueous rocks, porphyries, and slates, were originally all sedimen- tary, but being of varying chemical composition, when all were together subjected to heat and pressure, some were changed into porphyries, whilst others were merely hardened, and remained slaty rocks. To test this theory, he had subjected samples of Skiddaw slate, green-stone porphyry, and roofing slate to a series of experiments, under great heat and pressure, and generally the results were satisfactory, but as he could not bring to bear the agency of water, they were not conclusive. Mr W. Peneetty read a paper on a recently discovered Ossiferous Cavern at Brixham, near Torquay.—He described with great minute- ness the structure and formation of the cavern, and the means which had been taken for its excavation and exploration, remarking, that upwards of 2000 bones of animals had been found in it, amongst which were mingled flint knives and heads, evidently made by man. Mr Pengelly concluded his paper by stating that the means at the disposal of the local committee were quite inadequate for continuing the exploration in a satisfactory manner. Professor Ramsay read a report which had been forwarded by the local committee at Brixham to the general committee of the Association, from K 2 148 Proceedings of Societies. which it appeared that Dr Falconer had found amongst these ossiferous remains the bones of the rhinoceros, bos, horse, reindeer, cave bear, and hyena, and also several well-marked specimens of- flint-knives, generally accepted as of Celtic manufacture. Professor Owen said, he was glad that measures had been taken for the careful exploration of this cave, but it would be premature to raise any hypothesis until the whole of the facts were before them. He had not yet seen any of the bones, and indeed was entirely indebted for what he knew on the subject to the paper which Mr Pengelly had read; and he should refrain, therefore, from expressing any opinion, but he wished to caution them against coming to conclusions as to the antiquity of these re- mains, which were not really warranted. He proceeded to show, from the remains of tigers, elephants, and other animals found in this country, in Siberia, and other parts of the world, where the climate was much colder than was supposed to be compatible with their existence, that there was undoubted evidence that these animals could adapt themselves to cold and temperate climates as well as to torrid ones, and remarked that the con- ditions of animal life were not those of climate, but of food and quiet. ‘Wherever there was the prey, undisturbed by man, there also would be the destroyer. They had evidence from the writings of Julius Cesar of the existence in England, 2000 years ago, of three distinct species of ani- mals, including two gigantic species of ox, and one of the reindeer, and he was himself satisfied that they had once had a native British lion, all of which, however, were now extinct in this country, and he saw nothing in the remains which had been discovered at Brixham to lead him to sup- pose that the animals lived before the historie period, or which was incon- sistent with the concurrent existence of a rude race of barbarians. At the same time, he was open to conviction, and should be very glad to see a good fossil human being, which should prove that man had been much longer upon the earth than historical evidence led them to suppose. Professor Puinuips gave an account of the Hematite Ores of North Lancashire, embodying in his remarks the substance of a communica- tion from Mr R. Baker, jun., on the Hematite deposits of West Cum- berland. ‘The districts of North Lancashire and West Cumberland, to which reference was made, were said to be exceedingly rich in valuable deposits of iron ore, and were now producing probably not less than one million tons per annum. Notwithstanding, however, their value and importance, they had not been carefully examined until a recent period, and some interesting geological phenomena had been observed, which threw considerable light on the age of the iron ore formations of West Cumberland and North Lancashire. The ironstone of these dis- tricts was found in immediate connection with mountain limestone, and many persons had been in the habit of regarding iron ore as of the same age as the mountain limestone, and as being part of the limestone series ; but a careful observation of the distriet of North Lancashire would go far to remove this opinion. Running across the mountain limestone of that district there was a vast hollow; and it was in these hollows that the ore is found, lying between the limestone, and resting on one side, upon what was evidently a great line of fault, as well as in the fissures and hol- lows of the rock, with all the indications of a later deposit. The commu- nication of Mr Baker showed that iron ore was not confined to limestone, but was also to be found in connection with the new slate formations, ee Oe i i | is | —_—- Proceedings of Societies. 149 and that it was not a deposit peculiar to the limestone. The opinion which he had formed on this subject he by no means wished to be ac- cepted as a positive conclusion; but the position of the ore, upon the faults of the limestone as well as in the fissures and hollows of the rock, went to prove that it was a subsequent formation. The latest date to which it could be referred was the Permian deposits. He was inclined to believe that these lines of faults and fissures were due to the action of causes which preceded the period of the Permian system, and that the iron formation might generally be referred to the age of the Permian rocks, and occasionally to a still later date, namely, that of the New Red Sandstone. He was satisfied that it would not do to refer the iron ore of Lancashire and Cumberland to the period of the mountain limestone. Mr Pace exhibited the skeleton of a seal which had been found in the Pleistocene clays of Stratheden, in Fifeshire—the only remains of the seal family which had yet been discovered in any of our post-tertiary de- posits. The Springfield brick-works, where the remains were found, are about nine miles from the open sea of St Andrew’s Bay; more than five from the highest influence of the tide in the estuary of the Eden; and the clay hills rise from 120 to 150 feet above the medium tide-level of the German Ocean. There are several well-marked ancient sea-margins in the valley of the Eden, whose estuary, now only about three miles long and less than a mile in breadth, must have extended fully twenty- five miles inland, and ranged from two to five miles in width. The most marked of these old sea-levels are at 20, 40, 60, 90, 150, and 200 feet above the present sea—the lowest yielding shells, &c., wholly of the ex- isting shores, though over-lying a well-marked submerged forest of pines, oak, birch, hazel, alder, and other British trees; the second containing bones of the whale, and several shells of bereal species; the third and fourth rarely containing remains, and the fourth bones of whales and the skeleton now in question. The clay in which the skeleton was embedded is a bright red plastic clay, evidently derived from the waste of the old red sandstone of Upper Stratheden when the waves washed the bases of the present hills, and the streams brought down from the lower Ochils the debris of the same formation. It contains no boulders or pebbles, and appears to have been a slow deposit, in water of considerable depth, and removed from the influence of drift, either vegetable or animal, from the adjacent shores. It rests on the true boulder clay, which is there . a dark blue tenacious mass of great thickness, and replete with boulders of granite, syenite, greenstone, gneiss, quartz, and other primary forma- tions. The descending section shows—arable soil and sandy clay three feet ; laminated sand one foot; from 15 to 20 feet of red plastic clay, in which the skeleton was imbedded at a depth of 12 feet—the whole being underlaid by blue boulder clay of unknown depth. From the position of the red clay, and the disposition of the associated gravel mounds, it is evident that it is younger than the boulder bed on which it rests, and that { it is as old at least as the 150 feet beach, and greatly older than the 4 silts and gravels which in the Forth, Clyde, and Tay, have yielded re- 7 mains of whales, antlers of gigantic red deer, skulls of the Bos longifrons, s wolf, bear, and beaver, and shells, many of which are of boreal species. ’ How much younger than the boulder clay we have no direct means of a determining, though evidently much older than the human occupation of Britain, which must have then been sunk to a depth of from 150 to 200 _—_——- ——s+ 150 Proceedings of Societies. feet below its present level. As regards the skeleton itself (which is in a wonderful state of preservation), it seems to be a pretty widely divergent variety of the common seal (Phoca vitulina), if not a distinet species, a point, however, that yet awaits the precise determinations of the compa- rative anatomist. If the same as the existing seal, then it invests that creature with a high degree of antiquity ; if of a different species (boreal or more southerly), then it shows the high age of these brick clays, and may assist to identify their position in other localities, Professor Puitiirs made a communication on some Phenomena at the junction of the Granite and Schistose rocks in West Cumberland, and on the Slaty Cleavage in the Lake district—He described three orders of phenomena, all due to some form of heat-action, observed by himself in the slate district of Black Comb, and on the north-west border of that mountain. In the mountain of Black Comb the black slates, much con- torted, are not in a metamorphic state. Several dykes or interposed bands of granite (elvan) lie in the slates of the north-western part of Black Comb; they very slightly affect the condition of the slates. Round a considerable part of Black Comb the green-slate series is metamorphie, and the series of changes is such that from unaltered slate at one end, new structures appear and augment (not very regularly), so as at the other end to complete a green or black porphyry. Agate concretions appear in some places in long pipes parallel to cleavage dip. This remarkable series of changes is traced with great precision in a bold narrow ridge of rock near Booth, one end of which almost touches the black slate, the other is met by a tongue of granite. Near the junction the granite is hornblendic (syenite); it enters the metamorphic series in veins of fis- sure, and produces on that series further small changes of colour and texture apparently proportioned to the mass of the introduced rock. Thus, in one district, possibly due to one general cause, the earth’s internal heat, but operating through a long time, three distinct orders of pheno- mena appear, for each of which a special investigation is necessary, and to which, when fully understood, a special explanation may be applied. Mr H.C. Sorpy on some Peculiarities in the arrangement of the Mine- ralsin Igneous Rocks, and ona New Method of determining the temperature and pressure at which various Minerals and Rocks were formed.—* Very often in igneous rocks,” said Mr Sorby, ‘“‘ infusible minerals had been formed upon such as were far more fusible, which was a very unintelli- gible peculiarity, if they supposed that the temperature at which they crystallised was the same as their own fusing point, when heated alone. The object of this paper was to show that this fact, as well as several important peculiarities in the microscopical structure of the minerals, may be readily explained by supposing that the fused rock is simply a liquid that melts at a high temperature, capable of dissolving various minerals, in the same manner as salts are dissolved in the very fusible substance, water. On cooling to a certain extent, the crystals are deposited from solution, and thus crystallise out at a temperature which must be some- what lower than the fusing point of the mineral when heated alone, and may be much lowerthan that. ‘This supposition completely explains why a fusible mineral may act as a nucleus for one that is much less fusible; and it was shown that this peculiarity may be imitated artifi. cially, for when saline aqueous solutions are cooled so as to solidify, cry- | : { Proceedings of Societies. 151 stals of very infusible salts are actually deposited on previously formed erystals of ice.”—On the second part of the subject, Mr Sorby said, “ If a given volume of air is enclosed in a tube, and it be taken to a place where the temperature or pressure of the atmosphere is different, the difference in the temperature can easily be determined from the change in the volume of the air, if the pressure is known; or the difference in pressure, if the temperature is known. Where crystals are formed arti- ficially from solution in water, they catch up and hermetically inclose in their solid substance small quantities of the liquid, so as to produce fluid cavities, which are full of the liquid at the temperature at which they are formed, and can easily be seen with a suitable magnifying power. If,then,the temperature be considerably higher than the ordinary heat of the atmosphere, and there were no great pressure, when cold, the fluid contracts so as to leave a vacuity, the relative size of which can be measured with the microscope micrometer, and employed to determine the heat at which the crystal was formed. Also, if generated under great pressure, if the temperature was known, the amount of the pressure could be determined. In applying these principles to natural crystals, it was shown that the quartz of veins, and that forming the principal con- stituent of metamorphic schists, must have been deposited from water at a temperature of 400 Fahr.and upwards. The minerals in the blocks ejected from modern volcanoes, and the quartz forming one of the constituents of some trachytes, contain fluid cavities, which indicate that they must have been formed at a dull red heat. If it is supposed that the quartz in granite rocks also crystallized at the same temperature, the pressure under which they were formed can be calculated. In this manner the author has arrived at the conclusion that elvans were consolidated under a much greater pressure than trachytes, and granite at a still greater pressure. The actual pressure under which elvans and granites were formed, as thus calculated, is of the same general order of magnitude as that under which the lava at the force of modern volcanoes must become solid, judging from the height to which the lava rises above the bases; as if elvans and granite were the unerupted lavas of ancient volcanoes, variously protruded amongst the superincumbent strata. It was also shown that the rocks in the Highlands of Scotland were formed under a very much - greater pressure than the corresponding rocks in Cornwall, there being a remarkable agreement between the results deduced from the fluid cavities in the various igneous and metamorphic rocks.” Mr Pace on further contributions to the Paleontology of the Tile Stones, or Siluro-Devonian Strata of Scotland.—The paper was illus- trated by a number of fine fossil specimens, including a land plant, fishes, (from what has hitherto been called the Old Red Sandstone), and crus- tacea (partly from the Old Red Sandstone and partly from the Siluro- Devonian of Seotland), Professor OwEn on a new Genus and Species of Pterodactyle, with re- marks on the Geological Distribution of Flying Reptiles.— He exhibited a drawing of the skull and some of the wing-bones and other limb-bones of a Pterodactyle, which he had obtained during a recent visit to Lyme Regis, in Dorsetshire. ‘The specimen in question was discovered in the lower lias of that locality, and had been purchased for the British Museum. The fore part of the cranium was preserved anterior to the orbit, measuring in length six inches. This was peculiar for the vast 152 Proceedings of Societies. expanse of the long nostril, which was oval, and measured three inches by one anda half inch; the antorbital vacuity, divided by a slender oblique bar from the nostril, was triangular, one inch five lines in long diameter; the solid part of the premaxillary in advance of the nostril, measured only one inch nine lines in length, or little more than half the length of the nostril—proportions which had not been previously observed in any Pterodactyle. The largest teeth were implanted in this part of the upper jaw. One, which had been displaced, and showed the oblique basal cavity and depression, formed by a successional tooth, measured more than an inch in length. The largest exserted crown of a pre- maxillary tooth in place measured seven lines. A tooth situated three inches and a half behind the first tooth, had a crown five lines in length ; then followed three shorter teeth, and behind these, and below the antor- bital vacuity, were several small teeth, with intervals. The dentary bones of the lower jaw were preserved, measuring 6} inches in length. These exhibited a peculiarity of dentition not previously described or figured; viz., two long prehensile teeth at the fore part of each ramus, separated by an interval of half an inch, and followed, after a similar interval, by a series of much more minute and close-set teeth, with straight, short, compressed, lancet-shaped crowns, none of which exceeded a line in length. Forty-five of these teeth might be counted in an alvyeo- lar extent of two inches nine lines, and in a part of the dentary bone ave- raging eight lines in depth. This character of dentition was such, that the figure published by Dr Buckland of the fragment of a jaw found in the same lias at Lyme Regis, with similar minute serial teeth, ‘‘ like one another, flat, and shaped at the point like a lancet,” and which he be- lieved was “ probably that of our Pterodactyle,” was deemed by most paleontologists to have been rather a portion of the jaw of a fish. The Pterodactylus Bathensis, aud Pterodactylus Gemmingi, distinguished by an edentulous production (processus mentalis), from the forepart of the jaw, had three or four large teeth next behind that process, followed by several smaller teeth; and these Pterodactyles formed the genus Ramphorhynchus of V. Meyer; but the hind teeth were not nearly so numerous and minute as in the specimen from the lower lias, and this had no edentulous processus mentalis. So marked a difference from the dentition of the species of the true Pterodactylus, represented by P. longirostris, P. crassirostris, as well as from the mandibular and dental characters of the Ramphorhynchus of V. Meyer, appeared to call for the subgeneric separation of the Pterodactylus macronyx of Buckland, from the later forms of Pterosawria ; and Professor Owen proposed the name Dimorphodon for this new sub-genus, in reference to the two kinds of teeth, or two features of dentition, one of them borrowed, as it were, from the fish or batrachian, by this early form of flying dragon. Among the bones associated with the skull, the author defined the lower half of a radius and ulna, four metacarpals, including the very thick and strong one of the wing-finger; the first, second, and great part of the third phalanges of that finger; phalanges, including two unequal ones, of the short claw-bearing fingers. Portions of the radius and ulna, and the entire metacarpal of the wing-finger of the other fore-limb ; a few verte- bre and ribs. Only three of these bones could be compared with the first specimen of a Pterodactyle from Lyme Regis, described by Dr Buck- land ; their respective lengths were as follows :— * an ‘ j ’ q | i ain | Proceedings of Societies. 153 Pterodactylus (Dimorphodon) macronyx. Ist Specimen. 2d Specimen. In. Lines. In. Lines. Length of metacarpal of fifth or wing finger, . - $258 1 8 Length of first phalange of do. do. 3 69 4 6 Length of second phalange of do. do. 4 0 4 9 Length of a claw phalange, . 0 8} e 9 By this comparison it was shown that the second specimen was larger than the first, but differed so slightly in the proportions of the first and second phalanges, as not, in Professor Owen’s opinion, to justify a dis- tinction of species; more particularly since, on the supposition of the portion of jaw figured by Dr Buckland having belonged to the same in- dividual as the limb-bones figured by the same author, the first specimen of Pterodactylus macronyx had the same sub-generic character of mandibular teeth as the second specimen from the same formation and locality. Some portions of thin-walled hollow bones from the upper beds of the lias of Wirtemberg might belong to the Pterodactyle genus; in which case they would indicate the oldest examples known of the flying order of reptiles. The oldest certainly known Pterodactyles were, at present, the Pterodactylus macronyx, Bd., of the lower lias, forming the type of the sub-genus Dimorphodon; and bones of Pterodactyle from the coeval lias in Wirtemberg. The next in point of age was the P. Bathensis, from the ‘ Posidonomyenschiefer’ of Bonz, in Bavaria, answering to the alum shale of our Whitby lias. Then follows the P. Bucklandi, from the Stonesfield oolite. Above this came the first defined and numerous species of Pterodactyle from the lithographic slates of the middle oolitic system; as at Solenhofen, Pappenheim, and Nusplingen, in Germany, and from Cirin, on the Rhine. The Pterodactyles of the Wealden were, as yet, known by only a few bones and bone fragments; as had hitherto been also, those of the ‘‘ green sand” of Cambridgeshire. Finally, the Pterodactyles of the middle-chalk of Kent, so remarkable for their great size, constituted the last forms of flying reptiles known in the history of the crust of this earth. Sm Ropericx I. Murcutson gave the results of his Researches among the Older Rocks of the Scottish Islands.—He commenced his observations by indicating the various steps which had been made in developing the geological structure of Scotland, from the days of Hutton and Playfair through those of Jameson and M‘Culloch, to the state in which the sub- ject was advanced a few years ago by the proofs of the existence of con- siderable numbers of organic remains of Silurian age in the southern Scottish counties, which, from the wild and hilly outline of most of them, had been termed the “‘ Southern Highlands.” He then gave a sketch of the knowledge progressively acquired respecting the structure of the North Highlands, pointing out, besides that which might be termed a lithological and mineral description of the oldest rocks, that little or nothing had been effected in determining their true relative order of superposition, still less the identification of any of their members by the evidence of fossil organic remains. With the Old Red Sandstone, all red conglomerates and sandstones, whether on the west or on the east coast, had hitherto been merged. Passing over the presence of masses of oolitic 154 Proceedings of Societies. or Jurassic age (Brora, &c.), which he had formerly described in a me- moir published in the Transactions of the Geological Society, he showed to what extent Professor Sedgwick and himself had, thirty years ago, ascertained an ascending order from gneiss covered by quartz rocks with limestone into overlying quartzose, micaceous, and other crystalline rocks, some of which have a gneissose character. They had also observed what they supposed to be an associated formation of red grit and sandstone ; but the exact relations of this last to the crystalline rocks were not as- certained, owing to bad weather. In the meantime they, as well as all subsequent geologists, believed that the great and lofty masses of purple and red conglomerate of the western coast were of the same age as those on the east. In addition to the researches of Mr Cunningham, the ob- servations which the author made in the summer of 1855, when accom- panied by Professor James Nicol, were communicated to the geological section at their last meeting at Glasgow, and to the abstract of that me- moir, as published in the volume of the Transactions, he referred, as indi- cating the then state of knowledge, and proving the existence of a lower gneiss, as being clearly superposed by a younger series of crystalline rocks, as seen in any section from N.W. to S E. across Sutherland, Caith- ness, Ross, Inverness, &c. The great feature, independent of the order of superposition, which has given to some of these lower rocks their most distinctive character, is the discovery by Mr C. Peach, in the erystalline limestone subordinate to the quartz rocks, of certain imperfect organic remains, which even at the Glasgow meeting he had affirmed (on the au- thority of Mr Salter) to be of Lower Silurian age. He was indeed con- vinced, from the physical position of the masses alone, and their inferior- ity to it, the great and diversified series of old red or Devonian age of the east coast, that such was the epoch of their accumulation. Now, al- though he had also observed, in company with Mr Nicol, the clear inter- position of a great mass of coarse red conglomeritic grit between the older gneiss (see Memoir in Trans. of British Association) and the quartz rocks, the extent of this interpolation had not been traced; nor, again, owing to very stormy weather, had he been able to satisfy himself that this red conglomerate and grit was or was not conformable to the over- lying quartzites and limestones. Aware that his friend Colonel James, R,E., was about to visit Sutherland, Sir Roderick requested him to deter- mine this point ; and this was clearly and satisfactorily accomplished by Colonel James, who traced over a considerable area a complete discord- ance between the red and purple sandstones of the north-west coast and the overlying crystalline rocks. Later in the same summer, Professor Nicol, revisiting Sutherland, extended the whole of similar physical phenomena from Cape Wrath down all the west coast to Lochalsh, in Ross-shire, and published his results in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, So far, then, as the physical order was concerned, ¢¢., from the funda- mental or older gneiss up through great mountains of purple and red con- glomerate unconformable to the rocks both below and above, and then a series of quartz rocks with limestones, covered by younger gneiss, no doubt remained. But a doubt did remain in the mind of Professor Nicol as to the value of the parallel he (Sir Roderick) had endeavoured to establish between the fossils of these lower limestones and those of lower Silurian age ; and, entertaining this scepticism, he suggested that the quartzites and limestones might be the equivalent of the carboniferous system of ee al ; : Proceedings of Societies. 155 the central trough of Scotland. Wholly dissenting from that hypothesis, Sir Roderick urged Mr Peach to avail. himself of {his first leisure moments to re-examine the fossil beds of Durness and Assynt, and the result was the discovery of so many forms of undoubted lower Silu- rian characters (determined by Mr Salter), that the question has been completely set at rest—there being now no less than nineteen or twenty species of Maclurea, Murchisonia, Onceoceras, Orthoceras, &c., of which ten or eleven occur in the lower Silurian rocks of North Ame- rica. Having revisited the region this summer, accompanied by Mr Peach, Sir Roderick had on this occasion good weather, and this enabled him to satisfy himself of the clear and unmistakeable grand succession of rocks as above indicated, and to confirm the views which he had laid be- fore the Geological Society last session, although the printing of his memoir has been deferred until the results of this last survey should be added to it, Whilst the author is convinced that great crystalline and suberystalline masses, occupying the central and eastern parts of Suther- land and Ross, are of younger age than the siliceous rocks of the north- western Highlands, he fully admits that there may be tracts in that vast extent of country where the older or fundamental gneiss may be brought to light. The succession here described is in perfect harmony with the general order in North America, as worked out by Logan in Canada, and confirmed by geologists of the United States, and by the recent visit of Professor Ramsay, for in that quarter of the world there exists a wide spread of ancient gneiss, which is termed Laurentian, surmounted by a series of stratified coarse sub-crystalline rocks, termed Huronian, and the last again followed by sandstones and limestones, some of which, classed as lower Silurian both by Logan, in Canada, and Hall, in New York, contain the very same fossils as the rocks of the west of Sutherland. The intercalated purple and red sandstones (No. 2, of the Highland series), therefore clearly represent the Cambrian rocks, and are separated from the old red of the east coast by the whole series of the quartz rock, limestone, micaceous, and quartzose schists, all of which have afforded the materials out of which the true old red series has been formed. The second part of the communication related to the Old Red Sandstone, pro- perly so defined, and exhibited on the east coast, between Banffshire and Morayshire on the south, and the Orkney and Shetland Islands on the north, various points of which the author visited last summer. In Caith- ness and the Orkney Islands, accompanied by Mr Peach, the author made various interesting additions to his former knowledge, And his belief was sustained that the ichthyolitic flagstones of Caithness, and the Ork- neys, with their numerous fossil fishes, constitute the central member of the old red series, the lower part of which is made up of powerful con- glomerates and a very great thickness of thin-bedded red sandstone, the whole resting on the crystalline rocks, whilst the central flagstones are surmounted by other sandstones rarely red, and usually of yellow colour, which oceupy the headlands of Dunnet Head, &c. In Morayshire, Sir Roderick made transverse sections, in company with the Rev. G. Gordon, of Birnie, from the edge of the crystalline rocks (there a micaceous flagstone, in part used as slates) to the maritime promontories of Burghead and Lossiemouth, and was convinced that the yellow sandstones in which the air-breathing reptile, the Telerpeton Elginense, was found, are truly part and parcel of the old red or Devonian series. In exploring the 156 Proceedings of Societies. coast range from Burghead to Lossiemouth, Sir Roderick observed that the strata had been thrown up on an anticlinal, trending parallel to the more inland ridge in which the Telerpeton was found, and that whilst the in- land ridges are associated with hard sub-crystalline cornstone (limestone), first described by Professor Sedgwick and himself as analogous to the old red cornstones of England, so the coast ridge, folding over, dips beneath another band of similar cornstone, which in its turn is overlaid by flag- - like deep red sandstone, clearly seen as reefs at low water. In all this Morayshire series there rests not a trace of a carboniferous plant, and the strata are so bound together by mineral characters and fossil remains, that they must all be grouped as old red or Devonian. Where fossil plants have been found, as in Caithness, and there the formation puts on a very different mineral aspect, the plants which have been obtained, and which have been described by Hugh Miller and Mr Salter, are all dis- tinct from those of the coal period. The chief additional data which had been gained by Sir Roderick during his last visit were owing to the discovery by Mr Martin, of Elgin, of a large bone in the beds at Lossiemouth, which had formerly afforded the huge scales of the supposed fish called Staganolepis, by Agassiz. On visiting these quarries with Mr G. Gordon, he was so fortunate as to discover other portions of this large animal, so that comparative anatomists may now determine whether it belongs to fishes or reptiles. However this point may be decided, the existence of true reptiles, during the formation of this deposit, is established be- yond a doubt; since many slabs have been found in the coast quarries of Cummingside and Coveseahill, belonging to Mr Alexander Young, in which are the foot-prints of both large and small animals, each foot-print having the impression of three or four claws to it. The speci- mens have been sent to the Museum of Practical Geology, London. No doubt can now be entertained of the presence of large reptiles, as well as the little Telerpeton, in this upper member of the Old Red Sandstone. In respect to the great masses of sedimentary deposit lying along the east- ern and southern faces of the crystalline rocks of the Grampians, which have been hitherto all classed as pertaining to the Old Red Sandstone, Sir Roderick does not pretend as yet to be able, from the slight examination he has made of these, whether at various former periods, or in return- ing southwards during the present year, to be competent to describe their detailed relations. On these points, however, he begs to offer the follow- ing suggestions. The true base of the Old Red Sandstone, properly so called, is seen in Shropshire to be red rock, containing Cephalaspis and Pteraspis, which rock gradually passes down into the summit of the grey Ludlow rock, and in both of these contiguous and united strata, remains of large Pterygoti, but of different species in the two bands, are found. Now, although the Arbroath paving stone, and the grey rocks ranging to the north of Dundee, much resemble the uppermost Ludlow rock, they contain the Cephalaspis Lyellit, and if therefore classed with the Devonian rocks, they must, under every circumstance, be viewed as the: very base of that natural group. It follows, therefore, that certain great conglomerates on the flanks of the Grampians which underlie all those grey rocks with Pterygoti, can no longer be classed as they have been, with the old red or Devonian, but must represent some portion of the Silurian system. In speaking of the lowest member of the Old Red Sand- stone as characterized by the Cephalaspis Lyellii, the author expressed Proceedings of Societies. 157 his conviction that in the north-eastern Highlands and Caithness the zone is represented by a vast thickness of this bedded red sandstone and conglomerates which had been already adverted to as lying beneath the Caithness flags. The author, who had recently visited Dura Den, in Fifeshire, in the company of Lord Kinnaird and the Rev. Dr James Anderson, declared that there could be no doubt whatever that the yellow sandstones of Fife pertain truly to the old red group, are entirely sub- jacent to the lowest carboniferous sandstones, and are of the same age as the upper yellow sandstones of Elgin. A drawing of a splendid Holoptychius nobilissimus, nearly three feet in length, which was found on the occasion of this visit, was exhibited, and as this species abounds in the lower and red portions of the deposit, and also occurs in the over- lying yellow sandstones, associated with Holoptychius Andersoni and H. Flemingii of the latter, the age of the deposit is clearly substantiated. In conclusion, Sir Roderick said that this communication must only be considered as a rehearsal of what was to be done with more effect next year at Aberdeen, when further observations would either confirm or modify some portion of his views, though the great fundamental reform of the North Scottish series, proving the ascent from the oldest rocks in Britain on the west coast of the north Highlands to the much younger “ Old Red Sandstone” of the east coast, is firmly established. With reference to the same subject, Professor Nicon, of the University of Aberdeen, addressed the section On the Age and Relations of the Gneiss Rocks, in the North of Scotland.—He expressed his regret that on one point he was compelled to differ from his distinguished friend, Sir R. Murchison. He described a section from the Gairloch to the Moray Firth, and showed that the red sandstone and quartzite resting on the gneiss of the west, were cut off by igneous rocks from the supposed overlying gneiss on the east. This band of igneous rock he had traced at intervals for a hundred miles, from Loch Eriboll to Skye, and he therefore concluded that there was there a line of fracture and convul- sion, and that the cases of the overlap of gneiss on quartzite were oc- casioned by a slip or convolution of the strata, and did not mark the true order of superposition. Professor Nicol also pointed out that in the great central region of Scotland, from Aberdeenshire to Argyleshire, the gneiss, limestone, and quartz rock overlaid the mica slate, and did not dip under it, as is usually represented—the gneiss of the Black Mount and Breadalbane Highlands forming a great synclinal trough, resting on both sides on mica slate. Professor Rocrrs on the Discovery of Strata of supposed Permian age in the interior of North America by Mr Meek and other American Geologists. He said that until about a year ago the Continent of North America, at least the temperate zone occupied by the United States, was not supposed. to contain any rocks of a later Paleozoic or Permian age. Only two series of strata, allof an age intermediate between the coal period and the period of the chalk, were known—one, the middle second- ary or mesozoic red sandstone of the Atlantic slope ; and the other re- lated more nearly to the Triassic than any other European formation. Professor Emmons, the chief of the geological survey of North Carolina, recently proposed to divide the red sandstone series of that country into two groups, the upper of which he admitted to be of the Triassic age, and the lower of which he assumed, upon the evidence of organic remains, 158 Proceedings of Societies. to be of the Permian date. The fossils to which he appealed were especially certain reptiles belonging to the lizard tribe, called by Pro- fessor Owen, “thecodonts,’’ from the circumstance that the teeth were inserted into the jaws in separate sockets, and not in a row attached to the projecting bony ridge, nor in a groove between two such ridges. Professor Emmons had also discovered, in a coal bed of this red sandstone - group, a mammalian fossil, consisting of the left side of the lower jaw of a true mammal. A comparison of this interesting fossil, (of a formation — which had hitherto transmitted so very few mammalian remains), with the best figures procurable of the fossil mammals of the oolitie rocks of Europe, convinced Professor Emmons that it was not even generically identical with any species previously known, and he had therefore estab- lished for it a new genus, and called it the Dromotheriwm silvestre. In general aspect it bore some resemblance to the marsupial mammalian remains of the English oolites, described by Professor Owen, and so far as any inference could be drawn from this fossil, they must take it as implying an oolitic age in the strata which included it. Professor Rogers submitted that the evidence of this fossil preponderated in favour of an oolitic, or at least Triassic age, rather than a Permian. More recently strata had been discovered by Dr Hayden further inthe interior, which bore some analogy to thePermian deposits of Europe in their fossils. Dr Hayden obtained a number of fossils in the Black Hills of the Rocky Mountains, which Mr Meek pronounced to belong partly to the Jurassic formation, and partly to the Permian. One of the most important developments, how- ever, of the supposed Permian fossils, was discovered a year ago by Major Hawn in Kansas, consisting of a variety of shells, stated by Mr Meek to be of the species characteristic of the upper coal measures, and of others which were new to him, but which he inferred to be forms representative of the Permian species of Europe. Subsequently, Dr Cooper made a col- lection of similar remains from a point 100 miles to the north-east of the locality examined by Major Hawn, which were also submitted to Mr Meek, who, from both, arrived at the conviction that we have evidence, for the first time, of true Permian rocks in North America. None of these fos- sils were absolutely identical with the well-known Permian species of Europe, but some of them approached to European types very nearly, whilst others belonged to species not hitherto discovered below the Per- mian formation, occurring occasionally in still more modern strata. The most important fact connected with these fossils, was the presence of some well-known species of the upper coal measures, and it was significant that these species were far more numerous and populous than the new species which showed Permian affinities. It appeared from this evidence, from the absence of any well-defined physical horizon in separating the sup- posed Permian from the coal formation, and from the intermixture of both Permian and carboniferous forms of life, that these upper rocks were either a prolongation of the coal-bearing strata, or the products of a pe-: riod intermediate between those of the coal formation and the genuine Permian strata of Europe. It was for geologists to decide which. Mr Satter expressed a general concurrence in the views of Professor Rogers, that these deposits in Kansas seemed to be related more nearly to the coal formation, as an extension of the upper coal measures, than to the true Permian of Europe. (To be continued in neat Number.) eC ae i ated be Proceedings of Societies. 159 Papers read before the American Association for the Ad- . vancement of Science, at the Meeting held at Baltimore, : May 1858. (Continued from page 276 of vol. viii.) Mr Grores Hasicu on the Production of Animal Heat by the For- mation of Cells.—It is a general doctrine of organic chemistry, that the decomposition of sugar by alcoholic fermentation is always accompanied by a production of heat, but what the agent is that produces the heat has never been established. Mr G. Habich has succeeded in tracing out this agent in the following manner :— In a solution of pure cane sugar, which did not contain any proteinous substance, he started the alcoholic fermentation by stirring in yeast-cells, Fermentation took place, but no heat was developed; on the contrary, the temperature of the solution sank below that of the surrounding me- dium. According to the doctrine mentioned above, the temperature should have risen. From this strange phenomenon Mr Habich concludes thus: In that pure solution of sugar there were no materials for the formation of new yeast-cells; the latter wanting the materials of pro- teinous substance, which is not contained in the sugar, therefore no new yeast-cells could be formed there; on the contrary, in every such so- lution of sugar which contains material for proteinous substance,— viz., nitrogen,—we find an exuberant new formation of yeast-cells; and, as Mr Habich established a production of heat proportionate to the mass of cells produced, he infers that the formation of cells is the origin of the heat produced during the fermentation, and that therefore the general doctrine alluded to above,—viz., that in every alcoholic fermentation heat is produced, must be changed thus :—that only in such an alco- holie fermentation, where new yeast-cells are formed, heat is produced. Animal physiologists know well that respiration alone can hardly ac- count for the organic heat constantly produced by living animals. We recognise now a new fountain of heat in the formation of cells, which is constantly and so extensively going on in all living animal organism. The same law will find its application in relation to the heat which we know is produced in the fructification and germination of plants, because also in this case always an extensive formation of cells takes place. The circumstance that young seeds can live and grow under a cover of snow ; further, that our trees in winter, though often exposed to an excessively low temperature, yet never freeze, will probably be accounted for in the same way. Professor Henry thought that the production of heat and the forma- tion of cells were the concomitant results of molecular change. The question was very important, and the main fact should be settled with great care. Professor Leidy thought it doubtful whether the main fact could be established. He instanced the rapid growth of the fungi, and also the growth of the young branches of plants, as not accompanied by a deve- 160 Proceedings of Societies. lopment of heat. The heat of muscles, nerves, &c., he thought was opposed to the theory. Primary Divisions of the Vegetable Kingdom.—Professor Arnoup Guyor, of the College of New Jersey, Princeton, read a paper upon “the character, natural relations, and relative rank of the primary divisions of the vegetable kingdom, founded on difference of structure ; and especially upon the true rank of the class of Gymnosperms,” The grand primary divisions of plants founded upon structure, and now universally admitted by all botanists, are essentially the Dicotyle- dons, with seeds composed of two seed leaves; the Monocotyledons, with one seed leaf; Polycotyledons or Gymnosperms, with many seed leaves ; and Acotyledons, without seed leaves, the seed of which is only a germinative cell subdivided into Acrogens or vascular Cryptogams. and cellular Cryptogams, The first three classes are flowering plants or Phanerogams; the last two are flowerless. The seed being the last effort and the climax of the development of the plant—a plantlet itself —its structure is found to be the best criterion of the structure of the whole plant; and plants which agree in the structure of their seeds, are found also to agree in the structure of all their principal organs. » But while fully admitting the correctness of these primary divisions, we have to determine their true meaning—their organic reactions, as well as their relative rank and perfection; which is so obviously dif- ferent. Such a view becomes especially important when we try to un- derstand the laws of the development of vegetation in the geological ages. In order rightly to appreciate these relations, we must look beyond the simple fact of the structure, and consider these various structural characters as means and not ends, and as expressive of functions of the life of the plant. The life of the plant, and the phases of its growth, are the primary facts which are typified by the grand classes of the vegetable kingdom. , The essential organs of the plants are the cellular tissue, the material of which every other organ and the whole plant is made; the leaf, or the respiratory organ, elaborating the raw sap under the in- fluence of the rays of the sun; the stem, supporting the increasing foliage and regulating the circulation of the sap; the flower and the seed, which are the most perfect product of the plant,—the climax of its life. The same predominance of each of these organs characterizes the succes- sive phases of the life of the vegetable. In the germinative phase the cellular tissue alone is represented ; in the next phase the power of the plant is expended in developing the leaf; the formation and consolidation of the stem come next; last of all the flowering and seeding process which terminates the life of the plant, and provides for the perpetuation of the species. The grand classes above mentioned seem closely to correspond, as to the structural character which distinguishes them, to the several organs with a predominance of one of these organs. The life of the plant, as that of every organism, starts from a germ or undeveloped unit, develops successively every essential organ, which are united at last and harmoniously combined, in their normal subordination, in the perfect plant. Now the grand classes above mentioned seem to represent by their structural character and predominant organs each of these grand phases of the growing vegetable. : Proceedings of Societies. 161 The cellular Cryptogams with no true leaves, no stem, no flower, no true seed, evidently correspond to the germinative undeveloped phase. The vascular Cryptogams, or Acrogens, of which the ferns may be an example, are eminently characterized by the predominance of the leaf. The plant itself is but a leaf, or a bunch of leaves without flower or proper seed, but a beautiful, highly developed leaf, almost equalling the perfection of the dicotyledonous leaf. The Gymnosperm is distinguished by a highly developed stem as that of the pines, by branches having nearly all the characteristics of the dicotyledonous tree, and still the true vessels fail. The flower is reduced to its indispensable elements; the leaf is linear and poorly developed ; the seed has an indefinite number of seed leaves. By all these essen- tial characteristics it stands lower than the Monocotyledons, though apparently higher, judging by the less important organ of the stem. The flower and seed of the Monocotyledon come to perfection, but the leaf is inferior to that of the Acrogens, and recalls that of the tree ferns. It is still but a partial progress. In the Dicotyledon at last all the organs attain perfection, and they are, moreover, combined in the normal subordination—leaf, stem, flower, seed, all are more perfect than in any one of the lower classes. It is the plant—the harmonious type of the true vegetable. The rank of each of these classes is that given by the life of the plant itself, and it is the same order which is observed in the successive appear- ances of those great groups of plants in the geological strata. First, the cellular cryptogamia, water plants; then the acrogens and the ferns, &c. The leaf formation predominating in the coal epoch; the gymnosperms in the secondary formations ; and for the tertiary alone, the monocotyle- dons and dicotyledons predominate, and impart to vegetation its character of perfection. Arabic Work on Physical Science.-—Professor W. D. Wuitney read a notice of an Arabic Work on Physical Science of the twelfth century. The American Oriental Society has lately received from one of its correspondents, the Chevalier Nicholas Khanikoff, Russian Consul-Gene- ral at Tabreez in Persia, an analysis, with copious extracts from an Arabic work on the Water Balance and its use, within the twelfth century, and which has not hitherto been brought to the knowledge of the learned world. The author is not named, but it appears from data contained in the work itself, that he was a kind of secretary of the treasury to one of the Sultans who ruled in the country beyond the Caspian Sea. He writes professedly to furnish a means to the Treasury whereby pure metals, especially the precious, may be distinguished from their alloys, or precious stones from their imitations, He was conversant with the labours upon the subject of other Arabian authors, and with those of the Greek philosophers, His work is accordingly a picture of the state of Arabic science in the extreme East at that period, and of its relations to the science of the Greeks and Romans. ‘The work is calculated to add not a little to our hitherto imperfect apprehension of the details of Arabic science. It is virtually a treatise on specific gravities, and the means of ascer- taining them, with a statement of results, with full reference to autho- rities, and with a description and representation of the various instru- NEW SERIES.—VOL. IX. NO. 1.—JAN. 1859. L 162 Scientific Intelligence. ments employed, and the manner of their use. The author describes and figures five or six different balances and other instruments for determining specific gravity, crediting each to its inventor (among them appears the honoured name of Archimedes), and giving instructions for its manipula- tion. He also gives a table of specific gravities, as determined by him (the standard being water, like our own), for about sixty different sub- stances, including eight metals, various precious stones, and many ani- mal and vegetable productions, down even to human blood, and the refuse of the digestic processes. Nor are these determinations of a con- temptible character for accuracy, considering the rudeness, comparatively speaking, of the instruments made use of, and the want of attention to the various modifying circumstances of temperature, atmospheric pressure, and the like, which are now so carefully taken into consideration. Our author’s results are surprisingly accurate, not unfrequently differing by less than a thousandth part from the values obtained by the best modern experiments. They are, for instance, as remarked by M. Khani- koff, more close to the truth than the results of Bayle, the famous French philosopher and physicist, of five centuries later date. The work is now about to be published by the American Oriental Society, forming a portion of the forthcoming sixth volume of the So- ciety’s Journal, with all its tables and illustrations, and I am confident that it will be examined with pleasure by all who are interested in the history of physical science. SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. BOTANY. The Big Trees of California.—Among the many remarkable natural curiosities of California, not the least is that solitary group of gigantic pines known as the “‘ Big Trees of Calaveras County.” Many may have seen the sections of bark taken from one of the group, which are exhibited in the Crystal Palace, and which excite the wonder of all beholders. The group in Calaveras County are solitary specimens of that race. There are no others of their kind or size on the known globe. It isa singular fact, that the group, consisting of ninety-two trees, is contained in a valley only one hundred and-sixty acres in extent. Beyond the limits of this little amphitheatre the pines and cedars of the country shrink into the Lilliputian dimensions of the common New England pine —say a hundred and fifty feet, or thereabout. They are situated in Calaveras County, about two hundred and forty miles from San Fran- cisco, but may be reached in a couple of days by railroad and stage- coach. A few hunters, in 1850, were pushing their way into the then unex- plored forest, when one of them, who was in advance, broke into this space, and the giants were then first seen by white men. Their colossal pro- portions, and the impressive silence of the surrounding woods, created a feeling of awe among the hunters; and after walking around the great Botany. 163 trunks, and gazing reverentially up at their grand proportions, they re- turned to the nearest settlements and gave an account of what they had seen. Their statements, however, were considered fabulous, until con- firmed by actual measurement. The trees have been named Welling- tonia gigantea. ‘The basin or valley in which they stand is very damp, and retains here and there pools of water. Some of the largest trees extend their roots directly into the stagnant water, or into the brooks, Arriving at ‘* Murphy’s Diggings’ by one of the daily lines of stages, either from Sacramento or Stockton, or by the Sonora coach, you are within fifteen miles of the celebrated grove; and from hence there is a ‘pleasant ride to the “ Mammoth Tree Hotel.” This has been erected within a year or two, to accommodate the many visitors; for the “ big trees” have now become objects of general interest. Adjoining the hotel, with which it is connected by a floor, stands the stump of the “ Big Tree,” which was cut down three years since. It measures ninety-six feet in circumference. Its surface is smooth, and offers ample space for thirty-two persons to dance, showing seventy-five feet of circumference of solid timber. Theatrical performances were given upon it by the Chapman family and Robinson family in May 1855. This monster was cut down by boring with long and powerful augurs, and sawing the spaces between. It required the labour of five men twenty-five days to effect its fall, the tree standing so nearly perpendi- cular, that the aid of wedges and a battering-ram was necessary to com- plete the desecration. But even then the immense mass resisted all efforts to overthrow it, until in the dead of a tempestuous night it began to groan and sway in the storm like an expiring giant, and it suecumbed at last.to the elements, which alone could complete from above what the human ants had commenced below. Its fall was like the shock of an earthquake, and was heard at ‘‘ Murphy’s Diggings,.” This great trunk, it is said, in its fall, buried itself twelve feet deep in the mire that bordered the little creek hard by. Not far from where it struck stand two colossal members of this family, called the “‘ Guardsmen :” the mud splashed nearly a hundred feet high upon their trunks. As it lay on the ground, it measured three hundred and two feet. Large trees had been snapped asunder like pipe-stalks, and the trees around were splintered and crushed to the earth. On its levelled surface are now situated the bar-room and two bowling-alleys of the hotel, the latter running parallel a distance of eighty-one feet. One of the most interesting of the group is that called the “ Mother of the Forest.” It is now the loftiest of the grove, rising to the height of three hundred and twenty-seven feet, straight and beautifully propor- tioned, and at this moment the largest living tree in the world. It is ninety feet in circumference. Into this trunk could be cut an apartment as large as a common-sized parlour, and as high as the architect chose to make it, without endangering the tree or injuring its outward appear- ance. A scaffolding was built around this tree, for the purpose of stripping off its bark for exhibition abroad. This was accomplished in 1854, for a distance of something over one hundred feet from the ground. Such was its vitality, that, although completely girdled and deprived of its means of sustenance, it annually put forth green leaves until the past L2 164. Scientific Intelligence. year, when its blanched and withered limbs showed that nature was ex- hausted. But the dimensions of the whole group sink before those of the pros- trate giant, known as the “ Father of the Forest.” This monster has long since bowed its head in the dust ; but how stupendous in his ruin ! The tree measures one hundred and twelve feet in circumference at the base, and forty-two feet in cirewmference at a distance of three hundred feet from the roots, at which point it was broken short off in its fall. The upper portion, beyond this break, is greatly decayed ; but, judging from the average size of the others, this tree must have towered to the prodigious height of at least four hundred and fifty feet! There is a chamber or burned cavity in the trunk, broad and high enough for a per- son to ride through on horseback ; and a vast quantity of water accumu- lates in this great excavation during the rainy season. Walking on the trunk, and looking from its uprooted base, the mind can searce conceive its astonishing dimensions. Language fails to give an adequate idea of it. It was, when standing, a pillar of timber that overtopped all other trees on the globe. ‘To read simply of a tree four hundred and fifty feet high,” observes a contemporary, ‘ we are struck with large figures; but we can hardly appreciate the height without some comparison. Such a one as this would stretch across a field of twenty-seven rods wide. If standing in the Niagara chasm at Suspension Bridge, it would tower two hundred feet above the top of the bridge, and would be ninety feet above the top of the eross of St Paul’s, and two hundred and thirty-eight feet above the Monu- ment. If cnt up for fuel, it would make at least three thousand cords, or as much as would be yielded by sixty acres of good wood-land. If sawed into two-inch boards, it would yield about three million feet, and furnish enough three-inch plank for thirty miles of plank road. All this, too, is the product of one little seed, less in size than a grain of wheat.”—Cassels’ Family Paper. ZOOLOGY. Geographical Distribution of the Trout, Salmo fario.—A very in- teresting account is published by M. Aug. Duméril, in the September number of the “ Revue et Magasin de Zoologie” of the discovery of a trout in the rapid streams of Algeria. That form of non-migratory trout of which Salmo fario is typical has hitherto been found only in the colder or temperate regions of the Old World, becoming more unfrequent as we reach southern Europe and theKast,* and hitherto, we believe, is unknown in Africa. When contemplating the introduction of useful fishes into the colony of Algeria by means of the “ Societé Impériale Zoologique d’acclimatation” it was first thought advisable to discover what fresh-water fishes the colony itself possessed; and in these investi- gations trout were discovered in abundance by Colonel Lapasset com- mander of the Circle of Phillipville, in the clear rapid streams of the Oued- el-Abdich in Kabyle, whence specimens have been sent to the museum in Paris. M. Valenciennes places it in his genus Salar, but states that he cannot refer it to any known species. It is easily distinguished externally by large black and rounded spots regularly arranged upon the sides, and * Kashmir may also be an exception. Geology. 165 from that circumstance he has named it “‘ Truite a grandes taches” (Salar macrostigma). The other distinctions are thus stated :—‘ Ainsi, aucune n’est aussi trapue ; ses formes en effet, sont ramassées; les nageoires paires latérales et l’anale on hypoptére sont plus rapprochées les unes des autres qu’elles ne le sont chez ses congénéres ; la dorsale ou epiptére, un peu plus haute qu’elle n’est longue, est située plus en arriere, car ses pre- miéres rayons dépassent a peine l’origine des catoptes ou ventrales. La eaudale ou uroptére, beaucoup plus fourehue que chez aucune truite, se termine per des lobes effilés, dont la longueur est presque double de celle de la portion centrale de cette nageoire.” The formula of the fins is given as follows :— 3 2 1 ‘tor ~ ~59 - 6 -* iB D The general colour has a great resemblance to that of other trouts, and the sides are covered with round dark spots placed in a pale or bright field. The dorsal and anal fins are bordered with black anteriorly; the former covered with small black spots. Along the lateral line on each side is a regular series of large rounded black spots. These become quite distinct opposite the dorsal fin, and from that to the tail are eight in number, gradually diminishing in size. This short notice is illustrated with a clear and well-drawn lithogra- phic figure, and judging from this, and the description given, we think the trout in question is nothing more than an Algerian form of Sal:no fario, er common river trout of Britain. The variety may be found in a hun- dred Scotch localities. The black spots in a clear field are extremely fre- quent. The markings on the dorsal and anal fins are found in almost every trout, and the large black spots or blotches, from which the name macrostigma has been taken, are the remains of the markings common to most young salmonide, and which often remain coloured through all stages of growth. The tail is by no means so much forked as in many varie- ties; the figure, in fact, is a very good representation of a very frequent variety of S. fario. This is our opinion, formed from the description and figure; a comparison of specimens may lead us to another; but whether dis- tinct or identical, we are much indebted to the French naturalist for the discovery of this form in Algeria, and the description now communicated by M. A. Duméril.—(W. J.) GEOLOGY. Fossils from the Orimea.—The temporary occupation of the Crimea during the war led to some interesting geological discoveries. Specimens of fossils from the various strata were sent to England, and with these, including some formerly sent from St Petersburg, seventy-four specimens have been added to the published lists of fossils from that country. These fossils, with one exception, belong to the Invertebrata. The geological formations show the probability that, at one time, the Caspian and Aral, with the Black Sea, formed a vast inland sea, now separated by the gradual filling up of the communication between them. The existence of coal deposits had been rumoured, but these proved to be lignite of ordinary quality —(American Annual of Scientific Discovery, 1857.) 166 Scientific Intelligence. On the Existence of Forces capable of Changing the Sea-Level during different Geological Epochs.—Tf, in assuming its present state from an anterior condition of entire fluidity, the matter composing the erust of the earth underwent no change of volume, the direction of gravity at the earth’s surface would remain unchanged, and consequently the general figure of the liquid coating of our planet. If, on the contrary, as we have reason to believe, a change of volume should accompany the change of state of the materials of the earth from fluidity to solidity, the mean depth of the ocean would undergo gradual though small changes over its entire extent at successive geological epochs. ‘This result is easily de- duced from the general views contained in other writings of the author, whence it appears, that if the surface stratum of the internal fluid nucleus of the earth should contract when passing to the solid state, a tendency would exist to increase the ellipticity of the liquid covering of the outer surface of the crust. A very small change of ellipticity would suffice to lay bare or submerge extensive tracts of the globe. If, for example, the mean ellipticity of the ocean increased from one three-hundredth to one two hundred and ninety-ninth, the level of the sea would be raised at the equator by about 228 feet, while, under the parallel of fifty-two degrees, it would be depressed by 196 feet. Shallow seas and banks in the lati- tudes of the British Isles, and between them and the pole, would thus be converted into dry land, while low-lying plains and islands near the equator would be submerged. If similar phenomena occurred during early periods of geological history, they would manifestly influence the distribution of land and water during these periods, and with such a direction of the forces as that referred to, they would tend to increase the proportion of land in the polar and temperate regions of the earth, as compared with the equatorial regions during successive geological epochs. Such maps as those published by Sir Charles Lyell, on the dis- tribution of land and water in Europe during the Tertiary period, and those of M. Elie de Beaumont, contained in Beudant’s “ Geology,” would, if sufficiently extended, assist in verifying or disproving these views.— Professor Hennessy, ‘‘ Proc, British Association,” Dublin. On the so-called Triassic Rocks of Kansas and Nebraska, by F. B. Merx and F, V. Haypen.—In several of our publications on the geology of Nebraska, we have mentioned a formation (No. 1 of the Nebraska section) consisting ‘of reddish and yellow sandstones, and various coloured clays, with seams aud beds of impure lignite, holding a position at the base of the Cretaceous series of the north-west. Although entertaining some doubts respecting the exact age of this formation, we have always placed it provisionally in the Cretaceous system, in our pub- lished sections. Having learned through Mr Hawn that a precisely similar group of strata, holding apparently the same position, occurs in North-eastern Kansas, we placed these latter beds on a parallel with No. 1 of the Nebraska section, in a paper read before the Philad, Acad. Nat. Sei., May 1857. Soon after the publication of this paper, however, a few fossils Mr Hawn had shipped to us some time before, from a bed near the base of a section of the Kansas rocks he had furnished us for publication, came to hand. On examining these fossils, we at once discovered they were not, as had been supposed, Cretaceous forms, but similar to those of et Geology. 167 the Permian of the Old World. From this it became manifest, that in drawing a parallel between the Kansas and Nebraska formations we had earried No, 1 too low in Kansas, by bringing it down so as to include the bed from which these fossils had been obtained. This misunderstanding in regard to the lower limits of No. 1, in Kansas, also led us to place on a parallel with that formation all the lower two hundred feet of Mr Marcou's Pyramid Mountain section (New Mexico), referred by him to the Trias. Suspecting, however, that No. 1, as thus defined, might possibly include beds not properly belong- ing to it, we distinctly stated in the closing remarks of the same paper, that we yet wanted positive evidence we might not be making it include beds older than any part of the Cretaceous system. Although we are now aware that in drawing this parallel between the Nebraska rocks and those of Kansas and New Mexico, we carried No. 1. too low, we yet regard all, or nearly all, of Mr Marcou’s Pyramid Moun- tain section, referred by him to the Jurassic system, as equivalent to the Cretaceous formations Nos. 1, 2, and 3, of Nebraska; while the lower two hundred feet of the Pyramid Mountain, referred by Mr Marcou to the Trias, we think equivalent to the Kansas deposits between the base of No. 1, as we now understand it, and the beds containing the Permian fossils. In our paper on the collections brought in by Lieut. Warren’s expe- dition to the Black Hill, read before the Acad. Nat. Sci., Philad., March, 1858, we remarked that in consequence of the occurrence in No. 1 of the genus Baculites, and numerous leaves closely resembling those of some of the higher types amongst our existing dicotyledonous forest trees, we thought we were hazarding little in referring it to the Cretaceous epoch. More recently Mr Hawn has published a paper in the Transactions of the St Lonis Acad. Sci., in which he places this formation in Kansas and New Mexico (as we had done) on a parallel with No. 1 of the Nebraska section, but refers the whole to the Trias.* This difference of opinion caused us to examine, with no little interest, during our recent expedition to Kansas, some of the localities mentioned by Mr Hawn, near the junction of the Grand Saline and Smoky Hill branches of Kansas River, with the view of determining definitely whether or not the formation regarded by him as Triassic could really be the same as No.1 of the Nebraska section. In this we were particularly successful; for we not only found these Kansas formations agreeing ‘exactly in all the details of their lithological characters with No, 1 in Nebraska, but we also discovered in them several good specimens of the same dicotyledonous leaves so abundant in No. 1, at the mouth of Big Sioux River, and at Blackbird Hill, on the Missouri, in Nebraska. As- sociated with these leaves, we likewise found specimens of the same pe- culiar trilobate leaf (Zttingshausinia) mentioned by Mr Hawn as occur- ring in the formation referred by him to the Trias, thus establishing be- yond the possibility of a reasonable doubt the identity of the supposed Triassic deposits of Kansas, and No. 1 of the Nebraska section. In regard to the leaves here referred to, we would merely remark that they are abundant in this formation, both in Nebraska and Kansas, * Trias of Kansas, by F, Hawn. Trans. St Louis Acad. Sci., vol. i. p. 171. 168 Scientific Intelligence. and certainly belong to higher and more modern types of dicotyledonous trees than have yet been found even in Jurassic rocks. Dr J. 8. New- berry, our excellent authority in fossil botany, to whom we have sub- mitted the whole collection, decidedly concurs with us in the opinion that the rocks in which they occur cannot be older than lower cretaceous. In a communication recently received from him respecting these remains, | he says: “‘ They include so many highly organized plants, that were there not among them several genera exclusively Cretaceous, I should be disposed to refer them to a more recent era.” A single glance is sufficient to satisfy any one they are not Triassic. Up to the present time, no angiosperm dicotyledonous plants have been found in rocks older than the Cretaceous; while of the eighteen si ge which comprise your collection, sixteen are of this character.” . “ The species of your fossil plants are probably all new, though gene- rally closely allied to the Cretaceous species of the Old World. From the limited study I have given them, I have referred them to the fol- lowing genera :—Sphenopteris, Abietites, Acer, Fagus, Populus, Cornus, Liriodendron, Pyrus? Alnus, Salix, Magnolia, Oredneria, Ettingshau- sinia.”” “* Of these the last two are exclusively Cretaceous, and highly charac- teristic of that formation in Europe. . . **T may say, in confirmation of the assertion that ‘your fossil plants are Cretaceous, that I found near the base of the yellow sandstone series in New Mexico, considered Jurassic by Mr Marcou, a very similar flora to that represented by your specimens, one species at least being iden- tical with yours, associated with Gryphea, Inoceramus, and Ammonites of Lower Cretaceous species.” We have only to add, in regard to the formation under consideration, that we think it will no longer be doubted that it really belongs where we have always placed it, in the Cretaceous system,* Between the base of No. 1 and the beds from which the Permian * After the reception of a brief preliminary report by us, published last winter in the ‘‘ National Intelligencer,”’ on the collections brought in from the Black Hills by Lieut. Warren, Mr Marcou published a paper in the “‘ Archives des Sciences de la Bibliotheque Universelle”’ of Geneva (a translation of which has recently appeared in the “‘ New York Mining Journal”), in which, after speaking of some points of difference in our opinions respecting the geology of the “ far west,” he says, ‘‘ In other respects, the series of Messrs Meek and Hayden agrees perfectly with mine, and it is with great pleasure I see that these learned geologists admit not only the existence of the New Red Sandstone (Permian and Trias) and Jurassic, but that they are led to regard,'as Jurassic, formation No. 1 of their Nebraska Cretaceous series, a formation which, from their description, I have no hesitation in regarding as Jurassic.” It was perhaps owing to the necessary brevity of our preliminary statement of the Jurassic and other discoveries in the Black Hills, seen by Mr Marcou in the “ Intelligencer,” that he misunderstood us. We have nowhere said we had recognised the Trias in the north-west; nor have we admitted in any of our- publications that No. 1 of the Nebraska section is Jurassic. We stated that in consequence of the similarity between the lithological characters of No. 1, and the Jurassic deposits in the Black Hills, and the absence of organic remains near the junction, we were in doubt respecting the particular horizon at which the line should be drawn between them. At the same time, we stated that the beds from which the Jurassic fossils described by us were obtained, hold a position below No. 1 of the Nebraska section. Geology. 169 fossils are obtained in Kansas, there is a considerable thickness of red, blue, green, and whitish clays, with a few beds of sandstone, and near the base gypsum deposits. This series may—at least in part—be Jurassic or Triassic, or both (much more probably the former) ; but until we have some reliable paleontological evidence, it would only be groping in the dark to attempt to define its age; knowing as we do that litho- logical characters are of no value whatever, as a guide in drawing a parallel between these formations and those of the Oid World. As we expect soon to publish a paper giving in more detail the results of our examinations amongst the rocks in which so many Permian fossils have been found in Kansas, we would merely remark here, that the coal measures of that region pass upwards by imperceptible gradations into an extensive series of rocks, consisting usually of more or less impure magnesian limestones, alternating with generally much thicker beds of blue, green, red, and ash coloured laminated clays, or very soft shales, with oecasional beds of sandstone. Into this series nearly all the species of fossils found in the middle and intermediate coal measures pass in great numbers.* Associated with these, however, we occasionally meet with fossils belonging to types regarded in the Old World as charac- teristic of the Permian epoch. As we ascend in this group of strata, which comprises, nearly, or quite all the Lower Permian, and much of the upper coal measures of Professor Swallow’s and Mr Hawn's sectiont we find the Carboniferous forms very gradually diminishing in num- bers, to be replaced by Permian types, or others rather intermediate in their affinities, between those of the Permian and Carboniferous epochs. Still higher in the series, without passing any horizon of unconforma- bility, or meeting with any abrupt change, either in the fossils, or the lithological characters of the rocks, we find, when fairly up into the Up- per Permian of Professor Swallow’s and Mr Hawn’s section, that we have lost sight nearly, or entirely, of all the coal measure types, and meet only with Permian forms. From these facts, we are inclined to the opinion that the entire series, from near the top of the Lower Permian of Professor Swallow’s and Mr Hawn’s section, down even lower than the horizon where they draw the line between the coal measures and the Lower Permian,{ should be re- garded as intermediate in age, and as filling the hiatus between the Per- mian and upper coal measures of the Old World; while we think only the Upper Permian of their section really represents the Permian rocks, as developed on the other side of the Atlantic. This intermediate series might be very appropriately termed the Permo-Carboniferous group, to indicate its relations both to the Permian and Carboniferous rocks. In case however, it may be thought best, in order to avoid the inconvenience of introducing a new name into our no- menclature, to class it along with either the Permian or Carboniferous, -* Amongst these we recognise nearly all the Carboniferous fossils figured by Mr Marcou in his ‘‘ Geology of North America.” t Transactions St Louis Academy of Science, vol. i., p. 171. tT We found the genus Monotis ranging down several hundred feet below the base of what we understand to be the lower Permian in Professor Swallow’s and Mr Hawn’s section. 170 Scientific Intelligence. we would certainly place it in the latter, since Carboniferous types greatly predominate in its fauna. In conclusion, we would state, that there is no unconformability, so far as our knowledge extends, amongst all the rocks of Nebraska and north- eastern Kansas, from the coal measures to the top of the most recent Cretaceous. The whole series in N.E. Kansas, and along the Missouri, as far up as Heart River in Nebraska, where the latest Cretaceous depo- posits pass beneath the water-level, dip to the north-west. Consequently, the elevating forces that produced this inclination of these various for- - mations must have been called into play—as in the region of the Black Hills—after the close of the Cretaceous epoch, and previous to the de- position of the Miocene Tertiary formations of the north-west. New Ornithological Periodical. The Ibis,” a Magazine of General Ornithology, edited by Philip Lutley Sclater, M.A., F.L.S., F.Z.S., &e., has been established by a society of gentlemen interested in the pro- gress of the science of ornithology, with a view of supplying what seems to them to be a desideratum—a method of communication for the many naturalists who are now turning their attention to this interesting study, and an organ through which they may more readily bring their labours and discoveries in different parts of the world before the public. Ger- many has for several years produced two journals exclusively devoted to this branch of zoology; and it is hoped, therefore, that there will be no difficulty in obtaining sufficient support in this country to carry on the present. undertaking, which at present stands alone in its particular field. ‘The Ibis” will be issued in parts, on the first day of each quarter, forming a yearly octavo volume of about 400 pages, illustrated by eight coloured plates of birds and eggs. For the execution of these, the services of the best zoological artists will be called into requisition. MISCELLANEOUS. On the Density and Mass of Comets. By M. Baztnet.—All astro- nomers are agreed that the mass and density of comets are very small, and that their attraction cannot produce any sensible effect upon the movements of the planetary bodies. We shall see that, from the effects observed, combined with the law of optics, we may deduce the conclusion, that the direct shock of one of these bodies could not cause the penetra- tion of the infinitely rarefied matter of which they are composed, even into our atmosphere. It is a well-ascertained fact, that stars of the tenth and eleventh mag- nitudes, and even lower ones, have been seen through the central part of comets, without any sensible loss of brilliancy, Amongst the observers who have frequently proved this optical fact, we find the names of Her- schel, Piazzi, Bessel, and Struvé. In most instances, says Mr Hind, there is not the least perceptible diminution in the brilliancy of the star. I shall take as an example the well-known comet of Encke, which is sometimes visible to the naked eye, and generally presents a rounded mass. In 1828 it formed a regular globe of about 500,000 kilometres in diameter, with no distinct nucleus; and Struvé saw a star of the eleventh magnitude through its central part, without noticing a diminu- . tion of brilliancy. In an observation of M. Valz, on the other hand, a ‘ : Miscellaneous. 171 star of the seventh magnitude almost entirely effaced the brightness of a brilliant comet. Let us start from these observed facts, Since the interposition of a comet, illuminated by the sun, does not sensibly weaken the light of a star in front of which it forms a luminous eurrent, it follows that the brilliancy of the comet is not a sixtieth part of that of the star, for otherwise the interposition of a light equal to a sixtieth part of that of the star, would have been sensible. We may, therefore, assume, that at the utmost the brilliancy of the comet equalled a sixtieth part of the light of the star. Thus, by this hypothesis, if the comet were rendered sixty times more luminous, it would have a lustre equal to that of the star; and if it had been rendered sixty times sixty times, that is to say, 3600 times more luminous than it was, it would then have been sixty times more luminous than the star, and in its turn would have made the latter disappear by the superiority of its lustre. The conclusion from this is, that it would have been necessary to illu- mine the cometary substance more than 3600 times more than it was illu- mined by the sun, to enable it to cause the disappearance of a star of the eleventh magnitude. We may assume that the light of the moon causes the disappearance of all the stars below the fourth magnitude ; thus the atmosphere illumined by the full moon acquires sufficient luminosity to render stars of the fifth and all lower magnitudes invisible. Between the fifth and the eleventh magnitudes there are six orders of magnitude, and according to the fractional relations of these different orders, we may admit that a star which is a single degree of magnitude above another, is two and a-half times more luminous than the latter. A star of the fifth magnitude is 250 times more brilliant than a star of the eleventh magnitude. Thus the illumination of the atmosphere by the moon is much more intense than the illumination of the cometary substance by the sun itself, since it would be necessary to render the comet 3600 times more luminous to enable it to extinguish a star of the eleventh magnitude, whilst the lumi- nosity of the atmosphere illuminated only by the moon is sufficient to render invisible stars which are 250 times more brilliant. The disproportion becomes still more striking when we consider, that according to the measurements of Wollaston, to which Sir John Herschel says he sees no objections to be made, the illumination of the full moon is a little less than the eight hundred "thousandth part of the full illumi- nation of the sun. To complete the data of our definite calculation, we shall call to mind that, according to the density of the air in the lower strata of the atmos- phere, and its total weight, as indicated by the barometric column, the whole stratum of air which constitutes the atmosphere is equivalent to a stratum of about eight kilometres in thickness, and possessing the density of the air at the surface of the earth. We have already found that it would be necessary to render the comet 3600 times more luminous for it to extinguish the lustre of a star of the eleventh magnitude. To render a star of the fifth magnitude invisible, it would require to be made 3600 + 250 times more brilliant than it is. In other words, if the atmosphere were 3600+ 250 times less compact than it is, it would be equivalent to the comet. As 3600+250 make 900,000, the nine hundred thousandth part of the atmosphere would 7 172 Scientific Intelligence. suffice to produce the same effect of illumination as the comet; but as the latter is in the full light of the sun, while the atmosphere is only illuminated by the moon, when it extinguishes stars of the fifth magni- tude, this circumstance gives the atmosphere a further advantage in the proportion of 800,000 to 1, which, under ordinary circumstances, gives the atmosphere a superiority equal to.900,000 + 800,000, or 720 billions_ But this is not all; the thickness of the cometary substance being 500,000 kilometres, whilst that of the atmosphere is only eight kilo- metres, we must increase the above relation in the proportion of 500,000 to 8, which brings it to forty-five millions of billions; thus— 45,000,000,000,000,000. Thus, according to these data, the density of the substance of a comet could not be calculated at so high a quantity as that of the atmosphere, diminished by the enormous divisor, forty-five millions of billions. The shock of a substance so rarefied would be nothing at all, and not the least particle of it could penetrate even into the most rarefied parts of our at- mosphere. According to experiments of my own, gases lose their property of elas- ticity long before they are reduced to such low density. I do not think that at the ordinary pressure a gas could completely fill a vessel with 20,000 times the original volume of the gas. The substance of comets is therefore a kind of very divided matter, with its molecules isolated and destitute of mutual elastic reaction. It follows from the preceding, that both the mass and the density of a comet are infinitely small, and without any hypothesis, we may say that a sheet of common air of one millimetre in thickness, if transported into the region of a comet, and illuminated by the sun, would be far more brilliant than the comet. The mass of the earth, according to the calculation of Baily, may be reckoned at 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilogrammes. The matter of comets being assimilated above the air, of which the density would be 45,000,000,000,000,000 times less than that of the ordinary air, this would lead us to assimilate it to the substance of the earth, diminished to about 194,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times less than its ordinary density. By this estimate, a comet as large as the earth would only weigh 30,000 kilogrammes; this makes thirty tons of 1000 kilogrammes, or the weight of thirty cubic metres of water. (‘‘ Comptes Rendus,” 1857, Feb.) In a subsequent paper presented to the Academie in May 1857, M. Babinet enters into a caleulation to ascertain the mass and density of the great comet of 1825, which did not diminish the light of a star of the fifth magnitude seen through the centre of the comet, to the amount of one-fifth. His conclusion, founded on the diminution which light under- goes in passing through air of known rarity, is that the substance of the comet of 1825 possessed a density, which, compared with atmospheric air at the surface of the earth, must be indicated by a fraction having unity of its numerator, and for its denominator a number superior to unity, followed by one hundred and twenty-five ciphers. When Herschel, in his last work on astronomy, spoke of a few ounces as the mass of the tail of a comet, he found nearly as many disbelievers as readers. Nevertheless, says M. Babinet, his calculation is exaggerated Miscellaneous. 173 in comparison with the preceding determination. M. Babinet promises, in a future paper to take up the very suggestive question, ‘* How are comets visible ?” The Discovery of America by the Northmen.—The following short sketch has been written at the request of several persons abroad. It may be of use for insertion in, or in preparing articles for, educational works, encyclopedias, the journals of historical societies, and other similar works, through which it may be wished to give still further publicity to historical facts so important. They have indeed already been referred to in some books of this kind, but often with considerable errors. The present paper is communicated by Charles C. Rafn, and is founded on his work ** Antiquitates Americane sive Scriptores Septentrionales rerum Ante- Columbianarum in America,” published by him in 1837, through the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries of Copenhagen. The Dane Gardar, of Swedish origin, was the first Northman who dis- covered Iceland in 863. Only a few out-places of this country had been visited previously, about 70 years before, by Irish hermits. Eleven years subsequently, or in 874, the Norwegian Ingolf began the colonization of the country, which was completed during a space of 60 years. The colonists, many of whom belonged to the most iliustrious and most civilized families in the north, established in Iceland a flourishing republic. Here, on this distant isle-rock, the Old Danish or Old Northern language was preserved unchanged for centuries, and here in the Eddas were treasured those folk-stones and folk-myths, and in the Sagas those historical tales and legends which the first settlers had brought with them from their Seandinavian mother-lands. Iceland was therefore the cradle of an historical literature of immense value. The situation of the island, and the relationship of the colony to foreign countries in its earlier period, compelled its inhabitants to exercise and develope their hereditary maritime skill and thirst for new discoveries across the great ocean. As early as the year 877, Gunnbiorn saw for the first time the mountainous coast of Greenland. But this land was first visited by Erik the Red in 983, who, three years afterwards, in 986, by means of Icelandic emigrants, established the first colony on its south- western shore, where afterwards, in 1124, the bishop’s see of Gardar was founded, which subsisted for upwards of 300 years. ‘The head firths or bays were named after the chiefs of the expedition. Erik the Red settled in Erik’s Firth; Einar, Rafn, and Ketil, in the firths called after them; and Heriulfon Heriulfsnes. Ona voyage from Iceland to Green- land this same year (986), Biarne, the son of the latter, was driven far out to sea towards the south-west, and for the first time beheld the coasts of the American lands, after visited and named by his countrymen. In order to examine these countries more narrowly, Leif the Fortunate, son of Erik the Red, undertook a voyage of discovery thither in the year 1000. He landed on the shores described by Biarne, detailed the character of these lands more exactly, and gave them names according to their appearance. Helluland (Newfoundland) was so called from its flat stones, Markland (Nova Scotia) from its woods, and Vineland (New England) from its vines. Here he remained for some time, and ¢on- structed large houses called after him Leifsbadir (Leif’s Booths.) A German named Tyrker, who accompanied Leif on this voyage, was the 174 Scientific Intelligence. man who found the wild vines, which he recognised from having seen them in his own land, and Leif gave the country its name from this cir- cumstance. ‘Two years afterwards, Leif’s brother, Thorwald, repaired thither, and in 1003 caused an expedition to be undertaken to the south along the shore, but he was killed in the summer of 1004 on a voyage northwards, in a skirmish with the natives, The most distinguished, however, of all the first American discoverers f is Thorfinn Karlsefne, an Icelander, whose genealogy is carried back in the old northern annals to Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Scottish, and Trish ancestors, some of them of royal blood. In 1006, this chief, on a merchant voyage, visited Greenland, and there married Gudrid, the widow of Thorstein (son of Erik the Red), who had died the year before in an unsuccessful expedition to Vineland. Accompanied by his wife, who encouraged him to this voyage, and by a crew of 160 men on board three vessels, he repaired in the spring of 1007 to Vineland, where he remained for three years, and had many communications with the abori- gines. Here his wife Gudrid bore him a son, Snorre, who became the founder of an illustrious family in Iceland, which gave that island several of its first bishops. His daughter’s son was the celebrated Bishop Thorlak Runolfson, who published the first Christian Code of Iceland. In 1121 Bishop Erik sailed to Vineland from Greenland, doubtless for the purpose of strengthening his countrymen in their Christian faith. The notices given by the old Icelandic voyage chroniclers respecting the climate, the soil, and the productions of this new country, are very characteristic. Nay, we have even a statement of this kind as old as the eleventh century, from a writer not a Northman, Adam of Bremen; he states, on the authority of Svein Estridson, the King of Denmark, a nephew of Canute the Great, that the country got its name from the vine growing wild there. It is a remarkable coincidence in this respect that its English re-discoverers, for the same reason, name the large island which is close off the coast ‘‘ Martha’s Vineyard.” Spontaneously-grow- ing wheat (maize or Indian corn) was also found in this country. In the meantime, it is the total result of the nautical, geographical, and astronomical evidences in the original documents which places the situa- tion of the countries discovered beyond all doubt. The number of days’ sail between the several newly-found lands, the striking description of the coasts, especially the white sand-banks of Nova Scotia, and the long beaches and downs of a peculiar appearance on Cape Cod (the Kialarnes and Furdustrandir of the Northmen) are not to be mistaken. In addi- tion hereto, we have the astronomical remark that the shortest day in Vineland was 9 hours long, which fixes the latitude of 41° 24’ 10”, or just that of the promontories which limit the entrances to Mount Hope Bay, where Leif’s Booths were built, and in the district around which the old Northmen had their head establishment, which was named by them Hép. The Northmen were also acquainted with American land still farther to the south, called by them Hvftramannaland (the land of the White Men), or Irland it Mikla (Great Ireland). The exact situation of this country is not stated; it was probably North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. In 1266, some priests at Gardar, in Greenland, set on foot a voyage of discovery to the arctic regions of America. An astrono- Miscellaneous. 175 mical observation proves that this took place through Lancaster Sound and Barrow’s Strait to the latitude of Wellington’s Channel. The last memorandum supplied by the old Icelandic records, is a voyage from Greenland to Markland in 1347. Connection of the Northmen with the East—The following remarks are communicated by Cartes C. Rarn, and intended to draw attention to the “ Antiquités Russes et Orientales d’aprés les monuments historiques des Islandis et des anciens Scandinaves,”’ a work edited by him, and published by the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries (tom, i, ii., with 23 plates, Copenhagen, 1850-52, imp. in 4to.) :— The period when the Northmen wandered from their‘home in the East to Northern Europe is removed far back, and presents itself in darkness and myths. Future inquiries will perhaps explain how long their fore- fathers retained their speech and manners in their eastern abode, In this place we would only point out the remarkable fact, that the same age which saw the Northmen discovering and colonizing Iceland in the far West, beheld them also reappearing in the East, and with extraordinary energy. Summoned thither from the Scandinavian North, Nestor assures us that, under the name of Variago-Russians, they established the Rus- sian empire in 862, and for more than a century exercised great influ- ence over its affairs, both internal and external. The correctness of this statement by the Slavonic chronicler, and the important part played by the Scandinavian Russians in the first period of that power, becomes evi- dent at once from the names borne by the historical actors themselves, almost all of which belong to the Old Danish or Old Northern language, and are recognised in the Northern Sagas and Runographic monuments. They are easily known, in spite of their being corrupted by the spelling of the Slavonic writer :—Rurik, Sineus and Truvor (Rerik, Sune, Thur- yard) ; Oskold, Dir (Hoskuld, Dyri) ; Igor, Oleg, Olga (Ingvar, Helge, Helga). The men “of the Russian nation,” sent by Oleg in 907 and 911 as ambassadors to Constantinople, all were Northmen :—Karl, Fria- laf, Vermund, Rolf, Steinmod, Ingiald, Gauti, Roald, Kar, Freyleif, Roar, Eythiof, Thrain, Leidolf, Vestar. In Igor’s great embassy of more than fifty persons, who in 944 concluded the important treaty with the Greek emperors, Karamsin has only found three Slavic names. The rest are Northern, such as—Ivar, Vigfast, Eylif, Leifr, Grim, Kar, Kolskegg, Kol, Hallvard, Frode, Audun, Adolf, Ulf, Gamle, Bursteinn, Asbrand. The names given by Byzantine authors to the vessels of the Russians, oxsdle, xeegaBiov, coxos, will be found among the Skaldic names of ships in the Snorra-Edda : skeid, karfi, askr. In his book on the government of the empire, composed in 949, the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogen- neta mentions the principal waterfalls or fosses in the Dnieper passed by the Russians in their expeditions to Constantinople. He names them both in Russian (fwoior!) and in Slavic (cxaw@:vo7!), and adds their signification in Greek. The Russian names, as has already been shown by preceding authors, are pure Old Northern: ‘Eooovrg (e sofa), 1.2., not to sleep; Ovaogs! (holmfors), the holmfoss ; Tsauvdei (giallandi), the yelling ; Ase (afr, vehement), the wasting ; BegovPdgo (barufors, Slay. vwlniprag), the billowfoss; Acéyr: (hlaandi, the laughing, or /éandi, the soil washing) ; =reodGouv (strengbuna or strandbuna), the little foss. 176 Scientific Intelligence. Liutprand, Bishop of Cremona, who visited Constantinople in $46 and 968, expressly asserts that the people whom the Greeks called Russians (Ps) were the same nation as those named Northmen by the Frankish authors. These Northmen (Danes, Swedes, Norwegians, and some English) flocked, usually by land, through the Russian territory, and took Service under the name of Verings (Baowyyor) in the Imperial Guard. A remarkable confirmation of the statement made by Nestor would be afforded if we could, as is probable, venture to assume that the Igvar occurring on several Swedish Runic stones is the Russian Grand Prince - Igor. Sixty Runic monuments have been carefully examined and copied for this work, many of them by persons specially employed by the So- ciety for this purpose ;.twelve of these inscriptions speak of an Igvar, and are carved in memory of men who had taken part in his expedition (¢ farw med Igvari), some of them as ship-commanders. The work to which Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish scholars have contributed valuable papers, commences with extracts from the Eddas, and the mythic-historical Sagas, among which is the whole of the remarkable Sogubrot or Saga-fragment on the old kings of Denmark and Sweden, and the whole of the charming and important Hervarar Saga. Next follow numerous extracts from the Old Northern historical Sagas. The Northmen made frequent voyages to Gandvik (the White Sea) and Biarmaland, and over the Baltic to Austrveg. The history of the kings of Norway in the tenth and eleventh centuries touches that of Gardarike or Russia in numberless instances. Olaf Tryggvason passed his youth there. The Norwegian prince Eymund repaired thither in 1015, and took part in the feuds between Jaroslav, Burislay, and Var- tislav ; the whole of one Saga is devoted to this Eymund. Saint Olaf was intimately connected with the Russian court, and his son Magnus the Good, afterwards King of Norway and Denmark, spent there a good part of his youth. Together with Rognvald Brusason, at a later period Earl of the Orkneys, Harald Hardrade was long the lord of the marches to the Grand Prince, and Harald himself was afterwards chieftain of the Vering Guard in Miklagard (Constantinople). The Fereyinga Saga speaks of Rafn, called Holmgardsfare on account of his voyages to Noy- gorod, and mentions the Feringman Sigmund’s expedition to Gardarike, The lives of native Icelanders contain numerous similar accounts; thus Egil’s Saga tells us of Egil’s and Thorolf’s exploits in Courland, and Nial’s Saga has preserved the details of Gunnar’s and Kolskegg’s attack on Reval and Eysysla. In 1009 Biorn Arngeirson heroically distin- guished himself in the service of Vladimir the Great. Another still more famous Icelandic bard and hero, Thormod Kolbrunarskald, after living several years in Greenland, betook himself to Norway, in com- pany with another native American, Skuf, owner of Stokkanes at Eriks- fiord, and probably kin with the celebrated Gudrid, wife of Thorfinn | Karlsefne ; in 1029 both followed Saint Olaf to Gardarike, The. attention of English readers is directed to an Old-English or Anglo-Saxon document, the voyages of the Northmen Ohthere and Wulf- stan in the north of Europe, as related by King Alfred. This paper, with its numerous illustrative notes, is communicated by P. A. Munch. An accompanying fac-simile of the MS. in the British Museum has been kindly forwarded to Sir Henry Ellis. Publications received. 177 As an illustration to the ancient Icelandic geographical monuments, a mappemonde from the twelfth century, and three planispheres from . the thirteenth and fourteenth, have been appended, These are remark- able for having the same orientation as those of the Arabian carto- graphers in the middle ages; they have the south at the top. Among the geographical annotations, for which we are indebted to the Abbot Nicolas of Thingeyrar, in the north of Iceland, is a journey to the Holy Land in 1151-1153, containing interesting notices for comparison with other voyages to the East at the same period ; among them is an Arabic appellation not found in other European voyagers of the same date. To this division also belongs a plan or ichnography of Jerusalem. lt a, A PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. L’Institut, for September, October, and November 1858. From the Editor. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Nos, 264-267, From the Editors. Quarterly Journal of the Chemical Society, fer July and October 1858. From the Editors. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. IL., Nos. 4, 5, and 6. From the Society. .The Story of a Boulder; or, Gleanings from the Note-Book of a Field - Naturalist. By Archibald Geikie. From the Publisher. The Earthworm and the Common Butterfly. By James Samuelson. London, 1858, From the Publisher. The Aquarian Naturalist: a Manual for the Seaside. By Professor T. Rymer Jones. From the Publisher. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, from — April 1857 to April 1858. From the Society. Notice of some Remarks by the late Hugh Miller. Philadelphia, ‘1857. The American Journal of Science and Art, for July and September. From the Editors. Who Invented the Screw Propeller? being a Statement of Facts. By Ey James Nicol. From the Author. NEW SERIES.—VOL. Ix. No. 1.—JAN. 1859. M ~ 178 Publications received. Proceedings of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool, 1857-58, No12. From the Society. Physic and its Phases. 2d Edition. By Alciphron, From the Publisher. Proceedings of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, 1858-59, Nos. 1-5. From the Svciety. Quarterly Journal and Transactions of the Pharmaceutical Society, Vol. 1, No. 2. From the Society. Fragmenta Phytographiw Australie. By Dr F. Mueller. Part I. From the Author. Transactions of the Philosophical Society of Victoria, Vol. I. From the Soicety. Transactions and Proceedings of the Victoria Institute for the Advance- ment of Science, for Session 1854-55. From the Institute. Canadian Naturalist and Geologist, for August 1858. From the Editors. Transactions of the Malvern Naturalists’ Field Club. PartII. Fyrom the Club. Natural History Review, for October 1858. From the Editors. A Manual of Qualitative Chemical Analysis. By Northcote and Chureh, 1858. From the Publisher. Curiosities of Science, Past and Present. By John Timbs, F.S.A. From the Publisher. Vol VUPLL . WHM® Farlane. Lith? Edin? Nero Serves Atractylis. Nero Serves Vol. Vil PL IL EF Siretiat GRC WR GIS aided oa time WHI Garlene 1 Luthh. Edin? na Eudendttum rameum. Laomedea dichotema. Laomedea geniculata. Awe Setaes Sane noid Set aed bea Pir 9: Hero Serves Vol. VIL PLM. ; S S E 3 WH M?Farlane Lith? Edin? TStredhall Wright etched on stone. Laomedea lacerata. ee ae Beet ra ae - re are CONTENTS. PAGE _ 1. Observations on the Lake District. By Joun Davy, : M.D., F.R.S. Lond. and Edin., ‘ 179 _ 2. Some Ethnographic Phases of Conchology—(concluded). By Danret Witsoy, LL.D., Professor of History and English Literature, University College, Toronto, . 191 8. Contributions to the Natural History of the Hudson’s Bay i. Company’s Territories. Part I1.—Mammalia—(con- tinued). By Anprew Murray, F.R.S.E., President of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, . - .210 _ 4, The Old Red Sandstone of Herefordshire, By the Rev. i W.S. Symonps, F.GS., Rector of Pendock, W orces- tershire, - mere . + . . 232 ~ 5. On the Action of Hard Waters upon Lead. By W. Lauper Linpsay, M.D., F.L.S., . i 248 oa ii CONTENTS. PAGE 7. On the Structure, Actions, and Morphological Relations of the Ligamentum Conjugale Costarum. By Jonny Ciecanp, M.D., Demonstrator of Anatomy in the ~ University of Edinburgh, ; : . 268 7. Notes on certain Vibrations produced by Electricity. By J. D. Forzers, Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, . : . (266 REVIEWS :— 1. Siluria. The History of the Oldest Fossiliferous Rocks, and their Foundations; with a brief sketch of the dis- tribution of Gold over the Earth, By Sir Ropsrick - Impry Murcuison, ; a ; 7. 269 2. Geological Map of England and Wales. By Professor _ A. C. Ramsay, : ; : Meee i 3. Occasional Papers on the Theory of Glaciers, now first collected and chronologically arranged, with a Pre- fatory Note on the recent Progress and present Aspect of the Theory. By James D. Forzzs, D.C.L., F.R.S., Sec. R. Soc. Edinburgh, » pee. BIS 4, The Lithology of Edinburgh. By the late Rev. Jonn Frzemine, D.D., F.R.S.E., Professor of Natural Science in New College, Edinburgh. Edited with a . Memoir, by the Rev. Joun Duns, Torphichen, . 279 CONTENTS. . ili . PAGE 5. The Master Builder’s Plan, or the Principles of Organic Architecture, as indicated in the Typical Forms of Animals, By Gzorce Ocitvir, M.D., Lecturer on the Institutes of Medicine in Marischal College and University, Aberdeen, . bs 5 . 284 6. Experimental Researches in Chemistry and Physics. By Micwart Farapay, D.C.L., F.R.S., 4 ee PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES :— British Association, . : ; : : 286 Royal Society of Edinburgh, . ; : : 306 Royal Physical Society, ; : ‘ F 319 Botanical Society of Edinburgh, A ‘ ..2088 » York, . ; . $ ee ee It is also worthy of remark, that the heavy falls of rain to which the district is subject have a purifying effect, not only washing the roads clean, but also the atmosphere ; and are mostly followed by a clear sky and pleasant weather. This purifying influence of rain is sometimes strikingly denoted by a film of the nature of soot that appears on the lakes and tarns, in their calm state, and is oftenest seen after a light rain with little wind at the instant, during a period of un- settled weather. That the matter of which this film con- sists has been brought down from the atmosphere I have no doubt; probably it has been wafted from the manufactur- ing districts not very distant—a transfer, which, whilst be- neficial to them, may also be of service in its fertilizing effects to the lake district, especially the upland fells, where, there is reason to believe, it is precipitated in greatest quan- é Observations on the Lake District. 185 tity, and where the discoloration of the fleeces of the sheep, pastured there during the winter and early spring, may be attributed to it. The discolouring effect is most conspicuous when the ewes have their lambs by their side,—the one so begrimmed by the mists, as the shepherds say,—the other so purely white. That the blackening matter is of the nature of soot, I infer from the examimition I have made of it, both microscopically and chemically. And that it may be brought from such a distance is easily conceived, considering its light- ness, and the carrying power of the wind, and remembering that matter of a heavier kind, such as volcanic dust and the sand of the desert, has often been transported to vastly greater distances. The prevalency of westerly and southerly winds is an im- portant element in the climate. It is these winds, chiefly, which bring rain, and with rain coolness in summer and mildness in winter. To them, too, may be owing the little snow that falls and the shortness of time it lies. Another quality of these moist winds is their containing ozone, as it would appear, in larger proportion than winds of a drier cha- racter from the opposite quarters; and judging from the pro- perties of this substance, especially its oxidating power, its presence in such a degree cannot be without effect, and that probably beneficial. That dryness of air should be one of the peculiarities of the lake district, or a moderate dryness, where so large a quantity of rain falls, may seem paradoxical ; yet it is not diffi- cult to account for. Several circumstances may be con- cerned,—such as the absence of clay,—the particles from the disintegration of rocks constituting clay being carried to lower levels, where, as a retainer of moisture, it is more wanted, —the rapid manner in which, from the nature of the ground, its drainage is effected,—and the almost constant agitation of the air by winds effecting thorough ventilation. Exceptional cases there may be; they are chiefly to be met with in situa- tions in which, from the abruptness of the rocky heights by which they are sheltered, they are deprived of the direct rays of the sun during a good part of the year,—such as Stone- whaite in Borrowdale,—or from being unduly shaded by trees, 186 Observations on the Lake District. impeding a wholesome circulation of air. Instances of the lat- ter are of too common occurrence about the dwellings of the wealthier class, who in their partiality for ornamental plant- ing create the evil. The longer continuance of a moist state of ground under trees, so striking on our turnpike roads, where overshadowed by foilage, shows at least that, if forests, as I am disposed to think, do not favour the production of rain, they may check dryness of the air and drought by re- tarding evaporation from the earth’s surface. The rare occurrence of thunder-storms, which I have men- tioned in noticing the peculiarities of the district, could hardly have been anticipated in one so mountainous. That it isa fact, however, I am satisfied. In no country in which I have resided have I witnessed such an infrequency of atmospheric electrical phenomena. So far as my own knowledge extends, limited, indeed, to about fifteen years, I am not aware of any house having been struck by lightning, or any person in- jured. It may be conjectured, that the many mountain peaks draw off the electricity of the atmosphere and prevent its ac- cumulation ; and the more so, as their terminal points, rising into the region of low clouds, are almost constantly moist, and thereby the better fitted to act the part of conductors. More or less connected with the foregoing are other quali- ties or circumstances which may be briefly adverted to,—such as the absence of malaria, the little tendency to the formation of peat, the purity of the water of the lakes and streams, and its colour, the aptitude of the soil and climate for vegetable growth, and its fitness for the abode of man. The absence of malaria is remarkable, as denoted by free- dom from ague. In the country parts I have never known of the occurrence of a single case. This happy freedom is pro- bably owing to the comparative coolness of the climate, the purifying effects of the heavy rain, the quality of soil, and the little prevalency of marshy ground. The same perfect exemption from the disease does not, I regret to have to say, exist in the towns or larger villages; in them, in summers - of unusual heat and dryness, instances of intermittent fever have been observed, and they may be attributed to imperfect drainage and a neglected state of the sewers, liable in such Observations on the Lake District. 187 seasons to have collected in them animal and vegetable mat- ters in a state of offensive decomposition. The little tendency to the formation of peat may be owing to some of the same causes just enumerated ; the reverse of which seem to be in operation in countries abounding in peat, especially in Ireland, where there is much low land and ob- structed natural drainage, a greater frequency of rain, and a greater degree of humidity of air, and consequently a greater exemption from seasons of drought. The purity of the water of the lakes and rivers is such as might be expected, considering the geology of the district. Its freedom from peat-stain is a proof that might be adduced, if needed, in connection with the statement of there being so little peat. This purity of water I cannot but think a charm in the scenery, whether seen in the white foam of the falling torrent, in the blue depths of some of the mountain streams, where pent up in deep basin hollows, formed of light-co- loured rock, or in the dark surface of the tarn or lake, a sur- face-hue referable chiefly to the quality of the bottom, con- sisting of rock or gravel of the same colour, where. most re- markable, derived from a stain or incrustation of black oxide of manganese. The last and most important qualities of the district—the aptitude of its soil and climate to vegetable growth, and its fitness for the abode of man—are shown in a satisfactory man- ner, in the instance of the latter, in the stalwart and fine forms of its people, and their generally healthy condition; and in that of the former, in the free and rapid growth of trees and shrubs, and where agriculture is duly attended to, in the ex- cellence of the pastures and the goodness of the crops—those which are suitable, such as green crops generally, and oats and barley. Trees, as records of average influences, afford perhaps, the best criterion of the condition of vegetable life ; here the indications which they give are of the best kind— growing erect and flourishing most where well exposed to light and air. A like conclusion, as to salubrity, may be drawn from the absence of any epidemic disease amongst the people, and the high average of length of life belonging to them, with persistency of bodily and mental vigour. It is no 188 Observations on the Lake District. mean praise of the climate of the district to be able to say that cholera has never yet invaded its dales. I wish I could be as complimentary as regards the mental attributes of the population. Their country, in its picturesque character, it might be supposed, would be favourable to poetical. feeling ; yet in the native mind it does not seem to have exer- cised any influence of the kind. Those poets who have made the region classical have been sojourners rather than to the man- ner born,—excepting, perhaps, the most distinguished of them, Wordsworth, whose native place was on its confines, and whose school-boy days were passed nearly in the heart of the district. What is remarkable in the people generally is their solid cast of mind, their forethought, the absence of the enthusiastic and imaginative, and of the inquiring disposition ; the men thrifty and calculating, moderately honest, somewhat exact- ing; the women industrious, somewhat dry in their manner, not licentious, and yet not remarkable for female virtue,* espe- cially the unmarried; altogether men and women of com- monplace character, nowise poetical nor fond' of poetry; even ballad poetry, such as that of the borders, is scanty amongst them. Of the race of Northmen, occupied chiefly as shepherds, and small farmers cultivating their few paternal acres, they remind one of the sturdy and sedate Norwegians from whom they are supposed to have sprung. To the stranger it may be interesting to know when the * The Bishop of Carlisle in his visitation charge to his clergy, delivered on 19th August last, adverting to the large proportion of illegitimate births in his diocese, says “It was his painful duty to inform them, that, without any exception, in the counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland there were more illegitimate births than in any other county in England. The county of Nor- folk, it was true, came within a fraction of the number. His returns only ex- tended to the end of the year 1856, and from them he learnt that while in the years 1853-54, the proportional number of children born out of wedlock in Westmoreland was from 8 to 9 per cent.; in 1855-56 it was 10 per cent. In Cumberland, in 1854, it was 9 per cent.; and in 1855-56 it was also 10 per cent. Part of Lancaster was then within the limits of the diocese; and he had no means of separating them; but Lancaster stood out in the most favourable light, the proportion in that county being only 6 per cent.” From the Registrar General’s Reports it would appear that in London the illegitimate births are 8°3 per cent.; in Derbyshire 83; in Yorkshire 9, In justice, these statistics should be compared with those of prostitution. ae) em ‘. _- I — Observations on the Lake District. 189 district is best worth visiting for the enjoyment of the scenery peculiar to it. There are three periods when it has great attractions; these are the depth of winter, the advanced spring, and the early autumn. In the winter season, there is beauty and grandeur often combined,—the one as charming as the other is impressive,—the snow-clad mountains in the distance, the full streams and torrents, the verdure of the mosses and other low plants clothing every wall, the numer- ous evergreens enlivening the copse, and the wonderful effects of light and shade, of cloud and mist, imparting, as the latter often do, a perfect alpine character to the mountains seen indistinctly through them. In the advanced spring the great charm is the charm of colouring; and the same remark applies to the early autumn. Words are inadequate to describe at either season the beauty of hues which, wherever the eye turns, meets its gaze ; in the one season most marked by deli- cacy and freshness; in the other season by intensity and richness of colour.