oad Reiner ict DMRS ins tit ee se eae ist i Ciay! aah b is iy Lot bie! ot pean ae af s sigue Rut tetac RNs ba pone oe rhe: ilees 3, i ae y by al it ae " ee oe - ae ce ae rite * nN Wr ; ; eh Boe i: re oe ioe ety oe ao oo i ce erat mal eeptyt oe Sian ak Reb fyi si re bate 8) is 4 ; uae se ion eM appara aks a ars a ttt isan nats : os raat a) Po, bol ot Bee. Mie ea as i bide aaa | ee ieee ia aN iets baer tts Eanat ty reas a Sree A ars ca Soe St site Era pian sale a i : BY re ae e. SU SReat Beal Fated Tr itelsi cd est ea. Ze eatin see a fe nee Richt Farley Pirsey Vise fy aa eC ate a8 of ibaa tbat Th one rhe a He. ue se ie my $% “y site Hat ; At ah Medd ine rok a pia peat z cain ees , et nest mish ‘4 ie % nit " ae et At Hae ie ie a OY tae t te letcit her eto! om inter tet = foe as a mu rat trina gil pepo Pe Chetek hi by bie ae MD . ate Meh li ‘ ik Hes iy ae he ae } “ hut Fate! abel oe - ei ia tts ie eitetecet> pe HET DUS sale blo ceca ecegeitl teargeai> i. tH ue HP feta ck ghper tea ppt ened ght oy oh lbs bh cP ‘ ret ie arate a Hi > 16 i ‘ 1 ‘ bated REPORT SIXTH MEETING BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE; HELD AT BRISTOL IN AUGUST 1836. VOL. V. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1837. — SC PRINTED BY RICHARD AND JOHN E. TAYLOR, ' RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. CONTENTS. Ozsxcts and Rules of the Association Oiicérs'and, Council: ff er eS es Mecasurer S ACCOUNL Br whl. sscit piosasls axid sn ales ee Mla ces Th REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 9 where volcanic phenomena are of rare occurrence, as in the Scandinavian Peninsula*, Russia, and Poland, it would be well to learn, whether the temperature of springs more rearly corre- sponded with that of the climate, than is the case in the parts of Germany where igneous action may still be suspected. Such an inquiry would not be without its bearing upon those pro- blems concerning the origin of thermal springs in general, which will be discussed in a subsequent part of this Report, for if ther- mal springs derive their temperature from a remnant of volcanic energy existing beneath, they ought to be most frequent in coun- tries where such energy has at one time or other been mani- fested ; whilst if they simply proceed from a generally diffused heat pervading the interior of our planet, they might be expected to appear in countries of every geological structure. Independently, however, of the mere question, as to whether there be any evidence of the existence in the springs of a coun- try of an excess of temperature beyond the mean of the climate, and the determination of this question by accurate thermome- trical observations both on the air and the spring, neither of which has in most cases been done in a satisfactory manner, two points of inquiry present themselves; first, as to whether there be any periodical variation of heat in the latter from day to day, or at different seasons of the year; and secondly, whether, in the course of the ages that have elapsed since they were first knewn, any augmentation or diminution of temperature had oc- curred. Prof. Bischoft has shown, that in some cases the variations of external temperature do manifest themselves in the thermal springs of a district; but this only happens when their excess of heat is inconsiderable. A similar variation has been observed, as I am informed in a letter with which I was favoured from Mr. Jephson, M.P. for Mallow, in the thermal spring of that town, and it would be desirable that exact observations should elsewhere be instituted on the same point. A variation of temperature at different periods of the year has been observed in the spring of Bourboule in Auvergne {, and in that of Balaruc near Montpellier. Still more important is the question relative to the secular variation of temperature in thermal waters. In countries where traces of former or present volcanic action are discoverable, and where earthquakes are frequent, the tem- * I shall allude to Wahlenberg’s observations on this country in a subse- quent part of this Report. + Edinburgh Journal, loc. cit. t Lecoq, Annales Scientifiques de l Auvergne, Periodical Variations of Tempe- rature in Springs. Secular va- riation of Tempera-~ ture in Springs. 10 SIXTH REPORT—1836. perature of thermal springs is often inconstant. Thus in Vene- zuela, Boussingault and Rivero* found the waters of Mariana 64° Cent., whereas Humboldt a few years before determined it to be 59°; and that of Funcheras 92°°2, which Humboldt had found to be 90°°4 Cent. But in the interval between these two observations had oc- curred the great earthquake, which overwhelmed the Caraccas and other towns situated in the western Cordilleras. The same explanation however cannot be extended to those thermal springs which are unconnected with volcanic action, and concerning these the testimony is of rather a conflicting nature. Thus Anglada}+ has compared the temperature of ten springs in the Pyrenees as ascertained by him in 1819, with that determined by Carrere sixty-five years before, and in all of them found a di- minution, amounting in one instance to 27°, but in the rest va- rying from half a degree to 7° of Fahrenheit. The same ob- server found an abatement of 2° in the spring of Molitg in the eastern Pyrenees after an interval of only two years. On the other hand, it is remarkable that Berzelius{ in 1822 found the spring of Carlsbad to possess the identical temperature which belonged to it in 1770, according to the observations of Becher, viz. 164° Fahrenheit. Yet so contradictory is the evi- dence, that this very spring is reported by Klaproth, at a period intermediate between the above two observations, as being 8° of temperature lower. With regard indeed to thermal springs in general, it must, I believe, be admitted, that no observations have been yet made with thermometers of sufficient exactness to set the question at rest; and I therefore conceive, that a valuable legacy has been bequeathed to science by Prof. Forbes in the report on the tem- perature of the thermal springs of the Pyrenees and others, which he has lately laid before the Royal Society of London, were it only for the pains he had previously taken in verifying, and in comparing with an uniform standard, the instruments he em- ployed. : In the absence, however, of direct experiments, we may be authorized on general grounds to presume, that the temperature of thermal springs, in countries not exposed to present volcanic operations, undergoes no sensible change during a long period of time. If any change did take place, it would probably be froma higher to a lower degree, rather than the reverse; and as several of the thermal springs which were known and resorted to by the * Annales de Chimie, t. xxiii. p. 274. + Mémoires sur les Eaux Minérales, 1827, p. 65. t Annales de Chimie, t. xxviii. RS REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 11 ancients, such as Aix, Mont Dor*, Plombieres, and Bath, re- tain at present a heat as great as is tolecable to the human body, it seems evident, that if they had been only in a slight degree hotter in the time of the Romans, they would have required to be cooled down by artificial means before they were employed for bathing, which we are not told was ever the case. The same question, as the one concerning the temperature of Fixed In- mineral springs just discussed, may also be started with respect eredieals F to the quality and quantity of their ingredients. But before we Saves proceed to state what is known on this subject, it will be con- c venient to advert to a notion at one time advanced by Dobe- reiner +, namely, that the salts. present in mineral waters bear a certain relation as to quantity one to the other. Ignorant as we are of the processes by which saline substances Whether in are formed in the interior of the earth, it might be rash to affirm, definite, that in a mineral water which had obtained its fixed ingredients Prepcrnans exclusively from one spot, some fixed ratio did not obtain be- other. tween the respective quantities of the latter. But it is inconceivable, that a spring, having to pass through a great extent of rock before it reaches the surface, should not - more commonly find certain substances to dissolve, or become intermixed with other currents of water in its way, and that in the event of either of these things happening, the relative pro- portions of the original ingredients should remain as before. If, therefore, Dobereiner were admitted to have established, that in a few special cases} the salts existing in a mineral water hold a certain definite proportion one to the other, probability suggests, that the circumstance is to be regarded as an exception merely, and not as the rule, and this inference, I believe, will be _ fully confirmed, by referring to the actual results of the analysis _ of mineral springs in general. Hence, without embarrassing ourselves with the consideration, Whether __* At Mont Dor the very bath exists which was constructed in the time the Consti- of Cesar. * Ueber die chemische Constitution der Mineralwasser. Jena, 1821. ————— a. i _{ Iconfess myself unable to find any examples which establish Doberei- “4 ner’s rule. Let us take the Carlsbad water, to which he appeals, and suppose _ the ingredients to be in atomic proportions. The following appear to be the __ hearest approximation that can be made: +4 Real amount & being * Sulphate of soda ...,.. 15 atoms X 72= 1290 — 1290 - eee Muriate of soda ...... 9 — x69= 621— 517 ° vel Carbonate of soda ...... 12 — x54= 648— 630 % Carbonate of lime ...... 13 —- X50= 650— 650 - § Carbonate of magnesia.. 2 — X42= 84— 86 ~iste* Here are some remarkable coincidences, it is true, but how are the propor- tions of the minor ingredients to be reconciled to such a formula? tuents of Mineral Waters vary from time to time. Cases in which they have been observed to be constant. Cases in which they are found to vary. i SIXTH REPORT—1836. how far such a law as that hinted at by Dobereiner could be reconciled with the idea of a gradual diminution taking place in the strength of the saline impregnation of a spring (which, ac- cording to this view, ought to proceed, if at all, in regular pro- portions likewise), let us simply consider the weight of evidence in favour or against the permanency of mineral springs in this respect. On the one hand, Bischof* states, that the mineral contents of the spring of Geilnau in the Taunus mountains, as determined by himself in 1826, agree in quantity with those existing there thirty-three years before, if we believe the report of Amburger. According to the same author, seventy-seven years have made no difference in the mineral impregnation of the spring of Fa- chingen in the same district, and the analysis of the water of Selters made thirty-eight years before by Westrumb corresponds very nearly with his own. Berzelius too has shown, that the composition of the Carls- bad waters accords with the results of the analysis of Klaproth made thirty-three years previously. But, on the other hand, the Steinbad at Toeplitz contains, according to the last chemist, scarcely half the quantity of fixed ingredients which were present in it, according to Ambrozzi, thirty-three years before, and even then it was suspected that a diminution from an antecedent period in its saline contents had taken place. Wurzer t found the spring of Neundorf, in the wet summer of 1833, more fully impregnated with saline matter and with sul- phuretted hydrogen, than in the dry summer of 1814. Klaproth detected in 1806 carbonate of soda, carbonate of magnesia, and silica in the mineral water of Riepoldsau. Sult- zer in 1811 could not discover in it one of the above ingre- dients. Westrumb in 1788 concluded, that in the Pyrmont water the saline matter was almost constant in quantity, being from 23 to 24 grains in the pint, but that the proportion of the respective ingredients varied. In March 1788 it contained rather more alkaline salt, and rather less gypsum, than in June, July, and August ; but though the proportions of the respective salts might vary, the same principles always existed in it. Struve t remarks, that almost every new analysis of the spring of Marienbad affords different results as to quantity, though the total amount of saline matter, and the nature of the acids and bases present, appear invariable. * Vulk. Min. Quellen, p. 329. + See Bischof, p. 331. t Kunstlichen Min. Wasser, p. 15. REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS, 13 Hermann * shows, that in the brine springs of Halle the quan- tity of muriate of magnesia has gone on progressively increasing, and that of the muriate of lime diminishing, since 1798, whilst in those of Schénbeck the sulphate of soda each year has under- gone a diminution. With respect to our own mineral waters, there is a general impression, that the aperient springs, which rise so abundantly from the lias, become weaker when long drawn upon, and it is only in this way that I can reconcile the extreme discrepancy between the analyses of the same spring, at periods not very re- mote one from the other. Bischof remarks, that in some cases different results may have been obtained, owing to some variation in the circumstances under which the water had been drawn. Supposing the well to have been just before exhausted, the water obtained ought not to be expected to be so strongly im- pregnated as in common, because time had not been allowed for that which had flowed in since to obtain its full complement of saline ingredients. In this way he accounts for a discrepancy, between the quan- tity of sulphate and of muriate of soda, which he detected at Roisdorf in September 1824, and in April 1825; and on the same principle we may explain, why the Pyrmont water was found to be more strongly impregnated before the season of taking the waters, in May, than during June and July, the months of fashionable resort. I may add, that if we suppose the respective salts to require different times for their solution, it may be seen, why in some _ cases the relative proportions of the saline ingredients have ap- | | | - 7 peared to vary, whilst the total amount continued as before; for if, owing to the well having been just before much drawn upon, the salts which required the longest time for their solution ex isted in the water in a smaller proportion than usual, that very circumstance might enable the water to dissolve a larger quan- tity of the remaining ones, so as to make good the deficiency, and to render the total amount of fixed ingredients nearly the ‘same as usual. _ Considering, therefore, the great uncertainty that exists with regard to this point in most cases, and the progressive condition of chemical analysis, which renders the results obtained at one period scarcely capable of accurate comparison with those of a succeeding one, it were to be wished, that at each of the more important mineral springs samples of the water were preserved in bottles, hermetically, or at least very closely, sealed, to be * Bischof, p. 334. Mode of ac- counting for this varia- tion. Method of determi- ning this question. Classifica- tion of Mi- neral Wa- ters. Ingredients found in Mineral Waters. Tron with Silica. 14 SIXTH REPORT—1836. opened at the expiration of a certain time, in order that an ana- lysis should be made of it, as well as of the water fresh taken from the spring, by some chemist of reputation; which being done, and the results being duly registered, a similar sample of the water might be set apart for examination after the lapse of an equal interval of time. If this method were adopted, the question at issue might soon be determined beyond the possibility of doubt. Writers on mineral waters have frequently attempted to clas- sify them according to the nature of their ingredients, but these unfortunately are so often found intermixed in all conceivable proportions, that no division of them into orders founded on such a principle can be regarded as unexceptionable. For medical purposes the most useful method would seem to be, to select, as the groundwork of the classification, those sub- stances which stamp upon a mineral water its peculiar value as a therapeutic agent, without regarding whether they are pre- dominant in quantity or not. Thus, as the most general di- vision, we might distinguish them into, first, alkaline or carbo- nated springs, containing a certain proportion of carbonate of soda; secondly, saline, rich in muriatic salts; thirdly, aperient, containing the soluble sulphates; fourthly, sulphureous, contain- ing sulphuretted hydrogen. The alkaline might then be subdivided into those with, and without iron; the saline into those with, and without iodine and bromine; the aperient into those containing the alkaline, the magnesian, and the aluminous sulphates; the sulphureous into those with free sulphuretted hydrogen, or with the hydrosulphu- rets. Each of their subdivisions might then be distinguished into two sub-orders, the thermal and cold. Such a classification might be convenient in a medical treatise, but in a scientific one we should frequently find ourselves em- barrassed in assigning a place to a spring, which, like those of the Pyrenees, partook strongly of the character of the alkaline class, whilst it was at the same time suiphureous; like that of Wiesbaden, whilst allied to the alkaline ones in its vicinity, was itself strongly saline; or like the Carlsbad, Toeplitz, Bath, and Ems waters, seemed from its mineral constitution to possess an equal claim to admission into several of the classes established. With respect to the particular ingredients which mineral waters contain, it would seem superfiuous to notice in the present Re- port any, but those which have been either discovered, or newly investigated, within a short period. Iron in a new form of combination has been detected in the —— REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 15 Springs of Lucca by Sir H. Davy*; the body combined with it being, not the carbonic or sulphuric acid, but silica. Sir Humphry suggests, that the ochreous deposit so frequent in hot springs, as at Mont Dor, Bath, &c., may be a similar chemical compound, the iron originally existing in the state of a protoxide, but passing into that of a peroxide upon exposure to air. Though the iron however is thrown down from the water in this condition, it does not follow that it exists there in the same, since, in proportion as the carbonic acid which had upheld it escaped, the silica present in the water might begin to exert its affinity, and be carried down along with the metal. Iron has also been found by Dr. Thomson combined with muriatic acid in the mineral water of Mitchill in the parish of Nielstont, near Glasgow, and by Lachmund in the aluminous water of Buckowine in Lower Silesia f. Manganese was discovered many years ago by Becher in the springs of Carlsbad; and recent observations have shown that it is by no means uncommon either in cold or in thermal waters. Thus it has been found in the chalybeates of Pyrmont§, Ma- rienbad, Seltzers, and Fachingen; at Luxeuil near Paris ||; at Adolphsberg in Sweden; and in several springs in Russia. Also in the thermal waters of Carlsbad and Ems; the sulphureous ones of Neundorf and Eilsen ; the aperient ones of Seidschutz ; and the brine springs of Kreutznach. It has likewise been met with as a deposit from the thermal water of Popayan in the Andes 4. Zine combined with sulphuric acid has been found by Berze- lius in small quantities in a mineral water at Ronneby in Swe- den**, probably under circumstances similar to those, under which copper is occasionally met with in streams flowing _ through beds of copper pyrites. Strontian has been detected in the chalybeates of Seltzer tf and Pyrmont {{, and in the thermal waters of Carlsbad, Konig- ; worth, Aix la Chapelle, and Borset§§. It seems also to exist in small quantities in the springs of Bristol, it having been found, as 1 am informed, in a stalagmitical deposit incrusting the pipes that convey water to that city. * Annales de Chimie, vol. xix. from the ‘“‘ Memoirs of the Academy of Naples.” + Records of Science, vol. iii. p. 418. t Bley, Taschenduch. § See Bley, Tuschenbuch for the German springs. || Annales de Chimie, 1821. Gf Boussingault, Annales de Chimie, 1833. _ ** Brandes’ Archiv, b, xiii. as quoted by Osann. tt Struve, Kiinstlich Miner. tt Brandes’ Pyrmonts Heilquellen. §§ Bley’s Taschenduch. Tron with Muriatic Acid. Manganese. Zine. Strontian. Barytes. Potassa and Lithia. Todine and Bromine. 16 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Traces of barytes have likewise been detected by Brandes and Kruger in the chalybeate of Pyrmont, and by Berzelius in the thermal water of Carlsbad. Potass was found in that of Toeplitz * and of Konigsworth in Bohemia; in the water of Bourbon Lancy, by Pavis + ; and in one of the Cheltenham waters, by Faraday {; whilst even Lithia has been discovered in several, as at Pyrmont in Westphalia § ; at Carlsbad ||, Franzensbad, and Marienbad, in Bohemia; and at Rosheim near Strasburg 7. The ingredients of salt springs in general have long been un- derstood to be the same, as those which were known to exist in the present ocean, but upon the discovery of the two new prin- ciples, iodine and bromine,—iodine abundantly in various marine productions, and more sparingly in the ocean itself; bromine less commonly indeed in the former, but in much larger quan- tity in the latter,—chemists were naturally led to inquire, whe- ther the correspondence, that had before been traced between the actual and former constitution of these reservoirs of salt water extended also to the presence of the above two bodies in them both. Accordingly Angelini searched for and discovered iodine in certain springs of Piedmont ** ; Vogel did the same at Heilbrunn in Bavaria ++; and Turner at Bonington near Leith ; whilst Boussingault met with it in a spring fifteen leagues from Popayan in the Andes, eighty or ninety miles from the sea, and 10,000 feet above its level tf}. With regard to bromine, this principle was detected by Liebig at Kreutznach in the Palatinate §§ ; by Vogel|||| at Rosenheim in Bavaria, and at Wiesbaden in Nassau ¥{]; by Desfosses at Salins, in the Department of the Jura***, and at Bourbon les Bains, in France; and by Stromeyer in various springs of the kingdom of Hanover}+{+. Having also myself discovered bromine as well as iodine in several salt springs of South Britain, I was led to prosecute an extended examination of the principal ones, containing any con- * Berzelius, Untersuchung, translated in the Annales de Chimie, vol. xxviii. + Annales de Chimie, Nov. 1827. ¢ Journal of Science. § Brandes and Kruger. || Kastner’s Archiv, b. vi. { Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, for Oct. 1836. **® Journal des Mines, vol. viii. tt Ifineral Quellen des Baiern, 1825. tt Annales de Chimie, vol. v. 1833, or Journal of the Royal Institution, N.S. vol. iii., from Dr. Mill.” §§ Annales de Chimie for 1826, p. 330. |\\| Mineral Quellen des K. Baiern. 7] Kastner's Archiv, vol. xiii. *** Ferussac’s Bull. part viii. ttt See Schweigger’s Journal, 1827, for ‘A List of the Localities in which Bromine had been detected.” 4 . Oo REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS, 17 siderable quantity of common salt, which are distributed through the several rocks of this country, beginning my search with the Silurian formations of Wales, and terminating it with the ter- tiary deposits of the London basin. In the tabular view of the constituents of these springs given in the paper I presented to the Royal Society * on that subject, and which is now published in their Transactions, I showed, that although the proportions of the respective ingredients might ‘vary, yet that as regards their quality, an almost entire corre- spondence must have obtained between the earliest accumula- tions of salt water and the existing ones, judging from the occa- sional presence of iodine and bromine in those of all ages. Thus both these principles were found in waters issuing from the Silurian slates of Llandrindod and Bualt in Radnorshire, and bromine, but not icdine, in those from the coal formation of Ashby de la Zouch, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and Kingswood. Both principles exist in the springs issuing from lias, at Leam- ington, Gloucester, Tewkesbury, and Cheltenham; whilst in the aperient saline waters of Melksham, Epsom, and London, all of which are connected with newer rocks, iodine appeared to be altogether wanting, though traces of bromine were detected. It remains to be ascertained by a more extensive induction of particulars than that hitherto made, whether iodine is commonly deficient in springs connected with the more recent deposits ; as such a fact, combined with that of its scanty occurrence in our present seas, and its comparative abundance in strata of older date, might lead to some curious geological inferences. The proportion of iodine to water in different springs, I found to vary from = to arieanii part; and to the chlorine present in it from 35, to saan Part. In several of the German springs, however, the proportion appears to be much larger t. Thus, there have been“found, in a pint of the salt spring of Muriate ; Hydrio. Muriate | Muriate | of Mag-| date of of Soda.| of Lime.| nesia, Soda, Relay Uh ieee 's Riesvan re lel cb cee tet 10°514| 3°356| .,.... 0°529 Saltzhausen .......-...2000: 73°450) 2°570| 8°780| 07590 Kreutznach.........-..ces2e 59°675|11°758] 4°124]) 0°043 In the springs I examined, the proportion of bromine to : 1 1 wu “7 1 eater varied from ¢5; to 755) part, and to the chlorine from 7 ‘tO i660 , * Philosophical Transactions, 1830. tT Osann, Ueber Jod- und Brom-haltige Min. Quellen, VOL. v.—1836. c 18 SIXTH REPORT—1836. The water however in which I discovered the largest quantity of bromine in proportion to its saline contents was that of Ashby de la Zouch, which contained only 179 grains of solid matter in the pint, and yet yielded more than half a grain of this principle. This latter result has been confirmed by Dr. Ure in a memoir on these springs published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1833. With respect to the salt springs of Germany, the following proportions of bromine and of other ingredients are contained in a pint of the water of each according to Osann. Muriate| Muriate | Muriate Rha ! Hydro- f f ‘omate [) 0} of Mag- bromate Soda. Lime. nesia. ppb | of Soda. — Brine spring of Ragozi at Kissingen| 62°050) ...... 6-850|0°7000. ...... Pandur ditto.....|57°000} ...... 5°850|0°6800, ...... Hla ic: oe «babies > HO%5 14) 935356)" sscecn') | faces ae 0°4140 Luhatschowitz ....|18°370) ...... seeeee | cesses 0°0410 The entire absence both of iodine and bromine from a few of the very strongest brine springs we possess, those for example of Droitwich in Worcestershire, as was originally stated by myself, and as has been since confirmed by Dr. Hastings in his Memoir on that subject *, may be explained by considering, that in these same waters likewise all the more soluble salts present in the sea are of sparing occurrence. Hence the masses of salt, to which these springs owe their impregnation, may have been the first deposits from the satu- rated brine, and therefore contain chiefly muriate of soda. Agreeably with this explanation we find, that the lowest sali- ferous strata in Cheshire consist of perfectly transparent rock salt, without a trace either_of iodine or of bromine, whilst the more deliquescent muriates, together with combinations of these latter principles, are found plentifully in the clays and marls above. It may at first sight appear doubtful, whether the saline ape- rients existing in the lias ought to be classed amongst brine springs, considering the larger proportion of alkaline sulphates and of muriate of lime belonging to them. In a medical point of view clearly they ought not to be so re- garded; for their most active, though not always their predomi- nant ingredients, are those very sulphates, which do not exist, except in minute quantity, in brine springs properly so called. * On the Salt Springs of Worcestershire. Worcester, 1835. a” Se Saran Se REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 19 _ But looking to their origin, or the materials from which they are derived, they must be grouped with salt springs of the com- mon kind, as I have shown in the memoir already quoted. I may appeal indeed to the authority of Mr. Murchison *™ when I state, that these waters, like the genuine brine springs of Cheshire and Worcestershire, rise out of the new red sand- stone formation. Hence it is probable, that, their original con- stitution is analogous, but that during the passage of the water upwards through cracks and fissures in the lias clays overlying, the iron pyrites, which is so abundant in that stratum, supplies it by its gradual decomposition with the sulphuric acid found amongst its ingredients. That. sulphuretted hydrogen is generated in the vicinity of these springs, we are assured, not only from the minute quan- tity of this gas observed in one or two of the Cheltenham and Leamington waters, but also from the strong impregnation of the spring of Willoughby in Warwickshire, as noticed by myself, and of that of Haslar in Worcestershire, reported by Dr. Hast- Ings 7. : Nay, if we grant the sulphuric acid to be derived from this source, the other differences between these saline aperients, and brine springs properly so called, will admit of an easy solution. The sulphuric acid, acting upon the several muriates, would form with their bases those earthy and alkaline sulphates on which their medicinal qualities chiefly depend ; whilst the free muriatic acid disengaged, attacking the calcareous rocks, would give rise to the production of the increased quantity of muriate of lime present in them. With respect, therefore, to the origin of the above ingredients modern discovery bas added little to the general principle laid down by Pliny, ‘‘ Tales sunt aqne, qualis terra per quam fluunt.”” For it seems needless to attempt tracing them further than the rocks from which the springs themselves issue. But there are other substances of occasional occurrence that cannot be referred to this source, so immediately, or without a more particular inquiry into the circumstances of their appear- ance. Of this description are two acids discovered recently in mi- Phosphoric neral waters, namely, the phosphoric, and the fluoric, an addition *¢ Fiver to our knowledge for which we are indebted to the analytical ; skill of Berzelius. Subsequently, the former substance has * Proceedings of the Geological Socicty, vol. i. p. 390. + Salt Springs of Worcestershire, p. 9. c2 Carbonate of Soda, 20 SIXTH REPORT—1836. been detected in the following springs amongst others, viz. the chalybeate of Hofgeismar by Wurzer, that of Pyrmont by Brandes, and that of Selters by Gustavus Bischoff; and the latter principle at Carlsbad, Selters, Ems, Wiesbaden, and Gastein. Now though phosphoric acid is not generally stated as a con- stituent of the rocks through whichthese springs have to pass, yet I am inclined to believe, that it exists in minute proportions in very many of those that contain organic remains. I have myself found traces of it in several secondary lime- stones ; and its existence there may be ascribed, not merely to the coprolites which these strata sometimes envelop, and which are found more or less in formations, even as high in the series as the Silurian rocks of this country, but likewise to the bones of animals, the coverings of crustacea, and the scales of fishes * distributed through them. In granitic rocks its presence is equally implied by the occur- rence of minerals in which it constitutes the acidifying principle. The fluoric acid exists in the teeth of animals, but it would be absurd to attribute an organic source to its presence in the strata. Its origin must be looked for in the minerals which the primary crystalline rocks contain. Thus mica and amphibole have been shown by Bonsdorff often to contain small portions of this acid}, and fluate of lime is to be met with occasionally both in primary and secondary formations. There is a class of springs, very common in some countries, though scarcely found in England, which owes its peculiar pro- perties to the presence of a portion of soda, often associated with protoxide of iron, both of which are held in combination by carbonic acid. Now as carbonate of soda does not exist in any of the strata with which we are acquainted, its occurrence cannot be so im- mediately referred to the latter ; and yet the quantity drawn from the bowels of the earth by the agency of springs must be very considerable, for Gilbert ¢ calculates, that the water given out in a single year by the Carlsbad waters alone contains more than thirteen million pounds of carbonate of soda, and about twenty million pounds of its sulphate, so that we may fairly reckon the annual amount of alkali extracted, under one or the other of these forms, to be as much as 6,746,050 pounds. * See Notice of Mr. Connell’s Paper in the Fifth Report of the British As- sociation, p. 41. + Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, vol. iv. + Annalen, vol. |xxiv. p. 198, a REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 21 But it has been observed, that mineral waters of this descrip- Mode of ac- tion occur in many instances in connexion with felspathic f)'.."® rocks, issuing either from primary strata, or else from volcanic materials. . ) Now common felspar* consists, according to Dr. Thomson, (Outlines of Mineralogy, 1836, vol. i. p. 295,) of one atom of trisilicate of potass, united to three atoms of trisilicate of alu- mina; glassy felspar of one atom of trisilicate of potass and soda, to four of trisilicate of alumina ; whilst in albite, a mineral in which the ingredients are in the same proportions as in com- mon felspar, the potass is altogether replaced by soda. This latter alkali is therefore commonly traced to the felspa- thic rocks in contact with these waters ; and, without going into: the elaborate calculations which Professor Bischof has thought fit to institute}, by way of showing, that a single mountain of moderate dimensions,—the Donnerburg, for example, near Mil-. leschau in the Bohemian Mittelgebirge,—contains soda enough. to impregnate the Carlsbad water for the space of 35,394 years, it will be readily granted, that where a spring is in connexion with volcanic or trappean materials, there can be no want of alkali, to supply it for any conceivable length of time with that portion, which is found belonging to its constitution. But three questions still remain to be determined, before the source of the alkali can be regarded as explained. Ist. By what process does the thermal water separate this material from its combination ? 2udly. Why does not the same force which extracts the soda, also cause the separation of a portion of the potass, with which, granitic rocks at least are still more abundantly charged ? 3rdly. How does the spring obtain its soda at all, in eases: where it rises, either from granitic rocks containing only com- mon felspar, and therefore no other alkali than potass, or from, slates and other rocks that are destitute of alkali altogether ? The first of these difficulties has been elucidated, by the expe~ * The composition of these minerals may be expressed with greater clear- ness symbolically, thus : Common Felspar (K +3 Si) +3 (Al +3 Si), Glassy Felspar . om + 35i. ) + 4 (Al + 3 Si), th ‘Athite sarin: (N+ 3Si) +3 (Al + 3S. Tt Vulk. Mineral, p. 322. et seq. Objections to this ex- planation. Q2 SIXTH REPORT -- 1836. riments of Bischof and Struve, and by the observations of Turner. . Bischof has stated*, that even long-continued boiling in water will separate the alkali from a mass of trass or volcanic tuff, but that the process is facilitated by the presence of carbonic acid; so that he conceives the disintegration of felspathic rocks to be brought about by water impregnated with that ingredient. Dr. Struve} of Dresden, known for his imitations of some of the most noted mineral springs in Germany, informs us, that he has extracted alkali from granite, by merely filling a tall ves- sel with small fragments of the stone, pouring upon it distilled water, and suffering a stream of carbonic acid gas to rise slowly through the materials, and to diffuse itself amongst the water filling the interstices between them. Turner likewise has pointed out the action of carbonic acid and water on such substances in his Lecture on the Chemistry of Geology, which will be afterwards adverted to. With respect to the second difficulty], it has been argued, that the majority of these springs arise from volcanic rocks in which glassy felspar predominates ; that when they spring from granite, they have been ascertained, in some instances to con= tain potass as well as soda, as is the case at Carlsbad, and at Schonau near Toeplitz ; and in others soda alone, as at Adolphs- burg and Porla in Sweden. : It has also been remarked, that granite, in which albite has taken the place of common felspar, is more decomposable than usual §, so that if the water of a thermal spring were to traverse a rock consisting, partly of the one kind of granite, and partly of the other, it might dissolve the soda without affecting the potass. It has been further suggested by Bischof, that in many of the analyses which have been made, potass may have been mis- taken for soda, and that the former is, in fact, a much more common ingredient in mineral waters than has hitherto been suspected. Bischof also sees a reason for deriving the alkali from the contiguous strata, in the circumstance, that the thermal springs of the Alps, which arise in general from primary rocks, contain little or-no carbonate of soda. To these considerations it may be replied : 1. That the quantity of potass in the Carlsbad springs is too inconsiderable to affect the argument; for it was only by a mi- * P. 305. + Ueber Kunst. Min. Quellen, vol. ti. { See these arguments detailed in full in Bischof’s Work so often alluded to. § Hence sometimes distinguished as “ crumbling felspar.” REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 23 nute examination of the sprudelstein, the deposit from the waters, that Berzelius was able to detect its presence, whilst in the water itself much carbonate of soda, but no potass, was discer- nible. 2. That the detection of potass in the Swedish mineral waters only increases the difficulty of explaining, why springs, which, like those of Carlsbad, rise also from granite, contain so very small a quantity of the so-called vegetable alkali, whilst they are thus strongly impregnated with the mineral one. 3. That the alkaline springs alluded to ought to be shown to proceed uniformly from a rock containing albite, before any legitimate inference can be deduced from the alleged difference, as to the facility of disintegration, between this and other kinds of granite. 4. That although it is conceivable that one alkali may have been mistaken for the other by the older analysts, it can hardly be suspected that chemists like Berzelius, or even Anglada, could have been guilty of such an error with respect to the springs they had examined. 5. That although none of the thermal springs of the Alps, with the exception of Yverdun, are represented as containing natron, yet all of them are fraught with other salts of soda, and some of them with salts of potass, so that probably the earthy matter present existed in the water in the state of a muriate or a sulphate, whilst the carbonic acid, together with which they were thrown down on boiling, was united in the water with a portion of that soda, which the analyst represents as being combined with some other acid. _ Thus the composition of the water of Baden, in the canton of Argau, is stated by Bauhof as follows : In 300 ounces ‘of the water, “Carbonicacid. . . . . . . 48 cubic inches. Sulphuretted hydrogen. . . . traces. Nulpiate or iine.. = 1. .;. . . soo rains. Reririate Of SO0d <5 eons pe. LOO |, ag, Muriate of magnesia . . . - 51 4, pupuate OL SUUa ale. ae pe. Ons oe te Pee sods sO as Sulphate of magnesia . . . . 31 = «4, Hoe ita 2 Re lenage ge ee agahimetbate cit: uaaeaee Extractive matter . .... = sree 6 p(t iv fs apa ae Pla 2 aE Now doubtless Bauhoff here meant to express, that the lime and magnesia were thrown down combined with the car- New The- ory propo- sed. Origin of the Carbo- nate of Soda in certain secondary rocks, Soda with- 24 SIXTH REPORT—1836. bonic acid ; but when we perceive the large proportion of soda indicated by the analysis, it seems quite as probable that these earths existed in the water as muriates or sulphates, and that they were precipitated in the state of carbonates by the car- bonate of soda, on concentrating the solution. The same explanation may be extended to the cases of Schinz- nach, Weissenburg, Pfeffers, and Loueche amongst the thermal, and to Gurnigel and Engistein amongst the cold carbonated springs; whilst at Fideris, Tarasp, Luxemburg (in Thurgau), and others, carbonate of soda is stated as abundant. But the greatest difficulty, as appears to me, is presented by the thermal waters of the Pyrenees, which are for the most part . richly impregnated with soda, and yet are derived exclusively from granitic rocks, or others equally destitute of mineral alkali. Should future observations, directed expressly to these parti- cular points, substantiate the fact of the entire absence of potass from these springs, and that of the scanty presence of soda in the rocks with which they are connected, I apprehend the hypo- thesis of Bischof, plausible as it may seem, and well as it may suit the case of *‘ volcanic mineral waters,’’ must be abandoned, and the same theory be extended to the carbonate of soda, which we have already applied, to the boracie acid present in the La- goni of Tuscany, and to the common salt exhaled from the cra- ters of volcanos. There seems at least no absurdity in supposing, that if, as I shall afterwards attempt to show, thermal springs owe their temperature to steam and gases given out by volcanic processes carried on underneath, the former may carry with it, not only boracic acid, but also soda, which, in its passage upwards, might enter into combination with the muriatic, the sulphuric, the carbonic, or any other acid that was present. We need not however resort to any such hypothesis in order to account for the occasional presence of carbonate of soda in secondary strata. In salt lakes which become nearly dry in summer, a portion of natron will often result, either from the de- composition of the muriate of soda by calcareous matter, in con- sequence, as is supposed, of the operation of the law of Berthol- let with respect to the influence of the mass, or, as is more pro- bahle, from the conversion of sulphate of soda by organic mat- ter into sulphuret, and the decomposition of the latter by the earthy carbonate. To one or other of these causes we ascribe the natron of Hungary, and perhaps that existing in certain mineral waters of Bavaria, said to be remote from volcanic or trappean rocks. In the cases hitherto mentioned, the alkali has been supposed REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 25 to be united with carbonic acid, and this is stated as being the case in the majority of the mineral springs that contain it. Longchamp * however asserts, that in certain of the thermal waters of the high Pyrenees, as at Bareges, Cauterets, St. Sau- veur, and the like, the soda exists in an uncombined form, and that to this must be attributed the peculiar action it exerts upon the cuticle, causing the water to feel soapy and unctuous to those who bathe in it. Anglada + questions this assertion, on the faith of experiments made by him on some of these waters that had been sent him, (as he says,) carefully corked; but trials of such a description cannot of course be put into competition with others instituted, as those of M. Longchamp appear to have been, on the spot, granting both the individuals to be competent authorities on the point. I may also state, in confirmation of Longchamp’s evidence, that being at Barege some years ago, I tested the water fresh drawn from the well with a solution of baryta, and found no cloudiness to be produced till after it had stood some little time exposed to the air, whilst after the addition of lime-water a still longer period elapsed before any indication of carbonic acid appeared. The experiment was tried with the same success at St. Sauveur. Dr. Turner has also stated {, that the springs of Pinnarkoon and Loorgootha in India, which were examined by him, contain soda uncombined with an acid; and Faraday § has confirmed the statement of Dr. Black, who long ago reported the soda of the Iceland springs as being in that condition. Now, as in many of these springs no carbonic acid is pre- sent, and as the alkaline salt existing in the rock from which they emerge is not a carbonate, but a silicate, we can better un- derstand the possibility of the soda being found in the condition stated, even if, adopting the theory of Bischof, we refer it to the rock in connexion with the spring ; whilst those who lean to the contrary hypothesis, and trace the alkali to the very seat of the voleanic action which causes the high temperature, will be able still more readily to account for its appearance in that form. Silica appears to be an universal ingredient in thermal Springs, and is perhaps present in more minute quantities even in those of all temperatures. * Annales de Chimie, vol. xxii. {+ Mémoires, p. 302. } Edinb. Journal of Science, No. xvii. p. 97. § Barrow’s Visit to Ireland in 1835. out Car- bonic Acid in Springs. Silica, its origin in Springs. How farex- plained. 26 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Its existence in the epidermis of most monocotyledonous plants proves, that it must be held in solution by the descend- ing sap; and the latter, in whatever way it may be supposed to be elaborated within the texture of the plant, can only obtain its earthy principles from the water which happens to encircle the roots. On the fact of its solution in water, Turner has lately made some observations in his Lecture on the Chemistry of Geology*. He has shown, that water must have the property of dissolv- ing silica, by contrasting the chemical composition of felspar with that of the porcelain clay which results from its decompo- sition. ; The former, as he represents it, consists of one atom of trisi- licate of potass, with one atom of silicate of alumina, in the pro- portion of nine of silica to one of alumina; whilst porcelain clay consists of seven atoms of silica to two of alumina, or as three and a half to onet. Hence water had carried off in some way all the potass, and eight and a half out of twelve proportionals of the silica, leaving all the alumina and the remainder of the silica untouched. — Now the solution of the silica may be referred in general to its being exposed, at the moment of its disengagement from its existing combination, to the joint action of water and alkali. But it seems to admit of question, whether the latter be really essential to the process. I have myself found a coating of a substance like hyalite in the fissures of a rock in the island of Ischia, through which hot: vapours were constantly issuing, and am at a loss to refer it to any other cause, except the gradual solution of silica in the first instance by the steam, and its precipitation afterwards from it. I have also found, in a soft state, coating fissures in a tra- chytic rock, near Schemnitz in Hungary, what appeared to be silex hardening into the condition of hyalite, a mineral occur- ring in many places near,—an observation in which I find myself to be anticipated by M. Beudant. Dr Wollaston indeed had observed, and Dr. Turner confirms * Phil. Magazine, 1833, vol. iii. p. 20. + Represented symbolically thus : (K +3 Si) + (Al +9 Si) Felspar, (Al + 31 Si) Porcelain Clay ; 80 that (K +3 Si) + 54 Si have been removed, and only 3} Si remain aes Sh it le See REPGRT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. Q the truth of the remark, that steam under high pressure be- comes a rapid solvent of alkaline silicates. The latter chemist even found*, that glass exposed to the va- pour issuing from an high-pressure engine was rapidly corroded, and that the silica taken up was again deposited in a beautiful stalactitical form. It however remains. open to further inquiry— ) 1st, What is the solvent of silica in springs which contain no free alkali : 2nd, By what means it is held in solution by the sap of ve- getables : 3rd, What are the circumstances which interfere with its solution by artificial means. With reference to this subject, I may allude to an interesting memoir by Professor Fuchs, on the amorphism of solid bodies}, as throwing some light upon the question as to the solubility of silex, and illustrating the influence in this case of mechanical obstacles upon chemical affinities. He has shown, that silica exists in minerals in two condi- tions, a crystallized and an amorphous one, and that in the latter it is much more readily acted upon by solvents, than in the former {. Dr. Turner also found, that whilst glass was rapidly dissolved by high-pressure steam, rock crystal remained unchanged. It would have been curious to determine, whether under such circumstances, amorphous silex (such as opal) would continue untouched. - Muriatic and sulphuric acids in a free state are found only in springs counected with volcanos, to which they are obviously referable. Boracic acid, which has been detected in a thermal spring of the island of Ischia, and more abundantly in the water of the Lagoni of Tuscany, seems also to be a volcanic product. It is well known as resulting from volcanic operations in the _ Lipari Islands and elsewhere ; and its appearance in their craters * Proceedings of the Geol. Soc., vol. ii. p. 95. tT Edinb. New Philos. Journal for April, 1835. } A recent traveller in Iceland (Krug von Nidda) in Karsten’s Archiv, vol.ix., remarks, ‘‘that the solubility of the silica in such considerable quantity in the hot springs of Iceland, remained for a long time a puzzling phenome- non, until that property was discovered, which it has in common with phosphoric acid, viz. of forming two isomeric modifications, of which one is insoluble in water and in acids; the other is soluble in both.” This may be true; but the statement must be regarded as a mere expression of a fact, not as the explanation of it. How far unaccount- ed for. Muriatic and Sul- phuric Acids. Boracic Acid. Nitric Acid. Ammonia in Springs. 28 SIXTH REPORT—1836. becomes intelligible, when we reflect, that although dry boracice acid continues fixed at high temperatures, yet when steam is passed over it at a red heat, a portion of the acid is always sub- limed, as I have myself ascertained by experiment. Whether the same explanation will apply to the case of the lakes of Thibet, whence so large a quantity of borate of soda is obtained, future travellers must determine. Nitric acid, united probably with potass (this alkali being found along with it), sometimes occurs in the springs of large towns, as observed by Pagenstecher* in those of Berne, and by Berzelius in those of Stockholmt. There is also a tract in Hungary, included betwixt the Car- pathians and the river Dran, throughout which all the springs are said to be impregnated with this ingredientt. The spontaneous production of nitre, wherever organic matter in a state of decomposition remains in contact with calcareous rocks, or with earth containing carbonate of lime, may suffi- ciently account for its existence in such springs as these, which probably owe their origin rather to superficial than to deep- seated causes. It remains, however, to be inquired, whether the same ex- planation can be extended to the waters of St. Alban, Dep. de Loire §, and of Miinchhof|| in Germany, in both of which nitre is said to be present, and that not, as in the former cases, in variable, but in fixed proportions. Can we attribute to the same decomposition of organic mat- ter the presence of ammonia in certain mineral waters ? Scherer {] mentions a sulphureous spring in Courland, which contains it in union with the muriatic acid ; and Osann** one at Raab in Hungary ; whilst Berzeliustt notices its occurrence in the mineral waters of Porla, united with a peculiar acid, the crenic, which will be noticed presently. Longchamp also states, that there are traces of it in some of the thermal springs of the Pyrenees ; but he does not state in what state of combination it occurs. Professor Fischer{t of Breslau has detected it in combination with carbonic acid in the thermal water of Warmbrunn, in Uehersicht der Bestandth. der Brunnen der Stadt Berne. Osann, vol. i. p, 92. t [bid. Patissier Manuel des Eaux Minérales, p. 280. Schweigger, Journal, vol. xlv. Page 180. ** Page 85. tt Phil. Magazine, vol. vi. p. 239. t{ Groete, Jahrbucher fiir Deutchlands Heilquellen, 1836. A=» » ii REPORT ON MIN® RAL AND THERMAL WATERS, 29 Silesia; Wetzler* in the cold spring of Krumbach, in Bava- ria; and Kastner in that of Kissingen, in the same kingdom. The water of Clinton, near New York, is likewise stated to contain five grains of carbonate of ammonia in the gallon. It may, indeed, be suspected that this principle is in reality of still more frequent occurrence, and that chemists have often overlooked its presence, in consequence of having driven it off by the heat which, in analysing the water, they had in the first instance applied. . Now in many of the above instances, I should be disposed to ascribe the occurrence of ammonia to causes of the same de- scription, with those which I suppose to have given rise to it when found issuing from the spiracles of volcanos, especially as it is remarkable that, although the evolution of nitrogen gas and of ammoniacal compounds in a few rare instances occurs simultaneously, yet for the most part the two in a manner take each other’s place, the volatile alkali being abundant in active volcanos, where nitrogen gas is not common, and scanty and un- frequent in the thermal springs of primary countries, where nitrogen gas is so generally disengaged. My own views respecting the formation of ammonia in vol- canos are stated in my Memoir on the eruption of Vesuvius in 1834, published in the Philosophical Transactions, and will be elsewhere referred to in this Report ; but I should be unwilling to extend them beyond the case of those springs which, judging from their temperature, appear connected with volcanic action, and from their purity, or freedom from organic matter, cannot be supposed capable of generating ammonia by any process of animal or vegetable fermentation. To these latter causes I should of course refer the presence of ammoniacal compounds in those waters, which, from their contiguity to large cities, or from their own impure condition, seem to contain in themselves the elements from which the volatile alkali might be generated. Whilst speaking of ingredients which may be suspected to arise from the presence of organic matter in springs, I must state, that formic acid is said to have been detected in the waters of Prinzhofen near Staubing§, and at Brunnen near Emkirchen, four or five leagues from Erlangen||, both in Bavaria; and acetic * Kastner’s Archiv, vol. x. + Archiv, vol. xxvi. } Silliman’s Journal, vol. xviii. § Pattenhofer, in Kastner’s Archiv, vol. vii. || Archiv, vol, xxili, Formic Acid. Acetic Acid. Crenic and Apocrenic Acids. Organic matter in Springs. Glairine, or so called animal matter. 30 SIXTH REPORT—1836. acid in a spring at Craveggia in Piedmont, by Vauquelin; and also in those of Ronneberg*, and Bruchenau in Bavaria. More recently Berzelius has described two new vegetable acids in the springs of Porlat in Sweden, to which he has given the names of the crenic and the apocrenic, both derived from an organic matter present in the water, the crenic first, the apocrenic from the other by the action of oxygen. Crenic acid does not crystallize, but its solution in water concentrated to the consistence of a syrup is almost colourless. When dried in vacuo it splits in all directions, and its taste is then distinctly acid and astringent. Though a weak acid, it decomposes the acetates, and combines with the alkalis and alkaline earths. Most of them are insoluble in water, but the protocrenate of iron is soluble. The apocrenic acid imparts a brownish colour to water, in which it is but slightly soluble. Its salts resemble the crenates, but are either brown or black, and are insoluble in alcohol. They combine with hydrate of alumina when digested with it, and form a colourless solution. These two acids were found in several chalybeate waters in Sweden, and may be separated from the ochre which they de- posit by boiling it with potass. The crenic acid {, or one much resembling it, has since been detected by Professor Fischer of Breslau in the mineral spring of Landeck in Silesia §. The above acids may possibly have some connexion with an organic substance found in most thermal and many cold springs, which has excited much speculation, and been supposed to possess important medicinal qualities. We owe the first accurate information respecting it to Bayen ||, who, in 1765, published an account of the mineral water of Luchon, in the Pyrenees, in which he discriminated this flocculent matter from the sulphur also present. In 1786 Dr. Willan{] described a white mucous substance ex- isting in the waters of Croft, in the county of Durham, which * Dodberciner in Kastner’s Archiv, vol. xvi. + Phil. Magazine, vol. vi. p. 239. + The crenic acid has lately, it is said, been found to be an ingredient. of the Bergmehl of Lapland, which the natives in times of scarcity mix with their flour, considering it to contain nutriment. This material is stated to be chiefly made up of the outer shells of fossil infusoria, together with some animal matter probably derived from their internal substance, and of the acid alluded to.—Phil. Mag. for April 1837. § Jahrbucher Deutschlands Heilquellen. || Opuscules Chemiques. ¥ On Croft and Harrogate Waters. London, 1786. gina: one =.= REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. $1 had likewise been confounded with the sulphur given ont by the same springs. In a recent visit to Croft I found this substance in abundance, and traced it as far as the water flowing from the spring retained its sulphureous odour, but not when the latter was dissipated. Mr. Dillwyn, i in his work on British Confervee*, notices the same as occurring, not only at Croft, but likewise at Harrogate in Yorkshire, and Llanwrtyd in South Wales, all of them springs of similar composition, and determined the substance to be a Conferva, which, from its whiteness, he denominated Vivea. In the thermal spring of Bath a Conferva of a different species abounds, which, from its colour and appearance, used to be called Bath sulphur, although not a particle of this latter prin- ciple exists in these waters. It seems, therefore, to be generally agreed, that the mucous matter found in the mineral waters of this country is owing to the generation of organized beings; but with respect to that met with amongst thermal and other springs in various parts of the Continent, no such correspondence of opinion subsists. On the one hand, Bory St. Vincent, in a memoir ‘ Sur la Botanique des Eaux+,” appears to attribute it in every instance to the growth of a certain class of Conferve, to which he has given the name of Anabaina. To this opinion also M. Delarive, in his memoir on the springs of St. Gervais}, adheres; and I am informed by Professor De- candolle, that the waters of Acqui in Piedmont were examined by him with reference to this point, and that he always found himself able to detect in the so-called animal matter which abounds there an organic structure. Many chemists, on the other hand, have taken up a contrary view of this subject, amongst whom I may instance Professor ‘Anglada|| of Montpellier, who, in his elaborate work on the mineral waters of the Eastern Pyrenees, has given a detailed description of its properties, as presented in the localities he has specified. The substance in question he denominates glaitrine, from its glutinous or jelly-like appearance. It was observed by him in cold as well as hot sulphureous springs, in all nearly fifty in number. It occurs in flocks, in threads, having the character of mucus, or of membrane, in compact concentric coats or “® P54. : + Bulletin de la Société Philomatique, et Dictionnaire Classique d’ Histoire Naturelle, art. ARTHRODIZ. { Bibliotheque Universelle, vol. xxii. || Mémoires peur servir, &e., vol. i. Described, Accounted for. 32 SIXTH REPORT—1836. zones, in parallel fibres, and pendent in a stalactitical form from caverns. With respect to colour, glairine is of various shades of either white or red, the latter being found generally in the hottest springs. It gives out a mawkish smell, succeeded after a little time by one of a more repulsive kind, arising from its decomposition. In its chemical properties it bears most resemblance to animal mucus, and disengages azote when acted upon by nitric acid. M. Anglada afterwards shows that the thermal waters which de- posit glairine, also contain a portion of the same in a state of chemical combination, the largest quantity, however, present not exceeding one third of a grain to the pint. As the water cools, a portion of this matter separates, and may then sometimes be perceived floating in it in minute semi- transparent flocks of a mucous character. It is this latter circumstance, which principally leads him to suppose, that the glairine exists formed in the interior of the earth, and that the mineral water is merely instrumental in bringing it to the surface. In order to explain how such a product could arise, Anglada appeals to an experiment of Ddbereiner’s, who found, that when steam was passed through an iron tube containing heated charcoal, a gelatinous matter frequently made its appearance. He also notices the production of a fatty-looking substance by Berard, on passing through a red-hot tube a mixture of carbonic acid, olefiant gas, and simple hydrogen. It is with great diffidence that I dissent from the views of M. Anglada, who has undoubtedly paid more attention to this remarkable substance than any other individual that could be mentioned, and question the fact which he so confidently aflirms, of the occurrence of specimens of glairine in the Pyrenean springs and elsewhere, to which it would be impossible to assign an organic origin +. * Vol. xiii. part i. } In further corroboration of my views I may quote the authority of the naturalist Turpin, who has also examined two specimens of the .so-called Baregine, the one from Barege, the other from Neris. An investigation of them under the microscope proved, that chemists had been confounding under the same name, several very different organic products, and that the so- called Baregine from Neris had no resemblance in its origin or constitution to that from Barege. The former, which he obtained from Robiquet, was nothing else than the Nosthoc or Conferva thermalis, already so often described. That from Barege, which he got from Longchamp, consisted of a gelatinous transparent and almost colourless substance, without any apparent mark of organiza- REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 30. _ Nevertheless, the observations I have myself made in some of the very same localities as those visited by M. Anglada, the substance of which is given in the Linnean Transactions*, lead me to conclude, that the glairine of M. Anglada is frequently, and therefore justify me in suspecting that it may be always, generated at or near the surface, by the rapid growth of certain lower tribes of organic beings. _ At Greoulx I remarked large patches of it hanging from the sides of a highly inclined rock, over which the water of that thermal spring had descended. Now if it had been a chemical precipitate from the waters, this could not have happened; but supposing it an organic matter, whose growth was favoured by the temperature or the constitution of the spring, its presence therein is not more diffi- cult of explanation, than that of Algzeon the face of a precipitous cliff. Moreover, the specimens of glairine which I collected always presented under the microscope, in some part or other, an or- ganic structure. It is indeed true, that I detected traces of what appeared to be the same substance in the water of Barege fresh drawn ;_ but it being admitted that, like many other organic matters, glairine is slightly soluble in water, and more so in hot than in cold, its presence there may be explained, if we only suppose that its growth proceeds, not only in the open air, but likewise in those fissures and cavities underground through which the water has to pass. Berthiert also, who has considered this subject in a memoir on the Hot Springs of St. Nectaire, declares that he has never found this organic matter in waters taken from the fountain-head, and corked directly afterwards, but that it makes its appearance after a very short exposure of the water to air and light. Though this remark may not be universally true, the larger deposits of glairine, I believe, always arise in water that has been exposed to the atmosphere. In short, there seems no insurmountable difficulty, in the way of our attributing the existence of glairine everywhere to the growth of organic bodies, such as should reconcile us to the tion. It is a slimy mass formed out of a great number of parts, which for the eee part arose from the decomposition of plants and animals, especially In- usoria. It is plain from this, how necessary it is that the chemist should ascertain the homogeneous nature of any substance which may be suspected to be organic, before he submits it to chemical analysis.—Poggendorfi's Aunalen, 1836. * Vol. xiii. part i. + Annales des Mines, vol. vii. p. 215. VOL.V.— 1836. D Red ferru- 84 SIXTH REPORT—1836. adoption of an hypothesis, so strongly opposed to probability as that advocated by Anglada. Those who are sceptical as to the possibility of so very taped and apparently so spontaneous a production of organic matter, as that which takes place in these thermal waters, should peruse a memoir in Schweigger’s Journal*, and also one more lately published in Poggendorff’st, by the celebrated Ehrenberg, on the blood-red appearances observed at various periods, covering the surface of lakes and stagnant pools, spreading over various articles of food, or descending in rain from the heavens. The former of these papers proves the rapidity with which bodies of this kind are generated; the latter establishes, that in almost every case in which the particulars have been carefully investigated, the phenomenon has resulted from the generation of some kind or other of organic matter. There is, indeed, an observation of Gimbernat{, which ought perhaps not to be passed over, although I am not myself dis- posed to attribute any weight to it. I allude to his finding a ‘substance similar at least to glairine, if not identical with it, in the condensed vapours proceeding from the fumaroles of Vesu- vius. But when we recollect, that the apparatus in which this steam was collected had been allowed to remain for one or two days without being disturbed, during which time the water was freely exposed to atmospheric influences, under circumstances peculiarly favourable to the growth of Conferve, there seems no necessity for supposing the organic matter found in it to have been derived from the entrails of the volcano. I have myself collected, on several occasions, the vapours that arose from the spiracles of this very same mountain, after the great eruption of 1834, as I have stated in the memoir which I . published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1835, but in no instance could I discover any organic matter. In the thermal springs of Vichy, and in some other localities, ginous mat- where sulphur is not present, an organic substance has been ter. observed floating on the surface §. Longchamp, in his account of that spring, states that it is in- termixed with carbonate of lime, together with which I found entangled within its meshes a portion of peroxide of iron; and * For 1827; extracted from a work by Dr. Sette, entitled Mem. Stortca Naturale, Venezia, 1824. + Translated in Edinburgh New Philosophical a for 1830. t Bibliotheque Universelle, vol. xi. § Vauquelin, Annales de Chimie, vol. xxviii. ne REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 85 in the memoir already referred to*, I explained the mode in which I conceived these substances to find their way to the surface. It seemed to me probable, that each portion of warm water, . from below, as it rose to the surface of the well or reservoir which received the overfiowings from the spring, would set at liberty a little of the earthy and ferruginous matter it had held in solution, in consequence of the disengagement of some of the carbonic acid with which it had been surcharged whilst under a greater pressure. —' But this solid matter, being entangled in the Confervz float- ing on the surface, would be prevented from becoming precipi- tated; and would form, by degrees, an earthy and ochreous crust upon the water. But Professor Ehrenberg, of Berlin, to whom we are in- debted for so many striking discoveries with respect to recent and fossil infusoria, has thrown quite a new light upon this subject, having ascertained, as he lately assured me, that this red matter is in fact composed of the outer sheaths or coverings of a multitude of little infusorial animalcules, which appear to possess the singular property of secreting oxide of iron as well as silica, and hence thrive only in chalybeate waters, which afford them the material for the coat of mail which invests their softer parts. This at least he finds to hold good with re- spect to the red ferruginous matter which collects in certain cha- lybeate waters in the neighbourhood of Halle, and I have little doubt that the same will apply to the similar incrustation found in the water of Vichy, &c. Thus, whilst one class of beings requires, as we have seen, for its existence the presence of sulphur in such a state of com- bination, as is found to be absolutely destructive to other kinds of life, another class secretes iron, a substance equally unsuited for the nourishment of the great majority of animals ; as if it were intended, that there should be no class of inorganic productions which did not minister to the wants, and favour the production, _ of a corresponding order of organized creatures. It seems worth inquiry, whether the red ochreous sediment found by Davy in the baths of Lucca may not have arisen from _.a similar cause, and be made up of an accumulation of infusoria; and likewise whether the colours which belong to certain speci- mens of rock-salt, which are sometimes of a deep-blue, but more _ generally red, are. not owing to certain vegetable or animal _ matters. * Linnean Trans., vol. xvii. D2 Ehrenberg’s researches respecting tt. Colouring matier of waters ex~- plained. Gases evolved from springs. Carbonic acid. 36 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Ehrenberg*, in his journey into Siberia, observed a rose-red colour in the salt lake Elton, in the steppe of Astracan, which did not appear to belong to the water, but faded on drying ; and I perceive in a recent journal, that Mr. Pajean, in his travels in Tuscany, remarked that the red substance, which is produced on the surface of water charged with marine salt in that country, is the result of an accumulation of an enormous quantity of small crustacea, of one or two lines in length, having nearly the form of a craw-fish, which live very well in brine of 15 degrees, but die when the water is further concentrated. It is stated, that M. Darcet brought similar crustacea from certain lakes in Egypt which are charged with natron. With respect to the blue colour sometimes observed in rock- salt, it is possible that the same kind of explanation may apply to it. I was once inclined to imagine, that it might be caused by a compound of iodine with some vegetable principle, analogous to starch, or producing with the former a similarly coloured compound ; but I could detect no iodine in the specimen, and failed to reproduce the violet tinge, when the salt had been dis- solved in water and crystallized a second time. Now Ehrenberg relates, that a lake in the South of Prussia in 1819, produced a particular colouring matter very similar to indigo, which appeared to be of a vegetable nature ; and Scores- byt mentions, having in 1820 observed, that the water of the Greenland sea was chequered with alternate green and blue stripes, and that these colours were produced by minute animal- cules of the medusa kind. The gases disengaged from mineral waters have been investi- gated by Bischoff, Anglada, Boussingault, Longchamp, and others. Boussingaultt remarks, that the elastic vapours which rise so abundantly from the thermal springs of the Andes, consist of carbonic acid and sulphuretted hydrogen, and the same observa- tion applies to most of those in connexion with volcanic forma- tions elsewhere. Of these two gases, the one most copiously evolved is carbonic acid, which, as is well known, produces those extensive deposits of calc-sinter, that are so common in caverns exposed to the drippings of water, and of arragonite§, which are of rather rarer * On Blood-red Water. + Arctic Researches. t Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, vol. xv. 151. § See a paper in the Annales de Chimie, June, 1834, on the presence of Ar- ragonite in an Artesian well at Tours. I possess some also deposited from the spring of St. Nectaire in Auvergne. REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 37 occurrence in such situations. The particular circumstances determining the production of the one rather than the other form of calcareous spar, appear to be still unexplained, for stalactitical arragonite does not appear to contain any other -essential ingredient than carbonate of lime, and is now supposed to arise from a difference of form in the integrant molecule of that base*. Another point requiring elucidation, relates to the absence of carbonate of magnesia from stalactites arising from dolomitic rocks. Is it, that the acidulated water first dissolves the carbonate of lime, before it attacks the atomic compound of lime and ‘magnesia, or that the attraction of carbonic acid for the former exceeds that which it exerts for the latter earth ? With respect to the extrication of carbonic acid from the Its quan- earth, I have myself pointed outt the enormous quantity "Y- evolved in the vicinity of Naples, as at Torre del Annunziata, in which and in other places it frequently destroys vegetation, and likewise near the axis of the Apennine chain, midway betwixt the active volcano of Vesuvius, and the extinct one of Mount Vultur, at the Lago d’ Ansanto f. Bischof § has described its extrication, from the various mine- ral waters connected with the volcanic mountains of the Rhenish provinces, and likewise from dry fissures in the ground, where its escape is recognised by the stunted vegetation, and by finding a number of small animals suffocated round the spot. Lecoq|| and others have mentioned the remarkable erosion produced in the rocks contiguous to the mines of Pont Gibaud in Auvergne, owing to the presence of this gas in the water which oozes through the rocks encircling them. Brandes and Kruger, in their account of the mineral waters of Pyrmont §, have shown, that the extrication of carbonic acid is by no means limited to the spot from whence the chalybeate * Mr. Crosse, amongst the experiments which he detailed at the Bristol Meeting of the British Association, stated, his having found that calcareous spar was formed on limestone, and arragonite on slate, by the drippings from the same cavern, and that he was even able by the slow action of elec- tricity, to produce each of these minerals from the same water, charged with ea of lime, according as he placed it on a piece of limestone, or of slate. + Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, 1835. t Memoir on the Lake Amsanctus, and on Mount Vultur in Apulia, printed by the Ashmolean Society of Oxford, 1836. § Vulkanische Mineralquellen, p. 251. || Annales Scientifiques de l’ Auvergne, and Ferussac’s Bulletin, vol. xvi. P. 155, et seq. See also Brandes’ work on the Mineral Waters of Meinburg. Lemgo, 1832. Its vari- ations. Its amount. ‘38 SIXTH REPORT—1836. springs of that watering-place arise, but is observed for some distance round, wherever fissures, natural or artificial, exist. Thus, a cavity having been made by some workmen for quarry- ing stone, it was found, that the air within became charged with from 36 to 48 per cent. of carbonic acid, which rose in the cavern to different heights at different times. These writers report, that in winter the gas never attained so high a point as at other seasons; that in the morning, some hours after daybreak, and in the evening, soon after sunset, the mephitic air had reached its maximum, whilst at midday, when the sun shone into the cave, it was very low ; that the evolution of gas was greatest before the breaking out of a storm, but dimi- nished after it had begun; that the variations of barometric pressure seemed to exert no influence upon the phenomenon, except so far as they were connected with the occurrence of a storm ; that it was greater during hot weather than cold; in calm than in windy ; in a moist state of the atmosphere than in adryone. A similar remark has been made with respect to the disengagement of carbonic acid in Auvergne*, as that recorded as to Pyrmont, the quantity given out being so large during storms, and during the prevalence of a westerly wind, as to render some of the mines unworkable. Kastner t also alludes to the variation as to quantity, both in the water and the carbonic acid, observed at Kissingen in Bavaria, and attributes it in both cases to a difference in atmospheric pressure, the water being forced out by the gas, and the escape of the latter checked, in proportion to the weight of the atmo- sphere above. According to Mayen, the springs of Bochlet have a regular ebb and flow, both as to the amount of water and of gas. The greatest difference in quantity corresponded with the interval between the first and last of the moon’s quarters. At Fachin- gen{ the quantity of gas evolved is said to be greatest just before sunrise, and least about two or three o’clock after mid- day. The amount of carbonic acid given off has in a few instances only been determined §. Trommsdorff found the quantity evolved from a fissure at Kaiser Franzenbad, near Egra, to amount to 5760 Vienna cubic * Fournet Annales Scientifigues de ? duvergne, vol. ii. p. 241; or Ferussac’s Bulletin, for 1829. + Archiv, vol. xvi. } Kastner, Archiv, vol. i. § See G. Bischoff in Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, 1835, from Poggendorff’s dunalen. —_. REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 39 feet in 24 hours, whereas the water in the same time emitted was calculated at 259 cubic feet; and Bischoff notices one spring which gave out in the same time 4237 c. f., the water being 1157 c. f. and containing 1909 cubic inches of this gas, and another which evolved of gas 3063, and of water 3645 cubic feet, which contained of gas 871. Such statements are worth recording, as enabling our suc- cessors to ascertain whether there be any secular variation in the quantity of gas evolved; and it is therefore to be regretted, that Bischoff has not mentioned the names of the springs which he had examined with reference to this point. The uninterrupted manner in which the carbonic acid rises up through the spring is explained by Bischoff, by supposing it held in chemical solution by the water at a great depth, and therefore under an enormous pressure. Such a supposition would enable us to understand the trifling irregularities observed in the flow of gas, without imagining that the state of the atmosphere above has any direct influence upon the energy of the volcanic operations below, since the barometric pressure, the relations to moisture, &c. of the air surrounding the spring, might favour at one time more than at another the escape of gas from the spring, or its diffusion through space. Some have supposed*, that the water of the spring is forced upwards by the elasticity of the confined gas, but Bischoff justly remarks, that the flow of the former is too equable for any such thing to happen. An explanation of this kind can only be resorted to in such cases as those of the Sprudel at Carlsbad, and at the Geysers in Iceland, where the spring appears, as it were, by fits and starts. Yet in these cases the phenomenon may, perhaps, be more readily accounted for by the extrication of steam in cavities connected with the fissure through which the spring rises, as was first suggested by Sir G. Mackenziet. Dutrochet, how- ever, has described an intermitting spring in the Jura, which he ascribes with more reason to a periodical evolution of carbonic acid gas; though, even here an accumulation of gas taking place in a cavity connected with the spring, may have been competent to produce the phenomenon. That Nitrogen escapes occasionally from thermal springs, is by no means a new discovery, for it was remarked by Priestley * Berthier, Annales de Chimie, vol. xix. + Travels in Iceland. Nitrogen. = In thermal springs. Its amount. 40 ‘SIXTH REPORT—1836. at Bath, and by Pearson at Buxton, before the commencement of the present century. More recently it has been observed issuing from almost all the sulphureous thermal waters of the Pyrenees*; and I have shown, that not only has it in many instances been mistaken for carbonic acid, but also that it is commonly evolved where- ever thermal waters existt. Even when the prevailing gas emitted is carbonic acid, I find that a small quantity of residuary air is present, which consists in general of oxygen and nitrogen, but with a much smaller proportion of the former than that present in the atmosphere. The volcanic district of Ischia affords the only example that has occurred to me, of a number of thermal springs lying to- gether, not one of which evolves nitrogen. In this case, however, we may remark, that no kind of air whatever is emitted from the waters, which therefore would seem to derive their heat, not from any volcanic processes going on at present, but from their contiguity toa mass of rock heated by antecedent eruptions. in corroboration of this view I may state, that several springs on the skirts of Vesuvius, where volcanic operations are actually proceeding, give out nitrogen, though in much smaller quantity than they do carbonic acid; as for example, the thermal water of Torre del Annunziata, and the cold spring of Castellamare. From the Thermals connected with extinct volcanos, azote is emitted, though for the most part in inferior quantity, than it is from springs associated with primary, or with intrusive rocks of older formation. The quantity of this gas returned to the atmosphere through the medium of thermal waters is evidently considerable. I measured that emitted from the King’s Bath, in the city of Bath§, nearly every day for a month during the autumn of 1833, and found that its average quantity was 267 cubic inches per minute, or 222 cubic feet in the 24 hours. The gas consisted of 97 per cent. of nitrogen, and of 3 per cent. of oxygen, with a variable quantity of carbonic acid. Since this period, the sinking of a well in a remote quarter of the town through the lias to the depth of 250 feet, from which water rose of a temperature but little inferior to that of the * Anglada, Mémoires. + On Hot Springs and their connexion with Volcanos, Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal for 1832. { Daubeny, on a Spring at Torre del Annunziata near Naples. § See my Paper on the quantity and quality of the Gases disengaged from the Thermal Springs at Bath, Philosophical Transactions, 1834. — REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS, 41 Public Bath*, was followed, not only by a diminution in the supply of water at the latter, but also in the amount of gas emitted, which, according to the accurate observations of Mr. George Spry, of Bath, made in the beginning of August in this year+, appears not to average at present more than 170 cubic inches per minute, whilst the quantity of water discharged at the original spring, was reduced from 120 gallons to 75, in the same interval of time. Thus the relation between the decrease of gas and of water kept pace very nearly one with another ; for, as 150 7228 92 75° TTT. The slight excess of gas may have arisen from the more scru- pulous manner, in which Mr. Spry prevented its escape from all the apertures in the bath, excepting those from which he collected it, than had been previously done by myself. I have since estimated the amount of gas emitted from the thermal spring of Buxton at about 50 cubic inches per minute, and find that M. Longchamp determined the quantity at one of the springs, Cauterets in the Pyrenees, as being about 7:1 cubic inches, whilst he calculates that of the water given out by the same during an equal space of time at 1584, or nearly 226 times the amount. The above are nearly all the observations we at present possess, with respect to the quantity of nitrogen emitted from thermal springs, though it would be desirable to obtain in every instance an exact register of this, as well as of the quantity and temperature of the water itself, as affording us the data for de- termining at some future time, whether any secular variation is taking place in the quality of each spring in these several re- spects. In the table, therefore, at the close of the present Report, I have registered in two separate columns all the observations 1 could collect, on the quantity of gas and water emitted within the space of twenty-four hours by the springs named. _ It is worth remarking, that an evolution of nitrogen gas is not altogether peculiar to thermal waters. I detected it issuing pretty abundantly from a spring near Clonmel, which possessed the common temperature of those in the neighbourhood; another emitting the same has been de- * M. Arago, in his Annuaire for 1836, mentions, that the same falling off of the hot spring of Aix, in Provence, took place in consequence of the sink- ing of a contiguous well, but it is remarkable that in this case the water of the latter was cold. + Viz. in 1836. In cold springs. Oxygen. Carburetted hydrogen. Sulphu- retted hy- droger. 42 . SIXTH REPORT—1836. scribed, as occurring near Inverkeithing in Scotland, by the Rev. W. Robertson*, and I have been informed of a third in Shrop- shire by Mr. Murchison. ; In one or two cases oxygen is said to predominate in the air evolved, as Robiquet says is the case at Vichy ; but as he adds, that it is only found, after the water has been standing in the reservoir long enough to be covered by a vegetable slime, I- conceive this gas to have arisen from the decomposition of car- bonic acid within the tissue of the plant, under the influence of solar light. Carburetted hydrogen has in many instances been observed to issue from springs, as well as from clefts in the earth, as at the Pietra Mala on the Apennines, and at St. Barthelemi near Grenoble, where the gas, when once kindled either by accident or design, maintains a continued flame, until pains are taken to extinguish it. It has also been observed in many parts of the world to issue copiously from salt springs, as at Medonia in the State of New York, in China, &c.; and a curious proof that the salt, with which these springs are impregnated, had been deposited under pressure, is afforded by the fact, that at Wielichza in Gallicia its cavities contain carburetted hydrogen in a condensed state, so that on immersing a lump of this salt in water, a series of small detonations is heard during its solution, in consequence of the sudden expansion of the gas on escaping from its prison. It is an interesting circumstance, to find this phenomenon continuing in the very spots, in which it was observed during the periods of Grecian history. I have quoted in another place}, an instance of its occurrence among the Chimariot mountains of Albania, where ancient writers speak of a nympheum as existing, by which they meant to express, that a stream of inflammable gas had there been observed. The same permanency seems also in some cases to be the attribute of sulphureous waters ; for the hot springs of Bithy- nia, which modern travellers describe as impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen, appear from the accounts of Greek writers} to have been similarly constituted nearly two thousand years ago. These, however, which are thermal sulphureous springs, pro- * Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, 1829. + Memoir on the Bath Waters above quoted. t See the Poem “IIgs ra ev IIuésors Ozgueu,” extracted from the Greek Anthology in my Description of Volcanos, 8vo; 1826. mes REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATEES. 43 ‘bably derive their origin from a totally different cause, to that which impregnates cold ones with this same principle. The latter in some instances undergo, within a very short period, a material alteration in point of strength. Thus a sulphureous spring at Willoughby, in Warwickshire*, yielded me in the autumn of 1828, 16°9 cubic inches of sul- phuretted hydrogen to the gallon. In the April following, I could detect only 12°65 cubic inches, and in the autumn of 1834 only 5:2. Whilst on this subject, I may mention, that Professor An- glada of Montpellier}, has satisfied himself by a detailed exami- nation of the sulphureous springs of the Pyrenees, that no one of them contains sulphuretted hydrogen in a free state, but that in every instance this principle is united to an alkaline base, with which it constitutes an hydrosulphuret. Finding this to be the case so generally, he has proposed a classification of sulphureous springs founded on this principle, arranging them, according as they contain the above gas ina free state, or combined with one, or two atoms of a base. By applying the same reagent (the arsenious acid,) which M. Anglada had employed, I was led to conclude, that the springs of Aix la Chapelle and Borset were similarly consti- tuted, and indeed such would necessarily be the case, where- ever the soda in the water was not impregnated with carbonic acid, nor could there well exist in it any free sulphuretted hydro- gen, until the whole of the alkali was thus saturated. Hence in affirming that the gas of the Pyrenean springs always occurs in this state of combination, M. Anglada has (apparently unconsciously) confirmed the statement, which he questions, as to the existence of caustic soda in the water, We have already considered whether under ordinary circum- stances mineral springs are subject to vicissitudes, either as to temperature, as to the quantity and quality of their fixed and gaseous constituents, or as to the amount of water discharged. It will be proper, however, before proceeding further, to notice what has been observed, with respect to the influence exerted upon them in any of the above respects by earthquakes, which are stated in some cases to have affected particular springs in an extraordinary manner. During an earthquake in 1768 at Vienna, the spring of Baden became more copious than before, and the evolution of sulphu- retted hydrogen more abundant ft. * Philosophical Magazine, Jan. 1835, + Mémoires pour servir, §c. } Kastner’s Archiv, vol. v. Influence of earth- quakes upon springs. Springs ex- erting a pe- culiar action upon the animal ceconomy. 44 SIXTH REPORT—1836. An earthquake in 1692 is said to have affected the spring of Spa in a similar manner; and one that happened in the sur- rounding district communicated to the spring of Bagneres de Luchon an increase of temperature. But these are effects produced by earthquakes in the vicinity of the springs; more remarkable is the influence exerted upon them by similar subterranean movements taking place in distant quarters. Thus during the great earthquake of Lisbon, the hot spring of Toeplitz in Bohemia, betwixt the hours of eleven and twelve in the day, is recorded to have become turbid, and then to have gushed out so copiously as to overflow the well. The water assumed a red tinge, and was suspected to have become hotter. At the same time the hot spring of Pesth in Hungary is said to have shown a similar increase of temperature. This sympathy with the subterranean movements of a distant quarter will appear less extraordinary, when we recollect, that the same earthquake is said to have been felt by the workmen in the mines of Derbyshire. In other cases, the connexion of the spring with the subterra- nean movement has been evinced, perhaps as decisively, by the opposite effect occurring. Thus in 1660, in consequence of an earthquake, the thermal waters of Bagneres de Bigorre were for a short time suspended ; during one that occurred at Naples, the Sprudel at Carlsbad is stated to have remained tranquil for six hours; and in the great earthquake of Lisbon, that of Aix in Savoy ceased to flow. Lastly, in a few instances, the existence of a thermal spring has seemed to act as a safety valve, and to secure the immediate locality from those natural convulsions which affected the neigh- bourhood. Thus an earthquake which shook the whole district around was not felt at Carlsbad itself, and the same remark has been made at Wiesbaden. I have now stated the more recent additions that have been made to our knowledge as to the contents of mineral springs ; but the undertaking would be incomplete, if I passed over with- out comment those, which, though not known to contain any peculiar chemical ingredient, seem nevertheless to produce cer- tain decided effects upon the animal ceconomy. For to refuse credence to the reports given by medical men with respect to the salutary or injurious effects of a particular water, merely because the chemist can discover in it no active principle, would seem a proceeding not less unphilosophical, than that of which our predecessors were guilty, in treating as fabulous the accounts given of stones that had fallen from the 8 Pal REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 45 sky, because they did not understand how such ponderous masses could have continued suspended in it. And on the other hand, granting that a spring possesses peculiar virtues, we must sup- pose that it differs, either in its mechanical, or chemical proper- ties, from the rest. Accordingly those springs, which are believed on good autho- rity to possess medicinal virtues, ought properly to find a place, not merely in a professional treatise on the subject, but also in one that affects to consider it scientifically. Most countries afford examples of springs, that appear almost chemically pure, to which medicinal qualities have been accord- ed: thus Gastein in the Saltzburg, and Loueche in the Swiss Alps, amongst thermal waters; and Malvern in England, amongst cold ones*, are very sparingly charged with mineral matter, and what they contain consists of ingredients appa- rently not calculated to exert any action upon the animal system. How far the reputation enjoyed by these springs may be owing to other causes, such as the purity of the air, the change of diet, mode of living, &c., it is for the enlightened physician to inform us, and an interesting field of physiological inquiry seems to be open to him, in examining the effects exerted upon the system by that long-continued immersion in warm water, to which it is the practice of invalids in several of these watering places to resortf. It is remarkable, that a very large proportion of those cele- brated warm springs lie at a considerable elevation. Thu Gastein is 3100 feet above the sea, Loueche 4400, and Pfeffers 2128 feet; now one may easily imagine, that the exhalation from the surface of the body, and the activity of the functions thereon dependent, may be much promoted by the practice of the invalid, of remaining alternately immersed, in water of so high a temperature, and in so rarified an atmosphere. If, how- ever, after taking this and other circumstances into account, the testimony, in favour of some specific action derived from the spring itself upon the animal ceconomy, should seem unexcep- * Dr. Hastings, in his Illustrations of the Natural History of Worcestershire, 1834, states, that its efficacy is found to be very considerable in arthritic, cal- culous, dyspeptic, and scrofulous cases. + Dr. Gairdner doubts the statement I had on a former occasion made on this point ; but I can assure him, from personal observation at Loueche, and by quite sufficient testimony as to Gastein, that in both these baths it is the practice to remain immersed, for periods of time, varying from four to ten hours, during the process of cure. At Buda too, and at Glasshutte in Hun- gary, the peasants continue in the public baths for a length of time, that would quite astonish an English physician. Causes of theiragency considered. In the pre- sence of io- dine and bromine. Tn the ab- sence of air. 46 SIXTH REPORT—1836. tionable, the chemist ought to consent to regard this action as indicative, of undiscovered principles, or modes of combination. Thus certain salt springs in Piedmont had acquired from time immemorial a reputation in the cure of goitre, which the nature of their then known mineral impregnation would not explain. Recent investigations have, however, shown, that these springs contain a small quantity of iodine, the very principle now found most efficacious in this and other glandular disorders. The superior efficacy attributed to the waters of Cheltenham and Leamington over mere artificial solutions of sulphate of soda, &c. of the same strength, was difficult of explanation, until chemical analysis had shown that, in addition to the more common ingredients, these springs contain portions of two active principles, iodine and bromine, wanting in the imitation of them. In like manner chemists, in the pride of half knowledge, may often have smiled at the faith reposed in the water, of Ashby- de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, and of Kreutynach, in the Palati- nate, both which, until lately, appeared to be little more than mere saturated solutions of common salt. But the advance of science has shown, that these two springs are precisely the ones most fully impregnated of any perhaps known with salts of bromine, and therefore most highly charged with the properties of that active principle. It has long been a vulgar notion, that goitre arose from drinking snow water, and this opinion, which was derided by men of science, seems to be in some measure substantiated by the recent researches of Boussingault in the Andes*. That naturalist commences by showing, that the goitre of the above elevated region can arise, neither from the humidity of the climate, as had been supposed by some, nor from the nature of the earthy ingredients of the springs, as had been imagined by others. He then observes, that persons who habitually employ as their beverage water devoid of its due proportion of air (whether that deficiency be owing, to the rarefaction of the atmosphere on the high table land on which it lies, or to the circumstance of its being immediately obtained from the melted snow of the moun= tains) are subject to this disease, whilst persons who take care to aerate their water before drinking it, as may be done by those residing at a moderate elevation, by merely exposing it to the atmosphere for 30 or 40 hours previous, escape the deformity. For the same reason, a river, which at a high level appears to * Annales de Chimie, 1833. — REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 47 cause goitre, has no such tendency at a lower one, so soon, that is, as its waters have become duly aerated in the progress of their descent. In like manner, water which rises from calcareous rocks, or which has become stagnant in lakes, has a tendency to produce goitre, not by reason of its solid contents, but owing to the absence of the usual quantity of air. Boussingault also relates the extraordinary fact, that those provinces, which are provided with salt containing iodine, are not affected with goitre, whilst in others, where the salt is destitute of that principle, the disease is endemic. There has likewise been an attempt lately made by a German Intheirelec- physician* to mark a difference in the electrical condition of trical condi- one of those springs, which, though almost chemically pure, as seemed nevertheless to possess active properties. He states, that the water of Gastein conducts electricity better than common water would do. Such a statement, however, cannot receive any credence, until all the details of the method, by which a result so paradoxical was arrived at, have been sub- mitted to the judgement of scientific men. Kastner had previously endeavoured to establish the same in the case of the waters of Wiesbaden, but the fallacy of his ex- periments is now generally admitted. Equally fanciful appear the opinions of those, who attribute Im their to natural thermal springs a greater capacity for heat than be- capacity for longs to artificially prepared waters of equal temperature, and "“*" who maintain that they cool more slowly in consequence. M. Longchamp, in France, by experiments on the waters of Bourbon; Professor Gmelin, of Heidelberg, by similar ones on those of Baden-baden; Reuss, Neumann,and Steinmann bysome on the springs of Carlsbad; and Schweigger and Ficinus by others on those of Toeplitz, have exposed the fallacy of this notion; and have shown, that in reality no difference exists in this respect ag the one and the otherf. ‘Let us next proceed to consider the improvements, that have Analysis of been lately introduced into our methods of analysing the solid “ane and gaseous constituents of mineral waters. oe Most chemists are by this time familiar with the simplification General upon the plan of proceeding, which we owe to Dr. Murray} of Principles. Edinburgh, in consequence of his having pointed out, that as the salts existing in a spring need not be the same with those we ob- tain on evaporation, and as salts viewed as incompatible may « Dr. Pettenhofer. + Consult Bischoff, Vulk, Mineralq., p. 364. t Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Particular improve- ments. To distin- guish ba- rytes or strontites from lime ; barytes from stron- tites. 48 SIXTH REPORT—1836.. coexist in a state of weak solution, the analysis of a mineral water consists in nothing more than in determining the nature and amount of the several acids and bases which it contains. But Berzelius has further contended*, that everything beyond this, which the chemical analysis professes to give, is a matter of hypothesis, and that in concluding the salts, actually present in the water, to be necessarily the most soluble compounds, that could be formed out of the acids and bases present, Murray went — than he was justified, either by experiment or analogy, in oing. The Swedish chemist, on the contrary, contends, and appa- rently with much justice, that, consistently with the views of Berthollet on the influence of the mass, we ought to suppose as many salts to exist in a mineral water, as can be formed out of the constituents present, whilst the proportion, in which these salts exist, is a point which we cannot obtain data for calculating, until we are able to estimate numerically, the relative force of affinity subsisting between the ingredients. According, therefore, to the received views on this subject, the chemist ought in strictness barely to set down, as the results of his analysis, the respective weights of the acids and bases present. If he does more than this, and professes to combine these principles into salts, it should be understood, that he acts merely in conformity with existing usage, and in order to convey to the public the impression, that those waters, in which he has found such and such acids and bases, act upon the system in a manner similar to that, which the salts he states to exist in them are considered calculated to do. With respect to the particular improvements introduced into this department of chemical analysis, I may particularize the following : A solution of sulphate of lime has been proposed as a test for barytes, or strontites, in a mineral water. If either of these bases exists therein, a precipitate is formed, whereas, if lime alone is present, no effect takes place on the addition of this reagent. An easy method of separating barytes from strontites has been invented by Liebigt, who treats the mixed solution with iodate of soda, this forming, an insoluble precipitate with the baryt, but a soluble compound with the strontian. Another methodt has lately been proposed for the same ob- ject, namely, that of adding neutral chromate of potass to the *Jn his Analysis of the Carlsbad water, dnnales de Chimie, vol. xxviii. + Already noticed in Mr. Johnson’s Report. t Philosophical Magaxtne, March 1836. — in ean _ REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 49 mixture of strontian and baryt, whereby a soluble salt is formed with the former, and an insoluble one with the latter. The precipitated chromate of barytes must be heated to red- ness before it is weighed. The common method of detecting lithia in mineral waters is to precipitate it by phosphoric acid, a little phosphate of soda being first added to the solution, in order to make sure of the whole of the phosphate of lithia being thrown down. Kastner* proposes as an improvement, that the solution should be neutralized by sulphuric acid, and then reduced to dryness. Mecho! will take up the sulphate of lithia without affecting the other sulphates, and the solution on being evaporated, and then redissolved in as small a quantity of water as possible, may have its lithia thrown down, in combination with phosphoric acid, by phosphate of soda. An elegant method of detecting nitric acid was proposed by Dr. Wollaston. It consisted in adding to the liquid a few drops of muriatic acid, and a little gold leaf, which latter will be dis- solved if nitric acid be present f. Dobereiner{ has lately suggested another methad, which enables us to determine also the amount of nitric acid, even when in small quantities. He mixes the suspected liquid with an equal quantity of con- centrated sulphuric acid, and introduces the mixture into a graduated tube, placed over quicksilver. A slip of copper is then added, and the mixture warmed. Sulphate of copper is thus formed, and an amount of azote collected equivalent to that of the nitric acid present. A more convenient plan of conducting the experiment would seem to be, that of heating the suspected liquid in a glass tube, containing a little metallic copper and sulphuric acid, and re- ceiving the gas over mercury. I have already noticed the probability that ammonia has often been overlooked in our analyses of mineral springs. To detect it, sulphuric acid should first be added to the water, which may then be concentrated, and evaporated in a water-bath, after which the addition of quicklime will separate the ammonia, and render it sensible both by its odour and alkaline reaction. The received method of estimating the amount of bromine, * Archiv, vol. xvi. + Becquerel has proposed an electro-chemical method of effecting the same object founded on the same principle. Traité de I’ Electricité, vol. iii. p- 325. t Berzelius, Jahresbericht, 1832, p. 162. VOL. Vv. 1836. E Lithia. Nitric Acid. Ammonia. Bromine. 50 SIXTH REPORT—1836. when present in a water, together with chlorine, is stated in my work on the Atomic Theory *. It is nothing more than an application of the method sug- gested by M. Gay-Lussac for calculating the proportions of soda - and potass, to the case of bromine and chlorine, and labours in common with it under the objection, that the inference is de- duced, not from a single experiment, but from a comparison of at least two; and that a very trifling inaccuracy in either, being multiplied in the calculation founded on them, vitiates the whole result. It would be well, therefore, if a direct method of determining the same could be hit upon; and for this reason I set down one suggested by Lowig, which has already found a place in Professor Johnston’s Report on Chemistry, published in the first volume of our Reports. The dried mixture of chloride and bromide is to be heated in a stream of chlorine, so long as any bromine appears to be dis- engaged, The chlorine and bromine which pass over are re- ceived into a solution of caustic potass, by which chloride of potassium and chlorateof potass, together with bromate of potass, are produced. Having neutralized the potass with nitric acid, nitrate of silver is added to precipitate the chlorine and the bromic acid. The precipitate, after being washed, is introduced moist into a bottle, and barytic water added. A soluble bromate of barytes is thus formed, whilst the chloride remains untouched. The solution being poured off, the excess of barytes is separated by carbonic acid, and the bromate of barytes is thus left in a state of purity. Dr. Osannt has lately suggested another mode of separating these two principles. It depends on the greater volatility of chlorine than bromine, and on the circumstance, that chloride of silver becomes of a vio- let colour after exposure to light, whilst bromide of silver is rendered greyish black. He therefore expels the chlorine and bromine by means of sulphuric acid, slowly distils over the two, and makes them pass into a solution of nitrate of silver. The precipitate is from time to time tested by exposure to light, and when found to assume the appearance belonging to bromide of silver, that which comes over is set apart, and reckoned as such. In order to obviate the objection, arising from the circum- stance, that there is an intermediate period when the chlorine * Introduction to the Atomic Theory, p. 89. The same method was followed by Dr. Ure in his analysis of the Ashby water; Phil. Transactions, 1834. + Poggendorff’s Annalen, 1831. REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 5] and bromine come over together, Osann proposes to stop the distillation, exactly at the point at which the precipitate is an equal mixture of the two acids. The deficiency of bromine in the solution is thus compensated for by the chlorine obtained. It is evident, however, that a very practised eye would be re- quired, in order to obtain correct quantitative results by such a method as the above. The same author proposes to separate iodine from chlorine, by causing the mixture to pass over in a state of vapour into a solution of potass, and then precipitating it with arsenious acid or arseniate of ammonia. _ The iodine unites with the arsenic, which latter is precipi- tated by sulphuretted hydrogen. This being got rid of by oxide of lead, the iodine is obtained by uniting it with silver. Henry Rose* has proposed a new method of distinguishing Oxides of between the protoxide and peroxide of iron. 2 a ge: When muriatic acid is added to a mixture containing both these oxides, the protoxide is converted into a protochloride, the peroxide into a perchloride. Now metallic silver robs the latter of its half-atom of chlorine, converting it into the protochloride, and hence the increase of weight in the silver added, enables us to calculate the amount of peroxide of iron originally present. Another method for the same object has been proposed by Fuchs+. It consists in digesting the solution of protoxide and peroxide in an acid, with carbonate of lime or of magnesia, by either of which the peroxide is precipitated, whilst the protoxide remains untouched. This peroxide is obtained in a state of mixture with the earth © and acid employed, and must be separated from both by the ordinary means. The only difficulty consists, in preventing the weight of the precipitate from being increased during filtration, in consequence of the conversion of some of the protoxide into peroxide. In order to prevent this as much as possible, the precipitate should be washed repeatedly with warm water, before the super- natant liquor is thrown upon the filter. For the detection of organic matter in mineral waters, Dr. Organie Davy has suggested the employment of a solution of nitrate of ™*tr silvert. The blackening, which usually takes place in this fluid upon exposure to light, is attributable to the presence of organic matter ; for if care be taken to purify the water, light produces no change. - * Berzelius, Jahresbericht, 1832, p. 164. + Jahresbericht, 1832, p. 164. t Edinburgh New Phil. Journal, 1828, p. 129. E2 Gases. Sulphuret- ted gen. hydro- 52 SIXTH REPORT-—1836. When, however, this test is employed, we must first assure ourselves that no chlorides exist in the solution ; for chloride of silver, which would be formed, is blackened by the sun’s rays, even though no organic matter be present. For determining the quality and amount of the gases chemi- cally combined with a mineral water, Mr. Walcher* suggested a modification in the common apparatus, with a view of obviat- ing the error likely to arise from a portion of the water being driven over by the ebullition. In his experiments, the glass globe containing the water to be boiled was connected, air-tight, to a little phial, from which proceeded a sigmoid tube, passing under mercury, or into the vessel containing the substance intended to absorb the gas. Let us suppose, for instance, that our object is to ascertain the amount of nitrogen and oxygen which a water contains. In that case we fill the phial with carbonie acid, and the graduated tube with solution of potass. The air expelled by ebullition, together with a portion of the water itself, entering the phial, expels the air, which passing into the tube, is robbed of its car- bonic acid by the potass. After the experiment is over, the air remaining in the phialh may easily be transferred into the jar, and the water which came over may be passed back again into the glass globe, im order that it may be treated like the rest. In this manner, perhaps, a somewhat greater degree of ac- curacy may be attained, than where a glass globe with a sigmoid tube alone is employed. But I conceive that the utility of Mr. Walcker’s plan will be chiefly felt where the object is to ascertain the amount of sul- phuretted hydrogen, or of carbonic acid in a mineral water, by boiling it, and passing the gases over into a solution calculated to absorb them. In such cases, if any portion of the water comes over with the gas, the result is entirely vitiated; and to prevent this, there seems to be a convenience in the intervening bottle, which, however, where sulphuretted hydrogen is expected, should be filled with some gas not containing oxygen. After all, however, the simplest mode of ascertaining the amount of sulphuretted hydrogen is by adding directly to the water some reagent, which precipitates it in a state of combi- nation. Mr. Richard Phillips, in his analysis of a spring near Wey- moutht+, has employed the nitrate of silver, which appears to be * Brande’s Journal of Science for 1828. + Phil. Mag., vol. iii. p. 158. AS este Se ree ee REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 53 preferable to any other substance, as the only combinations formed are the chloride and the sulphuret, of which the former is soluble in liquid ammonia, whilst the latter is not acted upon by it. "y have already stated, that M. Anglada considers the sul- phuretted hydrogen of the Pyrenean springs to be combined with an alkali. In order to determine whether this be the case or not, the test he employs is a solution of arsenious acid*, which gives a yellow precipitate with the free acid, but does not affect solutions of the hydrosulphurets{-. Azote is usually detected by negative trials, but an ingenious method of directly proving its presence has lately been sug- gested. This is, to melt a piece of potass in contact with a slip of zinc in the air suspected to contain it, suspending over the two a piece of turmeric paper, moistened. The water of the potass will thus be decomposed, its oxygen passing over to the zinc, and the hydrogen being liberated. The latter, at the moment of its separation, unites with any azote that may be present, forming ammonia, which produces its characteristic effect upon the test paper. The fabrication of factitious mineral waters, being entirely dependent on the knowledge we may possess of their chemical constitution, seems to claim a place immediately after the con- sideration of their analysis. The subject is one which has excited considerable interest on the Continent, in consequence of the labours of Dr. Struve of Dresden, who has devoted himself, for a number of years past, to the imitation of those natural springs which possess the highest reputation amongst his countrymen. To do this completely, considerable skill in manipulation, and a minute attention to several apparently unimportant cir- cumstances, are found to be requisite. As the first step of the process, the water intended to be mineralized, must be impregnated with the same amount, of car- bonic acid, and the other gases which its natural prototype possesses ; and, in order to effect this object, the whole of the atmospheric air existing in the water must be previously ex- pelled, and the carbonic acid added, under a pressure, neither greater nor less, than that to which it is subjected in nature. All this time the fluid must be kept at the exact temperature * Mémoires pour servir, &c., vol. ii. + Prof. Johnston mentions in his Report on Chemistry another method, p. 460. Azote. On factiti- ous mineral waters. 54 SIXTH REPORT—1836. which the natural spring maintains, and access of air during the continuance of the process must be scrupulously prevented. This done, the same fixed ingredients must be presented to the water, and no one principle omitted, however small may be its quantity in nature, or however inert it may in itself be, it being recollected that the introduction of a fresh substance, by the affi- nities it exerts, alters, according to the Berzelian doctrine, the proportions of all the salts previously existing in the water. Nor is this all, for it is necessary that the water should be maintained at the same temperature and under the same pres- sure till the very moment of drinking it. Similar precautions must be adopted during the act of bottling, the bottle being previously filled with carbonic acid before the water is passed into it: for if the vessel were already occupied by atmospheric air, much of the carbonic acid existing in the water would be expelled, and, consequently, a portion of the earthy or metallic ingredients be thrown down. To fabricate, therefore, a successful imitation of a natural spring, a more complicated apparatus is employed than was formerly believed requisite, and the water must be made to pass through various successive operations, before the process is wound up by the addition of the saline ingredients by which it is mineralized. When thus prepared, the factitious water will coincide with the natural one in taste, smell, specific gravity, and other phy- sical properties. The gas-bubbles will rise in the same form, and spontaneous decomposition will take place within the same period and to the same extent. The mineral waters prepared by Struve really seem to fulfill these conditions in a great degree, and have stood likewise the test of a rigorous chemical analysis, without the detection of any deviation from the original. Their pretensions, indeed, have been occasionally sneered at, as might be expected, by the physicians and chemists, who have taken under their patronage the interests of any one of those natural waters, for which the artificial ones are offered as sub- stitutes. “Dr. Struve,’”’ says one*, ‘ professed to prepare genuine Carlsbad waters, prior to the analysis of Berzelius, who detected in it six or eight new ingredients. He went on doing the same after the discoveries of this great chemist had been announced. Perhaps ten years hence we shall find half a dozen more princi- ples in the water. But no matter, for we shall always find at Dr. Struve’s a supply of the true and genuine Carlsbad water.” * Peez, Traité des Laux de Wiesbaden, p.93. REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS, 5d This is scarcely candid criticism. It may be admitted, in- deed, that an artificial mineral water can at best be only a near approximation to the natural one, and that we can never be ab- solutely sure of having arrived at a knowledge of all the contents of the latter. Yet even if we take the very case of the Carlsbad waters, _ which are quoted against Struve, how minute is the difference between the analysis of Berzelius, and that of Klaproth, which he had previously taken as his guide. Struve* indeed calculates, that during a month’s use of these waters, an individual who drank ten glasses full of them each day, would not have consumed quite five grains of those ingre- dients, which Berzelius’s analysis shows to have been over- looked, namely, Of iuate OF line ee ee De Se rainis Carbonate of strontia -. . . . . O77 ,, PuGsguae Ur tne te ee Oe ag Carbonate of magnesia . . . . . O67 ,, Subphosphate ofalumina . . . . 0°26 ,, Potal O° OT44 GO When, therefore, we have a mineral water prepared by art, which possesses the same apparent physical properties belong- ing to the one which it is intended to imitate, and when the best analysis, which the existing state of chemical science ad- mits, confirms this identity, there is surely no such antecedent improbability, in the idea of its possessing similar medicinal virtues, as should indispose us to receive the reports of medical men, when they assure us that in this latter respect also the same correspondence subsistst. Still, however, as the natural spring will always deserve a preference, I cannot think that Dr. Struve is happy in fixing, as the main seat of his operations, upon Dresden, a city lying not very remote from any of the springs which it has been his business to imitate. It is rather in the branch establishments which have been set up under his auspices, at Moscow, Warsaw, Konigsberg, and Brighton, that the value of his method will be appreciated, since the carbonated waters which he prepares are scarcely to be met with in these countries, lying as they do beyond the range of those volcanic phenomena, which extend from the * Ueber kunstlich. Mineralwasser. + Half the substance of Struve’s work consists of the statements of different physicians as to the efficacy of his artificial waters. Products of springs. Calcareous. 56 SIXTH REPORT—1836. mountains of the Taunus to those of Bohemia and Silesia, and of which this class of springs are among the consequences. Before I conclude this portion of my subject, it may be pro- per briefly to notice, to what extent mineral waters appear to have affected the geological structure of certain parts of the earth. Trivial as this influence may seem at present to be, yet it will be sufficient to refer to Mr. Lyell’s well-known work, as esta- blishing the position, that no inconsiderable portion of the crust of the globe, in volcanic countries at least, is attributable to the deposits which they have occasioned. Without pretending to describe the vast accumulations of tra- vertin formed by carbonated springs, in Tuscany, in the Cam- pagna di Roma, in Hungary, &c., I shall merely remark, that the resemblance, which some varieties of this deposit bear to the materials of older calcareous rocks is so great, and the passage from one to the other so imperceptible, that we are naturally led to suspect the latter to have been often produced in the very same manner. Thus some varieties of travertin are undistinguishable in hand specimens from marble, as that formed by the waters of Civita Vecchia in the Campagna*. Others, like that near the town of Nonette, on the right bank of the Allier in Auvergne, might be mistaken for the Juratic limestone +; and the shelly lime- stone, now forming at the bottom of many lakes, bears the most complete resemblance to certain tertiary deposits f. Even the concretionary structure of the limestone of Sunder- land, a rock, which, though existing in the magnesian limestone formation, and in the midst of a powdery variety of dolomite, is itself almcst wholly calcareous, is imitated by the spheroidal masses of travertin that occur at Tivoli and at Carlsbad, and may have resulted from the same gyratory motion of its com- ponent parts during their deposition, to which Mr. Lyell has ingeniously attributed the concentric circles of the latter deposit. The absence of magnesia confirms this suspicion. In the ocean it is probable that mineral springs fulfill a still more important office—that, namely, of supplying with calca- reous matter those Mollusc which are building up extensive coral reefs ; for, as l observed many years back §, the muriate of lime which the ocean contains, would long ago have been ex- hausted by the operations of these animalcules, supposing them to have the power of decomposing it, and of appropriating its * Lyell’s Geology, vol. i. p. 198. + Lecoq and Bouillet, Vues e¢ Coupes d’ Auvergne, p. 131. t Lyell, Geol. Trans., 2nd Series, vol. ii. p. 73. § Inaugural Lecture on Chemistry, Oxford, 1824, ke ha eal : REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 57 base, unless we assume this salt to have existed originally in sea- water, in such a proportion as would have been seemingly in- compatible with marine life. Mr. Lyell has also justly remarked, that the same volcanic agency, which has raised the bed of the ocean, sufficiently to admit of its serving as a basef or the coral reefs which form within it, also, by the carbonic acid which it causes to be emitted, oc~- casions a larger quantity of that calcareous matter, which they require, to be dissolved by the water in their vicinity. Gypseous deposits are likewise often produced by springs of the present day, as noticed, with respect to those of Baden near Vienna by Prevost, and that near the lake Amsanctus by myself. . How far the beds of sulphur which occur in volcanic districts, and the sulphate of lime which is associated with most beds of salt, can be referred to the same, will be discussed afterwards; but we must take care not to confound (as some writers appear to have done,) the creative effects of mineral waters, with their decompo- sing agency. The latter is illustrated in the deposits of the mud- volcanos, as they are called, of South America, where vast masses of matter, chiefly argillaceous, derived from felspathic rocks de- composed by water and acid vapours, are washed down into the low country, and there constitute extensive beds. The rocks described by Menge*, as formed by hot springs in Iceland, are probably of the same description, for it is impossible to follow this author in that portion of his statement, in which he represents basalt, lava, and trap porphyry, as in the act of being produced in them. He appeals indeed to the fact of his extracting from the midst of a boiling marsh, a mass of matter, which when broken, exhibited the characters of basaltic lava in the centre, and towards the surface passed gradually into red and grey mud; but it seems just as easy to explain this, by the de- composing influence of the water extending gradually from the eircumference to the centre, as by the contrary process taking place in the reverse direction. The siliceous formations actually deposited at the present time by springs, appear to be comparatively insignificant, the most important: being those of Iceland, and of St. Michael in the Azores. It is probable, however, that under the sea, where the influence of heat, and the chemical affinity of alkali, are height- ened by the effect of an enormous pressure, beds of considerable extent may be produced in this manner. Iron pyrites has been observed in a deposit from the thermal Argilla- ceous. Siliceous. Ferrugi- springs of Chaudes Aigues in the Cantal, owing probably to the »°¥s- * Edinb. Phil. Journal, vol. ii. Bitumi- nous. Origin of springs in general. 58 SIXTH REPORT—1836. decomposition of sulphate of iron by organic matter*, and ochre has been often observed forming, in the midst of travertin, small beds or veins, which owe their origin to the deposits from fer- ruginous waters ft. To petroleum springs, which so commonly arise from the ope- rations of volcanic fire, Mr. Lyell is disposed to attribute the bi- tuminous shales present in geological formations of different ages. Thus the phenomena of mineral waters afford a clew to the origin of various constituents of our globe, which it would otherwise have been difficult to explain by the mere agency of water, and relieve us from the necessity of assuming the opera- tion of causes that have ceased to exist, in order to explain the occurrence of minerals or beds composed of silica in the midst of Neptunian formations. Having now collected the principal facts of recent observa- tion which have fallen under my notice with respect to the na- tural history of mineral waters, I will next proceed to state what is known with respect to their origin, and the causes of their respective peculiarities. The notions entertained by our forefathers with respect to the formation of land springs by the infiltration of sea-water, deprived of its saltness by its passage through the intervening rocks, have long given place to the more rational theory which attributes them to the large reservoirs of rain-water, collected within the porous strata, and forced out by hydrostatic pressure, wherever a natural or artificial opening was created for them. A German writer, however, named Kefersteinf, has attempted to cast doubts upon this explanation, and to substitute for it one founded upon certain fanciful speculations with respect to the earth’s vitality, which seem to be the fitting progeny of an earlier stage of physical research. The earth being, according to him, one great animated being, performing functions of a nature analogous to those discharged by the living creatures that exist upon its surface, the produc- tion of springs is regarded as the result of its respiration ; and the discharge of steam, carbonic acid, and nitrogen, together with the absorption of oxygen, is viewed as originating in pro- cesses similar in kind, to those which are carried on by the lungs of animals. It is not my purpose to combat this strange hypothesis, though if there be any in this country who have already become converts to it, they may perhaps find excuses for applying its * Berthier, Annales des Mines, 1810. + Lecoq, Vues, §c. p. 120. + In Kastner’s Archiv, vol. iii. p. 359, and in his work entitled, Deutsch- land geologisch dargestellt. Halle. REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 59 principles ta the case of springs, by espying difficulties in cer- tain special instances to the application of the received theory. It may, however, be sufficient for my purpose to remark, that, be the difficulties in question real or. apparent, they are not, at least, of moment enough, or applicable to a sufficient num- ber of cases, to induce more sober theorists to adopt the views, which it has been proposed to substitute for the received ones. The majority of naturalists will be contented with appealing to the researches of Dr. Dalton, who, in a paper published in the Manchester Memoirs*, has shown the adequacy of the water which descends from the heavens in the part of England he inhabits, to supply the springs of that district, notwithstanding the loss arising from evaporation. There appears indeed, from his calculation, to be an excess of 2 inches per annum in the latter beyond the amount of rain and dew which fall; but this excess Dr. Dalton thinks may be explained without resorting to any other supposition than the one alluded to. Yet, although the general theory will scarcely admit of dis- pute, it is satisfactory to collect facts on this subject, in order to compare with the former; and one singularity has been ob- served in the instance of springs issuing from chalk, which appear to be most copious in June, and least so in Decembert. This, however, seems referable to the slowness with which water percolates so thick a stratum as the chalk, and is analo- gous to what has been observed with respect to terrestrial heat, where the excess of summer temperature does not reach the utmost limit of its progress into the earth till about the middle of winter. Mr. Henwood{ has also stated the quantity of water given out by the springs in a certain district of Cornwall, as deter- mined by the amount raised by the engines in particular mines; and concludes, that it is greater by one third than that of the rain falling in the country. This, however, may easily arise, owing to the mines drawing water from a much larger surface, than the area of country di- rectly overlying them, which, as being the deepest spots for a considerable distance, they may readily be conceived to do. To descend from the general theory of springs to the causes of their particular characters, I will first notice the circumstance of temperature. _* Vol.v. See also Arago on Artesian Wells, in the Annuaire for 1835, translated in Jameson’s Journal. ft Bland in Phil. Magazine for 1832, p. 38. t Phil, Magazine, New Serics, vol.i, 1832, p. 287. Origin of thermal springs. 60 SIXTH REPORT—1836. According to Von Buch* all springs containing carbonic acid are more or less thermal, and Gustavus Bischof goes so far as to assert, that this remark extends universally to springs of con- stant temperaturet. The smallest difference, he says, between the warmth of the springs of a country and that of the soil, is never less than 24 degrees of Fahrenheit. But I have already observed, that Bischof generalized on too narrow a basis, when he inferred from the observations quoted in his memoir the universality of such a law. It is one indeed directly at variance with the tenour of obser- vations made within the tropics, which seem to show, that in warm climates the mean temperature of the atmosphere is even higher than that of the perennial springs f. And if the remark be limited to colder regions, many ano- malies require to be reconciled, and a much more extensive se- ries of observations gone through, before it can be decided, whether this augmentation of temperature be the result of a ge- neral law, or of local circumstances. Thus, for example, if, as Humboldt and others have supposed, the excess of temperature in springs over the atmosphere increases with the latitude, then indeed the temperature assigned by Bischof as the minimum in the case of those near Andernach, in lat. 507°, squares very well with the rate of progression indicated by observations, on the springs of Paris in lat. 49°, and those of Berlin in lat. 524° §. For at Paris the mean temperature of the climate was found at 51°6, and that of the springs 52°°7, the excess being 1°15 whilst at Berlin the atmospheric temperature was 46°4, terres- trial 50°-2, excess 3°°8, indicating a rate of progression equal to about 1°°8 of temperature to 1° of latitude. But, on the other hand, the accurate observations of Playfair have shown, that at Edinburgh, in a still higher latitude, viz. 55°°58, the temperature of springs is identical with that of the atmosphere, so that the supposed progression would seem to be confined to a still higher latitude than this. Neither are the observations of Wahlenberg in the Scandina- * Poggendorfi’s Annalen, vol. xii. p.415. + Edinburgh New Phil. Journal for April 1836. + See Von Buch, on the Temperature of Springs, Edinburgh New Phil. Journal, October, 1828, or his work on the Canary Islands, p. 84, French translation ; where he accounts for the fact, from the circumstance of the springs being derived from rain, which had fallen exclusively during the colder months, and which does not readily acquire, within the slowly con- ducting substance of the strata containing them, the temperature of the hotter portions of the year. See also Bischof’s often quoted memoir, in which he dis- putes the general law, and supposes the tropical springs alluded to, to have been derived from high mountains, and therefore to possess a lower temperature. — § Humboldt on Isothermal Lines, Edinburgh New Phil, Journal. REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 61i vian Peninsula *, nor those of Kupffer on the Ural range f, ab- solutely conclusive, as to the generality of the supposed law even in the high latitudes to which they refer. The elevation of temperature may, for ought we know, be con- fined to the neighbourhood of uplifted chains of mountains ; it may be a consequence of those great natural events to which are owing the disturbances there experienced ; and consequently it may not extend to the great plains of Russia or Siberia, where no such local influences exist. Or if it should be found on further examination to be general in northern latitudes, it will still re- main to be discussed, before referring it to central heat, whether the phenomenon may not depend upon the cause suggested b Von Buch in the memoir before referred to, namely, that the transmission of temperature through the earth chiefly takes place by the infiltration of water, a cause which, of course, ceases to operate below 32°. Granting, however, that the springs, which Bischof has no- ticed, owe their excess of temperature in part to a generally per- vading cause of heat, we have still to account for the enormous differences in this respect existing between one and another, and this is what I now propose to consider. The degree in which they exceed the mean of the climate is dependent, amongst other circumstances, on the elevation on the earth’s surface at which they issue. Von Buch f has given various instances of springs, belonging to the same district, but bursting out at different heights, which, though they may correspond in mineral and gaseous impregna- tion, differ materially in temperature, the lowest being the hot- test. Boussingault§ also states, that in the littoral chain of Vene- zuela the temperature of the thermal springs is less in propor- tion as their absolute height is greater. Thus the warm spring of Las Funcheras near Puerto Cabello, which approaches the level of the sea, possesses a temperature of 97° cent. That of Manaro, at a height of 476 metres, has only one of 64°; and that of Onoto, at 702 metres, only 44°°5. This regularity, however, does not extend to hot springs in immediate contact with volcanos. Von Buch|| conjectures, that the heat of such springs is derived from the carbonic acid which impregnates them, and which possesses itself a high temperature, as having proceeded from a great depth. * Annals of Philosophy, vol. iv. 1814, translated from Gilbert’s Annalen. + Kupffer in Edinburgh New Phil. Journal, vol. xxii. t Poggendorff’s Annalen, vol. xxii. § Annales de Chimie, 1831. || Poggendorff’s Annalen, yol. xii. p.415. Geological position of thermal springs: 1st, near volcanos. 62 SIXTH REPORT—1836. This, however, is controverted by Bischof *, who shows clearly that no considerable augmentation could have arisen from such a cause. Brongniart, in an article + in the Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles, has pointed out, that the temperature of thermal springs is regulated by the nature of the rocks from which they issue. The hottest are those associated with recent volcanos, next those proceeding from extinct ones, or from primary rocks, and lowest in the scale such as are connected with younger forma- tions ; and though this rule may admit of exceptions, yet it seems to hold good in the majority of cases. Now this observation of Brongniart will be found to har- monize, and to point the same way, with the conclusions to which I have myself been conducted by the study of thermal springs, a summary of which will be found in an article in the London Review fér 1829, and in a memoir inserted in the Edin- burgh New Philosophical Journal for 1831. In these publications I have attempted to show, that by far the majority of thermal waters arise, either from rocks of a volcanic nature, from the vicinity of some uplifted chain of mountains, or lastly, from clefts and fissures caused by disruption. In many cases, indeed, all the above circumstances are seen combined ; for the same spring may at once issue from the midst of volcanic products, be situated at the foot of an uplifted chain, and proceed out of a chasm or fissure; so that, in classifying springs according to the above plan, we should find man perhaps possessing an equal claim to a place in all the three di- visions. This circumstance, however, although it might prevent our adopting the above distinction, as the basis of a classification of mineral springs, only adds strength to the argument in favour of a common origin being ascribed to them. With respect to the first of these classes of springs, I have pointed out in a subsequent paper {, that they may be placed under two heads, namely, first, those impregnated with gases which are derived from volcanic energy, and probably owe their origin to processes now continuing ; and secondly, those which, from the absence of such accompaniments, seem to be nothing more than reservoirs of water heated by coming into contact, with a mass of rock, retaining some of the warmth it had acquired from the volcanic operations of an antecedent period. The springs of Mount Dor, of Hungary, and some of those in * On Hot and Thermal Springs, Ed. Journal, 1836. + Eaux. t On a Spring at Torre del Annunziata in Edinb. New Phil. Journal, 1835. ee eyes REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 63 the Andes, are instances of the former ; those of Ischia, noticed by myself, and those enumerated under the head of “ simple thermal waters,”’ by Anglada*, and by Fodéré +, which latter are called in the country chaudons, and spring from below beds of gypsum, I consider to be illustrative of the latter. The connexion of thermal waters with uplifted chains will best be seen by coupling this description of springs with the carbonated ones which usually accompany them, and which, from the similarity of their mineral, and still more of their gaseous constitution, no less than that of their geological position, seem plainly. referable to the same system of causes. Gustavus Bischof, in the work so often quoted, has enume- rated nine of these groups existing in different parts of Europe, alike impregnated with carbonic acid and soda. These are 1. The springs of the Eyfel and Siebengebirge. 2. Those of the Westerwald and Taunus. 3. Of the Habichtswald, Meissner, Vogelsgebirge, and Rhon- gebirge. 4. Of the Fichtelgebirge. 5. Of the Erzgebirge. 6. Of the Bohemian Mittelgebirge. 7. Of the Riesengebirge in Silesia. 8. Of Auvergne and the Vivarais in France. 9. Of the Pyrenees it. : Now it is to be observed, that of the above groups two, namely, the mineral springs of the Rhine Province, and those of Central France, belong to our antecedent class ; and that a por- tion at least of the sixth group is allied to the same, since the mineral waters of Toeplitz aud Bilin are manifestly in connex- ion with the porphyry-slate, and the volcanic products of the Mittelgebirge, and those of Franzensbad, with the little volcanic crater and scoriform lava of the Kammerburg in its immediate neighbourhood. With regard to the remainder, it may be remarked, that the existence of trappean or porphyritic rocks in the vicinity of many of them, is a circumstance strongly corroborative of their volcanic origin, and consequently of the operation of forces capable of uplifting the mountains in their vicinity. It is likewise a negative proof of the same connexion, that no mineral springs of such a constitution are found on the continent of Europe, considerably north of the limit to which basaltic and * Vol. ii. p. 170. + Voyages aux Alpes maritimes, p. 155. } We have seen, however, that Anglada denies the existence of carbonic acid in these waters. 2nd, near systems of elevation. Relation of these springs to the rocks contiguous. 64 SIXTH REPORT—1836. trappean rocks extend, a limit which nearly coincides with the line of elevation passing through the centre of Germany. It is certain, at least, that throughout those vast tracts of comparatively level country, which constitute the greater part of Northern Russia, Poland, and Prussia, neither basaltic rocks, nor thermal or carbonated springs have been noticed, whilst both the one and the other appear to become more and more abundant, in proportion as other indications of volcanic action appear. The above-mentioned groups however constitute but a small part of those distributed throughout Europe. I have already shown, that the thermal springs of the Alps often contain alkali, and the occasional absence of that ingre- dient ought surely not to place them in another class, when their gaseous impregnation and other phenomena coincide with those included under it. There is therefore a group of thermal springs manifesting itself, both in the central chain of the Alps, as at Baden in Argau, Schinznach, Pfeffers, and Loueche, and on its western and southern flank, at Aix in Savoy, St. Didier, Bonneval, and at Acqui and Coni in Piedmont. : Nor are other chains of mountains destitute of their own ap- propriate systems of thermal and carbonated springs. To men- tion one of the least known, that indefatigable geologist, Dr. Boué, who has lately been exploring the provinces of European Turkey, informs me, that in Servia and Bosnia, there exist acidulous and saline mineral waters, like those of Nassau, and that in the western part of the former province, as well as in Bulgaria, a line of hot springs with sulphuretted hydrogen, and probably azote, makes its appearance. The line begins at Mehadia in the Bannat, and continues to the south of Nissa. The great masses of travertin found in the neighbourhood denote, that carbonic acid was formerly evolved in large quantities. South of the Balkan and Orbelus, is a line of hot springs, running from east to west, which also contain sulphuretted hydrogen. Their highest temperature is 58° R. (162° Fahr.). Eruptions of trachyte and dolerite seem to have been the pre- cursors of the bursting out of these latter springs. Without extending our inquiry into other parts of the globe, where it would be easy to point out groups of mineral springs similarly constituted, let us consider how the latter stand re- lated to the mountains in the vicinity of which they lie. It would seem, as I have remarked in the memoir on Thermal Waters before referred to, that a large proportion of them are placed near the line at which the elevation of the chain appears REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 65 to have commenced; but that when situated near to its axis, they generally occur in some deep valley, and consequently at a comparatively low level. _This is the case with Barege and Cauterets in the Pyrenees, and with St. Gervais in the Alps, which latter, as M. Delarive* had many years ago observed, is situated exactly on the spot which, of all others, unites most completely the conditions, of approaching in the nearest degree to the centre of the chain, and being at the same time least elevated above the level of the ocean. But Professor Forbes, in an interesting memoir to which I haye already had occasion to refert, points out other circum- stances of physical constitution, which seem to characterize the greater part, at least, of springs of this description. He has shown, by an extensive induction of particulars, that the thermal springs of the Pyrenees, for the most part gush out from the vicinity of intrusive rocks, such as granite, serpentine, greenstone, and the like; moreover, that the structure and po- sition of the stratum through which the latter have heen thrust, are both of such a nature as to afford indications of violence. Several of these thermal waters he has even traced, rising ex- actly from the line of junction between the granite and the stratified rock. And this brings me to the consideration of the third circum- 3rdly. Con- stance alluded to as characterizing thermal waters ; I mean their tiguous to connexion with faults or dislocations. aay This mutual relation is illustrated by the case of the Carlsbad dislocations. springs, according to the description of them given by Von Hoff. They are described by him as issuing from the bottom of a narrow glen, bearing in itself the evidences of some great natural convulsion. It lies nearly at right angles to the valleys of denudation that exist in the immediate neighbourhood ; it is more narrow and more precipitous than the latter ; and, as Von Hoff states, the granite which forms the fundamental rock, is overlaid by a breccia, made up of fragments of this rock cemented together by a siliceous paste, which is in great measure covered over by the calc. sinter deposited at present by the springs, but in one side of the valley protrudes itself, and appears above it. This breccia Von Hoff attributes to the spring, which in former times, like those of Iceland, may have deposited siliceous matter ; but as, on a recent visit to Carlsbad, I could perceive no kind of breccia that bore the appearance of having been cemented b the materials of a thermal water, I am disposed to doubt this * Bibliotheque Britannique. t Phil. Trans. 1836. t Geognostiche bemerkunyen itber Karlsbad. Gotha, 1825. VOL. Vv.—1836. F 66 SIXTH REPORT—1836. part of Von Hoff’s statement, although able to confirm the gene- ral truth of his representation. Stifft, in his geological description of the neighbourhood of Wiesbaden*, remarks, that the following facts have been ob- served by himself relative to the springs of the Nassau territory. Ist. That they follow distinctly six lines, and thus evince a determinate direction. 2nd. That the rocks in their neighbourhood manifest evident changes in the direction and inclination of their strata, especially saddle-shaped elevations, often accompanied with fractures. 3rd. That in many places the adjacent rocks themselves ap- pear altered, and are more friable than elsewhere. In my memoir on Thermal Springs already referred to, I have pointed out several instances of the same connexion, between the existence of evidences of dislocation in the strata, and the bursting out of thermal springs, as occurring along the line of the Pyrenean chain, as at Aleth, Rennes, and Campagne, and still more remarkably at St. Paul de Fenouilhedes, on the road from Carcassone to Perpignan, near the town of Caudiez, all in Roussillon. The same fact is still more strikingly illustrated, by the structure of the country at St. Vincent’s rocks, as described by Conybeare and Buckland}, and at Matlock, as long ago pointed out by Whitehurst{ ; for, since the rocks from which the thermal waters in these two instances proceed, are stratified, the inference, to which the mere inspection of the localities conducts us, is confirmed by the unconformable disposition of the strata themselves ; we not only observe springs gushing out from a narrow and precipitous cleft, but we find on examination the strata tilted up and disarranged, ina manner which implies that some violent action must have taken place. Mr. Murchison and Mr. Lyell§ have also remarked, that the hot spring of Aix in Provence lies contiguous to some remarkable dislocations of the strata. We must not, indeed, strain too far our inferences from this one circumstance ; for it is probable, as has lately been shown by Mr. Hopkins||, that natural springs, of whatever temperature, have their origin very commonly in fissures, which appear owing to dislocations or disturbances in the strata. The latter, however, exhibit no evidences of violence, at all comparable to those afforded by the great natural chasms, to * In Rullman’s Wiesbaden. + Geological Transactions, vol.i. New Series, ‘‘ On the South West Coal Field of England.” { Whitehurst’s Theory of the Earth, 1786. § Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. || Cambridge Philosophical Transactions, 1836. REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 67 which I have principally appealed, exhibited at Carlsbad, Mat- lock, and Clifton. And it is only in the last of these instances, where, fortunately for our argument, the evidence is of a more decisive character than in the rest, that we are unable to strengthen it by other collateral proofs, derived from the presence of intrusive rocks, or the general appearance of the surrounding country. In the other examples cited, 1 might have been indisposed to ‘build upon this one fact, as a decisive proof of violent action having taken place in the locality, had not the probability of such events having occurred, obtained confirmation from other circumstances that had been pointed out. Thus at Carlsbad, the existence of volcanic products both to the east and west of the spot, as well as the propinquity of the spring itself to a mountain range, which doubtless owes its ele- vation to volcanic forces, together strengthen the inference which the particular character of the locality would dispose us to adopt. It appears then, that the geological position of thermal waters Theories of in general leads to the conclusion, that they are connected with thermal certain volcanic processes going on near the places in which “P'S they occur; but it must be at the same time admitted, that in a few special cases a high temperature is imparted to the springs Local of a district, by causes of a more local and superficial character. ¢"s¢s- Thus Kastner* states, that in the Westerwald, between Ma- rienburg and Stockhausen, the burning of brown coal under- ground has caused so great a heat in the contiguous rocks, as to give rise to several warm springs, which are characterized by the presence of acetic and succinic acids, both probably derived _ from the slow distillation of lignite. Setting aside, however, these comparatively rare and special General cases, let us next briefly consider, how far the facts detailed in °*"S°- the preceding part of this Report, will assist us in explaining _the cause of that exalted temperature, which thermal springs in common with other volcanic phenomena exhibit. With respect to this question, a recent memoir by Professor Bischof of Bonnt, may be quoted, as disposing successfully of the hypotheses, in which certain chemical processes going on at the present time near the surface, such, for example, as the de- composition of pyrites, were appealed to, as capable of producing | the heat which these springs possess. He has also said enough | respecting another hypothesis, that of Anglada, who attributes TA we | * Archiv, vol.xvi. + Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, April, 1836. F 2 Chemical theory stated. 68 SIXTH REPORT—1836. the heat of springs to the action of electricity. This mighty ugent is doubtless concerned in many of the changes which go on in rocks, but before we attribute to it the production of that steady heat which resides in certain springs, we ought to eon- sider, what peculiar disposition of strata would be necessary to give rise to it, what evidence there is of such a disposition exist- ing, and why, if it exist at all, it be not more general, and thus render the occurrence of hot springs less a local phenomenon.* None of these questions having been entered upon by An-' glada, it would be superfluous at present to proceed to a formal consideration of his hypothesis. Neither need I dwell upon any such hypotheses, as are founded on assumptions, which either seem contrary to acknowledged principles of physics, or which would be rejected by the general voice of men of science as absurd and fanciful. : Thus I shall do no more than allude to the mode, in which Aristotle somewhereaccounts for the high temperature of springs, by supposing, that as the figure of the earth is spherical, the solar rays penetrating its substance, ought to meet in the centre, as in the focus of a burning glass, and thus produce there an intense degree of heat. Neither shall I labour to refute the idea of Keferstein, that thermal springs are merely the result of, what he is pleased to call, the respiratory process of the earth, resting, as that opinion does, upon the assumption, that the globe itself is an animated body, a position, which I am loth seriously to attack, not know- ing in what precise sense his language is to be interpreted. But there remain two theories with respect to the origin of thermal springs, that seem to deserve a more attentive con- sideration. The former of these supposes them to arise from chemical processes carried on within the earth, processes, however, which possess nothing, in common with those witnessed on or near the surface, except: the circumstance of being attended with an absorption of oxygen. If it be further demanded of the advocates of this theory, what particular chemical processes are alluded to, they will pro- bably reply*, that a competent explanation of the phenomena * They ought however carefully to distinguish, between that which appears to be a direct inference from observed facts, and what at the most can ad- vance no higher claim, than of being a plausible conjecture. The general occurrence of volcanos in the neighbourhood of the sea, and the constant disengagement of aqueous vapour and of sea-salt from their interior, are facts, which establish in my mind a conviction, that water finds its way to the seat of the igneous operations, almost as complete, as if I were myself an REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 69 would be afforded, by the supposed oxidation of the bases, of those alkalis, earths, and metallic oxides, which are found to constitute the crust of the globe, through the agency, first of water, and afterwards of atmospheric air. Such, in a few words, was the theory which I adopted, to account for the phenomena of volcanos* in a work published on that subject in 1826+; and to the same, after a mature, and, I trust, an impartial review of the question, I am still disposed to adhere, in preference at least to any other. In an article entitled GrEoLoey, in the Encyclopedia Metro- politana, I have endeavoured to reply to all the arguments that had been subsequently urged against my views ; and if I have not noticed every individual objection, it has only been, because the same difficulties were brought forward again and again by different persons, often without any allusion being made to the answers, which I had given to similar ones before. The latter theory, discarding all chemical operations whatso- ever, regards thermal springs as arising merely from the internal heat of the globe, and consequently as possessing a temperature high, in proportion to the depth from which they have themselves proceeded. For, as the temperature of the earth augments, as we descend, on the average, about 1° of Fahr. for every 100 feet, it is evident, that, if the increase be progressive, water would arrive at its boiling point at a depth not exceeding three miles, and there is no difficulty in understanding, that it should retain the greater Theory of central heat. part of that exalted temperature, when once the channels and | passages in the rock, through which it reached the surface, were thoroughly penetrated by the heat. The theory just mentioned is sanctioned by the high autho- eye-witness of another Phlegethon discharging itself into the bowels of the earth, in every volcanic district, as in the solitary case of Cephalonia. Nor, as I shall afterwards attempt to prove, is the access of atmospheric air to volcanos more questionable, than that of water ; so that the appearance, of hydrogen united with sulphur, and of nitrogen, either alone, or combined with hydrogen, at the mouth of the volcano, seems a direct proof, that oxygen has been abstracted by some process or other from both. Having satisfied our minds with regard to the fact of internal oxidation, we naturally turn to consider, what principles can have existed in the inte- rior of the earth, capable of abstracting oxygen from water, as well as from air; and this leads us to speculate on the bases of the earths and alkalis as having caused it. But in ascribing the phenomena to the oxidation of these hodies, we ought not to lose sight of the Baconian maxim, that in every well- established theory, the cause assigned should be, not only competent to explain the phenomena, but also known to have a real existence, which latter cannot be predicated of my alkaline and earthy metalloids in the interior of the earth. * Description of Active and Extinct Volcanos. London, 1826. 70 SIXTH REPORT—1836. rity of Laplace, and has also received the support of many mo- dern naturalists. Professor Bischof *, in adopting it, has undertaken in a late paper first of all to refute the opposite hypothesis, but in at- tempting so todo, has, I conceive, mistaken the views of its ad- vocates. Thus he quotes an experiment of his own, in which the com- bustion of 15 grains of sodium, in water containing a quantity of sulphuric and muriatie acid, such as would be adequate to form the saline matter present in a particular thermal spring, raised the temperature of 1000 grains of water scarcely 3°; and this he alleges as a proof, that the heat cannot have arisen from any process of oxidation in which sodium acts a part. But under either view of the subject, the increased tempera- ture of the spring must be attributed to that of the contiguous rocks, the only question being, do these rocks derive their high temperature from a central fluid mass, or from chemical pro- cesses taking place generally in the interior of the globe? Having discussed this question at length elsewhere, I will at present confine myself to remarking, that the supporters of Bi- schof’s views ought to be able toexplain tous,why thermal springs are of local occurrence, and most frequent in proportion to the frequency of other indications of igneous activity; and if these latter indications are assumed to be themselves nothing more, than the result of the contraction of the earth’s crust upon its internal fluid contents, why that contraction should be always accompanied with those exertions of explosive energy which we witness in voleanos, and those emissions of gas which are com- mon to both. They should also explain to us, why primary rocks, traversed as they so frequently are with fissures of all descriptions, should not in every part of the world, and in every kind of situation, give rise to hot springs, by evolving steam from their interior, and why they never appear to give issue to that class of thermal waters, which I have noticed in Ischia as being unaccompanied with gaseous products, and which therefore I suppose, to be purely the result of the infiltration of water to spots in the in- terior of the earth retaining a high temperature. In order however duly to appreciate the degree of support, which the chemical theory of thermal waters appears to derive from the nature of the gases whicb accompany them, I shall next propose to consider in detail the manner, in which these clastic fluids may severally be supposed to have been generated. * Edinburgh Phil. Jownal for April 1836. REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 71 The carbonic acid, which is so frequent an accompaniment of Origin of thermal waters, is explained by Bischof *, as deriving its origin tbs Wee jac from the calcination of earthy carbonates by the heat beneath ; need and to this view there seems to be no objection, provided only from we admit, that a portion of water is present, without which, *P""s* as Faraday has shown, no disengagement of carbonic acid would take place under the influence of even a great heat. But that the amount of carbonic acid emitted bears some re- lation to the igneous or eruptive agency heretofore exerted, will appear by amere enumeration of the localities in which this gas most abounds. Passing over its copious emission in the neighbourhood of active and extinct volcanos, I may notice the observations of Hoffman +, who has stated, that the carbonic acid so abundantly evolved at Pyrmont, rises out of what he describes as a circular valley of elevation, caused by the heaving up of the rocks in all directions round this central point. Sometimes-also the evolution of carbonic acid is connected with faults, as has been observed by Professor Phillips with re- spect to the carbonated or petrifying springs of Yorkshire {. So general indeed is the distribution of calcareous rocks in the older, as well as the more modern formations, that I do not see the force of the objection started by Berzelius to the chemical theory of volcanos, in a notice with which he some years ago honoured the work I had published on that subject §, in which he says, that it fails in accounting for the extrication of carbonic acid gas, as a consequence of volcanic action. For my own part, inasmuch as an intense degree of heat is the immediate effect of these operations, and as rocks containing carbonic acid in a fixed state are so generally diffused, I should conceive that the extrication of this gas would have been anti- cipated to be a natural result of the process; unless, indeed, by those theorists, who, maintaining the contrary hypothesis in its simplest form, refuse even to admit that water has had any ne- cessary share in the phenomena. The evolution of nitrogen from springs has been discussed by Origin of Berzelius, Anglada, and others. the nitro- Berzelius|| supposes it to arise from the decomposition of the °°" organic matter which these waters contain, whilst Anglada{ * Vulkanischen Mineralquellen, p. 255. + On Valleys of Elevation, Edinburgh New Phil. Journal, October, 1830. t See my memoir on Thermal Springs already referred to. § Jahresbericht, vol. vii. p. 352. || “‘ Analyse des Eaux de Carlsbad,” Ann. de Chim., vol. xxiii. 4] Mémoires pour servir, &c. 72 SIXTH REPORT—1836. refers it to the atmospheric air present in them, the oxygen of which is absorbed by the sulphur found along with it. The theory of Berzelius may perhaps suit those cases, in which the quantity disengaged is small, but can scarcely be extended to others, in which it is more considerable. No amount of organic matter, that can be supposed to exist in the thermal water, could produce a constant supply of nitrogen, continuing for hundreds and probably thousands of years, equal on an average to 222 cubic feet in the 24 hours, as at the hot spring of Bath. It would also have seemed needless to remark, had not the circumstance been overlooked by some who have commented upon this phenomenon, that the decomposition of organic mat- ter would generate other gases never met with amongst thermal springs, especially carburetted hydrogen, which is actually found to accompany nitrogen in cases where the latter proceeds from organic matter, as was determined, with respect to the gas that renders buoyant the floating island of Derwentwater, by Dr. Dal- ton. The explanation of Anglada seems to me only faulty in not being sufficiently general. Sulphur no doubt is one of the principles by which the oxygen is abstracted, but it does not seem probable that it should be the only one; and the case of Bath alone serves to show, that it is sometimes absent altogether from waters, where the evolution of nitrogen is most abundant. In short, the only direct inference, that seems deducible from the fact of the copious evolution of nitrogen from thermal waters is, that certain processes, occasioning the abstraction of oxygen from common air,are going on in the interior of the earth. This inference remains the same, whether we suppose the nitrogen emitted, to consist merely of that carried down by the atmospheric waters, by which the thermal spring is main-. tained, or to be the residue of the atmospheric air, that had found its way into cavities, where these processes are taking lace. Both explanations may occasionally be true; but whichever one we choose to adopt, the ultimate fact is still as before, namely, that a quantity of air, which, if derived from the atmo- sphere, contained originally th of its volume of oxygen, and if from atmospheric water, would contain nearly double that amount, returns to the surface, often with scarcely ;3,5th, and at most with not more than ;45th, of this latter ingredient. That atmospheric air does find its way into the interior of the REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 13 globe, and probably pervades every portion of its solid contents, is a fact, of which a little reflection will convince us. Independently of, the cracks and fissures, by which the earth’s crust is everywhere intersected, the large cavities it so frequently envelopes, and its general porosity and permeability to water containing air in solution, the solid strata themselves have the property, as has been shown by Saussure*, in various degrees, of absorbing oxygen and nitrogen gases; though it is to be re- marked, that by a curious provision of nature, apparently de- signed to forward the process of internal oxidation, the two gases are absorbed, not in the proportion of five to one, but in nearly equal ratios. Professor Meinecke of Halle} is the only person, so far as I know, who has availed himself of this, as a principle on which to explain other phenomena; and his remarks, owing to certain loose and fanciful speculations interwoven with them, have not yet obtained much attention. Nevertheless, if it be true, that air pervades even the solid portions of our globe, down at least to a considerable depth, it seems not absurd to imagine, that it may suddenly be augmented by an increase of atmospheric pressure above, or diminished by processes taking place in the interior of the earth. Such, in the main, are the views of Professor Meinecke, who imagines the amount of air retained in the interior of the earth, to be in a state of constant oscillation, and thus,. reacting upon the atmosphere above, to be one of the causes of the variation of the barometer. He even attributes, to an extraordinary ab- sorption of air within the earth, a remarkable sinking of the barometer, which took place without any other assignable cause at Christmas 1821. The sulphuretted hydrogen, which so many springs contain, has been attributed to the action of organic matter upon alka- line and earthy sulphates; and M. Henry of Parist has cited an example, where a spring, which at its source contained sul- phates of soda, magnesia, and lime, but no sulphuretted hydro- gen, was found to have acquired a trace of that gas, at the ex- pense of its sulphuric acid, after mixing with the water of a washing place. It seems probable, that the hepatic smells, which occur in the waste and stagnant waters of towns, sometimes arise from this * Bibliotheque Britannique, vol. xlix. p. 319. + Schweigger’s Journal, vol. viii. 1823. ~ Journal de Pharmacie. for 1827, p. 493. Origin of the sul- phuretted hydrogen. Origin of salt springs. 74 SIXTH REPORT— 1836. cause; and M. Brongniart* attributes the sulphuretted hydro- gen present in the mineral water of Enghien, to the action of organic matter upon beds of gypsum belonging to the Paris Basin. But no one would attempt to explain in this manner, the sul- phuretted hydrogen contained in many thermal waters, still less that evolved from volcanos ; a phenomenon, which seems to me to supply just the same evidence of the decomposition of water within the earth, which the emission of nitrogen affords of the abstraction of oxygen from atmospheric air. And if it should be established, as many observers of volcanic phenomena have thought probable, that the sulphur, which finds its way to the surface by the agency of velcanos, is always held in solution either by oxygen or hydrogen gases, the enormous quantity of either principle which is sent back to the atmosphere in con- junction with this Inflammable, may be in some measure appre- ciated from one circumstance alone, namely, from the vast beds of voleanic sulphur accumulated in many parts of Italy, and still more remarkably in Sicily. Professor Phillips is even of opinion, that the origin of the mi- neral impregnation of the waters of Harrogate is to be ascribed, to the chemical effects specially exerted along the line of a subterranean disturbance, which he has traced in the vicinity of these springs; and Mr. Murchison has been led to similar conclusions, with respect to the sulphureous spring of Llanwr- tyd, by the geological structure of that locality. The only remaining class of springs, that requires further no- tice, is that which contains common salt, and the other ingre- dients of our present seas. The origin of these springs from masses of salt or muriatiferous clays, produced by the evaporation of sea-water, or of lakes of similar composition, would seem sufficiently obvious; and Mr. Lyell} has even attempted to explain the manner, in which a deposition of salt may be taking place at the present day from the waters of the Mediterranean, so as eventually to build up a bed of rock salt underneath it. But although the law of the increasing specific gravity] of water, in proportion to the degree of its saline impregnation, would favour the process of deposition, when once it had com- menced, by keeping up a constant supply of the strongest brine near the bottom of the sea, we still seem to want some agent, for * Dict. d’ Hist. Nat., art. Eaux. + Principles of Geology, vol. i. p. 297. { See a curious paper on the increasing strength of a brine well in propor- tion to its depth, inthe Phil. Magazine, vol. iv. p. 91. REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. ris] bringing about a separation of its solid contents, from a fluid so far removed from saturation, as the water of our present seas is found to be. Now a submarine volcano, or any other independent cause, producing a high temperature in any part of the bed of the ocean, might supply this desideratum; it would separate the salt from that portion of the water which came most within its immediate influence, converting the fluid into vapour, which, in a highly compressed condition, we may imagine to be interposed between the bed of salt in the act of forming, and the body of the superincumbent ocean. That volcanic action may have had some share in the forma- tion of beds of salt, is no new idea, and is immediately suggested by the almost constant association, of sulphuric salts, and espe- cially of gypsum, with the former. Thus Von Buch*, remarking on the connexion of rock-salt and brine springs with anhydrous gypsum at Bex in Switzer- land, attributes them both to direct sublimation from the inte- rior of the earth, the common salt being accompanied by sul- phuretted hydrogen, which, by its gradual conversion into sul- phuric acid, had given rise to the formation of sulphate of lime. That rock-salt is sometimes sublimed from the bowels of the earth we know by an examination of volcanos; and where common salt is found abundantly in thermal springs which are of voleanic origin, and issue from primary rocks, as is the case with that of St. Nectaire in Auvergne, and possibly that of Wiesbaden in Nassau, it seems but reasonable to attribute its occurrence to a similar cause. Proust t even has stated, that the salt mine of Burgos in Spain lies in the crater of an extinct volcano ; and though he may pos- sibly be mistaken as to this exact point, still such a notion would hardly have arisen, had not the beds been in a manner surrounded by volcanic products. Without, however, proposing so bold an hypothesis as that of sublimation, to account for the production of salt beds in general, we may perhaps see reason to suppose, that volcanic heat has in many cases caused their deposition, and that the sulphates which accompany them have arisen from the sulphuretted hydrogen, which is at the present day an ordinary effect of volcanic pro- cesses. In my memoir on the Lake Amsanctus{, I have attempted to trace the connexion, between the operations of volcanos, the * Poggendorff’s Annalen, 1835. t Journal de Physique. { Published by the Ashmolean Socicty, Oxford 1836, Works on mineral waters. “iif SIXTH REPORT—1836. emanations of carbonic acid, and the formation of beds of rock- salt; on the present occasion it may be sufficient to quote the following brief summary of the points therein insisted on. Volcanos give out........... Sulphuretted hydrogen, sal am- moniac, boracic acid, muri- atic acid, steam ; And erase: VSI”. SS sseeeeee. Deposits of sulphur, of sulphu- AN salts, of muriatic salts, c Moffettes, connected geogra- phically with volcanos now in action or extinct, give out The same principles; And cause .......+-++..+-.+.++ Deposits of sulphur and of sul- phuric salts. Many tertiary clays, some of which are connected in a geographical sense with vol- UanUs teres es ee. ee”. Contam “beds” of’ siitphur,” of earthy sulphates, and of com- mon salt. Most salt formations are asso- ciated with .............. Beds of gypsum. Saine Wah PPPs es A Sulphur, Others with..... PESTS OT Salammioniac: I shall now conclude, by enumerating a few of the newer works on mineral and thermal waters that appear to afford the most original and important information on the subject, considered in a scientific point of view. On English medicinal springs, Dr. Scudamore* has published a good practical treatise, and with the assistance of Mr. Garden, has undertaken to give an analysis of the more important ones which this. country possesses. His work, however, is more adapted for practical physicians than for men of science, as he has limited himself exclusively to those mineral waters which already possess a reputation as medicinal agents. Professor Angladat of Montpellier has published a very de- tailed and elaborate description of the thermal springs of the Eastern Pyrenees, in which he has investigated in particular, the * Treatise on the Composition and Medical Properties of the Mineral Waters of Buxton, &c. Second Edition. London, 1833. + Mémoires pour servir & V Histoire générale des Eaux minérales sulfureuses, 2 vols. 1827; and Traité des Eaux minérales des Pyrénées Orientales, 2 vols. 1833. REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. (7 condition in which the sulphureous principle of these waters exists, and that peculiar organic matter which is associated with the waters. Having already commented upon these points, I need only further remark, that I consider the work in general a most va- luable addition to our knowledge. . M. Longchamp, who was expressly engaged by the late French Government to examine the mineral waters of that country, has completed his report on those of Vichy*, which appears to be drawn up with considerable care, but has been arrested in the further prosecution of the design by the overthrow of the Bour- bon dynasty. In a little wurk, entitled “Annuaire des Haux Minérales’’ for 1831, he has given a sketch of the principal springs of the Pyrenees and of others in France, which may be consulted to advantage. The work of Alibert}, though it bears the name of a distin- guished medical writer, is evidently designed as a popular com- pendium, and therefore hardly comes under review on the pre- sent occasion; nor am J aware of any other work of scientific interest on this subject, that has recently appeared in the French language. In Germany works on mineral waters abound; but perhaps the most important is one published by Professor Bischof { of Bonn in 1826, relative to the mineral springs of the Rhine province and others of similar constitution, replete with valuable information, and important general views. In criticising some of the latter, I have all along been con- scious of the risk I incurred of being myself in error; nor should I, perhaps, have been tempted to question them, had it not ap- peared to me, that inferences deduced from one particular class of mineral waters, ought to undergo the test of a severe scrutiny, before we permitted ourselves to apply them to the springs of other and distant regions. Brandes §, with the assistance of Kruger, has published a very elaborate account of the waters of Pyrmont, and more recently a still larger work on those of Meinberg||, containing, not only a detailed description of the spring, but also of the topography, antiquities, and natural history of the neighbourhood. But it would be endless to enumerate the various works on particular mineral waters, which have issued from the German * Analyse des Eaux Minérales de Vichy, 1825. + Précis Historique sur les Eaux Minérales. 1826. t Die Vulkanischen Mineralquellen Deutschlands und Frankreichs. Bonn, 1826. ~ § Beschreibung der Mineralquellen zu Pyrmont. 1826. || Mineralquellen zu Meinberg. Lemgo, 1832. 78 SIXTH REPORT—1836. press, and to which this general character seems to apply, that, although more frequently replete with mystical and absurd hy~ potheses, than works of the same class in England, they display in general greater research and a richer fund of scientific infor- mation. Of general works, I may mention that of Scherer * on the mi- neral waters of the Russian empire, which testify to this im- portant fact, that there are neither thermal nor acidulated springs in any part of that vast tract, till we approach the mountains of the Caucasus and Oural, or the volcanos of Kam- schatka. Professor Schustert of the University of Pesth has lately edited the elaborate work of Kitaibel on the Mineral Waters of Hungary, which will be found to contain a very detailed, and probably authentic, account of their properties. But to the general reader the necessity of consulting these local authorities will soon be superseded, by the appearance of the treatise of Dr. Osann of Berlin{, of which the two first volumes have been already published. The first of these includes, a very complete sketch of the ge- neral views, entertained, with respect to the nature and constitu- tion of mineral and thermal springs, and a catalogue raisonné of those best known, classified under their respective heads. The second volume is occupied by a detailed description, of those of Germany, and some other contiguous countries, with copious references to original sources of information. The whole appears to be compiled with great care and re- search, and promises, when finished, to be the most complete work extant on the subject. Since the appearance of the first volume of Dr. Osann’s work, Dr. Gairdner of Edinburgh has brought out a very compact, and useful Manual, in the English language, on the same sub- ject§. A large portion of its contents indeed are evidently ex- tracted from Osann; nor does it appear, that the author has drawn much from any stores of his own in the facts stated by him. Nevertheless the multitude of details brought together, and judiciously arranged in this little volume, ought to secure it a place in every scientific library ; and the best proof I can fur- * Versuch der Heilquellen des lussischen Reichs. St. Petersburg, 1820. + Pauli Kitaibel Hydrographica Hungaria, edidit J. Schuster, Pesth, 1829. + Darstellung der bekannten Heilquellen Europa’s. Berlin, vol. i. 1829, vol. ii. 1832. § Essay on the Natural History, &c. of Mineral and Thermal Springs. Edin- burgh, 1832. — eats ae rr Sp ate i “me . + . ose nee Lt ~ . == -, REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS, 79 nish of my own opinion of its merits is, that I conceived it to have superseded the demand for a distinct work on the subject, which I had for several previous years been preparing. Indeed I have been induced in some measure to modify the nature of this Report in consequence, having endeavoured to be most full on those points, which had been passed over by Dr. Gairdner, and in other instances supplying rather a comment upon the facts he had collected, than a mere recapitulation of their substance. APPENDIX TO PAGE 42. When mentioning the reported presence of oxygen in thermal waters, I ought to have added, that Fodéré, Voyages aux Alpes maritimes, states, that this gas was extracted, by boiling, from the water of Roccabigliera in Piedmont, in such quantities, and of such purity, as led him to believe, that a portion of deutoxide of hydrogen must have been present to occasion it. But so extraordinary a fact in the history of thermal waters, as this would be, requires further confirmation. 80 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Name of the place where the spring occurs. Geographical Geological position. position. Sate |(Batbsccscsxeses ...|New red sandstone ......| Somersetshire Bristol .........0s- Carboniferous limestone |Gloucestersh. in a valley of disruption Buxton......secee.|DittO ...seeseeeeseeeeeeeee|Derbyshire ... W. Long. | to Bakewellivc. sires] Ditiol Ce cdoccateected-awste{DtkO lech cccwe Stony Middleton|Ditto ....cececcccessceeees|DittO seaeeeeee British Islands. N. Lat. 55° to 51°, Taafe’s Well......|Coal strata ...............;Near Cardiff, S. Wales Mallow............|Carboniferous limestone |CountyofCork, Ireland ° a ~ ~ 3 ° 2 eS sc vo =| S at =] ov ~ a | ov 2 < Ss = Bertrich Connected with extinct;Near Treves, volcanos Eyfel Aix la Chapelle ./At the junction of clay/|Lower Rhine slate,andcarboniferous} Province limestone meeaduae SeMIDDID) > Cdececdosencecetecees|DICCO cecscnnes 24° to 32°, ive} [=] 1 é is) IME sencceve covscee|ClAY SlatCeccecerecccsccsses| NASSAU cocccvons W. Long. Wiesbaden ......|Chlorite slate ........600-|DiftO seecesese Germany. N. Lat. 51° to 49°. temp. reckoned about 50°. eZ) chlangenbad ...|Clay slate.s.scccsereeeseee|DittO ceseeeeee 2 SOdeN .ccccccccees|DIttO seccocccececceesesess| NearFrankfort on the Main Kreutznach ......|Felspar porphyry ......|Lower Rhine Province Mean Height in 100 ft. above the sea. Name of the : eA hottest spring and evolved in 24 hours} 07 its excess of temperature above that of the locality. | Water, 66 King’s _|King’s f Bath Bath | 28,339 2) D5 lscesccccveesleoes King’s Bath Hot Well St. Anne’s 33/St. Anne’s|St. Anni 13,500] 41,604 13] .ccccccccccsleeee Bath Spring 14}. cccvveerese|eocceceeant Dlesesveecese] 180 § WS livccercctecs ereeeeeseee 40| 7240] ..s-eseeasell Kaiserquelle 85.5}.s..s.seccss|sccvceseuss Miihlenbend 121°5).......sesseJeeseeeree Rondeel 81 Kochbrunnen 108 Schachtbrunnen 27 Gemeindebrunnen]..........2.|eeee 20 Miinster am Stein|..........+.|eeseseeeee 36 21,328]... .ceceus * N.B. In this estimate of mean temperature, no allowance is made for height. It is evident, therefore, Buxton, Bakewell, &c. + Where the name of the spring is not given, the number is understood to indicate the amount evolved t~ N.B. Where not otherwise specified, the spring alluded to in this and the next column is assumed to Number of cubic feet/F REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 8L Thermal Springs. ases evolved & their relative Gaseous contents. Solid contents. sroportions one to the other, g| 6 tes ae Nature of th bundant ingredientsin a pint ature of the more abundan ; z bo © According In a pint of the water. of the water of the and of the more active Sen ie =I to p spring most strongly ingredients present. » 1O) & impregnated. | C.In. Grs. to| 3°5| 96-5)Daubeny ...| Carbonic acid 1:2/King’s Bath 15|Mur. lime and magnesia ;|Phillips. 3. iron, (Iodine, Cuff.) 0.) 8 | 92.|Ditto ......!Carbonic acid 3°750|Hot Well 5°95|Sulph. soda, mur. of lime .|Carrick. val Common air 0°375 0.) 0 |100.)/Pearson_ ...{Carbonic acid 0°187/St. Anne’s _—_‘1°875|Mur. magn. and of soda ...|Scudamore, ae Azote 0-580. D. | 0 | 100.|Daubeny ...|.....e2eseeeeeecesereseees.|Bath Spring 3°5|Sulph. of lime, mur. of soda|Daubeny. t 0. | 0 | 100.|Ditto ......J.ceseccssereeseeeseseeesees} Warm Spring 2°0/Sulph. of soda and mag.,|Ditto. ae mur. lime 0. 8°] DG*5|Ditto — .....|eeveseevsceecesedeeeeven eee |— 1-2/Sulphate of magnesia ......|Ditto, OD. | G5) 93°5|Ditto ......]......cecessesssoeeseneeees/Spa Well 0°3|Carbonate of lime .........|Ditto. i. seess|seeces|secseceeeresees/Carb. acid, with a trace 18-267|Carb. and sulph. of soda;/Funke. id of sulph. hyd. Lithia, ‘potass BO. |..... 69:5 Monheim...|Sulphuretted hydro-|Kaiserquelle 31-95/Mur., carb., and sulph.,/Monheim. oll gen soda; Sulphuret of sodium, { : phosph. soda (8. {| 2 | 80.|Daubeny ...|Carbonic acid 7°6\Muhlenbend 34'0/Mur., carb., and sulph., of|Ditto. ‘ Nitrogen 19-0 ‘soda; Lithia, strontian, $ jluoric acid 0.; 0 0 |Ditto ......|Carbonic acid .,......,/Kesselbrunnen 28°9|Carb., mur., and. sulph., Kastner and = soda; Strontian, barytes,| Struve. phosph. and fluorie acids. 8. | 0 | 27. |Ditto ......|Ditto ....+..000ee+++++.|Kochbrunnen 57°59|Mur. of soda, lime, and po-|Ditto. tass; Bromine, manga- nese, and fluoric acid tees|seesvsleseeeeeseeeeee-(Carbonic acid with ajSchachtbrunn 6°0|Carb. of soda, muriate of Fenner. little nitrogen soda sepe|sereseleeceseeereeeees|CarbOnic acid ....+....|Saltzquelle unter |Mur. of soda; Potass, bro-|Schwein- u 4 der Brucke 119°8} mine berg: tal tateleasseslserecseesesesseleascrscesesessescevessescee| 1 HeOdorshall 87°9/Mur. of soda, lime, and|Prieger. , magnesia; Potass, alu- | mine, phosphoric acid tha it a deduction must be made in all cases where the spring is placed above the level of the ‘sea, as at | ro a all the thermal springs belonging to the locality. be the same, as that of which the composition is given. a VOL. V.—1836. G ae! + nel aay , 82 SIXTH REPORT—1836: 4 Name of the Number of cubic fi hottest spring and | €VOlved in 24 hours ¢ its excess of temperature above that of the locality. Name of the place where the spring Geological position. occurs. Geographical position, ight in 100 ft, above the sea. Hei; ° ;|Wolkenstein «..|Mica slate ....ssseescese «|SAXONYsessesees 33°5|ecceccscecu-|on serene IWiCSENDAG, scassc\DICO. cacccccasvcctsvsensec[DILtDit cospocnes 20:0} ccscnesw ened | cp cownmal Carlsbad .........,|Granite, in a valley of/Bohemia ...... Sprudel 117-0|Sprudel ]....+s+0+08 disruption 111,715 | rt Bb vaceuscudcscex|M@DCliSicasvecsartessaccescec|DIttO ssstavecs 16:0} 12,288)......006 | Toplitz............|Volcanic porphyry ......|Ditto ..seesee. Hauptquelle 71°0} 77,250).....ss000s ° Nn Le] ° a ° = nN to =] o = SE 8 s . be Oo a x ° _ ° = an me) 3s 4 a Warmbrunn......|At the foot of a granitic|Silesia ......... Trinkquelle 47.|.ecseseasees|eoreeenoenss chain i Landeck ...... coe[GMEISS! ccciuaovepeeccccecess|DItCO cocposess Old Bath 35°5| 12,960 os seo Mean temperature estimated at about 50°. 2 to 30°. Mean temp. estimated at about 51°. Wildbad .........|Granite ...scssesseeeeseee| Wirtemburg... Hauptquelle 4 7|..sseseeeees|eoeeeeenes 4 Baden-baden ...|Ditto .......06. -».|Duchy of Ba- Ditto 96°4F.F) 12,038 —— - aden-weiler ...|Ditto ...secccsessseseeeees| Di = S30*D|cccccecbacss|.nsseatimn ermany.* IN. Lat. 48° to 46°. W. Long. 26 B Baden. .......++++.|Jura limestone............/Austria . 68°5|Haupt-— |...sesseree quelle 40,950 Gastein.........<+-|Granite .sseeseeseeeeesees/Saltzburg Alps 66°5/4principal]......seses springs 100,080 + Within the same range of latitude as the above occur the following thermal springs, few of which as stated below, viz. In Moravia. 5 In Styria. 5 In Carinthia. 9g Uttersdorff ......... 37°25 Doppelbad, near Gratz 32°75 F. RO plifZerytusnscaeeannaarere vee 46°50 TOplita ...ceeee eeevee 12°00 Romerbad, near Cilli ... 48:00 Montfalcone, near Trieste. 50°00, Neuhaus, near Cilli...... 46°25 : di In the Tyrol. 7 On the Brenner .......0+46 23°0 4 { Professor Forbes, Philosophical Transactions, part ii., 1836. fy REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 83 ings. (Continued.) es evolved and their relative ortions one to the other, Gaseous contents. Solid contents. Total amount of ingredients in a pint | Nature of the more abundant According | Ina pint of the water. | of the water of the and of the more active According to spring most strongly ingredients present. to impregnated. C.In. EY Grs. - 2 | 98 |Daubeny ...|Carbonic acid ....+000- 1:845|Carbonate of soda .........| Kuhn. 2] 98 {Ditto ......|Ditto ...cerccseescavess 4-03/Carb., sulph., and mur., of|Lampadius. soda 49°6|Sulph. and carb. of soda ;|Berzelius. Strontian, manganese, flu- orice and phosph. acids 39°2\Carb., sulph., and muriate/Steinmann. of soda; Lithia, potass, and manganese, phosph. acid 15°6\Carb. and sulph. of soda;/Ambrozzi. t Phosph. acid (Berzelius) | | 5°3 | 94°7|/Daubeny ...|/Nitrogen 0°735 4°77|Sulph. and carb. of soda;|Tschortner. Sulph. hyd. 6.6 to 8.0 Carb. of ammonia 0 {100 |Ditto ......|Carbonic acid 1:00 2°62|Sulph., and mur., of soda. Sulph. hyd. 4°33 Buavas|desvqclacvcetaroseesee| Ditto 11°85 Receutldeeewil cccocytodeccecs Mitto 33°58 Meese Ecc. soeesbts.|Ditto 2°4 4 if Fa iq c-a1 91°56/Weiss ......,|Carbonic acid 12°00 3°59|Mur., carb., and sulph., of |Sigwort and i Nitrogen 79°25 soda Weiss. i Oxygen 8°25 Beeasee|voscus| se ceccdescecces| CATDOMIC/ACIG a.cccssas 26°331)Mur. of soda, and of lime,JOtto and r sulph. of lime, silica Wolf. Minaon|OWcusloccvcsccaadsccs/DNCLO! \dipckmecannqudtaace 1°7|Chiefly carb. of lime ......|Schmidt. necsee|eeseee|esseseseesesees/SUlph. hyd. 3°33 Carbonic acid 1°77 1:076|Sulph., lime and magnesia|Schenk. Sencsleesecslocevedsovececes|CALDONIC ACIG .sses.s00 2-°7182|Sulph. of soda, mur. of so-|Hiinefeld. da, and potass been sufficiently examined, but which exceed the assumed mean temperature (51°) of the climate, In Croatia. In Hungary. é In Hungary. a : Ofen, or Bada ......ssee0008. 93°S Szalathny .....ccsccsecesessee 9° TYENCSIN cesseeeesvecseceeeees 53D Lucska) .,.,0c0ssscsccseeveocsee 26°0 Postheny, near Presburg... 95°75 Glasshiitte, near Schumnitz 53-0 Ribar, near Neusohl .,.... 27°80 | Eisenbach, near ditto ...... 53°0 Altsohl, near ditto ......... 32°75 | Parad, near Erlau............ 35°0 Stuben, near Kremnitz ... 59°75 © Szobranez, near Unghoar. 19-25 RVFAU) ceyaeaessnaccsssceessessrhocd Budos, near Fiinfkirchen... 86°75 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Sy BS B S% Name of the Number of cubic ie = | Name of the place . ». Geographical | £4 | Bottest spring and | €Volved in 24 hours | where the spring Geological position. 8 tk So its excess of 5 occurs. BCRAUOR ‘3 | temperature above i that of the locality. | water. . |St.Amand ....../Slate covering the coal|Near Valenci-|...... QB cwccicescves|scocecua S formation ennes, Dep. | Ss g du Nord + © -3|Bourbonne les |Granite, covered by Jura|# ( Nr. Chau-|....../La Fontaine 80|2 springs coooc ell sl Bains limestone a mont, Dep. 2,916 n | | - | Haute | a. 3 | Marne | Rae: Ey Luxeuil .........|Granite, covered with g Near Ve-|......|Grand Bain 75°5 8,640]....00c0n £2 2 sandstone | seul,Dep. id fg 24 de Haute et fs mes = | Saone a °, &lPlombieres ....../Granite seseesseeeeeeeeeeefg | Near Epi-| 13 |Ditto 95°75 9,000]...ses0ssall 2D 3 | nal, Dep. 3 3 E 5 de Vosges a 1 BIBains .ssscccecses{DittO sessereveveessseeeeee[S | Near ditto,|....../Grosse Source 71|....sssssse-|sseesesenal g< 8 ditto = Bagnoles ......00.|DittO .sessseeereessneeeree| Near Alengon,|....+ QB). cccwsecccos|seucenti Dep. d’Orne a ops | : Bourbonne |’Ar-|Slate formation ......... NearMou-|....../Grand Puits 69/Grand —|......008 ' chambault lins, Dep. Puits 4 ; g | Tl Allier 86,400 a | o* [Bourbon Lancy..|Ditto .....sssesseeeeeeee] sd | Near ditto,]......|Ecures 84} 10,800]. ....cee0 = | ditto a | = £/Vichy .........-+.{Coal formation, covering] # Near Gan-|......|Bassin desBains 57 9,360|..ceeeeees 3¢ granite =| nat, Dep. ma > 2 | ‘del’Allier wi ER lNeris ...0+0+++./Sandstone and coal, rest-|2 | Nr. Mont-|......|/Puitsde Cesar 89°5) 19,800)....sene4 mos ing on granite ‘3 | lugon, | $s ..¢g 6 | Dep... de a i 52,2 24 V’Allier i iS _ = |Mont Dor.........|Trachyte ...ssssseeesseseee|2 | NearCler-| 34 |Bains de Cesar 12,780 Bini ae = | mont,Dep. 2B. Cesar }} Se =| de Puy de 4,2! a = | Dome rf) | 3 5 Bourboule ....+.|Ditto ssvsevvenanectvensvnel B Ditto......| 28 65 Bil ohne s aod | vo Bet Neotairal. wb IDitto .ecessuonesecascesseclS 9p: DUtte .nd,».|-.+00.|Gros Bouillon © sr laegayepi>scleseeli 3 z 45°75 my } ss 5 : i Chaudes Aigues.|Gneiss s+...ccceeseeseeeeee(O | Nr. Auril-|.,....|Par 1180} 307,188|No. 1 lac, Dep. at de Cantal 3 ms | * The mark (*) indicates that the gas REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 85 Springs. (Continued.) ases evolved and their relative Gaseous contents. oportions one to the other. ~ acid, | teleceees|ecnces|ooeveseesseeses(SUlphuretted hyd, ...|. Pel eeeenelesecen|sessserecsecees|seeeeeeeeeseseseeneenesereels According | Ina pint of the water. to Oxygen. Nitrogen. 0 ]100 |Longchamp.|....e.ccssessessersesceeree 4:5 |77°49|Athenas PP eecenslsensvelcrccccceccesscelseseessessesseseareesesesse [esceee! * |Longchamp.|.scccssssesesseesccessesnee|e AO near leeeseslensesesececesse | CoeeeeOeeeeseoSEessesseerer sealeseceslensveslecssecceseesees|DIttO sesrecsecscaseeees teeleences : Solid contents. Total amount of ingredients in.a pint | Nature of the more abundant of the water of the and of the more active According spring most strongly ingredients present. to impregnated. Grs. sccsceccsooescsseeeeee(9Ulphuret of sodium, sul- phate of soda, and mag- nesia 52/Muriates of soda and lime,|Athenas, sulphates of lime and magnesia sescceeeeceveeceveeeee| Muriates and sulphs.of soda, lime, and magnesia see saceecseseseeeeeroee| Muriates and sulphs.ofsoda,|Vauquelin. magnesia, and lime seeccescescessecsecseee|Muriates of soda, lime, and magnesia. sessevecesesceeeeecees| Muriates of soda, magnesia, and lime. * |Longchamp.|Carbonic acid ....eceee|secseesceeseeseeeeeeees|Mur. soda, sulph. soda. 13°478/Mur,. of soda and potass,|Puvis. sulph. soda and lime 0 |Longchamp,|Ditto ...0.s+sseeeeeee.;90urce des Celes-|Carb., mur., and sulph. of|Longchamp. tins ' 62.) soda 100 [Ditto ...ccclesccosccsesccsvereveccersee|eceseoeseesseeseeeeene(Carb., Mur., and sulph, of soda. *0) 0°85) 9°85|Daubeny ...|Carbonic acid ,........|Source dela Made-|Carb., mur., and sulph, of|Bertrand. ar) ow4 laine 11°4) soda ts|seees|easerelersseeevestere|DIttO seesererereeeeeeee[Source des Fiéyres|Muriate of soda. 18-2 soda Henry. 13 | 80 |Daubeny ...)..+.ssceesessvareseeseeeees/S0urce de Par J4°5|Carb. and mur. of soda,|Chevallier. 15 | 25 magnesia, lime, and ox- ide of iron. SIXTH REPORT—1836. Catalogue of Ther al a3 ~ rod ee Name of the Number of cubic fe = Name of the place : ih Gedgraphical aS hottest spring and | €VOlved in 24 ho 2 where the spring Geological position. position. Se its excess of S occurs. oS temperature above , c] a that of the locality. ‘Water. Gas. | ; o° |Chateau-neuf ...|Volcanic rocks ....+.+0+00. 8 Near Gan-|......|Grand Bains 45°75 pesvavececeslpocwosam Ps = | nat, Dep. = | dePuy de S. z Dome , 8, |E VAUX ...sevecsees|GFAMItC seveeeesseeseeeees/o | NearNeris,|......|Puits de Cesar — |seseeceseverlevecenves as | Dep. de 81°75 Ao =} Creuse § ,- 3 |Saint Laurent ...|Tertiary limestone, co-|2] Near Au-|...... CT eee eee 5 Sa vering granite, with 3 benas, Rok volcanic rocks near ‘s Dep.d’ Ar- oy 2 Ss deche ’ £5 5 |Bagnoles ....+.++.|DittO «s.seseseerssveeeeeeeE | NrsMende,l...0. 57] 6,19 2|.eseeneene os a | Dep. de ; } 3 & | Lozere g |Digne .......+....{Limestone in inclined B Dep. des}... Bassin de l’Etuve |.s.ercceceeeleereeesess ° SHVAtA sessesseseeeseeeee | Basses 59.25 aa 3 | Alpes be is) S Greoulx .........JLimestone in inclined| Dep. des|,....- BUTS)... cecccred{anccodeaill strata 2 | Hautes 1 = | Alpes Aix .sssseseseeeee.|Jura limestone, disloca-|— | Dep. des|......|Sextius 39°0)..cccceccces|eccconesen ted and inclined d Bouches S | duRhone 2. Balaruc ..,......|Jura limestone, near the|Nr. Cette, Dep.|....../Varying from 66].......e+e0.Jecesseeees ie} volcano of Agde d’ Herault to 52 =I 9 [Sylvanes .........|Granite s.secsssseseeeeee] (Near Stelessees AGL, OL eeeerseln Pe Affrique, Ane Dep. de o's l’Aveyron = 2 |Rennes............|Sandstone, breccia, and Near Li-|,.....|Bainfut 5S°O). ceviseeeees ar tS limestone, belonging/$ | moux, 33 Ey to the coal formation,}= | Depart. q 373 highly inclined | d’Aude : 22 ~|Campagne ......|Ditto jailer Ditto ...... sees B1+Blierespeeoe bel \ §|St. Paul de Fe-|From a fault in lime-|S | Near Cau-|...... 21°5 2, =| nouilhades stone, covering slate | | dies, Dep. SF | d’Aude & ElAvles ............|Granite near its junction\S 4, )} 2» | 9 |Petit Escaldadou 86,357|.s.0. call . > Su : 4 2 with limestone 2] 2 1s & 85° 3 F. | =< a| 2 tee ; & [Preste ......0..00. Granite sseeerecereerereelB | oo = % |....../Source d’Apollon 10,888}.....++00s = 3|oJs* 71-0 E Mernetis. cccsscwes Junction of granite with) | 3 17 |Source interieur [2,455,668 seeneneans ee stratified rocks a) 273 72:2 MONE vas ccsceovees Gilles We coy.sdescevthsc A eae xno Grande Source 40/3 springs }....+.+«+ gc |s 1,170 PDHUEZ wesc cscses Granite and serpentine . 3 S 27 |Source du Torrent).....+ceseselecssorsene = | 3 Real 111°5 St. Thomas ......) | Mica slate, resting on a 3 easncs| NOD leserepasr ti Canavilles ......| [a quartzose granite 69°5 REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. Springs. (Continued.) evolved and their relative a 0 Gaseous contents. oportions one to the other. According | Ina pint of the water. to C.In. seceesleceves|soceevesseeeess|Carbonic acid. Wl eeeerleseccclsosccslcovscccoececces IDIttG)” jccctevencsbcvsseee POslececcelcoceesisccsasscuseseseleserareesssreesseseeosenees Beevleocecs SCHTHO CHS S SSO HOREHH Cee eeEEeeeesEeEeeEeeEEEESOD Bivelsesessleosees|eovsedsseodeae(Sulphur. hydr.sosses30s a secseeleceeesleoseceveeeesees{Carbonic acid, sulph, hydrogen * PRT SSHSS CHK SHH SECTS HC ESSE EEE cose eeeesEEREEESESESEDSEOEe seeresleccessleescesvesees «(Carbonic acid POPS S CODE eoesorlseeseerereeEee Deer GUSeS LECT ESTTEEEDEHOHEES sesces|tevceslecsscceessssees|CALDONIC ACID sessevsee * |? Anglada ...|Nitrogen and oxygen Pe eeslecrecceeesenserscccssceseee pesleeceee Ae eeeelencesccccscssccescesesesees COO esleeeePaleoeronecacesresioerees Doser sereessesserens 87 Solid contents, Total amount of ingredients in a pint of the water of the spring most strongly impregnated. Nature of the more abundant and of the more active ingredients present. Grs. sesseccseceeeeeeseseees|Card., Sulph., and mur. o: soda. secccseseseeeeeecseeees|Carb., mur. and sulph. o! soda. seesccseceesseesceseeee Mur. of magnesiaand sulph. of lime. 14°3|Sulphate of magnesia and lime, mur. of soda. 25°32|Mur. of soda and magnesia. 1°5|Carb. of magnesia and lime,|Robert. sulph. of lime 6°O).cccceceeere sosseseeee/Mur. of soda and magnesia,|Figueir. and lime, carb. of lime sevesesscsecoossseeses(Mur. and sulph. of soda and magnesia. 12°0/Oxide of iron. 2-0|Sulphuret of sodium, soda,|Anglada, caustic and combined with sulphuric acid 0°978/Ditto sseeeee|Ditto. seeeeeeoes 1:311)Ditto gRhd ip coccdeccccecssepee|DIGto. 1:326|Ditto wimdsbacdvcencccessecoas|l1C0G, ODBAIDitto .srecesecececnsensdorece Ditto. According to France. W. Longitude 4° to E. Longitude 4°. Assumed mean temperature 60° Fahr. 88 SIXTH REPORT—1836. -|Beu Calde 23°75]..secsceseee|eteoeneenees =e e =3 s Name of the place : Pe = where the spring Geological position. toe ae 38 occurs. position. 28 fo} oe Sorede ........ -++.|From granitic pebbles .. wee ladaree 2 Lee Reynez ......+04|Mica slate ...csssccoseeeees 3 [ES Lae . . e = Enn ...s.s+0seeee0|Mica slate, resting on a ha) ba baal EE saccharoid limestone je) = Fi Thuez ..........«.|Junction of granite with 3 BS Niece: limestone along a line & a) of fissure Eo s Escaldas .........|Granite near its contact 9 |b 47 with slate o | a cs Om rae Os Dorres .....+.+++0e(Like Escaldas ......se000 & ( Se | 48 LiOS fesse occdesesupeldesandassesucncaadeasesesesves a Ky Resges AX seseceeseeesee(At the boundary line of Dep. d’Ar-| 25 granite and slate riege,near Tarascon Limestone, with granite Ditto, ditto}...... contiguous GZ Kenesovascsncos|CXautGracsesecgecsscecesess Ussat seccvesccces Valley Offe..ect Bagnéres de Lu-|Granite near its junction chon with clay-slate HauteGa- ronne Dep. del... HauteGa- ronne, nr. St. Gau- dens Exncausse ......+0-|LimestOMe sscesssssseeees with the chain of the Pyrenees Bagnéres de Bi- gorre clay-slate,with patches|$ | Hautes of granite near it Capvern seeceeees|Limestone cescoeseseeees =| Pyrénées 9 © | Dep. desj...... Hautes Pyrénées, near Ba- gnéres de Bigorre N. Latitude 44° to 42°. Barege csseccesees i Dep. de} 20 |Grotte superieur |+++++sereess|eeeee i: Catalogue of lacs | Name of the Number of cubic feet ot hottest spring and evolved in 24 hours 9 f its excess of ¥y temperature above that of the locality. Water. Sete ° Font Agre D-leccsceecesies ceeeenceee Be | | GD esvitievevesevosecteae | Source d’Exhalade]...ccsscscesleseseseees 4 71 Buvette 47:1F.| 28,609 Source Gervais eaatdivensatldace “tana 24°25 Source des Canons}.+.++eee+ses|eveeerersene 108-0 40:0 18,000)...... ool Source A 26:4 F. TO1LF. 77°75 G:O|.eseececeverleccecerscens j “4 | Limestone resting on|g | Dep. des| 20 |Dauphin ola Clay-slates, with horn- Dep. des| 42 |Grande Douche _|.+ssse+seeeleesevecennee blende ; granite not Hautes 51:9 F. far distant Pyrénées St. Sauveur .....|Slaty limestone, with Ditto ......| 25 |La Houtalade teeveneeceeeleceeseennens hornblende slates ad- 8°5 F. 3 jacent ; granite not far distant a Cauterets .........|Clay-slate, with horn- Ditto ......| 31 |Source des Giufs |Source de|Source de blende in nearly ver- 70°1 F.| Pauze Pauze “ tical beds,near the con- alone 61% tact with granite 1,326 All the springs fi 12,240 REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 89 prings. (Continued.) es evolved and their relative} Gaseous contents. Solid contents. oportions one to the other. : F < Teta amount of - -_ o 5 ingredients in a pint | Nature of the more abundant ; & &S | According | Inapint of the water. | of the water of the and of the more active Aver ene # s to spring most strongly ingredients present. ° % impregnated. Grs sesees|eeeees[Anglada ...|Carbonic acid ......... 6°8|Carb., sulph., and mur. of/Anglada. soda; owide of iron O |Ditto ......|-ecceccecscsecccccccceseseslecessocsceccscesseeese(OUlph. Of lime and soda,|Ditto. mur. of soda 08 |Ditto! 2s i.8.|..0055. shessccccecseneceees|VETY SMAlleceeesees|DittO seeceeeecsesevececeesess| Ditto. O [Ditto ..cccclecececccsccccscccrenccos Sv elsnsscasvateuswbedasdeur [DUE 4Qlcthascsevesasevvauaes| DIttO. O {100 |Ditto ....ccjeccsescscsccseesersescerees 1:02|/Hydrosulphuret of soda,|Ditto. with soda and potass, : caustic? sulph. of soda? O |100 [Ditto ......]e0reveeesccvcreccccseesenslerscccnccsseseercessees|DIttO sereereeeeeceeceeseeeee+| Ditto, GULOG.|Ditior? ..2522}-c0eevechsscoteoensadesoensctius becccvceeneevnvee( DIED | Wiesseebescssssoedevsses|DIttO. sncevelececeslreeccecesevcns[secvecccssssescsssesevses lesecccseescessveeesener| yarosulphuret of sodium, caustic soda. sevees|eererelsecccccececscss|tecsessevecssecscsccseseesclevessscsesseesesseseses(OUlph. and mur. of mag. Ranesh|aveccc|csbcvcnccvcces| saganecdonstnssedseanaa awe 2°2|Sulphuret of sodium, carb., sulphate, mur. of soda. Pecces|soserelececccscscvenss Carbonic acid .+.sees0s|seseeeseeceeseeeeeseees|Sulph. of lime, magnesia, and soda. sensealececee|ecesenecerseces|DIttO sseseeseeseeseeeee|SOurce de la Reine|Sulph. of lime, magnesia,|Gauderex. 1:37| and soda, mur. of mag- , nesia and soda eta oehtetalna nach suacesene| DLO vadasdedonsesaneens 8°0|Sulph. of lime and mag. |Save. © [100 |Longchamp.|.....ssccsesesseseneeeenes 2°3/Sulphuret of sodium, caus- tic soda, sulph. of soda. televeccsleccecslesscceseecccccelecescscesscscescsssescueoes 1°1)/Ditto. 0 |100 |Longchamp.|.......ceeeseceeeseeeseeees|Le Pré 29. Country. France. N. Lat. 44° to 42°. W. Long. 4° to E. Long, 4°. E. Long. 6° to 10°. Switzerland. N. Lat. 48° to 46°. Name of the place where the spring Geological position. Geographical occurs. position, Eaux Bonnes .,./In a yalley of disruption, Dep. des from highly inclined|g | Basses beds of limestone, near g Pyrénées its contact with granite} > Eaux Chaudes...|In a valley of disruption, at the junction of gra- nite, with inclined beds of limestone Cambo ......+0+...|Clay-slate in strata, resting on gra- Ditto ...... chain of the Pyre Ditto ...... ~ 5 ° i= 5 o i=") Assumed mean temp. 60° Fahr. th the nite Dax «+.,++++-+++++-({Compact limestone, with|'¢ | Dep. trap near it | Landes Barboutan ...+4./Tertiary ?...ssseeeeeeeseeeel | Dep. de & | Gers i] () Castera-vivant...|Tertiary ?eecscssesecssesees Ditto ...... Yverdun ....csccclscscoscescscsecceseeeseseesees(canton of Neu- chatel SIXTH REPORT—1836. des}...... Catalogue of Thern €. a i = a Name of the ales of sho £2 | hottest spring and | €Volved in 24 how Peas its excess of 5 | temperature above 3 2 that of the locality. | water. / 26 |Soure Vieille 32-Olssis+scosne-|ucanalll 314 F. 22 |Clot 34:6 F. 3,924). scceen sores 10.}.cscovcccver|eceoet 3 7 | , 82-25 ouseee AA, |seereccesees|eocves 13 27 Seccopasoccalscsshia Pfeffers............|Disrupted beds of lime-|Canton of St.| 23 |From 50°5 to 51:0|Very varia-|, stone Gall 48-9 F, ple.greatest|" =429,120), least in winter 0” |Vals ssssseeeseeeees(Clay slate and compact Valley of Lug-|..... 14). .ceccvsecclouesneam g limestone nitz, canton a of Grisons 1 E|Weissenburg ...|...sssseseeseseseseeeeeeeeeees(Canton of | 27 32°5 F. 1,423}....0008 a Berne | ¢|Loueche .........,Disrupted beds of lime-|Canton of Va-| 47 74:1 F.| 161,364]....0008 I stone, with granite not} lais z far distant | S |Baden .esseccececclecesee sscesseccsesesessseseee(canton of Ar-| 10 |St. Verene 78°0/One ounce a gau spring < 186,325 Schinznach ...ccolecccsvcscscsccccsscocscsccevee|DIttO sescceeee| 10 39°25). cevccescceclecesens varying a degree | or so REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. 9] Solid contents, Total amount of ingredients in a pint | Nature of the more abundant According | Ina pint ofthe water. | of the water of the and of the more active to spring most strongly ingredients present. impregnated. According to Grs. Diospasalddahel|waneckegrsbscer|scscsecnascodecsecepssannes 0:949|Sulphuret of sodium, caus- tic soda, sulph. of lime. Blsnowed|ncaces|scccenccscece eereccevcoeneanes 6-000|Sulph. of magnesia, mur. of|Poumier. soda and magnesia DRnanee lean slenccubarsnectes|soacnantesepevovebensnenees 1:5|Sulph. and mur. of mag. leessce|oceees|eesseeeeseeeeee[Sulphuretted hyd. slesccealecececlsccscuvsececcee|DIttO sesccsressenccsselesonsesseeseseeeveeeeee(OUlph. of soda and mur, 0: lime. Riasialowitsvslnnapeiscteuse.|scsacsccudssbenssentotetes. 2°61|Sulphate of soda and mag~/|Capeller. nesia, muriate of soda and magnesia Se ab alsin ssid] wind avenpronh qivvic| Sup» obudbessbedzonoobinsh old 17°3/Sulph. of lime and _ soda,|Ditto. carbonate of lime s|eosere|seceeclavevevverenssee|CALDONIC ACIC seceveees 21-1|Sulphates of lime, soda, and|Brunner. q magnesia 0 |100 |Ure .......2.|Ditto .scsereessoernneee 21-47|Sulphate of lime, magnesia,|Morell. and soda Meh liescwelacsnectqueanass| Ditto 2°56) 32°29/Sulph. of lime, muriate of/Bauhoff. Sulphuretted hyd. soda and mag., sulph. of ‘ soda Saws lncsens|uccsescsasess00| Ditto 6:0 27-0|Sulphate of lime and soda,|Ditto. Carbonic acid ‘ mur. of soda and mag., oxide of iron Baers lesesaslacceasessccncvs|scccescccccsscccssenssceses 0°983|/Muriate of soda, sulph. of|Morell. lime, carb, of soda & Name of the place 5 where the spring Geological position. fs] occurs. St. Gervais Sts Didier. J: .ecoedlesscoscscvesseccsccccesesevece/Vallee d Aostel.csce: Italy. N. Lat. 45° to 43°. Piedmont ...Acqui, excess of temperature Acqua della Bollente ......... Valdiervis ciiiis csecescocvccsses Vinadio ...ccccccossccccescvvces Craveggia ...csceeee cceveeevece Bobbi0.....cecccccccvscccvsvccces Acqua Santa, near Genoa ... La Penna, near Voltri ...... Roccabigliera, near Nizza... Lombardy... Abano, near Padua...s..s0+00s Tuscany.» «6+ LUCCA seseeeceseres Monte Cerboli. Pisa coscesccccssccvcccscvevccccees Monte Catini .....ssesesseseees PapalStates.Nocerassscsssscseseeesecensenvees Mean temp. 60°. ° 107° 86°75 93°50 21°50 Talc slate......sesee+eeeees| Near Sallenche} 17 F. Geographical position, SIXTH REPORT—1836. Catalogue of Ther ° 56°50 20°25] .ereeceeeees Italy. 4) t re oe ie 3 : o ae ote Se Name of the babe pc of cubic feeit ‘<= | hottest spring and evolved in 24 ho} we oR its excess of = 3 temperature above s 4 that of the locality. Water. Gas. 1;440|..+...00ll | a] N. Lat. 43° to 40°. Mean temp. assumed to be 6) Bagni de San Filippo...... cecccccccccereesee Bagni de Vignone (the Reservoir)...++++«. Viterbo, Bullicami (the Lake) ......++.+«- Civita Vecchia .....secccccecenseeesseconeveees Civillina ...ccscerececeseess Puzzuoli, Temple of Serapis ..+essseeeseee Baths of Nero ....sscvcceseeseeeversensessssecs Pisciarelli...ssscececevsceeseesecceseccssesecsees Torre del AnnunZiata.e.cscscsserscecesensees eee eneeeeereeeeesees * At the Reservoir evolves gas consisting o’ |St. Martino ......|Gritty dark-coloured [Near Worms,| 50 |Varies from 68 to]...ssscesees|eceeesennnuhe A sandstone in the can- 46 | - ton of Valte- ° . co j Eire AUX: ewcewsvelrceds|suacsdvcuceessegedecetenevacs(Nean » (ONAM=c, ese G7 ‘O).ascensereeeleeeeeseens Ba | Se - © , 38 = Bonnneval ...cccccclscccesscccesscscoccvescccccsees| LALANLAISC, NY.|.ccccclsccccccceccceccccesscsslescvesevccss|evceensds 8 3 BurgSt.Mau- ROE 3 |La Perrier .csseslesscecsscsesccssscseecesseeees| Near Moutiers,| 14 49°5|.ccccccccvcclecccooe ahi Sig Tarantaise ‘ oO a IMIGUPIETS Seccccnesltwtectnrceanedecedecerenccosss AAULAINE | veclncsaae AT*D5lssacchaccccdlescccdai SH gq [Echaillon.........|scescsscecssccssscseeevasesees Maurienne ...|...... 39°6 | 3 Courmayeur sseleccrereeeceeeeeececeeeecescees| Valley of Aoste]...... 14°5|.cccesseesee|eccesecens Z 7 ‘ REPORT ON MINERAL AND THERMAL WATERS. prings. (Continued.) ses evolved and their relative oportions one to the other. ov @ | According s to a j-e+|.+.+e.(chief-| Daubeny ...|Carbonic acid ......... ly Pelee ces| ee eeeslsesnsecccescsenieesseeseeseeseeseruasonsese 0 | 0 {100 |Gimbernat ./Carbonic acid, sulph.|Sulphur spring 4:0 hydrogen 2{ 0 | 88 |Daubeny. 0 | 90 |Socquet ...|Carbonic acid, sulph. hydrogen, trace sesleceees(eeveee|Daubeny ...|CarbOnic acid ......00. seslscseeslsesess(DittO .e20e|Ditto lands connected geographically with Italy, and in 4 . the same latitude, viz. : N. Lat. 48° to 40°. gitello, Ischia, varies from 83°°5 to 949-5... ua de Cappone, Ischia ....sceccecseseees MTD a dea suite aghieccsedcapccesscnceceacad BD iveiis vn cists asta tay tide «aks« vckseauyante sos BRITE ESCHIA, mac cuccnastsacdcccsimeeddocsses BSEStItUtarts..ccscepevciseesaccveecssacees Ms GUINAS, SATAINIG......csceesececcsvcsssvece PRANCOLLD fs cuweds sce! sonscersecereeseccece netutti BMA We aeiensscee>-cweevarcepsecccdevsene MS COPTIC soe dsvines aaa LT: Te SE ysis eater o§ SIXTH REPORT—1836. for the effect of the momentum of the needle, unless the centres of gravity and of the axle should be strictly coincident, which is a nicety of adjustment rarely if ever attained. The amount of this correction is learnt by comparing the dip observed at some one station with that needle, and with others of the ordinary con- struction in which the poles are changed in each determination. The following observations, made at Limerick, furnish this cor- rection. 1. Needle S (2). No.of Read- . Date. ise popehaass eee Redneso {0} ‘ Oo i July 1835 ..... 4 80 71 16:93 | 71 15°68 December 1835) 3 71 146 71 14:60 February 1836 | 1 40 a haa Fate May 1836.......| 2 80 71 12:0 71 13:25 Mean, weight being allowed proportioned to the number of sets. 71 14:7 | 2. With other needles. No. of No. of Read- Date. Sets ae each Reduced to i ts Dip observed. Jan. 1836. -_—=- 54 | Meyer’sNeedle. 9:5 |Dollond S$ (1). 1:8 |Dollond S (1). 1-4 |Meyer’s Needle. (e) “ November 1833| 4 48 711947 7} August 1834... | 2 96 71 03°5 70 May 1836.....| 1 128 71 00°57 71 May& June1836) 2 128 71 00°05 7AM cons Mean, weight being allowed proportioned : : to the number of sets. : 71 028 Whence it results that — 12! is the correction for the dips ob- served with Needle S (2); and from the small amount of this correction it may be regarded as constant within the limits com- prised by the observations in Scotland. The dips inserted in the * In Meyer’s needle, by the use of spheres of different magnitudes in the different sets, the results are obtained from ares differing very widely from each other, and in which the needle*rests on very different parts of the axle. The avoidance thereby of any constant error, caused by the imperfect curvature of some particular parts of the axle, is one of the advantages of a needle on this construction which ought not to be lost sight of, or unattended to in observing with it. The partial results may be wider if the axle be not very truly ground, but the mean is more likely to be free from error. —- MAGNETICAL OBSERVATIONS IN SCOTLAND. 99 following table have therefore been diminished 12!from the ori- ginal observations. | Taste I. Observations of Dip, Needle S (2). No. of; Station. Lat. |Long.| Date. ail Dip Place of Observation. . ovloet ov Dublin .........[53 21] 6 15 | July 22, 23.) 240 | 71 01°1 Provost’s Garden, Trinity College. Helensburgh .|56 0 | 4 41 | July 28, 160 | 72 15°9 Seabeach. Gt. Cumbray .|55 48} 4 50 | July 30. 80 | 71 58°7 NE. end of the Island. Loch Ridan ...|55 57] 5 10 | Aug. 5. 52 72 142 Eastern side of the Loch. Loch Gilphead|56 04] 5 28 | Aug. 7. 104 | 72 05°2 Wood near the Canal. Castle Duart...|56 31] 5 45 | Aug. 9. G6} 72 12°38 Grounds of Castle Duart. Tobermorie ...|56 38 | 6 01 | Aug. 10. 80 | 73 05°2 Scabeach §S. of the Town. Loch Scavig ...|57 14] 6 07 | Aug. 12. 48 | 73 02°8 Near the entrance of Loch Coruisk. Loch Slapin ...'57 14] 6 02 | Aug. 14. 48 | 72 59°7 E. side of the inner Loch. Artornish ...... 56 33] 5 48} Aug. 16. 48 | 72 40°4 Limestone Point S. ot the Castle. Glencoe ......... 56 39 | 5 07 | Aug. 17. 72 | 72 147 Grove near the Village. Fort Augustus|57 08} 4 40 | Aug. 19. 72 | 72 379 Field near the Canal. Inverness ...... 57 27| 4 11] Aug. 20. 64 | 72 44°1 Grounds of Abertorf. Golspie ......+.- 57 58] 3 57 | Aug. 23. 236 | 72 53°1 Wood near the Inn. Inverness ...... 57 27| 411] Aug. 24. 48 | 72 43°9 Grounds of Abertorf. Gordon Castle |57 37 | 3 09 | Aug. 25. 88 | 72 384 Grounds of the Castle. Rhynie . ..(57 20] 250] Aug. 26. 88 | 72 23°2 Field near the Inn. Alford . 57 13| 2 45 |Aug.27&29.) 160 | 72 19°5 By the River in front of the Manse, Braemar, 57 01| 3 25] Aug. 30. 80 | 7211°7 Field near the Inn. Blairgow (56 36] 3 18 | Aug. 31. 80 | 71 52°25 | Field N. of the Town. Newport (56 25] 2 55 | Sept. 1. 136 | 72 14°95 | Field inland of the Village. Kirkaldy 56 07 | 3 09 | Sept. 3. 88 | 72 08°5 Mr. Fergus’s Garden, Melrose ........-/55 35 | 2 44 | Sept. 6. 80 | 71 3445 | Riverside, E. of the Abbey. Dryburgh ...... 55 34] 2 39 | Sept.7. 80 | 71 31°2 Tweed side. Edinburgh ...|55 57 | 3 11 | Sept.8. 80 | 71 47°9 Botanic Garden. Glasgow.........|55 51] 4 14 | Sept. 9. 104 | 71 59°2 Botanic Garden. Helensburgh...|56 0 | 4 41 | Sept. 13. 80 | 72 12°6 Field East of the Town. Loch Ranza...|55 42| 5 17 | Sept. 16. 130 | 72 20°45 | East side of the Loch. -Campbeltown ./55 23] 5 38 | Sept. 16. 80 | 71 53°5 S. side of the Harbour. Stranraer ......|54 55] 4 59 | Sept. 18. 80 | 71 40:93 | Seabeach E. side of the Loch. Bangor .........(54 40] 5 40 | Sept. 21. 80.) 71 36:7 Grounds of the Castle. Dublin ........./53 21] 6 15 | Oct.4. 80 | 71 00°7 Provost’s Garden, Trinity College. NOE eee ee 8 ies IN eT rn a The latitudes and longitudes are taken from the map of Scot- land published by the Society for Diffusing Useful Knowledge. The stations and dips enumerated in the preceding table re- quire to be combined, according to the method exemplified in the Irish Magnetical Report, in order to determine the angle which the isoclinal lines in Scotland make with the meridian ; and the distance apart of the isoclinal lines which correspond to certain differences of dip. For this purpose some one station may be selected as the origin of the coordinates of distance of the other stations; and at that station the dip should be as- certained with all possible accuracy. In the progress of the observations, I had occasion frequently to remark the disturb- ance in the direction of the needle caused by the vicinity of rocks of igneous origin. Rocks of this nature are so extensively and generally diffused throughout Scotland, as to make it doubtful whether any station could be selected, which might be confidently assumed to be entirely free from local disturbance of this na- H2 100 SIXTH REPORT—1836. ture; and at which consequently the dip, observed with sufficient care and repetition, might be presumed to be due solely to the geographical position of the station. With this view, I have deemed it preferable to take un arbitrary geographical position, nearly central in regard to Scotland and to the body of the ob- servations, and to compute the most probable dip for that po- sition by a combination of the results at all the stations of obser- vation. The central position adopted is lat. 56° 27', long. 4° 25! W. of Greenwich. The coordinates of distance in latitude and longitude of the several stations from the central position, ex- pressed in geographical miles, are inserted in the subjoined table, together with the observed dips at each station, in degrees and decima!s of a degree. TaBLe II. | Diff. | Diff. Diff. | Diff. Station. of of Dip. Station, ‘of of Dip. Lat. | Long. Tat. | Long. Loch Scavig... | +47] +55] 73-047 || Loch Ridan ...|— 30 +25| 73-237 Lech Slapin .. | +47] +52] 72:995 || Blairgowrie .. |+ 9, —37] 71-871 Golspie ...... +91] —15| 72°885 || Helensburgh... |— 27, + 9| 72-265 Inverness .... | +60]— 8| 72-735 |) Helensburgh .. |— 27, + 9| 72:210 Inverness .... | +60) — 8] 72-732] Lock Ranza .. |— 45) +29] 72-341 Tobermorie .. | +11} +53) 73-087 || Cumbray .... |— 39, +14] 71-978 Fort Augustus | +41]+ 8| 72-632 || Campbeltown .|— 64' +42] 71:892|. Gordon Castle | +70| +41] 72°640|| Newport .... |— 2 —50| 72-250 -Astornish ..... + 6|+46] 72-673 || Glasgow....... |— 36 — 6] 71:987 Castle Duart.. | + 4] +44} 72:213]| Kirkaldy...... — 20 —42| 72-142 Glencoe...... +12) +23} 72245 || Edinburgh.... |— 30 —41| 71-798 Rhynie ...... +53] —51| 72-387 || Bangor ...... —107, +43) 71°612 Braemar...... +34] —33] 727195 || Stranraer .... |— 92) +20) 71-692 Alford........ +46 |—54| 72°325 || Melrose...... — 52 —57| 71-574 Loch Gilphead | —23| +35] 72-087 || Dryburgh .... |— 53, —60| 71°520 | We have then three unknown quantities to seek; viz. 8 = the dip at the central position; « = the angle which the isoclinal line passing through the central position makes with the me- ridian ; and r = the coefficient determining the rate of increase of the dip in the normal direction. Putting 7 cos w = x, and r sin uw = y, the equations of con- dition to be combined by the method of least squares are of the following form : Loch Scavig . . . . 73°047 55.4” — 47.y, = - Loch Slapin .. . . 72°995 = 8 + 52.4% — 47.y, Golspie. ..... . 72°885 =8— 15.4 —91.y, NE ee MAGNETICAL OBSERVATIONS IN SCOTLAND. 101 and so forth, there being as many equations as there are stations of observation. Or if we diminish by an equal amount (71°, for instance,) each of the observed dips, for the convenience of work- ing with smaller numbers, and make = 71° + a, these equa- tions become, 9-047 = 9 + 55.4 — 47.9, 1:995 = 9 4+ 52.u —47.¥, 1885 = 9 — 15.4 —91.y; and so forth. The sum of the 30 equations, representing the sum of the equations severally multiplied by the coefficient of v*,is 4+ 38:238 = +300 + 4.7 +56y- + - (A) Next, multiplying the same equations severally by the respective coefficients of x, we have . 4 119°585 = + 559 + 3025.9 — 2585.4, 4+ 103°740 = 4+ 52 Y 4+ 2704.47 — 2444.y, _ 98:975 = —159 + 225.4 + 1365.y, and so forth; the sum of these 30 equations being 4. 170°00 = +49" + 43084.2 + 9660.y . + (B) And lastly, multiplying by the coefficients of y, we have — 96:209 = — 479! — 2585.4 + 2209. y, _ 93°765 = — 47 8! — 2444. 4% 4+ 2209.¥, Lie bod =k + 1365.x + 8281.y¥, and so forth; the sum being — 431°82 = + 562% + 9660.% + 71514.y . - (C) The three final equations A, B, C, furnish by elimination the most probable values of the quantities sought. These are as follows : y= 10988, w= +°00557, y= — 00780; and from these we obtain the dip at the central station § = 71° + 8 = 72288 = 72° 17':3; the angle which the isoclinal line makes with the meridian = — 54° 27'; or its direction is from N. 54° 27! E. to S. 54° 27' W.; and the rate of increase of dip iu the normal direction = 0'575 in each geographical mile, or 52°15 geographical miles to each half-degree of dip. If now we substitute in the second members of the original equations the previously unknown values of 8, 7, and y, we ob- tain the most probable dip due to the geographical position of each of the stations of observation ; and, by transposition, the most probable amount of error in each of the observations, 102 SIXTH REPORT—1836. whether it be regarded as error of observation or as resulting from local disturbance: bearing in recollection however, in the case of stations very distant from the central position, that the assumption upon which the equations are founded is probably not strictly correct, viz. of parallelism in the isoclinal lines, and of an uniform rate of increase of dip throughout Scotland. The following Table exhibits the differences of observation and calculation ; and shews the geological character of the surface rock at each of the stations, taken from Dr. Macculloch’s Map, which, as far as I have had opportunities of judging, I have found everywhere most remarkably correct. When the ob- served dip is greater than the computed, the sign + is affixed, and — when less. TaBce III. Diff. observ’d } observ’d Station. and_ | Geological Character. Station. and_ | Geological Character. compd. compd Dip. Dip Z ‘ Loch Scavig... | + 52 | Hypersthene Loch Ridan ... | ++ 2°0 | Mica Slate. Loch Slapin... | + 3°0 | Lias and ‘I rap. Blairgowrie ... | —17*1 | RedSandstone &Trap. Golspie ......... | — 1°7 | Red Sandstone. Helensburgh . | + 6°5 | Red Sandstone. Inverness ...... | + 1°3 | Red Sandstone. Loch Ranza... | +14°5 | Clay Slate & Granite. Tobermorie ... | +-25°7 | Trap. Cumbray ...... + 5°1 | Red Sandstone & Trap Fort Augustus | — 1°2 | Red Sandstone. Campbelton ... | — 7°9 | Red Sandstone & Trap Artornish ...... + 49 | Limestone and Trap. ||} Newport ...... | —-15°3_ | Trap. Gordon Castle | + 2-0 | Red Sandstone. Glasgow....+... | -- 0°9 | Coal Series. pote Duart . | —2)-1 rap. . ; Kirkaldy ...... +146 | Coal rae ae Trap. sleNncoe ....... | —15°9 | Clayslate & Porphyry. . ane * Coal Series (Botanic Rhynie ......... — 1:8 | Gneiss. pow'y;|| Edinburgh ... if { Garden). Braemar ..... —10°5 | Granite. Bangor .....000. — 5'1 | Trap. 7 Na Dee — 1:2 | Gneiss. Stranraer ...... 0°0 | Clayslate. Loch Gilphead | —13°0 | Chlorite Slate. Melrose......... | -- 0°5 | Clayslate. Dryburgh...... — 13 | Clayslate. We may divide the differences shown in this Table into three classes; the first, of seven stations, wherein the differences are very great, amounting to 14’ and upwards ; second, of eight sta- tions, wherein the differences are more moderate, being between 14’ and 2’; and in the third class we may place the remaining twelve stations, at which the differences do not exceed 2’, being | an amount which scarcely deserves to be called a difference. Referring now to the geological characters of the stations, we find, 1st, that all those of the first class, or where the differ- ences exceed 14’, are stations either of trap rocks or of rocks of a similar nature ; 2nd, that the stations of moderate differences are for the most part characterized also by the presence of igneous rocks either wholly or partially ; and 3rd, that at all the stations at which the differences do not exceed 2’, the sur- face rock is sedimentary. It seems a reasonable inference from these facts, that instrumental errors make but a small portion of 1 —- —— ee eee Se a "me MAGNETICAL OBSERVATIONS IN SCOTLAND. 103 the differences under the two first heads; and that we are war- ranted in considering such differences as evidencing real irre- gularities in the magnetic direction at the respective stations, caused by the presence of igneous rocks. We shall subsequently find that this inference is confirmed by the agreement of the intensities deduced by the horizontal and statical methods, when the dips actually observed are employed in the reduction of the horizontal vibrations, and in their extreme disagreement when the dips due simply to the geographical positions are em- ployed. A question here arises, how far the general results which we have derived, in regard to the isoclinal lines, from the combina- tion of the dip observations, are likely to have been affected by these local irregularities ; and it is satisfactory in this view to find, that a careful consideration of the errors in Table II]. leads to the inference, that the disturbing cause, whatever it may be, has no uniform tendency, but that its effect is nearly as often to diminish as to increase the dip. It is indeed a consequence of the method of combination that the + and — errors should nearly balance; but had the effect of the disturbance at the igneous stations been uniformly to augment the dip (for in- stance), the sedimentary stations would all have appeared in defect, and all the igneous ones in excess; whereas the results at the sedimentary stations are indiscriminately in excess and in defect, but to a very inconsiderable amount ; and at the ig- neous stations they are also indiscriminately in excess and in defect, but with differences of considerable amount. After much consideration, it does not appear to me that a more satisfactory or probable conclusion would be arrived at, were any one or more of the stations now included in the cal- culation, to be withdrawn from it. Every observation of the dip has been included in the calculation, excepting two. One of these was at Oban, where I hastily observed the dip on a trap rock at no great distance from the wharf, whilst waiting for asteamer, and the result has been found to differ more than a degree from the dip assigned by calculation. I suspected the locality whilst making the observation; and had time per- mitted I should have removed the instrument to another spot, and repeated the observation. As it is I can only consider it too doubtful a result to be placed on the same footing with the others. The other rejected observation was of a very extraor- dinary nature. On a rock on which I landed, on the west side of the harbour at Loch Scavig, I observed a dip of 78° 10°3, exceeding by 5° that which could be assigned to the geographical position. I had never before experienced an irregularity of dip. 104 SIXTH REPORT—1836. of similar amount, nor had I read of others who had done so. The weather was fine, and I had full time to assure myself that there was no instrumental mistake. After completing the series of four readings in each position of the needle, all of which corresponded well, I removed the instrument three several times to different places of observation distant ten or twelve yards, always obtaining the same result. The coincidence of the plane of the circle with the magnetic meridian was also verified by removing the compass needle to a fourth place con- siderably distant. The rock was hypersthene, remarkably tra- versed and intersected by trap veins, and certainly not an eli- gible spot for magnetic observations. Crossing to the other side of the harbour, to a spot less intersected by trap veins, near where the waters from Loch Coruisk fall into the sea, the needle gave the result 72° 59!°8, which has been included in the calculation, and differs only 5”2 from the general deduction. The lines of dip are laid down in the annexed chart agreeably to the general results which have been deduced. The dip at the central position in lat. 56° 27’ and long. 4° 25’ is 72° 17°3, and the angle which the isoclinal lines make with the meridian at this station is 54° 27’. The isoclinal lines drawn in the map are those of 71° 30!, 72°, 72° 30’, and 73°, and are at distances apart of 52°15 geographical miles. The near accordance in the amount of the angle with the meridian, and of the interval corresponding to half-degrees of dip, with the results obtained in Ireland in the preceding year, is confirmatory of both as near approximations. The angle with the meridian of the isoclinal lines in Ireland is 56° 48’, and the interval between the lines representing half-degrees of dip is 50°7 geographical miles. So far the correspondence of the observations of the two years and of the two countries is very satisfactory. The lines of 71° 30’ and 72° are the only ones that are common to both countries. If these lines are prolonged from the Scottish chart, they will enter Ireland to the south of the corresponding lines on the Irish chart; the line of 71° 30’ by a geographical space equal to about 9’ of dip, and that of 72° by a space equal to about 8’. In other words, the dip in the north-east part of Ireland, computed from the Scottish observations, would be about that number of mi- nutes greater than if computed from the general result of the Irish observations ; and in the north-west of Scotland the dip computed by the Irish results would be the same quan- tity less than by the Scotch results. Campbelton, Bangor, and Stranraer are frontier stations which may illustrate this. The dip at Campbelton deduced from the Irish results (dimi- ——- MAGNETICAL OBSERVATIONS IN SCOTLAND. 105 nished by 3!’ for the decrease of dip between 1835 and 1836,) is 71° 533; deduced from the Scottish results it is 72° 01’:4 The actual observation was 71° 53'5, agreeing in this case with the Irish deduction. At Bangor the dip deduced from the Irish results is 71° 323, and from the Scotch 71° 41'6: the observed dip was 71° 36°7, being intermediate between the two deductions. At Stranraer the deduction from the Irish results is 71° 31’°9, and from the Scottish 71° 40-9; the observed dip being 71° 40°9, which in this instance corresponds with the Scotch deduction. The discrepancy is not of greater amount than may easily disappear on a slight modification of the results in one or both countries, a modification which they may be expected to receive from more multiplied and extended observations. The true values of « and 7 are probably not exactly the same in the two countries ; but it may be expected, when observations shall be sufficiently multiplied, that the de- ductions from the general results in both countries should agree in giving the same dip for the frontier stations. We have hitherto no general series of observations of dip in England ; but from the great pains which Captain James Clark Ross has bestowed on its determination in London, we may regard the result obtained by him in July 1835, viz. 69° 173, as extremely free from instrumental error, and liable only to such differences from the dip strictly due to its geographical position, as may arise from local causes. The corrected dip for Sep- tember 1836 would be about 69° 14’. The difference of dip between the central station in Scotland and in London, com- puted with the values of x and y resulting from the Scotch ob- servations, is —3°-07, which being deducted from 72°17':3, leaves the computed dip in London 69° 10"3. This is another con- firmation that the Scotch results are near approximations, pre- suming, as is probable, that the values of w and r are nearly the same in England as in Scotland. In this instance the deduc- tion from them is in defect; in the comparison with those from the Irish results it is in excess. II. Invensiry. §. By Professor Lloyd’s Statical Method. The observations by this method were made with the same needle that was employed in determining the dip, viz. S (2). The method itself is described in the Fifth Report of the British Association, page 137, and more largely in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy for 1836. It is important in all observations of intensity that the needle 106 SIXTH REPORT—1836. should preserve its magnetic state unchanged or nearly so during the whole series of the observations. I had had this needle in my possession rather more than a twelvemonth, and had ascertained by frequent trials at the same station that its magnetic power was diminishing, but at a very slow and uniform rate, well admitting of interpolation. Being desirous of shortening as much as pos-~ sible the period within which interpolation might be necessary, (which would naturally have been the interval between my leaving Dublin and my return to it,) 1 made more than the usual number of observations at Helensburgh, the first station I observed at in Scotland, five days only after I had observed in Dublin, designing to return to Helensburgh for the purpose of verification once, or oftener if occasion required, ia the pro- gress of the observations. The first place to which I went from Helensburgh was the island of Great Cumbray. In disembarking the instruments, there being a good deal of sea, the case containing the needle fell from the table to the deck of the cabin. The needle was securely and immoveably fixed in the case, but the soft iron keeper which connected its poles was allowed a slight spring, arising from its own elasticity, to prevent its pressing too hard on the points of the needle. This occasioned a slight jar to take place ; very slight, but still sufficient to be audible. I conjectured immediately that the magnetism of the needle might be affected thereby; and the observations at Cumbray strengthened this conjecture, by showing a greater difference from the Helensburgh results than was likely to be due to the geographical distance between the stations. I returned to Helensburgh the following day, and on repeating the observa- tions there, found that the counterpoise which had deflected the needle 89° 339, now deflected it 91° 156, showing that the magnetism of the needle had been lessened. Needles have been frequently remarked gradually to lose magnetism for some time after it has been first communicated to them, until they arrive at what appears to be a permanent condition for each particular needle; after which their magnetism remains steady. As far as can be conjectured, the jar above described seems to have brought this needle at once to its permanent state; for on re- turning to Helensburgh a third time, after an interval of 42 days, the observations being repeated, the same counterpoise again deflected the needle 91° 187, a result almost identical with that obtained on returning from Cumbray. Further, on my return to Dublin early in October, I found, on carefully repeating the observations at the same place I had observed at in July, a difference in the magnetism of the needle almost MAGNETICAL OBSERVATIONS IN SCOTLAND. 107 identical with the difference indicated by the results at Helens- burgh before and immediately after the accident. The ratio of the intensity of terrestrial magnetism between Dublin and Helensburgh as inferred from the results of July 22nd in Dublin and July 27th in Helensburgh, (being both pre- vious to the accident,) is 10067 Helensburgh to 1 in Dublin; and as inferred from the results of August 2 and September 13 and 14 in Helensburgh, and October 4th in Dublin, (all sub- sequent to the accident,) the ratio is 10066 and 1:0059 Helens- burgh, to 1 in Dublin. I have therefore taken the result in Dublin of the 4th October as comparable with all the observa- tions made with this needle in Scotland, excepting the first results (July) at Helensburgh, and those are comparable with the first results (July) in Dublin. The same counterpoise was used thronghout. Before the values of the terrestrial magnetic force can be derived with accuracy from the angles of deflection, it is necessary to apply a correction for the variations of tempe- rature of the needle itself in the observations at the different stations. The temperatures were observed by a thermometer placed in the circle with the dipping needle, and remaining during the course of the observations. For the purpose of ascertaining the value of this correction for needle S (2), the needle was suspended horizontally by fibres of unspun silk in an earthen vessel glazed at the top, standing in a larger earthen vessel, into which warm water might be poured to raise the temperature of the air and needle in the inner one. Several folds of flannel enveloped the whole apparatus, being drawn close round the upper part. of the inner vessel, to keep the tem- perature steady for periods of sufficient duration. The tempe- rature of the needle was shown by a thermometer suspended horizontally across it, not being in contact with any part of the apparatus. The needle was then vibrated alternately in the natural temperature of the room, and in the artificially raised temperature. An arc for measuring the extent of the vibration was placed beneath the needle, which was drawn out of the meridian, and released at pleasure by a suitable contrivance. The following observations were made at Limerick on the 30th of October. 108 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Hour. Therm. | Time of 100 Means. Vibrations. ie. ee i bo eo: 2 45pm.) 49 646°64 re ° 3 O02 255 49 646°40 pose at 49. 3°17, | 49 | 64697 411, | 99 | 646-72 | 428 ,, 99 646°53 i f 520. 90 646-73 646°55 at 90:5. 715. | 74 | 646-00 |} 1115, | 55 | 645:43 i 1138” | 54 | 645-26 } 645°35 at 54°5. Here in the formula par ee T’ = 645589: Ty ere in ee te ae as oT Soe = 056; r— 7! = 38°7. Whence « = 000048. In this experiment the time of vibration, as may be seen, varied considerably in the cold temperatures at the commence- ment and at the close, and gave reason to believe that the change due to temperature might be overpowered by the diurnal variation of the force. The experiment was therefore repeated on the 15th November, as follows: Hour. Therm. | Time of 110 Means. Vibrations. h. m. 8. ue 4 58p.m.| 49 | 660°56 , 516 ,, | 49 | 66087 pee BiBae el age ceeng3® |p SbEO4 at 49. 5150.35 49 | 661°40 7 30 ,, 91 661:73 7 48 »” 89 661°67 661:77 at 87-6. 8 Up, 86 | 662-20 Brers 84:5| 661:47 12.70%, 51°5| 660:60 11 25 ,, | 51:0} 661-40 | ooo at 51. 11 43 ,, | 505] 660-93 Here Tl’ = 661°; T — T’ = 0°76; +r — 7 = 37°°6. Whencea = -000061. This experiment appears more satisfactory than the preceding one ; but as the results are so nearly the same, I have taken the arithmetical mean ‘000055 for the value of «, which being multiplied by M, the modulus of the common system of logarithms, = ‘000024 the coefficient of r — r’ in the correction for temperature. In Table LV. the two last columns contain the value of the intensity computed from the angles of deflection, and from the — MAGNETICAL OBSERVATIONS IN SCOTLAND. 109 dip, and corrected for the variations of temperature inserted in the preceding columns. In the first of the final columns the ratios are expressed to unity in Dublin. In the last column the ratios are expressed to unity in London, and are the numbers in the preceding column multiplied by 1:0208, which has been ascertained by Mr. Lloyd to express the value of the intensity in Dublin, that at London being unity. 1836.) (Trans. h. I. Academy, Taste IV. Intensity, Needle $ (2). £\%S & Intensity. Station. Date. Hour. & Sig Angle, nae RL HH a3 Dublin = 1 |London = 1 oO / Dublin .........| July 22 |7 to 8 a.m. |56/240|— 18 27-2) 1:0000 | 1:0208 Helensburgh ...} July 27 {11 to 1 p.m.j60| 80;— 17 17:9] 1-0067 | 1:0276 Gt.Cumbray ...| July 30 |3 to 5 p.m. |64)144/— 18 31-9} 1:0091 | 1:0301 Helensburgh ...) Aug. 2 |12 to 3 p.m.|65)108/— 18 59-7) 1:0066 | 1:0275 Tobermorie....| Aug. 10 9am. {70} 28)— 15 29:3] 10262 | 1:0475 Loch Slapin ...) Aug. 14 |8 to 9 a.m.|56) 48)— 15 59 | 1-:0228 | 1-0441 Glencoe......... Aug. 17 |8 to 9 a.m. |57| 60/— 17 50:8} 1:0126 | 1:0337 Inverness ......,| Aug. 20 | 2 to 4 p.m. |59/160|— 16 44-2) 1-0189 | 1-0401 Golspie ........., Aug. 23 |11 to 1 p.m.|51) 96|— 17 08-4) 1-:0162 | 1:0373 Inverness ....... Aug. 24 | 4 to 6p.m. |58} 92/— 16 53-7] 1:0180 | 1:0391 Gordon Castle .| Aug. 25 | 4 to 5r.m. |60} 80|\— 16 52:4] 1:0182 | 1:0393 Alford .......... Aug. 27 | 5 to 7 p.m. |57/100)|— 18 22 | 1-:0097 | 1:0307 Braemar......... Aug. 30 |7 to 8 a.m. |44| 56/— 18 40:1] 1:0072 | 1:0281 Blairgowrie ....| Aug. 31 | 3 to 5 p.m. |59/120|— 18 06:1] 1:0112 | 1:0321 Newport ....... Sept. 1 Noon {60} 40/— 18 40:8) 1-0080 | 1:0290 Kirkaldy ....... Sept. 3 Noon 60) 48/— 18 37:7| 1-0082 | 1-0292 Melrose...... --| Sept.6 |4to 6p.m. {51} 80|— 19 43-7) 1:0013 | 1:0222 Dryburgh ......) Sept. 7 |3to 5 p.m. |56) 80/— 19 56:1) 10003 | 1-:0211 Edinburgh ......} Sept-8 | 5 to 6 p.m. |55| 40/— 19 24-0) 1:0035 | 1:0245 Glasgow...... | Sept. 9 |11tol2a.m.j56| 80\— 19 24-0) 1:0036 | 1:0246 Helensburgh ...|Sept.13&14)12 to 3 p.m.j64| S0\— 19 06-1} 1-0059 | 1:0268 Loch Ranza ...| Sept. 16 |8 to 10 a.mJ57| 80/— 18 55:9} 10065 | 1:0274 Campbelton ...| Sept. 16 | 6 to8 p.m. |53) 90/— 18 16-1] 10100 | 1:0311 Stranraer ......) Sept. 18 |9 to 11 a.m/52) 80/— 19 31-8] 1-0026 | 1:0235 Bangor .........| Sept. 21 |9 to 11 a.m./50| 72|— 18 55-9] 1-0059 | 1-:0268 Dublin ......... Oct.4 |12 to 2 p.mJ49| 72|-- 19 53-3] 1:0000 | 1:0208 If now we make f= the most probable value of the intensity at the same central geographical position that was assumed in the calculation of the dip observations, viz. lat. 56° 27’, long. 4° 25’ west; wu = the angle which the isodynamic line pass- ing through the central position makes with the meridian ; 110 SIXTH REPORT—1836. and 7 = the coefficient which determines the rate of increase of the force in the normal direction; and if we put as before rcosu=2,r sinu=y,andf=1 +f’, we have three series of equations, analogous to those in the dip calculations ; each series in the present instance consisting of 23 equations. Sum- ming each series we obtain the three final equations as follows: + 7158=+4+ 23f'— 158"+ 154y .°. (A) — 2°7180 = — 158 f' + 31892x + 8767y . . (B) — 1251 = 4+154f'+ 8767 "+ 63334y . . (C) From which we obtain by elimination, x = + 00010705; y = — ‘00011186 ; u = — 46° 15''5; r = 0001548; and f’ = -0326. The intensity at the central position is consequently 1-0326 to unity in London. The isodynamic line passing through it makes an angle of 46° 15':5 with the meridian ; and lines corre- sponding to differences of intensity amounting to ‘005 are at intervals apart of 32°29 geographical miles. These are the results of the statical method. Il. INTENSITY. §2. By the Method of Horizontal Vibrations. These observations were made in the well-known apparatus of M.Hansteen. The cylinders employed were two, belonging to Professor Lloyd, which had been extensively used by us both in the Irish magnetical observations, and are described in the report of those observations as L (a) and L (4). The method of observing which I pursued in Scotland is precisely similar to the description given in that Report ; and nothing further in respect to it appears necessary to be added here, except that the same silk suspension was preserved throughout ; the same chro- nometer, of small and very steady rate, always employed ; and that the coefficient for temperature for both cylinders is *00025. The column of “ corrected time”’ in the subjoined Tables is the time of vibration reduced by this coefficient to a standard tem- perature of 60°. MAGNETICAL OBSERVATIONS IN SCOTLAND. itt TABLE V. Times of Vibration of Cyl. L (a). Station. Date. Hour. Vibra- | Tem.) tion. hm 5 ° Dublin ...... July 24.) 9 0 a.m.!243-47 |59 25.) 7 30 a.m.|243-11 55 Helensburgh. 28.) 4 40 p.m.|250:90 |64°5 28.) 5 10 p.m.|250-93 |63°5 Aug. 2.) 7 16 a.m.|251:33 |64:2 1) 8 00 a.m.|251:51 [55-2 Gt. Cumbray.|July 30.) 1 50 p..|249-62 |58-2 30.| 2 10 p.m.|249-79 [58 LochGilpheadjAug. 7.) 0 50 p.m.|250°88 |69 7.| 4 30 p../249-62 |61 7.| 4 50 p.m.|249°30 [59 Tobermorie... 10.| 8 20 a.m.|254-79 |67 Loch Scavig . Loch Slapin... Artornish .... Glencoe ....... Fort Augustus Inverness ... Golspie ...... Inverness Gordon Castle Braemar ...... Blairgowrie... Newport...... Kirkaldy...... Melrose. ,..... Dryburgh ... Helensburgh . Loch Ranza... Time of 6 20 P.m.|263-49 |60 8 30 a.m.|254°47 |59°5 8 30 a.m.|252°57 |60 8 30 a.M./250°17 |57°5 2 50 p.m.|253-40 |61 .| 9 80 a.m.1253°16 |52 .| 5 00 p.m.|252°28 [53-5 | 5 20 p.m.|252°32 |51 | 8 50 a.m.|253°20 |50°5 | 9 20 a.m.|253°15 [50-5 | 2 30 p.m.}254°62 |52°5 | 3 00 p.m.|254-82 [53-0 .| 0 40 p.m.|253°31 154-0 .| 1 10 p.m.|253°07 |55:0 .| 1 45 p.m.|252°69 |60-0 .| 2 10 p.m.|252°78 |60°5 .| 6 35 p.m.]250:27 |48°5 | 7 10 p.m|250°42 47-5 | 7 45 a.m.|251:90 154 | 8 10 a.m.|251°73 |52 | 7 50 a.m.}251°79 |52°5 9 00 a.m.|250°49 |52°5 | 6 00 p.m.j247°98 157-5 1.) 1 40 p.m.j251-28 |59°5 3.) 9 00 a.m.|250°38 |53°5 6.| 5 50 p.m.j246°91 |49°5 6. 7.| 4 10 p.m.|246°89 |55:0 13.) 1 40 p.m.|251-24 |61-0 16.)10 10 4.m.|252-66 |61°5 | 6 30 p.m.|247-92 [57-5 } 6 10 p.m.|246-86 [48:5 } 14,12 30 p.11.[251-29 [59-0 } Torecten Place of Observation. 8 : Provost’s garden, Tri- aaual. { nity College. ; 251-05 |Sea-beach. eeerecces Field east of the town. } 249-82 at N.E. end of the island. yess Sir John Orde’s grounds. 25434 |Sea-beach S. of the town. 4 Near the fall from Loch 263-49 Coruisk. 254-50 We Loch, E. side, on imestone. f On a limestone point S. on ay { of Castle. 250°32 |Wood near the village. 253°34 |Field near the fort. Grounds of Abertorf. bso } craig Phatric. } Wooa near the inn. 25448 } Wooa up the glen. } 258-53 Grounds of Abertorf. } 252-72 { one of Gordon Cas- } 251-09 Field S.E. of the inn. 252-23 |Grove, near the manse. 250-96 |Field near the inn. 248-10 |Field N. of the town. 251-26 |A field inland. 250:79 |Mr. Fergus’s garden. 247-56 |Field E. of the Abbey. 247-20 |Tweed side. 251-27 |Field E. of the town. ‘ Sea-beach E. 252'57 harbour. side of 112 Station. Date. Campbelton...|Sept. 17. 17. SIXTH REPORT—1836. TaB_e V. (continued.) Time of Vibra- tion. Tem, 45-0 48-0 248:5 7 248-61 A as Place of Observation. ime, a Sea-beach S. side of the } 249-88 harbour on red sand- stone. Stranraer...... i any ne } 247-68 Field S. of the town. Bangor (co. 21.) 9 45 a.m.|246°53 |48°6 ‘ Bava { 91|10 15 s.M.246-72 149-0 247-30 |Grounds of Bangor Castle. Dublin......... Oct. 38.10 10 a.m.|243-25 |45:0 3.| 2 8 p.m.|243-22 |47-0) | 949.99 | { Provost's garden, Tri- 3.| 2 30 p.m.|243-09 |48°0 nity College. 4.) 1 45 p.m.|243-18 |51°5 Times of Vibration of Cyl. L (b.) ’ Time of Corrected Station. Date. Hour. ees Tem. Time Place of Observation. 10n. . h m s ° s Dublin... July 24.) 8 30 a.m.|293-22 |59-0 Pascal den, Tri 25.| 8 00 a.m.|292-25 |54-0 | } 292-96 Mie: tana = tees 25.) 8 40 a.m|29257 55-5 mn ee Helensburgh . 28.| 4 00 p.m./302°15 (69-4 " Sea-beach. Aug. 1.| 8 30 4.m./302-22 [54:5 | ¢302-08 | 2 Field E. of the town. 2.) 7 45 a.m.J802°55 |65-1 Sea-beach. Gt. Cumbray .|July 30.) 2 30 p.1.[300-53 [57-6 | 300-71 | Field N.E. end of the isld. Loch Gilphead|Aug. c : - ce rah ee } 300-22 | Sir John Orde’s grounds. Tobermorie... 10.) 8 40 a.m.|306-03 |67°5 Loch Scavig... 12.) 8 00 p.m.'316-13 |60-0 Loch Slapin... 14) 8 50 4.m.|304-97 59-0 Artornish 16.| 8 50 a.m.|303°75 |60-0 Glencoe ...... 17.) 9 20 a.m.|300-91 '56-5 Fort Augustus 19.| 3 00 p.m.|304-30 |64-0 Inverness...... 21.| 8 30 a.m.|302-46 52-0 21.| 5 30 p.m.|3802-42 |49-0 Golspie ...... 23.) 4 15 p.m.!805-33 |53°5 23.) 4 40 p.m.|3805-50 |54:0 Inverness 24/11 50 a.o./803-79 |53-0 24.) 1 20 p.m.'803-68 [53-0 Gordon Castle 25.| 1 00 p.m.|303°16 (58-5 25.) 1 20 v.m.'803-27 |59°5 Rhynie ...... 26.| 6 10 p..|300-27 50-5 26.) 7 25 p.m.|300-34 |44°5 Alford ).pcrcates 28.) 8 30 4.m.|302-04 |52- 28.) 8 50 a.m.|302-09 |52- Braemar ...... 30.) 9 30 a.m.|500°47 |54°5 Blairgowrie... 31.| 5 20 p.m.|297°47 |57°5 31.| 6 45 p.m.|297°47 |56-4 Newport...... Sept. 1.) 1 00 p.m./301-79 |61-0 Kirkaldy...... 3./10 30 a.m.|300°80 [59-0 305-46 31613 305-04 303°75 301°17 304-00 } 303-16 }305-87 | 304-25 } 303-29 } 301-24 } 302-67 300-88 297-69 301-72 300°87 Sea-beach S. of the town. Near the fall from Loch Coruisk. Inner loch on limestone. On a limestone point. Wood near the village. Field near the fort. Grounds of Abertorf. Craig Phatric. Wood near the inn. Wood up the glen. Grounds of Abertorf. In the grounds of theCastie. Field S.E. of the inn. Grove near the manse. Field near the inn. Field N. of the town. A field inland. Mr. Fergus’s garden, LT MAGNETICAL OBSERVATIONS IN SCOTLAND. 113 TABLE V. (continued.) Ti f Station. Date. Hour. Vibra- Tem. See | Place of Observation. tion. 7 6) 6 40 r.2nl296-68 14851 oc. Melrose ...... Sept. 6.) 6 40 p.m.'290° 4 P i de wcm arte ete } 206 85 | Field E. of the Abbey. Helensburgh . 13,] 2 10 p.m.'301-61/61-5 14,)11 45 a.m.'300:99 57-0 | + 301-33 | Field E. of the town. 14,/12 05 eae 59-0 Loch Ranza.. 16.| 9 30.4.m.'302-76|58-0 ‘ 16| 9 50 a.01.'303-39|60-0| £203"15 | Sea-beach. Campbelton... 17.) 7 20 ae ieee 50:0; 299-05 |Sea-beach;on red sandstone Stranraer...... 18,| 2 40 p.m.'297-03 |56°4 ® : 18 3 10 p../296-421544 297:06 | Field S. of the town. Bangor ..,... Sept. 21.11 10 a.m.'295-28 |49-6 | 296-04 | Grounds of the Castle. Dublin.........|Oct. 3.| 9 25 a.m.'291-02 44:5 - 45 a.m. 291-24 144-5 992-21 Provost’s garden, Tri- nity College. 3. 9 45 acm. 3.| 2 55 p.m. 291-37 |49°G 4,| 1 15 r.w. 291-73 [53:5 From the near agreement in the respective times of vibration of the cylinders in Dublin in July and in October, we may infer that the magnetic state of each cylinder had experienced little, if any, alteration in the interval; an inference which is also confirmed for a portion of the interval by the correspondence in the times of vibration at Helensburgh in July and September. The times of vibration in Dublin at the two periods referred to are as follows, viz. , Cyl. L (a). Cyl. L (3). 8s Ss July 94 and DF» hdavedeees 243°47 eeeeesooeves 292°96 October 3 and 4. weesesees 943°92 Pocccescecee 292°21 Whence it would appear, if we ought to draw any conclusion from such small differences, that Cyl. L. (a) had sustained a small decrease of magnetism in the interval, and Cyl. L (d), on the contrary, a small increase, and very nearly to a proportionate amount. However this may be, we cannot err materially in regarding the mean of the times of vibration of each cylinder in July and October, as its rate in Dublin comparable with the rates observed at the different stations in Scotland. The fol- lowing Table has been computed accordingly. The first of the three columns under the general head of ‘‘ Horizontal Intensity,” expresses the ratio of the horizontal force at each station to unity in Dublin, deduced from the times of vibration of Cyl. L (a); the next column the ratios deduced from Cyl. L (d) ; and the third column contains the ratios deduced from a mean VOL. V.—1836, “I 114 SIXTH REPORT—1836. of the two cylinders. The first column, under the general head of “Total Intensity,’’ shows the ratios of the total force derived h secd from the mean horizontal component by the formula f = 77-793 8’ and A! being the dip and horizontal intensity in Dublin, and @ and A the same quantities at another station. The final column contains the values in the preceding column multiplied by 10208. TaBLeE VI. Magnetic Intensity deduced by the Horizontal Cylinders. Horizontal Intensity. Observed Total Intensity. Station, Laer MALI | sh eet Dip. rer ete Cyl. L. (a).|Cyl. L. (b).} Mean. Dublin=1.|London=1 Dublin ...... 1:0000| 1:0000} 1:0000)| 70. 59°4 Helensburgh. . 0:9422| 0:9381 | 0:9402]| 72 14:2 Cambray .... | 0°9516| 0:9467| 0:9491 || 71 58:7 || 0-:9992| 1-0200 Loch Gilphead 0:9521 | 09498} 0:9510}} 72 05:2 || 10071 | 1:0280 Tobermorie ., | 0°9180| 0:9175| 0:9178 || 73 ie 1:0276 | 1-0490 4 7 1:0000 | 1-0208 1:0038 | 1-0247 Loch Slapin ., | 09169] 0-9200| 0:9184 || 72 59:7 || 1-0229 | 1-0442 Artornish .... | 0:9309. 09278] 0:9293 || 72 40°4|| 1:0164 | 1:0375 Glencoe _... | 0-9478| 0:9438| 0:9458 || 72.14-7|| 10103 | 1-0313 Fort Augustus | 0:9253| 0-9263| 0-9258 || 72 37-9/| 1-0102| 1-0312 Inverness.... | 09270} 0:9314| 0-9292|| 72 44:0|| 1:0197 | 31-0409 Golspie...... 0:9170.| 0:9150| 0:9160|| 72 53:1 || 1-0138] 1-0349 Inverness .... | 0°9239| 0:9248| 0:9244]) 72 44-0); 10144} 1:0355 Gordon Castle | 0°9299| 0°9306| 0:9302 || 72 38°4|| 1:0155) 1-0366 Rhynie...... 0:9420| 0:9434| 0°9427 || 72 23:2] 1:0148| 1:0359 Alford ...... 0-9335 | 09345 | 0-9340 || 72 19°5 || 1:0020| 1-0228 Braemar... | 0-9429| 0-9456| 09442 |) 72 11-7 || 1-0058| 1-0267 Blairgowrie .. | 09648 | 0:9660| 0:9654 || 71 52°2)| 1:0105) 1:0315 Newport .... 0:9409 | 0:9402,| 0:9406 |} 72 14:9 || 1:0049} 1:0258 Kirkaldy .... | 09420} 0:9457| 0:9439']| ‘72 08-5 | 1-0026| 1-0234 Melrose .... | 0:9690| 0:9715| 0-9702 || -71 34-4 || 0-9997| 1-0205 Dryburgh.... | 09719] ...... 0:9719 || 71 31-2) 0-:9987| 1-0195 Helensburgh., | 0:9406]| 0-9430| 0:9418}} 72 14:2]| 1:0055 | 1-0264 Loch Ranza.. | 09310] 0:9316 | 0°9313\| 72 20:4 || 1-0002| 1:0210 Cambelton .,' | 09553} 0:9574| 0:9563}| 71 53°5}) 1-0022| 1:0230 Stranraer .... "}70:9681 | 0:9701 |, 0:9691 || 71 40-9}! 1:0043| 1-0252 Bangor .+.«:« |) 09710} 0:9768| 0:9739 || 71 36:9 || 1:0058 | 1-0267 Dublin ...++. | 1-0000] 1-0000| 1-0000| 70, 59:4), 1-0000| 1-0208 The observed dips in Table VI. are the same as those in Table I. with the exception of the dip in Dublin, at which station I have availed myself, in addition to my own observations, of the nu- merous results which Mr. Lloyd has obtained with several dip- ping needles at the same spot where the cylinders were vibrated. An abstract of all these observations from which the dip in MAGNETICAL OBSERVATIONS IN SCOTLAND. 115. Dublin is derived for the month of September 1836, is given in the subjoined Table. Date. Needle. Dip observed. Sept.1834.) 1. | 71 038 Sept. 1834.) IV. | 71 05-1 Mean}......| 71 04:1 |==70 58-3 (16 obs.);} Sept.1835.| I. | 71 03°%5 | Sept.1835-| IV. | 71 02:0 | Mean|...... | 71 03-0/=71 00-0(18 obs.) | 2. | (allowing Nov. 1835.| IV. | 71 01:3/=70 58-8 (3 obs.) tabaci . Boo Rede April 1836.} IV. | 71 02-1 ar by 'deni neo Bonr April 1836.| II, | 70 59°5 number of Saaeneaeenen Lobservations' Mean}.......| 71 00:8 |=70 59:8 (8 obs.) | | July 1836.| S (2) |71 01°12) | Oct. 1836. | S (2) | 71 00°75 | Mean). eda 00°93'=71 00:9 (4 obs.) |) In Table VI..we have twenty-five results to be combined by the method of least squares, in order to determine the most probable values of f’, 2, and y. The equations are analogous to. those already described in treating of the statical results. We obtain from them the three final equations + 7429 = +25 f’—J32 +11y (A.) + ‘1816 = —73/’ + 356814 +413117y (B.) — 59458 = + 11 f’ + 13117 « + 66193y (C.) From which we find by elimination x= + °0001094 y = — ‘0001165 u= — 46°47°5; r = :0001598; and /’ = -0301. The intensity at the central position (lat. 56° 27’, long. 4° 25' W.) is consequently 1:0301 to unity in London. The iso- dynamic line passing through it makes an angle of 46° 47'-5 with the meridian; and the isodynamic lines corresponding to differences of intensity amounting to ‘005 are at intervals apart of 31°28 geographical miles. 12 116 SIXTH anpoer1836. By the statical method we have found the intensity at the central station 1°0326 ; the angle with the meridian made by the isodynamic line 46° 15/5 ; and the intervals between isodyna- mic lines representing differences of intensity of -005, to be 32°29 geographical miles. The agreement of the two methods cannot be considered otherwise than as very remarkable. They have no element in common except the dip, which, whilst it is very influential in the horizontal method, might be many minutes in error without sensibly affecting the results by the statical method. The close agreement of two methods, which are thus independent of each other, forms a strong mutual corroboration. By substituting in the original equations the values thus found of f', x, and y, we may compute the intensity assigned by the combination of the observations at all the stations to the geographical position of each station in particular, and we shall thus see what degree of accordance the observations at each station exhibit, with the indications of the combined results. The following table shows the differences between the observed and the combined result at each station by both the horizontal and statical methods ; the sign + signifies that the observed inten- sity is in excess ; — that it is in defect. TaBie VII. Differences of Observed and Computed Results. Station. Horizontal.) Statical. Station. Horizontal.| Statical. Loch Slapin ... +0029 | +-0007 || Helensburgh ... —0025 | —-0034 Golspie ...+.....| —"0042 | —-0039 || Campbelton ... —0043 | +0011 Tobermorie ...| +0118 | +0080 || Cumbray ...... —°0071 | +:0004 Inverness ...+.. +0020 | +°0012 || Glasgow ......-.. coors | —°00383 Artornish ....-. +:0017 | ...... |] Newport.........| +0014 | +-0020 Fort Augustus . ——"OO45ul occas ‘ Kirkaldy ...... +0002 | +-0033 Glencoe ..eeeeeee —:0027 | —-0027 || Blairgowrie......| +°0044 | +-0065 Gordon Castle...| +0033 | +°@033 || Bangor .........| +0044 | +-0014 Loch Gilphead .| —*0082 | ....- Edinburgh ... 22] seeeee — "6004 Rhynie .......-.| $°0052 | «...-. Stranraer ...... +0036 | —-0010 Braemer ...++++- —-0037 | —:0048 || Melrose ......... +0027 | +0015 Alford ...ceeeeses —:0068 | —°0013 || Dryburgh ......| +°0021 | +-0008 Ranza-eccoseeeee-| —'0070 | —-0083 We have seen that each of the two methods gives, when taken separately, general results agreeing in a very remarkable manner with those of the other method. When however we examine the contents of the preceding table, we remark that in the horizontal method much greater differences appear between the observed and the combined results at single stations, than is MAGNETICAL OBSERVATIONS IN SCOTLAND. 117 the case in the statical method. This accords with the antici- pations of the inventor of the statical method. And when it is con- sidered that an error of a single minute iv the observation of the dip will occasion, in so high a magnetic latitude as Scotland, a cor- responding error of ‘0009 in the deduction of the total intensity from the horizontal vibrations, it must be acknowledged that the - statical method possesses a great advantage in such latitudes, in being free from this source of liability to error. I must add, however, that I do not attribute the discrepancies observable in the results of the horizontal method, beyond those of the statical, altogether to defects inherent in the horizontal method. The ne- cessity of economizing time obliged me frequently to keep the dipping needle and the horizontal cylinders employed at the same time, when it was of course necessary to place them several yards apart. In a country so subject to local magnetic disturbance as Scotland, it is not too much to say, that it might not always follow that the dip should have been precisely the same at the two spots of observation. I have already noticed that at the two sides of the harbour at Loch Scavig I cbserved a difference of above 5° of dip; and although that was no doubt an extreme case and one of very rare occurrence, it can scarcely be sup- posed but that irregularities do occur in a minor degree not unfrequently. In strict justice to the horizontal method, the cylinders, in countries liable to such local influences, should always be vibrated precisely in the same spot where the dip is observed. The place of observation of the two methods not being the same, may also subject the instruments to actual differences of intensity apart from the magnetic direction. In such cases the results may be true measures, though differing from each other; but discrepancies of this nature should not exceed the limit of the local irregularities of intensity, the existence of which we may infer from the statical results. When they are considerably greater, a more probable mode of accounting for them is that the horizontal needle was affected by a different dip from that acting on the dipping needle and used in the reduction. In all such cases the total intensities derived from the horizontal vibrations are of course in error. It has been shown by the corresponding table of the dip obser- vations that there were seven stations at which the observed dip differed from the dip computed by a combination of the ob- servations at all the stations to an amount varying from 14’°5 to 25'"1. At six of these stations there were also horizontal and statical observations of the force.. Had the differences between the observed and computed dips in these cases been errors of observation, and not actual irregularities in the magnetic direc- 118 SIXTH REPORT—1836. tion from some disturbing cause, the discrepancies between the two methods of measuring the force must have been far greater than they are. The error in the deduction of the force by the horizontal method which would be occasioned by an error of observation of 14’ of dip, would have greatly exceeded any dis- crepancy existing between the horizontal and statical results in the above table. Considerations of this kind are important in their bearing on the proper method of deducing the lines of total intensity from a series of horizontal vibrations. If disere- pancies in the observations of dip arise chiefly from instrumen- tal errors or errors of observation, the dip resulting from the calculation of least squares should be used in the reduction of the horizontal observations. If, on the other hand, the pro- bability of local disturbance is greater than of instrumental error, the dips actually observed should be employed in the re- duction, Were the dips due to the geographical positions employed in the reduction of the Scottish observations instead of the dips actually observed at the stations, the discrepancies in the resulting intensities would be increased to such an ex- treme amount, as to leave no doubt that, in the case of the Scot- tish observations at least, the observed dips are those which ought to be employed ; and it also follows, that in countries subject to such magnetic irregularities, the dipping-needle should be regarded as an indispensable accompaniment to the horizontal cylinders. All the observations made with the statical needle have been included in the calculations, as well as all those with the horizon- tal cylinders, except the vibrations at Loch Scavig, which were evidently affected by some very great cause of irregularity, and their introduction into the calculation could only be productive of error. Loch Scavig, with its hypersthene rocks and its trap dykes, is evidently a very unsuitable place for magnetic observa- tions. The general results from the statical and horizontal methods are so nearly the same, that either might be used for the chart with scarcely a perceptible difference. Perhaps the statical re- sults may be considered as entitled to a preference, and they have been employed accordingly. Until the relation which the isodynamic lines in Scotland bear to the magnetic intensity in England shall be more thoroughly and satisfactorily ascertained, by a connected series of observations comprehending the whole of Great Britain, it has been deemed preferable to give the Scottish lines no other designation in the chart than that which expresses their relation to each other, thus limiting the conclusion to what is strictly war- MAGNETICAL OBSERVATIONS IN SCOTLAND. 119 ranted by the observations recorded in this paper. Accordingly, the line passing through the central station, and making with its meridian an angle of 46° 15'*5, is designated simply as unity for Scotland ; and the other lines, at intervals of 32°29 geographical miles, are entitled +°015, +°010, +°005, —:005, —°010, —°015, according to the values of the intensity which they represent relatively to the central line. The difference between the deductions in Ireland and in Scot- land, in regard to the isodynamic lines, is considerable, and apparently too great to be supposed due to an actual difference in the lines themselves. It will probably be elucidated by future observations, y seg stance putin ares itn mane id Dyaatieny sk? ania {WASHOE torolgas maveenlh i yeaa ee ctat ator ‘fo! 000 + 040" aie ig aman oh Wimasiad. ode pik: % ee tS. ee, ene sores: ian arstston: easobed 2008, fii desedett ub moierbabpiely aeowisd soni Serie abd eoebiie ees: bic feel cieapbedlinsdd ot Inagat? ea latest ot om Logoqqmsidtl at-titers, oot % a . baenaients od: httscddtey Sibre 3T-- errisemnithan bee nF Cems once NTO” 4, rem RS a: nS jee Sen eee ey eile ae Ss a * * AD tae Gee ieee Eee oo UCR OR a WTR ee, tM eget’ te \ patie ath sae” t Shiati AIAH Aaea Mhaes ches ine” preanvic-uplslg f oo shaprabuaeel dears oy HACUSCOEESH Ch wares 5 REX: Sipe, atin ope Dew CHPPG. Ts BPE SQ TRS Fie ci ae the; Pisgitiay ae moniins week be. ier fp: | cus i agate AG, Ae, Lede bes CATT, On ak oe i rr oe weyabe Flees Bh RS Leb, Pese ¢ iia ied Sx: a wD. ee 05 pe eu + ae Baers aie: os we atat 3 ?.4 ‘eo ar 7 q fe ° ‘ Ps oye 4 my PTT wet OO SMe Hien, tit thrame-et ,’ - eres n “ r » " . h ie ’ PO RS CFD. oe od Ve pOMeS vais cet ater See cf d ' ~ ‘ J “w4 ir > Oty be vate A) Soar bMS YT © 2 %. “UE z ‘ os 7 Hie Pr de were ee Ta kn Peat wl 4.5 M aL ‘ | Pan “ s a * #¥ By ae am, Pi hay ORT ORD as ; * oat fy, xi. ays te. te Sere (Toh are SEER GL, OB? AE, Alors: “1433 hi aaa F ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 149 Kamschatka. Of the otarie which also frequent the sea just named, jwhata is said, though without satisfactory evidence, to exist also in the Straits of Magalhaes. O. Stelleri is very im- perfectly known, even the genus to which it belongs being un- certain. The existence of the otaria fasciculata, or the ‘¢ rib- bon seal’’, is surmised merely because a piece of back-skin was transmitted from the Kurile islands to Pennant, and figured by him in the History of Quadrupeds. The trichechus rosmarus is found in all the arctic seas, though there are some deep sounds, such as Regent’s and Bathurst’s Inlets, into which it does not enter. It descends along the Labrador coast to the Magdalene islands, in the 47th parallel. Ord. MARSUPIATA *. Didelphis virginiana, Grirr. Cuv. pi. Didelphis cancrivora, Grirr. Cuv. pl. “6 opossum, Burr. 10, 45, 46. As the marsupial animals are now confined to America, New Holland, and some parts of the Indian archipelago, and geologi- cal researches indicate that they are the earliest mammiferous animals whose remains exist in the ancient strata of the earth, the study of these zoological provinces must be interesting to those who seek to develope the condition of the world at former periods. Comparative anatomists have shown that the marsu- piata are inferior to other mammalia in their simple unconve- luted brain, less perfect organs of voice, and lower intelligence ; the rodentia are next to them in these respects ; and the exist- ence of marsupiata and the great numbers of redentia in the North American fauna are its chief characteristics when con- trasted with that of Europe. It has been said that when the ancient marsupiata existed they were exposed to the attacks of no enemy having higher intellectual powers than a reptile. In the present day the opossums of America and the phalangers of India have many enemies of different classes, yet they do not seem to be in any immediate danger of extinction ; and the more numerous marsupials of Australia are kept sufficiently under by carnivorous beasts of their own order, aided by birds * Though Cuvier has arranged the marsupiata as an order, he considers it rather as forming a division, or subclass, parallel to the rest of the mammalia, and representing all the other orders. Mr. Owen agrees with him in obser- ving, that “the marsupials, including the monotremes, form a very complete series, adapted to the assimilation of every form of organic matter.” M. Des- moulins and Mr. Swainson have distributed them among the several orders, esteeming what Cuvier supposed to be merely analogies to be in reality affini- ties. The didelphide being carnivorous, are not, in either view of the matter, out of place at the end of the carnivora. 150 SIXTH REPORT—1836. of prey, and above all by man and his attendant dog. In the order rodentia we have an example of productiveness being sufficient to ensure the species from extinction, though assailed - by hosts of foes of all kinds. Only one didelphis is common to North America, namely, the virginiana, which extends to the Canada lakes, being, moreover, like the rest of the genus, an inhabitant of the inter- tropical parts of the continent. Mr. Collie saw it in California, and Temminck says it inhabits Mexico. Didelphis cancrivora and opossum range, according to Lichtenstein, as far north as Mexico, and if one of these be not the “ coyopollin’”’ of Her- nandez, there is a fourth species in that country. Authors have somewhat arbitrarily used the name of coyopollin as a synonym of dorsigera and philander ; but it is by no means certain that the latter species reaches Mexico. Ord. RODENTIA. Sciurus cinereus, Burr. 10, 25. » capistratus, Grirr. Cuv. pi. » ?grammurus, Say, Long. Exp. » nhiger, Ricu. F.B.A. » Collixi, Ip. Beech. App. 1. » Clarkii, Smirn, Griff. Cuv. pl. » Lewisii, I. Ze. pl. » hudsonius, Ricu. F.B.4. 17. Tamias Lysteri, Ip. F.B.A. 15. * 5, qQuadrivittatus, Ip. F.B.4. 16. » buccatus, Licur. Deppe’s List. Pteromys sabrinus, Ricu. 7.B.A. » alpinus, In. Ze. 18. » volucella, Burr. 10, 21. Spermophilus lateralis, Rica. F.B.4. 13. » Hoodii, In. Ze. 14. » Richardsonii, Ip. Ze. 11. » Franklinii, Ip. Ze. 12. » Beecheyi, In. Zc. 12 B. » Douglasii, Ip. Le. » Parryii, Ip. de. 10. » guttatus? To. Le. » Spilosus, Benn. Zool. Pr., 1833. » ?Ludovicianus, Grirr. Cuv. Arctomys empetra, Ricu. F.B.A. 9. » ?brachyurus, HARLAN, fauna. » [ pruinosus, PENN. caligatus, Escuscu. Zool. At. 6. ochanaganus, Kine, Narr. &c. » monax, Epw. 104, Grirr. Cov. Mus leucopus, Rar. Rieu. F.B.A. » >? virginicus, Reicu. Fiscu. Syn. Meriones labradorius, Ricu. F.B.A. 17. Neotoma Drummondii, Ricu. F.B.4. 8. » floridana, Say & Orp. de. Se. Ph. Sigmodon hispidum, Say. » ferrugineum, Hart. Sill. Jour. Fiber zibethicus, Cuv. Arvicola riparius, ORp. » Xanthognathus, Leacn. Zool. M. » pennsylvanicus, Ricu. F.B.A. » noveboracensis, Ip. .e. ; » borealis, Ip. Ze. » rubricatus, tp. Beech. App. Mynomes pratensis, Rar. dn. Nat. 1820. Georychus helvolus, Ricu. /.B.A. yy trimucronatus, In. Zc. » hudsonius, In. Ze. » groenlandicus, In. /.c. Geomys bursarius, Davies, Lin. Tr. 5, 8. » borealis, RicH. nov. sp. » Douglasii, Ip. F.B.A. » bulbivorus, Ip. /.c. (diplostoma). » Uumbrinus, Ip. Le. », talpoides, Ip. Ze. » pinetis, Rar. » Drummondii, Ricu. nov. sp. » mexicanus, Licut. HERN. Saccomys anthophilus, F. Cuv. » fasciatus, Rar. (Cricetus). Apluodontia leporina, Ricu. F.B.d. 18 C. Castor fiber*?, L. Eretizon dorsatum, Grirr. Cuv. pil. Synetheres prehensilis, F. Cuv. Lepus glacialis, Lzacu. 3 americanus, GMEL. ‘ » virginianus, HARL. » mexicanus, LicuT. » cunicularius, Ip. Lagomys princeps, Ricu. F.B.4. 19. Dasyprocta carolinensis, F. Cuv. North America exceeds the other quarters of the world in the ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 15] nuinber of species and variety of forms of its rodent animals ; but they are still very imperfectly known, as their original de- -scribers have too frequently contented themselves with noticing the colour of the fur and the length of the tail, disregarding os- teological characters, and rarely noting the dentition, so that many of the species enumerated in the American fauna are of un- certain genera, and many nominal ones have been introduced. The American naturalist who shall sedulously collect rodentia from various parts of his country, and describe minutely their characters, adding comparative notices of the species of each genus, will confer a great obligation on the lovers of science. Rafinesque has noticed a considerable number of animals of this order, some of them so peculiarly striped that they could not easily be mistaken were they to come under the observation of another zoologist ; but in the instances in which his animals have been traced he is found to be so often inaccurate, and his generic characters are so generally imperfect, that science would sustain little loss if his notices were expunged from our books of natural history, were it not that they serve the purpose of inducing search in the localities he points out. In the preceding list we have omitted most of the doubtful species which have been ad- mitted into the systems. Sciurus cinereus, which has a multitude of synonyms tacked to it, inhabits most parts of the United States, being very abun- dant in Carolina and Pennsylvania. Sc. rufiventer of Geoffroy, magnicaudatus of Say, and ludovicianus of Curtis, quoted by Harlan, do not, as far as we can judgeyby the published descrip- tions, differ from certain states of cinereus. A sc. hypoxvanthus occurs in Lichtenstein’s list of Deppe’s Mexican animals; but no character is given, so that we have no means of ascertaining in what respect it differs from the fulvous-bellied condition of cmereus. The sc. capistratus, or fox-squirrel, is a larger spe- cies, which varies greatly in its colours, and inhabits the middle and southern states of the Union: it is generally supposed to be one of the Mexican squirrels described by Hernandez, and named by some authors variegatus, but this wants confirmation. Say’s se. grammurus lives in holes, does not voluntarily ascend trees, and has very coarse fur; hence it is most probably a spermophile : it was found near the sources of the Arkansa. The black squirrels of the United States are generally referred to capistratus ; but a smaller and totally black species (having no white muzzle) inhabits the northern shores of Lake Huron, and to this we have restricted the name of niger in the Fauna Boreali- americana. The larger black kind exists in Canada, and Her- nandez mentions Mexicar. squirrels which are totally black, along 152 SIXTH REPORT—1836. with others which are white with yellow tints. Sciurus Colliei from California, figured in the appendix to Beechey’s Voyage, differs from any species inhabiting the Atlantic states, but nearly agrees with Hernandez’s account of the Mexican ‘ ¢/al- mototli’”. Sc. Clarkii and Lewisii, figured by Lieut.-Colonel Hamilton Smith in Griffith’s Cuvier, were brought from the Missouri by the travellers whose names they bear. The latter is supposed by the editor of the work referred to, to be the se. annulatus of Desmarest, whose native country was previously unknown. The sciurus hudsonius, named locally red-squirrel, or chickaree, the most northern American species, has a range from the arctic extremity of the woods to Massachusetts. Though destitute of cheek-pouches, it has been generally ranked as a tamias, perhaps on account of the dark line which occa- sionally divides the fur of the back from that of the belly ; and, indeed, it resembles the ¢amias in forming burrows at the foot of the pine-tree, on which it seeks its food: it is evidently the rubro-lineatus of Warden, and probably the raber of Rafinesque. The tamias Lysteri ranges on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains from the 50th parallel down to the Carolinas ; it is the ¢amias americanus described by Kuhl (Beitrage, 69)*. Cuvier states, that the ¢. striatus inhabits both Asia and Ame- rica ; but we have met with no American animal that resem- bles Buffon’s figure 10, 28, which Cuvier quotes. 7’. guadri- vittatus inhabits the fur-countries, and goes southwards along the eastern declivity of the Rocky Mountains to the sources of the Platte and Arkansa. 7. buccatus is a Mexican animal, which differs from the other admitted species of tamias in want- ing longitudinal stripes and colours on the flanks. We cannot help surmising, therefore, that it may be a spermophile, for the two genera are very nearly allied, the only material difference in the dentition being, that the anterior molar of the upper jaw, which falls early in the true squirrels, but remains till old age in the tamias, is smaller in the latter than in the spermo- philes. The typical species of each differ, indeed, a little in the feet; but ¢. guadrivittatus and sp. lateralis possess inter- mediate characters, which unite the two groups very closely, so that we may be prepared to find authors differing as to which genus or subgenus certain species ought to be referred. Pte- romys volucella inhabits Canada, the United States, and, ac- cording to Lichtenstein, Mexico also. P¢. sabrinus and alpi- nus, which are not yet fully established as distinct from: each other, and closely resemble the vol/ans of Siberia, frequent the * Fischer, syn. ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 158 forests of Canada, the Rocky Mountains, and the fur countries up to the 57th parallel. The marmots are numerous in North America, particularly those which enter the subgenus spermophilus. These animals abound in the prairies, which are analogous tothe Siberian steppes near Lake Aral, that are also overrun by spermophiles; but the only species that can be considered as common to the New and Old World is guttatus of North California and New Caledonia. This little animal is certainly so similar to the “ souslik’’ of the Wolga, that the published figures or descriptions do not afford any distinctive marks ; but no satisfactory comparison of specimens has yet been made. It is probable that Lichtenstein alludes to this species when he says, that there is a spermophile in Mexico which cannot be distinguished from the Siberian citillus: gut- tatus was considered by Pallas to be merely a variety of etti//us.” Sp. Parryii is the most northern species, being an inhabitant of the arctic coasts and the Rocky Mountains down to the58th pa- rallel. Spermophilus lateralis resides on the eastern declivity of the Rocky Mountains, from the 57th parallel down to the sources of the Arkansas. Beecheyi comes from Upper California, and Douglasii, which nearly resembles it, and is perhaps only a local variety, is from the adjoining district of the banks of the Columbia. Franklinti, Richardsonii, and Hoodii abound on the prairies of the Saskatchewan, the last ranging southwards to Mexico*, and being perhaps the Mexican squirrel of Seba, which is described as brown, with five or seven longitudinal whitish stripes. The arctomys griseus of Rafinesque, founded on Lewis and Clark’s description of a Missouri animal, does not appear very different from sp. Richardsonii. Sp. spilosus, described by Mr. Bennett in the Zoological Proceedings, is from California. Ludovicianus, the “ prairie dog’’ of the Missouri, has not been described as possessing cheek-pouches. Arctomys empetra frequents the woods of Canada and the fur countries up to the 60th parallel, while monaz belongs to Maryland and the more southern Atlantic states. 4. brachyurus is known only from Lewis and Clark’s description of a Columbia river animal. The alpine districts of New Caledonia are the abode of a marmot named the “ whistler’, or perhaps more than one species is included under this trivial appellation, for the accounts given of it by the traders apply almost equally to the prainosus of Pennant, the “ tarpogan’’, or caligatus of Eschscholtz, and the ochanaganus described and figured by Mr. King in his recent * Mexican specimens exist in the Museum at Frankfort. Dr. Ruppel. 154 SIXTH REPORT—1836. narrative of Captain Back’s journey. The latter animal agrees exactly with Eschscholtz’s in the remarkable post-auricular black bar, in the general colour, and in the relative length of the fur on the different parts of the body, but differs in some minor points, and particularly in its smaller size, which may, how- ever, be owing to its youth. The only species of the restricted genus mus which is un- equivocally indigenous to North America* is the mus leucopus of Rafinesque ; and this so closely resembles mus sylvaticus of Europe that there are scarcely grounds for impugning the opinion of the older naturalists, who considered it to be the same species. In my dissections I did not succeed in detecting cheek-pouches, but Dr, Gapper has discovered cheek-pouches in a Canadian animal differing in no respect from it in exterior appearance, which he has therefore named cricetus myoides, and figured in the Zoological Journal. The mus leucopus is found everywhere, from the arctic circle down to the United States, and some authors state that it is common throughout the Union ; but Dr. Harris says that it is not found in Massa- chusetts. It readily domesticates itself in the habitations of man, wherever the mus decumanus, rattus, and musculus, in- troduced from the other side of the Atlantic, have not pene- trated. The myoxus virginicus of Reich, quoted in Fischer’s synopsis, seems very closely allied to mus leucopus ; it is an inhabitant of the foot of the Alleghanies. The mas nigricans of Rafinesque is supposed to be merely the common black rat (rattus). The meriones labradorius inhabits America from the 60th parallel to an unascertained distance southwards. We have received several examples from different parts of the United States, and the canadensis of authors has not been proved to be a distinct species. Rafinesque indicates others, viz., soricinus, leonurus, hudsonius, megalops, and sylvaticus ; but his notices are not sufficiently detailed for scientific purposes. Dr. Mit- chell is equally vague in his account of a mertones sylvaticus. Neotoma Drummondii abounds in the Rocky Mountains and floridana in Florida. As these animals resemble the myowi in external form, it is desirable to know whether, like them, they are destitute of a cecum. They build well-protected nests above ground, instead of burrowing like the meadow-mice, and appear to be omnivorous, like the common rat, than which they are even more destructive. Of M. Le Comte’s neotoma- * A species inhabits Port Famine, in the Straits of Magellan, mus magella- nicus. (King, Zool. Proc., 1835.) ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 155 gossipina, which inhabits the southern states, we know no more than the name. The sigmodon* hispidum is found on the banks of the river St. John, which flows between Georgia and Florida. The ferrugineum inhabits cotton-fields on the Mis- sissippi. Fiber zibethicus ranges from the Arctic Sea nearly to the Gulf of Mexico. Though the various species of arvicola differ in size, aspect, and in the relative strength of their members, so as to be readily distinguishable from each other when brought into apposi- tion, it is very difficult to frame specific characters by which they can be recognised when apart; and it is not therefore surprising that many nominal species should have been pro- posed, and, what is equally adverse to the interests of science, that many perfectly distinct animals should have been described under a common name. Until a revision of the genus has been accomplished, and American and European examples have been accurately compared with each other, we cannot admit that any one species is common to the two countries, as amphibius has been supposed to be. The majority of arvicole in our list be- long to the fur-countries, though some, as riparius and penn- sylvanicus, extend also far into the United States; the latter is the smallest as well as the most common American species. 4. rubricatus, distinguished by a bright red stripe on the flanks, was seen by Mr. Collie in Behring’s Straits}. The georychi, or lemmings, distinguished from the true meadow-mice by their thumb-nails and extremely short tails, all belong to the north- ern extremity of the continent, unless the very doubtful spalax vittatus of Rafinesque, found in Kentucky, shall be hereafter discovered to belong to this genus. The mynomes pratensis of Rafinesque requires further examination, as do also his Jemmus talpoides, albovittatus, and noveboracensis, indicated rather than characterized in the American Monthly Magazine for 1820. Though the “ gauffres”, or pouched rats, abound in all the prairie lands and sandy tracts of the United States, their hi- story is still very obscure. The species, which are numerous, have been mostly confounded with the ¢wcan of Hernandez.or the bursarius of Shaw; but various generic names have been pro- posed, such as geomys, pseudostoma, ascomys, diplostoma, and saccophorus. he first figure of the Canada species published by Major Davies in the Linnean Transactions, represents the very large cheeks as filled from within and pendent externally, * This genus requires further examination. + A. Nuttallit appears in Dr, Harlan’s ie hat we do not know its distinc- tive characters nor its habitat, ~ 156 SIXTH REPORT—1836. slipping, as it-were, from under the common integuments by a longitudinal slit, and having their surface covered with short hair. Cuvier, however, says of this figure, “il n’y a rien de semblahle dans la nature’’, the true form, in his opinion, being that represented in the Transactions of the Berlin Academy, 1822-3, pl. 3, or in the Fauna Boreali- Americana, 18. B., where the pouches, running backwards under the integuments of the cheek, open externally on each side of the comparatively small true orifice of the mouth, producing the appearance which is alluded to in the generic appellation, signifying “ false’’, or “‘ double mouth”. If the latter be the true form, the pouches can be filled and emptied only by the fore feet, which do not seem to be well calculated for such a purpose. Moreover, the late Mr. Douglas, whose ability as an observer no one will question, informed me that the pouches are filled from within the mouth by the action of the tongue, becoming, when fully distended, pendulous externally ; but when empty being re- tracted like the inverted finger of a glove. Mr. Drummond also sent me several specimens of different species from various parts of the United States, some of them prepared with the empty pouches folded beneath the skin of the cheeks, and others with them filled and hanging down. Mr. Schoolcraft, on the other hand, has given a description of a gauffre from personal observation which corresponds with the view of the matter en- tertained by Cuvier. To reconcile these jarring statements, I adopted both of Rafinesque’s genera, geomys and diplostoma in the Fauna Boreali-Americana ; but since the publication of that work I have ascertained by the examination of a consider- able number of specimens that the character of the dentition is the same in all; consequently they form but one genus, and Mr. Douglas’s account of the cheek-pouches I now consider as well supported by the specimens I have examined. Geomys borealis inhabits the plains of the Saskatchewan, Douglasii and bulbivorus those of the Columbia; bursarius is from Canada, pinetis from Georgia, talpoides from Florida, wmbrinws from Louisiana, Drummondit from Texas, and mewxicanus, as its name-imports, from Mexico. Diplostoma fusca and alba of Rafinesque were brought from the Missouri; but as the spe- cimens were imperfect and the descriptions are equally so, they must be considered as doubtful*. * Rafinesque characterized diplostoma as differing from geomys in the total absence of a tail, and in having only four toes on each foot; but Cuvier says that his specimens showed five toes, as in geomys; and it is very probable that the tails had been removed by the Indian hunters in preparing the skins. All the species that have come under our notice had short tapering tails, ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 157 Saccomys anthophilus of F. Cuvier has the teeth of geomys, but he has placed it in a separate genus on account of the sup- posed peculiarity of its pendent pouches ; it is smaller than any geomys we have seen, and differs from all that we have enu- merated in the greater length of its tail. The cricetus fasciatus of Rafinesque from Kentucky is probably either a geomys or saccomys ; but if so, it is peculiar in having ten transverse black streaks on the back, if indeed this appearance was not produced, as is sometimes the case, by cracks in mounting the skin. -4pluodontia leporina inhabits New Caledonia and the banks of the Columbia, where its skins are used for clothing, and form an article of traffic. The beaver ranges on the eastern side of the continent, from the most northern woods down to the confluence of the Ohio with the Mississippi; and it would appear, from a remark of Dr. Coulter’s, that on the western side it descends in the neighbourhood of the Tule lakes to the 38tb parallel. The pur- pose served in the economy of the animal by the castoreum and a fatty substance deposited in the adjoining sacs has not yet been made out. The Canada porcupine (erethizon dorsa- tum) inhabits the country lying between the 37th and 67th parallels. The hoitzlacuatzin of Mexico is identified by Lich- tenstein with the synetheres prehensilis*, we do not know with what propriety; but if he be correct, it is, if not a solitary instance, at least very nearly so, of a rodent animal being com- mon to North and South America. The spotted cavy (celo- genys) and perhaps a species of cavia and one of dasyprocta ex- tend from South America to the West Indies and Mexico; but in other respects the animals of this numerous order differ greatly in the zoological provinces of North and South America. The most northern American hare is lepus glacialis, which thinly clothed with very short whitish hairs. The incisors are differently grooved in different species. Geomys bulbivorus and umbrinus have these teeth quite smooth; borealis and talpoides have a very fine groove close to the inner margin of each upper incisor; Douglasii has fine submarginal grooves on all the incisors, viz., next to the inner edges of the upper ones and the outer edges of the under ones ; bursarius and Drummondii have a deep rounded furrow in the middle of the anterior surface of the upper incisors, in addition to the fine inner submarginal one. The under incisors are quite plain in Drummondii, and most likely in bursarius, also, as no mention is made of their being grooved. In all these species the auditory opening is scarcely percep- tibly elevated. Geomys or ascomys mexicanus of Lichtenstein has short round ears, with a single central furrow in the upper incisors. A variety of this is mentioned in Fischer’s synopsis. They are inhabitants of the Mexican uplands, where they lay waste the maize-fields. * The island of Cuba nourishes another kind of rodent animal with a prehen- sile tail, named capromys. 158 SIXTH REPORT—1836. frequents the islands of the Arctic Sea, the barren grounds, and the Rocky Mountains, down to the 60th parallel. L. america- nus inhabits the woods from the Gulf of Mexico to their northern limits. JZ. vinginianus is found on the prairie lands of the Saskatchewan and Missouri, and it is said also on the Blue Mountains of Pennsylvania; but further investigations are re- quisite to prove the existence of the same species in such dif- ferent localities. A “marsh hare” from the southern parts of the United States has been recently described in the Zoological Proceedings, and it may be this that Dr. Harlan has associated with the prairie hare under the name of virginicus. Lepus mexicanus is the name bestowed by Lichtenstein on the “ citli”’ of Hernandez, and cunicularius that by which he designates the ‘‘tochtli’’. How far either of these species ranges north- wards, or whether they have been compared with the Florida marsh hare we know not. Lagomys princeps has its abode on the crests of the Rocky Mountains, where it is probable that other species will be hereafter detected. Lichtenstein tells us that cavys are common in Mexico, and some authors have stated that the common agouti (dusyprocta acuti) inhabits the southern extremity of the United States; but F. Cuvier has separated the latter animal by the specific appellation of caro- linensis. The lipura hudsonica of Uliger, or hyrax hudsonius of Shaw, must be excluded from the American fauna until we receive satisfactory evidence of its origin. Ord. EDENTATA. Dasypus hybridus, DesM. This small order may be called South American, the whole of the animals composing it belonging to that country, except three or four African or Indian species comprised in the genera oryctopus and manis. Lichtenstein, at the close of some re- marks on the “ ayo-tochtli” of Hernandez, says, that the spe- cimens brought home by Deppe accorded exactly with the tatou mulita of Azzara, which Cuvier refers to the dasypus 7- cinctus of Linneus. By others the ayo-tochtli is considered to be the d. peba of Desmarest, and we also find the mexicanus of Brisson ranked among the synonyms of d. Encoubert of Des- marest. The latter author informs us that the hybridus is common in Paraguay and on the Brazilian pampas. It is the only example of an animal of this order that has been ascer- tained to enter the North American fauna, though Lichtenstein conjectures that a myrmecophaga may also be found in Mexico, namely, the atzca-coyotl or tlal-coyot! of Hernandez. ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 159 Ord. PACHYDERMATA. Dicotyles torquatus, Cuv. This order is at’ once remarkable for the magnitude of the ani- mals composing it, the great proportion of extinct species, and the small number which now exist in the New World. ‘Two genera only, comprising four or five species, are known in America, namely, tapir and dicotyles, both of which belong to the southern zoological province: yet there is one species, the common pec- cari or dicotyles torquatus, which ranges northwards to the Red River, a tributary of the Mississippi, where it was observed by Nuttall; this is probably the coyametl of Hernandez. Dr. Harlan states that the tapir is also an inhabitant of Mexico, without quoting his authority; but Dr. Roulin, who has written a very learned and elaborate treatise on this animal, and figured a second American species, is of opinion that the tapirus americanus ranges from the 35th degree of south lati- tude only to the 12th north, while the new species, ¢. pinchachus, is confined to the higher Cordilleras of the Andes, and does not advance further to the north than the 10th degree. The very remarkable resemblance between the scull of the Indian tapir and that of the paleotherium has been pointed cut both by Cuvier and Dr. Roulin. Fossil elephants and mastodons occur in North America, and though the present stock of horses, wild and tame, in that country are believed to have had an European origin, fossil bones of horses were found by Captain Beechey under the cliffs of Kotzebue Sound mixed with those of elephants and other animals. There is a considerable resemblance in the kinds of quadrupeds found in the ecocene gypsum quarries of Paris, named in Cuvier’s list—bat, large wolf, fox, coatis, raccoon, genette, dormouse, and squirrel—to those now existing in Mexico. The genette may be represented in tropical America by bassaris or gulo barbara, and the dormouse by neotoma; while the palgotherium and other extinct pachydermata of Montmartre are allied to the tapir. The other genera are American, but dicotyles and the felide, which form so conspicuous a part of the existing carnivora, do not occur in Cuvier’s list. Ord. RUMINANTIA. Cervus alces*?, L. Grirr. Cuv. pl. Cervus nemoralis, H. Smiru, Grirr. Cuv. » tarandus*, L.? Epw. 51. Dicranocerus furcifer, Ricu. /.B.A. pl, » Strongylocerus, ScHREB. 247. . Capra americana, Ricu. F.B.A. » macrotis, Ricu. F.B.A. 20. Ovis montana* ?, Ip. .c. » Virginianus, Burr. 12, 44. Bos americana, Grirr. Cuv. fig. » Mmexicanus, GME. Grirr. Cuv. »» moschatus, Penn. Aret. Zool. » leucurus, Dovet. Ricu. F.B.A. 160 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Only two species of this order are common to the old con- tinent and America, and these have the highest northern range, namely, Cervus alces and tarandus. If the ovis montana be, as Cuvier hints, the same with the Siberian argali, it is a third common species. The North American deer are still very im- perfectly known, and a revision of the species would well repay the labour of a naturalist who has an opportunity of seeing them in a state of nature; the deer of the Pacific coast in par- ticular require investigation, as they are known only by imper- fect descriptions, no figures of them having been published nor specimens brought to Europe*. The reindeer is the most northern ruminating animal, being an inhabitant of Spitzbergen, Greenland, and the remotest arctic islands of America. On the Pacific coast it descends as low as the Columbia river, being, however, much less common there than in New Caledonia. On the Atlantic it exists as far south as New Brunswick, while in the interior its southern limit is the Saskatchewan river. The different varieties of reindeer ought to be compared with each other, and detailed dissections of the American kinds are still wanted. The southern range of the elk is the Bay of Fundy, on the eastern coast, though it is said to have existed formerly as far south as the confluence of the Obio and Mississippi ; but this report is rendered uncertain by the name elk having been applied in different parts of the country to different kinds of deer. It frequents all the wooded districts up to the mouth of the Mackenzie, in the 68th degree of latitude, but very seldom appears in the prairies or barren grounds. The wapiti, or cervus strongyloceros, does not travel to any distance from the prairie lands, on both sides of the Rocky Mountains, and not further north than the 54th parallel. C. macrotis and leucurus frequent the prairies of the Saskatchewan and Missouri, and, according to report, the west side of the Rocky Mountains also. C. virginianus is found from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico ; nemoralis and mexicanus inhabit the latter country, the former going southwards to Surinam}. The antilope furcifer abounds on the prairies of the Missouri, Saskatchewan, and Columbia, and is believed to range southwards to Mexico. It differs much * The following is a list of the deer of Columbia and New Caledonia fur- nished to me by P. W. Dease, Esq., of the Hudson’s Bay Company: moose- deer (c. alces); rein-deer (c. tarandus) ; red-deer, or wawaskeesh (c. strongy- loceros) ; kinwaithoos, or long-tailed deer ; mule-deer ; jumping-deer, or cabree ; fallow-deer, or chevreuil. The specific names of the last four have not been sa- tisfactorily ascertained. The antilope furcifer is named white-tailed cabree to distinguish it from the jumping-deer, in which neither the tail, nor the rump, is white. + Lieut.-Colonel H. Smith, ‘n Griffith’s Cuvier. 5 ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 161 from the true antelopes, and, if it be considered as belonging to a distinct genus (dicranocerus), it is the only generic form of this order found in North America which does not exist also in Europe, unless a second be found in ovibos moschatus, sepa- rated from bos. The capra americana and ovis montana in- habit the Rocky Mountains from Mexico to the northern ex- tremity of the range, and also the maritime Alps of California and New Caledonia, the former confining itself to the higher ridges. The musk-ox is peculiar to the barren lands, travelling in summer over the ice to Parry’s Islands; but though it has this high range, it does not exist either in Asia or Greenland. The chief residence of the bison (bos Americanus) is on the _ prairie lands, east of the Rocky Mountains; it frequents the woods also up to the 62nd parallel, but nowhere approaches within 600 miles of Hudson’s Bay. Though this animal is at sent rarely ever seen to the eastward of the Mississippi, it is said to have formerly frequented Pennsylvania and Kentucky, but the authority for its ever having ranged to the Atlantic coast is by no means good. It does not exist in New Cale- donia, though it has crossed the eastern crest of the Rocky Mountains further south, to the headwaters of the south branch of the Columbia; but even in that latitude it does not advance towards the coast, a spur of the Californian Alps* (or ‘ a coun- terfort’’ connecting them with the Rocky Mountains), which skirts the Snake River, or south branch of the Columbia, otfer- ing apparently an effectual barrier to its further progress west- ward. In the fur countries it does not go to the eastward of the 97th meridiant. Ord. CETACEKA. As the cetacea traverse the depths of the ocean in pursuit of their prey, it is highly probable that many species are commen to the same parallels of the New and Old World. Those that frequent the Greenland seas are at least entitled to be enume- rated among the animals both of Europe and America; and in like manner the cetacea of the North Pacific and sea of Kam- schatka are common to the latter country and to Asia; but the animals of this order are so imperfectly known that we cannot give the correct geographical distribution of even a single species. * Named the “ Blue Mountains”. + Horned cattle thrive well in America. They were introduced into Upper California about 70 years ago, and in 1827 the Missions, according to Dr. Coulter, possessed upwards of 300,000 head, 60,000 being annually slaughtered to keep down the stock. They are multiplying also very fast on the banks of the Columbia, where they have lately been introduced by the Hudson’s Bay Company. VOL. V. 1836. M 162 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Dr. Harlan enumerates fourteen of the true cetacea as having been detected on the coasts of North America; but on correcting his list, and striking out the synonyms agreeably with the indica- tions in the Régne Animal, the number is reduced to ten. Of the herbivorous cetacea two at least enter the North American fauna, viz., the stellerus borealis, or rytina, which belongs to the Sea of Kamschatka, and a manatee, that frequents the mouths of rivers in East Florida. This species has been named latirostris by Dr. Harlan ; but Temminck observes that it is ** tres douteuse,’’ meaning thereby, we suppose, that it is not distinct from one of the ascertained species, senegalensis or americanus ; the latter, which inhabits the tropical coasts, is supposed to go as far north as Mexico. The following list comprises the cetacea which are enume- rated in the Régne Animal, Desmarest, Fischer’s synopsis, &c., as extending their range to America; but nothing is less cer- tain than their identification with European species bearing the same names. Manatus americanus, Cuv. Delphinapterus leucas*, Scorrss. 14. at latirostris, HARLAN. Hyperocdon Dalei*, Hunt. Ph. tr. 77,19. Rytina borealis*, Nov. Act. Petr. 13,13. =A anarnichum*, Fasr. Delphinus delphis*, Lacer. 13, 1. Monodon monoceros*, ScorEss. 15. = tursio*, Hunt. Ph. tr. 1787, | Physeter macrocephalus*, Lacxr. 10. 18. (nisarnac, FABR.) » tursio*, Bayer, Nov. Act. Cur. 3 canadensis, DUHAMEL, 2, 10,4. whe Phoczena gladiator*, Lacep. 15, 1. Balna mysticetus*, Scoress. 12. ~ communis*, Ip. 13, 2. », nodosa, BONNAT. = intermedia, Haru. Ac. Se. Ph. » physalis*, In. 2, 2. 6, fig. » boops, In. 3, 2. Chamisso, in the Mem. de la Soc. Leopold, &c., v. 12, has described nine cetaceous animals which frequent the Aleutian islands, founding his species on the figures and reports of the natives. (Vide Less. Man.) We shall conclude our cursory remarks on the mammalia, with a list of the most northern species. Cetacea. | Ursus arctos? Monodon monoceros. 813° N. lat. Lutra lataxina. roo N Calocephala feetida. 823° N. Georychus trimucronatus. Phoce aliz. Arvicola rubricatus. Trichechus rosmarus. 803° N. Sorex palustris. Ursus maritimus. 824° N. » Forsteri. Vulpes lagopus. Vespertilio so ° Care po a oN Lepus americanus. 67° or 68° N. Georychus Hudsonius. or Fiber zibethicus. Mustela —— ? Cervus alces. Gulo luscus. Felis canadensis. 66° N. Didelphis virginiana. 44° N. Dicotyles torquatus. 31° N. eed 2 ybrudas: } Mexico. Lupus occidentalis. | ~ 5° N Lepus glacialis. ‘ : Bos moschatus. Mustela erminea. 733° N. Georychus greenlandicus. 71° N. _ aa ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 163 The species noted as reaching the 80th, or a higher parallel, have been observed on Spitzbergen or in the neighbouring seas. We are not aware of any rodent animal having been taken alive in so high a latitude, but the skeleton of a Lemming was found on the ice in 812° N. by Sir Edward Parry on his memorable expedition to the northward of Spitzbergen. The same species exists on the most northern American Islands, and some small gnawers might have been supposed to inhabit Spitzbergen from a mustela having been seen there by Captain Phipps’s. people. (Voyage towards the North Pole in 1773, p. 58.) The North Georgian or Parry’s islands support those marked as reaching 75° N. with the addition of all the Spitzbergen species, except the weasel. We thus sce that the orders carnivora, rodentia, ruminantia and cetacea, are represented in the most northern known lands or coasts, the felide reach 66° N., the marsupiata 44°N., the pachydermata 31° N., and the edentata and qua- drumana to Mexico. The following table exhibits the number of North American mammalia belonging to each order, and two tables, extracted from Fischer’s synopsis, are inserted in a note to furnish the means of comparison; but it is to be observed that Fischer admits many species which still require much elucidation before they can be fully established. TTemminck considers that there are about 930 well-determined species of mammalia, and 140 doubtful ones. If this estimate be nearly correct, North America nourishes about one-fifth of the known species. Note.—An (*) is prefived to the species whose identity with those of Europe bearing the same names is not fully ascertained. Total Proper {Common to Orders, or Families. number of ‘oO other species. N. Amer. | countries. Carnivora Cheiroptera 17 Insectivora Lt CarnivOras.sueisssecsessearsesseates 38 2 *7 Amphibia 12 11 Marsupiata 3 Rodentia ... 70 *) Edentata 2 Pachydermata 5 1 Ruminantia 10 *3 Cetacea 5 14 164 SIXTH REPORT—1836. AVES. The birds, having always been objects of interest to collect- ors and artists, are better known than the other animal pro- ductions of North America. Edwards at an early period figured thirty-eight species from Hudson’s Bay; the natural history appendices to the recent arctic voyages contain full lists of those which frequent the sea-coasts in the higher latitudes, and the second volume of the Fauna Boreali- Americana has made known some new species, which, migrating through the great central valleys of the Mississippi and Mackenzie, or crossing the Rocky Mountains from California, had escaped the notice of the ornithologists of the eastern states*. Good lists are still wanted of the Labrador and Canadian birds, and also loeal cata- * Note.—An (*) is prefixed to the doubtful species. Cum aliis In toto. torrie. Ordines et Familie in Europa. Proprie. Quadrumana .........00-005 Carnivora.......s.0 a ee Cheiroptera ..sccseseeseeeees TOsectivora ....,..cccccecereseee Carnivora ... Amphibia .... denen Rodentia ....0..0.00- spenes ce Edentata ....ccsesccseccces } MBps er sl bas ase! Pachydermata ....... rane Ruminantia .......... askns Cetacea .......... 156 *22 | 51 *22 | 105 Orbis priscus. America. Polynesia. Ordines et Familie. Cum ? Cum Snell Pe Cum In toto. | Proprie.| aliis || In toto.) Proprie.) aliis tot ~ | aliis eis | terris,|| SOF | PME | torris, Quadrumana.... | 78 *2 pial . Carnivora ... 5 Cheiropt., Fere, ¥31)28 *3 Rodentia (Giires) *15| 7 Eden., a ta a *10| 2 { Bruta, Bellue, Pecora... Cetacea *3}9 3 ‘ll *2 346 *120|/54 *4) 68 *1152 #10116 1/125 *11 | * The natural history of Sir John Ross's first voyage, Sir Edward Parry’s third and fourth voyages, Sir John Franklin’s first journey, and Captain Back’s recent one accompany the respective narratives. Sir Edward Parry’s first ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 165 logues for various districts of the United States, to contribute towards our knowledge of the geographical distribution of the species; but with regard to the discovery, description, and illu- stration of the feathered tribes of that country comparatively little remains to be accomplished. When Wilson’s admirable work appeared, European ornithology could boast of nothing equal to it*. The Prince of Musignano’s highly valuable cri- tical examination of synonyms‘, and his publication of new spe- cies{, ably supply what Wilson, cut off in the midst of his career, left incomplete ; and the magnificent book of Audubon, now in the course of publication, surpasses every attempt of the kind in any country. Audubon’s plates present to us some of the finest specimens of art, and his ornithological biographies conyey the observations of a whole life enthusiastically devoted to studying the forms and habits of the feathered inhabitants of the air. It is announced that his forthcoming volume will contain a synopsis arranged in conformity with the recent improvements of science, and also a treatise on the geographical distribution and migration of the species; in short, this grand work will henceforth be the standard of reference for the birds which fre- quent the Atlantic states from Labrador to the Gulf of Mexico, and eastward to the great prairies. : Of the birds of Russian America and California we have only detached notices by travellers, the Appendix to Capt. Beechey’s voyage by Mr. Vigors containing the only scientific list. Up- wards of sixty species are therein noticed; but it is to be la- mented that the collectors have in many instances omitted to record the places where the specimens were procured, so that even their country is in some instances doubtful§. Lichten- stein’s promised Mexican fauna, if it be published, has not yet reached this country, and there is no other work to which we can look for a full enumeration of Mexican birds. One hundred species, however, from that country were character- and second voyage, and Sir John Ross’s second voyage have the natural hi- story appendices published in separate quarto volumes; while the Fauna Boreali- Americana, of which three yolumes have been published, is intended to supply the place of an appendix to Sir John Franklin’s second journey. The appendix to Captain Beechey’s voyage, though mostly printed off several years ago, is not yet published. * Vieillot’s ‘‘ Oiseaux de Amer. septentr.,” Paris, 1807, preceded Wilson’s book, but only two volumes have appeared. + Observations on the nomenclature of Wilson’s Ornithology, Journ. Ac. Sc. Phil., iii. et infra, 1823.—Genera of North American birds, &c., Lyc. of Nat. Hist., New York, ii. 1826.—Catalogue of birds of the United States, Maclu- rian Lyc., No.i. Phil., 1827. t Continuation of Wilson’s Ornithology, V. Y., 2 vols. § Since this report was read, we learn that Professor Nuttall has returned from Upper California with a rich harvest of objects of natural history, and among the rest with thirty species of undescribed birds, which will be included in Audubon’s work. 166 SIXTH REPORT—1836. ized by Mr. Swainson in the Philosophical Magazine for 1827, and upwards of one hundred and thirty named by Lichtenstein appear in the sale-list of duplicates of the collection made for the Berlin Museum by Herren Deppe and Schiede. As the authors of these two lists do not appear to have been aware of each other’s labours, some of the species are probably twice named ; and as we have no means of knowing whether many of these Mexican birds pass the tropic, or at least frequent the elevated table-lands, so as properly to enter the North American fauna, all their names are put in italics. The other parts of the lists have been compiled chiefly from Audubon’s work ; and that I might be enabled to refer to the species which will be comprised in the fourth volume, he has obligingly furnished me with a list of the plates which it will contain. Additions are made from the other works already quoted. The arrangement/adopted is that proposed by Mr. Vigors, with Mr. Swainson’s alterations, The extreme range of each species as far as ascertained is noted, and the birds which have been actually detected in Mexico or California are distinguished by abbreviations of the names of these countries. The similarity of the North American ornithology to that of Europe is evinced not only by the identity or close resemblance of the generic forms, but also by a third part of the species being common to the two faune. Europe is visited by a few of the meropide, promeropide, and struthionide, families which have no members in North America ; the muscicapide, re- presented in Europe by four species, which go pretty far north, furnish to the American fauna only the todus viridis and psaris cayanus, which do not ascend higher than Mexico; but this family is amply replaced in America by the ¢yrannule, which, though ar- ranged by Mr. Swainson as part of the Janiade, were considered by previous writers as fly-catchers, and scarcely to be separated from the Linnean genus muscicapa. North America, on the other hand, enumerates in its fauna certain families not found in Europe, viz., the trochilide, psittacide, rhamphastide, and trogonide, but none of the two latter groups go so far northas to reach the paral- lelof the south of Europe. The subjoined tablehasbeen construct- ed to show at a glance the chief points of agreement or difference between the two faune, the terms of comparison being assimi- lated by the omission of the American species which do not attain the 36th parallel of latitude. The number of species which compose the corresponding groups of each fauna often coincide remarkably, and this occurs even in families which have few or no species common to each country. There is a discordance with this remark observable in some families of dentirostres, which is perhaps owing to my imperfect arrangement of the species. The agreement between the faune is greatest among ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 167 the grallatores and natatores, two thirds of these orders being common to the two, while in the aggregate of the other orders only between one sixth and one seventh are common. As both the waders and water-birds are very migratory, we might be induced to infer that it is from this cause that so many of them are iden- tical on both sides of the Atlantic, but on investigating the habits of the species, we find that several which do not migrate at all, exist in every quarter of the globe, and some owls, which are the most resident birds of prey, inhabit very many distant countries without any appreciable change of form in the species. Number of Number of species. = species. = 5 5 3 5 8 Be Be Ss} Aa |g S| Be | as s Names of Families. fa e/ eo | 8 Names of Families. ee} & | 8 Sa) | eo | Bah paral. S ay; E — 50°—60° N. (Labrad. Avp.) Saya, A. 399. Mex. Sw.—54° N. prairies. pusilla, A. app. Mex. Sw.—56° N. coronata, enl. 675, 1. Mex. Sw. Licut. Cal. Vie. 2° N.—38° N. semi-atra, Vic. Cal. 38° N. Traillii, A. 45. ?—36° N. Arkans. 171 Tyrannula Selbii, A.9. Louis. ?—32° N. ” cayenensis, enl. 569, 2. 2° N.— Mex. Sw. Licut. afinis, Sw. Mex. maritime. barbirostris, Sw. Mex. nigricans, Sw. Mex. table t. musica, Sw. Mex. ornata, Sw. Mex. obscura, Sw. Mex. despotes, Licut. Mex. obsoleta, Licut. Mex. larvata, Licut. Mex. mesoleuca, Licut. Mex. atrata, Licut. Mex. pallida, Sw. Mex. Fam. MERULIDA. Cinclus americanus, A. 374. Mex. Sw.— 57° N. Merle op ere A. 131. Mex. Cal.— ” Saxicola cenanthe*, Behr. Sér.? 67° N. aurorea*, Panu. Kodiak. 58° N. TEmMM. Wilsonii, A. 164. 25° N.—57°N. minor*, F.B.A. 36. 25°N.—54°N. mustelina, A. 73. Mex. Licut.— 50° N. solitaria, F.B.A. 35. 27° N.— 50° N. silens, F.B.A. Mex. Sw. table 1. Sflavirostris, Sw. Mex. table !. tristis, Sw. Mex. table land. Orpheus nevius, F.B.A. 38. Cal. Nootka. 36° N.—66° N. Vic. Coox. rufus, A. 116. 30° N.—54° N. felivox, A. 128. Mex. Licut.— 54° N. polyglottus, A. 21. 25° S.—_44° N. Mew. Sw. leucopterus, Vic. Cal. 38° N. curvirostris, col. 441. Sw. Mex. Turdus* erythrophthaimus, Licut. Mex. ” ” deflexus, Licut. Mex. helvolus, Licut. Mex. Myothera obsoleta, A. 400. Arkans. 35° N. Icteria viridis, A. 137. 23° N.—44° N. Fam. SYLVIADA. Sylvicola vermivora, A. 34. 23° N.—42° Vic. Greenl. SABINE. (@nanthoides.) Erythaca sialis, A. 113. Mex. Licur. W. ” ” ” Ind.—48° N. Sialia Wilsonii. arctica, F.B.A. 39. New Cal. 44° N.— 68° N. cceruleo-collis, Vie. Cal.. 38° N. mexicana, Sw. Mex. Anthus aquaticus*, end. 661, 2. Greenl. ” ” N. Am. Tuo. ludovicianus, /.B.4. 44. 24° N. —63° N. (ruber, Ga.) pipiens, A. 80. V.WV. prairies. Mofacilla leucoptera, Vic. Calif. ‘Parus bicolor*, A. 39. Greenl. Laru. 30° ” ” ” N.—70° N carolinensis, "A. 160. 30° N.— 36° N. atricapillus, A. 36° N.—65° N. hudsonicus, A. 194.44°N.—57°N. ” N. (sud g. Vermivora, Sw.) solitaria, A. 20. Mex.—41° N. chrysoptera, A. 15, 2. 23° N. —50° N. protonotaria, A. 3. 23° N.i— 38° N. rubricapilla, A. 89. 23° N.— 55° N. peregrina, A. 154. 23° N.— 55° N. celata, A.178. 24° N.—50°N. Swainsonii, A. 198. 23° N.— 33° N. zestiva, A. 95. Mex. Sw. 20°N. —68° N. americana, A. 15. Mex. Sw.— 46° N. autumnalis, A. 88. 23° N.— 48°N. * Merula and orpheus of Mr. Swainson correspond with turdus of authors; the latter name is retained for Lichtenstein’s species, as we do not know to which of the former to refer them. 172 Sylvicola ccerulea, A. 48. Meax.-—40° N. » carbonata, A. 60. Kentucky. 38° N. » castanea, A. 69. 24° N.—44° N. » discolor, A. 14. 23° N.—43°N. » formosa, A. 38. Mex.—38° N. »» icterocephala, A. 59. Trop. ?— Canada ?. » maculosa, A. 50, 123. Cuda, Vie.—55° N. » pensilis, A. 85. Cuba. Vic. Mex. Sw. Licur.—36° N. » Yara, A. 49. >—43°N. » Rathbonia, A. 65. Mississ. » Childrenii, A. 35. Louis. » Bachmanii, A. 185. S. Car. » Blackburnie, A. 135. Mex. Sw. Cuba.—54° N. » palmarum, Bon. 10, 2. W. Ind. 18° N.—48° N. » agilis, A. 138, 23° N.—44° N. » canadensis, A. 155. Cuba. 20° N.—54° N, » coronata, A. 153. Cuba. Vic. Mex. Licut. Cal. Vic.— 20° N.—56° N. » parus, A. 134. 23° N.—52°N. »» petechia, A.145.24°N.—55°N. » Sphagnosa, A. 148. W. Ind.— 20° N.—46° N. » Striata, A.133. W.Ind.—54°N. » Maritima, A. App. ?>—40° N. » Virens, A. 393. Mex. Licut.— 50° N. », tigrina, Wits. 44, 2. 2—45°N. » tmornata, Sw. Mex. » petasodes, Licut. Mex. » eulicivora, Licut. Mew. » ~ varia, A. 90. Mex. Sw.—50° N. » pinus, A. 140. 24° N.—50° N. Setophaga ruticilla, A. 40. 2° N.—62° N. Mex. Sw. » canadensis, A. 103. Cuba, Vie.— 55°. N. » Bonapartii, A.5. 23° N.—34° N. » Wilsonii, A. 124. 35° N.—58° N. (muscicapa pusilla, Wis.) SIXTH REPORT—1836. Setophaga mitrata, A. 110. 23° N.— 52° N. (cucullata.) » minuta, A. dpp. 23° N.—40°N. » picta, Sw. Mex. Zool. Ill., 2, 54. » miniata, Sw. Mex. table l. » rubra, Sw. Mex. table 1. » rufifrons, Sw. Mex. Trichas marilandica, A. 23, Mex. Sw. Cal. Vic.—50° N. (personata.) » philadelphia, A. dpp. ?>—40° N. » Roscoe, A. 24. Mississ. Accentor auricapillus, A. 143. W. Ind. Mex. Latu. Sw. table lL— 55° N. (sub. g. Seiurus, Sw.) » aquaticus, Wins. 23, 5. F.B.d. 43. Mex. Sw.—64° N. Culicivora ccerulea, A. 84. Mex. Licut. —43° N. Sylvia calendula, A. 195. 24° N.—70°N. Greenl. Bon. (sub. g. Regulus.) » Cuvierii, A. 55. 40° N. prairies. » tricolor, A. 183. 23° N.—54° N. » trochilus*, enl. 651, 1. N. dm. TEMM. Fam. AMPELID/E. Bombycilla carolinensis, A. 43. Mew. Licutr. 2° N.—56° N. » garrula*, A. 303. ?—67° N. Vireo solitarius, A. 23. Mex. Licat.— 39° N. »» | noveboracensis,A.63.Mexr.Licur. —45° N. » flavifrons, A. 119. 23° N.—46° N. » gilvus, A. 118. 23° N.—46° N. » Olivaceus, A. 150. Mex. Sw.— 55° N. (muse. altiloqua, V1EIL.) » Bartramii, F.B.4. Braz. S. Car. New Caled.—49° N. » Vigorsii, A. 30. Penns. Fam. MUSCICAPID. Todus viridis, enl. 585. W. Ind. Mex. Psaris cayanus, enl. 304, 307. 2° N. Mew. Licurt. As the food of the raptorial order of birds, though variable in quantity in different localities, must be almost everywhere very similar in quality, it excites no surprise when we discover that many species are common to different quarters of the world, especially those entering the typical and subtypical groups which prey on quadrupeds and birds, taking them alive. But we are led to expect that the distribution of birds which feed on the fruits of the earth, should be influenced in a greater degree by climate, soil, and consequent fertility of the land: ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 173 and as temperature, moisture, and richness of vegetation have a manifest connection with the abundance and variety of insects, we look to find the insectivorous birds of the several continents nearly as different as their floras. Mr. Swainson has indeed already remarked that “ it is among the insectivorous or soft- billed birds that the principal ornithological features of any ex- tensive region will be traced.’” These observations receive a general support by a review of the extensive and varied order of insessores which in North America form three fifths of the birds ; and though the hirundinide, which are purely insectivo- rous, exhibit in the table a large proportion of species common to the two continents, there is, as we shall mention again, reason to doubt the identity of the species in the two faune. Two or three species of carnivoruus corvide are with more certainty the same on both sides of the Atlantic, and also several hard-billed granivorous birds (fringillide) that breed in the arctic re- gions, the physical conditions of which are almost the same in all longitudes, though below 65° N. latitude the aspect of the two continents differs greatly. Dentirostres.—In the quinarian arrangement of Mr. Vigors, this is one of the five tribes into which the tzsessores, or perchers, are divided, each tribe containing five families. Of the /aniade, a normal family of the tribe, only one species stands in our list as common to the new and old continents, and it is so marked in accordance with the opinions of Wilson and Audubon, but con- trary to those of Vieillot, Bonaparte, and Swainson. This and the other North American /anii are certainly very similar in form to their European congeners, which may be accounted for by their approaching the rapaces in their mode of feeding, and being less exclusively insectivorous than the tyranine, associ- ated with them by Mr. Swainson, which are proper to America. The merulide, the other normal family of the tribe, contains three American species which have been enumerated in the European fauna, one (merula migratoria) because of its occa- sional appearance in Germany, and the other two, m. aurorea and minor, on account of the capture of one or two individuals in Saxony and Silesia. Of the numerous family of sylviade we scarcely know more than one species which has an undisputed right to be marked as common to both sides of the Atlantic. Saxicola cenanthe, hitherto detected only in the higher arctic latitudes of America, may prove on further acquaintance to be distinct from the more southern European bird bearing the same name. Indeed Mr. Vigors has named it @nanthoides, being led to consider it to be a proper species, more from its distant habitat than from any peculiar character detected in the speci- 174 SIXTH REPORT—1836. mens from Behring’s Straits submitted to him: it was found in Davis’s Straits by Captain Sabine. Two species of anthus existing in America appear to have been confounded under the name of aguaticus: one of them identified by Temminck with the European species; the other, having a much more brown under plumage, is figured in the Fauna Boreali- Americana under the name of aquaticus, but, as the author last-named has ob- served, it is in reality a distinct species. It was indeed described as such by Latham under the appellation of the Louisiana lark, and the Prince of Musignano in adopting the specific name of ludovicianus, was led to deny the existence of the true aguati- cus in America. Opinions vary as to the identity of parus atri- capillus with the palustris of Europe. The American and European gold-crests (reguli) have also been confounded though they are now held to be distinct. It is to be noticed that the pari and reguli are typical examples of their respective groups, the pariane or titmice-warblers belonging to America chiefly, while the sylviane are mostly European warblers. Temminck states that the sylvia trochilus belonging to his group of mus- civores or to regulus of Cuvier, exists precisely the same in North America as in Europe, but it has not as yet founda place in the works of the North American ornithologists. Bomby- cilla garrula is the only one of the ampelide which is common to the two continents, and its manners and the extent of its migrations as well as its form and plumage are absolutely the same on both sides of the Atlantic. The vireones which feed on insects, or, when these are scarce, on the berries of the myrica cerifera, are confined to the New World. Of the mascicapide several species belong to the European fauna, but there are no typical ones in America agreeably with Mr. Swainson’s views of the constituents of the family : within the tropics and in Mexico we find psaris cayanus, a typical black-cap, and todus viridis, considered by him to be a fissirostral form of the broad-billed fly-catchers. Typ. Tribe, Conirostres. Aber. fam. FRINGILLIDE. Alauda alpestris*, 4. 200. Mer. Sw.— | Emberiza Townsendii, 4. 369. Philad. 68° N. (cornuta, W118.) 40° N. » glacialis, Licut. Mex. ” pusilla, 4.139. 30° N.—45° N. Plectrophanes nivalis*, 4. 189. 38° N.— " pallida, F.B.4. ?—55°N. 75°N. 81° N. Spitzd. is socialis, 4.104. Mex. Sw.— 5 lapponica*, 4. 370. 44° N.— 45° N. 70°. N. (calcarata, TEM.) x melodia, 4. 25. 30° N.—50° N. . picta, F.B.A. 49. ?—54° N. bs oonalaschkensis, Gm. ?—55° N. Emberiza canadensis, 4. 188. Cal. Vic. q mexicana, enl. 386. 1. Mex. 36° N.—60° N. i» pusio, Licut. Mex. ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. Fringilla palustris, 4.64. 30°N.—44°N. » iliaca, 4. 108. 30° N.—68° N. : leucophrys, A. 114. 28° N.— 68° N. » grammaca, Bon. 5, 3. Mex.— 40°N. prairies. (strigata, Sw. iy pennsylvanica, A, 8. 23° N.— 66° N. » graminea, 4.94. 30°N.—57°N. " hyemalis*, 4. 13. Cal. Vic. 30° N.—57° N Bs ¥y arctica, Vic. Cal. Unalasch. 36° N.—55° N. » meruloides, Vic. Cal. 37° N. 45 crissalis, Vie. Cal. 36°, 38° N. » amena, Bon. 6. f. 5. 37° N prairies. » cyanea, 4. 44, Mer. ?—45°N. » . Giris, 4.53, 1.25° S.—36° N. fs caudacuta, 4. 149. 33° N.— 44°N. » maritima, 4.93. 30°N.—44° N * bimaculata, Sw. Mex. table 1. a cinerea, Sw. Mex. 7 epopea, Licut. Mex. 5 rhodocampter, Licut. Mex. Ke superciliaris, Licut. Mex. fe lepida, L.Licut. W. Ind. Mex. “= hemorrhéa, Licur. Mex. » melanoxantha, Licut. Mex. Pipillo Sy ropkthaina, “A. 29. 23° N.— | ea B.A.51,52.2—55°N. yy maculata, Sw. Men. » _macronyx, Sw. Mex. » fusca, Sw. Mex. rufescens, Sw. Mea. Tanagra meaicana, L. enl. 290.2, 155. 1 » tgnicapilla, Licut. Mex. » gnatho, Licut. Mex. » grandis, Licut. Mex. 5 auricollis, Licur. Mex. » erythromelas, Licat. Mex. 7 abbas, Licut. Mex. » rutila, Licut. Mex. celeno, Licut. Mez. Pyranga estiva, 4. 44. Mex. Licur. 42° N. (Phenisoma, Sw.) » rubra, Wixs. 11 f. 3,4. Mex. 49° N. » ludoviciana, Wits. 20. 1, 2° N. —42° N. prairies. 5 livida, Sw. Mex. - hepatica, Sw. Mex. rs bidentata, Sw. Mex. Euphone jacarina, enl. 224.3, Braz. Mex. Licur. 175 Euphone tibicen, Licut. Mex. » Tufiventris, Licur. Braz. Cal. 25° $.—36° N. (Saltator, Vic.) Tiaris pusilla, Sw. Mex. Spermagra erythrocephala, Sw. Mex. Coccothraustes vespertina, F. B. 4. 68. 45° N.—54° N. » ludovicianus, 4. 127. Merz. Sw. 56° N. » ccerulea, 4.122. Mex. Sw. 42°N. » cardinalis, 4.159. Mex. Licur. 23° N.—42° N. » ferreo-rostris, Vie. Cal. 36° or 38° N. » melanocephala, Sw. Mex. » ehrysopelus, Zool. pr.15. Mex. Cumrinc. Linaria frontalis, Bon. 6. f. 1. Mex. Sw. 38° N. (Hemorrhous, Sw.) », purpurea, 4.4. 30° N.—55° N. » tephrocotis, 7.B.4. 50. ?—53° N. (sub. g. Leucosticte.) » borealis*, ViEIL. gal. 65. Roux, 101. Greenl. Japan, Tem. 52° N.—68° N. » americana, 4.354. >—44°N. » passerina, 4.130. 23° N.—45° N » Bachmanii, 4.165. ?2—35°N. » Henslowii, 4. 70. 30° N.—37°. N » savanna, 4.109. 30°N.—52° N. » Lincolnii, 4.193. ? 40° N.— 52° N. Carduelis tristis, 4.23. Mex.—60° N. » pinus, 4. 180. 32° N.—52°N. » psaltria, Bon. 6. f. 3. Mex. >— R. Platte. » mexicana, Sw. Mex. U.St. Aup. catotl, GMrL. Mex. enucleator*, 4.358. 50° N.— 63° N. ( Corythus, Cuy.) inornata, Vie. Cal. 38° N. Loxia ‘curvirostra*, A.197. 40°N.—57°N. leucoptera*, A, 368. 40° N.— 68° N. Pyrrhula Typ. fam. Corvipz. Corvus corax*, 4.101. Cal. Vie. 26° N. —74° N. » corone*, 4. 156. 26°N.—55°N. » ossifragus,4.146.24°N.—40°N. » columbianus, 4. 397. 46° N. Pacific. » mexicanus, L. Mex. Licur. » morio, Licut. Mex. 176 Pica caudata*, 4. 358. 40° N.—58° N. prairies. (Corvus pica.) » peruviana, enl. 625. Mex. Licut. » Beechei, Vic. Mex. Montereale. + Colliei, Vic. Mex. San Blas. Garrulus Bullockii, 4. 96. Mex. Cal. Bon. 46° N. (gubernatriz, col. 436.) ¢ floridanus, 4. 87. 25° N.— 31° N. (Cyanurus, Sw.) Ms Stelleri, F.B.4. 54. Mex. Bon. —57°N. A cristatus, 4. 102. 25° N.— 56°'N. cs californicus, Vic. Monterey. 36° N. 5 coronatus, Sw. Mex. +f azureus, col. 108. Mex. Licut. + Sormosus, Sw. col. 436. Mex. Temiscalt. canadensis, 4.107. 42° N.— 68° N. (Dysornithia.) Sub-typ. fam. STURNIDE. Molothrus pecoris, 4.99. Mex. Sw. 56°N. Dolichonyx agripennis, 4.54. Mex. Sw. —54° N. (oryzivora, Sw.) Agelaius phceniceus, 4.67. Mea. Sw. Cal. Vic.—56° N. SIXTH REPORT—1836. Agelaius xanthocephalus, -4. 396. Mex’. —58° N. 5 mexicanus, Epw. 243. Mex. 7 longipes, Sw. Mex. table l. =) Bullockii, Sw. Mex. Sturnella ludoviciana, 4.136. Mex. Sw. Licut. Cal. Vic.—56° N. ” holosericea, Licut. Mex. Xanthornus baltimore, 4.12. Mex. Sw. Licut.—55° N. Icterus spurius, 4, 42. 2° N.—49° N. » mexicanus, LEAcH, Zool. Mise. 2. Mex. Sw. » dominicensis, enl. 5.1. W. Ind. Mex. Sw. » eucullatus, Sw. Mex. » melanocephalus, Sw. Mex. » erassirostris, Sw. Mex. » gularis, Licut. Mex. » calandra, Licut. Mex. Cassicus coronatus, Sw. Mex. Quiscalus versicolor, 4.7. W. Ind. 57°N. + major, 4. 187. W. Ind. Mex. BarlN; - dives, Licut. Mex. + palustris, Sw. Mex. Scolecophagus ferrugineus, 4. 157. 24°N. —68° N. » mexicanus, Sw. Conirostres.—Most of the North American species of this, which is the typical tribe of insessorial birds, belong to the frin- gillide, one of the aberrant families. The two normal families also include a tolerable number of species, but the two remaining aberrant families (musophagide and huceride) have no members in North America. Among the fringillide we find one alauda, two plectrophanes, one fringilla, two linarie, one pyrrhula, and two doxi@, common to the two countries. In addition to these the alauda calandra of the south of Europe is noted in the Fauna Boreali- Americana as having been taken at Hudson’s Bay, but as the only authority is a specimen in the British Museum of not very certain origin, it is omitted in the preceding list. The perfection of ornithological structure is to be found, according to Mr. Swainson, in the corvide, the typical family of the conz- rostres, or typical tribe of the insessorial or typical order. The raven, which is a typical example of the genus corvus, is common to the four quarters of the world, and most ornithologists con- sider the carrion crow and the magpie of America to be the same with those of Europe. Mr. Audubon, however, describes the former as a peculiar species under the name of americanus, and Mr. Sabine has treated the magpie in a similar manner, though he has not been followed by subsequent writers :—it is certain that he has failed in pointing out any constant or appreciable ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 177 differences of plumage, but there is something peculiar in the habits of the American bird which frequents the interior prairie lands, and does not approach the sea coast as in Europe, nor does _ it go to the north of the 58th parallel, though the European bird extends to Lapland. Further observations are required to prove that the differences in the form and size of the eggs noted in the wi Fauna boreali-americana are constant. abounds in Japan, as Temminck informs us. The common magpie The sturnideé are more numerous in America than in Europe, and are all proper to the country. Aber. tribe, Scansores. Typ. fam. Picipz. Picus principalis, 4. 66. 25° N.—37°N. » tridactylus*, 4.132. 40° N.— 68° N. (americanus, arcticus). » [ pubescens, 4.112. 30°N.—58°N. » | Villosus, 4. 360. Cal. Vie. 28° N. 63° N. » ) querulus, 4. 353. 30° N.—36°N. » | carolinus, 4. 391. 19° N.—46°N. » (varius,4. 190. Mex. Sw.—61° N. » formicivorus, Col. 451. Mex. Licut. Sw. Calif. Vie. 36°N. > scapularis, Vic. Mex. San Blas. a ? olegineus, Licut. Mex. ai ? poliocephalus, Licut. Mex. » canus*, Epw. 65. N. dm. Temo. pileatus, 4.111. Mex. 63° N. Colaptes auratus, 4.37. 25° N.—63° N. » . Mexicanus, Vic. 9. Mex. Cal. —49°N. (collaris, Vic.) Melanerpes oe pea A. 395. 30° N.— 0° N. a Seyeeeacine A. 27. 24°N. —50° N. + ruber, Cal. Vic. Nootka. Coox. 2° N.—50° N. + ? aurifrons, Licut. Mex. a albifrons, Sw. Mex. Table L. “3 elegans, Sw. Mex. marit. Sub-typ. fam. PsiTTACIDE. Psittacus melanocephalus, enl. 527. 2°N. —Mex. BS, leucorhynchus, Sw. Mex. a autumnalis, Epw. 164. 2° N. —Meer. Licut. i strenuus, Licut. Mez. Plyctolophus mexicanus, Gmeu., Licut. _ Macrocercus militaris, Vatu. 4. Mex. Table L. Sw. San Blas. Vic. » | pachyrhynchus, Sw. Mex. VOL. Vv. 1836. Macrocercus aracanga, enl, 2. 2° N.— Mex. Licut. Psittacara carolinensis, .4.26. Mex. Licut. —42° N. - guianensis, Sprx. 25. 2° N.— Mex. Licut. (Agapornis, Sw.) x pertinax, enl. 528. 25° S. Mex. Licut. Psittacula mexicana, GMEL., Licut. Aber. fam. RAMPHASTIDE. Pteroglossus pavoninus, Zool. Pr. 34. Mex. Ramphastos pecilorhynchus, Licut. Mea. Aber. fam. CucuLip2. Coccyzus americanus*, 4. 2. ?—45° N. "9 erythrophthalmus, 4. 32. pgs 45° N. i seniculus, 4. 169. 2° N.—25° N. a mexicanus, Sw. Table L. “5 cayanus, enl. 211, 2° N.—Mex. Licat. viaticus, Licnt. Mex. Crotophaga ani, enl. 182, 1, 2. 2?°N.— Mex. Licur. a sulcirostris, Sw. Mex. Table L. Leptostoma longicauda, Sw. Mex. (Sauro- thera californica, Lxss. ?) Aber. fam. CERTHIADE. Troglodytes hyemalis, 4. 365. 40° N.— 46° N. (Sylv. troglodytes). os furvus, 4. 83. Surin. Bon. 5° N. —57°N.(domestica, aédon). » americanus, A. 179. 32°.N.— 46° N. “f spilurus, Vie. 4. Calif.? or Mex.? is palustris, 4. 100. 25° N.— 55°. N. (Thryothorus). 178 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Troglodytes ( Bewickii, 4.18. Louis. Sitta carolinensis, 4. 152. Mew. Sw. ty ludovicianus, 4. 78. 30° N. —416° N. 42° N. (carolinianus). » canadensis, 4.105. 38° N.—52°N. 3 brevirostris, 4. 175. 26° N. » pusilla, 4.125. 24° N. —40° N. —44°N. » pygmea, Vie. 4, 2. Calif. Monterey. 3 murarius, Licut. Mex. 36° N. “4 mexicanus, Licut. Mex. Xiphorynchus leucogaster, Sw. Mex. latifasciatus, Licur. Mex. . flavigaster, Sw. Mex. Certhia familiaris*, 4. 392. 30° N.— | Dendrocolapies pecilinotus, Wacu. Mex. 50° N. Licut. We may remark of the scansorial birds in general that they are very numerous on the American continent, and particularly in the intertropical and southern regions, where they find abun- dant food in the ancient and interminable forests which they inhabit. The North American fauna contains examples of all the five families, the typical group being, however, most plen- tifully and generally distributed in the middle districts. Three species only of the whole tribe are common to the European and American faune, viz. picus tridactylus*, which is the most northern scansorial bird, and canus (malacolophus) Sw., which is introduced into our list on the authority of Temminck, who says that it inhabits the north of Europe, Asia, and America: both these belong to the typical family. The third species is certhia familiaris, a type of one of the aberrant families. Doubts existed as to the difference between troglodytes europeus and hyemalis, but they have been abandoned by the latest writers. The European fauna contains no example of the psittacide or ramphastide, and in America the psittacara carolinensis alone passes the parallel of the south of Europe: a species of parrot reaches the thirty-second degree of latitude in the north of Africa. The coccyzus americanus has been recently added to the list of European birds, four individuals having been killed in Great Britain, consequently it attains a higher latitude there b five or six degrees than it does on the other side of the Atlantic. Temminck objecting to the geographical designations of ameri- canus, carolinensis and dominicus, in which this species rejoices, has named it cimerosus, being a translation of Buffon’s epithet cendrillard. Aber. tribe, Tenuirostres. Typ. f m. TrocuiLipz. Trochilus { rufus, Jarp.6. Real del Monte, | Trochilus Rivolii, Luss. 4. Mex. Sw. 61°N. (collaris, Laru.) . melanotus, Sw. Mex. + montanus, Luss. 33, 54. Mex. mS Sulgens, Sw. Mex. a platycircus, Sw. Mex. y latirostris, Sw. Mex. J Anna, Less. 74. Cal. 30° N.— A) bifurcatus, Sw. Mex. 57° N. . minimus, Sw. Mex. * Mr. Swainson says the European and American three-toed woodpeckers are distinct species. ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 179 Trochilus tricolor, Sw. Mex. Cynanthus arsinoe, Less. sup. 28. Mex. ty beryllinus, Licur. Mex. Campylopterus Clementia, Less. 30. Mea. # verticalis, Licut. Mex. Lampornis mango, 4. 184. 25° S.—25° * euculiger, Licut. Mex. N. Braz. Mex. Fior. oo curvipennis, Licut. Mex. as gramineus, Luss. col. 12. Mex. +} hemileucurus, Licut. Mex. “4 celigena, Luss. tr. 53. Mex. coruscus, Licut. Mex. rs melanogaster, VIEILL. 75. Mex. Cynanthus colubris, 4.47. W.Ind.57°N. * punctatus, VreIu. 8. Mex. re lucifer, Luss. 5. Mea. Sw. cs holosericeus, Epw. W. Ind. 7x tricolor, Luss. 14. Mea. Mex. 4° N.—20° N. Ps Duponiii, Less. sup. 1. Mex. A gutturalis, enl. 671. 4° N. Mex. “ thalassinus, Luss. 55, 56, 57. sup. 3. Mex. The tenuirostral tribe, containing the five families of trochi- lide, cinnyride, meliphagide, paradiside, and promeropida, is represented in Europe only by the hoopoe, one of the 7rome- ropide, while many trochilide belong to the North American fauna, of which, however, but three range northwards to Euro- pean parallels. The alpine structure of Mexico, by producing a succession of various climates within a short space, adapts it admirably to the habitation of the trochilide which seek their food in the throats of flowers. Mr. Swainson observes, that the vast proportion of suctorial birds inhabiting Australia and the neighbouring groups of islands, is one of the characteristics of that zoological province, the honey-sucking birds forming nearly one-fourth of the New Holland perchers,—for that cha- racter belongs not only to the meliphagide, but also to the little green lories (¢richoglossi) of the parrot family. The para- disidé are natives of New Guinea which is a portion of the Au- stralian province. The greater prevalence of this form in South America and Australia affords another instance of analogy between their faun™, in addition to those noticed in our remarks on the mammalia. The cinnyride and promeropide inhabit the warmer regions of the old world. Aber. tribe, Fissirostres. Aber. Fam. Hatcyonip2. Hirundo a, Sw. Mez. 5 . , coronata, Licut. Mev. Alcedo alcyon, A. Lids W. Ind.—68 N. Chewint beara a 158. 225° N.— Typ. Fam. Hirunp1nip2. Hirundo purpurea, 4. 22. Braz. Sw. 9° S. Sub. typ. fam. Carrmuncip 2. —67° N. » Tustica*, 4.173. Mex. Licut.— | Caprimulgus vociferus, 4.82. ?—25°N. 68° N. (rufa, americana). —48° N. » Yiparia*, 4. 389. 25° S.—68° N. FS carolinensis, 4. 52. Mex.— » bicolor, 4.98. Mex. Licut.— 37° N. 60° N. (viridis). % virginianus, 4.147. ?—25° - 9 fulva, 4.68. W. Ind. Viet. N.—68° N. (Chordeiles, Mex.Sw.—67°N. (lunifrons?) Sw.) » aoonalaschkensis, Laru., >— = albicollis, Latu. 4° N.— Mer. 60° N. Licut. N 2 180 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Aber. fam. 'Troconipz. Trogon mexicanus, Sw. Temiscalt. meet Se » resplendens, Zool. pr. 27. Mex. Trogon viridis, enl. 195. 2° N.—Mez. elegans, Zool. pr. Mew. Licut. » glocitans, Licut. Mex. » pavoninus, col. 372. Mex. » ambiguus, Zool. pr. Mex. Nath. pr. » Morganii, Sw. Mex. Prionites mexicanus, Sw. Mex. Table L. The meropide, one of the aberrant families of the fissirostral tribe, have no members in America, though two species enter Kurope, the rest of the group being confined to the warmer re- gions of the old continent. The trogonide again, another aber- rant family peculiar to America, though pretty numerous in Mexico, send no species so far north as to reach the United States.* The third aberrant family, the halcyonide, contains one European species and one North American one. The two normal families are spread over the whole world, and are re- presented in Kurope and North America by nearly an equal number of species, though few are really common to the two countries. The chimney or barn swallow of America is consi- dered by Audubon as the same with that of Europe ; though pre- vious authors, relying upon some differences in the colour of the plumage, had named it, as a distinct species, rufa or americana. The sand-martin (riparia) has been described as the same in both continents without much question, but also perhaps without a correct comparison of a sufficient number of specimens from both cuntinents. The interesting species named fulva requires further investigation ; by Vieillot, who gave it that appellation, it is said to have a forked tail, which form is also attributed to it in the Fauna boreali-americana, where Say’s appellation of lunifrons is adopted: Audubon and the Prince of Musignano, who inspected Say’s specimen, describe the tail as square. It remains to be ascertained whether these authors all speak of the same species or not. Aber. Ord. RASORES. Aber. fam. Cracipz. Peristera jamaicensis, Tem. 10. Mex. Crax hoazin, ALBIN 32. Mex. i Bie epee Mex. — PORN" tie 3 Nonny Geophilus cyanocephalus, 4. 172. W. Ind. enelope garrula, WAGLER, Mex. Licurt. 95° N. Florida. Chameepelia passerina, 4. 182. W. Ind.— Aber. fam. CotumsBip2#. 32° N. Cape Hatteras. Columba fasciata, Bon. 8, 3. R. Platte. +, squamosa, TEM. 59. 25° S.— » leueocephala, 4. 177. W. Ind. Mex. Licut. Mex. Floridas.—25° N. “piiliege rem iene ey Lege 36° N. PHASIANID& or Pavonipz. Revonnies Bis midiintey hes i Meleagris gallopavo, 4. 1. Mew.—44° N. carolinensis, 4. 17. Mex. , Licut.—42° N. L. Super. TeTRaonip&. Peristera montana, 4. 167. 2° N.—25°N. | Tetrao f umbellus, 4. 41.32° N.—56°N. » zenaida, 4. 162. Cuba.—25°N. a cupido, 4. 186, 36° N.—46° N. * Mr. Swainson has recently indicated a prionites bahamensis. ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 18l Tetrao (canadensis, 4. 176. 44° N.— | Tetrao { urophasianus, 4. 366. 42° N.— 68° N. Moist Woods. 48°. Prairies of the Columb. - Franklinii, F.B.A. 61. 50° N.— » phasianellus, 4. 367. 36° N.— 58°N. Rocky Mount. 61° N. + obscurus, 4. 361. 40° N.—63° | Ortyx virginiana, 4. 76. Mex.—48° N. N. » californica, SHaw. Mis. 345. 36°N. PP mutus*, Leacu. 67°N.—70°N. —44°N. . £ rupestris*, 4. 373. 55° N.— » Douglasii, Vic. 9. Cal. 36° N.— 75° N. Barren Grounds. 42°N. es leucurus, F.B.4. 63. 54° N.— » picta, Douc. 38° N.—45°N. 64° N. Rocky Mount. » Spilogaster, Zool. pr. 15. Mex. Cum. a saliceti*, Ep. 72. 45°N.—70°N. » eristata, enl. 126. f. 2° N.—Mex. The families of rasores are capable of being distributed pretty correctly into geographical groups. Thus the cracide belong to South America, a few species extending northwards to Mex- ico: one genus (megapodius) inhabiting New Guinea, forms another link of connection between the Australian and South American faune. The struthionide belong mostly to the warmer parts of the old continent, one form (the New Holland emeu) inhabiting Australia, and another (rhea) South America. The phasianide also have their head quarters in the more southern parts of the old world, one genus only (meleagris), composed of two species, being American. The columbide, on the other hand, are spread generally over the world, though the family contains several well-marked minor geographical groups. The ¢etraonide are likewise widely diffused, but chiefly in the colder or temperate regions; and it is to this family that the only rasorial birds common to both continents belong,—they are ptar- migans, inhabiting the most northern districts, (tetrao mutus, ru- pestris and saliceti). On comparing this division of the faunz of North America and Europe with each other we find that the for- mer wants the partridges so common in the temperate parts of the latter, the true pheasants, the genus ofis, and the pterocles and hemipodii which have spread to the south of Europe from Africa and Asia ; on the other hand it possesses several forms of columbide, not known in Europe; the magnificent turkey, which for culinary purposes ranks as the chief not only of the gallinacei but of the whole feathered race; several singular forms.of tetrao; and the beautiful californian quails (ortyx) ; be- sides the Mexican cracide, which, as they do not go so far north as the southern extremity of Europe, do not fairly come into the comparison. In short, the similarity of this portion of the two faune is confined to one group of columbe, which does not reach higher than the southern parts of the United States, to the arctic /agopi, and to another group of tetraones, which includes canadensis, but is not generically distinct from the typical grouse. 182 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Aber. Ord. GRALLATORES. Aber. fam. TantTaLip#. Tantalus lecular A. 216, 25° S.—38° N. RD. Ibis rubra, A. 385. 25° S.—36° N. » alba, A. 222. Mea. 25°S.—40° N. » falcinella*, A. 386. Mex.—46° N. Caneroma cochlearia, enl. 38 & 369. 30° S.—Mew. Licut. Aramus scolopaceus, A. 381. 2° N.—U. S. Bon. Sub-typ. fam. ARDEIDE. Grus americana, A. 226. Mexv—68° N. Ardea herodias, A. 211. 25° N.—50° N. » ludoviciana, A. 217. 24° N.—36° N. Charlestown. » occidentalis, A. 281. Flor. keys. Bo. Ns candidissima, A. 242. 24° N.— 42° N. Massachusetts. » J rufescens, A. 256. Flor. keys. 26° N. (Peailii.) » | egretta*, A. 378. W. Ind. Mex. 2° N.—43° N. (alba). coerulea, A. 307. Mew. W. Ind. 2° N.—44° N. virescens, A. 333. Mew. W. Ind. —44° N. » | lentiginosa, A. 337. 38° N.— 58° N. (minor). exilis*, A. 210. W. Ind. Cal. Vie. 45° N. nycticorax*, A.236. Mea.—46°N. violacea, A. 336. Mex. W. Ind.— 2° N.—44° N. Platalea ayaia, A. 321. Mew. Licut. 25° S.—40° N. Hematopus palliatus, A. 223. Mex. Licur. 54° S. Kine.—52° N. ostralegus*, Wiis. 64, 2. Cal. Vie.—50° N. Typ. fam. ScoLopacip”&. Numenius longirostris, A.231. Mex.Licur. Cal. Vie.—42° N. borealis, A. 208. Cal. Vic. 25° S. —70° N. Labrad. Coperm. r. », hudsonicus, A. 237. ?—60° N. », rufiventris, Vic. Cal. 36° N. Totanus glottist, A. 269. W. Ind. Flor. keys.—25° N. flavipes, A. 288. Mex. Licnr. Cuba.—68° N. ” ” Totanus melanoleucus, A. 308. W. Ind.— 60° N. (vociferus, W1xs.) » macularius*, Wits. 59. Mea. Licut.—57° N. » Bartramius*, A. 303. ?—55° N. ” chloropygius, Wixs. 58. Mea. Licut. Cuba.—68° N. ochropus*, 7. B.A. ?—58° N. 5 calidris*, F.B.4. ?—58° N. 5 fuscus*, end. 875. N. dm. TemM. = semipalmatus*, A. 274. 23° N. —56° N. ay candidus, Epw. 139. ?—58° N. Recurvirostra americana, A. 318. Tropics —63° N. » occidentalis, Vic. 12. Cal. 38° N. Limosa fedoa, A. 238. 21° N.—68° N. yf budsonica, A. 258, 38° N.—68° N. melanura*, en/. 874. U.S. Bon. an preced. ? » candida, Epw. 139. enl. 873. H. Bay. Scolopax minor, A. 268. 26° N.—52° N. » Wilsonii*, A. 243. 28° N.—55° N. » leucura, F.B.4A. Huds. B. 57° N. » grisea*, A. 335. 50° N.—70°N. Phalaropus fulicarius*, A. 255. ?—75° N. » lacialis, Laru. Behr. St. 692° N. Lobipes hyperboreus*, A. 215. ?—75° N. » Wilsonii, A. 254. Mea. Sw. S.. dm. —i5° N. ( fimbriatus, Trem.) Tringa islandica*, A. 315. ?—75° N. maritima*, A. 284. 40° N.—74°N. Cal. ” ” » ~ Temminckii*, col. 41, 1. Vic. U.S. Bon. minuta*, Naum, 21, 30. U. S.Bon. pusilla, A. 320. Mew. Licurt. Nootka.—68° N. maculosa, Vie1u. IV”. Ind.—U.S. » { rufescens*, A. 265. 30°N.—70°N. subarcuata*, A. 263. ?—39° N. & 41° N.—? (africana, Laru.) pygmea*, Naum. 10, 22. U.S. Bon. (platyrhinca.) pectoralis*, A. 294. W. Ind. 19° N.—? Schinzii*, A. 278. 25° N.—55°N. alpina*, Wits. 56, 2. 57, 3. ?— 74°. N. (cinclus, variabilis.) himantopus, A. 344. ?—60° N. » | Semipalmata*, A. 350. ?—60° N. » Deppii, Licut. Mex. Calidris arenaria*, Wis. 59, 4. 63, 3. 30° N.—60° N. ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. Aber. fam. Ratiww2. Parra jacana, enl. 322. 25° S.—Mex. Rallus virginianus, A. 205. 24° N.—50°N. » crepitans, A. 204, 24° N.—41° N. » Clegans, A. 203. 24° N.—40° N, Crex noveboracensis, A. 329. ?>—57° N. » carolinus, A. 233. Mex. 25° S.— 183 Strepsilas melanocephalus, Vie. Calif. ? Charadrius pluvialis*, A. 300. 23° N.— 75° N. Behr. St. » vociferus, A.225. W. ind.—56° N. » Wilsonius, A. 209. 24°N.—44°N. » melodus, A. 220. Cal. 24° Ni— 53°. N. (hiaticula, Wits.) » semipalmatus, A.330. Cal. 24° N. 62°N. Gallinula chloropus*, A. 244. Mex. Cal. . 40° N. (galeata, Bon.) 70° N. Vanellus melanogaster*, A. 334. 26° N. =o . 5 martinica, A. 308. 160.N.—38° N. —i10° N. (helveticus). : . : Cayenensis, enl. 836. Mex.? Vic. Fulica americana, A. 239. Afex. Licurt. pees ano : s dae Cal, Vie.56° N. (aéra). Himantopus nigricollis, A. 328. ?—44°N. » melanopterus*, enl. 878. 25° S.— Aber. fam, CHARADRIADE. Mex. Licur. Brazil, Egypt, Strepsilas interpres*, A. 304. 24° N.— Tem. 75° N. The principal forms of the grallatorial order ave the same in the northern divisions of the two continents; but there are five minor genera, viz., ciconia, glareola, porphyrio, and cur- sorius in Europe, which do not occur in North America; and three in the latter country, namely, aramus, tantalus, and parra, which do not belong to the fauna of Europe. The forms and very many of the species of the typical family (the scolopacide) are absolutely the same in both countries, and on referring to the table in page 167, it will be seen how nearly the number of species of most of the families correspond on both sides of the Atlantic ; the numbers would agree still more exactly in the principal group but for recent refinements in the discrimination of species, by which birds, so closely resembling the common snipe as not to be distinguishable by an ordinary observer, are described as distinct on account of some differ- ences in the tail-feathers. The American coot differs very slightly from the European one, and the constancy of these differences still requires to be established; the latter occurs in India without change of form. The Rev. Mr. Bachman and Mr. Audubon have clearly established the brown crane, grus canadensis, to be the young of the great hooping-crane, grus americana. Aher. Ord. NATATORES. Anas obscura, A. 302. 25° N.— 45° N. op ot ke » discors, A. 313. Mex. Licur. Cal. Pheenicopterus ruber*, Wits. 66, 4. ?—40° —58° N. N. Bon. » erecca*, A. 228. Cal. Vic. 24°N. Anas clypeata*, A. 327. Mex. Sw. Licut. —70° N. Cal. Vie.—70° N. » Strepera*, A.348. Mex. Sw. 68°N. » acuta*, A. 227. Mex. Sw. Cal. Vie.—70° N. » wrophasianus, Vie. 14. Cal.? » boschas*, A. 221. Mex. Licur. —68° N. » glocitans*, A. 338. » americana, A. 345. Cuba. Cal. Vic.—68° N. (Mareca). » Ssponsa, A. 206. Mex. Cal. Vic. 19° S.—54° N. Somateria mollissima*, A. 246. 39° N— 81° N. Greenl. Spitz. 184 Somateria spectabilis*, A. 276. 43° N.— 81° N. Greenl. Spitz. Oidemia perspicillata*, A. 317. Nootka. 24° N.—72° N. » fusca*, Wits. 72. f. 3. 36° N.— 72° N. » nigra*, Wins. 72. 2. 36° N. ?N. » americana, A. 349. U. S—62°N. Fuligula valisneria, A, 301. Cal. 38° N.— 68° N. » ferina*, A. 322. Cal. 38° N.— 68° N. » Marila*, Wis. 69. 5. 38° N.— 68° N. Cal. Vic. » labradora, A.332. 40°N.—58° N. » Tufitorques, A. 234. 26° N.—68° N. (fuligula, Wis.) » rubida, A. 343. 26° N.—58° N. Clangula vulgaris*, A. 342. 26° N.—68° N. (clangula, Auct.) » Barrovii, F.B.4. A. 70. ?—57°N. » albeola, A. 325. Mex. Cal. Vic. —68° N. (ducephala). » histrionica*, A. 297. Cal. Vie.— 74°N. Harelda glacialis*, A. 312. 36° N.—75°N. Mergus cucullatus*, A. 232, 24° N.—68° N » Merganser*, A. 331. 38° N.— 68° N. » serrator*, A. 382. 38° N.—68° N. » albellus*, A. 347. 38° N—? N. Cygnus buccinator, A. 377. 38°N.—68°N. » Bewickii*¥, A. 387. Cal—75° N. Anser canadensis, A. 201. 26° N.—70° N. » Hutchinsii, A. 277. 45° N.—69° N. Melville peninsula. » bernicla*, A. 380. 26° N.—73° N. » leucopsis*, A. 296. ?—? U.S. Bon. » segetum*, enl. 985. U.S. Bon. » hyperborea*, A. 376. 26° N.— 73° N. CoLyMBID&. Podiceps carolinensis, A. 248. 26° N.— 68° N. cornutus*, A. 259, 26° N.—68°N. » eristatus*, A. 292. Mer.—68° N. »» rubricollis*, A. 298. 41° N.—68° ” N. Podoa surinamensis, enl. 893. 2° N.—40° N. Bon. Colymbus glacialis*, A. 306. 26°N.—70°N. septentrionalis*, A. 202. 36° N. —74°N. » _ areticus*, A. 346. ?—70° N. ” ; ALcaDs. Uria Brunnichii*, A. 245. 42° N.—75°N. SIXTH REPORT—1836. Uria grylle*, A. 219. 37° N.—75° N. » troile*, A. 218. 41° N—61° N. » Marmorata, Lara. N.W. coast. Bon. » alle*, A. 339. 39° N.—75° N. » brevirostris, Vic. Kotzebue Sound. Mergulus cirrhocephalus, Vie. Kotzebue Sound. Fratercula glacialis, A. 293. U.S. Bon. ; Kotzebue Sound. Vice. 70° N. » Cirrhata, A. 249. 40° S.—70° N. Kotzebue Sound. Vic. » aretica*, A. 213. 32° N.—? N. Phaleris cristatella, col. 200. 50° N.—70° N. Aleut. isles ? Vie. » psittacula, Pall. sp. v.2. Sea of Kamtsch. Alea torda*, A. 214. 40° N.—57° N. » impennis*, A. 341. ?—75° N. Cerrorhincha occidentalis, Bon. Behr. St. Vic. PELECANID. Onocrotalus americanus, A. 311. Mex. Vie.—61° N. Pelecanus thajus, 8. 40°.— Mex. Licur. Phalacrocorax carbo*, A. 266. 40° N.— Do ae » dilophus, A. 257. 33° N.—55° N. » floridanus, A. 252. 24°N.—35°N. graculus*, enl. 974. 40° N. Bon. cristatus*, col. 322. 40° N. Bon. » pygmeus*, Paty. Voy. 1. U.S. Bon. brasilianus, Sprx. 106. 25° S.— Mex. Licut. Sula fusca, A. 251. Mex. Vie. 2° N.— 35° N. Flor. S. Carol. » bassana*, A, 326. 40° N. Bon. Tachypetes aquilus, A. 271. Mex. Vic. 23° S.—40° N. Bon. Phaeton zethereus, A. 262. 30° S. Lxss. —25° N. Aub. Plotus anhinga, Wits. 74. 1 & 2. 25°S. —36° N. (melanogaster). LARIDz&. Sterna hirundo*, A. 309. 38° N.—57° N. (Wilsonii, Bon.) » arcetica*, A. 250. 38° N.—75° N. » eantiaca*, A. 279. 24° N.—33° N. » Dougalli*, A. 240. ?—26° N. » ¢cayana, A. 273. 23° N.—54° N. » fuliginosa, A. 235. 49°S.—40°N. » nigra*, A. 280. Mea.—69° N. aranea*, A. 383. 36° N.—44° N. » minuta*, A. 319. ?—44° N. » Stolida, A. 275. 25° S.—24° N. » galericulata, Mex. Licut. ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. Larus glaucus*, A. 379. ? N—75° N. » argentatus*, A.291.24°N.—75°N. » _ leucopterus*,A.282.40°N.—75°N. » Marinus*, A. 241. 28° N.—56° N. » zonorhynchus, A. 212. 36° N.— 56° N. » canus*, Aucr. U. S. —64° N. » Belcheri, Vie. N. Pacif. coast. » eburneus*, A. 287.47°N.—75°N. » fuscus*, Friscu. 218. U.S. Bon. TEM. » tridactylus*, A. 224. 30° N.— 74° .N. » Bonapartii, A. 324. ?—70° N. » Franklinii, F.B.4..71. ?—56°N. » capistratus*, Bag. Bay, Tem. 33° N.—74° N. » atricilla*, A. 314. ?—45° N. » ridibundus*,Naum.32,44. Greeni. seas. TEM. » minutus*, Faux. Voy. 3, 24. U.S. Bon. 65° N. » Sabinii*, A. 285. Cal. Behr. St. 185 Waigatz St. Spitzb., Regt. Inlet. ?—82° N. Rhynchops nigra, A. 323. ?—46° N. Lestris parasiticus", A. 267. 24° N.—75° N » pomarinus, A. 253.43°N.—67°N. » Richardsonii*, A. 272. 42° N.— 75° N. (parasiticus, Auct.) » cataractes*, Brit. Zool. 50, 6. U.S. Bon. » Buffonii*, enl. 762. U.S. Bon. Diomedea exulans, A. 388. 35° 8.—U. 8. Wits. Cape of Good Hope. » fuliginosa, col. 469. Cal. Aleut. islands, Vic. 50°S.—50° N. Procellaria glacialis*, A. 264. U. S.—60°N. » puffinus*, enl. 962. U. S—60°N. » obscura*, St. degli Ucelli, 538. U.S. Bon. Thalassidroma Wilsonii*, A. 270. 23° N. —55° N. Bon. (pelagica, W.) » Leachii*, A. 260. 40° N.—55°N. Bon. ‘ Vie. Spitzb. 36° N.—80° N. » pelagica*, A. 340. U.S. » Rossii*, F.B.d. Newfoundland, » Bullockii*, Newfoundland. Auv. The natatores, like the cetacea which they represent, in- habit the waters, the majority seldom coming ashore except for the purpose of nidification; and they are mostly common to the two continents, especially the marine ones. The generic groups are almost entirely the same in the same parallels of latitude; and even where the species are peculiar, there is a surprising uniformity in the numbers of each group, as may be observed on consulting the table in page 167. The common white pelican of America is considered as distinct from the onocro- talus of the old world by Mr. Audubon, and some occasional differences in the bill are pointed out in the Fauna boreali- americana ; but in most other respects the American and Ku- ropean pelicans have a very close resemblance. The breeding plumage of many of the northern gulls is still very imperfectly known, and the exact number of species and their distribution will remain uncertain until some ornithologist, who has the re- quisite opportunities of observation, accomplishes a revision of the genus. The characters of the black-headed gulls especially require elucidation. In concluding our remarks on North American ornithology, made chiefly with a view of pointing out its peculiarities, by contrasting it with that of Europe, we may refer the reader to the Prince of Musignano’s “ Specchio comparativo”’*, &c., * Specchio comparativo delle Ornitologie di Roma e di Filadelfia, di C. L. Bonaparte, &c., estratto dal No. 33, del nuovo giornale de’ letterati. °Pisa, 1827. 186 SIXTH REPORT— 1836. for an excellent comparison of the birds inhabiting the middle parallels of the two zoological provinces. The following table, which exhibits to an approximate fraction the proportion that each group of birds bears to the whole of the known North American species, will require correction as our knowledge of the ornithology of Mexico and the northern shores of the Pacific improves. Groups. No. of | Prop. Groups. No. of |Prop. sp. fr. sp. fr. RaPACes” .- 0)... | OF | qs | Fissirostres ...... 23 | 35 Vulturide ...... 5 |74;|| Haleyonide .... 1 | sae Falconide ...... 35 h Hirundinide .... 9| 77 : Strigide ...... ar a6 a ges a : Ths NSESSORES ...... + rogonide...... vara Dentirostres ...... 150 | +; Bunqnan yan ailoe 33 | oy Laniade........ 45 | 3+ @ragidzay cap. asia 3 lots Merulide...... 21] 35 |} Columbide .... | 12] 3% Sylviade ...... 73) & Phasianide .... 1 | goo Ampelide ...... 9| 7 Tetraonide \......| dds\eag Muscicapide... . 2 |shq|| Gratuarores ....| 87] ¢§ Conirostres ...... 134 | 2 Tantalide ...... 6 |G Fringillide .... | 90| 3 || Ardeide........ 16 |B Corvide........ | 20] Scolopacide .... | 45 | qb Sturmida ey yvy pedeur yy Rallide wore: 9 | py Scansores »....... 62/54 Charadriade .... 1l | @& Pieiden qinswe! . 21 | 35 || Navarores ...... 122 | 4 Psittacide ...... 12 | sy Anatidz........ 41 | x Hawoppestids, bx ats Colbie herbie a a uculidz ...... pe ee ee ” Certhiade...... 19 | 37 Pelecanide .... 14 | + Tenuirostres.Trochil.| 31 | sy Datide wn sg esa 44 | 35 The whole zoological region of North America being acces- sible, without much difficulty, to naturalists and collectors, that highly interesting subject, the migration of birds, can be studied no where with greater advantage. The American ornithological works do, indeed, abound with scattered facts respecting the periodical flights of some species: and the introduction to the second volume of the Fauna boreali-americana contains a few general remarks on this matter; but a paper by the Rev. J. Bachman, published in Silliman’s Journal for April, 1836, is the only one written expressly on the migration of North Ame- rican birds which has come to my knowledge. In this treatise the movements of the feathered tribes in America are noticed ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 187 in a very agreeable and popular style; but there is a want of precise numerical data, which we trust Mr. Audubon’s forth- coming volume will amply supply ; in the mean time the follow- ing pages, containing the chief statements made in the works referred to, will give some idea of the question as it now stands. The primary object of the migration of birds is generally allowed to be the obtaining a due supply of proper food in the various seasons of the year; and it is to be observed that in many cases the parents at the epoch of reproduction, and their callow young, require a very different kind of nourishment from that which the species subsists upon at other times; thus many, if not most of the hard-billed granivorous birds, feed their un- fledged brood on soft insects and grubs. Three lines of route, marked out by the physical features of the land, are pursued by the bands of migrating birds in their course through North America; some species retiring on the approach of winter through the eastern states and the peninsula of Florida to the West Indies; others passing down the great valley of the Mississippi to the Texas and eastern Mexico ; and others again keeping to the westward of the Rocky Mountains, and entering the tropical regions by the shores of the Pacific. Some more widely-diffused species pursue all the three routes ; while others, hitherto detected only in a single tract in the southerly part of their journey, spread from one side of the con- tinent to the other as they approach their breeding quarters on the confines of the arctic circle. Many birds, and more espe- cially the soft-billed waders, make their flight northwards in the higher latitudes through a different zone of country from that which they traverse on their return southwards, being influenced in this matter by the different conditions of the surface in spring and fall. The short duration of summer within the arctic circle, taken in connexion with the time necessary to complete the process of incubation, the growth of plumage, and, in the case of the anatide, the moulting of the parent birds, serves to limit the northern range of the feathered tribes. The waders, which seldom make a nest, and the water-birds, which lay their eggs among their own down, and obtain their food on the sea or open lakes when the land is covered with snow, breed farthest north. The ptarmigans, which breed in very high latitudes, and moult during the season of re-production, migrate only for a short dis- tance, and by easy flights; and, their food moreover being the buds or tips of willows and dwarf birch, can be obtained amidst the snow. When we consider that at the northern extremity of the American continent, and on the islands beyond it, the sum- 188 SIXTH REPORT—1836. mer heat is already on the decline before the country is even partially denuded of its wintry mantle, we should scarcely ex- pect to find any granivorous birds feeding in such high lati- tudes ; but, in fact, by an admirable provision, springing from the peculiar severity of the climate, the snow-buntings and Lap- land finches are furnished with food on their first arrival, when the patches of cleared land are scarcely larger than what suffices for the reception of their eggs. In the polar regions, the au- tumnal frosts set in so severely and suddenly that the pro- cess of vegetation is at once arrested, and the grass-culms, in- stead of whitening and withering as they do more to the south- ward, are preserved full of sap until the spring, the seeds re- maining firmly fixed in their glumes; when the ground is pre- pared for their reception by the melting suow, the seeds fall, and in a few days, under the influence of continuous light, a brilliant, though short-lived, verdure gladdens the eye. These grass-seeds, then, and the berries of several vaccinee, empetree, &c., which remain plump and juicy till the spring, yield food to the birds on their first arrival ; and by the time that the young are hatched, their wants are supplied by the further melting of the snow liberating the larve of many insects. The nata- tores, which feed at sea, find open water early enough for their purpose, and it is interesting to observe how well even the freshwater anatide (the majority of which breed in high lati- tudes) are provided for. Long before the ice of the small lakes gives way it is flooded to the depth of several feet with melted snow, that swarms with myriads of the larve of gnats and other insects on which the ducks feed. The more herbivorous of the duck-tribe, viz., the geese, feed much on berries in their migrations ; in the spring, before the sprouting of the tender grass, which they like, we find their crops filled with the shi- ning, white, dry fruit of the eleagnus argentea; and in the au- tumn, when they cross the barren grounds, they banquet at their halting-places on the juicy berries of the vaccinium uliginosum, vitis idea, or empetrum nigrum, which dye their crops a deep purple colour. These and other capabilities of the lands on the confines of the arctic circle account for so many birds entering the arctic fauna. The numbers of the falconide and strigide are of course proportioned to the abundance of smaller birds and rodent animals on which they feed. It may be considered as a general rule, that the number of species of birds which enter the faunz of successive parallels of latitude, diminishes gradually as we advance from the tropics towards the poles; but if we deduct the birds of passage and et ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 189 accidental visiters, and conclude with some authors that the species properly belonging to a district are only those which breed within its limits, we shall then find that in North America the number of breeding birds increases as we go northwards, up to the 62nd degree of latitude, where the woods begin to thin off. Even on the verge of the barren grounds, near to the arctic circle, as many species breed as in the neighbourhood of Phila- delphia, though in the latter locality some birds rear two or more broods in a season, which is not the case in the north. The Prince of Musignano states the number which hatch near Philadelphia, near the 40th parallel, at 113, while fourteen de- grees farther north, at Carlton-house, on the Saskatchewan, the number amounts to 149, and the difference would no doubt be greater in favour of the latter place were its ornithology more thoroughly investigated ; but all the species included in our estimate were detected in the course of a single spring by Mr. Drummond and myself. The amount of species which reside the whole year in any one place has no direct relation to the numbers which breed there, but is regulated chiefly by the winter temperatures, or, in Humboldt’s phrase, by the course of the isocheimal lines; and it seems evident that it is the diminution of supplies of food, and not the mere sensation of cold, which occasions birds to migrate from the high latitudes on the approach of winter. After the spring movement, the feathered tribes are often ex- posed in the fur countries to much lower temperatures than had occurred before their departure in autumn; and the eagle and other kinds which soar above the summits of the highest moun- tains, do not appear to be inconvenienced by the rapid change of climate to which they thus subject themselves. All the birds which feed on winged and terrestrial insects and worms, such as the fly-catchers, vireos, and warblers, must migrate from the northern regions, as well as most of the aquatic and piscivorous tribes, the suctorial tenuirostres, and all the gralla- tores, which thrust their bills into soft spungy soil in search of food. The wood-peckers, though insectivorous, are more sta- tionary, because the larve of the xylophagous beetles, on which they subsist, lodging in trees, are as accessible in winter as in summer; but the colaptes awratus, which feeds mostly upon ants, and the picus varius quit the snow-clad fur-countries in winter, while they are permanent residents in the more southern districts. The only bird seen at Melville Island, in latitude 75° N., during winter was a white one, supposed to be the strix nyctea, or it may have been a wandering falco islandicus, both these OP Aa 190 SIXTH REPORT—1S836. birds preying on small quadrupeds. In the pools of water which remain open all the year in the arctic seas, the wria grylle and Brunnichii are to be found at the coldest periods, the al- cade, consequently, are the most northerly winterers. Many individuals, however, of the species just named go far south in the winter season, and it has been observed that the old birds remain nearer the breeding stations, while the young seek their food further afield. This has been ascertained also of birds be- longing to other families, and more especially of the falconide and laride, probably because their young are more readily known by their peculiar plumage. In the extreme northern parts of the continent the winter residents are the falco islandi- cus and peregrinus, strix nyctea and funerea, and the raven, all birds of prey, the linaria borealis, which in the winter time inhabits dwarf birch or willow thickets, and picks up a subsist- ence from the grass-spikes that overtop the snow, and the ptarmigan, whose mode of feeding has already been alluded to. The strix lapponicaor cinereaand virginiana, corvus canadensis, tetrao canadensis, and picus tridactylus, inhabit the woods all the year up to their northern termination. The tetrao cana- densis feeds on the evergreen leaves of the spruce-fir, and the corvus canadensis, which is omnivorous, is one of the few birds which lays up food for times of scarcity. As we proceed farther southwards, to the banks of the Saskatchewan for instance, we find large bands of willow ptarmigan (¢etrao saliceti), which have left their breeding-quarters in the north to winter there, and the ¢etrao phasianellus and umbellus, which are perma- nent residents, also one or two species of parus, some addi- tional woodpeckers, two loxie, the pyrrhula enucleator, the corvus cristatus, and two additional owls. The emberiza ni- valis, which breeds between the 65th and 75th parallels, spends most of the winter on the Saskatchewan, being seldom absent more than two or three weeks in the severest weather, at which time it retires to the confines of the United States. In the neighbourhood of Philadelphia we find 44 permanently resident birds, and 71 which come from the north to winter there, making together 115 winterers in that locality ; in sum- mer the 44 residents are joined by 74 species from the south, which breed in Pennsylvania, making in the aggregate 118 breeders ; the rest of the birds enumerated in the Philadelphian fauna by the Prince of Musignano consist of 48 species, which merely pass through the district in spring and fall, on their way from their southern winter-quarters to their breeding- places in the north; the amount of species, residents and visit- ers, in that district being 281. Dr. Emmons enumerates 241 ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 191 species in his list of Massachusetts birds, 126 of which breed within the limits of the state*. Out of: 208 which were de- tected by us on the Saskatchewan, 146 species breed there, while the permanent residents and winter visiters do not exceed 25 or 30 species. The following table, which is compiled from the Prince of Musignano’s ‘ Specchio comparativo’, Dr. Emmons’s list, and the Hauna horeali-americana, indicates the number of species that breed in three distant localities, the permanent residents, and those which come from the south in summer to breed being included in this number. A second column un- der each head comprises both the birds of passage and ac- cidental visiters, these two classes not being easily distin- guished in the present state of our knowledge of North Ameri- can ornithology. A few observations on the several families follow the table. Philadel- || Massachu-|| Saskatche- Philadel. || Massachu- || Saskatche- phia. setts. wan. phia. setts. wan. Lat. 40° N. ||Lat. 423° N.| Lat. 54° N Lat. 40° N.|| Lat. 423° N.|/ Lat. 54° N. Families. a cea ae Families. Se ol so Py Lo} [=<] Ay fQ Py Q Aa Vulturide ... ALS] Fyeeaen|lP orwrall] Phares 1 Columbide..| 2 | ... 1 1 1 Falconide ... 10 8 | 12} 11 3 Payonide ...| 1]... a PLR eul ees. (Strigide ...... 6) 7} 3] 9} 1 Tetraonide..| 2] 1] 3 5 ‘Laniade ...... 2 5 2 8]... Tantalide ...| ... OPP ees 1 Sin Se 5 | 6 2 Ardeide......| 8 4 5 2 2 5 1} 3 Scolopacide.| 6 | 19 7 | 15 || 11 4 a) 1 Rallidz ...... 3 3 2 3 2 4 ea] Charadriade.| 4 | 4 5 3 3 decate 2 Gullvows : rss 7 8 | ... | Anatide.........| 3 | 28 219 || 14 6 6 | ... | Colymbidze......| °... 6 pe 6 2 Geel lites Wp) Allcadze Toes ceees sx, 5 3 5 2 Pelecanide......| .. ; 7 2 3 1 1 Laride .....+... 4/10 8 4 6 1 1 7 4 2 2 Rapaces.—The vulturide, as we have already mentioned, belong properly to the warm latitudes. Four of the five which “\ * List of the birds of Massachusetts, prepared by order of the State Legisla- G ture. By Ebenezer Emmons, M.D. . + The inland situation of Cumberland and Carlton-houses on the Saskatche- wan excludes the alcadz from their fauna. 192 SIXTH REPORT—1836. enter North America are accordingly much more abundant to the south of the isthmus of Darien, and one only (cathartes aura) breeds as far north on the coast as Pennsylvania; in the interior this species reaches the 54th degree of latitude, but it is not known to breed there. Of the falconide named in our list, twelve range to South America, or have their head-quarters there, and as many have been detected in Mexico, where they are chiefly winter visiters, while the number that breed on the Sas- katchewan is twice as great as in Pennsylvania: only two (pere- grinus and islandicus), and these are of the typical group, win- ter in the fur-countries. The strigide are very partially migra- tory: otus and brachyotus, the only species which quit the fur-countries in winter, are resident all the year in the United States. Five of the North American owls belong also to the South American fauna. Insessores, Dentirostres.—With a very few exceptions, con- fined, or nearly so, to the typical genus /anius, all the North Ame- rican laniade@ retire in winter to Mexico, the West Indies, or South America, agreeing in this respect with the fly-catching sy/- viade, which they so closely resemble in their manner of taking their prey ; the tyrannule especially are numerous in Mexico. The merulide wholly quit the fur-countries in winter, and all of them extend their migrations to Mexico, the West Indies, or South America, though detachments of some species, as merula migratoria, orpheus polyglottus, rufus, and felivox remain with- in the United States all the year: South Carolina is stated by the Rev. Mr. Bachman to be the most northerly winter range of the last-mentioned bird. The breeding-range of birds of this genus is very extensive; eight species perform that function in all parts of the United States, most of them going as high as the Saskatchewan. The merula migratoria is known to breed from North Carolina to the Arctic Sea; cinclus americanus and orpheus nevius breed in the higher latitudes only. Mr. Swainson has remarked of the American sylviade that they have their head-quarters in Mexico, and that while few species migrate towards South America, many go northwards on the approach of summer*. It is true that the Mexican fauna in- * The Rev. Mr. Bachman, speaking of the neighbourhood of Charlestown, says, ‘ The yellow-crowned warbler (sylvia coronata) is the only sylvia out of fifty species inhabiting the United States that remains with us in winter; and even this bird could not find subsistence in that season were it not that it almost changes its nature and lives on the fruit of the candle-berry myrtle (myrica cerifera). This is also the case with the only fly-catcher that winters in Carolina, viz., the peewee (tyrannula fusca), which sometimes fattens on the seeds of the imported tallow-tree (stylingia cerifera). ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 193 cludes many birds of this family, but many of them are hatched in the higher latitudes, to which, therefore, we consider them as properly belonging. Comparatively a small number spend _ the winter within the United States, more than half have been ascertained to enter the West India islands or Mexico, yet only one (the setophaga ruticilla) is known to pass the isthmus of Darien, so that there are few families in which the distinction between the North and South Ameriean faunz are so evident. Of the few ampelide which belong to the North American fauna, bombycilia carolinensis and vireo Bartramit are known to visit South America. Bombycilla garrula breeds at the northern extremity of the continent, among. the woods which skirt the Mackenzie ; but its winter retreats are still unknown, though they are most probably in the Mexican cordilleras. Insessores, Conirostres.—The fringillide is another family of which few species pass the isthmus of Darien from the northern continent; the pyranga ludoviciana, which attains the 42nd parallel in the interior prairies, and saltator rufiven- tris, which reaches the 36th on the coast of the Pacific, are the only ones common to the United States and South America, The euphonejacarina, also, and most probably some other Mexi- can species, enter the southern fauna. Many of the fringillide that breed in the high latitudes winter within the United States; some go to Mexico, and a few to the West Indies. The emberiza nivalis builds its nest on the most northern lands that have been visited, and the alauda alpestris and emberiza lap- ponica, likewise breed onthe arctie coasts. The corvide are com- paratively little migratory, and the majority inhabit limited districts of country, though two or three species are very widely distributed ; none which enter the North American fauna are known to pass the isthmus of Darien. The sturnide, on the other hand, form a closer bond of union between the inter - tropical and northern faune; nearly all the North American species winter in Mexico or the West Indies, one, the icterws spurius, ranging as far south as Cayenne. ‘The southern parts of the United States, however, are within the limits of the winter-quarters of molothrus pecoris, scolecophagus ferrugi- neus and quiscalus major, and versicolor. As cultivation ad- vances in the fur-countries, the sturnide attract every year. more and more the attention of the settlers on account of the havock they make in the corn-fields; but we are not prepared to assert that the range of this family of birds nortliwards is determined by the progress of agriculture. I am rather in- clined to suppose that some individuals of the different species have always resorted to those latitudes to feed on the wild rice VOL. v.—1836. oO 194 SIXTH REPORT— 1836. (zizania) and other grass-seeds, but remained unnoticed in the marshes, until the labours of the husbandman providing them a more abundant repast, they made their appearance in the vici- nity of the fur-posts. Mr. King, in his narrative of Captain Back’s expedition, mentions that a flock of scolecophagus ferru- gineus continued feeding on the offal of a fishery on Great Slave Lake, lat. 603°, until late in December. Insessores, Scansores.—The picide, or typical family of the scansores, are, as we have already mentioned, mostly residen- tiary, yet some of the species are distributed over forty de- grees of latitude. In such cases, many individuals of a species may seek a more southern residence in winter, though the fact cannot be ascertained by consulting ornithological works, in which the migration of a bird is seldom noticed, unless it takes place in large flocks or entirely deserts the district ; but it is undoubtedly true that near the northern limits of a resident species, the individuals are more numerous in summer than in winter. None of the North American picide have been de- tected in South America. The cuculide do not go to the north- ward of the valley of the St. Lawrence, only one species at- taining that parallel; the majority of them certainly, perhaps the whole, are common to South America also. The certhiade abound in Mexico, and none of them go far north. The troglo- dytes furvus, or aédon, which has the highest range, extends also furthest to the south, the species, according to the Prince of Musignano, being precisely the same in Surinam. Insessores, Tenuirostres.—Of the trochilide, the only family of the tenuirostral tribe which detaches species northwards from Mexico, the eynanthus colubris breeds as high as the 57th pa- rallel, on the eastern declivity of the Rocky mountains. The trochilus anna, according to Lesson, goes equally high on the coast of the Pacific, and Eschscholtz informs us that the frochilus rufus reaches the 61st degree of latitude on the same shore. The lampornis mango, a Brazilian species, has been detected recently on the peninsula of Florida in the 25th parallel, and the Reverend Mr. Bachman supposes that it is attracted thither by certain tubular flowers, lately introduced into the gardens in that quarter. This beautiful family of birds is numerous in Mexico, the physical conditions of that country ensu- ring them a.constant succession of tubular flowers by short mi- grations from the low tierras calientes, which enjoy a tropical heat in winter, to the elevated plains and mountains as_ spring advances. Lichtenstein informs us that many of the Mexican humming birds pass the summer near the snow line, thus ob- taining by a comparatively short flight a change of climate, which ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 195 their congeners above-named seek by traversing many degrees of latitude. Captain King observed some humming birds ho- vering over the fuschie, which grow plentifully in the Straits of Magalhaes, the ground being at the time covered withsnow. Insessores, Fissirostres.—The only species of the halcyonide which enters North America, is universally distributed from Louisiana up to the 68th parallel: its winter being spent in the southern parts of the United States and in the West Indies. Few birds have given rise to more speculation than the swallows. Marvellous stories of their hybernating in caverns or at the bot- toms of lakes, were believed even recently by naturalists of repu- tation, yet there is scarcely a seaman, accustomed to navigate the Mediterranean, who has not seen these birds migrating in large flocks to or from the coast of Africa, accompanied by pre- dacious birds of various kinds. Mr. Audubon has skilfully availed himself of the great facilities which America offers for tracing the migrations of birds, so as to put to rest for ever the question of the hybernation of swallows. From his investiga- tions, we are assured that the Airundo bicolor winters in the neighbourhood of New Orleans, where it roosts at night in hollow trees. Mr. Bachman also states, that this bird appears in the neighbourhood of Charlestown in winter after a few successive warm days. The other species winter in Mexico and the West Indies ; and the hirundo purpureaand riparia, which extend in summer to the northern extremity of the continent, have a range southwards to the Brazils ; the former it is stated by the Reverend Mr. Bachman breeding in the latter locality during the winter of the northern hemisphere. A conjecture that some species of birds might breed twice in the year in dif- ferent climates was hazarded in the introduction to the Fauna boreali-americana, but I am not aware of any direct testimony to that effect having been adduced prior to the publication of Mr. Bachman’s paper. The caprimulgide winter to the south- ward of the United States. Rasores.—This is the least migratory of all the orders of birds, yet the species are in general readily acclimated in lati- tudes remote from their native haunts, and in fact it is from these birds that man derives the greatest advantage in his do- mestic economy. Ourcommon poultry were originally brought from warmer regions, and this furnishes another evidence of abundance’ of proper food being more important than the tem- ‘perature of the atmosphere in regulating the distribution of the feathered tribes, the dense covering of their bodies protecting them well from the severity of northern winters. There is, ‘however, a limit to the range of each species, and it is found o 2 196 SIXTH REPORT—1836. that poultry thrive best in our climates when their coops are artificially heated in winter. The tetraonide are comparatively inhabitants of cold countries, and the ptarmigans, which are the most northern of all, are almost the only migratory ones. Most of these birds quit the bleak arctic barren lands in which they are bred, and retire in winter to the verge of the woods, return- ing, however, very early in spring to their former haunts, or as soon as the decreasing snow has released the tops of the dwarf birches and willows on which they feed, and the crests of a few gravelly banks. The passenger pigeon migrates northwards to the 62nd parallel, after its breeding season in the United States has terminated; through stress of weather individuals have been driven very far north, an instance being recorded by Sir John Ross, of the capture of one on the coast of Greenland. This pigeon visits Carolina in the winter at long and uncertain intervals, its arrival being determined, according to the Reve- rend Mr. Bachman, not by the severity of the season, but by the scarcity of food to the north: when beech mast is plentiful in Canada, it remains there in immense multitudes all the winter. The grallatores are directly opposed to the rasores in being the most migratory order of birds. The scolopacide and seve- ral species of the other families breed in high latitudes, yet they winter within the tropics. In their migrations through the fur countries they pursue different routes in the spring and fall: thus at the time of the northern movement, the lateness of the summer on the coast of Hudson’s Bay, and the quantity of ice which hangs on its shores till late in the year, exclude from that quarter the barges, snipes, and curlews which therefore pass by the inte- rior prairies, where the melting snow has rendered the soil soft and spungy. In autumn again the prairies having been ex- posed to the action of a hot and generally very dry summer, are comparatively arid, but the late thaws on the coast flood the neighbouring flats even in August and September, and it is there accordingly that the soft-billed waders pass a month or six weeks on their way from their arctic breeding stations to the moist intertropical lands. The marshes and sand-banks in the estuaries of Hay, Nelson, Severn, and Moose rivers are resorted to in the fall of the year by immense fiocks of strand birds. The following herons are stated by the Reverend Mr. Bachman to breed in Carolina, ardea herodias, ludoviciana, candidissima, rufescens, ceerulea, virescens, nycticorax, violacea, and exilis. Natateres.—The great majority of North American birds be- longing to this order, breed to the north of the valley of the St. Lawrence, and are merely winterers or birds of passage in the middle states. The lakes of Mexico are the chief winter ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 197 resort of the anatide. The anas boschas has been found breed- ing from the lower part of the Mississippi up to the extremity of the continent, but in greatest abundance beyond the 50th parallel; and the anser canadensis from the 44th parallel to an equally high latitude, being also however most numerous in the fur countries. The rest of the geese and many of the ducks breed only within the arctic circle. The eider and king-ducks remain at sea in the high latitudes all the winter, the young only going southwards to the coast of Labrador and the United States. No others of the family winter higher than the 50th parallel in America, though several species remain at that season in Europe as high as the 60th degree of latitude. The Reverend Mr. Bachman has made some observations on the effect of cultivation in influencing the movements of birds, but we think that he goes too far when he attributes the recent discovery of many new species within the limits of the United States solely to the changes produced in the face of the country, for the more general diffusion of accurate ornithological know- ledge ought not to be overlooked. Thus among the examples of birds formerly rare but now common in the middle states, he quotes hirundo lunifrons, but this, (if identical with fulva, which is generally admitted,) was taken by Vieillot on the coast of New York, many years before the history compiled by Go- vernor Clinton supposes it to have reached that state in its gradual advance from the interior; and the aborigines of the more northern countries have no tradition of a time when it did not breed on the perpendicular faces of their rocks. ‘The sin- gularity in its history is, that it should have so very recently begun to quit the rocks and to put itself under the protection of man, by building its nests under the eaves of houses. Zy- rannus borealis (muscicapa Cooperii of Nuttall), vireo solitarius and ¢ringa himantopus, also newly detected in the United States, breed in the uncultivated wastes of the fur countries. The migration of the feathered tribes from the “ téerras calientes”’ of the Mexican coast to the interior elevated plains and peaks, ‘ ¢ierras templadas y frias,” presents within a smaller geographical range, as we have noticed in speaking of the humming birds, all the phenomena that take place in the miendes flights from the intertropical regions to the arctic so- itudes. : REPTILIA. Catesby figured a portion of the North American animals of this class, but we are indebted to the labours of living naturalists 198 SIXTH REPORT—1836. for the discovery of many more. These are described in the ** Philadelphia Journal of Natural Sciences,’’ the “ Lyceum of Natural History of New York,” “ Silliman’s Journal,” and other periodical works, the chief writers being Messieurs Green, Say, Harlan, and Gilliams. A summary of the whole is con- tained in a paper by Dr. Harlan, entitled “‘ Genera of North American Reptilia (including Amphibia), and a synopsis of the species,” read in 1826 before the Philadelphia Academy, and subsequently reprinted, in a separate form with some alterations. Still more recently Dr. Holbrook of Charlestown has com- menced a ‘ North American Herpetology,’ which is to be completed in four quarto numbers, each containing from 20 to 30 coloured engravings and 200 pages of letter press. Wieg- mann has also published a volume of his “* Herpetologia Mexi- cana,” embracing both reptilia and amphibia, having previously described many species in the Isis. The warm, moist atmosphere of tropical America is very favourable to the existence of reptilia, which are more numerous there than in any other quarter of the world; and they occur even in North America, in much greater numbers and variety than in Europe. In the present imperfect state of North American herpetology, it would serve little purpose to attempt a formal disquisition on the distribution of the reptiles of that country, or to compare their numbers with those existing in the European zoological province, especially as these tasks may be performed with so much more success, when we become ac- quainted with the labours of Holbrook and Wiegmann. In the mean time we shall merely offer a few brief remarks. With the exception, perhaps, of one or two species of sea-turtles, none either of the reptilia or amphibia are common to the New and Old World; and it will be observed that the reptilia, though fewer in number in Europe, attain higher latitudes there than in North America. An emys inhabits the river Winipec in the latter country in the 50th parallel, but the emys Huropea goes some degrees further north in Prussia. The crocodilus acutus, which resembles the crocodile of the Nile so closely as to have been even mistaken for it, keeps within the trupics ; it is an inhabitant of the West Indies and also of the Spanish Main, but to no great distance from the equator, for Humboldt believes that its northern limit is the peninsula of Yuccatan or the southern part of Mexico. Now, though crocodiles do not in the present day descend the Nile lower than Upper Egypt, they formerly inhabited the Delta at the mouth of that river, lying under the 314° degree of latitude, where they were wont to pass the three winter months in burrows. In this respect they resemble the ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 199 alligator lucius or Mississippiensis, which attains the 323° N. latitude, and in Georgia and Carolina winters in burrows. The ophidia swarm in the humid equatorial districts of Ame- rica, but disappear on the acclivities of the Cordilleras, at an altitude of 6000 feet, and a mean annual temperature of 64°F, In the fur countries they reach the 55th parallel where the mean heat is about the freezing point, but where the tem~- perature of the three summer months, during which only the serpents are visible, is at least 66° F. and very little infevior to the summer heat of the Mexican table lands. In Europe the isothermal line of 32° passes through the North Cape (lat. 71° 104' N.), and we find accordingly that some serpents (as the coluber berus) reach Norway. In like manner lizards (lacerta ocellata) exist in Kamtschatka and Sweden, though none of the saurians pass to the north of the 50th parallel in America. The following is a list of the genera of European and Egyptian rep- tiles, with the number of species noticed in Mr. Gray's synop- sis, or the Reene animalgiven for the purpose of comparison with the subjoined table of North American ones. European rep- tiles: Chelonia.—Testudo 2; cistudo 1; emys 1; trionyx 1; sphargis 3. Emydosauri.—Crocodili 2. Saurit.—Monitor 2 ; lacerta 14; psammodromus 1; algyral. Geckotide.—Platy- dactylus 2; stenodactylus 1; thecodactylus 2; hemidactylus 2. Iguanide.—Agame 6. Scincide.—Scincus 1; tiliqua 2; anguis 1. Zonuride.—Ophiosaurus 1. Ophidia.—Trigonoce- phalus 2; vipera 1; berus 2; pelias 1; echis 1; naia 1; tro- pidonotus 5; coluber 6; coronella 3; dendrophis 1. Oxss.—The following list of American repéilia is compiled chiefly from Mr. Gray’s synopsis in Griffith’s translation of Cuvier, and will appear meagre and inaccurate after the publi- cation of Wiegmann’s and Holbrook’s works. Species which do not range north of Mexico are in Italics. Ord. I. CHELONIA. Emys concentrica, Scuapr. 15. » reticularia, Daun. 23, 3. Fam. TESTUDINIDE. » Vittata, » decussata, » Scripta, Scue@pr. 3, 5, » serrata, Testudo polyphemus, Bartr. 18. Fam. Emypx. y Troost, Hots. 4. Cistudo carolina, Hots. 1. » LeSueurii, Gray. : Emys Muhlenbergii, In. 5. Kinosternon triporcatum, Wire. 15. Mex. » guttata, Scne@rr. 31. » scorpioides, SHAW, 15. Mew. » punctata, Hows. 4. » pennsylvanicum, Epw. 287. » picta, Scuepr. 5, » odoratum, Daun. 24, 3. » speciosa, In, Chelydva serpentina, Scuerr, 6, 200 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Fam. TRIONYCHIDE. Trionyx ferox, Scu@pr. 19, 12, 3. » muticus, Le Surur. Mem. Mus. Loe ted ds Fam. CHELoNIADz. Sphargis imbricata, Scu@pr. 18, a. » mydas, Ip. 17, 1. » Caretta, Ip. 16. Ord. 11. EMYDOSAURIL. Fam. CrocoDiLip&. Crocodilus rhombifer, Wine. W.Ind. Mex. Alligator lucius, Cuv. dn. Mus, X. Georg. Mississ. Ord. Ill. AMPHISBAINLZE. Chirotes lumbricoides, Lacrr. 41. Mew. Ord. 1V. SAURII. Holoderma horridum, Wacurr, 2, 18. Mex. Fam. GEcKOTID®. Platydactylus americanus, Gray. New York. Fam. IGUANIDE. Iguana tuberculata, Sv1x. 6, 8. S. dm. Mex. Amblyrhynchus cristatus, Wine. Mex. Ctenosaura cycluroides, Winc. Mex. » cyclura, Cuv. Carol. Cyclura carinata, Haru. Ph. de. Se. 4, 15. Bahamas. » teres, Ip. Tampico. » pectinata, Wrec. Mex. » articulata, Ip. Mex. 5 denticulata, tv. Mex. Lemanctus longipes, Wine. Mex. Ophyessa umbra, Daun. Calif. Scelephorus undulatus, Wree. U. Sé. » torquatus, Wree. Isis, 21. Mex. » formosus, WrEG. Mew. » Spinosus, Ip. Mex. » horridus, Iv. Mex. » grammicus, Ip. Mex. 5, microlepidotus, Ip. Mex. » variabilis, Ip. Mex. » @neus, Iv. Mex. » sealaris, Ip. Mex. » pleurostictus, Ip. Mea. Phrynosoma Douglasii, Bex. Lin. Tr. N. Calif. Phrynosoma cornutum, Hart. de. Se, Ph. 20. Western prairies. » orbiculare, Wiec. Mex. Chamelopsis Hernandesii, Wine. Mew. Anolius podargicus, Car. 66. Hors. 7. Carol. », bimaculatus, W. Ind. U. S. » bullaris, Lacur. 27. W. Ind. Mex. » nebulosus, Wiec. Mex. » leviventris, Winc. Mee. » biporcatus, Ip. Mew. » Sehiedii, ln. Mex. Fam. Trip. Ameiva ceeruleocephala, Sxsa. 91, 3. » tessellata, Say. Long. Exp. Ark. » collaris, lb. drk. Cnemidophorus undulatus, Wine. Mex. » Deppii, In. Mex. » Sackii, Ip. Mex. » guttatus, Ip. Mex. Fan. Scincip2. Tiliqua quinquelineata, Car. 67. Mew. (Wree.) Carol. erythrocephala, Gruu. de.Se.Phil. 1, 18, 2. lateralis, Say. House. 8. West. st. bicolor, Harv. Ac. Se. Phil. 4, 18, 1. Bipes anguinus, Ip. Zc. 4, 10. f. 1. Carol. Corythaelus vittatus, Wrec. Mew. ” ” ” Fan. Zonuripz. Gerrhonotus Deppii, Wee. Is. 21. Mew. imbricatus, Ip. 1. c. Mex. leiocephalus, Ip. 1 c. Mew. teniatus, Ip. 1. c. Mex. tessellatus, Ip. 1. c. Mex. » rudicollis, Ip. 1. ¢. Mex. Ophisaurus ventralis, Car. 59. U. 8. Ord. V. OPHIDIA. Crotalus horridus, Cat. 41. S. 4m. Mev. U.S. durissus, Sprx. 24. S. dm.—45° N. miliaris, Car. 42. Carol. tergeminus, Say. West. st. confluentis, Ip. R. Mount. , triseriatus, Wine. Mew. Cenchris mockeson, Car. 45. Tisiphone Shausii, Gray. S. dm. Carol. Trigonocephalus cacodema, Car. 44. Ca- rol. Seytale piscivorus, HARu. » cupreus, Ip. Heterodon constrictor, Car. 76. Carol. ™ | wey ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 201 Tropidinotus porcatus, Car, 46. Carol. » ordinatus, Cat. 53. Carol. & R. Mount. » proximus, Say. Missouri. » parietalis, Ip. Missouri. » fasciatus, SHaw. S. St. » sittalis, Penns. . » Ssaurita, Car. 50. S. St. sipedon, Haru. Mid. St. Coluber punctatus, Lin. » getulus, Car. 52.°S. Carol. » Oobsoletus, Hart. » testaceus, Ip. Missouri. » filiformis, Ip. Carol. » flagelliformis, Ip. Carol. » flaviventris, Ip. Missouri. » Striatulus, Ip. Carol. Coluber amcenus, Haru. Penns. » Tigidus, Ip. S. St. » Septemyittatus, Ip. Penns. » coccineus, Ip. Carol. », estivus, Ip. Carol. » getulus, Ip. Carol. » calligaster, Ip. Missouri. » melanoleucas, Ip. N. Jersey. » eximius, Ip. Penns. », vernalis, Ip. Penns. N. Jers. », cauda-schistosus, In. » doliatus, Ip. Carol. » maculatus, Ip. Louis. » guttatus, Ip. Carol. » molossus, Ip. Carol. reticularis, Ip. Louis. Xeuodon punctatum, Latr. §. Carol. AMPHIBIA. Rana. Rana pipiens, Car. Mid. St. » Clamitans, Bosc. Ditto. » melanota, Rar. L. Champl. » halecina, Cat. Penn. & S. St. » flavi-viridis, Harx. Mid. St. » sylvatica, Ip. Ditto. » palustris, Ip. Ditto. » pumila, Le Conte. » gtyllus, Horsroox. Mor. Mid. St. » nigrita, Le Conte. ocellata, SHaw 34. Mex. Florid. Hyla lateralis, Car. Surin. Carol. » femoralis, Daun. S. St. » squirella, Daun. S. Sé. » delitescens, Lz Conte. Georgia. » versicolor, Ip. Mid. & S. St. Bufo clamosus, Cart. Ditto. » cognatus, Say. Long’s Exp. Miss. » tuscus, Penn. SALAMANDRA. Salamandra subviolacea, Car. 10. Penn. » tigrina, GREEN, New Jers. -y, Tubra, Daun. » variolata, Gitn1ams, de. Sc. Ph. 1,18, 1. » cylindracea, Haru. N. Carol. » trontalis, NV. Jers. Salamandra fusca, GrrEn. N. Jers. » dorsalis, Harr. Carol. » picta, Harz. Penn. » Beechii, Gray. » maculata, GREEN. UN. Jers. » subfusca, In. Ditto. » longicauda, Ip. Ditto. » nigra, Lp. Penn. » fiavissima, Haru. Ditfo. » Greenii, Gray. » erythronota, GREEN. » Cinerea, GREEN. » tasciata, GREEN. » glutinosa, Green. New Jers. » symmetrica, Haru. Carol. » ¢ylindracea, Haru. Carol. platydactyla, Cuv. Mex. Menobranchus lateralis, Hany. dn. Lye. 1, 16. Z. Champl. Ohio. co alleghaniensis, Say. Griff. Cuv. Phyllhydrus pisciformis, SHaw 140. Mex. Amphiuma means, dn. Lye. 1, 22. Carol. Mex. » tridactylum, Cov. Louis. Siren lacertina, Lin. S. St. », intermedia, Lz Contr. S. St. » Striatus, Ip. An. Lye. 1, 2. Menopoma, gigantea, Haru. dn. Lye. 1, 17. Ohio Note.—in the above list, rana scapularis, Haru., is considered as the young of pipiens, and rana gryllus and dorsalis of Le Conte as one species. Sala- mandra rubriventris, Green, is considered the same with rubra; sinciput- albida, GreEN, the same with frontalis ; intermixta, Gremn, the same with picta, and variegata of Gray with platydaciylus. Salamandra porphyritica, Jeffersoniana, ‘and cirrhigera of Harlan’s list, being very doubtful species, are omitted. 202 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Our remarks on the amphibia will be still more brief than on the reptiles. Some amphibia are evidently more capable of en- during extremes of temperature than the repéilia, and they exist in higher latitudes ; frogs and salamanders reaching the 67th parallel on the Mackenzie, where the mean temperature is not above 7 or 8 degrees of Fahrenheit, and the winter colds some- times descend to more than 90° below the freezing point, Spallanzani relates that living frogs have been seen in the ther- mal baths of Pisa, which have a temperature of 115° F. In the fur countries the pools of melting snow swarm with very noisy frogs long before the soil is thawed; the office of reproduction is performed and the pools dried up by the time that the ice of the lakes is dissolved, and before the earth is sufficiently warmed to permit the snakes to crawl forth from their subter- ranean retreats. The principal genera rana, bufo, hyla, and salamandra occur both in Europe and North America. The genera siren and menopoma belonging to the latter country, are perfectly amphibious, the mature animals possessing both lungs and gills, and respiring at pleasure either air or water. The only analogous animal of the Old World is the proteus anguinus of the lakes of Lower Carniola, and the grotto of Adelsberg, between Trieste and Vienna. I observed on the banks of the Mackenzie a very singular looking tadpole which swarmed in a pool of water in the spring. It was about the size of a man’s thumb, and its abdomen was greatly distended with fluid, but its integuments were quite transparent, and so tender that they burst on the slightest touch. Circumstances did not admit of my describing it at the time, and the specimens put into spirits were destroyed by accident. PISCKES. The ichthyology of North America has not hitherto been at- tended to as it merits, and the distribution of the species through a very large portion of the northern hemisphere is still almost unknown. Catesby, Pennant, and Schoepfare the chief author- ities of older date, for the introduction of the American fish into the systems, but the Linnean genera are so ill adapted for the reception of many of the forms peculiar to the New World, and the specific descriptions of the old writers are so brief and indeterminate, that the labours of these naturalists are often altogether unavailable to modern cultivators of science. Le Sueur, the most accurate of recent American ichthyologists, has described many species in the “ Journal of the Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia,’ in the new series of the ‘ Trans- ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 2038 actions of the Philosophical Society’ of the same city, and in the “ Museum d’ Histoire Naturelle” of Paris. Dr. Mitchill published a paper on the New York fish in the first volume of the ‘* Transactions of the Philosophical Society of New York,” but his descriptions are almost always imperfect, and often in- accurate, and he has arranged the species without judgement in Linnean genera, so that but for the accompanying figures it would be difficult to recognise the fish he mentions. Ra- finesque-Smaltz gave to the world a crude synopsis of the fish of the Ohio, proposing many new genera, but characterising them with so little skill, that there is little chance of their beng adopted by future naturalists. His species are printed in the subjoined lists in italic characters, as being doubtful. The third volume of the Fauna boreali-americana is devoted to the northern fish, and contains a considerable proportion of the species which inhabit the fresh waters of the fur countries: it is, however, very deficient in marine fish, and even in the fresh water ones of New Caledonia and Canada, owing to the author’s attempts to procure specimens from these countries having failed. The admirable Histoire des Poissons by Cuvier and Valenciennes embraces all the determinable species noticed by preceding naturalists, but it has not yet advanced beyond the acanthopterygii, the untimely death of its great projector having retarded its progress. The arrangement of this work is fol- lowed in the subsequent lists of species. In it and in the Régne animal 16 families of acanthopterygian fishes are indicated. All these families are represented by a greater or smaller num- ber of species both in Kurope and America, with the exception of the anabasidee, none of which exist in the waters of either country ; of the acanthuridee which do not occur in Europe ; and of the ¢e@nioidee, which, as restricted in the Histoire des Poissons, have not been detected in America. All the families _ of malacopterygii and chondropterygii enter the faune of both countries, with the exception of the sawrvidee of Agassiz, which do not exist in Europe. The only fresh water fish which is unequivocally common to the two continents is the common pike, (esox lucius,) and it is curious that this fish is unknown to the westward of the Rocky Mountains, on the very coast that approaches nearest to the old continent. Several other Euro- pean fresh water fish occur in the lists given by American ichthy- ologists, but more rigid comparisons are required to sanction their application of the names. Some of the anadromous sal- monoidee and clupeoidee are more likely to be common to both sides of the Atlantic, but even these require further investiga- tion. The curiosity of naturalists has been considerably ex- 204 SIXTH REPORT—1836. cited by the noises which certain fishes have the power of making, and some facts are stated in the Histoire des Poissons relating to this subject in the ghapters devoted to the cottoidee, scie- noidee, &c. Several kinds of fish vulgarly named “‘ grunts ”’ in America, possess this faculty in an extraordinary degree, and the purpose it is intended to serve, and the manner in which the sound is produced, are worthy of investigation by naturalists re- siding wherethesefishabound*. Every mariner who hasanchored early in the spring on the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, or Florida, must have been annoyed by a drumming noise, pro- duced in the night, apparently on the bottom of the ship, and loud enough to deprive a stranger of rest, until habit las ren- dered the sound familiar. This noise is said to be caused by a fish of about six pounds weight beating its tail against the vessel to relieve itself from the pain caused by multitudes of parasitic worms which infest it at that season. In dividing the ocean into zoological districts to suit our present knowledge of species of fish and their distribution, we have found the nine following divisions to be convenient. European seas,—North American Atlantic and Arctic sea,— Caribbean sea and South American Atlantic, — African Atlantic, —Indian Ocean, Red Sea, and Polynesian Sea,—Australian seas,—Seas of China and Japan,—Sea of Kamtschatka and North-west America,—Pacifie coast. of South America. In a preceding part of the Report we stated that Mr. Swainson had justly included the North of Africa in the European zoological province, as far as birds were concerned, but the case is different with the fish. The whole of the Mediterranean fish indeed are European, but the fish of the Nile have very little resemblance to those of the European rivers, while the same species often occur on the coast of Senegal and in the Red Sea. The ana~- dromous fish of the Mississippi and its tributaries are very dif- ferent from those which enter the North American rivers falling into the Atlantic, in the same parallels of latitude. As in the preceding lists, the species whose names or history ‘ are doubtful are printed in italics, as are likewise the Mexican fish which do not range further northwards. ACANTHOPTERYGIHI. Fam. PERcore#. Perca flavescens, Cuv. New Y.—L. Huron. | Perca gracilis, Cuv. N. York. » Serrato-granulata, Cuv. N. York. » Plumieri, Cuv. Bahamas. » granulata, Cuv. NV. York. Labrax lineatus, Cuv. N. York. » acuta, Cuv. L. Ontario. » notatus, F. B. A. St Lawr. * Vide Avovus. Orn. Biogr. 3, p. 199. ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 205 Labrax mucronatus, Cuy. Carib. Si—N. | Pomotis incisor, Cuv. LZ. Pontchartr. - York. » multilineatus, Cuv. Wabash r. Pomacampsis nigro-punctata, Rar. Ohio. Lucioperca americana, Cuv. 40° N.— 58° N. » canadensis, H.Smiru, Griff. Cur. St. Lawr. Huro nigricans, Cuv. ZL. Huron. Serranus fascicularis, Cuv. Braz.— Carol. » morio, Cuv. N. York. » acutirostris, Cuv. CarolBraz. ? Benn. San Blas. Pacif. Centropristes nigricans, Cuv. WV. York. _y trifureus, Cuy. Carol. Grystes salmoides, Cuv. Wabash. Rivers of Carol. Stizostedion salmoneum, Rar. Ohio. Centrarchus zneus, Cuy. L. Ontario § Huron. » pentacanthus, Cuy. Carol. » hexacanthus, Cuy. Carol. » irideus, Cuv. Carol. » gulosus, Cuv. L. Pontchartr. » viridis, Cuv. Ditto. Pomotis vulgaris, Cuv. Philad.—L.Huron. » Ravenelii, Cuv. Charlestown. » Holbrookii, Cuv. Carol. » gibbosus, Cuv. Carol. » Ssolis, Cuv. L. Pontchartr. », Catesbei, Cuv. Penns. Bryttus punctatus, Cuv. Ohio. » reticulatus, Cuv. Carol. », unicolor, Cuv. Carol. Penns. Ichthelis cyanella, Rar. Ohio. yy melanops, \v. Ohio. » erythrops, Ip. Ohio. » aurita, Ip. Ohio. » megalotis, Ip. Ohio. Pomoxis annularis, Ip. Ohio. Aplocentris calliops, Rar. Ohio. Lepibema chrysops, Rar. Ohio. Aphrodederus gibbosus, Lesvrur: LZ. Pontch. Penns. Trichodon Stelleri, Cuv. Unalasch. Gi- LIAMS. Holocentrum longipinne, Cuv. Braz.— Carol. Uranoscopus anoplos, Cuy. Massach. SMiTH. Sphyreena barracuda, Cuv. Bahamas. Polynemus tridigitatus, Cuv. New Y. Mircu. », approximans, Benn. San Blas. Upeneus punctatus, Cuv. Caribb. s. Mex, Fam. CotroiwEe. Trigla pini*, Bu. New Y. Bur bye. Prionotus strigatus, Cuv. NV. York. » carolinus, Cuv. N. York. Massach. » . tribulus, Cuv. WV. York.—Carol. Dactylopterus volitans*, Lac. G. of Mex. Newfound. Cottus cognatus, F. B. 4. drct. Am.— Greenl. ? » gobio* ? Smiru. Massach. » Qquadricornis? Ip. Do. » polaris, Sapine, Parry’sIs. 75N°. » hexacornis, F.B,A. Polar sea. » octodecim spinosus, Mircu. Virg. —N. York. _» groenlandicus, 7.B.4.95, 2. New/. — Greenl. .» polyacanthocephalus, Pay. Cape St. Elias. 60° N. » scorpioides, Fapr, Greeni. » Mitchilli, Cuv. N. York. s+ @neus, Mitcn. N. York. » porosus, Cuv. Baffin’s Bay. pistilliger, Cuv. Unalaschka. Aspidophorus europxus*, Cuy. Greenl. Mass, SMiru. Aspidophorus accipenserinus, Cuv. Una- laschka. » monopterygius, Cuv. Green. Hemitripterus americanus, Cuv. N. York. —Newf. Hemilepidotus Tilesii, Cuv. Unalasch.— Ochotsk. » asper, F.B.4. 95, 1. Columbia R. Temnistia ventricosa, Escu. 13. Norfolk sound Pacif. Scorpena porcus*, L. N. York.—Europe. » bufo, Cuv. Braz.—Newf. Aun. Sebastes norvegicus*,Cuv. New/.— Green. » Variabilis, Cuv. Unalasch. Blepsias trilobus, Cuv. NV. W. Coast. Gasterosteus concinnus, F.B.A. Arcticdm. »» noveboracensis, Cuv. New Y. » niger, Cuv. News. » biaculeatus, Penn. New Y. » occidentalis, Cuv. New. » quadracus, Mrrex. NV. York. » apeltes, Lesuzur, U. St. » kakilisak, Fasr. Greenl. 206 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Fam. Scr2®NoiDE&. Otolithus regalis, Cuv. Carrib. s.—N. York. » Drummondii, F.B.A4. Texas. » carolinensis, Cuv. Carol. Corvina argyroleuca, Cov. » Richardsonii, F.B.4.77. L. Huron. » oscula, Cuv. LZ. Ontario. » grisea, Le Sueur, de. Se. Ph. 2, 251. Ohio. » multifasciata, Iv. 1. ce. Florida. Lepomis pallida, Rar. Ohio. » trifasciata, Ip. Do. » jflexuolaris, Ip. Do. » salmonea, Ip. Do. », notata, Ip. Do. » ichtheloides, Ip. Do. Leiostoma humeralis, Cuv. Penns.—N. York. » xanthurus. Cuv. Carib. s.—Carol. Amblodon grunniens, Rar. Ohio. Etheostoma calliura, Rar. Ohio. » flabellata, Ip. Ohio. » nigra, Ip. Ohio. », blennioides, Ip. Ohio. » eaprodes, Ip. Ohio. », fontinalis, Iv. Ohio. Umbrina albuma, Cuv. G. of Mexr.— N. York. Pogonias chromis, Cuv.Montiv.—N. York. » fasciatus, Lacep. N. York. Pogostoma leucops, Rar. Ohio. Micropogon lineatus, Cuv. Montiv.—N. ork. » undulatus, Cuv. G. of Mex. Hemulon arcuatum, Cuv. Carol. a chrysopteron, Cuy. N. York. Pristipoma fasciatum, Cuv. N. York. es rodo, Cuv. N. York. Lobotes surinamensis,Cuv.Sur.—WN. York. Fam. SPaRoivDE&. Sargus ovis, Cuv. G. of Mex.—N. York. », Yhomboides, Cuv. Do. Do. Chrysophrys aculeata, Car. 31, 2. U. St. Pagrus argyrops, Cuv. Carol. N. York. Dentex ? Benn. San Blas. Pacif. Fan. M&Noive&. Gerres aprion, Cuv. Carib. s. Mex.—Carol. Fam. CH®TODONTOIDE. Ephippus faber, Cuv. WV. York. 5 gigas, Cuv. Do. Holocanthus ciliaris, Lacrer. Mex. Ca- rib. s.—Carol. Pimelepterus Boscii, Lacrr. Carol. ScoMBEROIDE. Scomber grex*, } Notacanthus nasus, Cuv. Greenland. » vernalis, Merron, N-York. Mass. Caranx punctatus, Cuv. Carib. s.—N. » scomber, Smiru. Massach. ? Thynnus vulgaris*, Cuv. Mass. ? Smiru. Pelamys sarda, Cuv. N. York. Cybium maculatum, Cuv. Mex.—Mass. Trichiurus lepturus, Cuv. Braz.—WN. York. Xiphias gladius, Smiru. Mass. ? Naucrates ductor*, Cuv. N. York. Mass. —Eur. Elecate atlantica, Cuv. Braz.—N. York. Trachinotus glaucus, Cuv. Carib.s.— Mex. » fusus, Cuv. Braz.—wN. York. Mitcu. » argenteus, Cuv. NV. York. » pampanus, Cuv. Mex.—Carol. York. » chrysos, Cuv. Massach. ? Smitu. » fasciatus, Cuv. Mex. ; Argyreyosus vomer, Lacer. Braz.—N. York. 35°S.—45° N. Vomer Brownii, Cuv. Braz.—wN. York. 35° S.—45° N. Seriola Boscii, Cuv. Carolina. » fasciata, Cuv. Do. » leiarcha, Cuv. Penns. » zonata, Cuv. N. York. » cosmopolita, Cuv. Braz.—New York. » falcata, Cuv. Carib. s—Mer. ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. Seserinus-alepidotus, Massach.? Smitrn. Temnodon saltator*, Cuv. Braz.—Mass. —Eur. Coryphzena Sueurii, Cuv. Penns. Pteraclis carolinus, Cuv. Carol. 207 Rhombus longipinnis, Cuv. Carol.—wN. York. » eryptosus, Cuv. N. York. Zeus faber, Massach. ? Smiru. Lampris guttatus*, Revz.Greenl.—Mass.? Fam. ACANTHUROIDES. Acanthurus phlebotomus, Cuv. Carib. s. | Acanthurus ceruleus, Car. 2, 10, 1. Ba- N. York. hamas. Fam. ATHERINIDEA. Atherina carolina, Cuv. Carol. » Boscii, Cuv. Do. » menidia, L. N. York. » Humboldtiana, Cuv. Mex. Atherina vomerina, Cuv. Mex. » mordax, Mircu. N. York. » viridescens, Ip. Do. Fam. MuGtLo1pE&. Mugil Plumieri, C. & V. Braz.—New York. » albula, L. N. York. Mircu. Mass. SMITH. Mugil petrosus, C. & V. Braz.—G. of Mex. N. York. Mugil lineatus, Mirren. WN. York. ? Benn. San Blas. ” Fam. GoBIoIipEz. Blennius geminatus, Woop. de. Sc. Ph. Carol. » punctatus, Woon. /.c. Carol. Pholis carolinus, C. & V. Carol. Chasmodes Bosquianus, C. & V. N. York. Mirc#. » quadrifasciatus, Woop. 4c.Sc.Ph. Baltimore. » novemlineatus, Woop. /. c. Carol. Clinus ? hentz, Le Sueur. Carol. Gunnellus vulgaris*, C. & V. Greenl. Eur. » mucronatus, C. & V. N. York.— Mircu. » punctatus, C.&V. Newf:—Greenl. » Fabricii, C. & V. Greenl.—Fabr. » anguillaris, C. & V. Kamtsch.— N. W. Am. » dolichogaster, C. & V. Aleut.Jsl. Gunnellus groenlandicus, C. & V. Greenl. Zoarces labrosus, C. & V. NV. York. Mircu. » fimbriatus, C. & V. Do. Ip. » Gronovii, C. & V. N. Am. » polaris*, Ricu. Polar seas. Anarhichas lupus*, L. Greenl.—Eur. Gobius Boscii, Lac. Carol. N. York. Mirtcu. Philyprinus dormitator, C. & V. W.Ind.— Mex. Chirus monopterygius, Cuv. Mem. Pet. 2, 23, 1. Unalasch. » decagrammus, Cuv. /. c. 2, 22, 2. C. St. Elias. » octogrammus, Cuv. 7. c. 2, 23, 2. Aleut. Is. superciliosus, Cuv. J. c. 2, 23, 3. Unalasch. ' Fam. BATRACHOIDEA. Lophius americanus, C. & V. Penns.— N. York. Mircn. Chironectes levigatus, C. &V. Carol.—N. York. Mircu. Malthza vespertilio, C. & V. Carib. s.— , Newf. » cubifronst, F.B.4. 96. Newf— Aupvus. Malthzea notata, C. & V. N.York. Batrachus tau, C. & V. G. of Mex—N. York. ; » Gronovii, C. & V. C. of America. » grunniens, Scuarr. N. York. + M. Valenciennes considers this species to be identical with one figured by Seba, and named by Cuvier malthea nasuta ; but I can scarcely conceive that it could be possible for any painter to err so far as to give a tapering snout to a fish like cubifrons, which has nothing like a snout at all, but merely a round tu- bercle, like a grain of shot in the middle of a square forehead. 208 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Fam. LABROIDES. Labrus americanus, Bu. N. York. Mircu. | Crenilabrus burgall, Mrren. 3, 2. N. York, Mass. SM. » merula, Smita. Massach. » coricus, SMira. Mass. » exoletus, L.? Greenl. ? Fasr. » pallidus, Mircu. N. York. Xirichthys psittacus, Cuv. Carol. » Ahiatula, L. Carol. GARDEN. » lineatus, Cuv. Da. Cheilinus radiatus, Bu. Scun. 56. U. St. Scarus Catesbei, Cat. 2, 29. Bahamas. Lachnolaimus suillus, Cav. 2, 15. Baham. » c@ruleus, Cat. 2, 13. Do. Fam. FisTuLAROIDES. Fistularia tabacaria, Bu. 387, 1. NV. York. | Fistularia neo-eboracensis, Mircu. 3, 8. Mass. NV. York. » serrata, Car. 2, 17. Baham. U.S. Percoidee .—Of 500 species belonging to this family, which are described in the Histoire des Poissons, two-thirds inhabit the Indian Ocean, Red Sea, and warmer latitudes of the Pacific; 49 belong to the Mediterranean and eastern side of the North Atlantic, and 118 have been detected on the Ame- rican side of that sea. The North American fauna embraces one-ninth of the species composing the family, all, with the slight exceptions we shall mention, peculiar to that country, not one of them ranging to Europe. The exceptions are holocentrum longipinne, which goes as far north on the American side as Ca- rolina, but crosses the Atlantic within the tropics to Ascension and St. Helena; and trichodon Stelleri, which is found both on the Asiatic and American shores of the sea of Kamtschatka. The last-named fish is the most northerly of the known Ame- rican percoidee ; and the lucioperca Americana, which inhabits fresh waters up to the 58th parallel, stands next to it in that respect. The perea vulgaris being an inhabitant of the Sibe- rian rivers, which fall into the Icy sea, is one of the most northerly of the family, though the very nearly allied American species have not hitherto been detected in a higher latitude than the 45th. With respect to the distribution of generic forms, Europe nourishes nine, which are not known to exist in North America, viz. lates, apogon, pomatomus, aspro, acerina, poly- prion, trachinus, sphyrena, and paralepis ; and North America ten, which are not found in Kurope, viz. huro. centropristes, grystes, centrarchus, pomotis, bryttus, aphrodederus, trichodon, holocentrum, and polynemus, besides the doubtful genera propo- sed by M.Rafinesque : only five are common to the two faune, viz. perca, labrax, lucioperca, serranus and uranoscopus. Grystes, containing only two described species, forms another link con- necting the American and Australian faune ; one of the species gh ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 209 inhabiting the rivers of Carolina, and the other those of New South Wales. There is a greater variety of forms, as well as a greater number of species of fresh water percoidee in North America than in any other quarter of the globe ; indeed no other quarter possesses such an extent of fresh waters. Cottoidee.—This being a more northern family than the preceding one, we find, as in the higher orders of animals, a greater proportion of its generic forms common to the New and Old World;—the condition of the waters aswell as of the land and atmosphere of the arctic regions of the two hemispheres is more alike than in the more temperate parallels. Prionotus and hemitripterus are the only two cottoid genera which frequent the Atlantic coasts of America, and do not also occur in Europe. On the north-west coast, however, there are three genera which are unknown in the Kuropean seas, viz. hemilepidotus, blepsias, and temnistia. The Mediterranean produces peristedion and hoplostethus, of which no species has been detected on the American coast. Five genera are common to both sides of the North Atlantic, as are also several species, viz. trigla pini, dac- tylopterus volitans, aspidophorus europeus, scorpena porcus, and sebastes norvegicus, all marinefish ; there are moreover some fresh water cotti and gasterostei in America, which are with great difficulty distinguishable from their European representa- tives. The family contains in all about 170 species, of which one-fifth are North American, and between one-fifth and one- sixth European. Scienoidee.—Thefish of this family, more closely related to the percoidee by external form than the preceding, arealsointimately connected with them by internal structure. The scienoidee are more American than either of the preceding families, one-third of the genera being proper to the Atlantic coast of that continent, and several of the remaining genera being represented there by one or more species. There are also fouror five times as many spe- cies in the North American seas as in Europe; while the intertro- pical seas nourish four-fifths of the whole family. None are com- mon to both sides of the Atlantic. Several of the American scie- noidee make a remarkable grunting noise in the water, which is _ thought by Cuvier to be connected with the cavernous recesses in _ the skulls of fish of thisfamily. The noise made by several of the cottoidee when handled is evidently produced by the sudden escape of a quantity of air from their distended branchial mem- branes. The total number of ascertained species of the family is about 260. | Sparoidea.—This family, of which 150 species are known, VoL. v.—1836. P 210 SIXTH REPORT—1836- has few representatives in North America, their number not exceeding one-thirtieth of the whole, while the European seas nourish nearly one-fifth; the majority of the species, as in most other acanthopterygian families, belong to the Indian and South Seas. Menoidee.—Of this very small family, comprising only 42 species, about one half belong to the Indian and Polynesian seas, one fourth frequent the seas of Europe, and only one species, gerres aprion, has been detected on the shores of Caro- lina, to which it ranges from between the tropics. Chetodontoidee.—This family, named also sguammipenne, contains about 150 species, of which the greater part are inha- bitants of the Indian and Polynesian seas. One species only (rama Raii) frequents the European coasts, while four are North American, and one seventh of the whole exist on the Atlantic coasts of North and South America. The pempheris mexicanus is found at Acapulco; the remaining species of that genus inhabit the tropical, Pacific, and Indian oceans. The next family in Cuvier’s arrangement is that of the ana- hasidee or polyacanthoidee, containing only 40 species, all of which belong to Southern Asia, except a spirobranchus, which inhabits the rivers of the Cape of Good Hope. The preceding acanthopterygian families, with the addition of the fistularoidee, hereafter mentioned, and the platessoidee, anged by Cuvier with the malacopterygii, constitute Agassiz’s order CreNoIpE!, so named from the pectinated lamine of their scales. About 1400 recent ctenoideans have been described. Scomberoidee.—This family, included by Agassiz in his or- der CycLorpEI, is, next to the percoidee, the most numerous of Cuvier’s acanthopterygii, the described species amounting to more than 320. The scomberoidee@, more than any other group of fish of equal magnitude, affect the surface of the ocean especially in the warm latitudes, and a considerable number of the species roam from one side of the Atlantic to the other, among which are the scomber grex, pelamys sarda, trichiurus lepturus, elecate atlantica, lichia glauca, caranx carangus, and nomeus Mauritii. Of sixteen genera, actually ascertained to be North American, only seven enter the European fauna, viz., scomber, pelamys, naucrates, caranx, seriola, temnodon, and coryphena; but five of the remainder occur also on the African shores of the Atlantic, viz., eybiwm, trichiurus, elecate, trachinotus, temnodon, and vomer, leaving only two of the North American genera peculiar to the western side of the At- lantic, viz., argyryosus and rhombus. The forms peculiar to ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 211 Europe are, lepidopus, astrodermus, luwvarus, seserinus, and perhaps lampris; while its seas nourish also thynnus, auzis, wiphias, tetrapturus, lichia, mastacemblus, scyris, gallichthys, lampugus, centrolophus, stromateus, and zeus, common to other seas, and some of these to tropical America. Two or three of these are enumerated by Dr. Smith in his list of Massa- chusetts fish; but as he has not given any details by which we can judge of the correctness of his nomenclature, they are put in italics in the foregoing table. Scomber grex and tem- nodon saltator have a most extensive range from the Cape of Good Hope across the Atlantic to the coasts of the United States. The latter is also known eastward to Madagascar and along the whole western coast of Africa to the Mediterranean and Egypt, while the former is scarcely distinguishable from the Mediterranean scomber pneumatophorus. There are several of the scomberoidee which, inhabiting only the middle longi- tudes of the Atlantic, belong as much to the New as to the Old World: they pursue the flying-fish over the Atlantic wastes as the herds of wolves do the bison on the prairies of America. Acanthuroidee.—Of this family about ninety species are known, inhabiting the warmer districts of the ocean and feed- ing on fuci, being furnished with cutting-teeth instead of pre- hensile ones, like those of most other fish. Except three species which frequent the Caribbean Sea, the family belongs to the Polynesian and Indian oceans and the Red Sea; one species follows the gulf-stream to New York, another reaches the Ba- hamas: none visit Europe. Atherina.—This isolated genus contains about thirty species, of which six or seven are European, and five, exclusive of two or three doubtful ones, have been described as North American, but none are common to both sides of the Atlantic. Mugiloidee.—Of four generic forms which belong to this family, three are peculiar to the intertropical seas, while the typical one, mugi/, is known in all the temperate as well as in the warmer districts of the ocean. None of the species cross the Atlantic, but some of them have a considerable range coast- ways; thus, two of the American mullets extend from the Bra- zils to New York, while the mugil capito ranges from Norway to the Mediterranean. The genus contains fifty-three described species, the whole family about sixty; several are confined to fresh waters. Gobioides.—This family contains nearly 300 species, of which about one half are inhabitants of the Indian and Poly- nesian seas; sixty exist in the European waters, and eighteen or nineteen,on the American side of the northern Atlantic, P2 212 SIXTH REPORT—1836. there being only forty-two known on the whole eastern coast of both North and South America. The North American and European genera are mostly the same; yet among the former we have chasmodes and philyprinus which range from within the tropics to the United States, but do not visit Europe; while ¢ripterygion and callionymus of the Mediterranean and British Channel are unknown in the American seas. The only species perhaps common to both countries are those which fre- quent the Greenland seas. Dr. Smith, indeed, enumerates anarrhichas lupus among the fish of Massachusetts, but his determination of the species must be considered as doubtful until we have some evidence of a proper comparison having been instituted between American and European examples. The gunnellus vulgaris is also described as a Labrador fish in the Fauna Boreali-Americana, on the authority of a single injured specimen which differed slightly from the English fish. Zoarces polaris, according to Capt. James Ross, is the most northern known fish, having been taken on the ice to the north of Spitzbergen, or within nine degrees of the pole; it ranges westward to Regent’s Inlet. Batrachoidee.—The only species of this family which exists in Europe is the well known lophius piscatorius, while the North American seas contain four out of five of the generic forms and seven or more species, there being about fifty in the family. Sixteen belong to the Caribbean Sea and South Ame- rican Atlantic, and the comparatively small proportion of fifteen have been detected in the Indian and Polynesian seas. Lahbroidee.—As the publication of the Histoire des Poissons, the only trustworthy guide for general ichthyology, has ad- vanced no further than the batrachoidee, our observations on the succeeding families must necessarily be imperfect, and we shall therefore make them as brief as possible ; indeed, our American lists cannot be otherwise than very defective, being founded on Cuvier’s notes in the Régne Animal, relating almost solely to figured species. We have ventured to enumerate only thirteen /abroidee as inhabitants of the North American seas, and the nomenclature of fully one half of these is doubtful. The European seas nourish about fifty species belonging to the genera labrus, julis, crenilabrus, coricus, xirichthys, chromis, and scarus. Fistularoidee.—The members of this small family are mostly denizens of the warmer seas. One species only is well known as European, viz., the centriscus scolopax, which is common enough in the Mediterranean, but rare in the Atlantic, though it has been found as far north as Mount’s Bay. This family ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. closes the list of Cuvier’s acanthopterygian fishes. 213 The total number of described species belonging to the order amounts nearly to 2400. Ord. MALACOPTERYGII ABDOMINALES. Fam. CYPRINOIDE. Barbus, spec. nove, Cuv. Reg. A Abramis balteatus, F.B.4. 3.301. Columb. R. » Smithii, Ip.3.110. St. Lawrence. 5 chrysopterus, Smiru, Massach. Labeo cyprinus, Le Surur, de. Sc. Ph. » maxilingua, Ip. J. c. Maryland. » 2? macropterus, Rar. Ac. Se. Ph. 1. » ?annulatus, Ip. 1. c. 17.4. N. York. ? nigrescens, Ip. 1. c. L. Champl. Catastomus gibbosus, Le Sueur, J. c. Connect. R. », tuberculatus, In. J. ec. Penns. » macrolepidotus, Ip. Delaware R. » aureolus, In. L. Erie. » communis, Ip. Delaware R. » longirostris, Ip. Vermont. » nigricans, Ip. L. Erie. » maculosus, Ip. Maryland. » ~ elongatus, Ip. Ohio. » Vittatus, Ip. Penns. »» _ Dusquesnii, Ip. Ohio. » Bostoniensis, Ip. N. Engl. » Oblongus, Ip. NV. York. » sucetta, Ip. S. Carol. » teres, Lace. v. 15.2. N. York. » Hudsonius, Forsr. Ph. Tr. 63. 6. F.B.A 46° N.—68° N. » . Forsterianus, F.B.4. Backs Voy. jig. 48° N.—68° N. » reticulatus, Ip, Bacx’s Voy. fig. 40° N.—50° N. » anisurus, Rar. Ohio. » anisopterus, Ip. do. » Oubalus, Ip. do. » niger, Ip. do. » carpio, Ip. do. » velifer, Ip. do. » wxanthopus, Iv. do. » melanops, Iv. do. » melanotus, Ip. do. » fasciolaris, Ip. do. » erythrurus, Ip. do. » flexuosus, Tp. do. 1» megastomus, Ip. do. Cycleptes nigrescens, Rar. Ohio. Leuciseus gracilis, F.B.A. 78. Saskat. R. + chrysoleucus, Mitcu. 40° N.— 46° N. » caurinus, F.B.A. 3. 304. Columb. » oregonensis, Ip. 3. 305. do. » species nove, Cuv. Reg. An. » atronasus, Mircu. N. York. Mass. Semotilus dorsalis, Rar. Ohio. » cephalus, Iv. do. », diplemia, Ip. do. » notatus, Ip. do. Minnilus dinemus, Ip. do. » notatus, Ip. do. » microstomus, Ip. do. Lusilus erythrogaster, Ip. do. » chrysocephalus, Ip. do. » Kentuckiensis, Iv. do. » interruptus, Ip. do. Rutilus plargyrus, Ip. do. » compressus, Ip. do. », amblops, Ip. do. » melanurus, Ip. do. » anomalus, Ip. do. y» ruber, Ip. do. Pimephales promelas, I. do. Hypentelium macropterum, Ip. do. Hydrargyra diaphana, Le Sueur, Ac. Se. Ph. Saratoga lake. » multifasciata, Ip. l. c. do. » ornata, Ip. 1. c. Delaware R. nigrofasciata, Ip. 1. c. Rhode Is. Peecilia multilineata, Le Suxzur, J. c. Florida. » Schneideri, VaLeNc. Obs. Zool. Lebias ellipsoidea, LE Surur, 1. ce. dr- kansas R. Fundulus fasciatus, VALENC. J. ec. N. York. » ccenicolus, In. Z. c. N. York. Molinesia latipinna, LE Suzur, lc. N. Orleans. Cyprinodon flavulus, VatEenc. 1. c. N. York. » ovinus, Mircu. NV. York. SIXTH REPORT—1836. Fam. Esocipz. Esox lucius*, Z. 38° N.—68° N. East of Rocky M. only. » estor, Le Surur, de. Se. Ph. L. Erie & Huron. » reticulatus, Ip. 2. c. Connect. R. » phaleratus, In. 1. ec. Florida. » niger, In. 1. e. L. Saratoga. » vittatus, Rar. Ohio. » salmoneus, Iv. do. Belone —? Smitru, Massach. Scomberesox equirostris, Lz SuzuR, Mas- sach. Scomberesox scutellatus, Lz Suzur, New- Soundland. ¥? Sarchirus vittatus, Rar. Ohio. » argenteus, Ip. do. Exoccetus exiliens, Bu. 397. Trop. seas.— N Y. & Pacif. » fureatus, Mitcu. G. of Mex.— N. York. » comatus, Ip. NV. York. » Mesogaster, Ip, do.—Massach. SmitTH. » Volitans, Bx. 398. Trop. seas, Atl. & Pacif:—30° N. Fam. SiuuRoiweE#&. Bagrus marinus, Mircu. JN. York. i ? hornpout,Smiru, Massach.—? » —? Benn. Mazatil. Pacif. Pimelodus catus, Cat. 2, 23. U.S. » albidus, Le Surur, Mem. Mus. U.S. 5, nebulosus, In. 7. ¢. do. » eneus, Ip. 7. ec. do. » cauda furcata, Ip. 7. c. do. » nigricans, Ip. L. Erie. » natalis, Ip. U. 8. » insigne, Ip. U. 8. » cenosus, F.B.A. 3,122. L. Huron. » borealis, Ip. Saskatch. R. » maculatus, Rar. Ohio. Pimelodus cerulescens, Rar. Ohio. » pallidus, Ip. do. » argyrus, Ip. do. » viscosus, Ip. do. » nebulosus, Ip. do. » eupreus, Ip. do. » lividus, Ip. do. » melas, Ip. do. 5 wanthocephalus, Ip. do. », limosus, Ip. do. Pylodictis limosus, Ip. do. Noturus flavus, Ip. do. Doras costatus, Car. Sup. 9. U. S. Callichthys —? Bu. 397, 1. do. Aspredo levis, Sepa, 29, 9, 10. do. Fam. SALMONOIDE. Salmo salar*, F.B.4. Connect. R. to Labr. » Scouleri, Ip. 93. New Caled. » Rossii, Ip. 80, 85, 2. Aret. sea. » Hearnii, Iv. do. » alipes, Ip. 81, 86, 1. do. » nitidus, Ip. 82, 1. 86, 2. 52° N.— 72° N. » Hoodii, Ip. 82, 2. 83, 2. 87, 1. 52° N.—72° N. » fontinalis, Ip. 82, 1. 87, 2. N. York.—L. Huron. »» Mnamayeush, Ip. 79, 85, 1. 44° N.—68° N. » quinnat, Iv. Columb. R. » Gairdneri, Ip. do. » paucidens, Ip. do. » tsuppitch, Ip. do. » Clarkii, Iv. do. » carpio, FaBr. Green. » alpinus, Ip. do. », stagnalis, Ip. do. » rivalis, \p. do. » alleghaniensis, Rar. Chio. Salmo nigrescens, Rar. Ohio. Stenodus Mackenzii, F.B.d. 84, 94, 1. Bacx’s voy. Mack. R. Osmerus eperlanus*, Ante. Massach.— St. Lawr. Mallotus villosus, Cuv. Arct. S— News: § Kamtsch. » pacificus, F.B.4. Columb. R. Coregonus albus, In. 89, 2. 94, 2. 44° N.— G22 Ne ,», tullibee, Ip. 50° N.—54° N. » Artedi, Le Surur, de. Se. Ph. L. Erie. » lueidus, F.B.A4. 90, 1. Gr. Bear L. » harengus, Ip. 90, 2. L. Huron. » quadrilateralis, Ip. 89, 1. 60°N.— 72°N. » labradoricus, Ip. G. of St. Law- rence. Thymallus signifer, /.B.4. 88. 62° N.— 68° N oy thymalloides, In. lat. 644° N. Saurus mezicanus, Cuv. L. of Mea. ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 215 Kam. CLuPEOCIDEA. Clupea harengus*, Auct. 40° N.—75° N Pacif. Atl. & Arct. Seas. » humeralis, Cuv. G. of Mex. » fasciata, Lz Sueur, de. Se. Ph. Penns. » elongata, Ip. Marble head. » halec, Mrrcu. N. York. » pusilla, Ip. do. » parvula, Ip. do. » imdigena, Ip. do. » vittata, Iv. do. cerulea, Ip. do. Alosa vernalis, Mrrcu.v. 9. NV. York, Mass. » westivalis, Ip. N. York. s» menhaden, In. v. 7. do. Massach. » matowaka, Ip. v. 8. do. » alosa*, Ip. N. York. Mass. » * mediocris, Ip. do. minima, SmMitH, Massach. Pomolobus chrysochloris, Rar. Ohio. Dorosoma notata, Rar. Ohie. Notemigonus auratus, Ip. do. Chatoéssus oglina, Le Sunur, de. Se. Ph. Rhode Is. » Cepedianus, Ip. 7. c. Pennsylv. » thrissa, Cuv. G. of Mex. », notata, Ip. do. Engraulis sadina, Mircu. N. York. » encrasicholus*, Bu. 302. Greenl. Farr. » edentulus, Cuv. G. of Mex. Elops saurus, Lacep. y. 398. W. Ind.— Carol. Calif. Benn. Butirinus vulpes, Cat. 1, 2. Braz.—U. S. Hiodon tergisus, Lu Suzur, /. c. L. Erie. Ohio. » Clodalis, Ip. Ohio. » chrysopsis, F.B.A. 94, 3. 52° N. —54° N. » vernalis, Rar. do. » heterurus, Ip. do. alosoides, Ip. do. Amia calva, Bu. Scun. 80. Carol. » ocellicauda, F.B.A. L. Huron. Fam. SauroipEa. (Agassiz.) Lepisosteus osseus, L. U. S. Lepisosteus albus, Rar. Ohio. » huronensis, F.B.4. L. Huren. » platostomus, Ip. do. » gracilis, Acass. Zool. Pr. » ferox, Iv. do. » longirostris, Rar. Ohio. » spatula, Laczp. 5, 6, 2. Ohio. » Ooxvyurus, Ip. do. Litholepis adamantinus, ? Rar. Ohio. _ The second division of the fish, according to Cuvier’s arrange- ment, or the MALAcoPpTERyYGII, includes the bulk of Agassiz’s CycLorpEI, together with some families belonging to the other orders of the latter naturalist, as the s¢lwroidet and suuroidet which rank with his GANorpEI, and the platessoidee or pleuro- nectoidee which he places among his CrenorpE: on the other hand, we have already noticed that Agassiz’s CrENoIDEZ include the scomberoidee, atherine, mugiloidee, and labroidee, considered by Cuvier as yal dak pe, The MaLacopreRyGII ABDOMINALES embrace the greater part of the fresh water fish, and though few species are common to Europe and North America, there is much similarity between the generic forms existing in the waters of the two continents. As the lakes and rivers, however, occupy more space in propor- tion to the land in North America than in any other quarter of the world, so the number and variety of fresh water fish is greater than in Europe, or any other extra-tropical country. 216 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Cyprinoidee.— Europe nourishes 32 species of this family : it possesses, in common with America, the forms of barbus, abra- mis, and leuciscus ; labeo, existing in the Nile, is also American ; cyprinus, gobio, tinca, and cobitis, which are European, have not yet been proved to exist on the other side of the Atlantic: while North America possesses catastomus, hydrargyra, pecilia, lebias, fundulus, molinesia and cyprinoden, unknown to Euro- pean waters, besides the uncertain genera proposed by M. Ra- finesque. Esocide.—The fresh waters of America contain a greater number of species of this family than those of Europe, the only one in fact in the latter country being the common pike or esow lucius, which exists also abundantly in North America, though it is confined to the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains. North Africa is more productive, the Nile producing many mormy7i, and the Mediterranean yielding a single species each of alocepha- lus, microstoma, stomias, and chauliodus, forms which have not been detected on the western side of the Atlantic. Belone, scomberesox and exocatus, are common to both sides of that sea, and it is highly probable that some of the hemiramphi of the Caribbean sea may follow the gulf stream further north: one was taken this year on the coast of Cornwall*. Siluroidee.—Though a considerable number of fish of this family have been already discovered in North America only one is known in Europe, viz., the st/wrus glanis, which inhabits the rivers of Europe as far north as Sweden and Norway, as well as those of Asia and North Africa. The pimelodus borealis, the most northerly of the family in America, goes no higher than the 54th parallel. The waters of Egypt nourish many species of stlurus, schilhbus, bagrus, pimelodus, synodontis, clarias, and malapterurus. Salmonoidee.—Upwards of thirty described species of this family belong to Europe, which possesses all the generic forms mentioned in our North American list, with the exception of stenodus}, and the addition of argentina and scopelus, found in the Mediterranean. Egypt produces two or three other forms, one of them, my/letes, being common also to tropical America. Some of the salmonoidee are the most northerly of fresh water fish. Several of the trouts of North-west America are probably identical with Kamtschatka species, to which other names had been previously given. This point, with many others, will * Yarrevt, Br. Fishes, p. 397. + This genus or sub-genus, which differs from the other sal/mones in the teeth, was first named in the Appendix to Captain Back’s narrative of his journey to he mouth of the Thleweechoh. ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 217 doubtless be cleared up in the ensuing volumes of the Histoire des Poissons. The identity of the salmo salar itself on both sides of the Atlantic has not been satisfactorily settled, and some interesting facts in the history of the fish as an inhabitant of Lake Ontario require to be ascertained ; for instance, whether it de- scends to the sea after spawning, or whether, like the salmon of Lakes Wenern and Wettern, in Sweden, it passes its whole life in fresh watert, recruiting in the depths of the lake, and spawning in the feeding streams. The truth of the report, that none of the salmon which ascend the Columbia, or the rivers of New Caledonia, return again to the sea, deserves to be inquired into :—the same thing has been asserted of the salmon of North- ern Asia. Clupeoidee.—This family is also more numerous in North America than in Europe, the latter country yielding only nine or ten species belonging to the genera clupea, alosa, and en- graulis. Hiodon, a genus peculiar to America, has much affinity _ to the salmonoidee. Sauroidee.—This family contains only two existing genera, lepisosteus, peculiar to America, and polypterus to Africat. Ord. MALACOPTERYGII SUB-BRACHIALES. Fam. GADOIDES. Gadus morrhua*, L. Polar s. Newf. N. Merlangus polaris, Sanine, Parry's App: York. S. of Kamtsch. Polar s. Spitz. » callarias*, L. N. York, Mircu. Greenl. Fann. » rupestris, Situ, N. York. Mas- sach. » arenosus, Ip. do. do. » _ tomcodus, Mrrcu. do.do. SMiTu. » e@glefinus, Penn. do. MitcH. » fasciatus, Ip. do. Miteu. Mas- sach. SM. » blennoides, Mircu. do. » barbatus*, Bu. 166. Massach. SM. » Fabricii, F.B.A. Greenl. Fase. » ogac, Ip. Greenl. Fane. » luseus*, Punn. S. of Kamtsch. TILEs. »» macrocephalus, Tires. M. Peir. 2,16. S. of Kamis. » gracilis, Ip. 18. do. Merlangus carbonarius*, Bu. 66. Davis’ S. Pacif. + Nutsson, Pisces Scand. » vulgaris*, Smitu, Massach. » albidus, Mircu. N. York. » purpureus, Ip. do. » pollachius*, SmitH, Massach. Merluccius asellus*, Bu. 164. NV. York.— Neuf. Lota maculosa, Le Surur, de. Se. Ph. LL. Erie.—68° N. » compressa, Ip. J. c. Connect. R. Brosmius flavescens, Ip. M. Mus. 5, 16.2. News. » vulgaris*, PENN. Massach. Smitu. » lub*, Mem. Stockh. 15,8. Green. Phycis chuss, Scua@rr. N. York. » tenuis, Mircu. N. York. » punctatus, Ip. F.B.A. 3, 253. N. York, Nova Scotia. Raniceps blennoides, SmitH, Massach. Macrourus rupestris*, Bu. 26. Green. North s. + The Ganorper of Agassiz are composed of the sauroidee, lepidoidee (fossil), pycnodontes, plectognathi, lophobranchii, goniodontes, siluroidee, and -sturionidee. 218 SIXTH REPORT—i836. Fam. PLEURONECTOIDES. Platessa plana, Mrreu. N. York. Rhombus argus, Car. 27. Bahamas. U.St. » Stellata, Paty. Polar s. S. of » glacialis, Pati. Awatska. Polar s. Kamtsch. » maximus*, SMitH, Massach. » dentata, L. N. York, Scua@rr. » aguosus, Mircu. N. York. » americana, Scuarr. Rhode Is. Solea vulgaris*, Penn. Massach. Smitu. », melanogaster, Mirren. N. York. Achirus lineatus, Stoane, 346, Carib. s. » oblonga, Ip. do. N. York. Mircu. Hippoglossus communis*, Bu. 47. N. York. » Plagiurus, L. Carib. s.—Carol. Mass. Sm. Pacif. EscuscHoutz. Fam. Discospout. Cyclopterus lumpus*, Bu. 90. N. York.— | Cyclopterus spinosus, Fasr. Greenl. Greenl. Eur. » ventricosus, Pau. S. of Kamtsch. » minutus, Part. Mass. SmMira.— | Liparis communis*, Anrep, Eur. Polar s. Greenl. Ross. » gelatinosus, Pauy. S. of Kamtsch. Fam. EcuENEIDE. Echeneis remora*, Bu. 172. N. York. Mass. | Echeneis species alie, U. S. Pacif. BEnN. Pacif. » naucrates*, Ip. 171. Massach. Neuf. Pacif. MALACOPTERYGII SUB-BRACHIALES.—Most of the fish of this order feed on or near the bottom, and a very considerable num- ber of the species are common to both sides of the Atlantic, par- ticularly in the higher latitudes, where they abound. It does not appear that their general diffusion ought to be attributed to migration from their native haunts, but rather that in this respect they are analogous to the owls, which, though mostly stationary birds, yet include a greater proportion of species common to the Old and New Worlds than even the most migratory families. Se- veral of the scomberoidee which feed on the surface have been previously noted as traversing many degrees of longitude in the Atlantic, but the existence of the ground-feeding gadoidee in very distant localities must be attributed to a different cause, as it is not probable that any of them wander out of soundings, or ever approach the mid-seas. Gadoidee.—About twenty-one species of this family frequent the European seas, most of which, and all the generic forms, have been enumerated by authors as existing also on the North Ame- rican coast. More exact comparisons will probably diminish the number of species supposed to be common to the two coun- tries, but still a sufficient number will remain to justify the pre- ceding remarks. Pleuronectoidee.—Upwards of thirty-six species of flat-fish belong to Europe, two or three of which, and all the generic forms, except monochir, occur in the lists of American ichthyo- ' JA ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 219 logists. Many more will doubtless be detected hereafter on the coasts of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Labrador. Discoboli.—About eight species of this family, belonging to the genera lepadogaster, gobiesox, cyclopterus, and liparts have been described as European. The American discoboli are almost entirely unknown. Echeneidee.—The singular fish belonging to this family, though they swim rapidly for a short time, do not appear ca- pable of long-continued exertion. The necessity for this is indeed obviated by the adhesive apparatus on the head, by which they can attach themselves to the larger fishes, and especially to the sharks. In this way they are carried about, and are always at hand to feed on any morsels that may be detached when the monster closes his saw-like teeth on his prey. They also stick to the bottoms of ships, being attracted by the greasy washings of the coppers thrown overboard by the cook, and thus they are often carried beyond the warmer seas in which they are produced. The two species which are best known have been taken on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as in the Pacific. They range occa- sionally northwards to England and the banks of Newfoundland. Ord. MALACOPTERYGII APODES. Fam. ANGUILLIFORMES. Murena rostrata, Le Susur, Z. Cayuga ; Murena xanthomelas, Rar. Ohio. and Seneka. » lutea, Ip. do. » bostoniensis, Ip. Massach. » helena, Cat. 20. Bahamas. » serpentina, Ip. Long. Js. Murenophis moringa, Car. 21. do. » argentea, Ip. Boston Bay. » meleagris, Mircu. U.S. » | macrocephala, Ip. Saratoga. Saccopharynx ampullaceus, Harwoop, » vulgaris*, Smitu, Mass. N. York. Ph. Tr. Davis’ Straits. Mir. » chordatus, Mircu. 52° N. lat. » conger*, Mircx. Surinam, do. do. | Ammodytes lancea*, Cuv. Greenl. Fanr. 5, oceanica, Ip. N. York. » tobianus*, Penn. N. York. Newf. » laticauda, Rar. Ohio. Ophidium stigma, Benn. Kotzebue Sound. » aterrima, Ip. do. Anguilliformes.—From 25 to 30 species belonging to the single family forming this order have been detected in the Eu- ropean Seas. They are arranged by Cuvier in the genera an- guilla, conger, ophisurus, murena, sphagebranchus, leptoce- phalus, ophidium and ammodytes. The Nile supports another generic form named gymnarchus. One of the species of sacco- pharynx having been caught in mid-seas belongs as much to Europe as to America. The members of the family existing in the American waters are very imperfectly known. 220 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Ord. LOPHOBRANCHII. Sygnathus typhle, Bu. 91, 1. N. York, Mass. Mrrcu. SM. Sygnathus acus, Bu. 91, 2. U. S. Penn. Hippocampus brevirostris? N. York.Mircu. Of this order, consisting, like the preceding one, of only one natural family, there are about 15 European species. The Ame- rican naturalists have mentioned the same generic forms as ex- isting in their seas, but no correct details of the species of the northern part of the New World have yet been published. Ord. PLECTOGNATHI. Fam. GyMNoponTEs. Diodon punctatus, Bu. 125, 126. Braz.— | Tetraodon hispidus, Scuapr. N. York. N. York. Scua@rr. » turgidus, Mirren. 6, 5. do. Mas- » Yivulatus, Cuv. N. York. Mircu. sach. 6, 3. » levigatus, Wixt. I. 2. » pilosus, Mireu. 6, 4. N. York. » curvus, Mircu. N. York. Tetraodon geometricus, Cat. 28. Bah.— » mathematicus, Ip. do. U.S. » lagocephalus, Car. 28. Virg. » lUneatus, Bu. 141. New York. | Orthagoriscus mola, Bu. Scan. U.S. ScH@PrF. » Orevis, Mircu. N. York. Fam. ScLERODERMATA. Balistes tomentosus, L. Sepa, 24,18. U.S. » vetula, Bu. 150, Car. 22. Baha- mas.—U.S. » hispidus, L. Sepa, 24, 2. U.S. » monoceros, Cat. 19. Bah. Mass. SMITH. Balistes aurantiacus, Mircu. 6, 1. New York. » broceus, Ip. N. York. Ostracion triqueter, Bu. 130. Mass. SM. » icaudalis, Smirn. Mass. », quadricornis, Bu. 134. U.S. » suffamen, Mrrcn. 6,2. N. York. Gymnodontes.—This family of plectognathi belongs chiefly to the warmer seas, and the species have not yet been satisfac- torily discriminated, especially the American ones. The ¢etrao- don Pennanti, Y aArr., (termed by Pennant levigatus and lagoce- phalus,) and orthagoriscus mola and oblongus extend north- wards to the English coast. The tetraodon lineatus inhabits the Nile. This species, and several others which exist on the eastern side of the Atlantic, occur in the lists of American ich- thyologists ; but in the absence both of good descriptions and figures there is reason to fear that much error exists in their de- terminations. Sclerodermata.—This family also abounds within the Tropics, haunting coral banks and other rocky places. Many frequent the shores of the Bahamas, the Florida Keys and the Bermudas, but the species have not been fully described. The halistes ca- priscus of the Mediterranean and British Channel is the only European one. ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. _ 22) Ord. CHONDROPTERYGII ELEUTHEROPOMI. Fam. STuRIONIDES. Acipenser transmontanus, F.B.4. 97. f. 2. | Acipenser rubicundus, Lz Survr, /. c. 12. Columb. R. Canada lakes. » Tupertianus, F.B.4.97, 1. Sas- » platyrhynchus, Rar. Ohio. hatch. R.—50° N.—55° N. » serotinus, lp. Ohio. » brevirostris, Le Svunur, Am. » ohiensis, Ip. Ohio. Phil. Tr. N.S. Delaware R. » macrostomus, Ip. Ohio. » . maculosus, Ip. Ohio. Platirostra edentula, Le Susur. Ohio. » oOxyrhynchus, Mircu. Delaw. N. | Polyodon folium, Lac. 13, 3.Ohio, Mississ. York. Fam. CHIM#ROIDER. Chimera Collxi, Bann. WN. Pacif. Elephant fish, VANcouvER. Straits of Da Fuca. Sturionidee.—The western European waters produce only one species of this family, but several exist abundantly in the Da- nube and other rivers flowing into the Black Sea, and also in the rivers of Northern Asia. The species are still more numerous and various in North America and the Mississippi, and its tributaries nourish some curious forms found nowhere else. We are chiefly indebted to M. Le Sueur for our knowledge of the sturgeons of the United States, but a monograph of the family is much needed, the species both of the Old and New Worlds are as yet but badly determined. Chimeroidee.—Only two species of this family have been figu- red, viz., the chimera monstrosa, an inhabitant of the North Atlan- tic, and the callorhynchus antarcticus frequenting the southern parts of the Atlantic and Pacific. On Captain Beechey’s voyage at least two others were discovered, one on the coast of Chili, and another, named by Mr. Bennett chimera Colliai, in the Bay of Monterey. Vancouver took one in the Straits of Juan da Fuca, but he has given no description of it whatever whereby we may judge of the species. - Ord. CHONDROPTERYGII TREMATOPNEONTES, (Placoidet, Agassiz.) Fam. SELACHIDES. Carcharias littoralis, Lr Surur, N. York. Mass. Seyllium Edwardsii, Cuvy., Epw. 289. » terrenove, F. B. A. 3, 289. » eanis, Mircn. N. York. New. » canicula, Smit. Mass. » vulgaris, Buon, 60. N. York. » eatulus, Ip. Mass. ; , Mass. Penn. Mir. Sm. Carcharias obscurus, Le Surur, 4e. Se. »» vulpes, Sm. Mass. N. York. Ph. 9. » glaucus, Mitcu. N. York. Mass. 222 Carcharias punctatus, Mrrcu. N. Yerk. Selache maximus, |p. N. York. Mass. » Americanus. Ip. N. York. Somniosus brevipinna, Lr Suzur, de. Se. Ph. Mass. Zygzena malleus, VALEN. Mass. N. York. » tiburo, Penn. Sm. Mass. Squatina Dumerilii, Lz Surur, /. ec. 1, 10. Pristis antiqguorum, Cuy. U. S. Penn. Fam. RAUDEx. Torpedo sp.— Benn. Monterey. —? Mrrcu. N. York. SIXTH REPORT—1836. Raia batis, Smivu. Massach. », ¢lavata, Iv. Do. Trygon sabinum, Cuv. Florida. » Micrura, Cuv. N. Jersey. Lr SuEUR. Myliobatis Fremenvillii, Lz Suzur. Rhode Id. » quadriloba, Cuv. N. Jersey. Le SUEUR. » Narinari, Marcer. San Blas. BENN. Cephaloptera mobular, Duu. 17. Dela- ware. Le SuEUR. » vampirus, Mircen., York. Penn. N. Raia Sayii, Le Sunur, N. Jersey. » Desmarestii, In. Florida. » eglanteria, In. Carolina. Fam. CycLosToMATA. Petromyzon tridentatus, F. B. A. 3, 293. » Chantenay, Ip. Pennsylv. Columb. R. » fullonica, Fasr. Greenland. » fluvialis, Ip. & Mrtcu. N. York, » ocellata, Mircu. N. York. Mack. R. » diaphana, Ip. Do. Petromyzon marinus, Mircx. N. York, » eentroura, Ip. Do. Mass. » bonasus, Ip. N. York. » niger, Rar. Ohio. Selachiidee.—The European seas nourish about thirty mem- bers of this family, belonging to the genera scyllium, carcharias, lamna, galeus, mustelus, notidanus, selache, spinax, centrina, scymnus, zygena, squatina, and pristis. The sharks of the American seas have been very imperfectly investigated; but since the food provided for them is much the same as on the east side of the Atlantic, we may expect to find them exhibiting the same generic forms, and their analogy to the birds and beasts of prey would also lead us to the same conclusion. Raiidee.—Cuvier, in speaking of the Rays, observes that no confidence whatever can be reposed on the synonymy of Artedi, Linneus, and Bloch, since these authors have taken their spe- cific characters chiefly from the number of spines. which vary with the age and sex of the individual. Hence as the Linnean names have been imposed on many of the American rays, our list is without doubt erroneous as well as defective. About twenty species have been described as inhabitants of the Euro- pean seas; they are distributed by Cuvier into the following genera; 7*hinobatis, torpedo, raia, trygon, myliobates, and cephaloptera. Cyclostomata.—Of this family, which contains the most simply organised fishes, the European seas nourish only about seven species belonging to the genera petromyzon, gasterobran- chus, anmocetus, and amphioxus (Yarrell), but there is reason to believe that the family is more numerous in the American waters. The petromyzon tridentatus which inhabits the estu- ON NORTH AMERICAN ZOOLOGY. 223 ary of the Columbia, resembles p. Planeri in its fringed lips, and fluviatilis in the strength and form of its teeth, but not in their arrangement. Lampreys exist in the Mackenzie river which joins the Arctic sea in the 68th parallel. The preceding report occupies a greater portion of the Soci- ty’s valuable volume than I could have wished, but I was unable to compress it further without departing entirely from the plan that I have adopted. The list of species, though they might have been omitted had the paper referred only to a country like Europe, whose natural productions are fully enumerated in ac- cessible treatises, are in fact essential to a view of the present state of our knowledge of the ferine inhabitants of a continent which confessedly nourishes many species still undescribed ; and being moreover the data for our remarks on the geographical distribution of animal forms, they are necessary to enable the naturalist to judge of the value of the statements collected from the various authors referred to, and of the opinions offered upon them. The comparison between the faune of North America and Europe which runs throughout the paper, contributes to indicate not only the variations of animal life in different loca- lities, and in different circumstances, under the same parallels of latitude, but also, though more obscurely and merely by analogy, the tribes of animals of which new species will be most pro- bably hereafter detected in North America. Zoology, as Cuvier has remarked, is now and must continue to be for many years, a science of observation only, and not of calculation ; and no general principles hitherto established will enable us to say what are the aboriginal inhabitants of any quarter of the world. It seemed therefore hopeless to attempt to elicit the laws of the distribution of animal life from results yielded by a fauna so very imperfectly investigated as that of North America; consequently in the preceding report, the _ ranges of the species have been generally stated, as recorded by _ observers, and without any reference to the opinions which have been heretofore advanced by theoretical writers. Buffon ha- zarded the remark that none of the animals of the Old World exist in the New, except the few which are capable of propagating in the high northern latitudes. Temminck adduces circum- stances which favour a modern opinion almost directly opposed to Buffon’s; namely, that all the genera which people the earth (a small number belonging to the polar regions only excepted) are to be found in the equatorial zone, or at least within the tropics ; and that the genera are spread abroad by means of analogues or species possessing exactly similar generic cha- 224 SIXTH REPORT—1836. racters, which range in the same parallels of latitude, through all the degrees of longitude, and that notwithstanding the bar- rier which a wide ocean may be supposed to interpose*. The comprehensiveness of this law will evidently be modified by the number of generic divisions admitted by naturalists, and it will be scarcely tenable if the geographical groups of species be raised to generic rank as has been of late frequently done. The report includes only the vErTEBRATA, but the fourth volume of the Fauna Boreali-Americana, by the Reverend William Kirby, now in the press, will give a complete review of the present state of North American Enromoxtoey. Almost all that is known of the crRusTACEZ, MOLLUSC, and zoo- pHyTA of that country, is owing to the labours of Messrs. Say and Le Sueur, whose original papers are contained in the Journal of the Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia, so often quoted. Dr. 8. G. Morton, in an able synopsis of the organic remains of the cretaceous group of the United States, lately republished from Silliman’s Journal, gives the following list of recent shells common to the European and American coasts of the Atlantic. Purpura lapillus. Modiola papuana. Buccinum undatum. Mactra deaurata. Natica carena. Spirorbis nautuloides. Fusus islandicus. Thracia convexa. Cyprina islandica. Solecurtus fragilis. Saxicava rugosa. Glycimeris siliqua. Lucina divaricata. Cardium groenlandicum. Pholas crispata. : islandicum. “ costata. Strigilla carnaria. Solen ensis. Tellina punicea. Mya arenaria. Pecten islandicus. Mytilus edulis. Balanus ovularis. A list of the fresh-water shells of the fur countries occurs in the third volume of the Fauna Boreali-Americana. EMENDANDA. In page 168, line 9, for 85, read 75. The same error occurs in Audubon’s Ornitho- logical Biography, vol. i. p. 381. Mr. Swainson’s 2d vol. of the Natural History of Birds having been published while this paper was passing through the press, we followed it in making some changes in the arrangements of the grallatores, in consequence of which the following alterations re- quire to be made in the columns of numbers of the table in page 177. Tantalide 5, 1, 1. Ardeide, 14, 14,4. Scolopacide, 45, 37, 24. Rallide,7,7,1. Charadriade, 8, 11, 3. We have followed the common practice in arranging the phalaropes with the sco- lopacide ; but they are, asTemminck has remarked, decidedly natatorial in their habits ; and we may add, resemble the ducks in their under plumage and bills: on the other hand, the flamingo is, as Dr. Smith has observed, a true wader in its manners, and has been classed as such by all ornithologists except Mr. Swainson. Vide Swarns. Birps, ii. p. 190. * Monogr. &c. ~~ —— ON THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF FLUIDS. 225 Supplementary Report on the Mathematical Theory of Fluids. By the Rev. J. Cuaruis, Plumian Professor of Astronomy in the University of Cambridge. Tue object of the first Report which I read before the Associ- ation was to sketch out the processes of calculation, and exhibit the results obtained in the applications of analysis to fluids which were supposed either to be incompressible, and therefore of uni- form density ; or compressible in such a manner that the density is, under all circumstances, the same where the pressure is the same. Such fluids do not exist in Nature. . All /iguids are com- pressible in some degree, and the pressure in every aeriform fiuid varies as well with the temperature as with the density ; yet these hypothetical fluids are in a mathematical sense intimately allied to existing fluids. The results which calculation gives on the supposition of incompressibility admit of comparison with facts observed in the equilibrium and motion of water ; and the laws of pressure, motion, and propagation of motion, arrived at in the mathematical treatment of the imaginary fluid, whose pressure is conceived to depend on the density alone, are first approxima- tions towards a knowledge of what actually takes place in ar. The comparison of the calculated results with fact and experi- ment, in these normal cases, serves to show the degree of influence to be attributed to the modifications which the fundamental pro- perties of the imaginary fluids must undergo, to make them agree more nearly with those of real fluids. Of late years mathema- ticians have introduced such modifications into their theories, by reasoning from certain hypotheses, respecting the interior constitution of bodies, and the mechanical action of their mole- cules, for the purpose of treating mathematically of matter as it exists in Nature, and tracing to causes beyund the reach of di- rect observation and experiment the various sensible phenomena which it presents. I endeayoured in a second Report to give some account of the general principle of such theories, and to explain how they serve, by a satisfactory comparison of the the- oretical results with experiments, to establish the truth of the hypotheses on which the mathematical reasoning is based, and so to make known, respecting the intimate constitution and un seen conditions of bodies, something which could not be ascer- tained by observation alone ; as, in an instance in some respects analogous, mathematical calculations applied to electrical phe- nomena are considered to prove the existence of fluids whose VOL. v.— 1836. ; Q 226 SIXTH REPORT—1836. nature is such that they cannot be shown to exist by the evidence of the senses alone. The phenomena of capillary attraction ap- pear to have principally led to hypotheses respecting the consti- tution and molecular action of liquids. The first writers on the subject considered it sufficient to treat the liquid as incompres- sible, and attribute to its molecules, and to those of the contain- ing solids, an attracting force, sensible only at insensible distances from the attracting centres; on which supposition the problem does not materially differ from those that belong to the common theory of inelastic fluids. Poisson conceived it necessary to treat the question with more distinct reference to the molecular constitution of bodies, and to the repulsive, as well as attractive, forces which keep the molecules separate from each other in places of equilibrium. The views of this eminent mathematician respecting the constitution of fluid bodies, particularly as applied in his New Theory of Capillary Action, formed, together with an exposition of the theories of preceding writers, the main sub- ject of my second Report. I propose, in the present essay, to speak of some other instances of the application of mathematics, in explanation of the phenomena of rest or motion of fluids, and carefully to distinguish, as heretofore, the calculations derived from hypotheses merely from those that set out from experi- mental facts. The mechanical theory of the atmosphere, and of the propagation of sound in it, as affected by the development of heat, will principally claim our attention. In conclusion, I shall take occasion to add some supplementary remarks on sub- jects contained in the preceding Reports, and to notice any ad- ditions that may have been very recently made to this depart- ment of science. Mechanical Theory of the Atmosphere.—The pressure of a perfectly elastic fluid when at rest, and everywhere of the same temperature, varies in the same proportion as its density. This, the well-known law of Boyle and Mariotte, was recently proved to be true, for pressures amounting to twenty-seven times the mean atmospheric pressure, by a committee of the French In- stitute appointed for ascertaining the elastic force of steam, in some preliminary experiments for executing the purpose of the commission*. ‘The modification this law must receive to take in the effects of change of temperature (the fluid still remaining at rest) was first stated by Dalton as a result of experiment, and confirmed very shortly after by the experiments of Gay-Lussac f. * Mémoires de l’ Academie des Sciences, tom. x. p. 207. ; +, The paper of Dalton was read before the Manchester Philosophical Society in October, 1801, and was published in 1802. Gay-Lussac’s experiments ap- peared in the Annales de Chimie, 1802, tom. xliii. p. 137. ON THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF FLUIDS. 227 It was ascertained by the independent labours of these two emi- nent philosophers, that different aeriform bodies, submitted to the same constant pressure, receive equal increments of volume for the same increment of temperature ; so that if the masses of any two be of equal size at one temperature, they will be of equal size at any other temperature, provided the pressure to which both are submitted, be the same and constant. It was also found b Gay-Lussac, that from the temperature of melting ice to that of boiling water, a mass of air, the size of which at the former tem- perature is expressed by unity, expands to a size expressed by 1375. If the augmentation 0°375 be divided into 100 equal parts, and each of these parts be assumed to measure a degree of temperature, it will follow, from the theory enunciated above, that every gas dilates by the fractional part 0°00375 of its size at the temperature of melting ice for each degree of the centi- grade air thermometer. Thus, v’ being the volume when the temperature is 6° above zero, and vy the volume when the temperature under the same pressure is at zero, the relation be- tween the volume and temperature is expressed algebraically by the equation, v’ =v (1 + 0:00375 8). Also if D', D be the densities corresponding to v’, v, we have D' = D», as the quantity of matter is constant. If now the pressure on a unit of surface be changed, without altering the temperature, from the constant. value it has hitherto been sup- posed to have, which we will call @, to the value p, the density at the same time changing from D! to p, the law of Mariotte gives a = vo These three equations easily conduct to the following relation between p, p, and 6; Ce P=pH° lh + a9), where « is put for 0°00375. This formula is considered to ap- ply to gases, to vapours, and to compounds of both, or either. The value of a is the same for all, but ne differs for different fluids. If the unit of density for atmospheric air be assumed to be that at a particular place on the earth’s surface at 0° centigrade ip will plainly be the pressure there at that temperature. MM. Biot and Arago found ihe ratio of the specific gravity of mercury to that of air at the temperature of melting ice, and under the ba- E a2 298 SIXTH REPORT—1836. rometric pressure of 0™-76 (= 29°922 inches) to be 10462. From which it appears that if G be the measure of gravity at the place where this experiment was made (the Observatory of Paris), the value of — is O™76 x 10462 G, or 7951:12 x G. For any other place this quantity must be multiplied by the ratio of the force of gravity at that place to the force represented by G. The numerical value of G is 9™°80896, equivalent to 32°1824 English feet. The above coefficient of G is obtained on the supposition that the air is perfectly void of moisture. It has been ascertained, by a process which will be touched upon at a subsequent part of the Report, that the ratio of the density of air completely satu- rated with vapour, to air perfectly dry under the same pressure, is 099749. On multiplying 7951™12 by this factor the result is 7971™-09, which applies to air containing its maximum quan- tity of humidity. The mean of the two values, 7961™10, may be supposed to apply to the usual state of the atmosphere. Its equivalent in English fathoms is 435326. A correction should also be given to the factor 0°00375, on account of the effect of vapour. When the temperature increases the quantity of vapour in the atmosphere augments at the same time, and as the density of vapour under the same pressure is greater than that of air, a given quantity of humid air will dilate more than an equal quan- tity of dry air: it has been usual in consequence to change the above factor to 0°004. As the temperature hitherto spoken of is always that indicated by the air thermometer when a mercu- rial thermometer is employed, a correction may be thought ne- cessary, on account of the different rates of expansion of mercury and air. The experiments, however, of MM. Petit and Dulong show that this correction is insensible between 0° and 100° cen- tigrade, and only begins to be of considerable magnitude at a temperature of 300° centigrade*. Within the same limits the increase of elastic force was found to be proportional to the in- crease of temperature, the volume being constant f. By the means above indicated, one relation between the press- ure, density, and temperature of an aeriform body has been ex- perimentally assigned, and the two constants which the equation expressive of this relation involves have been determined with great exactness. But in addition to this equation the mathe- matician requires another for the solution of any question in which the effect of variation of temperature is to be taken into account. For instance, if it were proposed to determine the * Memoir on the Dilatation of Gases. Journal de l’Ecole Polytechnique, cah. 18. p. 213. + p. 200 of the same Memoir. ON THE MATHEMATICAL TILEORY OF FLUIDS. 229 pressure of the atmosphere at any assigned altitude above the earth’s surface, in other words, to solve the problem of the ba- rometric measurement of heights, a second equation, expressing the relation of the temperature to the density or the pressure, would be required. For want of such an equation, Laplace as- sumes, in*investigating his formula for the determination of heights by the barometer*, that the temperature is uniform, and equal to the mean of the observed temperatures at the higher and lower stations. This supposition, as Mr. Ivory has shown t, conducts to the same barometric formula as would result from supposing the decrements of atmospheric temperature to be equal for equal increments of height above the earth’s surface. The only attempt I know of which has been made to collect the law of variation of temperature at different heights in the atmosphere from observations, is that by Mr. Atkinson in his Memoir on Astronomical Refractions contained in the second volume of the Transactions of the Royal Astronomical Society. His object is to arrive at the law by a consideration of as many recorded observations as could be procured of temperatures in different latitudes and different elevations (principally those of General Roy t and Baron Humboldt §), by a discussion of which he comes to the conclusion, that for equal decrements of tem- perature the increments of height are in arithmetic progression. The following is the table of results given at p. 189 of the Me- moir, from Humboldt’s Observations in South America: Height. Depression of Therm. 3724) Peet M.moiliaowadt ydlly 14°:070 Fahr. O40 TEE, cong wave 23°310 ORS irish siside Dryeigacays - . « 30°°070 WOFIOe 21910. play iy idodd oF. kus 34°715 ASYH4) wy arwedousien Lig ore 49°°620 WO28G6us) Gwisedasl), Wao ot [20572380 The same arithmetic progression results from the observations in Europe as from those in South America, and the general em- pirical formula connecting the height 4 (expressed in feet) and the depression z (expressed in degrees of Fahrenheit) below the temperature at the earth’s surface, is the following : his { 251°3 +3 (n— 1) bn. - * Mécanique Céleste, liv. x. chap. iv. §. 14. + Philosophical Transactions, 1823, p. 455. { Phil. Trans. 1777, part ii. p. 653. § Memoir on Isothermal Lines, in the Mémoires @’ Arcueil, tom. iii. p. 462; translated in Edin, Phil. Journ., vols. iii., iv., v. ' 230 SIXTH REPORT—1836. If this law, which requires confirmation by observations more in number, and extended over a greater portion of the earth’s surface, should be finally established, the usual formula for the barometric determination of heights will require some modifica- tion. The mathematical reasoning in this problem ought also in strictness to proceed on the supposition that the atmosphere is in motion, and not, as is always supposed, at rest ; but this improvement in the theory is not likely to be effected till at the same time a mathematical theory of the periodic oscillations of the barometer can be given. It remains to notice the attempts of a purely theoretical cha- racter which have been made to furnish the second equation above spoken of, and by it to assign a relation between the tem-~ perature, pressure, and density of the air at different elevations. If we conceive the atmosphere to be at rest, and every point of it to be in its mean state with respect to temperature, there will be a certain temperature corresponding to a certain density ; in other terms, the density will be a function of the temperature. Now by experiment it is found that when a given mass of air is suddenly rarefied by mechanical means, at the first instant, before it receives any accession of heat from surrounding bodies, its temperature is lowered, and it is supposed to absorb a quantity of heat equal to the diminution of temperature. The heat that has disappeared is conceived to become latent, while the total quantity of heat, consisting of the latent heat, and that indicated by the thermometer, remains the same in the given mass, till the temperature is raised by the position of the mass in the midst of bodies of a higher temperature. Dr. Dalton conceived the condition of the air in this experiment at the first moment of ra- refaction to be analogous to that of air of the same state of ra- refaction in the atmosphere, and consequently infers that to the same quantity of atmospheric air the same quantity of heat is always attached, a loss of temperature being compensated for by an increase of latent heat, or, as it is also called, heat of combi- nation, and an increase of temperature being due to a develop- ment of latent heat. Admitting, therefore, that the density of the atmosphere is a function of the temperature, it will follow from this hypothesis that it is also a function of the latent heat. The truth of this theory can be judged of only by its forming a basis for mathematical calculation, and so allowing us to compare the consequences that flow from it with experience. Mr. Ivory has enabled us to judge of it in this manner by a series of valu- able papers on this subject contained in the 66th volume of the Philosophical Magazine*. Mr. Ivory admits with Dr. Dalton * pp. 12, 81, 241. ” ON THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF FLUIDS. 251 that the density is a function of the heat of combination, with- out allowing that the loss of temperature is exactly equal to the heat that enters into combination in the latent form. His rea- soning is in fact conducted on the supposition that the loss of temperature is equal to the heat of combination, diminished by heat from extraneous bodies. To ascertain the function that the density is of the latent heat, he avails himself of a well-known experiment, first made by MM. Clement and Desormes, and re- peated afterwards by MM. Gay-Lussac and Welter, which de- termined the ratio of the specific heat of air submitted to a constant pressure to its specific heat when retained in a con- stant volume. This ratio Gay-Lussac found to be nearly of con- stant value between the temperatures — 20° and 40° of the cen- tigrade thermometer, and between the pressures 0™:144 and 1™-46. By assuming it to be constant, Mr. Ivory arrives at the function he is seeking for, and further, supposing the heat from extraneous sources to vanish, i. e. by returning to the Daltonian hypothesis, he is conducted to a very simple relation between the pressure and the density expressed algebraically by the equation =p”, where p is the pressure relative to a unit of pressure, p the density relative to a unit of density, and m the ratio just spoken of. This same equation M. Poisson had previously ob- tained* by means of the same experimental results, but without the consideration of latent heat, as I shall afterwards. have oc- casion to mention. As the effect of heat in determining the at- mospheric density and pressure is taken into account in this equation, if it be a true equation, it will be that additional one which is required for the complete solution of problems, such as the barometric measurement of heights. It is, therefore, im- portant to inquire whether the equation p = p” expresses the law of nature. By pursuing the investigation, on the supposition that:the total heat of a mass of air is made up of the latent heat, the heat of temperature, and extraneous heat, and joining to ex - pressions previously obtained for p and p, the usual differential equation dp = — gpd relative to the pressure, density, and al- titude (z), Mr. Ivory arrives at an equation (Phil. Mag., vol. lxvi. p- 242) by which the hypothesis of Dalton may. be put to the test. He finds that there are an unlimited number of supposi- tions all equally leading to an equation of the form p = p”, m being different for each, and all indicating different atmospheres, which possess’ the common property of decreasing in tempera- ture, at a rate proportional to the increase of altitude. Tf m= 1, and consequently p = p, the decrement of temperature is infi- * Connaissance des Tems for 1826, published in 1823, 232 SIXTH REPORT—1836. nitely slow, or the temperature is uniform. If m = 1:375, which is the ratio of the specific heats in Gay-Lussac’s experi- ment, and consequently the value of m on Dalton’s hypothesis, because the air on this supposition possesses the greatest possible degree of cold that can be produced by rarefaction, the calcu- lated amount of decrement of temperature is 1° centesimal for an altitude of 674 fathoms, and the total height of the atmosphere is 20 miles. But according to Mr. Atkinson’s memoir, 1° is the real amount of depression in the first 80 fathoms of ascent. Mr. Ivory adopts 90 fathoms from the temperature observed in Gay-Lussac’s balloon ascent, and derives 4 for the corresponding value of m. From all this it appears that the theory we are ex- amining, being pursued by mathematical reasoning to its con- sequences, is shown to be an approximation to fact, but not accurately true, because it assigns too large a rate of decrement of temperature to the lower strata of the atmosphere ; and, if Atkinson’s formula be correct, it errs also in giving a uniform instead of a decreasing rate of decrement in ascending to the higher regions. Mr. Ivory, in his celebrated paper* on astronomical refrac- tions, has pursued a different train of reasoning with reference to this subject. He there sets out with supposing the decre- ments of temperature to be equal for equal increments of height, and is readily conducted (p. 437) to an equation equivalent to p=p™. When the value 3, derived from Gay-Lussac’s ascent, is substituted for m, this equation answers very well the purpose of calculating a table of refractions, and gives them with great accuracy for altitudes very little above the horizon. It does not come within the province of this Report to speak of the problem of astronomical refraction, excepting so far as it bears upon the constitution of the atmosphere ; I shall therefore only remark that a comparison of refractions, determined by astronomical observations with refractions calculated on any theory of the constitution of the atmosphere, does not serve as a good test of _ the truth of the theory. It results from the reasoning in the Mécanique Célestet+, that as far as 74° of zenith distance the calculated amount of refraction agrees very nearly with the ob- served, independently of any assumed law of decrease of density. Dr. Brinkley showed the same thing in a more direct manner}, and obtained a formula, the error of which at 80° 45’ of zenith distance does not amount to half a second, whatever be the va- riation of density in the atmosphere. When the comparison is * Phil. Trans., 1823, p. 409. + liv. x. c.1. + Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, 1815, vol. xii. p. 77. ON THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF FLUIDS. 233 made for altitudes nearer the horizon, the differences between the calculated and real refractions are of considerable amount, in cases where the calculations have proceeded on suppositions re- lative to the constitution of the atmosphere very remote from the truth, and suffice to detect their inaccuracy. But it appears from Mr. Ivory’s reasoning, that if p be assumed proportional to p*, and the refractions be calculated accordingly, they come out very nearly true quite close to the horizon. It would, however, be wrong to conclude from this that the equation p = * repre- sents the law of nature, for the whole height of the atmosphere calculated by this formula is found to be twenty-five miles, which in all probability is far below the truth*. The fact is, astro- nomical refractions are very little influenced by the higher parts of the atmosphere, so that supposititious atmospheres agreeing with the existing atmosphere in the lower strata, and widely dif- is in the upper, may yet produce the same amount of refrac- tiony. For the reasons given above no definite relation between the pressure, density, and temperature of the air can be extracted either from the observation of astronomical refractions or from the theory of them. The only method that seems to be open for increasing our knowledge of the constitution of the atmo- sphere (and by consequence of elastic fluids in general) is to multiply thermometrical observations at various heights and dif- ferent stations, for the purpose of determining the law of the mean distribution of temperature, and how far the variation from one point to another depends on the variation of density alone. Something in this respect may possibly be gathered from the subject which next claims our attention. Theory of the Velocity of Sound.—The difference between _* In place af. the equation p=”, Mr. Ivory assumes another, viz., p=(1-S) os n + fo, f being an arbitrary quantity, which may have such values assigned to it that the rate of decrease of temperature shall be slower as the height increases, and the total height of the atmosphere be of any value from twenty-five miles to infinity. ‘This formula he employs in calculating refractions, and finds them sufficiently accurate by taking f = 4 and x infinitely great, which corresponds to an unlimited atmosphere, supposing the force of gravity to be the same at all heights. 4 The memoir of M. Biot on astronomical refractions, read before the Paris Academy, Sept. 5, 1836, and printed in the additions to the Connaissance des Tems for 1839, treats the problem with all the generality and precision that may be hoped for on a subject of this nature. I advert to the memoir here, chiefly because its first part, on the conditions of the equilibrium of the atmo- sphere, contains a lucid exposition of the mode of mathematically estimating the effects of temperature, and of the mixture of aqueous vapour in the air. 234 SIXTH REPORT—1836. the observed velocity of sound and that which Newton derived from the law of Mariotte (amounting to nearly a sixth of the whole), has given rise to researches and experiments of a very interesting nature, in which the philosophers of France have chiefly signalized themselves. The first attempts to account for this difference were unavailing. Newton did not succeed. Euler supposed that as the Newtonian formula was obtained by neg- lecting powers of the velocity of the aerial particles higher than the first, the difference was attributable to an imperfect approxi- mation. But Lagrange showed that the velocity of propagation in the hypothetical fluid, of which the pressure varies in the same proportion as the density, is the same for large excursions of the vibrating particles as for small. Lagrange also remarked that he could explain the discordance between the theory and experiment by supposing the pressure of the air to increase more rapidly than its density, but was deterred from arguing on this supposition, as he considered it contradicted by the law of Mariotte. The true solution was reserved for Laplace, who first remarked that the excess of the experimental velocity above the theoretical was owing to the development of beat and pro- duction of cold which accompanies every very sudden compres- sion and dilatation of the air, and which was not taken into ac- count in the theory. This may perhaps be considered the most successful explanation of a natural phenomenon that has been given in modern times. The cause assigned was a vera causa, one that may be presented to our senses, and therefore perfectly intelligible. A very common experiment by which a combus- tible substance is inflamed by the sudden compression of air, leaves no room to doubt of the reality of the development of heat under the circumstances contemplated in the theory. This explanation was known to be Laplace’s a considerable time be- fore its author published anything expressly in writing respect- ing it. An article by M. Biot in the Journal de Physique, 1802, and the memoir of M. Poisson on the Theory of Sound*, which was written in 1807, contain, I believe, the first applica- tions of analysis to Laplace’s Theory. Anterior to such appli- cation it is necessary to make some supposition for the purpose of connecting the effect of the developed heat with the other elements of the problem. That which Biot and Poisson adopted is thus expressed by the latter :—‘‘ In the propagation of sound, the compression or dilatation which takes place successively in the whole extent of the mass of air being very small, we may re- gard the augmentation or diminution of temperature due to this * Journal de l'Ecole Polytechnique, cah. xiv. ON THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF FLUIDS. 235 change of density as being proportional to it.’’ By aid of this consideration he arrives at the following equation : a=y/ H(i (+ +qttD)> _ in which a is the velocity of sound, g the force of gravity, 2 h the pressure of the air on a unit of surface, when its density is D and temperature 6, and w the increment of temperature caused by the sudden condensation y- At the time this memoir was written no experiments had been made by which the rise’ of temperature, caused by a given small and sudden condensation, could be determined. M. Poisson therefore reverses the ques- tion, and infers the increment of temperature from the observed sie * 8h ofsound. He finds that if the dilatation or compression were ;+, of the whole volume, the temperature would be de- pressed or elevated one degree of the centigrade thermometer. In the volume of the Annales de Physique et de Chimie for the year 1816, Laplace published the following theorem without the demonstration : “ The velocity of sound is equal to the product of the velocity which the Newtonian formula gives, by the square rootof the ratio of the specific heat of air when the pressure is con- stant to its specific heat when the volume is constant.’’ The proof was first given in the Connaissance des Tems for 1825, and after- wards in the fifth volume of the Mécanique Céleste ; previous to which the experiment* of Clement and Desormes, before men- tioned, had furnished the means of instituting a numerical com- parison between the theoretical and the observed velocity of sound. This experiment was in fact a practical imitation, as near as could be, of what was supposed to take place in aerial vibrations. If specific heat be defined to be the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature 1° under given circumstances, the datum furnished by the experiment is the ratio of the spe- cific heat under a constant pressure to the specific heat under a constant volume. It is convenient to speak of it in these, ternis though the consideration of specific heats is not absolutely ne+ cessary in this question, as we shall presently see. By whatever terms it be denoted the datum is one which experiment alone can furnish, and without it no numerical comparison can be made * See the Memoir in the Journal de Physique for November, 1819. This memoir, which was composed in competition for the prize awarded by the French Institute in 1813 to MM. Delaroche and Berard, contains in addition - to the detail of experiments made with reference to the subject proposed by the Institute, viz., the specific heat of gases, the views of the authors respecting the absolute caloric of space and the absolute zero of caloric. 236 SIXTH REPORT—1836. between the theoretical and observed velocities of sound. The result of the comparison, first made by Laplace, was, that the theoretical determination fell short of the observed value by 7™°5. A difference of this kind was to be expected, as it was impossible to perform the experiment so rapidly that some of the developed heat would not escape through contact of the air with the containing substances. The ratio of the specific heats, — as obtained by MM. Clement and Desormes, is 1°354. Gay- Lussac, on repeating their experiment with great care, and un- der circumstances a little different, found 1°375, which brings the observed and theoretical velocities something nearer, but the latter still falls short of the other. The mathematical theory* of Laplace is prefaced by certain theoretical considerations respecting free and latent heat, and the mutual action of the molecules of bodies and their caloric ; which are subsequently introduced into the investigation for de- termining the velocity of sound}. It is proper, however, to observe that the solution of this problem is not necessarily con- nected with any considerations either of latent heat or of speci- fic heats. This is sufficiently apparent from what M. Poisson has written on the subject. In the first of two excellent papers (contained in the volume of the Annales de Chimie et de Phy- sigue for 1823), which place in a simple point of view all that has been most satisfactorily established with reference to the question before us, this author deduces the velocity of sound, by means of the usual experimental data, from the formula ob- tained in his Memoir on the theory of sound, which, as was said before, rests on the single assumption that the increment of temperature is proportional to the condensation, without em- ploying any additional hypothesis whatever, and without any mention of specific heats or of latent heat. In the same paper he goes on to show, by adopting the definition of specific heat stated above, and by further supposing that for small changes of temperature the absolute quantity of heat gained or lost is proportional to the rise or fall of the thermometer, that the * Mécanique Céleste, liv. xii. chap. iii. + Laplace has also supposed (liv. xii. chap. iii. art. 7,) that dee ec = (1—8) fe , @ being the density of the gas, c the free caloric which has a sensible effect on the thermometer, and £ a positive constant. This equation is not deduced from anterior considerations. It follows from it that OS Testa B fe. Cc and consequently that the free caloric increases as the density diminishes. ° ieee | Niel ON THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF FLUIDS. 237 ‘ rAGG MN eree aS. 1 u t 1 quantity expressed by 1 + (14 @8)y is equal to the ratio of the specific heat under a constant pressure to the specific heat under a constant volume. From the reasoning of M. Poisson we may therefore infer, that for the theoretical explanation of the excess of the velocity of sound over the Newtonian determi- nation one assumption only is absolutely necessary, viz., that the changes of temperature produced by sudden small variations of density are, for a given temperature of the air, proportional to those variations ; but if the consideration of specific heats be introduced, that it is necessary also to suppose the small varia- tions of absolute heat to be proportional to the corresponding variations of temperature. Mr. Ivory has written on this question some things well de- serving of notice. In a paper before referred to* he deduces j 2 \m the velocity of sound from the formula 3 et en ‘5 which he had previously arrived at by considerations already stated, and finds it equal to V ym, V being the velocity obtained ac- cording to the law of Boyle and Mariotte. This is the same value that is given by other methods, since the index m is the ratio of the specific heats. When the above equation is em- ployed with reference to the variation of density in the atmo- sphere and to astronomical refractions, the value of m that best accords with phenomena is nearly 1°25, as we have seen, in- stead of 1:°375. This seems to prove that the law of nature is not expressed under all circumstances by the same formula, and that one which applies very well to sudden changes of density of the air in motion is inapplicable to those that are permanent, like the variations of density of the atmosphere at rest depend- ing on the height above the earth’s surface. Afterwards, in 1827+, Mr. Ivory applied to the problem a different kind of reasoning on the following principles. First, it was admitted that equal quantities of absolute heat produce equal increments of volume: secondly, that the rise of tempe- rature is proportional to the increment of volume according to the indications of the air thermometer : thirdly, that the abso- lute heat is equal to the sum of the latent heat, and the heat of temperature. From which it follows that the increment of latent heat is also proportional to the increment of volume ; hence if y be the volume when the temperature is 0, »/ the volume * Phil. Mag., vol. 66, p. 12. ; Phil. Mag. and Annals, vol. i. pp. 91 and 251. ae 238 SIXTH REPORT—1836. when the temperature is r, 7 the increase of latent heat accom- panying the change of volume from » to »', and a, 6, two con- stants, it will be seen that y=v(1 + ar), andy =v (1 + 62). Hence at = 62, or nie . The first of the expressions for v supposes the volume to change under a constant pressure ; the other obtains in whatever way the change of volume takes place. The ratio of 7 to r is the ratio of the heat absorbed bya mass of air, or become latent, by a given sudden rarefaction, to the heat of temperature required to expand the mass to the same degree of rarefaction. This ratio can therefore be in- ferred from the experiment of Clement and Desormes, so often cited; and as a is known, 6 may also be found. The absolute heat required to produce a rise of temperature + under a con- stant pressure is, according to this theory, t +7; and that re- quired to cause the same rise of temperature when the volume tT+7 7. is constant is tr. Hence is the ratio of the specific heats ; and admitting Laplace’s theorem, the factor by which the —_———__ Newtonian velocity of sound must be multiplied is a/ re i 7 or / ree 3 . Mr. Ivory finally observes* that the main ele- ment on which the solution of the problem must turn, by what~ ever process the result is brought out, is the quantity of heat extricated from air condensed in a given degree ; and accurd- ingly he proceeds to investigate in an independent manner, the relation between the elasticity and density of a mass of air that varies its temperature as it dilates or contracts, without losing or receiving any heat by means of the surrounding me- dium. This investigation conducts to the following relation between the pressure and the density ed. p COND cise Gp Gh ofahis 9 from which the velocity of propagation of sound is arrived at by the usual process, the factor being " 1+ 3 as before. From * Phil. Mag. and An., vol. i. p. 252. —— eee eo eas ON THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF FLUIDS. 239 the above relation between p and p, Mr. Ivory infers (p. 255) that the ratio of the specific heats is not a constant ratio for large variations of density and temperature*. The principle on which the effect of moisture contained in the air is introduced into the theoretical determination of the velocity of sound, is derived from Dalton’s theory of mixed gases. If two quantities, v, v', of two gases under the same pressure p, and of the same temperature 9, be put into a space v + y, the gases will penetrate into each other and become perfectly mixed, so that the proportional parts will be everywhere the same in the same space. Also the temperature and pressure of the mix- ture will be » and 0, the same as those of the constituents. From these facts, established by experience, may be derived by reasoning as Poisson has done in the second of his papers in vol. xxiii. of the Annales de Chim. et Phys., p. 348, the following law, which experience also confirms :—“ The pressure of a mix-- ture of gases and vapours will always be the sum of the pres- sures which these fluids would support separately at the same temperature, and the same in volume as the mixture.’ The atmosphere in its usual state is a mixture of dry air and vapour of water. It is found that the maximum of aqueous vapour formed in a vacuum at the temperature 18°-75 C, is measured by the barometric height 0™-016, and by the preceding law the same height of the barometer would measure the elastic force of vapour formed at the same temperature in dry air of the ordinary pressure 0™-76, and increase the pressure to 0™776, since the maximum of vapour, that is, the greatest quantity which the given temperature allows to be formed, is the same in the two cases. Gay-Lussac has inferred from his experiments, that if aqueous vapour could be raised from the tension 0™016 to 0™:76 without liquifying, its density would be to that of dry air, under the same pressure and at the same temperature, as 5 to 8. Hence in general, if D be the density of dry air, D’ that of moist air under agiven barometric pressure f, and at a given tempe- _* An equivalent relation between p and g may be obtained in another man- ner, which I have adverted to in a communication to the No. of the Phil. Mag. and Annals for May, 1830, and have since developed more fully in a paper re- cently read before the Cambridge Philosophical Society ; viz. by assuming the velocity of propagation of sound to be constant when the temperature is given, and then joining with the usual equations of fluid motion, a general expression for uniform propagation, which may be arrived at independently of the consi- deration of temperature. When the resulting equation between p and eis used for finding the velocity of propagation, it gives an expression agreeing with that obtained on the supposition of a constant ratio of the specific heats, when the eons and rarefactions are small, but diverging from it as they become arger. 240 SIXTIL REPORT—1836. rature, and 2 be the tension of the vapour which the moist air nie : ' n contains, the density ofthe air in the mixture will be D ( 1 — h that of the vapour D “4 » and consequently the density of the compound D' is equal to D ¢ 7 =" Thus the actual density is given in terms of the density of dry air under the same pres- sure. In any instance to which this expression is applied, the quantity 2 will have to be determined by observation of the hy- grometer. The manner in which the theoretical formula for determining the velocity of sound is brought to the greatest possible degree of perfection having been now exhibited, it will be interesting to compare the result it gives with the most accurate experiments. Those which claim the greatest confidence in this respect are the experiments undertaken by Professor Moll, of Utrecht, and Dr. Van Beek in June 1823, a detail of which is contained in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society for 1824 (p. 424,) Measures were taken to secure that the firing of the guns at two stations should take place as nearly as possible at the same instant, which was effected with much greater precision in these experiments than in those of the French Academicians in 1822. By this precaution the cause of error arising from the wind is removed, the velocity of propagation in still air being assumed to be the arithmetic mean between the velocities in- ferred from the observations at the two stations, as in fact it might be shown to be theoretically. The difference between two determinations on different days, when this precaution was attended to, was only 2°166 feet, whereas two other determina- tions on different days, when the shots were not reciprocal, differed by 20°84 feet. The mean velocity which the experiments gave for dry air at 0° of temperature was 332™-05 ( = 1089°744 English feet). The mean excess of the experimental determina- tion over the theoretical, supposing the ratio of the specific heats to be 1°3748*, was 4™°58 ( = 15°032 feet). In Dr. Gregory’s experimentst, made in 1823, an anemometer was employed whose indications were found to agree with the velocity of the wind, as inferred from the difference of the velo- * It is shown by Dr. Simons (Phil. Trans., 1830, p. 213.) that the mean value of this ratio as derived from the experiments of Drs. Moll and Van Beek is 1°4152. + Cambridge Philosophical Transactions, vol. ii. p. 119. ON THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF FLUIDS. 241 cities of sound when aided, and when opposed by the wind. The experiments were made with intervals between the stations, varying from less than half a mile to 23 miles, and in tempera- tures varying from 27° to 66° Fahr. The mean of eight results reduced to the temperature of freezing is stated by Sir John Herschel (Art. Sounn, Ency. Metrop.) to be 1088°05 feet. The velocity observed at the temperature of freezing was 1090717 feet. A valuable series of experiments was made by Mr. Goldingham, at Madras, in 1820, extending through every month of the year. The following is a table of the mean temperature and mean de- termination of velocity for each month. Mean Height | Velocity Mean Height | Velocity of ina Month. of ina Thermometer.} Second. Thermometer.| Second. Month. ft. January .. 1101 || July _| February. . 1117 || August -. March.... 1134 || September April .... 1145 || October .. May. ~..... 1151 || November June .... 1157 || December It is interesting to observe, as the author remarks, “‘ how re- gularly the mean velocity proceeds to a maximum about the middle of the year, and afterwards retraces its steps, giving us a velocity in one case of 1164 feet in a second, and in the other of only 1099 feet. This regularity would, no doubt, be still greater with the mean of the observations of several years.’” In these experiments (which have been compared with theory by Mr. Galbraith*) the indications of the barometer and hygro- _ meter were noted; and though the experiments were not made by simultaneous reports, the effect of the wind may be consi- _ dered to be completely eliminated in the mean of the observa- _ tions of the whole year. It is worthy of remark that the differ- ence between the greatest and least velocities is much more _ considerable than, according to theory, would be due to the _ corresponding difference of temperature. The greatest and least indications of the hygrometer were 27‘85 and 1°43, the former in July and the other in December, the two months in which the ve- locity of sound was greatest and least. Sir John Herschel gives as the mean determination from the total of Mr. Goldingham’s experiments reduced to the temperature of freezing, a velocity of * See Phil. Mag. vol. Ixvi. p. 109, and vol. Ixviii. p. 214. VOL. Vv.— 1836. R 242 SIXTH REPORT—1836- 1086°7 feet. This must be considered as applying to the mean state of the hygrometer, the nature of which not being stated, its indications could not be made use of. Experiments were made by Captain Parry and Lieut. Foster expressly to determine the effect of low temperatures on the velocity of sound*. The following is a mean of results. — 41°°3 | — 33°°3 | — 27°-2 | — 21°0 — 20°:0 | + 33°3 Velocity in feet per| 985-9 1011°2 | 1009-2 | 1031-0 | 1039°8 | 1069-9 Second. A comparison of the velocities at the highest and lowest tem- peratures differing by 74°°6, gives an increase of velocity of 1:126 feet for each increase of temperature by 1° of Fahren- heit. A like comparison of the velocity at the lowest tem- perature, — 41°3, with the velocity in Mr. Goldingham’s experiments at the temperature 87°, gives an increase of 1°35 feet for each degree of Fahrenheit. The experiments of Captain Parry and Lieut. Foster at Port Bowen in 1824—1825 have been compared with the theory by Professor Mollt. On using the coefficient 1°375, the velocity given by the theory falls short of the experimental value by 17°47 feet, a difference exceeding that resulting from a like comparison of the experiments in the Netherlands by something less than 24 feet. In the arctic experiments the state of moi- sture in the air was not noted; but Professor Moll shows that this omission is productive of a very small error in very low temperatures. The near agreement of experiments made under circumstances so widely different, must lead us to suspect, as Professor Moll justly observes, that the difference which still remains between the results of computation and observation are to be ascribed to some imperfection in the theoretical formula, and not to any fault in the observations}. In 1828 M. Dulong§ read a memoir on the specific heats of elastic fluids, which requires to be noticed in conjunction with * See p. 235 of the Supplement to the Appendix of Captain Parry’s Voyage in 1819—1820. + Phil. Trans. 1823, p. 97. t For a synoptical view of the results obtained by different observers, the dates of their observations, and the circumstances under which they were made, I may refer to a table in Art. 16 of Sir John Herschel’s Treatise on Sound in the Encyclopedia Metropolitana. § Mémoires de l'Institut, tom. x. p. 147. ON THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF FLUIDS. 248 the subject before us. M. Dulong takes for demonstrated that the square of the quotient of the real velocity of sound in any elastic fluid whatever, divided by the velocity calculated accord- ing to the formula of Newton, is equal to the ratio of the speci- fic heat for a constant pressure to the specific heat for a constant volume. His object is to find this ratio for different elastic fluids, which, it is plain, may be inferred, according to this theorem, from the real velocity with which sound is: propagated in them. It is not possible to obtain these velocities for any other elastic fluid than atmospheric air, excepting by indirect means. M. Dulong avails himself of a method which had been previously em- ployed by various experimenters, but not with complete success, as was evident from the discordant results they obtained. The method consists in determining the velocity of propagation from the musical note rendered by a given cylindrical tube, and from the measured distance between two consecutive nodal sections or positions of minimum vibration, which interval he calls the length of a concameration. 'The pitch of the note gives the number of vibrations in a given time, and consequently the time of propagation over the measured interval, and therefore the ve- locity of the sound. By pursuing a process different from any that had been adopted before, M. Dulong is enabled to give great precision to this method. He first operates on atmo- spheric air, with the view of ascertaining the accuracy which the method admits of. By various trials, each more exact than the preceding, he obtains results, all of which fall short in a small degree of the velocity obtained by direct observation, and ac- _ cordingly comes to the conclusion that the relation indicated by _ theory between the velocity of sound in free air, and the length, _ such as it can be observed, of the concamerations that are formed _ in a flute-tube, is not verified exactly. He hints at some experi- ‘ments proper for making evident the cause of this discordance, but I am not aware that any such have been published. __ As this method fails in giving exactly the ratio of the specific heats of atmospheric air, M. Dulong adopts a ratio (viz. 1*421) which he says “is the mean of a great number of direct obser- | vations made in free air by different observers.’ I mention this particularly, as it seems to have been supposed* that Dulong f _* M. Poisson’s excellent Treatise on Mechanics is a work so extensively used _ that it is desirable to point out any error that may have inadvertently crept into it. I do not therefore scruple to advert to an inaccuracy in p. 716, tom. ii. - (2nd ed.), where the author asserts that the ratio 1°421 is deduced from obser- _ Vation of the sound produced by air inclosed in a tube, and endeavours to ac- count for the excess of this value above another derived from the propagation of * sound in free air, by the different radiation of heat in the two circumstances. This is contradicted by the assertion quoted above from Dulong’s Memoir. / R 2 . 244 SIXTH REPORT—1836. obtained this ratio from his own experiments. In the next place he establishes, contrary to an opinion previously expressed by M. Biot, that with gases very different in their physical proper- ties, such as hydrogen gas and carbonic acid gas, the nodal sections are exactly in the same positions in the same tube. This is an important fact with reference to the theory of vibrations of aeriform fluids in tubes, from which it readily follows that the relative velocities of propagation of different elastic fluids may be inferred from the musical notes they give out from the same tube; and taking the ratio of the specific heats of air to be that determined by direct observations on sound, the ratios for the other fluids will be immediately deduced from these veloci- ties. Representing in general the ratio of the specific heats by 1 + f, the quantity f is taken by Dulong to be the measure of the thermometric effect produced by sudden and equal changes of density of the several fluids ; then assuming the thermometric effects thus developed to be inversely as the specific heats under a constant volume, he is furnished with numbers to express these specific heats, that of air being expressed by unity. Hence by means of the ratios of the specific heats obtained as above men- tioned, numbers expressive of the specific heats under a constant pressure are also arrived at, that of air being again taken for the unit. These last numbers, compared with those which Berard and Delaroche* obtained by direct experiment, are found to agree with considerable accuracy. In concluding this part of the subject I cannot forbear remarking, in the words of Dulong, “‘ how much science owes to the natural philosophers who direct their labours towards giving more and more precision to the de- termination of the numerical coefficients which become theo- retical elements of constant use.’’ Suchare the numerical measure of the force of gravity ; the ratio of the density of mercury to that of air ; the coefficients of the dilatation of mercury and of the gases ; the ratios of the densities of elastic fluids; the actual velocity of sound in air. All these constants, together with the exact length of the aerial vibrations corresponding to a given musical note, have been employed in arriving at the principal conclusion contained in the valuable memoir which has been the subject of the preceding remarks. Propagation of Sound through Liquids.—The experiments of Canton, of CErsted, and Colladon and Sturm haveascertained the degree in which water is compressible, and proved that for small changes of volume the compressions are proportional to the compressing forces. This law seems to indicate that the * Annales de Chimie, tom. Ixxxy. pp. 72 and 118, ON THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF FLUIDS. 245 pressure in the interior of liquids is a function of the density, (at least at distances from their surfaces greater than the radius of the sphere of the molecular action). For admitting this to be the case, it will be a simple analytical consequence, that the small variations of pressure are propurtional to the correspond- ing variations of density, whatever be the form of the function which connects the pressure and density together*. The know- ledge of the degree of compressibility of water or of any other liquid, furnishes the means of determining the velocity with which sound is propagated in it. This application of the expe- rimental determination of compression has been made by Dr. Young and Laplace, who have each given a formula by which, when the contraction is known for a given pressure, the velocity of propagation can be calculated. Poisson has also given a de- monstration of theformulain question}, which, it appears, applies as well to solids as to liquids. If D be the density of the solid or liquid, & the length of a cylindrical column of it under a known pressure, ¢ the small diminution of this length by a given increase of pressure P, then the velocity of propagation will be Pk De made in the lake of Geneva by M. Colladon in 1826§. On ob- serving that the sound of a bell struck a little below the surface of the water was not audible out of the water at considerable distances from the point of disturbance, but appeared to be de- flected downwards when it fell very obliquely on the water sur- face, it occurred to him to placea little below the surface a metallic plate, with its plane vertical and perpendicular to the direction of the sound, surmounted by a conical tube, to the end of which when the ear was applied the sounds caught by the metal plate were audible when they came from a distance of 13487 metres. The sound traversed this distance in 9:4 seconds, consequently the velocity was 1435 metres in a second. By calculating the velocity given by the formula with due attention to all the cir- cumstances that might affect the accuracy of the result, M. Col- ladon finds 1428 metres. The difference between this and the experimental value falls within the limits of the possible errors of obseryation, and the accordance of the theory with fact may This formula has been put to the test by experiments |. * Experiments on alcohol and sulphuric zther show a sensible diminution of contraction for high pressures. See the Essay of MM. Colladon and Sturm, An. de Chim. et de Phys., tom. xxxvi. p. 144—147. + Lectures on Natural Philosophy, vol. ii. p. 69. t Mémoires de l'Institut, An 1819, p. 396—400, § An. de Chim. et de Phys. tom, xxxvi, p. 242, 246 SIXTH REPORT—1836. therefore be pronounced to be satisfactory. As the formula was obtained without taking into account the effect of the develop- ment of heat, we may infer from the small difference between the above results, that this effect, if not wholly insensible, is of very small amount. M. Colladon remarks respecting the nature of the sound transmitted through the water, that when caused by the striking of a bell, it was heard as a sharp and dry sound, resembling the striking of two knife-blades against each other. This fact seems to prove with respect to liquids, what is also most probably true of solids, that the relation between their density and pressure is such as not to allow the condensations arising from any disturbing cause to be transmitted to great di- stances exactly in the order and proportion in which they are originally impressed, in the same manner as when the pressure varies in the simple ratio of the density. On this account pro- bably, as well as by reason of their great density, liquids and solids are not vehicles so proper for conveying vocal sounds as aeriform fluids. Theories of Elastic Fluids —A few words must now be said on those refined theories respecting elastic fluids, which, pro- ceeding upon certain hypotheses of their ultimate constitution and the action of molecular forces, are directed to the purpose of accounting by mathematical reasoning for certain of their fundamental properties, with which we have originally become acquainted by experience only. Such a theory is that at the commencement of the 12th book of the Mécanique Céleste, to which allusion has already been made. The leading principles of this theory are of the following nature. Each molecule of a body, whether in the solid, liquid, or aeriform state, is submitted to the action of three forces: 1°. The repulsion of its caloric by the caloric of the other molecules. 2°. The attraction of its caloric by these molecules. 3°. The attraction of the molecule itself, either by the caloric of these molecules or by the molecules themselves. The caloric of each particle is supposed to be attached to it by the attraction of the particle. In aeriform bodies, the two latter, the attractive forces, are considered to be insensible, and the only action the molecules are subject to is that arising from the mutual repulsion of their caloric. This action is conceived to be independent of the nature of the mole- cules. From these principles Laplace derives, by no very com- plex mathematical reasoning, the fundamental properties of elastic fluids, viz., the law of Mariotte, the law of Dalton and Gay-Lussac, (which are shown to be true of mixed as well as simple gases,) and the law of the pressure of mixed gases. The same principles, together with the consideration of sensible and ON THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF FLUIDS. 947 latent heat and of specific heats, are employed in solving the problem of the velocity of sound, the solution of which, as was before remarked, Poisson has derived from the fundamental properties of elastic fluids considered as data of observation. With reference to the preceding theory it may be remarked, that although it conducts by simple analysis to the fundamental properties of elastic fluids, and would seem on that account to possess the character of truth, yet it does not appear to have been very generally received, and by some is considered to be not sufficiently xatural. I will venture to suggest a reason for this, which is equally applicable to some other of the more abs- tract physical theories, viz. that after we have gone through the mathematical reasoning, and been satisfied of its correctness, on recurring to the original hypotheses, there is some difficulty in judging of them or comprehending them by comparison with anything we see or know by experience. ‘They are too little analogous to facts of observation. If a theory cannot rest on experimental facts, it ought at least to contain no hypotheses which may not be distinctly understood from our experimental knowledge: possibly it is not otherwise a view of the real facts of nature. In short, the evidence for the truth of hypotheses which from their nature do not admit of immediate verification by experiment, must depend as much on the facility with which they are conceived in the mind, and can be expressed in terms of acknowledged import, as upon the accordance of the mathe- “matical results they lead to with experience. ‘In one* of the volumes of the Journal of the Polytechnic School there is an elaborate memoir by M. Poisson, which com- prises the substance of two preceding memoirs on the equili- brium and motion of elastic bodies, and on the equilibrium of fluids, and concludes with calculating, according to the principles of the reasoning contained in the preceding part, the pressure of fluids in motion. Throughout this work the reasoning is con- ducted on the hypothesis that bodies are formed of disjoined molecules, separated from one another by spaces void of ponder- able matter, which is considered to be “actually the case in nature ;’’ and the chief object in view is to form the general equations of the equilibrium and motion both of elastic bodies and of liquid and aeriform bodies, according to this hypo- thesis, in a manner as simple and as free from difficulty as possible. By taking account of the void spaces separating the atoms, it is found that the pressure is expressed, not by an integral, but by a sum, which, on the supposition that the intervals between the molecules are small compared to: their * Tom. xiii. cah. 20, p. 1. 248 SIXTH REPORT—1836. radius of activity, is reducible to a very converging series, the terms: of which depend on the density. In this manner the following equation, containing two terms of the series, and ap- plicable to solids not crystallized, to liquids, and to gases, is ob- tained : p=ap + bp 3, in which p is the pressure, equal in all directions, p the density, and a and 4 constant coefficients depending only on the nature of the body and the quantity of heat. This equation applies without any consideration of latent heat. Laplace in his specu- lations arrived at an equation of the form p = a p*. But as it appeared from the phenomenon of the propagation of sound that for a given quantity of culoric, and consequently a constant value of a, the pressure varied nearly as p 4, to account for this difference the supposition of latent heat was introduced, which is avoided by the more general formula consisting of two terms. M. Poisson shows how his formula indicates that in solids and liquids the mutual attraction of the molecules extends further than their repulsion, and may be sensible at distances where the latter has altogether disappeared. In this and other of his writings M. Poisson considers the characteristic property of fluids, or the condition of fluidity to be, that the molecules ar- range themselves alike in all directions from any fixed point, and with this property, that of pressing equally in all directions to be intimately connected. Probably few will be disposed to dissent from this view. But when he proceeds to assign as an @ priori reason for this property the perfect mobility of the par- ticles, and considers this mobility to result from their spherical form, or from their being so remote from each other that their form has no sensible influence on their mutual action, we cannot but feel that the cause assigned is not such that we can judge of it by any previous knowledge or experience. It would be more in conformity with the rule Newton laid down of referring effects to ultimate mechanical causes, if the mobility of the par- ticles of fluids and the property of similar distribution in all directions about a given point, were ascribed to a particular ac- tion of the molecular forces resulting from a particular law of variation. If, for instance, the molecular repulsion from a single particle, or rather the resultant of the repulsions from an aggre- gate of particles, decreased very rapidly at a certain small di- stance from the centre to which it is directed, and then after becoming attractive, extended to a much larger distance without ever becoming of large magnitude, it seems demonstrable that E el ee eee a A Ci al ON THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF FLUIDS. 249 from such a law theabove-mentioned properties would result ; for the state of things would thus be nearly the same as if the fluid were supposed to consist of perfectly smooth spherical balls in contact, whose radii are all equal to the radius of the sphere of activity of the molecular repulsion, and whose centres conse- quently in the state of equilibrium are equidistant. This mode of accounting for the characteristic property of fluids is not in- consistent with the principal inference M. Poisson draws from his calculation of the pressure of fluid in motion, viz., that the pressure is not the same in all directions from a given point. For this deviation from the law of equal pressure may be reason- ably ascribed to the circumstance that the molecules take ¢ime to fulfil the condition of similarity of arrangement, being made to assume their positions relatively to each other by the action of the repulsive and attractive forces. I may here observe that although the inequality of pressure of fluids in motion is a legi- timate deduction from the molecular hypothesis, yet as theory cannot determine the amount of error committed by considering the pressure equal, it seems unnecessary to take account of the inequality unless some error should be detected by experiment, especially as we know beforehand that the amount must be very small. In closing this communication, I beg leave to add a few no- tices respecting subjects contained in my former reports; and first, with regard to capillary attraction, it will be right to ob- serve that some remarks made in the last report, in accordance with the strictures of Dr. Young on the equation in art. 12 of Laplace’s Theory, I afterwards saw reason to conclude were in- correct, and ina communication to the Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science for February 1836, explained that the proper inference from that equation, though Laplace omits to draw it, is, that the angle of actual contact of two fluids, or ofa solid and fluid when the specific gravities are not very different, is an exceedingly small angle*, if the contact be perfect. It does not appear that any exception can be taken to the reasoning in any part of Laplace’s Theory. The principles may indeed be objected to on the ground that Poisson takes up, viz., that if the molecular constitution of bodies be admitted, there must be a superficial variation of density which that theory takes no ac- count of : as, however, experiment has not yet detected any such variation, and we have no means of assigning the amount of its “* A phenomenon I chanced to observe presented by oil floating on water seems to favour this inference. See Phil. Mag. and Journal of Science for April 1836. 250 SIXTH REPORT—1836. influence, it would be premature to reject the theory on that ground, especially as the probability is that the effect which this consideration has on the numerical results of the calculations will at all events be small. In the paper just referred to I have given reasons for thinking that the law of molecular forces which will account for the fluidity of liquids is also that for which the effect of the superficial variation of density would be small in capillary phenomena. Subsequent to the experiments by M. Link, which are noticed in the report on capillary attraction, others* were made by the same author not agreeing in their results with the former. After taking the precaution of freeing the solid plates against which the fluid ascended from the effects of greasiness contracted in polishing, it was not found as before, that different fluids ascended to the same height between the same plates ; and the experiments only partially confirmed the law to which theory leads, of equal ascents of the same fluid between plates of differ- ent material thoroughly moistened. The deviation from this law is probably owing to the influence of particular affinities between the solids and fluids which the theory cannot take into account. More recently have appeared the results of experiments by M. Frankenheim of Breslau, on the ascents of a great variety of fluids in capillary glass tubest. These were made for deter- mining thecchesion, or as M. Frankenheim calls it, the synaphia of fiuid bodies. If be the height of ascent, and x the radius of the tube, the specific synaphia he considers to be proportional to \/ r( A+ 5 ): It is worthy of remark that the height of ascent of water in these experiments exceeds that of any of the other fluids, and that the mixing of water with other fluids has avery sensible effect in increasing their heights of ascent. It also appears that an increase of temperature sensibly diminishes the height of the ascending column. Similar experiments made some years sincet by Mr. Emmett, assigned the highest ascent {except in one instance) to water, and clearly showed also the effect of an increase of temperature in diminishing the height. Mr. Emmett has made the remark that to produce this diminu- tion of height it is necessary merely to increase the temperature of the upper surface of the fluid column. * Annalen der Physik und Chemie, 1834, No. 38. + Annalen der Phys. und Chem., 1836, No. 2, p. 409. t Phil. Mag. and Annals, vol. i. 1827, p. 115 and 332, 7 4 4 : c ‘ 4 ON THE MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF FLUIDS. 251 The circumstance of floating bodies rising vertically when drawn with considerable velocities along the surface of water, having attracted attention a few years ago, induced me to try to explain the fact on mechanical principles, and accordingly, in a paper published in the Cambridge Philosophical Transactions*, I have entered on a mathematical investigation which accounts for such a fact, and shows in the instance taken, that when the velocity of draught is uniform the rise is proportional to the square of the velocity, in accordance with an experimental re- sult obtained by Mr. Russellt. The inquiry is not pursued further in that paper (though I believe it may be done according to the method there employed), the immediate object in view being to gain confidence for the particular process of reasoning adopted, which differs in some respects from that of previous writers on fluid motion, by explaining to a considerable extent a fact which had not before been shown to depend on received mechanical principles. The problem of the resistance of the air to a ball pendulum has been undertaken by M. Plana in a Memoir on the Motion of a Pendulum in a resisting medium, (Zwrin, 1835,) in which the resistance of an incompressible fluid is first considered, and then that of an elastic fluid ; and in both cases the author finds, as Poisson had done, that the loss of weight of the sphere exceeds by just one half, the weight of the fluid it displaces. The question, however, has not yet received a satisfactory solu- tion, since theory has hitherto failed to account for one of the leading circumstances of the case, viz., that the coefficient of resistance is different for small spheres of different diameters. This difference it appears would equally exist whether the balls vibrated in a confined apparatus or in free air. The above particulars are mentioned for the purpose of calling _ attention to parts of the theory of fluids which are still open to improvement, and I may here state that one of the objects I have chiefly had in view in this communication to the Associa- tion, and in those preceding it, has been to bring into more notice _ the mathematical theory of fluids and place it in its proper rank 4 among applied sciences. Judging from the very few contribu- eons which have been made by Englishmen to this department 7 wy % of science, it would appear to have been held by us in disesteem. _ From the time of Newton till within these few years scarcely _ anything was written upon it in this country. This neglect is the less to be defended as there are few subjects in natural phi- losophy which are not connected in some manner or other with * Vol. v. Part ii. p. 173. ¢ Fourth Report of the British Association, p. 533. 252 SIXTH REPORT—1836. the properties of fluids. It is even possible that the present inquiries respecting the nature of the imponderable agents, which have given rise to such long-continued and widely extended experiments, may be waiting to receive satisfactory answers until greater perfection shall be given to the application of ma- thematics to the determination of the laws of fluid motion and pressure. 253 Comparative View of the more remarkable Plants which cha- racterize the Neighbourhood of Dublin, the Neighbourhood of Edinburgh, and the South-west of Scotland, §c. ; drawn up for the British Association, hy J.T. Mackay, M.R.L.A., A.L.S., &c., assisted hy Ropert Granam, Esg., M.D., Professor of Botany in the University of Edinburgh. Read at the Bristol Meeting, August 1836. Conrractions.—N. & S., North and South of Ireland. S. of I., South of Ireland. W. of I., West of ditto. S.N. & W., South, North, and West of ditto. S. & W., South and West of ditto. S. & N. of I., South and North of ditto. N. & W., North and West of ditto. S. Arran, South Arran. S. W. of I., South-west of Ireland. N. of L., North of ditto. . d ’ South-west F Dublin. | Edinburgh. | rccotland. Dublin, eS Oe Ranunculaceae. Thalictrum minus * Barbarea preecox *¥ » flavum * Arabis ciliata, W. of I. Ranunculus parviflorus* » hirsuta » hirsutus N.&S. % Cardamine Amara 97 ATVEDSIS..0ceeeesees * Thlaspi arvense Phan Sisymbrium Iris Aquilegia vulgaris * J |asit probably’ Sophia * i * * Introduced. is near Dub- ” ‘ lin, Coronopus Ruelli Trollius europzeus * Lepidium ruderale » campestre Papaveracee. » Smithii Brassica MONENSIS «20.0. | vereeeserees Crambe maritima » Argemone Teesdalia nudicaulis .... | ..+-+.s+++es _|Meconopsis cambrica * *Introduced. Raphanus maritimus ... | ---+++++++++ |) Glaucium luteum * * EHH KH HK HK Violacee. Fumariacee. Viola hirta Corydalis claviculata * » odorata | Fumaria parviflora,S.ofI. » palustris » densiflora, D.C. ? » flavicornis ......... » Curtisii Crucifere. Nasturtium sylvestre * Cistinee. terrestre Helianthemum vulgare, §. Arran trish Plants under the name of Clypeola Ionthlaspi, but as it is a doubtful native d has probably been introduced, 1 have for the present expunged it from the Irish =) ij + This now appears to be the same plant which was published in my Catalogue of = Flora. Q54 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Dublin, | Eainbargh {South-west Dublin. Edinburgh, |South-west Droseracee. Sedum villosum..,...... + * Drosera longifoligN-&S.)oenseree| Ff” ee) asa » anglica, S.N.& W, » Telephum......... * ‘Mileahocs! Radiola rosea.......s.se> | sessceresees ¥ . . * * ie et ee * |*Introduced. * Saxifragee. Althea officinalis S.&W.) «+++++-+ ++ - Saxifraga Hirculus...... * Lavatera arborea a s r » granulata * * » tridactylites * * Hypericinee. » _hyperoides....+..+. * * Hypericum acme nol Jun 3 gy TAIZOICES -o- DANO Ya) xh | ila fart k Sra Ra natant “gigs \> sue Gemeente ney “a tec ah att ee = iat, . 264 Report of the London Sub-Committee of the British Associa- tion Medical Section, on the Motions and Sounds of the Heart. Tue Committee of Members of the British Association resident in London who have been charged with the investigation of the motions and causes of the sounds of the heart, have held nu- merous meetings, and performed a considerable variety of expe- riments, on living and on dead subjects, with a view to the ends of their appointment. They have also taken pains to inform themselves of the facts and reasonings published by preceding inquirers, and have now the honour to submit to the Section the results at which they have hitherto arrived, together with such particulars of their experiments as they consider necessary to substantiate their conclusions. Before entering, however, upon the statement of their experi- ments or of the conclusions to which they lead, they beg leave to say a few words with regard to the scope and plan of their inquiries, and the spirit in which they have entered on them. The Committee would first remark, that though in their in- quiries they did not neglect to take note of any phenomena which might illustrate the action of the diseased heart, yet they have felt it their especial duty to investigate the physiolo- gical branch of the subject, and have principally occupied them- selves with that part which includes the normal sounds of the heart. In thus limiting the field of research, it will be sufficient perhaps to remind the Section that they have pretty closely fol- lowed the example of the Dublin Committee of last year. With regard to the spirit and general views by which they have been guided they wish to observe, that in entering upon the investigation it seemed to them possible @ priori that each sound of the heart might have a single peculiar cause, or several co-ope- rating causes ; and if several co-operating causes should be found more probable, that then some of such causes might be only con- tingent or occasional, and others constant and invariably present ; also, upon the supposition of a plurality of causes of one or both sounds, that some causes might be common to both sounds, or that each sound might have its own set of causes exclusively. Keeping in view those several possible @ priori positions, the Committee made an enumeration of the circumstances attending the heart’s action that had been, or might be, supposed capable of producing sound, and endeavoured so to vary their experiments as to exclude in turn each of those circumstances, with a view 262 SIXTH REPORT—1836. to isolate or at least to bring sufficiently into relief the essen- tial cause or causes of each sound. To the execution of the plan of experimental inquiry thus glanced at, the Committee have devoted some time during the summer, in the course of which they have had to encounter numerous difficulties, especially from the want of sure means of destroying the sensi- bility of the animal, without suspending or greatly impairing the action of the heart. And in this respect they have been much less fortunate than several preceding experimentalists, having in no one of the numerous subjects on which they have operated, been able to continue their observations for a longer period than forty-five minutes, notwithstanding the utmost care to avoid unnecessary loss of blood and to maintain artificial respiration. It is proper to add, that the subjects of these ob- servations were in most instances young asses from three to six months old, in apparently good health, and that the mode of preparation was in a few instances poisoning with woorara, in others stunning by a blow on the head, but in a majority of the experiments the animal was pithed. Other animals were tried as well as young asses, viz. the horse, the dog, and the domestic fowl; but for various reasons these trials were not attended with results recommending their repetition. The Committee consider the most convenient order in which to state the facts in their possession, and their inferences from those facts, to be, to describe first succinctly, and from the origi- nal notes taken on the spot, such of their experiments as gave available results; then briefly to arrange, under the head of each supposed or possible cause, such points in the experiments as may seem to the Committee to make decidedly in favour of or against the claims of each of such possible causes ; and lastly, to give a summary of the conclusions which the Committee have adopted from the whole of their inquiries. Memoranda of Experiments, &c.—The Committee made some observations in the first instance on their own persons. To satisfy themselves fully as to how far the sounds might be modified by circumstances, such as the state of the lungs, whether distended or collapsed; the state of the circulation, whether excited or tranquil; and the position of the body; the Committee examined the heart in their own persons under all those varieties of circumstance, and found, that when the sub- ject of observation is supine or leaning a little backwards to- wards the right side, the first sound is uniform, dull, and with- out any easily perceptible impulse; but the subject leaning forwards, and especially if inclining much to the left side, the ON THE MOTIONS AND SOUNDS OF THE HEART. 268 first sound is louder and fuller-toned, and accompanied by strong impulse. They found also that full inspiration operated like leaning to the right, or the supine position, by diminishing sound and impulse, while full expiration like leaning forwards, or to the left side, rendered the sounds and impulse more di- stinct, the former louder, the latter stronger and more dif- fused. When the heart’s action is excited by exertion they found, as might be anticipated, the systolic sound and impulse at their maximum of tone and force. Moderate exertion they observed to increase the intensity of both sounds ; whereas sud- den exertion, sufficiently violent greatly to accelerate the action of the heart, they found impaired the distinctness of the second sound, the first continuing loud, short, and with strong impulse. The indistinctness of the second sound in rapid pulsation of the heart, seemed to depend in part on its following so closely on the loud first sound as to be masked by it. Experiment 2.—The Committee made experiments likewise on muscular contraction in their own persons, with a view to ascertain how far that act is accompanied by sound. The mus- cles operated on with the best effect were the buccinator and masseter, the muscles of the neck and fore-arm, and of the pa- rietes of the abdomen. In all those the flexible ear-tube, care- fully applied so as to prevent friction, yielded sounds more or less striking ; but the most striking results were obtained from the last-mentioned parts. From the abdominal muscular con- tractions, sounds of a “ systolic’ character (if the expression is admissible) in .all respects, and as loud or louder than those of the heart, were with facility obtained: the sounds were excited by sudden expiratory efforts made with force, and with the mouth closed, and were obtained from various parts of the pa- rietes. The sound of muscular contraction seems in the case of the abdominal muscles to be exaggerated by the hollowness of the subjacent parts. _ At the time the sound was heard the muscle under observa- tion always felt to the finger tense and hard, but the loud sound ceased at the moment that the fibres had attained their maxi- mum of tightness and hardness, and was not renewed except by a repetition of the contractile effort after previous relaxation. . Experiment 3.—Subject, a young ass poisoned with woorara introduced into an incision in the flank. The animal died sixteen minutes after the introduction of the woorara ; much blood was lost in opening the chest; the heart was acting at the moment of exposure, but not strongly. Its action became more regular after inflation was made more re- gularly. 264: SIXTH REPORT—1836, Both sounds were heard with the instrument applied to the great arteries ; but the sound with impulse or first sound alone was heard on the ventricles. The heart could not, the Committee were satisfied, strike against the chest’s walls, or any other hard object. After opening the pericardium the sounds were weaker ; but both sounds were heard with the stethescope applied to the roots of the great arteries. Both sounds were heard also on the great arteries where a portion of lung was interposed be- tween the instrument and the vessels. The heart continued to act for forty minutes. Experiment 4.—Subject, a young ass prepared as the last. Death twenty-six minutes after poisoning. At the roots of the great arteries the two mec were di- stinctly heard, but after the introduction of two curved awls into the arteries (for the purpose of hooking up one lamina of each sigmoid valve) the second sound was wanting, the first being still distinct ; on withdrawing the awls two sounds were heard, and soon after the heart ceased to act, twenty minutes after the death of the animal. At each systole while the heart acted vigorously, the ventricles felt to the finger as hard as cartilage. The heart being cut out and plunged in warm salt and water, a slight undulatory contractile motion pervaded the substance of the ventricles and columne carne and continued for some time. In this and every other observation the vermicular or undulatory motion supervened upon the cessation of the normal action of the organ, and never before the organ had ceased to act as a whole. Experiment 5.—Subject, a donkey seven months old, which expired forty-three minutes after being poisoned with woorara. The heart just before death was heard with short loud pulsa- tions ; when the chest was opened, it ceased to beat, and was very much distended with blood. When part of the blood was let out by cutting the pulmonary artery, the ventricles began again to pulsate feebly, but without sound. When the heart was cut out it presented the undulatory motion, which was in- creased by immersion in cold water. The two ventricles being opened by cuts at the apex at right angles to the septum, and the heart being drawn with the apex upwards through water, the lamine of the mitral and tricuspid valves were seen to close to- gether each time the heart was so drawn upwards through the water. Experiment 6.—Subject, a young ass destroyed by pithing. On opening the chest the heart acted regularly, producing both sounds distinctly: curved awls were then introduced into ON THE MOTIONS AND SOUNDS OF THE HEART. 465 the aorta and pulmonary artery to hook back the valves, when the second sound was replaced by a sucking or bellows sound. The awls being withdrawn both sounds were again heard, the heart acting feebly. Experiment 7.—Subject, a young ass. A small quantity of woorara was introduced into the flank, but without destroying life, and the animal was despatched by a blow on the head. Heart acting very quickly and strongly when the chest was opened ; first sound only audible. The auricles being pushed in by the fingers into the ventricles so as to keep the valves open, the first or impulse sound only heard; the second sound wanting. On withdrawing the fingers from the auricles both sounds were audible, the heart acting more slowly but yet strongly. The roots of the arteries being compressed between the fingers and stethescope, the first or im- pulse sound only heard, accompanied by a loud bellows or rasp sound. On removing the pressure (from the arteries) both - sounds again audible. An incision being then made into the left auricle, a finger was passed through the auriculo-ventricular orificeto the bottom of the left ventricle, and the fingers of the other hand being placed under the right ventricle, and the heart compressed between the hands so as to obliterate the cavity, the first or impulse sound was still distinctly heard by all, but weak. Experiment 8.—Animal, a young ass destroyed by stunning. The heart at first acted convulsively, as from great. exertion, but afterwards nearly normally slowly for a short time. While the heart’s action was quick no second sound was heard, but after it became slow both sounds were heard, and shortly after its action became too feeble and irregular for observation. Experiment 9.—Subject, a young ass. Poisoning by intro- duction of twenty-four drops of an inefficient preparation of coneia into the peritoneum : unsuccessful. Animal ultimately pithed. On opening the chest the heart distinctly audible as to both sounds, and in vigorous.action. The fingers were pushed into the auricles and through the auriculo-ventricular orifices, when a first sound was heard prolonged by a whizzing sound. On withdrawing the fingers both normal sounds were heard ; needles were then introduced to hook up a lamina of the sigmoid valves of the aorta, when the second sound was heard by two observers. The pulmonary sigmoids were also attempted to be so treated (the aorta valves being continued under the needle), when two observers heard the two sounds, but not the third observer. _ Note.—The Committee were uncertain how far the hooking _ up of the valves was really effected owing to want of strength in 266 SIXTH REPORT—1836. the needles. They were not afterwards able, as in other cases, where curved awls were used, to find the marks of the needles so as to ascertain the direction in which they had passed. Experiment 10,—Subject, a young ass pithed. Chest imme- diately opened, when the heart was acting slowly, but forcibly. At first nosecond sound was heard, but a bellows sound (instead) ; then a violent action was attended with a single sound, accom- panied by a bellows sound, which (latter) ceased as the heart became more slow in action, after which both sounds became distinct ; then, the arteries being pressed with the fingers at their origins, a first sound was heard, with a blowing murmur accom- panying and another (murmur) following, but no flapping (or second) sound. On removing the pressure (from the arteries) the second sound was heard and the murmur ceased. Imme- diately after the systole a flapping or jerking sensation was sen- sible to the finger applied to the arteries at their roots. The inversion of the auricles was accompanied by a sensation of thrilling in the finger of the operator. The auriculo-ventricular valves were found toact in water after the removal of the heart from the body, closing on its being drawn apex upwards through water. Experiment 11.—Subject, a young ass poisoned with oil of bitter almonds. A small opening was made in the cartilages opposite the heart, when the stroke was perceived, and felt by the finger in- side and outside the sternum at the same time, with sound, and with considerable pressure upwards against the finger placed between the heart and cartilages. The chest and pericardium were then opened, which latter had a little serum in it. After turning over the animal on its left side, so as to make the heart hang vertically (out of the chest), a first sound was heard through the tube applied to the ventricles, but no second sound by either observer. ‘The same sound was heard on the right auricle posteriorly without the second sound : the heart acted both times weakly. The tube being applied to the roots of the arteries gave the same result to one observer, 7. e., a first without a second sound. The animal being again laid on his right side the first sound was heard by two observers. Cir- cumstances prevented the third member of the Committee from ausculting during this experiment, which was not repeated. Experiment 12.—Subject as above, and pithed. Heart acted thirty-three minutes. On opening the chest the two sounds were heard, the heart acting slowly and with tole- rable force. The auricles were then inverted by the fingers, and the first sound, continued into a bellows murmur, was heard. The mur- ON THE MOTIONS AND SOUNDS OF THE HEART. 267 mur was accompanied by a thrilling motion, sensible to the finger of the operator, and synchronous with the impulse. A lamina of each sigmoid valve was then hooked up (with dissect- ing hooks), when a sound was heard not followed by a second sound, but on removing the hooks the second sound was again heard. On inverting the auricles again the chorde tendinee of the mitral valve alone were felt to become tense in systole and lax in diastole. A finger being introduced into the left ventricle through the auricle, the first sound was heard with a murmur. Experiment 13.—Subject, a young ass, pithed. On opening the chest, and then the pericardium, both sounds were distinctly heard, but feeble. On touching the arteries in the vicinity of the valves, a sensation of flapping (or jerking) observed by all, commencing immediately after the systole, and accompanying the second sound. The awls being introduced into the arteries (so as to hook up the valves), the second sound was wanting. After removing the awls, at first but the systolic sound was heard, but after a short time both were heard by all. On opening the heart (at the close of the experiment), the valves were found to have been sufficiently hooked up in both arteries. Experiment 14.—Subject, a young ass, pithed. After open- ing the chest the pericardium was opened, and a thick layer of tow was interposed between the heart and surrounding parts, the heart continuing to act. At first the systolic sound was heard, followed by a bellows murmur; but afterwards the flap- ping sensation and second sound very distinct also. The finger being introduced into the left ventricle by inver- sion of the auricle, was felt to be gently embraced and pushed, as if by a membrane distended with blood. On the right side nothing similar unequivocally observed. On pressing the aorta or pulmonary artery between the finger and thumb gently, a “to and fro”’ thrill was felt accompanying the systole and dia- stole of the ventricles, and terminated by a flap. The sensation of flapping (or jerking) was felt to be synchronous in the two arteries. The tension and hardness of the ventricles during their systole was very remarkable. ‘The pulmonary artery being cut across, the first sound was still loud, and the aorta being then cut across (likewise), the same result was obtained (viz. a first, without a second sound). The heart was then severed from its other attachments, and the (first) sound was still heard distinctly. 268 SIXTH REPORT—1836. The heart was then grasped strongly under blood, and it con- tinued to contract vigorously, and the first sound was heard (but not loud) with the flexible tube as well as the common stethe- scope. The heart was then taken out and held in the hand of one of the Committee, when the first sound was distinct, but feeble. On opening the right ventricle the columnee carnee were distinctly seen contracting simultaneously with the ventricle. Such are the particulars of all the more successful experi- ments of the Committee, with regard to those possible causes of the normal sounds of the heart which have been investigated by the Committee ; the principal of them are as follows. The first sound has been attributed to 1. Impulse, or the beating of the heart against the parietes of the chest. 2. Muscular sound, or the resonance attending sudden mus- cular contraction. 3. Collisions of the particles of the blood amongst each other, or against the parietes, valves, &c. of the heart’s cavities. 4. The action of the auriculo-ventricular valves during sy- stole. 5. And the collision of the opposite interior surfaces of the ventricles in the same state. The normal or second sound has been attributed to 1. Impulse of the heart against the thoracic parietes, owing to its rapid expansion during diastole. 2. An intrinsic sound attending the diastole, analogous to that which the observations of the Committee prove to attend the systolic action of the ventricles. 3. Flapping of the auriculo-ventricular valves during dia- stole against the sides of the ventricles. 4. The rushing of fluids into the great arteries after the sy- stole. 5. The rushing of the fluids from the auricles into the ven- tricles during diastole. 6. Sudden tension and flapping of the sigmoid valves after the systole. Of the causes to which the first sound has been attributed, the Committee feel it necessary to notice each separately, except the last. With regard to the alleged causes, however, of the second sound, they will feel themselves justified in being less minute, partly to avoid tiresome repetitions, but principally on account of the obvious preponderance of evidence, as the Committee con- ceive, in favour of the theory last mentioned. First Sound—Valvular Tension.—To begin with the first ON THE MOTIONS AND SOUNDS OF THE HEART. 269 sound. It is well known that several eminent writers have at- tributed it to the sudden closure and tension of the auriculo- ventricular valves during the systole. With reference to that question, the Committee have made the following observations : 1. Inverting the auricles, and passing the finger into the au- riculo-ventricular orifices, does not prevent the first sound, though it must prevent the action of the valves. Experiments 5, 8, &c. 2. In the experiments just referred to, the action of the mi- tral valve, as felt by the finger, was of too gradual and feeble a kind to be capable of producing sound; while on the right side the tightening of the tricuspid was not strong enough to be sen- sible to the finger at all. 3. Various instances where the ventricles were treated so as to obliterate their cavities by pressure, and render valvular ac- tion impossible, gave, nevertheless, the first sound. Experi- ments 6, 7, &c. From these facts the Committee conclude that valvular action is not a cause of the first sound. First Sound—Collision in the Fluids, &c.—The following are the facts observed by the Committee with regard to the alleged resonant collisions of the particles of blood amongst themselves, or against the parietes, valves, &c. of the ventricles. 1. The obstruction of the auriculo-ventricular orifices by the fingers introduced by inverting the auricles does not materially modify the first sound. Experiments 5, 8, &c. 2. The heart being pressed between a finger introduced through the auricle to the bottom of the left ventricle, and the other hand placed outside the right ventricle, continued still to emit the first sound. Experiments 5 and 12. 3. The heart being grasped firmly in the hand, after separation from its attachments, and while immersed in blood, gave the first sound distinctly. The pressure in this case must, in the opinion of the Committee, have prevented collision between the opposite interior surfaces of the organ. 4, The division of the aorta and pulmonary artery, and even the extraction of the heart, does not prevent the first sound. Experiment 12. 5. The Committee made also various experiments in order to ascertain the power of fluids to produce sound when in contact with solids. On compressing by the stethescope the gum elastic bottle filled with water, and under water, they could not succeed in producing any other sound than a bellows sound. The power of obstructed currents of liquid to produce the various modifica- tions of the bellows sound was further illustrated to the Com- 270 SIXTH REPORT—1836. mittee in several experiments on animals, in which pressure of the arteries, partial obstruction of the auriculo-ventricularori- fices, and suspension of the action of the sigmoid valves, ‘were repeatedly accompanied by this phenomenon. The thrill ac- companying this sonorous passage of liquid was in every case sensible to the finger. 6. To this we may add that the experiments of MM. Pigeaux and Piorry have been repeated by the Reporter in the presence. and with the assistance of Dr. Edwin Harrison, and other gen- tlemen not of the Committee ; but in no instance of several trials was anything like the first sound produced. From the preceding facts the Committee conclude that the normal first sound of the heart is in no degree referable to any collisions of the particles of the fluids amongst themselves or against the parietes, &c. of the ventricles. First Sound—Impulse.—The facts relating to the connexion of impulse with the first sound that are contained in the pre- ceding experiments, are the following : In a variety of circumstances in which it is difficult to see how impulse could occur to cause sound, the systolic sound was distinctly audible, viz. 1. When the heart lay exposed, deprived of its pericardium, and supported by the mediastinum alone, as in Experiment 1. 2. When the heart was held between the fingers with some force of pressure, the left side cavities being empty, or nearly so, as in Experiment 5. 3. When the heart was imbedded in tow. Experiment 14. 4. When the heart hung out of the thorax by its vessels, re- moved from all contact to which sound might be referred, as in Experiment 9. Note. In the four experiments just referred to the instrument was applied to the arteries near their roots. 5. When the heart was severed from all its attachments, and grasped strongly in the hand, as in Experiment 12. On the other hand, several facts show that the impulse against the ribs may produce sound. 6. In Experiment 11, and in others in the memoranda of which the fact has been omitted, the heart during systole was felt, both outside and inside the chest, to press with force against the sternum and cartilages. 7. In our observations on the effects of posture we remarked that leaning to the left or forwards gave additional force to the impulse and loudness to the sound; while inclination of the body, such as to cause the heart to gravitate away from the ribs, di- minished at once the sound and impulse. ON THE MOTIONS AND SOUNDS OF THE HEART. 271 8. To those we may add the facts pointed out by Dr. Spittal, which have been repeated and verified by the Reporter, assisted by Dr. Edwin Harrison and other gentlemen not of the Com- mittee, and which seem to prove that if the living heart impinge with any force upon the walls of the thorax sound must result. From the whole of those facts, the Committee conclude that impulse is not the principal cause of the first sound, but that it _ is an auxiliary and occasional cause, nearly null in quietude and in the supine posture, but increasing very considerably the sound of the systole in opposite circumstances. First Sound— Muscular Tension.—The facts ascertained by the Committee relating directly to muscular tension as a pos- sible cause of the first sound, are few but striking, and in their judgement decisive. 1. The heart in systole becomes suddenly, from a compara- tively soft and flaccid body, extremely tense, and to the touch hard as cartilage. Experiments 2 and 12, and many others, in which the fact was not recorded. 2. The unvarying and uniform character of the systolic sound, however diversified the circumstances in which the heart was placed, furnishes a strong argument in favour of its intrinsic nature. 3. The voluntary muscles, when suddenly contracted, become tense and hard, and emit sounds resembling strikingly the first sound of the heart. This is especially observable in the action of the abdominal muscles. Experiment 14. : 4. From those experimental facts, taken along with the self- evident fact, that the muscular tension thus experimentally proved to be sonorous is an essential part, and, as it were, the first stage of full muscular contraction, the Committee conclude that the first sound of the heart is, for the most part, a physical result of the sudden transition of the ventricles from a flaccid condition to a state of extreme tension; that in a word the first sound is essentially a muscular sound. Second Normal Sound of the Heart.—We now proceed to the consideration of the normal second sound, and of the hypo- theses that have been or might be advanced respecting it, and the facts we possess that throw light on its causes and mechanism. The Committee had proceeded but a short way in their expe- rimental inquiries when they found the conclusion forced on them that the majority of the hypotheses. (above enumerated) regarding the second sound were wholly untenable. In some of their first experiments they found that the second sound might be absent, although the first sound was present, and the systolic 272 SIXTH REPORT—1836. and diastolic actions were quite normal. The second sound, for example, was suppressed by 1. Pressure on the roots of the arteries. 2. By hooking up a valve of each set of sigmoids. 3. By suspending the heart out of the chest. 4. By inverting the auricles, &c. (see Exp. passim), the first sound and alternate ventricular actions continuing unaffected in any material degree in each case. Such facts, of which there are many in the account of the experiments, seemed to the Com- mittee quite incompatible with any other hypothesis respecting the second sound than the last, viz. that which refers it to the action of the semilunar valves. Besides, several of those hy- potheses appeared liable to the weighty preliminary objection that they are wholly arbitrary, and without any foundation, so far as the Committee have been able to ascertain, in accurate observations or experiments. Under those impressions the Committee think it best to proceed at once to state the facts which in their opinion tend to establish the action of the sigmoid valves to be the cause of the normal second sound. In this some repetition perhaps may be necessary, but will, it is hoped, be ex- cused. The following experiments were made with especial reference to the mechanism of the second sound. 1. Pressure with the finger and thumb was exerted on the ar- teries close to the sigmoid valves, so as to flatten the tubes a little, and the second sound, previously clear, and in every re- spect normal, was immediately suppressed, and a bellows mur- mur was heard instead: this murmur ceased, and the normal sound returned instantly on the removal of the fingers. Mperi- ments 7 and 10. 2. A degree of pressure sufficient, it was conceived, to change, but very slightly, the shapes of the vessels, gave to the finger sensations of currents moving in opposite directions ; the one current more striking, and coinciding with the systole ; the other less forcible and synchronous with the diastole, and ending suddenly by a sensation of flapping or jerking. Experiment 14. 3. The fingers being applied gently to the region of the sig- moid valves, and the ear-tube applied to the heart, the flapping sound was heard, and a sensation of a gentle tap was felt by the finger, in coincidence with the diastole and second sound. | Ex- periments 10 and 14. 4. One valve of each set of sigmoids was hooked up in each ar- tery successively, and the jerking motion invariably ceased, with one apparent exception only, and continued suppressed in the ON THE MOTIONS AND SOUNDS OF THE HEART. 273 artery in which a valve had been so hooked up. If a valve in one artery only was so engaged, the second sound was weakened ; but if a valve of each set of sigmoids was fixed, then the second sound wholly disappeared. In some instances there was a mur- mur of the sucking or blowing kind following the systole during the suspension of the valve ; in other instances there was absence of sound simply. Experiments 4, 6, 12, 13. 5. The arteries were cut across close to the sigmoid valves, the veins being left entire, and the heart beating with consider- able force; the ear-tube was then applied, but gave only one sound, and that one coincident with the systole. Experiment 14. 6. In the separated heart the first sound was repeatedly ob- served, but the second sound never. Summary of Conclusions.—1. The first sound of the heart, as heard in the chest, is generally complex in its nature, consisting of one constant or essential sound, and one perceptible only under certain circumstances ; this constant element of the first sound may be considered as intrinsic, appearing to depend on the sud- den transition of the ventricles from a state of flaccidity in dia- stole to one of extreme tension in systole ; while the extrinsic or subsidiary sound, which generally accompanies and increases the intrinsic sound, arises from the impulse of the heart against the parietes, chiefly of the thorax. 2. The collisions of the particles of the blood amongst each other, or against the interior parietes, valves, &c. of the heart, do not appear to have any share in the normal first sound of the heart ; neither do the motions of the auriculo-ventricular valves ; and the attrition of the opposite interior surfaces of the heart’s cavities seems purely hypothetical. 3. The principal, and apparently only, cause of the second normal sound of the heart, is the sudden closure of the sigmoid valves by the columns of blood that recoil back on them during the diastole, impelled by the elastic contraction of the arteries. 4, The columne carnee appear to act simultaneously with the parietes of the ventricles, and in such a manner as to make it apparently impossible that the auriculo-ventricular valves should close with a flap, in the same manner as the sigmoid valves. Note. An opinion which is further confirmed by the anatomy of the heart of the domestic cock, in which M. Bouillard appears to have heard both sounds with the naked ear. In that animal there is no tricuspid valve resembling that of man, but the val- vular office is discharged by laminar extensions of the substance of the parietes of the ventricle, which meet in the middle, so as, during the systole, to cover the auriculo-ventricular orifice. To conclude,—The Committee feel strongly that the subject VOL. v.—1836. T Q74 SIXTH REPORT—1836. of the heart’s motions and sounds requires further investigation, more especially in their pathological relations, and a wider range and greater variety of experiments than have hitherto been performed. (Signed) C.J. B. Witurams, M.D. F.R.S. R. B. Topp, M.D., Oxon, Professor of Physiology, King’s College, London. Joun CLENDINNING, M.D., Edin. and Oxon, Fellow of the R. C. of Physicians, Hon. Sec. Royal Med. Chir. Society, Physician to the Marylebone Infirmary, and Re- porter. ON THE MOTIONS AND SOUNDS OF THE HEART, tS Second Report of the Dublin Sub-Committee on the Motions and Sounds of the Heart. (See vol. iv. p. 243.) § L—Tue Dublin Committee for investigating the motions and sounds of the heart, re-appointed by the British As- sociation at their last Meeting, have considered the following questions submitted to them by the General Committee of the Association. 1. Whether the muscular fibres of the columne carnez con- tract at the same precise moment as the mass of muscular fibres of the ventricle ? 2. What is the precise mode in which the tricuspid and mitral valves prevent the reflux of blood? Are they floated up and stretched across the auriculo-ventricular orifices, or drawn to- gether to a point within the cavity of the ventricle by the action of the columne carnee ? In order to solve the former of these questions the Committee have several times repeated the experiment of opening the heart, either while within the body of the newly killed animal, or sud- denly removed from it and placed in tepid water, in the expec- tation that the movements of the fleshy columns and of the general mass of the ventricles might be compared by inspection and their relations as to time thus ascertained. But im every instance it was found that the injury thus inflicted upon the heart caused its death so rapidly that no satisfactory conclusion could be drawn from these experiments. Independently of any direct experiment on this subject there are many considerations which, in the opinion of the Committee, serve to prove that the question now under view should be an- swered in the affirmative. The fleshy columns which are attached to the valves, and which have, for the sake of distinction, been called by some “papillary muscles,” differ from the other fleshy columns in the circumstance of being connected to the substance of the ven- tricle only at one of their extremities, while the otheris conjoined to the ‘‘ chorde tendinez,’’ but their fibres are, equally as those of the ordinary fleshy columns, continuous with the fibres of the general mass of the ventricles. That the ordinary fleshy columns contract simultaneously with the systole of the ventricles there can be no doubt, as the shortening of those columns is neces- sary to the completeness of the systole; and as the papillary muscles resemble the ordinary fleshy columns in the continuity of their fibres with those of the ventricles, it is reasonable to T 2 276 SIXTH REPORT—1836. suppose that the contractions of the former as of the latter class of fleshy columns are synchronous with those of the general mass. In the second place it is to be considered that if the papillary muscles were not in a state of contraction during the whole of the ventricular systole, the valves to which they are attached would be driven up by the impulse of the blood into the auriculo-ventricular openings, and thus become unfitted for their office, as is seen in the dead heart, in which a streamof water injected into either ventricle by its artery, drives the valves towards the auricle until the water escapes between their edges. It is to be observed also that in many quadrupeds, and to a cer- tain extent in the human subject, some of the tendinous cords attached to a valve are connected to papillary muscles, while the remainder are inserted directly into the surface of the ventricle : but it cannot be supposed that the former set of tendons are at rest while the latter are acted upon by the general ventricular contraction. To the solution of the second question a consideration of the manner in which the mitral and tricuspid valves are connected with their respective papillary muscles, and of the relation of these to the rest of the substance of the heart is necessary. Each of these valves may be regarded as a portion of a hollow membranous cylinder, attached by one edge around the auriculo- ventricular opening, the other edge projecting into the ventricle and connected to certain of the tendinous cords. The greater number of these, however, are joined to the valve, not at its edge, but at various points of its ventricular surface. The ventricular, or moveable edges of those valves are extremely irregular in their outline, being deeply notched in some parts and projecting in others ; but as to their mode of operation each valve may be con- sidered as consisting of two flaps, a larger and a smaller one, by the application of which to each other during the ventricular systole the blood is prevented from regurgitating into the auricles. The large flap of the mitral valve is placed between the orifice of the aorta and the left auriculo-ventricular opening, nearly -in a horizontal plane, the heart being supposed to be in its natural position, and the person in the upright posture, and may be described in reference to the smaller flap as superior, somewhat anterior, and a little tothe right side. The smaller flap is placed opposite to the larger, and is, with regard to it inferior, some- what posterior and a little to the left. When these flaps are in opposition during the systole of the ventricle, the line of their contact is of a somewhat semilunar form, and in the transverse direction. The larger flap of the tricuspid valve is attached to that part of ON THE MOTIONS AND SOUNDS OF THE HEART. QUT the margin of the auriculo-ventricular opening which corresponds to the portion of the ventricle not formed by the septum, and may be described, with reference to the smaller flap, as being placed externally to it, and to its right side: the smaller flap is connected to that portion of the margin of the opening which corresponds to the septum, and is, with regard to the larger flap, internal and to the left side. When these flaps are in contact with each other during the ventricular systole, the line of their junction is vertical, being very nearly at right angles to the ana- logous line as described in the mitral valve. The papillary muscles of the mitral valve vary in number in different subjects, but there are always two larger than the others, arising from the posterior wall of the ventricle, about midway between the apex and the base, one of which is situated close to the septum, and the other at the external edge or part of the posterior wall. They are somewhat flat-shaped, and are nearly arallel to each other and to the axis of the ventricle. Each of these papillary muscles terminates in two or three papille of nearly equal length, and whose summits are about one-fourth of an inch asunder. From these summits proceed, in a radiating form, a great number of tendinous cords, which are distributed to the flaps of the valve in the following manner: those cords which arise from the superior papilla on each side are connected to the superior or larger flap; those from the papilla on each side, situated between the superior and inferior, are distributed partly to the larger flap, and partly to that portion of the valve where the larger and smaller flaps are conjoined ; and the cords arising from the lowest papilla on each side are connected chiefly to the smaller or inferior flap. Besides the two papillary mus- cles just described there are others smaller, which arise from the posterior wall of the ventricle, nearer its base, at a situation ‘corresponding to the attachment of the smaller flap, to which flap the tendons proceeding from these muscles are distributed. In the right ventricle the papillary muscles connected with the larger flap are three or four in number, and arise near the apex of the ventricle by footstalks proceeding generally both from the septum and from the external wall of the ventricle. They are somewhat flat in shape, nearly parallel in their direc- tion to the axis of the ventricle, and placed at intervals of half or three quarters of an inch from each other, measured along the external wall of the ventricle, which is of a curved form, and seems to be wrapped round the septum. From the papilla by which these muscles are terminated proceeda number of tendinous cords, which are distributed in a radiating manner to the surface and margin of the larger flap. The superior part of this mar- 278 SIXTH REPORT—1836. gin, just where the larger and smaller flaps are about to conjoin, receives one or two tendinous cords, which proceed directly from - the septum, without the intervention of any papillary muscle. The smaller flap receives one or two of its tendons from the lowest in position of those papillary muscles which have been described as supplying the larger flap; but all the others which it receives, to the number of 12 or 14, proceed to it directly from the surface of the septum, near the base, no papillary muscle intervening. From an inspection of the arrangement now described it is manifest that the papillary muscles, when they contract, draw the tendinous cords more or less towards the axis of the respect- ive auriculo-ventricular openings ; and if it be supposed that by any cause the flaps have been laid against the sides of the ventricles, the contraction of the papillary muscles will remove from such situation, or adduct towards the auriculo-ventri- cular axis, those portions of the valves to which they are con- nected. It is also clear that the contraction of the papillary muscles cannot, in any instance, close the valves, or bring their flaps into contact with each other. For when the contraction of the papillary muscles is at its greatest, as at the end of the ventri- cular systole, if it be assumed that the cords and flaps of the valves have been rendered tense by their action, leaving al- together out of view, for the present, the influence of the blood upon the valves; and further, if it be supposed that the numerous summits of papilla, whence the cords proceed, have been gathered in each ventricle into a single point; in such a state of things each valve and its cords will have assumed a form resembling an irregular funnel, of which the base is at the auri- culo- ventricular opening, and the apex at the point of conjune- tion of the summits of the papille: and it is evident that the opposite points of the moveable edge of each valve will be sepa- rated from each other by spaces equal to corresponding dia- meters of the funnel. The assumption that the summits of the papille are congregated into a single point at the latter part of the systole is manifestly incorrect, as the swelling of the papil- lary muscles, during contraction, will tend rather to separate from each other those summits which arise from the same pa- pillary muscle; but in order that the edges of the valves should be brought into contact by the action of the papillary muscles alone, such an arrangement of those muscles would be necessary as should cause the tendons of the opposing flaps to cross each other during the systole, an effect totally incompatible with the present construction of the organ under consideration. ON THE MOTIONS AND SOUNDS OF THE HEART, 279 It is also an erroneous assumption that the valves are ren- dered tense by the action of the papillary muscles, unaided by the influence of the blood upon the surfaces of the valves: for, were it true, by the time when the contraction of these muscles is at its greatest, and for some time previous, the valves would be held by them in an open state, as has just been proved; and thus during a portion of the systole, towards its end, the closing of the passages into the auricles would be rendered incomplete. It is accordingly inconsistent with the functions of the heart that the papillary muscles, in their state of greatest contraction, should render the valves tense: it follows that they cannot ren- der them tense at any previous stage of contraction. The valves are closed by the impulse communicated to them through the blood at the commencement of the systole; and are prevented from separating during its continuance by the same cause. The papillary muscles have for their office to re- gulate the position of the valves, and to prevent them from being driven so far towards the auricles as to render incomplete the closing of their orifices. It does not appear that the action of the papillary muscles is at all necessary for the removal of the flaps from the sides of the ventricles, in order that the blood may be admitted between them at the commencement of the systole: for in the dead heart, if water be injected into either ventricle, through its corresponding artery, or through a hole made in its apex, it never fails to float the valves towards the auricles, and to bring their respective flaps into close contact. If force be used in this experiment the valves are driven into the auriculo-ventricular openings, and the water escapes between their edges. In this experiment it is seen also that the tricus- pid valve performs its office as completely as the mitral, op- posing a perfect obstacle to the flow of blood until force is em- ployed. It is probable that in the living heart the valves are not applied close to the sides of the ventricles, when these are in their diastole, and full of blood; but that an interval exists between them occupied by this fluid. The central position of the papil- lary muscles of the larger flaps, and the shortness of their ten- dons are favourable to this supposition ; and, in the right ven- tricle, the mode in which the smaller flap is connected to the septum, by tendons inserted directly, and without papillary muscles, requires for the closing of this portion of the valve, that the blood should have insinuated iiself between it and the adjacent surface, previously to the commencement of the systole; inasmuch as the mere muscular contraction of the ventricle is 280 SIXTH REPORT—1836. incapable of drawing this flap from the adjoining surface; and were the systole to commence while this portion of the ‘valve was applied to the side of the ventricle, the impulse of the blood would be expended upon its auricular, instead of its ven- tricular surface. In many quadrupeds, for instance, in the calf, the papillary muscles are almost altogether wanting in both sides of the heart: the tendons of the valves are inserted direct- ly into the surfaces of the ventricles, and are so short that it is manifestly impossible that the flaps can be laid against the sides of those cavities when they are distended with blood. In the dead heart, placed in water, the valves do not hang down in the fluid, but assume a cup-like form, and their free edges are puckered together ; thus manifesting a disposition to acquire, without the aid of the muscles, that figure and position which are most favourable for receiving the impulse of the blood. When the ventricular systole begins, the valves are closed by the muscular power of the ventricles transmitted to them through the blood, and the papillary muscles, commencing their contraction at the same moment, are enabled to resist the im- petus by which, but for their aid, the valves would be driven unduly towards the auricles. The valvular flaps are now in contact with each other by a portion of their auricular surfaces adjacent to their free edges, and their form is curvilinear like that of a sail distended by the wind ; a form of surface which, it may be observed, enables the papillary muscles to resist the impetus of the blood by a much less expenditure of their power than had the valves been rendered tense in the first instance, and drawn to a point by the action of these muscles alone. As the systole proceeds, all the parts of the ventricles approach, more or less, to the base; and thus the distance which at the beginning of the systole intervened between the auriculo-ven- tricular openings and the more remote extremities of the papil- lary muscles, is gradually abridged. The gradual contraction of these muscles serves to compensate for the diminution of this distance, and thus the valves are retained in an unaltered position from the beginning till the end of the systole. This view of the purpose which the contractile power of the pa- pillary muscles is intended to fulfil, is strengthened by observing that tltose papillary muscles are the longest which have their origin from the substance of the ventricles most remote from the base of the heart, and that they are found to be shorter in proportion as their origins are nearer to that part ; and the ten- dinous cords of the smaller flap of the tricuspid valve, which ON THE MOTIONS AND SOUNDS OF THE HEART. 281 arise from the septum very near the base, ‘proceed from its sur- face to the margin of the valve without the intervention of any papillary muscle. This method of arrangement evidently depends upon the general law of muscular contraction, according to which the shortening of a fibre bears a definite ratio to its length in the uncontracted state. The parts of the ventricle most remote from the base receive the longest fibres, and accordingly make the greatest degree of approach to it during their period of contraction. § I1.—The Committee have repeated many of their former ex- periments with regard both to the motions and sounds of the heart, and have derived from them a confirmation of the views detailed in their last Report. In order to elucidate the cause of the sounds of the heart the following new experiments have been performed. Experiment 1.—In a calf, prepared in the manner described in the former Report, the thorax was opened, and the apex of the heart cut off, so that the blood, during the contraction of the ventricles, flowed into the chest, instead of passing into the large arteries. An ear-tube being applied to the body of the ventricles, one sound only was heard, resembling the first sound of the heart, and coinciding with the ventricular systole. When the blood had ceased to flow, a finger was inserted into the left ventricle, by which it was firmly grasped at each contraction, and the ear-tube being again applied to the surface, a sound, which may be described as a dull thump, was heard simultane- ously with the grasp of the finger by the ventricle. Experiment 2.—A stop-cock, communicating at one end with a large bladder full of water, was inserted into the right auricle of a human heart, and secured by a ligature. A glass tube, 23 feet long, and { inch in bore, was tied into the pulmonary artery, one inch above the semilunar valves. The bladder pressed upon so as to fill the right ventricle, which was then compressed at intervals by the hand, and thus the fluid was sent into the tube by jerks, in imitation of the natural action of the heart. An ear- tube being applied to the surface of the heart, two sounds were heard, one prolonged, the other abrupt, very closely resembling the natural sounds of the beating heart. The former sound was heard during the contraction of the hand, the latter immediately upon its relaxation. During the first sound the fluid ascended in the tube, and descended a little when the second sound was heard. The tube was now taken out of the artery; the semi- lunar valves were completely removed, and the tube was rein- serted and fixed as before. The alternate compression of the 282 SIXTH REPORT—1836. ventricle by the hand, and relaxation being renewed, two sounds were heard, both prolonged, the second having lost the abrupt- ness by which it had been previously characterized. Experiment 3.—The experiment now to be described was first made by M. Rouanet, and is detailed by M. Bouilleaud, in his work on the diseases of the heart. It consists in attaching by one end, a glass tube a few inches in length, and about an inch wide, to a bladder holding water, and by the other to the aorta, close beneath the semilunar valves, but so as not to inter- fere with their movements ; the muscular substance of the heart having been previously removed. Another glass tube, some feet long, and of equal diameter with the former, is tied into the aorta at a distance of two or three inches above the semilu- nar valves. The bladder is compressed by the hand so as to raise the water in the tube to a considerable height; and the hand being suddenly relaxed, the column of water in the longer tube, deprived of support, descends until it is arrested by the closing of the semilunar valves. At this instant, if the ear have been applied to the lower part of the longer tube, an abrupt sound is heard, resembling the second sound of the heart. If the semilunar valves be now removed, and the experiment with this alteration, be repeated, the sound, which is heard to ac- company the relaxation of the heart, is no longer abrupt, but prolonged. The conclusions which the Committee have drawn from these experiments, as to the causes of the ordinary sounds of the heart, are similar to those detailed in their former Report, to which they beg leave to refer. It appears to the Committee that many writers upon the sounds of the heart have not sufficiently distinguished the characters of those sounds, the prolongation of the first, and the abruptness of the second; and the term “ tic-tac’’ which has been em- ployed to express their rythm, is likely to mislead inaccurate observers by representing the sounds as of equal length. The first sound, of a homogeneous character, beginning and ending with the ventricular systole, which is a prolonged action, coincides with it in duration; and the observation of this fact has enabled the Committee to exclude from the causes of the first sound, all those which are of a momentary nature, as the closing of valves, and those possessing the character of im- pulse. : In concluding their second Report, the Committee wish tostate their opinion that the motions and sounds of the heart have been now, by themselves and others, investigated nearly as far PATHOLOGY OF BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM. 283 as can be done by mere experiment ; but that much light can be thrown upon the subject, and the truth of theories tested, by the observation of disease. To this part of the subject, the Dublin Committee propose to apply themselves during the ensuing year, if it be the wish of the Association that their inquiries should be continued. (Signed) James Macartney, M.D., F.R.S. : Roserr Apams, A.M., T.C.D. Evory Kennepy, M.D. Gerorce Greene, A.B., M.D. Joun Hart, M.D. Wo. Bruce Joy, A.M., M.B. Joun Nouan, M.D. Rosert Law, M.D. H. Caruiue, A.B., T.C.D. August 19th, 1836. Report of the Dublin Committee on the Pathology of the Brain and Nervous System. Tur Committee appointed in Dublin to investigate the ‘* Patho- logy of the Brain and Nervous System,”’ feel compelled, on the present occasion, to confine themselves to an analysis of the cases of nervous affections which have come under their obser- vation, during the short period which has elapsed since they have considered themselves to be regularly appointed. They are of opinion that in order to arrive at accurate patho- logical conclusions on a subject so extensive and complicated, and on which the most eminent authorities are found to disagree, a very great number of cases should be first submitted to their examination—then, the symptoms of each case carefully regi- stered—and, subsequently accurate post mortem examinations made, in the presence of the Committee, to ascertain the struc- tural lesion or lesions with which the symptoms co-existed. As far as their investigations have as yet extended, they see that the subject, if considered in all its details, will require a considerable length of time before they can accumulate such a number of cases and matured observations as would justify them in drawing general conclusions. 284. SIXTH REPORT—1836. They have collected some valuable facts relating to injuries and diseases of the nerves, which seem to throw light upon the disputed points of the physiology and pathology of this portion of the nervous system. They are of opinion, however, that more extended observations on this branch of the subject are required to be made. They would also submit the necessity of repeating those experiments, upon which so many rely as a foundation for their doctrines. ‘ They have been for some time engaged in registering the hi- story and symptoms of cases of nervous affections in the Wards of the House of Industry, Dublin, and the different Hospitals belonging thereto. They find that this Institution presents ample materials for a future report, should they be re-appointed, the number of cases of mental and nervous diseases which it contains being, in- dependently of about 150 cases of paralysis, as follows, viz. Males. Females. Chronic Insane... « - -.- 44 179 Epileptic SANE penceks. piste teh 33 Congenital TG ar ws Cee ee 62 Epileptic Idiots . - - - + 14 20 178 294 Total 472 The number of cases which the Committee have been enabled to examine with sufficient accuracy, amounts to forty-one. Of these they have made an analysis which is attached to their Report. They also affix an index referring to seventeen cases of affections of individual nerves, but regret that they have not had sufficient time to make either as full and accurate as they could wish. (Signed) James O’Berrne, M.D. Grorce GrerenF, M.D. Joun Macponnewi, M.D. Rosert Apams, A.M., T.C.D. Dublin, August 17th, 1836. DISCUSSIONS OF OBSERVATIONS OF THE TIDES. 285 Account of the recent Discussions of Observations of the Tides which have been obtained by means of the grant of Money which was placed at the disposal of the Author for that pur- pose at the last Meeting of the Association. By J. W. -Lussock, Esq. I wisn to lay before the Section the points to which I have chiefly directed my attention on the subject of the tides since the last meeting of the Association, aided by the grant of money which was placed at my disposal, and for which I beg to offer my warmest acknowledgements. In the first place I requested Mr. Dessiou to separate into different categories his discussion of the Liverpool tides for the calendar months, so as to ascertain the difference between the morning and evening tides on the same day, or the diurnal ine- quality. This inequality is extremely sensible at Liverpool in the height, as may be seen in the diagram and tables which I prepared, with Mr. Dessiou’s assistance, and which are published in the Phil. Trans. Mr. Dessiou also, at my request, classified the errors of pre- diction for a year at Liverpool, and also of a year at London, in order to deduce the influence upon the tide of variations in the atmospheric pressure. I have thus succeeded in confirming the result first obtained by M. Daussy from the observations at Brest, namely, that the height of high water is less when the barometer is high, and vice versd. In the Report which I had the honour formerly to present to the Association, I expressed the opinion that the tides in the river Thames did not warrant this infer- ence; this opinion was founded upon the rough examination of a year’s observations, and it is now completely disproved. Ihave also been enabled to procure the assistance of Mr. Jones and Mr. Russell, two excellent computers. These gentlemen, under my guidance, have discussed the observations of 19 years at the London Docks. These observations were formerly dis- cussed by Mr. Dessiou with reference to the moon’s transit im- mediately preceding. But upon examining the results thus ob- tained I saw that for the interval no satisfactory comparison with theory could be obtained for the moon’s parallax and declination corrections in this manner, and that it was indispensible to re- fer the phenomena to the tide-producing forces at a period more remote. The law of the intervals, when the discussion is insti- tuted with reference to the transit immediately preceding the time of high water, whether at London, Liverpool, or Brest, de- 286 SIXTH REPORT—1836. pends partly upon the phenomena as deducible from Bernoulli’s equilibrium theory, and partly upon the law of the intervals be- tween the moon’s successive transits. I therefore directed Mr. Jones and Mr. Russell to discuss the observations with reference to the fifth transit preceding, or that two days before the high water under consideration. . The results which we obtained, and the comparisons with theory which I instituted, are printed in the Phil. Trans. The observations of 19 years amount to 13,370; but notwithstanding their multiplicity, when they come to be separated into numerous categories, as for the purpose of ascertaining the diurnal inequa- lity, the irregularities which the results present show clearly that even a greater number is required in order to arrive at averages which can be sufficiently depended upon. Still the general con- clusion to which my discussions lead is that the equilibrium theory of Bernoulli satisfies the phenomena nearly if not quite within the limits of the errors of the observations, and that it leaves very little, if anything, to be accounted for otherwise. This question is extremely interesting, and seems to me to deserve the fullest investigation which the materials within our reach can justify. If the discussion were extended by taking in all the observations which have been made at the London Docks (which would give us about 16 years more, or nearly double the number), [have no doubt that the results would be much more free from irregularity. It would also be worth while to bring up the interval and the height to what they ought to have been in Tables* I. and X. if the moon’s parallax had been exactly 57', and in Table VI. to what they ought to have been if the moon’s de- clination had been exactly 15°. I have hitherto neglected the minute quantities, which would thus have given a second ap- proximation on account of the great additional labour which they would have occasioned, but I have no doubt that something would be gained by supplying this correction. Besides all the work which I have detailed, the grant of the Association has enabled me to employ Mr. Jones to effect a dis- cussion of the Liverpool observations for 19 years, also with reference to a back transit in order to obtain the calendar month and diurnal inequalities. It would be desirable to complete this discussion, in order to obtain in the same manner the moon’s parallax corrections. It would also be desirable to extend the * Phil. Trans. 1836. The correction for the difference of the moon’s de- clination from 15° is, I apprehend, insensible, and that for the difference of the moon’s parallax will seldom, if ever, exceed one minute for the interval, and one tenth of a foot in the height. DISCUSSIONS OF OBSERVATIONS OF THE TIDES. 287 discussion of the Liverpool tides by employing more of the Hutchinsonian observations. If the Brest observations were published it might be better to proceed at once with their discussion, abandoning, if necessary, for the present our Liverpool and London investigations. The observations there have no doubt been carefully made, and the situation of the port may appear to some to present advantages. These advantages I am convinced have been much overrated, and I attribute the extreme apathy which has been evinced on the subject of the tides in this country until lately to the erro- neous idea that little could be reaped from observations at places so far removed from the open ocean as London. However I feel much regret at being deprived of the opportunity of recurring to the Brest observations, particularly as I am informed they have long since been printed. 288 SIXTH REPORT—1836. A Paper was communicated entitled Observations for deter- mining the refractive Indices for the Standard Rays of the Solar Spectrum in various media. By the Rev. Bavren PoweE.., M.4., F.R.S., Savilian Professor of Geometry in the University of Oxford. Turs paper contained the details of the observations in a ta- bular form, printed copies of which were distributed. The author prefaced them by a brief statement of the circumstances which had led to them, and of their nature. The determination of the refractive indices for definite rays of the solar spectrum marked by the dark lines, from the direct observations of their deviations produced by prisms of different substances, first pro- posed and executed by Fraunhofer, for ten media solid and liquid, was carried on by M. Rudberg for ten more cases. The neces- sity for an extended series of such determinations was pointed out and strongly insisted on by Sir J. Herschel, as well as by Sir D. Brewster ; and was further urged by a special recom- mendation from the British Association. (Zhird Report, p. 319.) Not being able to learn that anything has been done towards supplying the deficiency in other quarters, the author took up the inquiry; and the tabular statements contain the results of observations, in which he has attempted to ascertain the refractive indices belonging to each of the standard primary rays for various media: comprising in the present instance the only highly dispersive substances he has been as -yet able to pro- cure in a condition capable of prismatic observation ; together with some other liquids of different natures: this being a first contribution only towards a series of such determinations, which he hopes to continue. = Log 289) Provisional Report on the Communication between the Arteries and Absorbents on the part of the London Committee. By Dr. Hovexin. Dr. Hodgkin read to the Medical Section a provisional Report on behalf of the London Committee appointed to investigate the communications between the arteries and absorbents. As the Committee is continued to pursue the inquiry, the author has not transmitted the Report for publication in the present volume. The following are the-outlines of the Report. The Committee had added to its number Mr. Francis Sibson, jun., an expert and practised anatomist then engaged at Guy’s Hospital, where it was found most convenient for the inquiry to be conducted. Numerous examinations were made of the lacteals in man and other animals, in which these vessels were either filled with chyle, or artificially injected with mercury, but no positive instance of a lacteal communicating with the veins was discovered. Two instances were mentioned in which an efferent vessel from a mesenteric gland entered a large vein, but there was reason to suspect that the vessels, which appeared to be- long to the lymphatic system, were really veins. The commu- nication between the absorbents and veins in the substance of the mesenteric glands was confirmed in numerous instances, and un- der circumstances which induced the reporter to believe that no rupture or extravasation had taken place. Although the views of Professor Lippi had not been confirmed by the examiners, the reporter didnot conclude that they were to be wholly rejected, and the thoracic duct and right trunk regarded as the sole com- munications between the absorbent and venous systems, since nu- merous anatomists had seen and described other instances of ab- sorbents entering veins. He had himself seen the absorbents from a lung entering the vena azygos, and his friend Mr. Bracy Clark had found the receptaculum chyli emptying itself into a lumbar vein. He was inclined to believe that such communications oc- curred as anomalies and variations analogous to other varieties in the distribution of vessels. This view derived some support from the fact that such communications occurred chiefly in or near the neck, and in the pelvis, where they resembled the normal distribu- tion observed in birds and reptiles. There was then an analogy be- tween these irregularities of the absorbent system, and the most frequent varieties in the arterial, which also, for the most part, resemble the normal distribution in some of the inferior animals. It did not appear that Lippi was able to demonstrate the com- VOL. v.—1836. eu 290 SIXTH REPORT—1836. munications fer which he contended, in every subject, and the care which he had taken to describe and delineate them when met with seemed to indicate that they were comparatively rare, even amongst his numerous examinations.. Amongst the facts connected with the inferior animals, the author remarked that in the kangaroo he had found that the thoracic duct was double, affording another instance of similarity between the circulation in that animal and in birds, and noticed the very considerable dilatation of the receptaculum chyli which he had met with in a foetal pig. The Report also contained some notice of the la- bours of Muller, Arnold, Fohmann, Panizza, and Drs. Thomson and Sharpey on this subject, as well as the recently published thesis of Professor Brechet. In relation to the origins of the lym- phatics, he noticed the fact observed by Mr. T. King, that the lymphatics of the thyroid gland were found filled with the very peculiar secretion proper to the cells of that organ, and that he had himself seen the lymph in the thoracie duct of the pig flow- ing alternately colourless and highly sanguinolent, which, as no violence had been done to the abdomen, appeared to indicate some natural but unexplained communication between the san- guiferous and lymphatic systems. The Report concluded with some observations respecting the formation of vessels, in which the author endeavoured to account for the exact correspondence which often exists between arteries and veins, and also for the production of valves in the latter vessels and in absorbents. ll : Report of Experiments on Subterranean Temperature, under the direction of a Committee; consisting of Professor ForBEs, Mr. W. S. Harris, Professor Powewu, Lieut.-Col. Syxes, and Professor Putuctps (Reporter). Having noticed the principal causes of error in experiments on the temperature of the air, water, rocks, and metallic veins below the surface, the author described the methods and instru- ments of research recommended by a Committee of the Associa- tion to eliminate the known and neutralize the unknown sources of fallacy. The instruments constructed for this purpose were properly placed in many situations, under the direction of com- petent persons, and satisfactory results had already been obtained, which in every instance agreed with the general results of foreign inquiries in proving a continual augmentation of heat below the surface of invariable temperature. At the Lead Hills Professor Forbes had placed thermometers under the care of Mr. Irvine ; Mr. Buddle had established registers at Newcastle; Mr. Ander- son, at Monk Wearmouth; Mr. Hodgkinson, near Manchester ; and withina few days Professor Phillips had been enabled through the kindness of a friend to place a thermometer in a deep coal mine at Bedminster, near Bristol. Similar instruments have since been extensively distributed, and the following general instruc- tions and form of register have been prepared for the assistance of observers. Instructions for conducting experiments on the Temperature of the Earth, at various depths, upon a plan and with instru- ments recommended by a Committee of the British Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science. ‘The general interest and importance of inquiries into the interior temperature of the earth render it proper to explain, to those who may be engaged in conducting the experiments, that for the purpose of obtaining results really valuable, and capable of being combined in philosophical investigations, it is essential that the same object of research should be proposed,—the same planof experiment followed, —and similar instruments employed; —it is convenient that. the results obtained should be recorded in tables of one form, and transmitted to one person, named by the Association, for the examination of the Committee. («.) Zhe object proposed to be accomplished, by the experi- ments contemplated, is the acquisition of satisfactory data, for the establishment of undoubted conclusions concerning the real u2 292 SIXTH REPORT—1836. temperature of the interior of the earth, from the surface to the greatest depths yet reached by human enterprise. (b.) Lhe plan of experiment proposed for general adoption, and specially required to be followed by those who undertake to use the instruments furnished by the Association, is intended to reduce the effect of known and equalize those of unknown sources of fallacy. For this end certain precautions must be observed, suited to experiments in air, water, androck respectively; for none of these are wholly free from the influence of sources of serious error. The temperature of the air in the gallery of a mine varies ac- cording to the place of the observation as compared with the entrance and exit of the current ; according to the rate of this current as it passes through a confined, open, or complicated passage ; according to the place of the thermometer in the sec- tion of the air passage; according to lights, respiration, and other local conditions. On all these accounts the experiments in air are the least ac- curate indications of subterranean temperature : however care- fully made there is in the result always too much of the effect of local influences which cannot be estimated. (They are however extremely valuable in combination with those hereafter noticed.) The water of a mine offers a less exceptionable subject of ex- periment. If it be a small continuous subterranean spring, discovered at a known depth, without any sign of efflux under violent pressure, its temperature carefully taken will be found to be nearly constant. The composition and specific gravity of the water may be of importance in the combination of the re- sults. It should therefore be correctly stated. But water merely lying in the galleries of a mine, or collected from the sides of the shafts, is never to be referred to as a standard of subterra- nean temperature. It is however in the solid rock that the best observations, and those most suited to the purpose of philosophical reasoning, are to be obtained. The principal sources of fallacy in this class of experiments arise from the unequal and varying influences of the air-currents, moisture, &c., on the surface of the rock ; local chemical actions and electric currents may also be noticed as affecting the precision of the result, and if known should be re- corded. The only experimental caution, however, available in this case, is to sink the thermometer to a sufficient depth from the surface, in a hole very little larger than itself, and to record the observations after moderate intervals of time. (c) The instruments furnished have been compared with one known standard, and all that is required of the observer is to re- EXPERIMENTS ON SUBTERRANEAN TEMPERATURE. 293 cord exactly their indications under the conditions mentioned in the following table ; of which separate copies have been furnished, so as to have all the entries as uniform as possible, and dupli- cates to enable the observers to retain a copy. The original is to be folded and forwarded to “ Professor Phillips, Assistant General Secretary to the British Association, York.” Weekly Register of Observations on Subterranean Temperature at in Lat. , Long. Elevation of the surface above the sea in feet*. Mean annual temperature of the air at surface. Mean temperature of permanent springs issuing from rock. 2 Te Thermometer (No. ) mec ae for half an hour in the fol-| Thermometer | Thermometer, lowing situations, and in e following order of succession.|(No. ).|(No. ). In air : in the} In air: in the P : In air: in the}, mine or col- | mine or col- ia in| In a hole of meloae Year, Month,|In air: in the);.ry near thelliery near the a subterra- | rockt 3 feet | yockt 3 feet and Day. | shade 4 feet | p2:¢ of th b fthe |2ean spring: |geep, Depth above the Bele: ase ofthe | if constantf. |ooe: cuceshe, (deep: Depth ground. war Faye ma a Depth 4 nae, | from surfice. ( ).{( ),|° 1 : January. Averages. * The half-tide level is supposed to be the best standard of sea level: the elevation of the surface may be found by levelling, trigonometry, the barometer, or by com- parison with navigations orrailways. The method of determination should be stated. + The quality of water should be stated, as salt, chalybeate, ordinary. + State whether the rock be argillaceous, calcareous, or arenaceous. If experiments be made in rock dykes or mineral veins, another thermometer should be placed at the same depth in the neighbouring rock. oe an ri ‘2 St ES | strange “heh RETOUR ve erwannet 13 12 Fas : te etait Pas, fibaos oil, eo papi tees sigdd hoa iil ised oyuid etigog: ae cheat cys. Fey 1 oldat anette m Re pers fayts gidinaog ¢ es taveliin 46 sinh | aa iLs_oy, Le re trai ae 908. i, @lsstort,-o8 yt wrreto atts olclguys a SADE ate re ay toes, EONS aS a ‘oft baba aw vind i & Hh vir gees AGEs is itp act oh panei vies “4 ara, eh de 730 a Wikataoaes > "EA NOND Mee ST . Egat sine inigerianiott 3 ni % oni Re bi: cali aK oT we va pa oi i. S See. ‘os ‘ , ue | Bul . ; un ne oe any 7th panera) eat 2 PRE oy ™ mY : bis eu Pim i ero rat aah =t ied a > aaa . 1 o A + ° PixAT A a * : u Kk sagrratt RE HI GET ad. yp od abhi bi ah Sirf r (oh) Halt ed eel wat 9 Jingles So thse gsi wotlat 4a ad Trews Ly —~F Om) } = «+ (B+) #;, ¥,...#,, denoting the m roots of the proposed equation ; or, more concisely, thus, Y=y" a Aly”! oi Bl y™-? + Cly™-* ae D'y"—4 (4,) Ry"? &e.'= 0, the coefficients A’, B', C', &c., being connected with the values F (#1), f (#2), &c., by the relations, —Al =f (2) + f (%) + &e. + f(@m); + B=f (x) f (%) + fe) (43) +f (x2) f (#3) + &e. +f (Gm —1) F (%m)s —C=f(x,)f (xo) f (3) + &e. And it has been found possible, in several known instances, to assign such a form to the function f (2) or y, that the new or transformed equation, Y = 0, shall be less complex or easier to resolve, than the proposed or original equation X = 0. For ex- ample, it has long been known that by assuming yf a2 % 4 «, abhi ge Bae Fanon 3) (1.) (5.) 296 SIXTH REPORT—1836. one term may be taken away from the general equation (1); that general equation being changed into another of the form Y=y"+ By + cuss a << AM 0 a lee in which there occurs no term proportional to y”~1, the condi- tion ANS 0) ...pe rar. oH esasiB.) being satisfied; and Tschirnhausen discovered that by assuming ge P Chee et se i ae OR) and by determining Pand @ so as to satisfy two equations which can be assigned, and which are respectively of the first and second degrees, it is possible to fulfil the condition BOS ey na tage ie Sa ee along with the condition Alps Of atone cle) and therefore to take away two terms at once from the general equation of the m degree; or, in other words, to change that equation (1) to the form Y =y” pi ome re Tkdioas! fe &e. es 0, F t (11.) 1 in which there occurs no term proportional either to y” or to m— 2 y” . But if we attempted to take away three terms at once, from the general equation (1), or to reduce it to the form Rss” +-Dih yt s* El yh — 5 + he. = 0s — 12.) m—1 m—2 2Y > (in which there occurs no term proportional to y or y™— °,) by assuming, according to the same analogy, y= P+ Qa RGF ey! 2.99 eh). VATS) and then determining the three coefficients P, Q, R, so as to satisfy the three conditions ANE 0, i.'4 +q 685) Y = 0,9 .~ (4 .{10,) and Os 0, oldiseo. hewol maod-aad SEA we should be conducted, by the law (5) of the composition of the coefficients A’, B’, C’, to a system of three equations, of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degrees, between the three coefficients P,Q,R; and consequently, by elimination, in general, to a final equation of the 6th degree, which the known methods are unable to re- solve. Still less could we take away, in the present state of = METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 297 algebra, four terms at once from the general equation of the m* degree, or reduce it to the form Y=y" + Wy? 4 &e.=0, 0 2 15.) by assuming an expression with four coefficients, y=P+ Q@r+R2*+ S822 4+ 24; . 2 . (16.) because the four conditions, Ah=0, . .»:(8.) Blemoys 31 -b54(103) C=0, .. (14) oo oad Pea ek Oa ed (17.) would be, with respect to these four coefficients, P, Q, R, S, of the Ist, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th degrees, and therefore would in ge- neral conduct by elimination to an equation of the 24th degree. In like manner, if we attempted to take away the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th terms (instead of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th) from the general equation of the m™ degree, or to reduce it to the form and y™ + Cy"-$ 4 By" 4 &e.=0, . . . (18.) so as to satisfy the three conditions (8), (10) and (17), t=O) B= 6, SDP=.0; by assuming y=P+Qer4 Rr? 425, . . (13.) we should be conducted to a final equation of the 8th degree ; and if we attempted to satisfy these three other conditions Abie Ogh 311 he1(Bi) Oe, F927 (ray) and PRA ye eg ot) fii sigs OF, bap.) (in which # is any known or assumed number,) so as to trans- form the general equation (1) to the following, Yoy"+ By”? + aB?y”-* 4B y"—? + &c. =0, (20.) by the same assumption (13), we should be conducted by elimi- nation to an equation of condition of the 12th degree. It might, therefore, have been naturally supposed that each of these four transformations, (12), (15), (18), (20), of the equation of the m* degree, was in general.impossible to be effected in the present state of algebra. Yet Mr. Jerrard has succeeded in effecting them all, by suitable assumptions of the function y or f (2), with- 298 SIXTH REPORT—1836. out being obliged to resolve any equation higher than the fourth degree, and has even effected the transformation (12) without employing biquadratic equations. His method may be described as consisting in rendering the problem indeterminate, by as- suming an expression for y with a number of disposable coeffi- cients greater than the number of conditions to be satisfied; and in employing this indeterminateness to decompose certain of the conditions into others, for the purpose of preventing that eleva- tion of degree which would otherwise result from the elimina- tions. This method is valid, in general, when the proposed equa- tion is itself of a sufficiently elevated degree ; but I have found that when the exponent m of that degree is below a certain minor limit, which is different for different transformations, (be- ing = 5 for the first, = 10 for the second, = 5 for the third, and = 7 for the fourth of those already designated as the trans- formations (12), (15), (18) and (20),) the processes proposed by Mr. Jerrard conduct in general to an expression for the new variable y which is a multiple of the proposed evanescent poly- nome X of the m™ degree in x; and that on this account these processes, although valid as general transformations of the equation of the m™ degree, become in general zl/usory when they are applied to resolve equations of the fourth and fifth degrees, by reducing them to the binomial form, or by reducing the equation of the fifth degree to the known solvible form of De Moivre. An analogous process, suggested by Mr. Jerrard, for reducing the general equation of the sixth to that of the fifth — degree, and a more general method of the same kind for re- sélving equations of higher degrees, appear to me to be in ge- neral, for a similar reason, illusory. Admiring the great inge- nuity and talent exhibited in Mr. Jerrard’s researches, I come to this conclusion with regret, but believe that the following discussion will be thought to establish it sufficiently. {2.] To begin with the transformation (12), or the taking away of the second, third and fourth terms at once from the general equation of the m degree, Mr. Jerrard effects this transforma- tion by assuming generally an expression with seven terms, yof (w) =A a + al ae Al gl” OM! a! eM ol” Mg MEV oY (81) the seven unequal exponents A! A" Al"! uw!" wl" wIY being chosen at pleasure out of the indefinite line of integers CFT BS AP sien soo BE Sew aD and the seven coefficients A’ A” A!’ M! M" M'” M!Y, or rather their six ratios METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 299 AN’ AN’ WwW’ M” M” A “Mt Sam we ae wm a 8) being determined so as to satisfy the three conditions A’=0, . + (8) Bish, o> ees C1 =:0,4 sae (14s) without resolving any equation higher than the third degree, by a process which may be presented as follows. In virtue of the assumption (21) and of the law (5) of the composition of the coefficients A’, B’, C’, it is easy to perceive that those three coefficients are rational and integral and homoge- neous functions of the seven quantities N AYA” WM” M” MY, of the dimensions one, two, and three respectively ; and there- fore that A’ and B’ may be developed or decomposed into parts as follows : a. Sie ies Oe (24.) : B = Boo + Bua + Boe. e . . . (25.) the symbol A’,; or BY, ; denoting here a rational and integral function of A’, A”, A’, M’, M”, M”, M!¥, which is homogeneous of the degree A with respect to A’, A”, A”, and of the degree 2 with respect to M’, M”, M”, M!V. If then we first determine the two ratios of A’, A”, A”, so as to satisfy the two conditions A resee es ee STE bss De (26.) Bee Ne staid Toate tilted (27.) and afterwards determine the three ratios of M’, M”, M”, MY, so as to satisfy the three other conilitions 5 Sle ALC MS TIT (28.) Bian ee gilt yhatiant ne A GA eID (29.) Tiga thincpa ties: faxes 30 (OD we shall have decomposed the two conditions (8) and (10), namely, A’ = 0, B=, into five others, and shall have satisfied these five by means of the five first ratios of the set (23), namely N A” MW’ M” M” wo? MEN? Me? MT? wii without having yet determined the remaining ratio of that set, namely 300 SIXTH REPORT—1836. A” Miv SP . . . . . . which remaining ratio can then in general be chosen so as to satisfy the remaining condition Oie=.0, without our being obliged, in any part of the process, to resolve any equation higher than the third degree. And such, in sub- stance, is Mr. Jerrard’s general process for taking away the second, third, and fourth terms at once from the equation of the m‘ degree, although he has expressed it in his published Re- searches by means of a new and elegant notation of symmetric functions, which it has not seemed necessary here to introduce, because the argument itself can be sufficiently understood with- out it. [3.] On considering this process with attention, we perceive that it consists essentially of two principal parts, the one con- ducting to an expression of the form y=f(e) =A" 9(e) + M%X(~), - . . 3.) which satisfies the two conditions A= 05% By = 0, the functions $(«) and x («) being determined, namely, . (32.) , u“ A , Nu aw (2) = ® tam s Dp tit gh ae wi oh hae) and MW’ , M” ” M” m Iv x (@) = yp 2 + pe + ppv 2 + gee 2) (35s) but the multipliers A” and M'Y being arbitrary, and the other part of the process determining afterwards the ratio of those two multipliers so as to satisfy the remaining condition CH And hence it is easy to see that if we would exclude those use- less cases in which the ultimate expression for the new variable y, or for the function f(x), is a multiple of the proposed eva- nescent polynome X of the m‘ degree in x, we must, in general, exclude the cases in which the two functions $ (a) and x (2), determined in the first part of the process, are connected by a relation of the form Wray aX, ...2, 3) 2) 2 Se) a being any coustant multiplier, and A X any multiple of X. METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLYING EQUATIONS. 301 For in all such cases the expression (33), obtained by the first part of the process, becomes y =f (x) = (A” + aM™) 9 (2) + AMIVX;. . (37.) and since this gives, by the nature of the roots 2, .. 2,,, Sf (@)=(A” +a M")$ (a), of (@m) = (AY + @ MY) 6 (47m), (38-) we find, by the law (5) of the composition of the coefficients of the transformed equation in y, Ol ye (AM te Me Ba a abt ied ot (Ds) the multiplier ¢ being known, namely, c= — $(2,) > (#2) $ (#3) — $ (@,) > (2) > (ws) — &e. 40.) and being in general different from 0, beeause the three first of the seven terms of the expression (21) for y can only accident- ally suffice to resolve the original problem ; so that when we come, in the second part of the process, to satisfy the condition C’ = 0, we shall, in general, be obliged to assume (A” +a M!v)3 = 0, » : | : = ° (41.) that is, AY” a a M!V == Ox ° . ° . ° ° (42.) and consequently the expression (37) for y reduces itself ulti- mately to the form which we wished to exclude, since it becomes Sy it tig thao Dh Fi Reciprocally, it is clear that the second part of the process, or the determination of the ratio of A” to M!Y in the expression (33), cannot conduct to this useless form for y unless the two functions $ (x) and x («) are connected by arelation of the kind (36) ; because, when we equate the expression (33) to any multi- ple of X, we establish thereby a relation of that kind between those two functions. We must therefore endeavour to ayoid those cases, and we need avoid those only, which conduct to this relation (36), and we may do so in the following manner. [4.] Whatever positive integer the exponent » may be, the power x” may always be identically equated to an expression of this form, * 5,0 J Sh oe! a 3”) ye! + L” xX, (44.) m—1 so, 5, ss”, wey cai ¥ being certain functions of the expo- nent v, and of the coefficients A, B, C, ... of the proposed po- 302 : SIXTH REPORT—1836. lynome X, while L is a rational and integral function of , which is = 0 if v be less than the exponent m of the degree of that proposed polynome X, but otherwise is of the degree y—m. In fact, if we divide the power 2” by the polynome X, according to the usual rules of the integral division of polynomes, so as to obtain an integral quotient and an integral remainder, the integral quotient may be denoted by L, and the integral remainder may be denoted by m—1 so” + 3, wt s.” ge Se RTE gf x 5 and thus the identity (44) may be established. It may be no- ticed that the m coefficients so”, s, ... 8°) _, may be consi- m—t1 dered as symmetric functions of the m roots 21, 2% +++ %m of the proposed equation X = 0, which may be determined by the m relations, = so” + 3 at s.” i a 2 gens gf BON } y (v) (») (vy) 9 (») m—1 Uo = So + 8,2 Hg + SQ Fg eee #S zx 2 0 Low ta, haere te ba sah (45.) 2 = so? + 5x + 5) BP me a ar These symmetric functions of the roots possess many other important properties, but it is unnecessary here to develop them. Adopting the notation (44), we may put, for abridgement, Wag?) 42 5529 4 0” 56%) = 1 ‘aldadill (46.) 4M ie aE a M’ so). M” 59M!) +.M” 59" + MEY 5g") = pg oie eee Sadat: Hostile ot 3 yvte youl natin A’ L) - As LO”) + ALO) = A, 4 3 7 } (48.) MW LY’) + M” L@) + mM” Le”) 4+. MIV L@ IV) =M, (49.) METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 303 A+M=L air slesbel 9 Steel erties oa) and then the two parts, of which the expression for y is com- posed, will take the forms A’ a ae A” Past An A” geet epee eh BL) tenet pe" 1+ aX, Mia! + Mo 4M” a 4 MIVA oy’, ‘} (52.) ’ m—1 oe NTF? +.+-+7P,, 1% + MX, and the expression itself will become y¥=f(e)=Pot+ Pot (Pit Pi) # 53.) dining ABs hd roDe? vacdetallol fig, Loos: At the same time we see that the case to be avoided, for the reason lately assigned, is the case of proportionality of Pos Ps -+ +P, _p 0 Po Pis+++Pm_y It is therefore convenient to introduce these new abbreviations, fF P m—1 Pm—1 S Phos. ystiteniues 04) bodies and Po>P Po = oo Pi —P Pi=Ve PB m—9—P Pm—o=Um—9i (55-) for thus we obtain the expressions Po= GV tPPrPi=N + PPis + P'n_9 56.) = FoF PP ion PvP Pep and y =f (x) = (1+ P) (Pot Pit + Py _y B”') m—2 es (57.) + Jot UX toe t+9,, 9 & + LX; and we have only to take care that the m—41 quantities, Yoo Vio *** Gm—o Shall not all vanish. Indeed, it is tacitly sup- posed in (54) that p,,_, does not vanish; but it must be ob- served that Mr. Jerrard’s method itself essentially supposes that ‘ 4 me, 4 the function A’ 2% + A” a +A” x” is not any multiple of the evanescent polynome X, and therefore that at least some one of the m quantities 9, p,, --- p,, 1 1s different from 0; now the spirit of the definitional assumptions here made, and of 804 ‘SIXTH REPORT—1836. the reasonings which are to be founded upon them, requires only that some one such non-evanescent quantity p, out of this set Po» Pir +** Pm—, Should be made the denominator of a fraction Pp; . like (54), — = p, and that thus some one term qg, x should be P; : taken away out of the difference of the two polynomes p')+ p', # +... and p(p,x + p,x + ...); and it is so easy to make this adaptation, whenever the occasion may arise, that I shall retain in the present discussion, the asssumptions (54) (55), instead of writing D; for Pat The expression (57) for f(a), combined with the law (5) of the composition of the coefficients A’ and B’, shows that these two coefficients of the transformed equation in y may be ex- pressed as follows, ACE, UEP RTT Qc RO ape B= (1 + p)? B49 + (1 + p) BY, + Bes + (59+) A”, and B”, , being each a rational aud integral function of the and 2m — 1 quantities py, Py, ++» P,, 4» Yoo Vis *** Ym_—o» Which is independent of the quantity p and of the form of the function L, and is homogeneous of the dimension A with respect to Poo Pir +++ Pm—y and of the dimension 7, with respect to Jor Vis *** GY, 9: Comparing these expressions (58) and (59) with the analogous expressions (24) and (25), (with which they would of necessity identically coincide, if we were to return from the present to the former symbols, by substituting, for Ps Pos Prs***Pm— 19°**909 19 °°" Ym —o their values as functions of A’, AY A”, M’, M”, M”, M!Y, deduced from the equations of definition (54) (55) and (46) (47),) we find these identical equa- tions : A’o = A%,03 Mor = PA Lo + AXo1s + + (60-) and Bo = BY, 05 By = 2p BY, + BY Bio =p B30 +p BY 1a Bo 3 observing that whatever may be the dimension of any part of A’ or B’, with respect to the m new quantities p, 995 915 + Ym—» the same is the dimension of that part, with respect to the four old quantities M’, M", M", M'V. The system of the five conditions (26) (27) (28) (29) (30) may therefore be transformed to the following system, . (61.) METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 305 M6 = 0, BY 5.0 =0, - 2 ee we. (62.) APs = 0, Bs =: 0, 1b SPS —— Os : ; (63.) and may in general be treated as follows. The two conditions (62), combined with the m equations of definition (46), will in gene- ral determine the m+ 2 ratios of the m+3 quantities pp, p,, + Pm—p &; A”, A”; and then the three conditions (63), com- bined with the m equations of definition (47), and with the m other equations (56), will in general determine the 2 m + 3 ra- tios of the 2m + 4 quantities qo, 9), +» Y,,_ 99 PPm_— p> Dor Pr» pp M’, M’, M”, M™; after which, the ratio of A” to M’ is to be determined, as before, so as to satisfy the remain- ning condition C’ = 0. But because the last-mentioned system, of 2m +3 homogeneous equations, (63) (56) (47), between 2m + 4 quantities, involves, as a part of itself, the system (63) of three homogeneous equations (rational and integral) between m — i quantities, Yo, 915 +++ Jno» we see that it will in general conduct to the result which we wished to exclude, namely, the simultaneous vanishing of all those quantities, Jo= 9, G4 = 0,06 Gg, 9 =0,. - « - (64) unless their number m—1 be greater than 3, that is, unless the degree m of the proposed equation (1) he at least equal to the minor limit FivE. It results, then, from this discussion, that the transformation hy which Mr. Jerrard has succeeded in taking away three terms at once from the general equation of the m™ degree, is not in general applicable when that degree is lower than the 5th ; in such a manner that it is in general inade- quate to reduce the biquadratic equation a+ Ag+ B2?4+C2+D=0, . . . (65.) to the binomial form ' a er roe 88. ¢ 27997 DU RGD Oa except by the useless assumption y=L (2*+A2e+ Ba? +Ca2?+D),. . (67.) which gives Sit AP ar a Se eam ( However, the foregoing discussion may be considered as con- Jirming the adequacy of the method to reduce the general equa- tion of the 5th degree, x +Ar*+Be+Ca*+Dr+E=0, (69.) to the trinomial form VOL. V.-—1836. x 306 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Pt DY! y B08 erg eG) and to effect the analogous transformation (12) for equations of all higher degrees: an unexpected and remarkable result, which is one of Mr. Jerrard’s principal discoveries. [5.] Analogous remarks apply to the process proposed by the same mathematician for taking away the second, third and fifth terms at once from the general equation (1), so as to reduce that equation to the form (18). This process agrees with the fore- going in the whole of its first part, that is, in the assumption of the form (21) for f(x), and in the determination of the five ratios (31) so as to satisfy the two conditions A’ = 0, B’ = 0, by sa- tisfying the five others (26) (27) (28) (29) (30), into which those two may be decomposed ; and the difference is only in the se- cond part of the process, that is, in determining the remaining ratio (32) so as to satisfy the condition D’ = 0, instead of the condition C’ = 0, by resolving a biquadratic instead of a cubic equation. The discussion which has been given of the former process of transformation adapts itself therefore, with scarcely any change, to the latter process also, and shows that this pro- cess can only be applied with success, in general, to equations of the fifth and higher degrees. It is, however, a remarkable result that it can be applied generally to such equations, and especially that the general equation of the fifth degree may be brought by it to the following trinomial form, FO ee a ne ne os oem) as it was reduced, by the former process, to the form yp+Dy+h=0. . . (70.) Mr. Jerrard, to whom the discovery of these transformations is due, has remarked that by changing y to = we get two other trinomial forms to which the general equation of the fifth de- gree may be reduced; so that, in any future researches respect- ing the solution of such equations, it will be permitted to set out with any one of these four trinomial forms, P+Aet+EK= 0, P?+Be+H=0 As es Fe ee 2+C22+ K=0, 2+De+4+H=0, in which the intermediate coefficient A or Bor C or D may evi- dently be made equal to unity, or to any other assumed number different from zero. We may, for example, consider the diffi- culty of resolving the general equation of the fifth degree as re- METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 307 duced by Mr. Jerrard’s researches to the difficulty of resolving an equation of the form Pepe BS Oey yee, (73.) or of this other form, . + tee gn Sucks al lal a laa On 2 29) It is, however, important to remark that the coefficients of these new or transformed equations will often be imaginary, even when the coefficients of the original equation of the form (69) are real. [6.] In order to accomplish the transformation (20), (to the consideration of which we shall next proceed,) Mr. Jerrard as- sumes, in general, an expression with ¢welve terms, y =f (x) Al Prat ae AY re + A” Pais } + Ma 4 Mo EM" a + MY (75.) + Na’ +N’ 2" +N” p+ NW e" 4 NV a5 the twelve unequal exponents, Nv, rr”; Ps ey we", pry, ¥iv vs Bit oee Be (76.) being chosen at pleasure out of the indefinite line of integers (22); and the twelve coefficients, A’, 1g Nn”, M’, M”, M”, M’Y, N’, N”, N”, as NY, (77.) or rather their eleven ratios, which may be arranged and grouped as follows, AN’ be. go aA” 3 A” eptetiidar shai tate Yuet ¥essedpeyere) scar ots (78.) M’ M” M” M!v? Mv 3 Miv? . e . . ° e . ° (79.) WN’ N’” N” NIV sR NT? NY? (80.) Sens Cat aa mams MOS SL Hk ual A (BB) being then determined so as to satisfy the system of the three conditions vs ge Salen 50 SIS nee EP) D’—«B?=0, (19.) 55. 308 SIXTH REPORT—1836. by satisfying another system, composed of eleven equations, which are obtained by decomposing the condition (8) into three, and the condition (14) into seven new equations, as follows. By the law (5) of the formation of the four coefficients A’, B’, C’, D’, and by the assumed expression (75), those four coefficients are rational and integral and homogeneous functions, of the first, second, third, and fourth degrees, of the twelve coefficients (77) ; and therefore, when these latter coefficients are distributed into three groups, one group containing A’, A", A'', another group containing M', M", M", M!V, and the third group containing N’, N’, N'", NY, NY, the coefficient or function A’ may be de- composed into three parts, A’ = A’,,0,0 + A',1,0 =f A’o.o12 . . . . (83.) and the coefficient or function C’ may be decomposed in like manner into ten parts, C= C's.0,0 + C'o 1,0 sh C'o01 + Choo t Chia t+ Choe - «+ «+ (84) + C'o.3,0 om C'o.01 ag Clo1,2 7 i Chom in which each of the symbols of the forms A! ik and C’ hei, de- notes a rational and integral function of the twelve quantities (77); which function (AY, ,, or C, , ,) is also homogeneous of the dimension / with respect to the quantities A’, A", A", of the dimension 7 with respect to the quantities M', M", M', M?¥, and of the dimension # with respect to the quantities N’, N”, N", NIV, NY. Accordingly Mr. Jerrard decomposes the condi- tions A’ = 0 and C’ = 0 into ten others, which may be thus ar- ranged : A'\,0,0 = 0, Oe ='0; SONU EE. wea AE Ree) Aloo = 0,7C's 10. == 0,90 6 = Oe PT 7 eee) A’o,0,1 = 0, C'o.0,1 = 0, Ci = 0, C' 10,2 =0;.. (87.) aoa oan edect Cian 05... een GeeCeeE) ~ nine of the thirteen parts of the expressions (83) and (84) being made to vanish separately, and the sum of the other four parts being also made to vanish. He then determines the two ratios (78), so as to satisfy the two conditions (85); the three ratios (79), so as to satisfy the three conditions (86) ; the four ratios (80), so as to satisfy the four conditions (87); and the ratio (81), so as to satisfy the condition (88); all which determina- tions can in general be successively effected, without its being METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 309 necessary to resolve any equation higher than the third degree. The first part of the process is now completed, that is, the two conditions (8) and (14), vol — ai © Mee Oi Ue are now both satisfied by an expression of the form y =f (2) =A" O (2) + NY y(z), .*. . . (89.) which is analogous to (33), and in which the functions ¢ (z) and x (x) are known, but the multipliers A’ and NY are arbi- trary; and the second and only remaining part of the process consists in determining the remaining ratio (82), of A" to NY, by resolving an equation of the fourth degree, so as to satisfy the remaining condition, D'—aB?=0. . . (19.) [7.] Such, then, (the notation excepted,) is Mr. Jerrard’s ge- neral process for reducing the equation of the m degree, Me” 4 Ag ee Batt Os” FE Dat * 4 Ba + &e.=0, . . (1.) to the form Ysy"+ By"? + aBey”—4 4+ Wy") + &e. = 0, (20.) without resolving any auxiliary equation of a higher degree than the fourth. But, on considering this remarkable process with attention, we perceive that if we would avoid its becoming illu- sory, by conducting to an expression for y which is a multiple of the proposed polynome X, we must, in general, (for reasons analogous to those already explained in discussing the transfor- mation (12),) exclude all those cases in which the functions $ (a) and x(x), in the expression (89), are connected by a re- lation of the form x (v7) =ad(~)+aAX; . . (36.) because, in all the cases in which such a relation exists, the first part of the process conducts to an expression of the form y = (Al + a@NY)o(z) +ANYX, . . « . (90.) and then the second part of the same process gives in general (ACE aNY)* =O, UN Re IRE OTS) that is AON SSO OER OY Aik) Gay and ultimately GFE HINER Oops 1 ey eR BBE) 310 SIXTH REPORT—1836. On the other hand, the second part of the process cannot conduct to this useless form for y, unless the first part of the process has led to functions, ¢ (x), x (w), connected by a rela- tion of the form (36.). This consideration suggests the intro- duction of the following new system of equations of definition. N! 5” 4+ Nl 5”) + Nl 5) + NIV 5 + NV 5) = plo, . . . . . . . . (94.) () (%) (/”) (¥¥) W N! s) + NY 5") + NI 5) ENT SO) + NV ath =p" > ye neem +N! Looe Nl” Le”) us NVM) 4 NY 10") — N, (95.) | ital Silat ° . . . > . veme (96.) ae. ae m—2 pl — pp = ¢! p!, — pp = q! vee pl! + —p'p_ 0 0 0) 1 12 m—~—2 n—2 97.) to be combined with the definitions (46), (47), (48), (49), (54), (55), and with the following, which may now be conveniently used instead of the definition (50), AebeMlate Ne De.tids 9 sidodom Sys) rei ts} In this notation we shall have, as before, Po=%o+ PPor Pr =H + PP P'n—2 = mire (56.) +P Pm—2> Pm—1 = P Pn—i> and shall also have the analogous expressions Plo = Cot P'Por P= 91 + P Piss P'n=2 = sel (99.) + P'Pm—2> P'm—1 = P' Pm—13 the expression (75) for y will become y=f (2) =Pot Pot Pot (A+ ph + whi) e+ hp (100.) + (Pn + pln—1 + P"m—1) @"—) + LX, that is, by (56) and (99), y= (est ptp') (pot pr + +Pm—1% +qotqot (tg) + + +(Ym—2t'm—2) a?" -(101:) +LX: m—1) eee pals hes a METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 311 and the excluded case, or case of failure, will now be the case when the sums.p'y + pl", py) + pls oe Dini Pina are proportional to py, Pi, +» Pm— i> that is, when Gp +'o 30> Gat G1. One00 Fine t Vine o'= Oe 9.0.2, (102) Indeed, it is here tacitly supposed that p,,_, does not varish ; but Mr. Jerrard’s method itself supposes tacitly that at least some one, such as p,, of the m quantities po, «+» Py» 15 18 dif- ferent from 0, and it is easy, upon occasion, to substitute any such non-evanescent quantity p; for p,,_,;, and then to make the few other connected changes which the spirit of this discus- sion requires. The expression (101) for f(x), combined with the law (5) of the composition of the coefficients A! and C’, gives, for those coefficients, expressions of the forms, Al=(1+ pt p') Aloo + Aloio + A” oor. + + ++ (103-) and CH(L+ptp'PC'soo+(1 +p +p!) (C"o10+Clo0,1) +(1 +p + p') (Clo + Cla + Clh,02) (104.) oe C"o.30 a C"o91 4 C"o1,2 i C".0,39 A",,;,, and C", ; , being rational and integral functions of the 3m — 2 quantities 9, P15 +++ Pm—19 Yoo W129 *** Im—a Vo> V19 ** q'»—9) Which functions are independent of p, p', and L, and are homogeneous of the dimension # with respect to po, --» DP _1> of the dimension z with respect to go, +». 7,9, and of the di- mension & with respect to gq’), «-- g',, 93; they are also such that the sums A" 1,0 + A" oo,1 . ° . . e e (105.) C"o1,0 = Cl 5.0.1 ® pre Tot aay ° ( 106 .) are homogeneous functions, of the 1st dimension, of the m — 1 sums Go + 'o) «© Gm—a + G'm_93 While the sum C" 2,0 + Cy + C".0,2 ° * ° ° ° (107.) is a homogeneous function, of the 2nd dimension, and the sum C"o3,0 + CMe: + Clore + Cloos + + + (108.) is « homogeneous function, of the 3rd dimension, of the same m — 1 quantities. These new expressions, (103) and (104), for and 312 SIXTH REPORT—1836. the coefficients A’ and C’, must identically coincide with the former expressions (83) and (84), when we return from the pre- sent to the former notation, by changing p, p', po, Py5 «+ Pm—v %> V19 *** Im—29 Joo Wis *** Fim—g, to their values as functions of A’, Al, Al, M!, M!!, M!", M2Y, NI, N"", Nl, NIV, NV; and hence it is easy to deduce the following identical equations : A‘0,0 = A"),0,05 A’on,0 = P Aloo + ANo1,03 neil, hiatus Sees eee A‘ = P' A"so0 + Avo, and C's.0.0 ie C"3.403 C 21,0 = 3p C"s,.0,0 + C", 1,03 C 2,0,1 = 3p! C"5.0,0 rh C001 5 C 1,20 = 3p? C"s59 + 2p Choi 9 + C1005 Chin = 6 pp! C's00 + 2p! Clai9 + 2p CMs: + Crs Choo = 3p? O"50,0 + 2 pl Cle01 + Ch,0,95 Clo3,0 + Cloe1 + Core + Coos = (p + P)? C"s,0,0 + (p + p')? (Clo1,0 + C"2,0,1) + (p + p!) (C20 + Cara + C102) + O"3,0 + CMoe1 + CXor,e + CNoo,s- The system of the ten conditions (85), (86), (87), (88), may therefore be transformed to the following : Bi 2210 20 seis Os 2 soc, cynel Sdaqaos | cthesaie kee A"o1,0 a CC", 0 = 0, C" 2.0 = Os) aicte ae SP aes A"o.0,1 = 0, C"o01 = 0, C1 = 0, C02 =0; .. (113.) C"o,3,0 WF C"o9,1 + Clore + Clnns=95 + - 2s - (114.) and may in general be treated as follows. The two conditions (111) may first be combined with the m equations of definition (46), and employed to determine the m + 2 ratios of the m + 3 quantities 7, ++ P,,~1, A’, A", A"; and therefore to give a re- sult of the form Al a 4 A" a” + al ee A" @ (x)g Or 3) 15.) the function $(x) being known. The three conditions (112), combined with the 2m equations (47) and (56), may then be 1 1 1 1 ! (110.) METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. $13 used to determine the 2 m + 3 ratios of the 2m + 4 quantities o> *** Im—23 P Pm—1> P'o> ++ P'm—1> M', M", M", M1V, and consequently to give M! ao! + Ml a” 4 MM ot” 4 MTV ot” = MIVY (x), (116.) (w) denoting a known function. The four conditions (113) may next be combined with the 2 m equations (94) and (99), so as to determine the 2m + 4 ratios of the 2m +5 quantities dor ++ Y'm—29 P! Pm—1> Blo» ++ Dlm—15 N', N", N", NIV, NV; and thus we shall have Nac” + Nl?” 4 Ng” 4 NW ENV” = NV (r), (L173) the function » (x) also being known; so that, at this stage, the expression (75) for y will be reduced to the form y =f (#2) =A"9 (2) +MY p(x) + N¥a(a), .. (118.) the three functions > (2), (x), w(x) being known, but the three coefficients Al”, MV, NY, being arbitrary. The condition (114) will next determine the ratio of any one of the quantities Jo> *** Im—2 to any one of the quantities q'),... g', 9, and therefore also the connected ratio of M!” to NY, and conse- quently will give MI} (2) + NY¥o(e)=NVx (2), 2. . (119, x (x) being another known function; and thus we shall have accomplished, in a way apparently but not essentially different from that employed in the foregoing article, the first part of Mr. Jerrard’s process, namely, the discovery of an expression for Ys; of the form y =f (#) = A" 9 (2) + NV x (2), ... (89.) which satisfies the two conditions AD 05°Ch==.0, the functions $ (2) and x (w) being determined and known, but the multipliers A" and NY being arbitrary: after which it will only remain to perform the second part of the process, namely, the determination of the ratio of A!” to NY, so as to satisfy the remaining condition D'— «2B? =0, by resolving a biquadratic equation. _{8.] The advantage of this new way of presenting the first part. of Mr. Jerrard’s process is that it enables us to perceive, that if we would avoid the case of failure above mentioned, we must in general exclude those cases in which the ratics 314 SIXTH REPORT—1836. qo qi Gm—s PT, me oY ot ged Layee ene a Pina Fa ( " ) determined, as above explained, through the medium of the conditions (113), coincide with the ratios %o Ma es age Sicha esc. # 121. a Im—2. Gee on ( ) determined, at an earlier stage, through the medium of the con- ditions (112). In fact, when the ratios (120) coincide with the ratios (121), they necessarily coincide with the following ratios also, Jo+ qo At . dm—3 ne, pan ; 29, Ym 2 a9 q'm—2” IGm—2 + @ ged: U res) + ii tas 5 a ) and unless the ratios, thus determined, of the m—1 sums Go + Qo0 *** Im—2 + Y'm—2s are accidentally such as to satisfy the condition (114), which had not been employed in determi- ning them, then that condition, which is a rational and integral and homogeneous equation of the third degree between those quantities, will oblige them all to vanish, and therefore will con- duct to the case of failure (102). Reciprocally, in that case of failure, the ratios (120) coincide with the ratios (121), because we have then Go = — Ms G1 = — Ns 0 Tne = A Imo" + + (123.) The case to be excluded, in general, is therefore that in which the m —1 quantities qo, «-. g',_¢ are proportional to the m —3 quantities gp, +.» J,—93; and this consideration suggests the in- troduction of the following new symbols or definitions, U = RD St Pe 124. Im—2 s ( ) Po—F Yo=%09 Ti —F H="13 ++ Vm—3s —1 Im—8="m—s3_ (125-) because, by introducing these, we shall only be obliged to guard against the simultaneous vanishing of the m — 2 quantities o> T19 *** Tm—gi that is, we shall have the following simplified statement of the general case of failure, FIO SSO Or Pi =) O25 WE) Adopting, therefore, the definitions (124) and (125), and con- sequently the expressions METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. J15 Jo=%Mt+ 9 T=MtINs q'm—s =Tmn—s + 7Im—3> 'm—2 =J Im—2; which give Jot o= (1+9) V+ DAMA LEDN AA Im—3 + %m—s = (149) mms + %m—s> Im—2+7'm—2 ¢ (128.) = (1+) Ym—2> we easily perceive that the three homogeneous functions G05) (106) (107), of these m— 1 sums. gp + Q's +++ Ym—2 + TU m—23 may be expressed in the following manner : A"o10 + ANoo, = (1 +9) AMo1,0 + rad be. f hee) C"o1,0 + C"o01 = (L+¢) CMai,0 + CMe015 + + (180.) CO" 20 tr Cha 7 ©" 0,2 = (1+ q)° CO" ,2,0 +(1 +49) CO" 7h OC" 0,23 } the symbol Al", ; , or C”, ; , denoting here a rational and inte- gral function of the 3m — 3 quantities po, ++» Py—1> Joo + Im—29 709 +++ Tm—3» Which is, like the function A", ; ,.0r CO"), 5 2, homogeneous of the dimension / with respect to 9, »»-p,,_, and of the dimension 7 with respect to qo, »++ Gm—9, but is homo- geneous of the dimension & with respect to 79, ... 7,,_3, and is independent of q'o, ».. q',,_9 and of p, p', g; whereas A", ; , or oh i, was homogeneous of the dimension / with respect to G'o> «+ G'm—2» and was independent of 79, -.. 7,3. The three identical equations (129) (130) (131) may be decomposed into the seven following, which are analogous to (60) (and (61): A" 51,0 = Al 0,1,0 3 42 0,0,1 = g A” 0,1,0 + Al 0,013° ° + (132.) C1 0= C103 CHoo1 = WOM oi0 + CM go13% + @ (183) ©") 2.0 = ON 203 Ci = 29 CM 00 + OM ia } (134 O02 = PON 20+ FO aay + O"4,023 * and, in virtue of these, the seven conditions (112) and (113) may be put under the forms, AM) .1,0 == ey, 1,0 = 9; C" 20 = OE ar ey and AM oon = 0, C"s 01 = 0, CM = 0, CV 02 =0. . (136.) I. ys Sia} . (131.) 316 SIXTH REPORT—1836. The three conditions of the group (135) differ only in their no- tation from the three conditions (112), and are to be used ex- actly like those former conditions, in order to determine the ratios of qo, +++ Jm—g, after the ratios of po, «+ p,,—, have been determined, through the help of the conditions (111); but, in deducing the conditions (136) from the conditions (113), a real simplification has been effected (and not merely a change of notation) by suppressing several terms, such as g Al"), ), which vanish in consequence of the conditions (112) or (135). And since we have thus been led to perceive the existence of a group, (136), of four homogeneous equations (rational and integral) be- tween the m — 2 quantities 79, 7, «.- 7,3, we see, at last, that we shall be conducted, in general, to the case of failure (126), in which all those quantities vanish, wnless their number m — 2 be greater than four; that is, unless the degree of the proposed equation in x be at least equal to the minor limit srveN. It results, then, from this analysis, that for equations of the sixth and lower degrees, Mr. Jerrard’s process for effecting the trans- formation (20), or for satisfying the three conditions (8) (14) and (19), A'=0, C’/=0, D'—«B”?=0, will, in general, become t//usory, by conducting to an useless expression, of the form (93), for the new variable y; so that it fails, for example, to reduce the general equation of the fifth degree, e+Azt+ Bai +C2?+Dr+E=0, .. (69.) to De Moivre’s solvible form, ye +B +i B®? y+ =0, 2. 8 © (137.) except, by an useless assumption, of the form y=L(@+Aat+ B+ C2*?+Der+E),. . (138) which gives, indeed, a very simple transformed equation, namely, POs: } a (cae but affords no assistance whatever towards resolving the pro- posed equation in 2. Indeed, for equations of the fifth degree, the foregoing discussion may be considerably simplitied, by ob- serving, that, in virtue of the eight conditions (112) (113) (114), the four homogeneous functions (105) (106) (107) (108), of the m — 1 sums go + 905 «++ Im—2 +Y'm—2> are all = 0, and there- fore also (in general) those sums themselves must vanish (which is the case of failure (102),) when their number m — 1 is not METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 317 greater than four, that is, when the proposed equation is not higher than the fifth degree. But the foregoing discussion (though the great generality of the question has caused it to be rather long) has the advantage of extending even to equations of the sixth degree, and of showing that even for such equations the method generally fails, in such a manner that it will not in general reduce the equation ®+Aae’+Bat+Ce+Dae?+Ex+F=0 = (140.) to the form y+ Byt+eB?y+hy+F=0, . . (141) except by the assumption y=L(e + Av? + Bart+ C2? + Da? +Ex+ F); (142.) which gives, indeed, a very simple result, namely, ple) sgh RETO ARADO 5 P28 but does not at all assist us to resolve the proposed equation (140.). However, this discussion may be regarded as confirming the adequacy of the method to transform the general equation of the seventh degree, a’ +Aa°+ Boe +Cat+De?+Eo?+ Fa+G=0, (144) to another of the form Y+By+aB?° e+ y+ Py+Q@=0, .. (145.) without assuming y = any multiple of the proposed evanescent polynome z’ + Az®+ &c.; and to effect the analogous trans- formation (20), for equations of all Aigher degrees ; a curious and unexpected discovery, for which algebra is indebted to Mr. Jerrard. [9.] The result obtained by the foregoing discussion may seem, so far as it respects equations of the siath degree, to be of very little importance; because the equation (141), to which it has been shown that the method fails to reduce the general equation (140), is not itself, in general, of any known solvible form, what- ever value may be chosen for the arbitrary multiplier «. But it must be observed that if the method had in fact been adequate to effect that general transformation of the equation of the sixth degree, without resolving any auxiliary equation of a higher de- gree than the fourth, then it would also have been adequate to reduce the same general equation (140) of the sixth degree to this other form, which is obviously and easily solvible, ¥+ Bt Dy? +P =O 6 ice 1(1463) by first assigning an expression of the form y= f(x) = A"o (w) + NY x (x), . . (89.) 318 SIXTH REPORT—1836. which should satisfy the two conditions Al =O 278.) ee eee. < Yt eee and by then determining the ratio of A!’ to NY, so as to satisfy this other condition, Ey =,0) 07 tanneoashl oye Meee which could be done without resolving any auxiliary equation of a higher degree than the fifth ; and this reduction, of the diffi- culty of the sixth to that of the fifth degree, would have been a very important result, of which it was interesting to examine the validity. The foregoing discussion, however, appears to me to prove that this transformation also is illusory ; for it shows that, because the degree of the proposed equation is less than the mi- nor limit 7, the functions ¢ (x) and x () in (89) are connected by a relation of the form (36) ; on which account the expression (89) becomes y = f(x) =(A" + aN’) > (2) + ANYX, .. (90.) and the condition SoeO we (Lae) gives, in general, (AP? slaNYE S08 2 +. SR ABD that is, Alt @ DM O30 ces. (922) so that finally the expression for y becomes UA Nek. 5 lange Coe that is, it takes in general the evidently useless form, y=L(aS + Av? + Batt C#+De°+Er+F). (142.) [10.] Mr. Jerrard has not actually stated, in his published Re- searches, the process by which he would effect in general the transformation (15), so as to take away four terms at once from the equation of the m degree, without resolving any auxiliary equation of a higher degree than the fourth; but he has suffi- ciently indicated this process, which appears to be such as the following. He would probably assume an expression with twenty-one terms for the new variable, yafla) sa ak 4 a" 4 ae Mat eM ol eM ool MEV ott 4 No” +N’ a" + NY 2” + NV o™ + NVYy" + NV 2 + Be + BY ak 4 Bt” ae” 4 BWV PY 4 BV oh 4 BVT gb 4 SVM By BVI yf", (149.) ————————— METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 319 and would develop or decompose the coefficients A’, B’, C', of the transformed equation in y, considered as rational and inte- gral and homogeneous functions of the twenty-one coefficients, A’, A”, A", i see HAT se) BY 150.) Mr, MM”, M”, MP, .. WOE ie Sa ee AGL SAL) ere ae Ce ee ree os, oes a, wy (152.) x, 5”, a =e BY, Bvt, A, ge; RSENS EE (153.) into the following parts : A! = A’ 1,0,0,0 3 A’o.1,0,0 a0 A'o,0,1,0 a= A’o,0,0,13 she, is (154.) Bl = Bi.000 + Bi100 + Bio2,0 + Bioo, + Booo0 + Bloi10 + Blo101 ~ + + (155.) + Boo20 + Boo,1 + B'o0,0,23 1—c ! ! ! C= C's 00,0 + Clo i.00 + C'o.0,1,0 + C'2,0,0,1 | ! t Ul Ee 1,2,0,0 C 1,1,1,0 + C 1,1,0,1 | ! ! t + Cio00 + Cora + C002 sh 25fbe) + Closo0 + C'o.21,0 + C'o.2,0,1 ' ! ' + C'o.1,2,0 + Cori + C'o1,0,2 ' ' ' z + Cloo3,0 + Clo001 + Coo1,2 + C'oo0,8 3 ! U ' + ; * ] each part A’, ;;,; or BY, ; ;,,0r C', 7,7 being itself a rational and integral function of the twenty-one quantities (150) (151) (152) (153), and being also homogeneous of the degree / with respect to the three quantities (150), of the degree z with re- spect to the four quantities (151), of the degree & with respect to the six quantities (152), and of the degree 7 with respect to the eight quantities (153). He would then determine the two ratios of the two first to the last of the three quantities (150) (that is, the ratios of A’ and A" to A") so as to satisfy the two conditions A’ 0,005 9) Bleooo= 03, - +» + (157-) the three ratios of the first three to the last of the four quanti- ties (151), so as to satisfy the three conditions A’,1,0,0 = 0, B's 1,00 =O, BasghevOs 2 6 as (158.) the ratio of the last of the quantities (150) to the last of the quantities (151), so as to satisfy the condition C'3,0,0,0 + Cloi0,0 + C’.2,0,0 + C'o.3,0,0 =0;. - « (159.) 320 SIXTH REPORT—1836. the five ratios of the five first to the last of the six quantities (152), so as to satisfy the five conditions A’o.0,1,0 =0, 7 Bi 0,0 a B’o1,1,0 = 0, | Boo,2,0 = 0, Phe Mia ee) C'x.0,1,0 t: Ch 11,0 ae C'o,9,1,0 = 0, C1020 + Cloreo = 03 J the seven ratios of the seven first to the last of the eight quan- tities (153), so as to satisfy the seven conditions A’o,o,0,1 = 9; | Bi 00,1 or Blo1,0,1 = 0, Boo1,1 = 0, Bo0,0,2 = 0, 4 . (161.) C'x00,1 + C1301 + C'o,20,1 = 9, | C1011 a Co1,1,1 = 0, C'10,0.2 + Coie = 0% and the ratio of the last of the quantities (152) to the last of the quantities (153), so as to satisfy the condition C'o.0,3,0 55 Coo, + C'o.0,1,9 + C’0.0,0,3 = 0 6 . ° . (162.) all which determinations could in general be successively ef- fected, without its being necessary to resolve any equation of a higher degree than the fourth. The first part of the process would be now completed ; that is, the assumed expression (149) for y would be reduced to the form y =f (z) = MY o(@)+ BY y(@), . . . « (163.) the functions ¢ (#) and x (x) being determined and known, but the multipliers MY and 5"! being arbitrary, and this expression (163) being such as to satisfy the three conditions (8) (10) and (14), A'= 0, B’=0,° C'=0; nineteen out of the twenty ratios of the twenty-one coefficients (150) (151) (152) (153) having been determined so as to satisfy the nineteen equations (157) (158) (159) (160) (161) (162), into which those three conditions had been decomposed. And the second and only remaining part of the process would consist in then determining the remaining ratio of M!Y to SY"", so as to satisfy the remaining condition BONG Fas. oe kel ae METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 321 and thereby to reduce the general equation of the m degree, X=e"% + Aa™ 4 Ba"? 4 Ca"-3 4+ Da2z™-* (1.) +BEv™ 4+ &. = 0, to the form Y=y"+ El y"-° + &.=0. . . (15.) It is possible, of course, that this may not be precisely the same as Mr. Jerrard’s unpublished process, but it seems likely that the one would not be found to differ from the other in any essen- tial respect, notation being always excepted. It is, at least, a process suggested by the published researches of that author, and harmonizing with the discoveries which they contain. But by applying to this new process the spirit of the former discussions, and putting, for abbreviation, : Al 5o(®") + AM 508) + ll 5" 4 MI 5 (#) 4... + MIV st = Pos , ++(164.) Al @ 4 ql dig 4 att aie + M! nk + oe + MY Pda = Fig= is } N’ 5g(") + oe + NV 5,0") = pl, Semi? silt esi gale ABBR VI) 2) ~(v Mas N’ he +... + NY =P n-1, 09 | He, barron (166.) =i s®) + ot + ae! = Pn, A’ pu? a4 AY Le” La A” Le”) sig mM! Le) stow cos : MLO" 167. + NLC +... + NYELOM 4 LO) 40 | iil + avaLLe") = L, we may change the expression (149) to the form (100), through the theorem and notation (44) ; and in order to avoid the case of failure, in which the functions ¢ (x) and x (x) in (163) are VOL. v.—1836. ¥ 322 SIXTH REPORT—1836. connected by a relation of the form (36), we must avoid, as in the discussion given in the seventh article, the case where the m sums p+ po) +++ 2 m—1 + Pm—1 are proportional to the m quantities po, ++» P,—1,> that is, the case Gat Gg Oyo Goo + Gna 0 ss - ee if we adopt the definitions (54) (55) and (96) (97), so as to in- troduce the symbols 7p, 9o5 915 +** Yn--99 and Py 9'q5 J'15°* Uma With these additional symbols it is easy to transform the condi- tions (160) into others, which (when suitably combined with the equations of definition, and with the ratios of pp,» P»_; al- ready previously determined through the help of the conditions (157) (158) {159),) shall serve to determine the ratios (121) of Joo *** Im—23 and then to determine, in like manner, with the help of the conditions (161), the ratios (120) of q'o, «++ q'n_2; after which, the condition (162) may be transformed into a ra- tional and integral and homogeneous equation of the third degree between the sums 9 + 905 «** Im—2 + Ym—g> and will in gene- ral oblige those sums to vanish, if their ratios (122) have been already determined independently of this condition (162), which will happen when the ratios (120) coincide with the ratios (121), that is, when the quantities q’o, -. 9’,,_1 are proportional to the quantities q, ..» J, ,;+ We must, therefore, in general avoid this last proportionality, in order to avoid the case of failure (102) ; and thus we are led to introduce the symbols Y> To 715 *** Tm—g> defined by the equations (124) (125), and to express the case of failure by the equations OF SRR ec in a With these new symbols we easily discover that the seven con- ditions (161) may be reduced to seven rational and integral and homogeneous equations between the quantities 79, 7), «+» %_3, which will in general oblige them all to vanish, and therefore will produce the case of failure (126), wnless the number m — 2 of these quantities be greater than the number seven, that is, unless the exponent m of the degree of the proposed equation be at least equal to the minor limit TEN. It results, then, from this discussion, that the process described in the present article will not in general avail totake away four terms at once, from equations lower than the THNTH degree, and, of course, that it will not reduce the general equation of the fifth degree, o+Act+Bet+C22+De+E=0, .. (69) > 5 METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 323 to the binomial form apres iBoss ON oil crs) y scehab a (LBB) except by the useless assumption y=L(ei + Aat+ Ba? + C2? +Dae+ &), . . (138.) which gives y= . . + (139.) [11.] A principal feature of Mr. Jerrard’s general method is to avoid, as much as possible, the raising of degree in elimina- tion; and for that purpose to decompose the equations of con- dition in every question into groups, which shall each contain, if possible, not more than one equation of a higher degree than the first ; although the occurrence of two equations of the.second degree in one group is not fatal to the success of the method, because the final equation of such a group being only elevated to the fourth degree, can be resolved by the known rules, | It might, therefore, have been more completely in the spirit of this general method, because it would have more completely avoided the elevation of degree by elimination, if, in order to take away four terms at once from the general equation of the mth degree, we had assumed an expression with thirty-three terms, of the form y =f (@) = A a® + Al a” + A" @ SG, Uh eee a ee MIV yet’ + No” 4...4 NV 0" 4+ Bata. p Be + Ole” 4... 4 OV 2 + Wer 4... evel and had determined the six ratios of A’, a", A’, M',... MY; and the twenty-five ratios of N’,... TV's as to satisfy the thirty-one conditions ! te I v AY ob.000-= 0; BaghooeReOn tb eb ntroa Yor aps se FOl) ! ! av . (169.) A'o,1,0,0,0,0 = 0, B.1,0,0,0,0 = 0, Bho,2,0,0,0,0 =0,. . ; (171.) C's.0,0,0,0,.0 + C'9,1,0,0,0,0 + C'1,2,0,00,0 + C'os,0,000 = 0 (172-) A’o.0,1,0,0,0 = 0, B's 0,,0,0,0 + B'o3,1,0,0,0 = 0. B C f ? penta 7 3) he ! my I 2,0,1,0,00 + Cr,1,1,0,0,0 + C'o,2,1,0,0,0 = 9, J xy 2 i] ! =0 0,0,2,0,0,0 —— V9 1 324 SIXTH REPORT—1836. A\o.0,0,1,0,0 = 0, 7 B',0,0,1,00 + B‘o,1,0,1,0,0 = 9, Bo.0,1,1,0,0 = 0, Bo.0,0,2,0,0 =0, C'2.0,0,1,00 + C9800 1) C'o2,6.100, = 0, J C'1,0,2,0,0,0 + Ch 0.11.00 + C'1,0,0,2,0,0 \ / ! ! oy +Co1,2.000 + C'o.1,1,1,0,0 + C'o.1,0,2,0,0 = 9, 0,0,0,0,1,0 = 9, '1,0,0,0,1,0 Ff '0,1,0,0,1,0 = 0, Bo.0,1,0,1,0 + Bho.0,1,,0 = 0, (176.) Blo.0,0,0,9,0 = 0, “1 ! ! I aks C'2.,0,0,1,0 + C 1,1,0,0,1,0 + C'o00,0,1,0 = 0, II = C',0,1,0,1,0 + C’1,0,0,1,1,0 + Co31,0,,0 + C'o3,0,1,1,0 A'o.0,0,0,0,1 = 0, B'0,0,0,0,1 + B’o.1,0,0,0,1 = 0, a 1 B 0,0,0,1,0,1 — 0, 0, 0, 1 B 0,0,1,0,0,1 1 B 0,0,0,0,1,1 Bo.0,0,0,0,2 C'2,0,0,0.01 + C4,1,0,0,0,1 + C'o,2,0,0,0,1 = 9, C11.0,1,0,01 + Ch,00,1,0,1 + Co,1,1,0,0,1 + C'o1,0,1,0,1 = 95 C'1,0,0,0,2,0 + C000, + C'1,0,0,0,0,2 } (178.) +C'o,3,0,0,,0 + Cor00,1,1 + C'o,1,0,0,0,2 = 0, C'o,0,3,0,0,0 + C'o,0,9,1,0,0 + C'o,0,2,0,1,0 + C'0,2,0,0,1 7 + ©'.0,1,2,0,0 + Clo0,1,1,1,0 + C'o,0,1,1,0,1 | + C'.0,1,0,2,0 + C'o0,1,0,1,1 + C'o,0,1,0,0,2 ‘(179.) + C'.0,0,3,0,0 + C'o0,0,2,,0 + C'o,0,0,2,0,1 + C',.0,0,1,20 + Cloo0,1,1,1 + C'o,0,0,1,0,2 + C'h.0,0,0,3,0 + C'o0,0,0,0,1 + C'o,0,0,0,1,2 + C'o,0,0,0,03 = 9% J into which the three conditions METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 325 A’ =0, B! =0, C’=0, may be decomposed; the symbol Aly) iz, OF Bly o, 5, i, 4,0 OF C'. 9, 4,4,%,1 lenoting here a rational and integral function of the thirty-three coefficients A’,... WVU! which is homogeneous of the degree f with respect to A’, A", A", of the degree g with respect to M’, ... M!, of the degree A with respect to N’, ... NY, of the degree? with respect to &!,... SV1, of the degree & with re- spect to O',...OVII, and of the degree / with respect to wy. IIVII; while the remaining ratio of MIV to nV, should after- wards be chosen so as to satisfy the remaining condition But, upon putting, for abridgement, N's) +... + NY so) + Bis@) +... 4 BS O) = ply, . ° . . . . . . . . . : (180.) i Ns) 4. ENVSO) 4 B's@) +... m—1 m—1 m—t1 a a ae eet oat 1) J O's) + 02. + OV SO) = po os big 3 ee a ene eats NO Ae ~ biRRE % VII, (oY) = py! O's) +...+0 ey es Bs) 4. «See s™ = pl", } . eee etd pineal m — “ = PB m—v J AL) 4 av Le) + aM Le") 4 MILe) 4.0, 4 MV Le") ee! LOO ye NYLO) 4 SLO) 4... 4 svVILe” FOL 4...4 0M LE) 4 WL 4. 4 WV Lo) L, Tse oy Val gent m—1 y | | (183.) z 826 SIXTH REPORT.—1836. " P| ly» nity aheeocmessin alten Pm=-1 : Dol!" — p" Do = Yol> +++ Pm —2 — P" Pm 2= F' m—a (185.) ft fae. Nine. > sea Im —2 do! — ¢ Go = "02 +2 °F m—3 — 7 Im—3 = Mm—3 > (187) y! ae os ee en se See Tn —3 hee ge Pa EES POU Cenk fee ETE et © EPO ee ke and retaining the analogous expressions (164.) (54.) (55.) (96.) (97.) (124.) (125.), we find, by a reasoning exactly analogous to that employed in the former discussions, that the final expres- sion for y will in general be of the useless form i DES Shari, linc saa) oe. Ste) in the following case of failure, O85 Os by 1052 hohe og OF 8% jaye, s') Od) and on the other hand that the seven conditions (177.) may be reduced to the form of seven rational and integral and homoge- neous equations between these m — 3 quantities Zp, t, -» tm — 43 so that the case of failure will in general occur in the employ- ment of the present process, wnless the number m — 3 he greater than seven, thatis, unless the degree m of the proposed equation in x be at least equal to the minor limit eleven. It must, however, be remembered that the less complex pro- cess described in the foregoing article, (since it contained no condition, nor group of conditions, in which the dimension, or the product of the dimensions, exceeded the number four,) agreed sufficiently with the spirit of Mr. Jerrard’s general method ; and was adequate to take away four terms at once from the ge- neral equation of the tenth, or of any higher degree. [12.] The various processes described in the 2nd, 5th, 6th and 11th articles of this communication, for transforming the ge- neral equation of the mth degree, by satisfying certain systems of equations of condition, are connected with the solution of this far more general problem proposed by Mr. Jerrard, “to dis- cover m — 1 ratios of m disposable quantities, dy, Dog as afte «, “Subp stig oy eee) q 4 ’ ; en ee METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 327 which shall satisfy a given system of A, rational and integral and homogeneous equations of the first degree, Al 0, AY =o, AWE Ot OA =’ (193.) A, such equations of the second degree, B' =0, B’=0,..B™%)=0;. . . . . . (194) A, of the third degree, Cl=0, C!=0,..C%)=0;. 2.0... (195.) and so on, as far as h, equations of the ¢th degree, T =0,T"’=0,..T%) =0, 2.0.55. 5) (196.) without being obliged in any part of the process, to introduce any elevation of degree by elimination.” Mr. Jerrard has not published his solution of this very general problem, but he has sufficiently suggested the method which he would employ, and it is proper to discuss it briefly here, with reference to the ex- tent of its application, and the circumstances under which it fails ; not only on account of the importance of such discussion in itself, but also because it is adapted to throw light on all the questions already considered. If we asume he gll Ui] ns) gal Wi ms Lah I a,=a, + 0',,a,=a@,+ a',,...a, =a), + ams + + (197) that is, if we decompose each of the m disposable quantities @,, Ig, +++ Ay into two parts, we may then accordingly decom- pose every one of the A, proposed homogeneous functions of those m quantities, which are of the first degree, namely, ADD AYA SC tel Meh ud Ag “SET OR.) every one of the h proposed functions of the second degree, BBY Me pee tes one d= O89 3 gk N19.) every one of the A, functions of the third degree, i a ON MO a1 0 omen dycaw gah) (200.) and so on, as far as all the first , — 1 functions of the ¢th de- gree, SEMESTER a uO Ae tag a ce (the last function T™) being reserved for another purpose, which 328 SIXTH REPORT—1836. will be presently explained,) into other homogeneous functions, according to the general types, A =A®@, 4+ A,,, 7 BO = B®), , “s B®, ay BY), os | OO) = Cc, + Cc) att cM,. a C, 5, > . (202.) (7) — (7) (7) (7). | T Ft. lp OS thee! 2 each symbol of the class A, BO CO) 9.28 Wr. Whi psn ee PY GF Bd PW ; denoting a rational and integral and homogeneous function of the 2 m new quantities, will sslise seks (is (204.) and (205.) which function is homogeneous of the degree p with respect to the quantities (204), and of the degree g with respect to the quantities (205). By this decomposition, we may substitute, instead of the problem first proposed, the system of the three following auxiliary problems. First, to satisfy, by ratios of the m quantities (204), an auxiliary system of equations, containing h, equations of the first degree, namely, A OAT 5 Oe AR SOs we eee h, equations of the second degree, Boo =O; B20 =i US thot Bl), = 0" 204 SORES) h, of the third degree, C2 = 0, 0%. = oF)! Otay, = ois ©, Cre amy and so on, as far as the following A, — 1 equations of the ¢th degree, EAT ie i ARN a A apa llna Te Noll ] Q yy Day +++ Diy + Second, to satisfy, by ratios of the m quantities (205.), a sy- stem containing h, + hg + hg +... + hz — 1 equations, which are of the first degree with respect to those m quantities, and are of the forms METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 329 a) — B) — Cy) axe ©) ergigupktys : A) = 0, Bo SOO Oys TI 5 = 05 (210.) ha + hg +... + h,—1 equations of the second degree, and of the forms B® = 0, C®) =0,...TO, = 0; . itsio«ane ade hs +... +h, —1 equations of the third degree, and of the forms (y) — (7) — - . . . . . . ° . . CO =0,...70, ,=03 (212, and so on, as far as h, — 1 equations of the ¢th degree, namely, h,—1) ‘ Py SO ay OF: Tye Pes (eee WEE, OPTS) And third, to satisfy, by the ratio of any one of the m quanti- ties (205.) to any one of the m quantities (204.), this one remain- _ ing equation of the th degree, PUpis=ioys (siriging a5 70) 391 woltar (QAR For if we can resolve all these three auxiliary problems, we shall thereby have resolved the original problem also. And there is this advantage in thus transforming the question, that whereas there were h, equations of the highest (that is of the ¢th) degree, in the problem originally proposed, there are only h, — 1 equa- tions of that highest degree, in each of the two first auxiliary problems, and only one such equation in the third. If, then, we apply the same process of transformation to each of the two first auxiliary problems, and repeat it sufficiently often, we shall get rid of all the equations of the ¢th degree, and ultimately of all equations of degrees higher than the first; with the excep- tion of certain equations, which are at various stages of the pro- cess set aside to be separately and singly resolved, without any such combination with others as could introduce an elevation of degree by elimination. And thus, at last, the original problem may doubtless be resolved, provided that the number m, of quan- tities originally disposable, be large enough. [13.] But that some such condition respecting the magnitude of that number m is necessary, will easily appear, if we observe that when m is not large enough to satisfy the inequality, M>h+hethgyt+... thy +.» + » (215.) then the original A, + h, + hj +... + A, equations, being ra- tional and integral and homogeneous with respect to the original 3830 SIXTH REPORT.—1836. m quantities (192.), will in general conduct to null values for all those quantities, that is, to the expressions d= 0, G5 0,....d,, =O, sy | ot ee eg and therefore to a result which we designed to exclude; because by the enunciation of the original problem it was by the m — 1 ratios of those m quantities that we were to satisfy, if possible, the equations originally proposed. The same excluded: case, or case of failure (216.), will in general occur when the solution of the second auxiliary problem gives ratios for the m auxiliary quantities (205.), which coincide with the ratios already found in resolving the first auxiliary problem for the m other auxiliary quantities (204.); that is, when the two first problems conduct to expressions of the forms ae oe ! [es U eS Y al, = aa, ag = ada, 6.6 Q' m= AA my + + + (217.) a being any common multiplier; for then these two first pro- blems conduct, in virtue of the definitions (197.), to a determined set of ratios for the m original quantities (192.), namely, — = = pe ee 3 . . . . (218.) and unless these ratios happen to satisfy the equation of the third problem (214), which had not been employed in determining them, that last homogeneous equation (214.) will oblige all those m quantities (192.) to vanish, and so will conduct to the case of failure (216), Now although, when the condition (215) is satis- fied, the first auxiliary problem becomes indeterminate, because m—1>ht+hthgt.-.-t+h—l, so that the number m— 1 of the disposable ratios of the m auxiliary quantities (204) is greater than the number of the ho- mogeneous equations which those m quantities are to satisfy, yet whatever system of m — 1 such ratios Goda! eal gee = guilidrg bavioes, od aeilitiaiaaman m we may discover and employ, so as to satisfy the equations of the first auxiliary problem, it will always be possible to satisfy the equations of the second auxiliary problem also, by employ- ing the same system of m — 1 ratios for the m other auxiliary quantities (205), that is, by employing expressions for those quantities of the forms (217) 5 and, reciprocally, it will in ge- neral be impossible to resolve the second auxiliary problem SaaS rr METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 331 otherwise, unless the number of its equations be less than m—1. For if we put, for abridgement, LPG es, ATOMS et RARE: PRR ENC, AE (2805) and a", —aa', = by, a",—ad'g = doy. 1 — 2 __) = Dy» (221.) we shall have, as a general system of expressions for the m quantities (205.), the following, @ =aa,'+ b,, a= aa, + b,,... a" = aay) (222.) id bm 1s alm = 40 m3 and therefore by (197), @,=(1+a)a, +3, <.4,/_)'= (1 + @) a, 293. + Bn» Im = 1+ 0,3 ( ) so that. the homogeneous functions A®), B®, ...TO may be, in general, decomposed in this new way, (=) — (@) 4 A). AQ = (1 +a AO +A0); 71 (@) = 2 Br) 8) 4. Be): B® =( +4? BO +0 +a BO+ BO; | @) = Faye a Meta T (1 + a) Aye gt dksh®) PIPE ilk 3 rer 0,¢ each symbol of the class A), BO, ... 1) » tiiok ait weldsickuth (lB) PY PY Psd denoting a rational and integral function of the 2m — 1 quan- tities a',,..a’,,, hy, . . b,, — 1, which is homogeneous of the di- mension p with respect to the m quantities ee ee tet led ye. niet (204) and of the dimension g with respect to the m — | quantities ee et mate PO eee oy ke eas ae) but is independent of the multiplier a. And the identical equa- tions obtained by comparing the expressions (202) and (224), resolve themselves into the following : gae SIXTH REPORT—1836. (@) — are). Ale) — \() \(@) . a A 1,0” AG, an 1,0 “A ane z } (6) — B®. Be — \(B) \(B) . Bo B 2,0’ a 2aB 2,0 FB * ¢ (2) \(6) \(6) (8) , Boo Re Bach aBry - Bo3 Cm) 2 ral) rant), oe (z) ag Dg Pp ey rotate 33 - (227.) C2) t(é—1 Nes VT iiss 2 sk eT +(¢-1)aTO,, Ein ice +T t— 2,2? (7) = gt T+ gt-1 TO) 7). 5 aT +e Eee et te eel ges so that the first system of auxiliary equations, (206) ... (209), which are of the forms Se easy 7 Bg) On A) = 0, BY) = 0, CY) = 0, ... TY") =0, 1) as Pee) may be replaced by the system M@ (8 af 7 ah ae 7) AN =i, ets == ie er ma 1 pe ee ae So Laera the change, so far, being only a change of notation ; and, after satisfying this system by a suitable selection of the ratios of the quantities (204), the second system of auxiliary equations, (210) ... (213), may then be transformed, with a real simplification, (which consists in getting rid of the arbitrary multiplier a, and in diminishing the number of the quantities whose ratios remain to be disposed of,) to another system of equations of the forms, (a) (8) _ (y) _ \(7) hin Ag, = 0 By HO Cg = Oe Teo 05 (6) _ (7) — (7) a ies BW) = 0, CY = +. Ty 9g = 05 hen. (2) es (230. qneiines Vp taco} ey nry"_ Sy’: Dy ee J yt E Ci et i i et eee SS eee METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 333 which are rational and integral and homogeneous with respect to the m — 1 quantities (226), and are independent of the mul- tiplier a. Unless, then, the number of the equations of this transformed system (230), which is the same as the number of equations in the second auxiliary problem before proposed, be less than the number m — 1 of the new auxiliary quantities (226), we shall have, in general, null values for all those quanti- ties, that is, we shall have b, = 0, be =0,...5,,_,=0; e . . ° e . (231.) and therefore we shall be conducted, by (222), to expressions of the forms (217), which will in general lead, as has been already shown, to the case of failure (216). We have therefore a new condition of inequality, which the number m must satisfy, in order to the general success of the method, namely the follow- ing, : m—1>h, +h ,t+hg+...+hy3 - . « « (232.) in which, h',, h',, h'3,... h!, denote respectively the numbers of the equations of the first, second, third, ... and ¢th degrees, in the second auxiliary problem ; so that, by what has been already shown, hh, 1, 7 Wey = hy _y thy 1, Reo = ily 9 + hg. oy ds 033.) Wo=hot+...+h;—-1, Al =h t+ hg... +h, — 1. These last expressions give WL+ ha thst... +h, Hh, t+ 2hgt3hgt... 1 2 3 t 1 2 3 (234.) so that the new condition of inequality, (232), may be written as follows, M—1l>h+2hgt3hgt...+t(hy—1)3 . « ~ (235.) and therefore also thus, m>h+hothgt... +h; a ug. 0 ieee.) 334 SIXTH REPORT—1836. It includes, therefore, in general, the old inequality (215); and may be considered as comprising in itself all the conditions re- specting the magnitude of the number m, connected with our present inquiry: or, at least, as capable of furnishing us with all such conditions, if only it be sufficiently developed. [14.] It must, however, be remembered, asa part of such de- velopment, that although, when this condition (232) or (235) or (236) is satisfied, the three auxiliary problems above stated are, in general, theoretically capable of being resolved, and of con- ducting to a system of ratios of the m original quantities (192), which shall satisfy the original system of equations, yet each of the two first auxiliary systems contains, in general, more than two equations of the second or higher degrees; and therefore that, in order to avoid any elevation of degree by elimination (as required by the original problem), the process must in ge- neral be repeated, and each of the two auxiliary systems them- selves must be decomposed, and treated like the system originally proposed. These new decompositions introduce, in general, new conditions of inequality, analogous to the condition lately determined ; but it is clear that the condition connected with the decomposition of the first of the auxiliary systems must be included in the condition connected with the decomposition of the second of those systems, because the latter system contains, in general, in each of the degrees 1, 2, 3,...¢— 1, a greater number of equations than the former, while both contain, in the degree ¢, the same number of equations, namely, h, — 1. Con- ceiving, then, the second auxiliary system to be decomposed by a repetition of the process above described into two new auxiliary systems or groups of equations, and into one separate and re- served equation of the ¢th degree, we are conducted to this new condition of inequality, analogous to (232), m—2>h!, + hl, + hls +... thly3 ~ . « «> (237) hi, his, hls, ... hl", denoting, respectively, the numbers of equations of the first, second, third, ... and ¢th degrees, in the second new group of equations; in such a manner that, by the nature of the process, hl, =— H, en 1; AM, = Wy + 1, h"s 9 = h' 9 a5 Wey ae hi, —1, . Vises (238.) hl, = By t+ het «e+ Ay). , eR, hs + eee + ee. > (239.) and generally m—i>hO + WO+ KO 4, +2; pets oF (bao) each new condition of this series including al that go before it, and the symbol Wo being such that HW) = hy Pe ee ee 75 15) WEE DAO sre 7 Pie rte OSS teas!) zt t and G+) _ ,®O. 2 ,GhD Apt. Lt ie etd a Vay chalk (243) pe cenating these last equations as equations in finite differences, we fin ie — hs 25 7 i. =h,_) +72 (4 Aled 5 ys j 3 . t+1 i+ 2 ~+1 =) ho = hy_gtihyoti ey ee ee) Se i a | We + 2% —— 3 (% 4 )s (244.) ; +1 itli+e2 1 gr hot galog a tar -t+17+2 t+t—2 ( (t=) Cg ae Gs ee J And making, in these expressions, Ba NO olives, beune [> (ade so as to have 1 h® =0, birch Wii § sat Mili ahh and putting, for abridgement, nh) = ‘hy; ne) = ‘hoy nk. Heo) = ‘Api A ee Ss (247.) 386 SIXTH REPORT—1836. we find that at the stage when all the equations of the ¢th degree have been removed from the auxiliary groups of equations, we are led to satisfy, if possible, by the ratios of m — A, auxiliary quantities, a system containing ‘h, equations of the first degree, ‘hg of the second, ‘A, of the third, and so on as far as “Az;_y of the degree ¢ — 1; in which ‘hy = hy + Hy (hy — 2), | he 2 = hyo + hayghy_ + 3 (hy + I) hy (hy — 2), hy 3 =hy_g hhyhy_o ttle t+ hye + 3 (hy + 2) (hy + 1) Ay (hy — 1), © + (248.) hy = hy, + Ah + 3 (hy + 1) Aghs +3 (hy + 2) (hg +l) hyhyt... 1 AL AT PY - 8) .30hj (yp—1); 2.5.4..(6— a8 tt t E—2) (hy + 2-3)... hy (hy —I) so that, at this stage, we arrive at the following condition of in- equality, m — h, > ‘hy + ‘hig + ‘hig t+.++‘hp_y, - + « « -(249.) ‘Ays hg, -. “hy, having the meanings (248). In exactly the a same way, we find the condition m —h,y—‘h,_y > “A, + “Tig + “ligt... + “Az_o,- ~ (250.) in which, “he 2 = hy +o hy 1 (Ay 1 — )); “Ay 3 = hy + hg fy 2 + 4(hy_ 1 +1) 1 (A -1 — 2D), (251.) &e., by clearing the auxiliary systems from all equations of the de- greet — 13; and again by clearing all such auxiliary groups from equations of the degree ¢ — 2, we obtain a condition of the form m—h,—‘hy_ — “hyn g7 Ay t+--- + “hi, a5 See in which “hy 3 = 803 + “hy _o (Ch; 2— 1), Re... (253.) —w ¥ MBTHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 3087 so that at last we are conducted to a condition which may be thus denoted, and which contains the ultimate result of all the restrictions on the number m, m—h,—h,_;—"hy_g—"y_g—- + — 4 hy > E-YAy, (254) that is, m'> hy thy thy + hy_g + 1 FOR Dhy + NA. 255.) The number m, of quantities originally disposable, must there- fore in general be at least equal to a certain minor limit, which may be thus denoted, m (hy, hoy Igy» - + hy) = hy + “hy_y + “Ayig +--- (Ay, has hes t) t t-1 t—2 (256.) =f (t—2)),. + = 15 +1, in order that the method may succeed; and reciprocally, the method will in general be successful when m equals or surpasses this limit. [15.] To illustrate the foregoing general discussion, let us suppose that teaiSere). fos the - 25; ey, cupetiee (RGS7.) that is, let us propose to satisfy a system containing A, equa- tions of the first degree, A'=0,., A® =0,..A%) =0, . . (193.) and /, equations of the second degree, B' =0,.. B® =o0,.. B%) =0,'. . (194,) (but not containing any equations of higher degrees than the second,) by a suitable selection of the m — 1 ratios of m quan- tities, Gy) 2G (192.) m? and without being obliged in any part of the process to intro- duce any elevation of degree by elimination. Assuming, as before, — ,/ Ui] — /1 a =a ates. .¢,= a, +0, « _ (197.) _ and employing the corresponding decompositions MSA + AUD as Ae AY A ce os ay, (2584) 0,1? and BR! = Bio + Bi + ge Sac (259.) (ig — 1) _ ple — 1) (fa — 1) (a= 4) ee or Boo a sf - Boo . we shall be able to resolve the original problem, if we can re- solve the system of the three following. ‘ VOL. v.—1836, z 3 338 SIXTH REPORT—1836. First: to satisfy, by ratios of the m auxiliary quantities gs pil eR soa. an auxiliary system, containing the A, equations of the first de- gree eee (yy) _ AN = 9 +++ Arg =O, 2) ofa. C2OBT and the 4, — 1 equations of the second degree das ik2 (ig -1) Big hss, MBSE TAS Oey Ge lon Jo wean afempy Second : to satisfy, by ratios of the m other auxiliary quantities ii eM ae Thetis ~e Bg. s ., | (205) another auxiliary system, containing A, + 4, — 1 equations of the first degree, saris Tag gh J atexnellg'h TB) and 4, — 1 equations of the second degree, i (a — 1) _ B= 0, .- BUT.) =o. -., \sro7g9 wit -yiolaeeD Third: to satisfy, by the ratio of any one of the m quantities (205) to any one of the m quantities (204), this one remaining equation of the second degree BD Out tie: ustiiseaas rie teined pos eae The enunciation of the original problem supposes that We oA Ma's ads 8 aigis | ay ns since otherwise the original equations (193) and (194) would in general conduct to the excluded case, or case of failure, = Oe. os Oe = OF, mare. ola In virtue of this condition (264), the first auxiliary problem is indeterminate, because m—17h+h,—1. ° . . . . . (265.) But, by whatever system of ratios a ae. ey a = 2: a ees we may succeed in satisfying the first auxiliary system of equa- tions, (206) and (260), we may in general transform the second ~ Se METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 339 auxiliary system of equations, (261) and (262), into a system which may be thus denoted, geet (Ay) _ \ (iy — 1 A os a: (Ag — 1) BL = 0) s.y BUN 1 ath _and which contains /, + hg — 1 equations of the first degree, and 4, — 1 equations of the second degree, between the m — 1 new combinations, or new auxiliary quantities following, an 1 ——a',,5 (267.) Bi b, = a oye bin — Og Me re a ™m ! ™ so that the solution of the second auxiliary problem will give, in general, (ANS atielpmpad E Anr yA colder 25 99 and therefore will give, for the m auxiliary quantities (205), a system of ratios coincident with the ratios (219), I Pe Oe nd O08) unless m— 1 7 hy + S (hg —" 1). . e ° ° e . . (269.) When, therefore, this last condition is not satisfied, the two first auxiliary problems will conduct, in general, to a system of de- termined ratios for the m original quantities (192), namely ' ! aS pot ed ee . . (218.) an am am, am and unless these happen to satisfy the equation of the third auxiliary problem, namely ‘ BGs) ap wy ere aN ee GS.) which had not been employed in determining them, we shall fall back on the excluded case, or case of failure, (216). But, even when the condition (269) is satisfred, and when, therefore, the auxiliary equations are theoretically capable of conducting to ratios which shall satisfy the equations originally proposed, it will still be necessary, in general, to decompose each of the two first auxiliary systems of equations into others, in order to comply with the enunciation of the original problem, which re- quires that we should avoid all raising of degree by elimination, zZ2 340 SIXTH REPORT—15836. in every part of the process. Confining ourselves to the consi- deration of the second auxiliary problem, (which includes the difficulties of the first,) we see that the transformed auxilia system (266) contains A’, equations of the first degree, and /’, of the second, if we put, for abridgement, hy = h, = } (270.) Aah +h —l; which new auxiliary equations are to be satisfied, if possible, by the ratios of m — 1 new auxiliary quantities; so that a repeti- tion of the former process of decomposition and transformation would conduct to a new auxiliary system, containing A", equa- tions of the first degree, and h', of the second, in which Ue 4 (res ji paae tinbi } San Gy) h", = hh, + W',-1, ' and which must be satisfied, if possible, by the ratios of m— 2 new auxiliary quantities; and thus we should arrive at this new condition, as necessary to the success of the method : th 2 > By t 2 (Wom Ws foe sony me ras) or, more concisely, mM. —= 2> Wish lg 6 Menno +e And so proceeding, we should find generally, m— 6 > ht hes si 0.4. hw pulge Te the functions h,), Aq being determined by the equations §O) APOIO daao> iw ere cong Vuaneae BP) eth) =m Vs ge ge eC Oe) Ait 1), trengtarises: sao apy which give, by integrations of finite differences, A, =h,—t; ni + i ( ae Bae oe. Sees) Thus, making (273.) B= ew ilQn@) onitrhines ott node Raee and putting, for abridgement, ‘Ay = hy) Sy FE ig (hg —1), 9. (2803) we arrive at last at a stage of the process at which we have to satisfy a system of ‘h, equations of the first degree by the ratios of m — A, quantities ; and now, at length, we deduce this final —_Ve7~_.E , — swe ey METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING BQUATIONS. 341 condition of inequality, to be satisfied by the number m, in order to the general success of the method (in the case ¢ = 2), ee ean ek. ee tes a AEs) that is, m > Ry +d (he + Whos es oitne Leh & 9(282-) or, in other words, m must at least be equal to the following minor limit, m(h,, he) = hy +1 + Flag tlhe +» . . (283.) For example, making 4, = 1, and A, = 2, we find that a system containing one homogeneous equation of the first’ degree, and two of the second, can be satisfied, in general, without any ele- vation of degree by elimination, and therefore without its being necessary to resolve any equation higher than the second de- gree, by the ratios of m quantities, provided that this number m is not less than the minor limit five: a result which may be briefly thus expressed, PR aie id a ub gh ORB) [16.] Indeed, it might seem, that in the process last described, an advantage would be gained by stopping at that stage, at which, by making ¢ = A, — 1 in the formule (278), we should have Aa - D) it Ms \. RE oN) AY) = hy + § hg (hg — 1), and m—-ti=m—hgtl; . 2-6 ees 10’ (286) that is, when we should have to satisfy, by the ratios of m — hg + 1 quantities, a system containing only one equation of the second degree, in combination with h, + 4A, (h, —1) of the first., For, the ordinary process of elimination, performed be- tween the equations of ‘this last system, would not conduct to any equation higher than the second degrce;, and hence, without going any further, we might perceive it to be sufficient that the number m should satisfy this condition of inequality, m~—he+17hy+thhg(hg—1 +1... 4 - (287. But it is easy to see that this alteration of method introduces no real simplification ; the condition (287) being really coincident with the condition (282) or (283). To illustrate this result, it may be worth observing, that, in general, instead of the ordi- nary mode of satisfying, by ordinary elimination, any system of rational and integral and homogeneous equations, containing 7 such equations of the first degree, - 342 SIXTH REPORT—1836. ‘A'=0, ‘A =0,.... AM =0, 2. 2 2 2 2 (288)) and one of the second degree, agi ied] fyepOgeyt 7! Jha heyt deere aaa by the » + 1 ratios of m + 2 disposable quantities, Gy) Migy e+ Gnagne + + © + © + «© « «© (290) it is permitted to proceed as follows. Decomposing each of the first m + 1 quantities into two parts, so as to put a, =a), + aly dg=ay + Aig 00 yp =O 4 ta", 4, 291.) we may decompose each of the given functions of the first de- gree, such as ‘A“*), into two corresponding parts, ‘A’ and ‘Aw, of which the former, ‘AM. is a function of the first degree of the n + 2 quantities, @1, Go, --Dyiyy@aia, + + » + « (292.) while the latter, ‘AC, is a function of the first degree of the nm + 1 other quantities 1, oy a ys 8 8 eel eben @ (293) and then, after resolving in any manner the indeterminate pro- blem, to satisfy the 2 equations of the first degree, ‘Alo = 0, “Alo = 0, eee at => 0, . . . . (294.) by a suitable selection of the x + 1 ratios of the 2 + 2 quan- tities (292), (excluding only the assumption a, , 9 = 0,) we may determine the n ratios of the 2 + 1 quantities (293), so as to satisfy these m other equations of the first degree, ‘A’o1 — 0, ‘AN. — 0, eee yA, = 0; e . . . (295.) after which it will only remain to determine the ratio of any one of these latter quantities (293) to any one of the former quan- tities (292), soas to satisfy the equation of the second degree (289), and the original problem will be resolved. [17.] Again, let PLP RPE, Oy 0800 SOE Rey that is, let us consider a system containing h, equations of the first degree, such as those marked (193), along with A, equations — Te =. =. — ee METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 343 of the second degree (194), and A, equations of the third de- gree (195), to be satisfied by the ratios of m disposable quanti- ties (192). After exhausting, by the general process already sufficiently explained, all the equations of the third degree in all the auxiliary systems, we are conducted to satisfy, if possible, by the ratios of m — Ag quantities, a system containing ‘h, equa~- tions of the first, and ‘A, of the second degree, in which, ‘Tig = hg + b-hz (hg — 1), } ‘hy = hy + hghg + § (hg + 1) hg(hg — 1)5 and after exhausting, next, all the equations of the seeond degree in all the new auxiliary systems, we are conducted to satisfy, by the ratios of m — A; — ‘hg quantities, a system of “A, equations of the first degree, in which, “fh ‘Ay Hk Mg ee IT tt ob, (298,) We find, therefore, that the number m must satisfy the follow- ing condition of inequality, Wit tea 7, Ryser pide My 8 aE es, AOD) that is, WT ha Ry 2 hye oy oe, 8, POP SO NE ae On substituting for “, its value (298), this last condition be- comes, m7 hy+ 3 ‘hig (hg +1) +0hy3 - 6 ee es. | BOL) that is, in virtue of the expressions (297), m7 hy +3 (Ag t+ Ihe + § (ho + 1) (hg + 1) hg | 302.) + 3 (hg + 1) hg (hg—1) + § (Ag + 1) Ag (hg — 1) (hg — 2.) The number m must therefore equal or surpass a certain minor limit, which, in the notation of factorials, may be expressed as follows : m < (hy +1) + 3 [he + 1° + 2 (te +1) Wada} + $ [hg + 1)? + [hs + 1)*5 the symbol [»]” denoting the continued product, [fn]" =n —1))—2)..-.2 -nm +1). - ~ + (304) So that when we denote this minor limit of m by the symbol m (hy, ha, hs), we obtain, in general, the formula M(hy, hos hz) = + [no]? + 3 Ne [n3]° +3 [ng]* +g [n3]*, (305.) (297.) (303.) 344 SIXTH REPORT—1836. in which, my SBT) Hg = AP Pag Sa TS OY O82 AES BE} For example, 9% (Tp Wide bohsubaus on: sv .epuedese vandie(BOee [18.] When Ces SE FS 8 he that is, when some of the original equations are as high as the fourth degree, (but none more elevated ,) then ‘hy = hg + $ hy (hy — v), ‘ag = hy + Ighs + 3 (hy + U hg (hg — 1), ‘hy = hy + hyhy + 3 (hy + 1) (hy hg ere a (hy + 2) (hg + UW hg g—1)5 J “hg = “hg + 3 Ag (hz — 1), } (310,) “Vy = ‘hy + “hg ‘hg + § (hg + 1) ‘hg (hy — 1); 9h, = A, 2 ACS 3 8 CLA’ SK wei) and the minor limit of m, denoted by the symbol m (h,, hg, As, Ay), is given by the equation Mm (hy, ha hg, hy) = hy t+ hg t+ “igt+ “Ay +13 . . (812.) which may be thus developed, rm (hs hs hss a) = my + 2 [na]? + my [ral ] + [nl + = lal + %g e 13 [ng]? + = [ng]? + a [n+ + bs}? fal? + ay (ni)? +5 [na +3, (nd? + ee + Loy} += bul? + 75 Cul} (313.) += [ult + 2 [ul + 9 [na] + — [nul + or , if we employ the notation of factorials, and put for ne ieee 9, Sy ET, PO pS beicide OW dol ath Bits) In the notation of powers, we haye METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 345 m (hy, he, Ag, Ag) = 1 + Ay 7 + Lh (12 + 10h, 4 9R2 + DAE + She + 2 hg hy (1 + hy 4 RG) + Shy hg +o he 4 = hy (QO + 22hy + 2HAS+ hE + 6h! + 5h + 3h, bat (S953) 4 aye (18 4 10hy + 1542 + 14128 4-9 4,') 1 + AP (1 + Shy + hg) + Shs! 1 1152 + 24h? + 34ho + 12h, + 94,). J " AS? h, + 3642 + 108 he + 169 A! 4 4 4 4 As examples, whichever formula we employ, we find misO, t. Vota. es oe nen tale mi(l,-b. 1, lellgun old each. to Gees) Ser Mae NN, Oy eT ga Meg ABs) m (5, 4, 3,3) = 922. . . . ... (319.) [19.] In general (by the nature of the, process explained in the foregoing articles) the minor limit (256) of the number m, which we have denoted by the symbol m (hy, ho, . . hy), is a function such that ; mn (ty) Iigy ss hy) = + m0 (yy lag ov Bly) oe (8202) h’,, ..h', being determined by the formule (233). This equa- tion in finite differences (320) may be regarded as containing the most essential element of the whole foregoing discussion ;, and from it the formule already found for the cases tf = 2,¢ = 3, t = 4, might have been deduced in other ways. From it also we may perceive, that whenever the original system contains only one equation of the highest or ¢th degree, in such a man- ner that eh ne oe ne tone ee then, whatever ¢ may be, we have the formula 346 SIXTH REPORT—1836. M (hy, htgy s+ Ay 1, 1) 322 =14+m(hy that oo +hy _ yyhg tee tly yy e+e _ 3)5 ( ») so that, for example, m(1,1,1,1,1) =1+m(4,3,2,1);.. . . . « (823) mA, Sonya 2 9n9, 5,2) = 465 2 «Sy ee) m(1,1,1,1,],1) =1+ m(5,4,3,2,1); . . . (325.) m (5, 4,3, 2,1) = 1+ m(14,9,5,2)=922; . . (326.) and therefore m (1,31, Le at FN Se OD POS tae) an ee ey ak) Oe ets [20.] The formula m(l, Wyse Bante th aie. @hibe J NaOrS may be considered as expressing, generally, that in order to satisfy a system of three homogeneous equations, rational and integral, and of the forms Al ote BO, Oa 0.05 i, vase cou tel (329.) that is, of the first, second, and third degrees, by a system of ratios of m disposable quantities Has ifs i, ek ate gs he Ne * o Mike oi. ee which ratios are to be discovered by Mr. Jerrard’s method of decomposition, without any elevation of degree by elimination, the number m ought to be at least equal to the minor limit five; a result which includes and illustrates that obtained in the 4th article of the present communication, respecting Mr. Jerrard’s process for taking away three terms at once from the general equation of the mth degree : namely that this process is not gene- rally applicable when m is less than five. Again, the process de- scribed in the eleventh article, for taking away, on Mr. Jerrard’s principles, four terms at once from the general equation of the mth degree, without being obliged to eliminate between any two equations of condition of higher degrees than the first, was shown to require, for its success, in general, that m should be at least equal to the minor limit eleven ; and this limitation is included in, and illustrated by, the result La eS I Ee which expresses generally a similar limitation to the analogous process for satisfying any four homogeneous equations of con- dition, a ee a METHOD OF TRANSFORMING AND RESOLVING EQUATIONS. 347 Abc 053 = O50) Ba OoI his Qjordt soroh.dent (8302 of the first, second, third, and fourth degrees, by the ratios of m disposable quantities, a,, a,,..4,,- In like manner it is shown by the result m(1,1,1,1,1) = 47, 0... «) « (827.) that Mr. Jerrard’s general method would not avail to satisfy the five conditions A’ = 0, B'=0,C'=0,D'=0,E'=0, . . (331.) and so to take away five terms at once from the equation of the mth degree, without any elevation of degree being introduced in the eliminations, unless m be at least = 47, that is, unless the equation to be transformed be at least of the 47th degree ; and the result m(1,1,1,1,1,1)=923, . . . . (328) shows that the analogous process for taking away six terms at once, or for satisfying the six conditions Af = 0, B= 10,,C= 0, D! = 0, BE. = 0; F\= 0,» . , 82.) is limited to equations of the 923rd and higher degrees. Finally, the result mbt added Vik, 47 «uot iag Gosinsh aevd Qed and the connected result ee CPL, ey Lae are Bia yO) ReQONT 8 CeeaEN show that it is not in general possible to satisfy, by the same method, a system of three conditions of the first, third, and fourth degrees, respectively, such as the system ADS O5Ch =O) Dita B Maoh rls Moe yes wd Beas nor a system of 3 conditions of the first, third, and fifth degrees, Al = 0, Cl nGy Bias Op) stdcliies Botte ce. 94) 35) unless m be at least = 7; which illustrates and confirms the conclusions before obtained respecting the inadequacy of the method to reduce the general equation of the fifth degree to De Moivre’s solvible form, or to reduce the general equation of the sixth to that of the fifth degree. [21.] Indeed, if some elevation of degree be admitted in the eliminations between the auxiliary equations, the minor limit of the number m may sometimes be advantageously depressed. Thus, in the process for satisfying the system of equations (330), we first reduce the original difficulty to that of satisfying, by the ratios of m — 1 quantities, a system containing three equations 348 SIXTH REPORT—1836. of the first degree, two of the second, and one of the third; and we next reduce this difficulty to that of satisfying, by the ratios of m — 2 quantities, a system containing five equations of the first, and two of the second degree. Now, at this stage, it is advantageous to depart from the general method, and to have recourse to ordinary elimination ; because we can thus resolve the last-mentioned auxiliary system, not indeed without some elevation of degree, but with an elevation which conducts no higher than a biquadratic equation; and by avoiding the addi- tional decomposition which the unmodified method requires, we are able to employ a lower limit for m. In fact, the general method would have led us to a new transformation of the ques- tion, by which it would have been required to satisfy, by the ratios of m — 3 new quantities, a system containing six new equations of the first, and one of the second degree; it would therefore have been. necessary, in general, in employing that method, that m — 3 should be greater than 6 + 1, or in other words that m should be at least equal to the minor limit eleven ; and accordingly we found m(I,3¥,1,1)=11. . <=. (817) But when we dispense with this last decomposition, we need only have m — 2>5 + 2, and the process, by this modifica- tion, succeeds even for m = fen. It was thus that Mr. Jerrard’s principles were shown, in the tenth article of this paper, to furnish a process for taking away four terms at once from equa- tions as low as the tenth degree, provided that we employ (as we may) certain auxiliary systems of conditions, (160) and (161), of which each contains two equations of the second degree, but none of a degree more elevated. But it appears to be impos- sible, by any such mixture of ordinary elimination with the ge- neral method explained above, to depress so far that lower limit of m which has been assigned by the foregoing discussion, as to render the method available for resolving any general equation, by reducing it to any known solvible form. . This Method. of Decomposition has, however, conducted, in the hands of its in- ventor Mr. Jerrard, to several general transformations of equa- tions, which must be considered as discoveries in algebra; and to the solution of an extensive class of problems in the analysis of indeterminates, which, had not before been resolved: the notation, also, of symmetric functions, which has been employed by that mathematician, in his published researches* on these subjects, is one of great beauty and power. * Mathematical Researches, by George B. Jerrard, A.B., Bristol; printed by William Strong, Clare Street; to be had of Longman and Co., London. NOTICES AND ABSTRACTS OF COMMUNICATIONS TO THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, AT THE BRISTOL MEETING, AUGUST 1836, ADVERTISEMENT. Tue Enprrors of the following Notices consider themselves respon: sible only for the fidelity with which the views of the Authors are abstracted, oN eae a ? CONTENTS. NOTICES AND ABSTRACTS OF MISCELLANEOUS COMMUNICATIONS TO THE SECTIONS. MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS. Pa Mr. Taxzor’s brief Account of some Researches in the Integral Calculus......... om Professor Sir W. R. Hamixron on the Calculus of Principal Relations...........++. 4 Professor STEVELLY’s Illustration of the Meaning of the doubtful Algebraic Sign in certain Formulz of Algebraic GeOmetry.........cccecesssserecsssceccscsecsccssesees OD Professor STEVELLY on “ The Mathematical Rules for constructing Compensating Pendulums.”’ ......ccssecsescoesesseseees osateacentaecs moar soseacceamaccrenbes Src | Mr. J. W. Lussocx on the Importance of forming new Empirical Tables for find- ing the Moon’s Place.....ccsccecsssesccesscsccsscccscersesceccecevssccsesces ceneeceee coeeee 12 Sir Davin Brewster on the Action of Crystallized Surfaces upon Common and Polarized Light.......... Saneaeneres Ren epetarenct sce cotres Secnaenen poo Soqgpace Spedencrnecine 18 Sir Davip Brewster on a singular Development of Polarizing Structure in the Crystalline Lens after Death ..........0.00 Sieeveeseas Udeva lave Jescchuveccvertasveledences “PLO Mr. J. M‘Cu.taes on the Laws of Double Refraction in Quartz.....ccccccscsceses 18 The Rev. EDWARD CRAIG On Polarization.....c.csssssssssssessesseccssccccesecsessseeces | 19 Mr. Wm. Snow Harris on some Phenomena of Electrical Repulsion............ 19 The Rev. J. W. M‘Gautey’s Series of Experiments in Electro-magnetism, with Reference to its Application as a Moving Power...........s.s000 Devedeeussvaussesmee (OE The Rev. W. Scorespy on a New Compass Bar, with Illustrations, by means of a recent Instrument, of the Susceptibility of Iron for the Magnetic Condition 28 Professor Forpxs’s Experiments on Terrestrial Magnetic Intensity, especially in relation to the Influence Of Height......ccsssccsscsssecconsecssssosssenossstensessccsse OO Professor Puitxirs on the Direction of Isoclinal Magnetic Lines in Yorkshire... 31 Professor Luoyp on the Direction of the Isoclinal Lines in England................ 31 Mr. Wm. HERAPATH on the Aurora Borealis......sssseccsscssscceveseesocesssesesseeess 2 Dr. Tratit on the Aurora Borealis of 11th August, 1836.....c.ssccsccssssseveeens 32 Mr. W. Errrick’s Notice of an Instrument to observe minute Changes of Terres- trial Magnetism......coscocecessesees sevesceseess edae Sanpete, menpnaneddudensa sebevceeseasee! OD Mr. W. Errnicx’s Notice of a new Rubber for an Electrical Machine.............. 33 Dr. James Apsoun on anew Method of Investigating the Specific Heats of Gases 33 The Rev. B. Powrxt on the Impermeability of Water to Radiant Heat............ 36 Mr. R. Appams on the Vibration of Bells........sscsssssessssseccscssssecnenssccess cover 36 Dr. Cuarues J. B. WittraMs on an Improved Har-Trumpet.rccseceresosersersesse 36 Dr. Samvet Roorsey on the higher Orders of Grecian MuSiC.....sessossevsevessees 37 iv CONTENTS. Page. Dr. Samvet Roorsry on Mnemonical Logarithms........0.. Serecccesscncace svesseects 38 Professor Forsxs’s Experiments on the Weight, Height, and Strength of Men at different Ages......... Subasassoed ae ee Sees ia Arctic cae decascencssscdeuteusas 38 The Rey. W. WHEwELt’s further Account of his Anemometer......... ecassemexbuae 39 Mr. G. Wess Hatt on the Connection of the Weather with the Tide........ mvecss 0 EL The Rey. L. CARPENTER on Lucas’s Method of Printing for the Blind............ 41 Mr. J. S. Russrru on the Ratio of the Resistance of Fluids to the Velocity of WAVES....0.c000 Susaueusesvavuensscesevesdccscossscesecacsucscarescsvence sovesvasaneshusuccuseet 41 Professor Sir W. R. Hamitton’s Calculus of Principal Relations...........ceceeees 41 CHEMISTRY.’ Dr. R. Harz on the Chemical Nomenclature of Berzelius.,....s.sssseseesensoeseeeens Dr. R. Hare on a Calorimotor for Igniting Gases in Eudiometrical Experiments, and Gunpowder in Rock-blasting...........ssssseesees saapaanes ape pswiienascutcakcheacasas Dr. R. Hare on the Aqueous Sliding-rod Hydrogen Eudiometer........+++++ xuseenes Mr. Anprew Crossr’s Electrical Experiments.........+0+« sab enepacene easaasenpe> panes Mr. Henry Hover Wartson’s Remarks on the Results of some Experiments on the Phosphate and Pyro-Phosphate of Soda......csssssseseeecesssenseeeeeesenees feos Mr. Tuomas Extey’s Extracts from a Paper “on Important Facts obtained Ma- thematically,fromzTheory, embracing most of those Experimental results in Chemistry, which are considered as ultimate facts.”’......css.+000 zat nihil dapembent Dr. Coartes Henry on Gaseous Interference......- ee ee sa eosin aie ee anes Dr. Tuomas, THomson’s Experiments’ on the Combinationsjof Sulphuric Acid and! Water. ...:s:ussusadb cctenelecaptes ob a dehed dna ddo bigs pamwack on shb oeay apse asnues Sotivet Mr. Wm. Biack on a Method of ascertaining the Strength. of Spirits.......... ods Mr. Epmunp;Davy’s Notice of a new Gaseous! Bicarburet of Hydrogen........+. Mr. Epmunp Davy’s Notice of a peculiar Compound of Carbon and Potassium, or Carburet of Potassium, 8.0. ssvyposd~ «nasuxs tissue: moo ae oroae genes SEE sree tl Dr. James Inexts on the Conducting Powers of Iodines.+..+.sssvsesssssssnssanees Mr. J. F. W. Jonnston on Paracyanogen, a new Isomeric Compound........« ere Mr. W. HerapatH on Arsenical Poisons...oseseeeeereeee ee. Wah odd SE I Mr. W. Herapats on Lithiate of Ammonia as a Secretion of Insects...:......06 Mr. W. Herapatn’s Analysis of the Water of the King’s Bath, Bath............ aes Mr. W. C. Jonzs on the Analysis of Wheat, a peculiar Volatile Fluid, and a So- luble Modification of Gluten, Nitrogen in Lignin, &¢... sssss.sseseceedeecseenssees Dr. DavsBeny’s Notice of Experiments respecting the effects which Arsenic pro- duces on Vegetation... ....... See eee eee eeiiedeveewewsn ewes ma yaite Mr. R. ScanLan on a new substance (Eblanine) obtained from the Distillation of Wendasuaiciinnh alteiugialal Mindi maaan nnaesamee Mr. Knox on the Insulation of Fluorine..c...sssssscseesseceseceeeerenee See xen Mr. Wa. Errrick on a modification of the common Bellows Blowpipe..........-+ Mr. Wa. Wesr on a means of detecting Gases present, in small proportions, in Atmospheric Air.....cs.+6+ A, ebyosal. Be Sa OED eakuict ads, sie eRe eEN & tetas PS eC SCS a ar CONTENTS. v GEOLOGY. Page. My. Wu. Hopxrns on certain points in Physical Geology......scesersscssererserseneee 78 Lord Nucent’s Notes on the Sea Rivulets in Cephalonia............. ee Acensceay - OL Dr. C. Dauseny on the State of the Chemical Theory of Volcanic Phenomena. 81 Mr. R. W. Fox on Voltaic Agencies in Metalliferous Veins............++4 Te Professor Forsrs’s Remarks illustrative of the Physical Geography of the Pyre- nees, particularly in relation to Hot Springs......... SE eee seanatie SRS Als Mr. H. T. De 1a Becue on certain Phenomena connected with the Metalliferous Veins of Cornwall..........0sses00 Peet east iRecees Svearescpaten eeduensetey SAS 83 Mr. Epwarp CHARLESWoRTH’s Notice of the Remains of Vertebrated Animals found in the Tertiary Beds of Norfolk and Suffolk........ Rims seewe sckaeva cane omwae . 84 Mr. E. CHARLESWorTH on the Fallacies involved in Mr. Lyell’s Classification of Tertiary Deposits according to the proportionate number of recent Species of Mollusea which they contain........ Ee etreen beere cre. ese aeae sec Ee EE RITE 86 Professor Puiiurrs on certain Limestones and associated Strata in the Vicinity Of Manchester........ccecccessereseesesees a wee Se buhiatn Sem cas pets sede dswmnkdthie ee ena ~ ~ att “eae wie pS ARIA LAOS OT ee a ad ee oe staat Tbs teal facsth x o> ‘ e. bt BO Ca TyremQ Pal ws Ahn Toreae vist: Tey | Mferast wy ¥ most oa ai aenog alas 7 ne aouwny a i pe ante ARPA Rit AB SS EERE, ISM Je AE, 15H © . - x 0 WO saratees! fF od To esholwe ee ad to PONS eye hs SAE St cote 2k Rib mt er’. avs wellite fo holiog vers ois ‘Vo twsinerrommes] als 2 boeouanrn.t we erobitT oul ‘thie q bow ri © ttaing minting to rae RA cogend ont yes rma) sh seaadyery? de oer ail: ik AY h rt a aoe Mt, laotrarraté Seve ” n ~ us spade ‘S pli bop ¥ Si rofl pps REL ai cectenyencon amheest meovunsesnrnrigShpesst SPN pKERSE Are ebenaes’ ~- ayia 224. | DEPP RSEBL Ob LE We eget orl Fok isos ta oh sme Tt iene: Vibha osehetnia if gl netghae qelequth 49 iehge® dy 0m CUS, us. Ssawengen Bie a petal alias al Ler setnilala ay dicate alte. ted ypacsetventots Larsdhta oss Wo dnl we tancpae FG dw rate “a tyres Sade hyip alata a setwadubwaed npr law Sat - ete th of ta bith agabiroike., statth Wns ata! aly fo gerne et ‘ethan i Laat agettie> pienons a b percent we once Has at ined S is sy Tyee ay, & a3otap - 2 eatin ear pert, a 661 eli Bh OBS sspiy tye ARE) ped. to saps itges cyt) atotk fea Oe ciddgit aah Yo ate oop neh go ] JU ee o? w ait mw hs at Pap % d ¥ : im x) oy a et to gikwoT x bo Hic a Ne fats, teaaeteae D faeyd 4 povba “huss of oH to) sath tins UA 3f pie Rie ny € a Be es Sa ea ie + Laekiers ont feiottit Abe yh : ! , apy pa at . tapas fine + 06a megs. ne feali May ital, ry ask 96 | ¢ Lit Ade A Me ; wae uncanny, 2: sheets, ipa hp yoslt, ths . : orsbuab hue celguasesajaidec wears als ee ‘aaa “y tt PY ait ir to englog walt cgtrre tt to acrwntodl Tose ala L tie. oe ¥esabee: Finan costal rinall rant io Oita, yh h all j (fees r r U A ee A oe ee KAP | TY eS ae), ae NOTICES AND ABSTRACTS OF MISCELLANEOUS COMMUNICATIONS TO THE SECTIONS. MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS. A brief Account of some Researches in the Integral Calculus. By H. F. Taxsort, Esq. Havine been asked to lay before the British Association a notice of my researches in the Integral Calculus, so far as they have been published in the Philosophical Transactions for the present year, I have drawn up a short account of this subject. Upwards of one hundred years ago, an Italian geometer, Fagnani, discovered that the difference of two elliptic arcs is in some cases accurately equal to a straight line, whose length is known; although neither of the arcs, taken separately, can be so expressed. Thus he found, for example, that the quadrant of every ellipse is capable of being so bisected that the difference of the parts is equal to the difference of the major and minor axis of the curve. He also found that the hyperbola possesses similar properties, and also the lemni- scate, and several other curves. He thus with great ingenuity and sagacity opened a new track in the regions of analysis, the existence of which had until his time remained unknown. The next considerable step was made by Euler, who showed : 3 dex d enerally that the sum of the two integrals ae Ley F : f S- Wf Reg) ay may be always rendered equal to a constant, by assuming a proper equation between the variables xv and y, provided that X was a poly- nomial in z not exceeding the fourth degree. But if X contained _ the fifth or higher powers of 7, he was unable (except in very special cases) to find any solution of the problem. Lagrange, who also endeavoured to remove this difficulty, met with no better success. ' The reason of the failure appears now to be manifest, that the solution of the problem was sought for in the wrong direction. It was attempted always to combine ‘wo integrals into an algebraic Vor. V.— 1836. B 2 SIXTH REPORT.—1836. sum, which can only be done successfully in certain cases. In all other cases it is requisite to combine three or more integrals, and the idea of doing this seems not to have occurred to these illustrious analysts. — Thus, for instance, they tried in vain to find the algebraic integral of the equation ph DEL 43 7 PSAENE SE = 0 JV1i+a@ V1 +y5 But if they had sought for the algebraic integral of dz Sf: dy dz Vie: Vi+y> Tt Via. wre they would have found that such a solution really exists. However, the theorem which Euler gave, although limited in its extent, yet proved to be of great importance, and may be considered the foundation of the theory of elliptic functions given by Legendre, the different properties of which are implicitly contained in Euler’s solution, although Legendre’s talents and industry were requisite to draw them forth, and develop them with clearness and precision. While examining this subject in the year 1825, I met with a new property of the equilateral hyperbola, which appeared to me to be of great importance, as it gave the algebraic sum of three arcs of that curve. If the abscissz of the three arcs are the roots of a cubic equation, 2 of this particular form, viz. : oe z—r=0O, IJ found that the sum of the arcs was an algebraic quantity. In this equation the letter ris arbitrary. Each particular value which is attributed to it furnishes a solution of the problem, that is, it gives three arcs whose sum is algebraic. I verified the truth of this theorem by numerical computations of different examples of it, but in so doing I met with two difficulties of a novel nature. The first was, that by attributing certain values to r, the cubic equation had two impossible roots, and the theorem then apparently ceased to have any real meaning. (At that time Legendre had not yet demonstrated the fact, that two imaginary in- tegrals can make a real integral by their addition.) The other difficulty was this, that in making the addition of the three integrals, I found that it was necessary to attribute a negative “sign to one of them, and although by making actual trial in each numerical example, it was easy to see which of the integrals had this sign, yet it was by no means ‘so easy to assign a convincing reason why this ought to be the case. The method which had conducted me to this theorem respecting the equilateral hyperbola, would, as I saw, furnish a multitude of other theorems equally curious ; but the field of inquiry was so new, and the results which it afforded at every step so ample, that I was at a loss how to classify them, or reduce them into a clear and con- nected theory. For instance, I perceived that I1 might consider x TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 8 variables instead of only three, and that I might suppose them con- nected by the general equation, a a at! 4 bar? +t on = 0, phate coéfiicients a, b, &c. are all different functions of an arbitrary quantity r.. Then, when any particular value is given to r, the n roots of the equation (or in other words the x variables) become de- termined as to their numerical value. And if r changes its value to another value, the 7 variables seve- rally undergo a corresponding change. Therefore they all vary simultaneously, and the variation of any one of them is a determinate function of the variation of any of the others. The x variables being connected in this manner, I found that the ‘values of certain integrals which depend upon them might frequently be shown to have an ‘algebraic sum. That isto say, the equation of condition between the variables being given, new properties of various integrals were found to be deducible therefrom. But the inverse problem was found to be much more difficult, namely, ‘‘ When the form of the integral was given, to discover the equation which ought to be assumed between the variables.” This problem is the more important one because it is what occurs in practical applications of the calculus. The solution of it, which I have given in the Transactions of the Royal Society for 1836, ap- pears to me to be as simple as the nature of the problem admits of, and it conducts readily and rapidly to the form of equation which ought to be assumed in any particular instance. And the form of that equation being known, the properties of the integral frequently flow from it with a facility which is surprising, considering the na- ture and difficulties of the inquiry. ‘While I was occupied in this investigation, that distinguished ma- thematician Mr. Abel published a very remarkable theorem, which Pde VR when P and R are polynomials in z of any degree. The methods of reasoning by which he arrived at this theorem appear to have been quite different from those which I pursued, and the form of his solution is altogether different from mine, although in all those instances which I have tried the results ultimately con- cur (as might be expected). But it will be observed a Ne cele- brated theorem is limited to those forms of integral ae where gives the algebraic sum of a series of integrals of the form the polynomial R has a quadratic radical. My method, on the contrary, applies with equal facility to the Cu- bic Radicals and to those of all higher degrees, as well as to a great many other integral forms of a more complicated nature. I have therefore proposed to drop the name which Legendre has given, of Ultra-Elliptic Integrals, since it appears that no line of di- stinction can be drawn between them and integrals in general, which possess similar properties to an extent so much greater than has been hitherto imagined. 9 B 4 SIXTH REPORT.—1836. In prosecuting further inquiries it will be desirable to consider which are the forms of transcendents which ought to be reckoned as next in order to those whose properties have been hitherto most in- vestigated, viz., to the Circular Logarithmic and Elliptic functions. It appears to me that the transcendents might be divided and classed according to the number of them which it is requisite to com- bine in order to obtain an algebraic sum. Thus the transcend- ae ; dz .. is of a more complicated nature than : V1+2° J V1i+z because it is requisite to unite three terms of the former to obtain an algebraic sum, while it suffices to add two terms of the latter one. According to this view the transcendent poh kas will be the ‘ V1+2° representative of a class whose properties are to be examined by themselves, and which are probably irreductible to transcendents of a lower class. Before, however, occupying ourselves with these, it is well to inquire what results these new methods give when applied to the arcs of the Conic Sections, a subject which was supposed to have been almost exhausted by the labours of Legendre, but which the researches of Jacobi, Abel, and others have shown to be far from being so. I have found, with respect to my own method, that besides the theorem which I originally met with concerning the sum of three ares of the Equilateral Hyperbola, it likewise gives a number of other theorems respecting the sums of the arcs of the Conic Sections. But which of all these theorems are essentially different from each other it requires much time to thoroughly examine. And since it is desirable for the sake of verification, and to avoid falling into errors, to accompany the processes of analysis with numerical examples, these examples, if calculated to six or seven places of decimals, often run into extreme prolixity, and would be best accomplished by the assistance of several independent calculators. ent On the Calculus of Principal Relations. By Professor Sir W. R. Hamitron. The method of principal relations, of which Sir W. Hamilton gave a short explanation, is still more general than the analogous researches in optics and dynamics presented to former meetings of the Association. By it the author proposed to reduce all questions in analysis to one fundamental equation or formula, no matter how nu- merous the conditions, or the independent variables might be. He has found the following relation, which he has termed principal, to subsist between all differential ee a matter how numerous, or ONES independent the variables. viz. : 2 aa TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 5 Tilustration of the Meaning of the doubtful Algebraic Sign in certain Formule of Algebraic Geometry. By Professor StevELLY. The author had been led some years since to see the importance of the present question as bearing upon the determination of geo- metric positions by algebraic symbols, by finding that, when trans- forming the axes of coordinates, it was sometimes requisite to use the positive sign for the perpendicular let fall from a given point upon a given line, and at other times the negative sign, although no intelligible reason for the difference was assigned in the books, nor could he for a long time give any reason that was satisfactory to his own mind, or which would lead to an unvarying rule. At length, while reflecting upon the origin of this doubtful sign, he was led to a conclusion which was quite satisfactory to himself, and which fur- nished, he conceived, a complete key to the interpretation. of this and many similar cases. Af p A It is well known that if A A‘ and B B* be the axes of coordi- nates, O being the origin, and it be arbitrarily determined to con- sider distances measured from O towards B‘ as positive, it is ne- cessary, by the connection between algebraic addition and subtrac- tion, and the increasing and diminishing of such distances, to distin- guish by the negative sign all distances measured from O towards B. A similar rule holds for the axis A A’, and for every other axis passing through O; from hence it can be readily shown that all lines drawn parallel to any fixed line, such as A A‘, and falling upon and terminated by B B‘, must be similarly distinguished ; those that fall upon the upper side or face, for example, being sup- posed to be positive, these falling upon the under side or face, must be marked as negative. A similar rule can be easily shown to hold for any line in the plane of these axes. And this being attended to will inform us why algebra ought to mark with the sign +, the per- pendicular let fallfrom a point (p) whose coordinates are (2' y') upon a line whose equation is y=aa-+ 6. Although at first we should think that as but one point can have these coordinates, and one line only have that equation, there can be but one perpendicular to whose value we ought to be led; yet, in fact, we find the per- pendicular to be + y—aa—b SPER At The reason why algebra leads 6 SIXTH REPORT.—18536. us to this double value is obvious when we consider that all perpendi- culars upon one side or face of the given line being considered as posi- tive, all on the opposite side or face must be marked as negative; for if the given line be supposed to revolve in the plane of the coordinates, any point of it being fixed as soon as it has passed through a semirevo- lution, it will take a position in which the very same equation as at first will belong to it, and in which the perpendicular upon it from the given point p will have exactly the same length ;, and indeed be the very same line that was perpendicular to it in its first position. In the first position the perpendicular from P falls upon the face of the line which is then turned towards it; but after the semirevolu- tion, the perpendicular from P falls upon the face of the line which, in its first position had been averted from P; and hence one of these perpendiculars is presented to us by the analytic investigation, audits y—aur—b Vi+a? the line expressed still by the same equation, y—av—b=o, is —axr—b Die ahha Boaksthees That this is the true origin of the double sign found in the in- vestigation of the length of the perpendicular, will be still more clearly seen by tracing the varying length of the perpendicular, as the line D'C D revolves from its first position. Let us suppose, (in order to fix our ideas) round some point, as C, which we may suppose to hold its place. Then as the revolving line approaches P the length of the perpendicular diminishes; when it reaches P that length vanishes; when it passes P the perpendicular now falling on the face that had been at first averted from P, becomes negative; or, rather, has a sign opposite to that which we first at- tributed to it; and this sign it retains as long as the perpendicular continues to fall on the same face; and therefore, when it has passed through its semirevolution, it retains that contrary sign; but at the end of the semirevolution, the perpendicular is the very same as it was at first, and the line in the new position has the same equation that at first belonged to it; the face alone on which that perpendicular falls has changed, and algebra marks that change by the change of sign of the value of the perpendicular. Indeed, it is easy to see that after the semirevolution is completed, a perpendicular P’ A’ at an equal distance from C’, and similarly situated on the other side from P A, and erected upon the opposite face of the given line, will have come round to the portion of P A, and will then coincide with it, if it be supposed to accompany the revolving line, and to be inflexibly attached to it. An account nearly the same can be given of the double sign of the distance between two points (2‘y') and (2‘y"), which, as is well known, is = + ¥(2’\— 2")? + (y=y")®. If weat first arbitrarily as- sume the + value as belonging to the distance: then if a point be made to move from that given point, which is nearest to the origin of » while the other from the same point, P, upon brought under our notice, as, u See ee waar’ TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. y | the coordinates, suppose from the point («' y") towards the other point, it will, by motion in that direction, describe and increase positive distances ; but, by a motion in the contrary direction it would de- scribe or increase negative distances, If we then suppose the in- definite line joining («‘y‘) and (c‘y') to revolve slowly round one of these points as a centre, suppose round (2"y") the law of continuity will compel us to consider a point moving the same way from the fixed point as describing and increasing negative distances; now, when the revolving line has completed a semirevolution, it will again pass through the second point, (e'y'); but a moving point setting off from (zy) must, in order to reach (z'y'), move along the inde- finite line after its semirevolution, in precisely an opposite direction to that which led to the same point in its first position, and, there- fore, the same identical distance must, in this last position, be con- sidered as negative, if, in the first position, we assumed it to be po- sitive ; and hence the double sign to which the analytic value directs our attention. In a similar way we can explain the double sign of the secant of an arch, the opposite sign of the secant of an arch, and of its sup- plement, and of the same arch increased by a semicircle. We may also see the reason for the double sign of the analytic value of the radius of curvature; and thus many symbols which were formerly not perceived’ to have any relation to position, will appear to have a very direct and intelligible relation to it; and thus, much that was formerly arbitrary will be rendered subject to precise rules. On ‘‘ The Mathematical Rules for constructing Compensating Pendu- lums.” By Proressor STEVELLY. Accident led the author to the discovery of an error of serious consequence which he had previously never suspected, in the principle of calculating the dimensions of the several parts of compensating pen- dulums adopted by Captain Kater, and detailed by him in the latter part of the volume on Mechanics in Lardner’s Cyclopedia. Doctor Templeton, of the Royal Artillery, had kindly undertaken to find a meridian line at the apartments of the Museum of the Belfast Natu- ral History Society. When doing so he had used a well-made eight- day clock furnished with a pendulum with a deal rod, which although carefully made had not been intended to compensate for changes of temperature. This pendulum had gone ina room immediately under a leaden roof during a very cold winter, and afterwards during a very hot summer, and yet had not varied more than a very few seconds from mean time, and even that variation had not taken place with any considerable departure from a mean rate of gaining. Surprise at this fact led Mr. Stevelly to perceive that a common deal rod pen- dulum, with a large lenticular leaden bob resting on a nut, and trans- fixed by the deal rod, must be to a certain extent compensating. He then proceeded to calculate the exact dimensions for perfect compen- sation ; but upon applying the mathematical principle upon which he had made the calculation to some of the examples given by Captain 8 SIXTH REPORT.—1836. Kater, he arrived at dimensions differing so much from those given by that eminent author as to lead him to fear that he had made some gross error in applying the differential calculus to the investigation. A little consideration, however, convinced him that the fundamental principle of Kater’s calculation was erroneous. The erroneous principle virtually adopted by Captain Kater is, that the centre of oscillation of the heavy metallic part of the pendulum re- tains constantly its relative place in the mass; so that its distance from the lowest part where it is supported by the pendulum rod is to be taken as the length of metal whose expansions and con- x tractions are to compensate those of the rod. Now it is almost obvious that the position of that centre in the mass changes, on two accounts: first, the moment of inertia P of the mass which is the numerator of part of the value of the length of the pendulum is changed by the chan- ging of the dimensions of the several parts of the pendu- lum by changes of temperature ; secondly, the distance of the centre of gravity of the mass from the axis of sus- pension changes also, and it enters as a denominator into the same value. These combined causes produce a change of great practical consequence in the position of the centre of oscillation during alterations of temperature. L Time permitted Mr. Stevelly to exemplify these re- marks only in the pendulum composed of a deal rod sus- pended by a steel spring, anda leaden tube. ‘This pendu- G lum is perhaps the cheapest, simplest, and best that can be made. Let the annexed figure represent a deal rod and leaden D tube pendulum; S P= 2 inches of steel spring; P D the length of the deal rod to be calculated; LD=2z2= ® length of leaden tube; Ba deal circular bracket, either turned and fastened upon the end of the deal rod or made out of the same solid piece of white deal wood with the rod, its use being to give a firm support to the leaden tube. Let 2 7 = the outside diameter of the leaden tube, and 2 7’ equal the diameter of the cylindric hole along its axis which receives the deal rod; let G be the centre of gravity, and O the centre of oscillation. Let SG = \ andS O = (fora royal seconds pendulum) 39°13929 inches: denote this by /. It can then be easily shown by the formule for centre of oscilla- fion, that $s Teabags ie DO Jig te 2 ipa big MIR aS a afin ase etaits' dmc By applying the differential calculus to find the change of po- sition of O for changes of temperature, we shall see that since / is constant, Phd aowidnh aden (2 m4 3) ai 4 3 4 3 TAT (ie Ste ——ae | ee a ae A Ae TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 9 Hence rs ' gy Feet _# Qrdrt+2rdr ane & f 4 3) 4 3 ee x3 = = Hence Qrdr+2r'dr! Qzdz eh d d(l—a 6 z oN —daA= (¢— )= e reper? 2. 4 3 Now if we denote by dm the change of length which the unit length of the metal of which the tube is formed, suffers from the change of temperature to which the pendulum has been sub- jected, then dr =rdm: dr'=r'dm: and dz=z dm; and substi- tuting these, we have re yl2 232 grt ye A2— 4 3 The height of the point O, above the bracket which supports it is, =2z— (/—A). Hence the change of place of O, upwards or downwards in relation to the bracket, is the differential of this, and is therefore equal to d(I—a) = Adm (ar 222 2 3 2 12 2 dm n2 re+r _# 4 3 Now the coefficient of dm in this expression is manifestly the length of the metallic part of the pendulum, whose changes for tempera- ture are to compensate the changes of the suspending rod ; whereas the length of that metal, according to Kater, is the height of o above the bracket, which is 12 2 retr gf 2 + 3 A In other words, this is Kater’s coefficient for dm; and ‘since (ri+r'2 2 22 r2 f+ 7'2 2 r2 + pl? 22 ( + ) 2 sig: teh) Ss BR AW) Ba eR ey MASS) Site ee 36 “ize att 308 4 3 ; re trl? 22 A z—(l—a)=2z—- Consequently, for any given z, Kater’s coefficient will be greater than the true coefficient; therefore, it hence appears that he will 10 SIXTH REPORT.—1836. be led to use a less z, or aless length of metallic tube than that which will truly compensate the changes of the suspending rod. But to proceed with the investigation,—if ds and dp respectively denote the alterations of the unit length of steel and of white deal for the same change of temperature that causes dm in the unit length of the metal used for the compensating tube, then the measures being expressed in inches we shall have 2 2 (+42). 2ds+(A—2+2z)dp={ z—- EGE Tal 2 dm aI Since we have supposed the steel spring to be two inches long, . and the length of the deal rod is A — 2 + zinches; or, r+ rl? 22 ( 4 +3)" dm... WE oe * ale hot ee 2 f2 2 WET a 2n—ia 2(ds—dp) + adp—z(dm—dp)=— 2 ' But from (a) it will appear that ~2 — “ll a arp pari tae And solving (a) fora, we getaA= iz a ry nha ane a be es = 4 3 the value of A, found with the negative radical, being the intercept between the centre of gravity and centre of oscillation. Now if we denote by R the radical in the value of A, and substitute these quantities in (4), we shall have re yl2 22 l wy 4 re 2(ds—dp)+-z4p + Rdp—2(dm—dp)=—\ —— J am or, by reducing, substituting for R? its value, and dividing by dm—dp l 2(ds—dp) +— ( (ds Pp) eS ee a dp trl dm—dp 3 4dm—dp 4 According to the table given by Kater, ds = -0000063596, dp = ‘0000022685, and if the material of the tube be lead, dm = -0000159259; also, J = 39°13929. If we assume the dia- meter of the leaden tube to be an inch and a half, and the hollow along its axis to be six tenths of an inch, then write r = -75, and 7! = °3, and substituting these respective values in the foregoing equation, and changing the signs of all the terms, we shall have A ie 2 (xz — 3°84963) (382°807880426025 — =) == 63°774774 ..(c) TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. ll Now by a well-known method, it is easy to find that z = 8°48252 will very nearly satisfy this equation ; so nearly that the change of a unit in the fifth decimal place will make the side of the equation upon which z lies differ from the other constant side in the fourth decimal place by nearly two units. This is an accuracy quite un- necessary in practice, but Mr. Stevelly resorted to it, lest in quan- tities depending for their values upon such minute fractions as dp, ds, and dm, there should be any source of fallacy in the mode of calculating which did not readily appear ; and this course he was the rather led to adopt as the length of z which he arrived at differs so materially from that assigned by Captain Kater, and also by Mr. Baily, if the latter be correctly quoted by Kater, in Lardner’s Me- chanics. Mr. Baily’s paper in the Astronomical Memoirs, Mr. Stevelly had no opportunity of seeing. The length of 2 z according to Kater should be 14°44 inches, and according to Baily, as quoted by him 14°3. Now if either of these values be assigned to 2 z; z will be far from satisfying the equation (c) which has been above de- duced. The dimensions of the several parts of the pendulum according to Mr. Stevelly will be as follows :—A steel spring two inches long, measured from the cock to the upper edge of the (iron) rivet which attaches it to the deal rod ; a deal rod furnished with a circular bracket at the bottom, diameter of deal rod = 0°6 inch. ; length from upper edge of the rivet above, to the upper surface of the bracket upon which the leaden tube rests, = 44:995 inches. The bracket may be easily made of sucha shape, while its upper circumference is nearly equal to that of the leaden tube, as that the wooden part of the pendulum alone shall swing in asecond. The leaden tubeis then to be 16-965 inches long; external diameter = 1:5 inch; diameter of the space along its axis, through which the deal rod passes, six tenths of an inch: the leaden tube will weigh about ten pounds avoir- dupois. If the numbers assigned by Kater be more correct than these, it can only arise from the values of ds, dp, and dm not having been as yet ascertained with sufficient accuracy, and perhaps an examination of the rates of pendulums made of tubes and rods of various mate- riais would furnish the best possible method of examining the re- lative expansibilities of bodies under various temperatures, Mr. Stevelly thinks a bracket of wood firmly attached to the lower part of the pendulum rod a method of suspending the leaden tube much to be preferred to the method in use by a nut and screw, for many reasons; and thus mounted it becomes necessary to have, at the upper part or suspension of the pendulum, some con- trivance for adjusting its length, so as to make the rate correct. Mr. Stevelly exhibited to the section a nut and screw worked by a mi- crometer screw, the index of which may come out at the side of the clock-case, and there point to a graduated circle; and he stated that 80 nice an adjustment may be effected by this, that upon a circle of about three inches in diameter, each division ; being the tenth of an inch in length ; would correspond to an alteration of the length of the 12 SIXTH REPORT.—1836. pendulum equal to the 140,000dth part of an inch; while the entire suspending apparatus may be firmly screwed to the stone back of the clock-case, and thus afford a very steady means of suspension, quite independent of the clockwork. By this means an alteration of the rate of the clock may be effected without stopping it; and an alteration to any required ‘amount may be at once effected, after it has been ascertained by experiment what change is made in the rate by moving the micrometer index through a given number of the degrees of its circle. A leaden tube, such as here described, can be very easily drawn at any place where leaden tubes are manufactured, and is the cheapest and best material for the purpose. It will be proper to prepare the deal rod by baking; then by passing it through a cork in the upper part of the receiver of an air pump, the ends of it can be dipped into melted shell lac after the air has been extracted; the readmission of the air will drive the lac into the pores; its pRecey surface should also be made of the colour of lead by rubbing it with black lead, a matter well known to be of considerable importance; and when the parts of the pendulum are put together, all may be varnished. On the Importance of forming new Empirical Tables for finding the Moon’s Place. By J. W. Luszock, Esq. During the last and the present century the tables for finding the places of the moon and planets have been so much improved that they may now be considered as sufficiently accurate for the purposes of navigation. If therefore astronomical tables were to be viewed merely with reference to the facilities which are obtained through their means for long voyages, astronomers might be said to have ac- complished all that was expected from them. Astronomers, how- ever, have never been satisfied with this view of the question, but they have constantly endeavoured to reach by calculation and theory the same degree of accuracy as that which is obtained in fixed observa- tories with the best instruments. This being the case much remains to be accomplished. The expressions for the longitude and latitude of the moon, to which I shall confine myself in the following re- marks, have not yet arrived at the desired precision, although the difficulties which remain to be overcome are by no means insur- mountable. The most remarkable works on the theory of the moon, on account of their extent, are those of MM. Damoiseau and Plana. M. Damoiseau’s work, to which a prize was adjudged by the French Institut, was published by that learned body in the Mémoires des Savans Etrangers. M. Damoiseau has pushed to an almost in- credible extent the approximation, following closely the method given by Laplace in the Méc. Cel., and originally chosen by Clairaut. But M. Damoiseau’s calculations are so conducted and are presented in such a shape, that it would be next to impossible to verify them, nor do I think that such a verification will ever be attempted. ae! TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 13 The publication of M. Plana’s work constitutes a new era in the question, from the circumstance that the results are therein deve- loped by M. Plana according to powers of the eccentricities, inclina- tions, &c., and also of the quantity m, which denotes the ratio of the sun’s mean motion to that of the moon. The methods employed by M. Plana are otherwise similar to those of M. Damoiseau, but M. Plana’s results possess the inestimable advantage of permitting each term of which a coefficient is composed to be verified sepa- rately. The form in which M. Plana’s results are presented also enables us to examine them with facility and to judge of their con- vergence. Unfortunately we soon find that the expressions for the coefficients in many cases do not converge, so that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to push the approximation so far as to arrive a priori at expressions upon which reliance can be placed for the prin- cipal inequalities, such for example as the annual equation in longi- tude*. In consequence of this difficulty I wish to call the attention of the Section to the importance of deducing the numerical values of these coefficients from the best observations empirically, and of thus con- structing new Lunar Tables, which may serve to check the results obtained by theory, and which may be in form unobjectionable. The Tables of Burckardt, otherwise of great merit, and the best empiri- cal Tables of the Moon at present in existence, were constructed before theory had been brought to its present state ; and their form is such that it would be difficult to render them available in the manner I have pointed out. M. Plana has pushed the approximation to so great an extent that if his figures could be depended upon the subject might perhaps be considered as exhausted practically ; but notwithstanding M. Plana’s great skill and care, of which I am well convinced, it is unlikely that calculations of such prodigious difficulty and complexity should be free from errors. The construction of empirical Lunar Tables such as I have recom- mended resolves itself into a question of expense; for we have com- puters in this country who are competent to undertake a work of this nature under proper guidance. On the Action of Crystallized Surfaces upon Common and Polarized Light. By Sir Davin Brewster, K.G.H., V.P.R.S.Ed. In the year 1819 I submitted to the Royal Society a series of ex- periments on the action of crystallized surfaces on common and polarized light. These experiments established in the clearest man- * According to M. Plana this ceefficient contains the following terms : 735 1261 149817 .5e4 wae 3 pedests 5X | Sante AE oe 3m+ 16 m3 + - m* +- 96 m™ 3257665 964470235 cea. pl fesse tdenede SNES 4 + —376-™ 55296" ++ “° 14 SIXTH REPORT.-—1836. ner that the interior forces, which produce double refraction, extend within the sphere of the ordinary reflecting force, and modify its ac- tion not only in polarizing common light and changing the planes of polarized light, but in reflecting different quantities of light at different angles of incidence. These experiments excited no attention among those who were studying the theories of light till 1835, when they attracted the no- tice of Mr. Maccullagh, of Trinity College, Dublin, who was then engaged in investigating the laws which regulate the reflexion and refraction of light at the separating surface of two media. From principles analogous to those employed by Fresnel, Mr. Maccullagh has anticipated effects quite the reverse of those de- duced from my experiments ; and in order to account for the latter he was obliged to abandon to a certain degree the physical ideas of Fresnel in so far as to make the vibrations of the wave parallel to its plane of polarization, in place of perpendicular to it. From the theory thus modified Mr. Maccullagh has shown that when a ray is polarized by reflection from a crystal the plane of polarization de- viates from the plane of incidence, except when the azis lies in the lat- ter plane. The formula which expresses this deviation represents very accurately the measures of the polarizing angles in different azimuths, which I have obtained in the only surface in which the exception is true; but at all other inclinations of the reflecting plane to the axis, the formula and the theory are in fault, as there isa large deviation when the axis or principal section of the crystal is in the plane of reflexion. After the publication of my paper of 1519 I had more than once resumed the subject ; but the difficulty of obtaining highly polished surfaces of calcareous spar at different inclinations to the axis forced me to abandon the inquiry. When I found, however, that Mr. Maccullagh had succeeded in deducing from theory the general fact of a deviation increasing as the refractive power of the medium ap- proached to that of the spar, I had no doubt that he would bring the more complex phenomena under the dominion of theory, provided I could furnish him with their physical law. In this expectation I devoted my whole time to the inquiry during the last winter, with more knowledge of the subject and better means of observation ; and I should have made much greater progress than I have done had I been able to procure crystals of calcareous spar suited to my pur- pose. In this difficulty I applied to the British Museum through Mr. Kénig, for some useless fragments of their specimens, but I was mortified to find that an Act of Parliament prohibited even the dust of a crystal from being removed from its walls. The difficulty which I experienced in obtaining crystals with planes sufficiently regular and polished, obliged me to work with artificially polished surfaces; and I have to express my obligations to Mr. Nicol, of Edinburgh, for the kindness and the love of science which led him to polish with his own hands the surfaces which I required. rt TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 15 In attempting to give the Section some idea of the nature and singularity of the results which I obtained, I shall omit all details, and confine myself to the statement of the general phenomena. When light is reflected at the separating surface of two media, the lowermost of which is a doubly refracting one, the reflected ray is exposed to the action of two forces, one of which is the ordinary reflecting force, and the other a force which emanates from the in- terior of the doubly refracting crystal. When the first medium is air, or even water, the first of these forces overpowers the second; and in general the effects of the one are so masked by the effects of the other that I was obliged to use oil of cassia,—a fluid of high refractive power,—in order that the interior force of the calcareous spar, which I wished to examine, might exhibit its effects independ- ently of those which arise from ordinary reflexion. The separating surface therefore which I used had a small refractive power, and the reflecting pencil is so attenuated, especially in using polarized light, that it is almost impossible to use any other light than that of the sun. When a pencil of common light is reflected from the separating surface of oil of cassia and calcareous spar, the general action of the spar is to polarize a part of the ray in a plane perpendicular to that of the reflexion, and thus to produce by reflexion the very same effect that other surfuces do by refraction. On the face of calcareous spar perpendicular to the axis of the cry- stal the effect is exactly the same in all azimuths, but in every other face the effect varies in different azimuths and depends upon the in- clination of the face to the axis of double refraction. On the natu- ral face of the rhomb common light is polarized in the plane of re- flexion in 0° of azimuth, or in the plane of the principal section; ‘but at 38° of azimuth the whole pencil is polarized at right angles to the plane of reflexion, and in other azimuths the effect is nearly the same as I have stated in my printed paper. In order, however, to observe the change which ‘is actually pro- duced upon light it is necessary to use two pencils, one polarized + 45°, and the other — 45° to the plane of incidence. The planes of polarization of these pencils are inclined 90° to each other, and the invariable effect of the new force is to augment that angle in the same manner as is done by a refracting surface, while the tendency of the ordinary reflective force is to diminish the same angle. Hence I was led to make an experiment in which these opposite forces might compensate one another. I mixed oil of olives and oil of cassia till I obtained a compound of such a refractive power that its action in bringing together the planes of polarization should be equal to the action of the new force in separating them. Upon reflecting the com- pound pencil from this surface I was delighted to find that the ineli- ‘nation of the planes was still 90°, and J thus obtained the extraor- inary result of a reflecting surface which possessed no action what- ever upon common or upon polarized light. The action of the new force when the plane of reflexion coincides ‘with the principal section of the crystal is obviously inexplicable by 16 SIXTH REPORT.—1836. any theory of light, though I have no doubt that the undulatory theory will ultimately accommodate itself to this as well as to other classes of phenomena which it does not at present embrace. ‘The difficulty, however, is increased by another result of my experiments which it is important to notice. On the faces of the spar which are inclined 0°, 45°, and 90° to the axis of double refraction, the action of the new force is symmetrical upon the two pencils of polarized light, whose planes are inclined + 45°, and — 45° to the plane of in- cidence, whereas in all intermediate faces: whose inclination to the axis is 224° and 674°, the plane of one of the polarized rays remains stationary, while that of the other is turned round 15°. This effect is undoubtedly a very extraordinary one, and indicates some singular structure in calcareous spar, the nature of which it is not easy to conjecture. I have examined these phenomena by using in place of oil of cassia various fluids whose refractive powers descend gradually to that of water; but it would be a waste of time to give any detailed account of them at present. I shall only state that the action of the new force becomes weaker and weaker as the force of ordinary reflexion is increased by diminishing the refractive power of the oil which is placed in contact with the spar. With an oil of the highest refractive index the action of the new force predominates over the feeble power of the ordinary force of reflexion. With an oil of a lower index the two forces exactly balance each other, while with oils of still lower indices of refraction the ordinary force overcomes and conceals the action of the new one. Although I have obtained pretty accurate measures of the amount of the deviations produced by the new force on eight surfaces differ- ently inclined to the axis, and in various azimuths on these surfaces, yet many experiments are still necessary before we can hope to dis- cover the physical law of the phenomena ; and if this should be done I have no doubt that Mr. Maccullagh will be equally successful in the higher attempt of accounting for them by some modification of the undulatory theory. On a singular Development of Polarizing Structure in the Crystalline Lens after Death. By Sir Davin Brewster, K.G.H., V.P.R.S.Ed. In examining the changes which are produced by age in the polarizing structure of the crystalline lenses of animals, | was in- duced to compare these changes with those which I conceived might take place, after death, when the lens was allowed to indurate in the air, or was preserved in a fluid medium. After many fruitless ex- periments I found that distilled water was the only fluid which did not affect the transparency of the capsule, and my observations were therefore made with lenses immersed in that fluid. The general polarizing structure of the crystalline in the sheep, horse, and cow, consists of three rings, each composed of four sectors of polarized Ut eee eee eee eee er rloeeree i ‘ F TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 17 light, the two innermost rings being positive like zircon, and the outermost negative, like calcareous spar. In other cases, especially when the lenses were taken from older animals, four rings were seen, the innermost of which was positive as before,and the rest ne- gative and positive in succession. I now placed alens which gave three rings, in a glass trough con- taining distilled water, and I observed the changes which it experienced from day today. ‘These changes were such as I had not anicipated ; but though I have observed and delineated them under various modi- fications, I shall confine myself at present to the statement of the ge- neral result. There is a b/ack ring between the two positive structures or luminous rings. After some hours’ immersion in distilled water, this black ring becomes brownish, and on the second day after the death of the animal, a faint blue ring of the first order makes its appearance in the middle of it, and its double refraction, as exhibited by its polarized tint, increases from day to day, till the tint reaches the white of the first order. Simultaneously with this change of colour, the breadth of this new Ting gradually increases, encroaching slightly upon the inner positive ring, but considerably upon the second positive ring; so that the black or neutral ring which sepa- rates the two positive structures, and in the middle of which a new luminous ring is created, divides itself into two black neutral rings, the one advancing outwards, and diminishing the breadth as well as the intensity of the second series of positive sectors, and the other advancing inwards, and diminishing the breadth and intensity of the inner or central sectors. While these changes are going on, the outer luminous or negative ring advances inwards, encroaching also on the second positive ring. Upon examining the character of the new luminous ring, the de- velopment of which has produced all these changes, I found it to be negative, so that at a certain stage of these variations we have a post- tive and a negative doubly refracting structure succeeding each other alternately, from the centre to the circumference of the lens, such as I have often observed in lenses taken from animals of greater age, and examined immediately after death. After this stage of perfect development, when there is a marked symmetry both ‘in the relative size and polarizing intensities of the four series of sectors, the lens begins to break up. The new negative ring encroaches so much on the two positive ones, which it separates, that the outer one is sometimes completely extinguished, while the breadth and tint of the inner sectors are greatly diminished, so that the highest double refraction exists in the newly developed ring. In a day or two this ring also experiences a great change of distinctness and intensity, and the lens commonly bursts on the fifth or sixth day, sometimes in the direction of the septa or lines where its fibres have their origin and termination, and sometimes in other directions. In order to give a general idea of the cause of these singular changes, I may state that the capsule which incloses the lens is a highly elastic membrane—that it absorbs distilled water abundantly Vou. V. 1836. c 18 SIXTH REPORT.—1836. —and that, in consequence of this property, the lens gradually in- creases in bulk, and becomes more globular, till the capsule bursts with the expansive force of the overgrown lens. That the reaction of the elastic capsule contributes to modify the polarizing structure of the interior mass, cannot admit of a doubt, as it is easy te prove that that structure is altered by mechanical pressure; but I cannot conceive how such a reaction could create a new negative structure between two positive ones, and produce the other phenomena which I have described. I have been led therefore to the opimion, that there is in the crystalline lens the germ of the perfect structure, or rather the capability of its being developed by the absorption of the aqueous humour; that this perfect structure is not produced till the animal frame is completely formed; and that when it begins to. decay the lens changes its density and its focal length, and some- times degenerates into that state which is characterized by hard and soft cataract. The results of which I have now given an extecdt nelly brief notice, appear to me to afford a satisfactory explanation of those changes in the Jens which terminate in cataract, a disease which seems to be more prevalent than in former times. Accidental circumstances have led me to study the progress of this disease in one peculiar case, in which it was arrested and cured; and I am sanguine in the hope that a rational method of preventing, and even of stopping the progress of this alarming disease, before the laminz of the lens have been greatly separated or decomposed, may be deduced from the preceding observations. ae As the experiments, however, and views upon which this ex- pectation is founded, are more of a physiological than of a physical nature, I am desirous of submitting an account of them to the Me- dical Section, that they may undergo that strict examination which they could receive only from the experience and science of that di- stinguished body. ‘On the Laws of Double Refraction in Quartz. By J. M‘Curuacs, Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. Among the desiderata of optical science, one of the most remark- able is a mechanical theory of the laws of double refraction in quartz, or rock-crystal. These laws, which, as far as we know, are pecu- liar to that crystal, were made out by the successive labours of Ara- go, Biot, Fresnel, and Airy; of whose researches a full account has been given in the Report on Physical Optics, drawn up for the Association by Professor Lloyd*. But the laws so discovered were merely isolated facts ; no connexion had been traced amongst them, if we except Fresnel’s beautiful explanation of the rotatory phzeno- mena. It was the object of Mr. M‘Cullagh’s communication to * Reports of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, vol. iii. p. 405—409. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS, 19 prepare the way for a mechanical theory, by showing that all the phenomena may be grouped together by means of a simple geome- trical hypothesis, which consists in the addition of certain terms (involving only one new constant,) to the ordinary differential equa- tions of vibratory motion. ‘The ordinary equations contain two se- cond differential coefficients of the displacements—one with respect to the time, the other with respect to the coordinate z, perpendicular to the wave. The additional terms may be any odd differential co- efficients (with respect to z) of the alternate displacements, these coefficients being multiplied by a proper function of the length of a wave. The third differential coefficients are chosen for simplicity, because then the multiplier is a constant quantity. Setting out from this hypothesis, we arrive immediately at all the known laws, and obtain at the same time a law that was previously unknown, and which is technically called the law of ellipticity. This law is ex- tremely simple, being expressed by a quadratic equation. Two sets of experiments, made long ago by different observers, and re- lative to two classes of phenomena, between which no connexion was hitherto perceived, are now, by the law of ellipticity, connected in such a way, that the one may be computed solely from the data furnished by the other ; the ellipticities observed by Mr. Airy in rays inclined to the axis of quartz, being computed from the angles of rotation observed by M. Biot in rays parallel to that axis, and a strict agreement being found between calculation and experiment. The discontinuous form of the wave-surface in quartz is also ex- plained, and its equation for the first time determined. The parti- culars of the investigation will be published in Vol. XVII. of the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy. On Polarization. By the Rev. Epwarp Crate. - The Rev. Mr. Craig read a paper to show that the phenomena of polarization are consequences and indications of the molecular struc- ture of refracting substances, and explicable by it; illustrating his views by some uniaxal crystals, and particularly the Iceland spar. On some Phenomena of Electrical Repulsion. By Wu. Snow Harais, F.R.S. The only connected and extensive series of experiments in statical electricity which have ever appeared are those of Coulombe, com- municated to the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris so long since as the years 1782 and 1789; since which time, if we except the valuable contributions of Professor Robison of Edinburgh, little has been effected in this department of science. Coulombe’s highly important researches, however, altogether rest upon the principle of electrical repulsion, employed as a quantitative measure, through the agency of the proof plane and the torsion balance. The author therefore considers, that some further verification of the experi- mental processes resorted to by this distinguished philosopher is still a c 2 20 SIXTH REPORT.—1836. desideratum in common electricity, more especially as it may be shown that the divergence of similarly electrified bodies is, in its application to quantitative processes, liable to much discrepancy. The author exhibited his new species of balance, some account of which he had already submitted to the Physical Section at the last Meeting of the Association; since this however it had undergone considerable revision. The reactive force of this in- strument, termed a biple balance from the peculiar principle of its action, is not derived from elasticity as in the balance of torsion of Coulombe, but is altogether dependent on gravity; it seems ex- tremely well adapted to the measurement of small forces generally, and to researches in electricity and magnetism, and may be con- verted if required into a balance of torsion, free from many difficul- ties of a mechanical kind, generally attendant on the employment of that instrument. In examining the operation of the repulsive foree between two small insulated discs of “4 of an inch in diameter, the author finds that the repulsion is not always in the ratio of the quantity of electricity with which either, or both the discs is charged; or as the squares of the distances inversely, according to the general expres- F sion D: deducible from Coulombe’s researches. ‘That hence the two constants RR of which we may suppose the force F to be made up, do not necessarily enter into the composition of the result, so as to cause the total force to increase or diminish with the elec- tricity contained in either. The author here referred to the tabulated results of above five hundred experiments, taken in a good insulating atmosphere. In these experiments the discs were both equally and unequally charged with electricity in known proportions, and placed at various distances apart. From these results it appeared, First, that the forces were only as the squares of the distances inversely when the repelling bodies were equally charged, and to a moderately high intensity, and even then this law did not always ob- tain at all distances; when the discs began to closely approximate the law was observed to vary, and at last to approach that of the i in- verse simple distance. Second, the deviations from the general law deducible from Cou- lombe’s experiments are more apparent as the intensity of the charge is diminished, the inequality of the respective quantities with which each body is charged greater, and the distance less; under any or all of these conditions, the rate of increase of the repulsive force dimi- nishes, and the repulsion is at length superseded by attraction. Third, the quantity of electricity contained in either of the re- pelling bodies is not always in the ratio of the repulsive forces : thus it was seen by the tabulated results, that the respective quantities of electricity at a constant distance D were in several instances in the ratio of 2:1 and 4:1, whilst the corresponding forces of repulsion were as 3:1 and 5:1 respectively. Hence the electrical reactions may be in one proportion, and the quantities of electricity in another. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SKCTIONS. 21 Although these results may seem at first anomalous, yet they are still such as would necessarily arise out of the known operation of electrical induction. The inductive process is not confined to the case of a charged and neutral body, but operates more or less freely even between bodies similarly charged: whatever therefore be the precise nature of the inductive force, it is present in every case of statical electrical action, although under certain conditions the re- sulting attraction attendant on it is not always apparent, or is otherwise of a negative character; the tendency of the inductive action being first, to raise the anti-attractive state of the bodies to zero, if such previously exist; secondly, to generate in them an actual attractive force. He conceives, therefore, that no essential difference exists in this process, whether it take place between si- milarly or dissimilarly charged bodies, or between a charged and a neutral body. The only distinction necessary is, that in the latter ease the induction commences at a limit which may be termed zero ; in the former cases it commences either above or under that limit. The author considers that electrical induction between two similarly charged bodies, may become indefinitely modified by the various circumstances of quantity, intensity, distance of the repelling bodies, and the like, giving rise to apparently complicated phenomena, as he thinks is evident in his tabulated results. One condition favour- able to the disturbances above mentioned, and of importance to notice, is the inequality of the repelling bodies in respect of ex- tension. ‘Thus in connecting an insulated sphere with the fixed ball of the balance, the force. between the discs will be often in the simple inverse ratio of the distance, or at least very nearly in that ratio, and will be frequently in the ratio of 3:1, when the quantity of elec- tricity on the charged sphere is as 2: 1. The author considers these facts of great consequence to any ex- perimental inquiry in electricity through the agency of repulsion, more especially those connected with the use of the proof plane. The relative electrical capacities of a hollow sphere and a circular plate of equal area, each side to each side, as determined by Cou- lombe’s method, is involved in some uncertainty on this account. In the detail of Coulombe’s experiments, given in Biot’s celebrated Traité de Physique, the capacities of the plane and sphere appear to be in the ratio of 2:1. Hence the plane is considered to have a double surface of action, the interior surface of the sphere not par- ticipating in the distribution of the charge. ‘The result of the con- tact however of the plane and sphere, and from which it is inferred that the electricity became finally shared between them, in proportion to their exterior surfaces, dces not seem to have been compared with the result of a similar contact between the charged sphere anda neutral sphere of the same diameter. According to the theory, the electrical reactions after contact with the plate should greatly ex- ceed that after contact with a similar sphere; it should in fact be the same as that after contact with a sphere whose exterior surface was equal to the two surfaces of the plate. This point deserves 22 SIXTH REPORT.—1836. great attention since it is of importance to an exact theory of elec- tricity. The author submitted to experiment under various conditions, two equal spheres and a circular plate of the same extent of surface, each side to each side, and found their electrical capacities precisely the same. ‘Thus the result of the contact with the charged sphere and a similar neutral sphere, or with a circular neutral plate, was precisely the same. The same quantity of electricity disposed either upon the sphere or plate, in connexion with the fixed ball of the balance, evinced the same intensity ; and this intensity became also equally diminished, whilst thus connected, whether the charged body was touched with a sphere or circular plane of the same area. The author does not pretend to question the faithfulness of Cou- lombe’s experiment, but considers his result embarrassed by the cir- cumstances just mentioned ; more especially as he found, that when the electricity was equally distributed upon the repelling discs of the balance, and the square roots of the forces taken to determine the respective quantities of electricity, then the apparent differences in the capacities of the sphere and plate vanished ; he considers there- fore that the traces of repulsion indicated by the balance did not in Coulombe’s experiment truly represent the ratio of the quantities of electricity before and after the contact between the sphere and plate. These results were further verified by means of the attractive forces, through the agency of a new electrometer, and which the author exhibited and explained to the Physical Section at a former meeting of the Association. The author next proceeded to consider more at large the operation of the proof plane, and presented to the Section the results of numerous experiments on tangent planes of various degrees of thickness and extension, from which it appeared that the indications of the proof plate might be so materially in- fluenced by the circumstances of position, intensity of the charge, thickness, and the like, as not always to become charged, either with a similar quantity or in the ratio of the quantity of electricity with the point of the electrified body to which it is applied. In treating of the proof plane, philosophers have considered its action in more than one point of view. Mons. Biot states that it takes up upon each of its surfaces as much electricity as exists upon the point touched, hence on removal it is charged with twice the quantity of electricity as that of the corresponding superficial element. Mons. Pouillet, on the contrary, considers the proof plane to be in precisely the same state as the superficial element itself, and to be on removal in the same condition as a similar portion of the charged body would be, if actually taken out of its surface, that is to say, the electricity would be first collected on one surface, and be subsequently expand- ed on both; each surface has therefore only half the quantity of the superficial element, and the proof plane comes away charged with the same quantity, but under a diminished intensity. The author deems it worthy of further inquiry, whether the proof plane be really iden- tical with an element of the charged surface, or whether it be merely TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 23 in the condition of a neutral insulated body of small capacity, placed within an extremely small distance of a charged body; and subject to the same laws as subsist between two such bodies under ordinary circumstances at more considerable distances, but at which a com- munication of electricity can take place, a rigorous examination of this question would probably elucidate many phenomena of elec- trical action, at present involved in some obscurity. In the mean- time he thinks it not unimportant to review such facts connected with this point as are already known. It has been found, for ex- ample, that the attractive force between charged and neutral bodies is less when the neutral bodies are insulated, that very perfect in- sulators are not sensibly attracted by electrified substances, and that in every case of electrical attraction the force is only in proportion to the previous induction of which the bodies are susceptible ; in ac- cordance with these facts, a perfectly insulating disc reposes on a charged surface without becoming sensibly electrified, an insulated neutral conducting disc more or less so in proportion to its thick- ness, whilst a similar disc, whose inductive susceptibility is rendered nearly perfect by artificial methods, becomes charged with an in- tensity nearly equal to that of the point to which it is applied. Should therefore the inductive susceptibility of the tangent disc be so influenced by position, in respect of the electrical molecules of the charged body, as to become at any time nothing; it would be as in- efficient in abstracting electricity, as a similar disc of any noncon- ducting substance. Now it is not improbable that an insulated con- ducting body of small dimensions, plunged within a spherical charged shell, is thus circumstanced ; and hence it fails to become in any de- gree charged, notwithstanding that electricity may, experimentally, be clearly proved to exist there. From these and a variety of other considerations, the author is disposed to believe, that the force communicated to a proof plane can- not always be considered as a faithful indication of the electrical state of a charged surface, since it forms no integral part of that sur- face, being really placed under the conditions of an insulated neutral body of small and variable capacity, arising from the circumstances of position, thickness, and the like, and which is about to receive electricity from a charged body. He thinks that we really know little about the actual distribution of electricity upon a charged sur- face, except through the medium of insulated discs, in some way applied to it. Now he has already shown* that any charged body only gives off its electricity under the influence of an attractive force; so that an electrified sphere, when completely insulated, will retain its charge in the best vacuum which can be obtained by ordinary means, provided it be free from any sensible source of attraction. It _ is not therefore until we employ some substance susceptible of in- duction, that we begin to disturb the electrical distribution in charged bodies, which may be previously uniform or nearly so. In conclusion, the author observed, that our present theories of electricity may probably be found to require some considerable mo- * Phil. Trans. for 1854, p. 242. 24 SIXTH REPORT.—1836. dification, and thought the subject highly worthy of the learning and ability so conspicuously displayed by the English mathematicians. He did not consider the ordinary theory of electrical distribution, or the experimental data on which it depended to be so completely free from objection, as to render all doubts of its accuracy unpardonable ; he thinks that the attractive forces between charged and neutral bodies ‘in a free state depend only on the surfaces immediately op- posed, without regard to any hypothetical distribution arising from the peculiar form or disposition of the unopposed parts ; he has cal- culated from very simple elements, the force which should arise be- tween opposed planes and spheres, and bodies of various forms, whether connected or not with other masses, without any reference whatever to the distribution of the charge, and finds the result veri- fied by experiment. A Series of Experiments in Electro-magnetism, with Reference to its Application as a Moving Power. By the Rev. J. W. M‘Gautey. Mr. M‘Gauley thought it might not be inappropriate to men- tion to the Section what he had done in the application of electro- magnetism to machinery since the last meeting of the British Asso- ciation. He would mention the principal difficulties which remained to be overcome, after the construction of the working model he had exhibited at Dublin. ‘These, he believed, he had overcome, and had in his possession a machine of not inconsiderable power. lst. Powerful magnets were to be constructed: the ordinary ones were very imperfect, and their effect limited to inconsiderable di- stances; their size could not be very great, as the helix must be propor- tioned to the iron, to saturate it, and yet cannot extend beyond a certain distance from it, or it will be inefficient, perhaps of inju- rious effect. A number of coiled bars cannot be united so as to form one great magnet : their poles could not be reversed, they would act on each other in a greater or less degree by induction. 2ndly. The action of several magnets cannot easily be united, since all the poles cannot be reversed at the same time precisely. 3rdly. If we succeed in uniting their action, that action is not easily applied to machinery : for let B be a bar of iron traversing between the magnets Mand M’. Let B be the position of the Fig. 1. bar when C Ris the position B B’ of the crank, B’ its position M’ Cc when the crank is at CR’, aM ~~ R’ dead point: if the bar is not Mit ota ready to leave the magnet M’, the inertia of the machinery it carries on the crank, and the engine is broken, or the bar torn off, - which very often deranges the reversion of the poles, nor can the mechanism applied in other cases to prevent this injurious effect, be here adopted. Mr. M‘Gauley exhibited a reversing apparatus, different from that noticed last year, in which mercury is not required, and the difficulty ooh TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS, 25 of attaching it to the machinery, so as to be worked by it, is over- come. He reserved for a future occasion its description. The following experiments he had tried with great care, securing, as far as possible, by cleaning the battery, renewing the charge, &c., a perfect identity of circumstances, without which a fair com- parison could not be made. Tue HEtix. Magnet, No. 1.—Horse-shoe soft ir the poles ; on. bar, 134 inches across 5} interior, 72 exterior length; diameter of the bar 24 inches ; keeper 133 inches long, 24 and 3 used in all experiments with magnets of the same size. thick. This keeper The mag- net covered with sealing-wax varnish before it was coiled like the others used in these experiments. No. 13 copper wire, in 10 equal helices. double cell charged with 1 in 50 sulphu It was coiled with 1690 feet of The battery 1 foot square ; ric, 1 in 100 nitric acid ; lifted at distance of 53, inch, 42 Ibs. PCR eee Removed one of the coils, and used similar charge, it lifted at 35 inch, 74 ibs. 3 37 — Used thicker wires at the poles of magnet and batteries, at 335 inch, 143 ]bs. 3, —— 42 — 20 Same magnet, charge, &c. one coil of same wire, 150 feet ef- fect at 3 perceptible, lifted in contact 124 lbs. Same magnet, &c., two coils, 300 feet, lifted at 3; .. 521bs. Same magnet, &c., three coils, 450 feet, lifted at 3 inch, 21 Ibs. y ae Fi 8 i ig---+ 9 Same magnet, &c., four coils, 600 feet, at : % inch, 24 Ibs. z 5 Am 33 } dieax ae bwded Same magnet, &c., five coils, 750 feet, 3 inch, perceptible eect 3 BREESE: sa: : EE I 5 . Be esc tat Same magnet, six coils, 900 ft. 4 inch, 32 lbs. 3 A aes wniete he Te +--+» 18h Same magnet, &c., seven coils, 1050 feet, alpina 2 oi \ barely &--+. f perceptible. BO nm a e.... 53 ee 19i Same magnet, &c., eight coils, 1200 feet, 2 inch, 72 lbs. pies a@s:-++ 43 Fy -.+. 83 vei... 802 Te Same magnet, &c., nine coils, 1350 feet, at 4 inch, 5+ lbs. Bw 3 Se lke is keg 9i1 16° pales” 26 SIXTH REPORT.—1836. Same magnet, batteries, &c., all the coils remaining on the bar ; average of a number of experiments : Ibs. lbs. 1 of the coils connected with 2 helices forming one, 53 battery.” .fe. ss Siane)#'s =< Bet Oe a ote eae ae 44 Soke ne anaes tales as wa SE gag Bie testi ite 74 EP ee Pe ess leno ete EES PND wo le oss bo inte ae 64 MII HOMO aaa Vics o!S'e eo & 6 Ne eee 0 SAS We SOE. el ails Lago Ss AIO. 2 ieee - 43 GIGISA HE bn ne ABS. SA oe 183 Passe Dt S PU MREA DIE ts 223 BAL. RAN ten Uh Ce Se FEE io 262 Bi tat ORAL RE IO, A yb Tor Srconp SERIEs. No. 1.—Horse-shoe iron bar, 93 inches long, 1% diameter, sur- mounted at poles By ground discs, 4 inches diameter, 3 thick. Keeper, 9 long, 4,%; wide, and 7 thick, coiled with 5CO feet No. 15 iron wire, in oe equal Helicon? charge, 1 in 50 sulphuric, 1 in 100 nitric acid: at 51, inch, it lifted 6 lbs. Magnet, No. 2.—Same size, coiled with 500 feet No. 13 copper wire in 5 coils; same charge &c. : at 4 inch, it lifted 4 lbs. a Magnet, No. 3. eS size, coiled with 500 feet No. 12 iron wire, at # inch, it lifted 14 Ibs. is” Fig. 2 Magnet. No. 4.—Same size, but discs or poles replaced by pins, retaining iol vey the coils on the bar 500 feet No. 12 iron wire. Same battery, &c. Hardly any effect. THIRD SERIEs. In the other series, the charge is changed before every experiment. In this, the same charge is retained throughout. Magnet, No. 1.—Soft iron square horse-shoe bar, 7? long, $ square, coiled with 90 feet No. 13 copper wire. Magnet, No. 2.—Cast iron, same size and helix. Magnet, No. 3.—Same size, but round bar diameter 3, coiled with 90 feet of same wire, in two lengths each, distributed over the whole bar. Magnet, No. 4.—Same size and coiled with 60 feet, in two he- lices; one on each half of bar; number of coils increasing from centre to poles ; charge 1 in 50 sulp., 1 in 100 muriatic acid ; keeper, 52 inches long, 4 wide, } thick. al TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 27 Ibs. oz. Magnet, No. 1 lifted in contact 25 33 Pie es e's «SOBs bE ‘ B Pees Per. SO SIS Fourta SERIES. To test the comparative excellence of different charges, the gal- vanometer used on this occasion, was M, a small but good mag- net; N,a needle, at zero, where the magnet was connected with battery B, two inches square. The first deflection was carefully noted; the number of degrees at which the needle settled down, and the deflection after every quarter of an hour for six quarters. Rain water was used; sulphuric acid, specific gravity 1840; nit., spec. grav. 1410; muriatic, spec. grav. 1175; solution of caustic potash, saturated. 1st. |Settled| 1st. Def.| def. |Quarter.| 294. | 3rd. | 4th. | 5th. | 6th, Se . | Rain-water and nitric acid...... 1 in 21 parts| 90°) 52° | 324 | 16%] 113] 43] 33] 3 ; 31 38 | 273 | 153 |13 | 6%| 52] 34 | 23 ; 41 46 | 40 | 31 |14%| 8| 34] 23] 3 51 38 | 34. | 26g |193] 74/5 | 3 | & | Rain-water and sulphuric acid, 1 in 21 88 | 44 154 |183] 93] 8%] 8%] 7 31 49 | 302 | 10 | 72} 64] 5 | 4 | 3 41 67 | 44 | 15 | sa| 5k] 4g] 4 | 28 ; 51 333] 24 34 25) 2 0 | 0 0 Rain-water and muriat., ..... 1 in 41 97 | 333 7% | 64| 3 | 0;01/0 : cases tiara 58 | 22 | 9 | 6/0] 0]0 J0 | Solution caustic potash .........ses08+ 80 | 19 72 | 7 | 5B) 44] 22] 12 | Sulp. 1 in 414, nit. ............ 1 in 83 98 | 48 | 24 |11 | 72] 6 | 54] 4% —— 1 in 263, — ............ 1 in 53 82 | 60 24 155| 95| 73] 62 | 53 | — 1in1613, — ............1 in 323 233] 203 (Es 4 13} 3] 0 0 i 1in 2014, — ............1 in 403 50 | 23 2 | 0/]0;]0/;]0 ]0 } Muriat. 1 in 52; sulp. ......... 1 in 52 35 | 25 7% | G3E| 53| 43] 43] 33 — lin 52; nit. «..... .» Lin 52 115 | 623 | 28% |183/153/10 | 0 | 0 1 in 523; sulp. ...... 1 in 103 85 | 463 | 10 6 33; 010 0 | Solution caustic potash and sulp. lin 51 88 | 45 83 | 63| 4 | 0/0 | 0 — —_——— and nit. lin 51 43 | 0 0 0 0 0|0 0 ————_—_—_———_ and mur. lin 51 25 | 18 0 0 | 0 0{|0 10 ‘| Sea water from Dublin bay .........++. % | 0 0 0o/0;}0/0)0 1 —_—_——_ ——_——-and sulp. lin 51 35 | 26 13 8 | 53| 3%] 0 | 0 |- — and nit. 1 in 51 95 | 55 338% |153| 93) 0 | 0 | 0 | } Sulp., nit., and muriat., each 1 in 53 95 | 59 40 16 }10 | 8}]0 )0 28 SIXTH REPORT.—1836. Mr. M‘Gauley wished to satisfy himself by experiment, that the inverse ratio of the square of the distance is the law of the decrease of magnetic attraction, but relinquished the idea for the present, when he found that the same magnet would, with one keeper, lift one quantity at ;4; inch, with another the same quantity at 12 times the distances, both keepers seemingly appropriate. In speaking of the nature of electro-magnetism, and its perfect identity with electricity, he remarked, that we should if possible, in comparing any agent with electricity, discover some property of the latter, not the measure of, nor dependent on either its intensity or quantity, which may be so various. He attempted to show that the spark and shock obtained from an electro-magnet, and which indeed may be obtained from a mere heap of wire, are not the spark and shock either of the battery or the magnet; that currents cannot circulate perpetually round a mag- net, as the magnetism of a bar included in an helix, so far from in- creasing the effect of an helix, as it should by its current, may even be made totally to prevent it, and ought to do so if it be mere in- duced electricity, a supposition strengthened by the otherwise uni- versal law of electrical induction. He mentioned that he never was able to believe that the effect of a galvanic circle was the transmission of electricity from zinc to copper in any way, and back along a wire from copper to zinc, since the force which drove it through the fluid, an imperfect conductor, ought to prevent its return; and that he had frequently tried in vain with se- veral pairs of plates, arranged sing/y in galvanic order in waterproof cells, separated by glass plates, to deflect a needle. He believed it was the arrangement of particles, impossible in insulating substances, and not the transmission, which constituted galvanic excitement. This supposition of electricity being mere inductive arrangement of particles, he believed would unite and explain many different effects ; amongst others, the agitation of the muscles of a frog, on breaking connection with a single galvanic circle; the danger of discharges passing from cloud to cloud, and the shock obtained from a heap of wire connected with a galvanic battery of a single circle, Ona New Compass Bar, with Illustrations, by means of a recent Instru- ment, of the Susceptibility of Iron for the Magnetic Condition. Bu the Rev. W. Scoressy, B.D. F.R.S., Corresponding Member of the Institute of France, &c. Mr. Scoresby first exhibited to the Section a recent instrument named a magnetometer, invented by himself in the year 1819-20, for measuring minute magnetic attractions, and for finding the dip of the needle by the observation of the plane of no-attraction. ‘This instrument has its principal recommendation in securing unity of character in experiments on the magnetic condition, by enabling the experimentalist to try and compare the energy of magnetic bars or TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 29 needles by the deviations of a compass attached to the instrument, under perfectly analogous circumstances, as to the distance and re- lative position of the bars and the compass. By means of this instrument, the extreme susceptibility of soft tron for the magnetic condition, in the small measure of permanency belonging to that substance, was exhibited in the case of a cylin- drical bar of almost six inches in length and a quarter of an inch in diameter. This bar being laid in a groove of the moveable limb of the magnetometer, and adjusted in the plane of the magnetic equator, was shown to be entirely devoid of action upon the compass needle, only 1} inch distance; the bar was then cautiously removed, and, whilst held in a vertical position, was merely rubbed down two or three times by the naked hand, and then replaced as before on the instrument, when it was now found, very much in accordance with former experiments, to have acquired magnetism to the extent of producing a deviation of 5° on the needle of the contiguous com- pass. The object of this experiment was to point out the extreme cau- tion which is requisite to be observed in the mere moving or handling of the substances made use of in delicate magnetical investigations, such as the needles employed in experiments on the magnetizing in- fluence of the solar rays, since, as was now shown, the slightest concussion, or even the friction of the fingers on a bar of iron or soft steel favourably situated, may be productive of such striking effects. Mr. Scoresby’s new magnetical instrument, a compound compass needle or bar, was then exhibited to the Section, and its construc- tion, adjustments, and capabilities, as far as had hitherto been as- certained, were described. The bar, which was sixteen inches in length, consisted of six equal and similar plates or ribs of tempered steel, placed parallel to each other, but not in contact ; which ribs, in this case, were composed of the ordinary steel busks of the shops. It was suspended on a point of steel, and its weight partly borne, in any required proportion of the whole weight, by a single horse- hair (the torsion of which within the limited range of the vibrations of the bar was insensible), suspended from a spring fixed on a cross bar, supported on pillars, and adjusted in an exact vertical position above the centre of suspension. The magnetic position was indi- cated by a graduated arch in the top of the instrument, with a ver- nier attached to each end of the bar. The principle from which this bar was considered to have its superiority over a single bar of the same weight and magnitude, was stated to be, that several thin bars of tempered steel (tempered throughout the mass) are found to have a greater capacity for permanent magnetism than what is af- forded by the mere proportional of their mass similarly tempered, so that the six tempered bars were capable of receiving a degree of magnetic energy considerably greater than it was believed could be permanently induced in any single bar of equivalent mass, whatever might be its condition as to temper. 30 SIXTH REPORT.—1836. The author of this communication also mentioned some experi- ments illustrative of the general advantage of temper in bars or needles in a moderate degree of hardness throughout their length, instead of being tempered, as they usually are, both in sea compasses and in ordinary magnets, only at the ends. This result, which at first sight might seem at variance with those obtained by Captain Kater in his laborious investigations for determining the best con- struction for sea compasses, the author showed was not inconsistent with established principles ; for whilst he admitted the correctness of Captain Kater’s conclusion as to the superiority, in point of ori- ginal energy, in needles tempered only at the ends, he suggested that the ultimate advantage in long voyages, where great permanency is requisite, or under circumstances where the permanency of the energy is much tried, would probably be found in favour of tem- pered needles. At all events, in regard to compound needles and compound magnets, the author had abundant experimental evidence to prove that a thorough tempering is absolutely necessary for the adequate retention of the advantage gained by the combination of bars over single bars of equivalent mass. Experiments on Terrestrial Magnetic Intensity, especially in relation to the Influence of Height. By Professor Fores. These experiments were made with Hansteen’s apparatus, the property of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, chiefly in the years 1832 and 1835. ‘The author particularly proposed to himself the problem of the influence of height upon intensity, considering the observations of Kupffer to be quite inconclusive as well as those of preceding experimenters. He showed that by choosing stations at considerable elevations, and placed on a ridge so as to have compa- ratively low stations on either hand, the influence of geographical position in affecting the results may be eliminated ; the intensity at the lower level for a point vertically below the elevated station being obtained by interpolation, the difference between it and the observed intensity may be fairly attributed to the influence of height abstract- ing from local disturbing causes. To correct for these, and likewise to attain considerable numerical exactness, multiplicity of observa- tions is most desirable, nor can any satisfactory result be looked for from a single experiment. It appeared from the tables of Professor Forbes’s observations in the Alps and Pyrenees, that the sum of the heights to which the Hansteen apparatus has been carried by him, and which forms the basis of his induction, is more than 160,000 feet, or 30 vertical miles. The author stated that he had not yet submitted his observations to one system of calculation from which to deduce the elements of disturbance with the greatest accuracy ; but he pointed out from a great number of individual observations that had the diminution due TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 31 to height amounted to anything like that assigned by M. Kupffer, it could not have failed to be at once sensible. As it was, until those calculations were made he did not see sufficient evidence to prove any decided diminution*. On the Direction of Isoclinal Magnetic Lines in Yorkshire. By Pro- fessor Puiuies. Observing with reference to the course of the lines of equal dip on the earth’s surface that instances occurred, as for example between Ireland and England, of the abrupt flexure or shifting of the lines, for which no reason had been assigned, the author proposed to him- self to determine in a part of the North of England the exact course of the isoclinal lines across a country of very peculiar physical con- formation, so as to learn how far flexures and breaks of these lines depended on the relative height and mass of elevated land. The direction of the principal masses of high ground in Yorkshire is very favourable to such an inquiry, because the two great hilly regicns of the county are separated from each other by a wide, deep, level vale ranging along the actual magnetic meridian; and thus by select- ing points in two circles round the city of York as a centre, one constant point of reference could easily be had, and the experiments repeated as often as needed, in order to test completely the depend- ence of the direction of the magnetic lines on the geological and geographical configuration of the country. The researches, though incomplete, had been carried so far as to give reason to believe that across the two hilly regions and intermediate vale in question the lines of equal dip were not straight, but bent to the south in the vale, and turning up to the north on the hills. Hence it would appear that the dip of the needle decreases as we rise above the surface of the earth, so as to be well recognised at mode- rate heights. The author proposes to complete his observations on an extended scale, and to add the results of some other ex- periments contemporaneously made as to the lines of equal (total) magnetical intensity. On the Direction of the Isoclinal Lines in England. Professor Luoyp gave a brief account of a series of observations on the direction and intensity of the terrestrial magnetic force, which he had recently commenced in England. The stations of the observations hitherto made extended from the North of Wales to the * Since this communication was made the calculatiuns alluded to have been per- formed, and from the agreement of different series made with different needles, both in the Alps and Pyrenees, the author conceives that he has demonstrated the existence of the supposed diminution and approximated to its amount, which is usp of the horizontal intensity for every 3000 feet of vertical ascent. 32 SIXTH REPORT.—1]836. Isle of Wight, and it was proposed to extend the series along the southern and eastern parts of England. From these observations it appeared that the mean direction of the isoclinal lines in England differed materially from the direction of the same lines in Ireland. In England the mean inclination of these lines to the meridian (as deduced from the observations by the method of least squares) ap- peared to be about 68°, while the corresponding inclination in Ire- land amounted to about 57° only. Professor Lloyd then proceeded to state his conviction, that (owing to certain peculiar imperfections of the dipping needle) differences of dip at different stations could be ascertained with much greater accuracy than the absolute dips them- selves ; and consequently that the mean direction of the isoclinal lines, which depended on these differences only, could be determined with more certainty than their absolute position. In reference to this latter point Mr. Fox conceived that his observations warranted him in concluding that there existed a dislocation of the lines of equal dip in passing from England to Ireland. It remained still, however, to be examined whether the results of observation may not be ade- quately represented by a bending of the lines, such as that already noticed ; and Mr. Lloyd expressed his hope of obtaining a sufficient number of observations in other parts of England to throw light upon this curious question. On the Aurora Borealis. By Wma. Herapatu. From observations made on the 18th November, 1835, the author was led to entertain a different opinion as to the cause and condition of this meteor from that which ascribes it to electrical currents tra- versing the aerial or etherial spaces at great heights above the earth’s surface. ‘The phenomena attending the aurora in question were connected with the appearance and movement of clouds, and appeared to the author to originate in the passage of electricity from a charged cloud in the act of resolving in air which can receive the resulting water but not the electrical fluid, which consequently while dispersing through a rare atmosphere becomes visible to the eye. On the Aurora Borealis of 11th August, 1836. By Dr. Trati In this aurora a luminous arch, 12° to 15° broad, passed from Co- rona Borealis through Ursa Major to Auriga, and consisted of short perpendicular cirri or rays, exhibiting the usual fitful horizontal movement. Just below it was a dark cloud-like arched mass, whose upper limb broke into short perpendicular dark cirri, more stationary than the luminous cirri above. Later in the evening a column of amethystine light shot up in the E.N.E., relieved on a dark back ground, tinged of a faint violet colour. About midnight the arched ¢ TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. $3 been of an intense yellow dashed with green, became diffused, and threw off luminous portions which passed the zenith. Notice of an Instrument to observe minute Changes of Terrestrial Magnetism. By W. Errricx. The needle, suspended in a glass case by a single fibre or hair, bears a graduated card, which is observed by a telescope properly adjusted at right angles to its surface. i ant ve Noiice of a new Rubber for an Electrical Machine. By W. Errnicx. On a new Method of Investigating the Specific Heats of Gases. By James Apryjoun, M.D., M.R.I.A., Professor of Chemistry in the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland. ' In the commencement of this communication, which was made orally in the Physical Section, Dr. Apjohn drew attention to some prior re- searches of his on the same subject, which he had explained at the meeting of the British Association held in Dublin. Having established (see Notices of Communications made at the Dublin Meeting, p. 27.) " 7 48a d pP eo a that the formula f” = f’— ery includes the solution of the well- known dew-point problem, it follows that a= (f’—f”) x isa x 4 which expression, when the air is perfectly dry, or, what amounts to the same, when f’=0, becomes a = ie x = Hence, if f’ and d be determined by observation, that is, if the temperature of air ¢, and ' the stationary temperature of a wet thermometer immersed in the same medium, first brought to a state of perfect desiccation, be ob- served, the specific heat of air may be calculated. This formula also, as is obvious, is equally true of the other gases, that is, when applied to similar observations made upon them, it will give their relative specific heats under equal volumes; and such results, it is scarcely necessary to say, when divided by the specific gravities, will give the specific heats under equal weights. Such, as has been already fully explained, was the principle of the method which he had first adopted. The numbers, however, in the last column of the table published by the British Association, (see Notices of Communications made at the Dublin Meeting, p. 32,) are not, as they are represented to be, the specific heats of equal weights, but of equal volumes, for the divi- sion by the specific gravities had, through hurry, been omitted. Nor « f” andf are the respective forces of vapour at the dew-point /”, and ati’, the stationary temperature of the wet thermometer: d is the depression of tem- perature shown by the latter instrument, e the caloric of elasticity of aqueous _ vapour at ?’, a the specific heat of air, p the existing, and 30 the mean pressure. ' vou. v.— 1836. D 34 SIXTH REPORT—1836. do the numbers in question correctly represent the specific heats of the different gases under equal volumes, as given by his experiments ; for being unaware of the omission just alluded to, he had erroneously applied to his direct results the correction for the per centage of air as- certained by analysis to be present in each gas. The formula, in fact, for this correction was contrived for the case of specific heats under equal weights, instead of, as it should have been, that of specific heats under equal volumes. When this correction is properly made, the ori- ginal numbers undergo material modification, as may be seen by in- spection of the following table. The original numbers are in column 2, and the corrected ones in column 3. Air Nitrogen Hydrogen Carbonic Oxide Carbonic Acid . . Nitrous Oxide . Upon these results, Dr. Apjohn stated that he never placed much reliance. The apparatus employed was very imperfect, particularly in not permitting more than a single experiment with the same quantity of gas; and he also saw reason to doubt that he had, in every instance, by means of it accomplished perfect desiccation. Under these circum- stances he had always contemplated returning to the investigation, and towards the latter end of last July he did, in fact, commence a fresh series of experiments, which were conducted on the following plan. : A pair of copper gasometers with glass bells, such as are usually employed by chemical lecturers, were charged with a proper quantity of oil of vitriol instead of water, and placed upon a table, at the di- stance of three feet from each other, the brass rods attached to the bells being suspended to the extremities of a stout cord passing over a pair of runners fixed in the ceiling of the laboratory. Between the lower stop-cocks a couple of glass tubes were interposed, connected to the stop-cocks by caoutchouc collars, and fitting at their other extremities to each other by a tight ground joint. In the longer of these tubes the ~ dry thermometer was permanently placed, and into it also the wet one was introduced previous to the commencement of an experiment. Matters being, we shall suppose, thus prepared, and the unimmer- sed bell occupied,—first with atmospherical air,—deprived by the oil of vitriol of its moisture, pressure was made upon it by an assistant so as to force its contents in a rapid current into the second bell, through the tube containing the wet and dry thermometers. During this operation TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. ; 35 the observer kept his eye, armed with a lens, steadily fixed on the ther- mometers, and registered the indications of both as soon as the wet one became perfectly stationary. The height of the barometer being now taken, the necessary data were obtained for calculating from the hy- 48 ad e still existing in the air of the gasometer. The atmospheric air being now replaced by some one of the gases, and this being left sufficiently long in contact with the oil of vitriol, the manipulations and ob- servations just detailed were repeated. This same experiment, with sufficient intervals to allow in each instance of maximum desiccation, was again and again performed; and it having been ascertained, after a considerable number of repetitions, that the results were uniform and consistent, and that they might therefore be relied upon, the mean of all the observations was taken, and from this the specific heat of the gas deduced by means of the formula a = (f’—/f" x a>" that value being assigned to f” which resulted from the preliminary experiment on atmospherical air. The analysis of the gas was next very carefully performed, and it having been ascertained that » volumes, ex. gr., of atmospherical air per cent. were present, the proper cor- grometric formula f”’=/’ — x 5 the elastic force of the vapour rection was applied by the formula a’=a+ C— g => in which c =*267 is the specific heat of air, a’ the true specific heat of the gas, and a the specific heat of mixture of gas and air, as previously determined. Such was the course pursued in the case of each of the gases submitted to experiment, and the following are the final results. The numbers represent the specific heats of equal volumes, and, to facilitate com- parison, the determinations of Dulong, and those also of De La Roche and Berard, are included in the table. De La Roche and Berard. Atmospheric Air Nitrogen Oxygen . Hydrogen Carbonic Acid . Carbonic Oxide Nitrous Oxide . _ Having stated his numerical results, and given an outline of the method of. investigation which conducted to them, Dr. Apjohn con- D2 36 SIXTH /REPORT—1836. cluded by giving the leading conclusions which he conceives himself justified in deducing from his researches. They are as follows: 1. That the law so much insisted upon in modern times by Hay- erapt, Marcet, and De La Rive, and others, that the simple gases have under equal volumes the same specific heat, is not the law of nature. 2. That the more limited proposition enunciated by Dulong, that the simple gases have under a given volume the same specific heat, does not appear true in a single instance, and is altogether at variance with his (Dr. A.’s) result for hydrogen. 3. That the numbers at which he (Dr. A.) has arrived, correspond tolerably well with those of De la Roche and Berard except in the case of hydrogen. 4. That there does not appear to be any simple relation between the specific heats of the gases and their specific gravities or atomic weights, and that philosophers in searching for such are probably pursuing a chimera. A paper on the above subject by Dr. Apjohn will shortly appear in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy. On the Impermeability of Water to Radiant Heat. By the Rev. B. PowE Lt, F.R.S. On the Vibration of Bells. By R. Appams. On an Improved Ear-trumpet. By Cuarues J. B, WiLiiaMs, M.D., F.RS., &c. Having lately had occasion to examine the ear-trumpets in common use, Dr. W. found them all more or less faulty, especially in that they produce confusing noises, like the roaring in large shells, which render indistinct the articulate sounds which they are intended to convey. On further examination, these disturbing noises were found to consist in: 1. An exaggeration of all the foreign sounds which may happen to accompany the voice, such as the rustling of clothes, reverberations in the room, the rolling of carriages out of doors, &c. This defect is ma- nifestly as inseparable from all instruments which augment sound, as an inefficiency to render distinct an object in a mist is from telescopes. 2. A sound dependent on the longitudinal vibrations proper to the column of air contained in the tube. This sound is the note of the instrument as a tube closed at one end, and is therefore deep according to its length and the narrowness of its open end. 3. A sound more or less tinkling or metallic in character, resulting from the transverse vibrations which repeated reflections of sound gene- rate within hollow bodies, and which constitutes the tinkling note produced in the interior of bottles, bladders, and other hollow objects. This sound exists especially in those instruments in which sound is concentrated by repeated reflection from curvilinear surfaces. >) TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 37 Dr. Williams first endeavoured to diminish these disturbing sounds by lateral apertures, which would give exit to the transverse vibra- tions; but although this plan succeeded to a certain degree, it caused a great loss in the concentrating power of the instrument, the sides of which were no longer uniformly reflective. After many other trials, Dr. W. succeeded in avoiding the above-named defects to a great extent, by combining in an instrument great concentrating power with the greatest simplicity of construction. A conical tube 12 or 15 inches long, its sides forming an angle of 25°, its apex terminating in a short, slightly curved tube adapted to the ear, and its base or open end forming an elliptic aperture, the plane of which forms an angle of about 45° with the axis of the cone, was found to answer best. Such an instrument receives the direct waves of sound in so large a body at its open end, and concentrates them to its narrow end by so few reflec- tions, that the original sound is conveyed, simple and distinct, unmo- dified by aberrant vibrations, and greatly increased in intensity. It is found to be nearly free from the roar; and it increases the intensity of articulate’ sounds to such a degree, that words spoken only just above a whisper, could by its aid be distinctly heard at a distance of 50 yards during the daytime, and at a much greater distance at night. It rendered the tickings of a watch audible at more than three times the distance at which they could be heard with the unassisted ear. This instrument may be made of tin plate or other light metal, or, what is better, fine card-board. For the sake of portability, it may be constructed of oiled or gummed silk, folding and unfolding in the manner of an umbrella. On the higher Orders of Grecian Music. By Samurt Roorsry, M.D. That the ancients admitted many primes into their expressions of musical intervals is known to the learned, but (the author believes), exclusively from the writings of Ptolemy as edited by Dr. Wallis. The only three simple and prime ratios admitted by the moderns, are the octave 1 : 2, the fifth 2:3, and the major third 4:5. Those systems of music of which these form the three bases, the author calls the three lowest orders of music, using this term order in the general sense of mathematicians; the first being that in which the only perfect interval is the octave, the second having the fifths perfect, and the third being our ordinary music as improved by the labours of Smith, Liston, Farey, Chladni, and others. _. The number of small intervals, called semitones, brought into use by the adoption of these bases, is seven. Besides the above semitones, the ancients used many others which Dr. Burney believes are, to modern ears, perfectly intolerable. Some of those notes by which these Greek intervals are formed are frequently heard upon certain instruments, such as the trumpet; but having a most peculiar character, and differing so widely from the notes of the piano 38 SIXTH REPORT—1836. forte and organ as now tuned, they are altogether rejected, and pro- nounced discordant, although in fact they would occasion no beating in an organ perfectly tuned. The object of this paper was to show that they are improperly discarded, and that as they characterize the sweetest concords, as they are there- fore required by the ear, and are constantly practised by the best voices, it is worth while to inquire more into the consequence of adopting-them wherever it is possible, and of teaching their extensive use in every school of Music. Plutarch, Boéthius, and all the authors whose writings are collected by Meibomius, viz., Aristoxenus, Euclid (Introductio Harmonica), Ni- comachus, Alypius, Gaudentius, Bacchius, Aristides, Quintilianus, and Martianus Capella, explain none of these higher orders, but Ptolemy in his Harmonics proves that Archytas, Eratosthenes, and Didymus, as well as himself, used them continually. Far from agreeing with Dr. Burney that two tones and two semitones are all that are useful, and that eleven ancient intervals are impracticable, Dr. Rootsey endeavoured to show that 30 intervals, namely 8 tones and 22 semitones, are required by a modern ear, and are daily practised on the voice and violin; they ought therefore to be universally understood and appreciated by all contrapuntists and professors of the science of music. On Mnemonical Logarithms. By Samuru Rootsey, M.D. In this communication the author described and exemplified the use of certain low numbers, which serve to compare the simpler ratios with sufficient accuracy for many purposes, and thus, when fixed in the memory, to supply occasionally the want of a table of logarithms. Experiments on the Weight, Height, and Strength of Men at different Ages. By Professor Foxsss. These experiments, on above 800 individuals, students in the Uni- versity of Edinburgh, were entirely made personally by the author, with a view to the extension of M. Quetelet’s general results and to the comparison of the physical development of different nations. Of the persons measured, (who were chiefly between the ages of 15 and 23,) nearly two thirds were natives of Scotland, and in the calculation of averages these were kept apart, as were the English and Irish, The leading results were these : 1. The form of the curves indicating the law of development with age, remarkably coincide with those of M. Quetelet. The attainment of full growth seems (as in his experiments) to be scarcely complete even at the age of 25. t 2. The development of the Scotch in the particulars of weight, height, Peay le ee TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 39 and strength seems much greater than that of the Belgians (taken from persons of a similar class). 3. So far as the limited results for the English and Irish are worthy of confidence, (and they agree in all the three particulars just specified,) the English are less developed than the Scotch, but more than the Belgians,—the Irish more developed than either. 4. The mean weight, height, and strength of a Scotchman 25 years of age appears to be (from above 500 experiments used in approxi- mating to the curve), weight 152-5lbs., height 69°3 inches, strength of muscles of the back by Regnier’s dynamometer 420lbs. The Rev. W. WueweE yt gave a further account of his Anemometer, previously exhibited and described by him, the instrument being now completed and put in operation. It consists of a small wind wheel, (like a windmill with eight sails,) which is kept towards the wind by a vane. The rapid rotation of the wheel is, by a train of toothed wheels and screws, converted into a slow vertical motion, which carries a pencil downwards, tracing a line on the surface of a vertical cylinder, having the axis of the vane for its axis. The extent of vertical motion shows the amount of the wind, and the part of the circumference of the cy- linder on which the trace lies, shows the direction. The observation is made by clamping the vane, so that a vertical scale (of tenths of an inch) coincides with the mean direction of the trace ; the amount of wind may then be read off on the scale, and the direction on a circle of the cylinder. Mr. Whewell proposed that the wind should be registered by writing the directions of the compass which it successively assumed, and beneath each direction the amount of wind in that direction shown by the scale. Thus : The observations in July, 1836, were July 1. S.E. S.E. by E. 8.S.E. 12 4 4 i Beat.b Bo: 6 W.S.W ashing nthe 28 — 5. S.E.byS 22 — 6. SE.byE. S.byE. 10 8 But the common notation for the points of the compass is incon- yenient, from its not showing at once the relation between the different directions. Mr. Whewell proposes the following notation : 40 SIXTH REPORT—1836. N. N.E, E, 8.E. s. s.w. w. NW. N. N.N.E. E.N.E. E.S.E. SS.E. SS.W. Ws. W. W.N.W. N.N. W. N.by E. E,by N. E.byS. S.by E. S.by W. W.byS. W.by N. N. by W. Foatin N.E. by N. N.E.by E, S.E. by E, S.E. by S, S.W.byS. S.W. by W. N.W. by W. N.W. by N. spain ofl Weps Nyse aif sone AO It was also proposed that the wind thus registered should be denoted in another manner, for the purpose of showing the combined result of the wind of a considerable period, as a year. This is to be done by be- ginning from a point in a plane (as a sheet of paper) on which the di- rections of the compass are supposed to be represented ; then, drawing a line in the direction of the first wind, and of a length proportional to the quantity of wind; from the extremity of this line, drawing another in the direction of this wind and proportional to its quantity ; “from the extremity of this another, and soon. The broken line thus obtained will represent the course of the wind for the whole time. If the course of the wind be thus represented for a year, and then for another year, and so on, there will be a general resemblance among the lines so drawn, because we have, in general, the same winds at the same seasons. The curve line which is the mean of all these lines, or from which they may all be considered as slight deviations, may be called the annual type of the wind. It is very different in different places, as has been observed by writers on meteorology (Kamtz and others). But there has hitherto been no means of obtaining this course with any degree of correctness, for want of an instrument which could register at the same time the direction and amount of the wind. By means of the present instrument, it is conceived that this difficulty is, in a great measure, overcome. One of Mr. Whewell’s anemometers is erected at Cambridge, and will be observed regularly. Another will be erected at York, and another at Plymouth ; and the observations will be communicated to the ensuing Meetings of the Association. It is very desirable that instruments of the same ehitetatittal’ and the same scale, should be erected and observed at other places. Mr. Whewell offers all the assistance in his power to those who are willing to construct and employ this instrument, MS mgr er a TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 4] On the Connexion of the Weather with the Tide. By G. Wess Hatt. From long observations in the vicinity of Bristol, the author has in- ferred the following laws of phenomena there occurring. 1. The barometer generally undulates at times corresponding with the changes of the moon, and more frequently sinks than rises. 2. The weather is generally unsettled at these periods, continuing so for about two days; high winds also prevail. 3. The weather, having become determinate after such unsettled state, retains the character which it assumes till the next change of the moon. 4. ‘These variations are found to obtain, not only at the full and new moon, but at the quarters. 5. The period from whence the weather assumes a determinate cha- racter is coincident with the occurrence of spring and neap tides. On Lucas’s Method of Printing for the Blind, By Rev. L. Cagrenrer*. On the Ratio of the Resistance of Fluids to the Velocity of Waves. By J.S. Russexy, Esq.t Calculus of Principal Relations. By Professor Sir W. R. Hamutron. The method of principal relations is an extension of that mode of analysis which Sir William Hamilton has applied before to the sciences of optics and dynamics ; its nature and spirit may be understood from the following sketch. Let ,, 2, .. z, be any number 2 of functions of any one independ- ent variable s, with which they are connected by any one given differ- ential equation of the first order, but not of the first degree, RAS (55) ¥i,.-,-j Poe AS Oe... AZ), (1) and also by 2 — 1, other differential equations, of the second order, to which the calculus of variations conducts, as supplementary to the given equation (1), and which may be thus denoted: . fa@)=df' @2)_ if @)—afids), @ J' (dx) J’ (d2,) d Let, also, a,, .. @, be the n initial values of the 2 functions z,,.: z,, and let a',, .. a’, be the z initial values of their n derived functions or dz differential coefficients z', ee te ee o, corresponding to any _ assumed initial value a of the independent variable z. If we could in- tegrate the system of the x differential equations (1) and (2), we should thereby obtain z expressions for the z functions 2,,.. 2z,, of the forms * In consequence of the request made to the Rev. William Taylor to complete a Ge- neral Report on the processes of Printing for the Blind, it has been deemed unneces- _ Sary to give an unconnected abstract of Mr. Lucas’s ingenious researches. + The Author is engaged in special researches to complete his views on the subject of Waves, at the request of the Asscciation. 42 SIXTH REPORT—1836. ®, = 9, (8, a, a, .. a, a',,.. a’,), \ Pn = Oy (S, A, ,,.. Aq, a, .. a',); and, by the help of the initial equation analogous to (1), might then eliminate a’,, .. a',, and deduce a relation of the form O= W (8, 2, .... Lar, Gs... Gy); (4) that is, a relation between the initial and final values of the x + 1 con- nected variables s, 2,,..,. Reciprocally, the author has found that if this one relation (4) were known, it would be possible thence to deduce expressions for the n sought integrals (3) of the system of the n differen- tial equations (1) and (2), or for the » sought relations between S, 2,,..@,, and a, a,,..a,, a@',, .. a',, however large the number zn may be; in such a manner that all these many relations (8) are implicitly contained in the one relation (4), which latter relation the author pro- poses to call on this account the principal integral relation, or simply, the PRINCIPAL RELATION, of the problem. for he has found that the n following equations hold good, F¥' (ds) no @2)_ _f' (day) (5) Ys) Y@) W(@n) ’ which may be put under the forms a, = 6, G, 8) By os Fy 8,5 <2 e's \ (3) as ie (6) An = Pn (A, 8, Ly, .. Lay Zh, .. Xn), and are evidently transformations of the 2 sought integrals (8). And with respect to the mode in which, without previously effecting the integrations (3), it is possible to determine the principal relation (4), or the principal function which it introduces, when it is conceived to be resolved, as follows, for the originally independent variable s, EE IY I BT I) (7) the author remarks that a partial differential equation of the first order may be assigned, which this principal function ¢ must satisfy, and also an initial condition adapted to remove the arbitrariness which otherwise would remain. In fact the equations (5) may be thus written, dds _ as dds ds (8) DeNAEE ccichas hace in which dds___f' (dx) Dieu y Ley Pee Gey Te eee 9) and since, by (1), there subsists a known relation of the form dds dds Fda; Tae i the following relation also must hold good, ds ds sts 11 Ta Tae (11) that is, the principal function ¢ must satisfy the following partial differ- ential equation of the first order, Pe Ce ee Pe 0 FF (85.2 y5.0)1Bys ' —_ TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 45 epg (¢. #, (nm & By)> 5° P (@)) : (12) it must also satisfy the following initial condition, ‘o = lim. f (4, G,,.. Ons @ — A, Ly — Qj, +. Py — Ay)- (13) s=a Such are the most essential principles of the new method in analysis which Sir William Hamilton has proposed to designate by the name of the Method of Principal Relations, and of which, perhaps, the simplest type is the formula dds _Ss de ox to be interpreted like the equations (8). The simplest example which can be given, to illustrate the meaning and application of these principles, is, perhaps, that in which the dif- ferential equations are o= (=) 4 -(S)- 2 1 (14) and ddz, _d dit (2 dz, Cass Here, ordinary integration gives t,=a,+ a, (s—a), %,=a,+ a, (s—a); (3) and consequently conducts to the following relation, (in this case the principal one,) o = (x, — @,)* + (x, — a,)* — (s — a)', (4)’ ‘or saat V (x, —4,)* + @ — a)% (7)' Renice: by (1)’, we have a? +ai=1; it enables us therefore to verify the relations (8), or (14), for it gives CS Piping? O Liyd 0.8.8 da, s—a ds dda,’ and, in like manner, ds _ dds da, Odxy Reciprocally, in this example, the following known relation, deduced from (1)’, Sds éds ; = 10 a (saz, iz) + (Fas =) 7 (10) would have given, by the principles of the new method, this partial dif- ferential equation of the first order, 44. SIXTH REPORT—1836, ed Ge cuny which might have been used, in conjunction with the initial condition = lim. zt, — a, aes) ae , wea G=t) +#(G=4) i}, (13) to determine the form (7)’ of the principal function s ; and thence might have been deduced, by the same new principles, the ordinary integrals (3)’, under the forms a,=2,+a,(a—s),a,=2,+ a, (a—S). (6)' In so simple an instance as this, there would be no advantage in using the new method; but in a great variety of questions, including all those of mathematical optics, and mathematical dynamics, (at least, as those sciences have been treated by the author of this communication ,) and in general all the problems in which it is required to integrate those systems of ordinary differential equations (whether of the second or of a higher order) to which the calculus of variations conducts, the method of principal relations assigns immediately a system of finite expressions for the integrals of the proposed equations, an object which can only very rarely be attained by any of the methods known before. It seems, for example, to be impossible, by any other method, to express rigorously, in finite terms, the integrals of the differential equations of motion of a system of many points, attracting or repelling one another ; which yet was easily accomplished by a particular appli- cation of the general principles that have been here explained*. ‘The author hopes to present these principles in a still more general form hereafter. CHEMISTRY. On the Chemical Nomenclature of Berzelius. By R. Hare, M.D., Pro- fessor of Chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania, Berzelius has divided those bodies which by union with a radical produce salts, and those which are capable of entering into saline com- binations both as acids and bases, into two classes, designated as Halo- gen and Amphigen. Dr. Hare stated his objections to this classification, remarking especially on the ambiguity of the terms salts, acids, and bases. He would distinguish all electro-negative compounds by sub- joining the termination acid, and all electro-positive compounds, formed either by halogen or amphigen bodies, by subjoining the termination base, and confine the use of the termination ide to those compounds of which the electrical habitudes are indeterminate : he proposed to substitute the terms chlorohydric, sulphohydric, &c., for hydrochloric and other analogous words ; and on this point stated that the opinion of Berzelius coincides with his own. *See Philosophical Transactions for 1834 and 1835; also, Report of Edinburgh Meeting of the British Association. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. ADS On a‘ Calorimotor for Igniting Gases in Eudiometrical Experiments, and Gunpowder in Rock-blasting. By R. Harz, M.D. This is a galvanic instrument of two pairs, for producing ignition at a distance from the apparatus : when it is an object to produce ignition at a greater distance, Dr. Hare resorts to analogous apparatus of larger size and consisting of four pairs. By means of potassium ignited by this instrument, Dr. Hare has been enabled extemporaneously to evolve silicium or boron from fluo-si- licic or fluo-boric acid gas. He has also been enabled to explode gunpowder at a great distance. In one instance, twelve charges had been exploded at 150 feet from the calorimotor employed. A projector of the name of Shaw had attempted to effect the explo- sion of gunpowder by means of the Leyden jar, for the purpose of rock blasting, but finding mechanical electricity too precarious, had applied to Dr. Hare for means of rendering his process more certain, and this had led to the following contrivance. ‘Two iron wires of about the size No. 40, and one of the finest kind were twisted together, and the larger afterwards nipped, so as to leave a small portion of the fine wire uncut between their nipped extremities. All the wires were secured in a saw kerf in a piece of hard wood, having a small hole filled witha fulminating powder, consisting of arsenic and chlorate of potash, through which the fine wire passed. The powder was secured by paper pasted on by means of gum arabic. One termination of the twisted wire was soldered to a dish of tinned iron, by which the lower end of a tube of the same material was closed. The tube being then filled with gunpowder was closed by a cock, through which the upper end of the twisted wire was made to pass. To the outside of the tin tube astrip of metal or a wire was soldered. By connecting these wires with the poles of a calorimotor, ignition of the gunpowder in the tube might be effected at every distance, or in any situation, and as well under water as above it. Many accidents had happened in the ordinary mode of blasting, beri causes which could not be operative in the use of the means above de- scribed. The principal source of danger is the liability of the gunpowder to explode during the ramming of it into the perforated rock, or before the workmen had time to get out of the way. In Dr. Hare’s method, the gunpowder being inclosed in a metallic tube previously to its introduction into a perforated rock, is not liable to ignition from the process of ramming. Dr. Hare conceives that the intervention of the fulminating powder would greatly accelerate the combustion, and of course increase the force of the explosion. ; 46 SIXTH REPORT—1836. On the Aqueous Sliding-rod Hydrogen Eudiometer. By R. Harr, M.D. In this instrument measurements are effected by the ingress or re- gress of a graduated rod pressing air-tight through a collar of leather into a copper tube, at the extremity of which a glass receiver is situated. This receiver terminates in an apex, with a capillary opening, which is closed by a valve at the end of a lever actuated by aspring, when the effect of the latter is not counteracted by the hand. The cavity of the instrument being filled with water, and being perfectly air-tight, if the rod be withdrawn to any sensible extent, while the orifice at the apex of the receiver is closed, a vacuum ensues ; but if that orifice be open the resulting vacuity becomes filled with the air, or with any other gas by which it may be surrounded. To analyse the air, it is only necessary to take into the receiver, in the first instance, one hundred measures of that fluid, and then intro- ducing the apex into a bell glass containing hydrogen, to draw into the receiver about fifty measures or more of this gas. By means of an arch of platina wire within the receiver, so situated as to become the me- dium of a galvanic discharge, the gaseous mixture being inflamed, and all the oxygen, with twice its bulk of the hydrogen, consequently con- densed, on introducing the instrument into water, so that the apex may be just below the surface, the deficit produced by the combustion is replaced by water; and hence, on returning the rod carefully only so far as to expel the residual gas, the number of graduations which remain without the tube indicates the extent of the condensation. Of this, one third is due to oxygen. Dr. Hare also exhibited some volumeters, or volume measures, by which equal volumes of a gas may be taken with great accuracy. By means of one of these instruments a mixture of one part of hy- drogen and two of air being introduced into a bell over the pneumatic trough, on taking into the eudiometer 150 measures, and proceeding as already described, the same results may be obtained, and perhaps with more accuracy. As the pressure of the spring upon the valve, through the medium of the lever, is not sufficient to resist the force of the explosion, the in- strument is furnished with a kind of staple, moving on a hinge, and furnished with a screw. By these means the valve is firmly held in its place as long as is requisite, and afterwards easily released by relaxing the pressure of the screw and moving the staple on its hinge, so as to get it out of the way of the lever, of which the extremity bearing the valve is then easily raised by the pressure of the hand. The average results of some hundreds of experiments performed by Dr. Hare with various instruments, as well as with that above described, would lead to the conclusion that the quantity of oxygen in 100 mea- sures of air is 20,66,. Dr. Harz also presented to the Members of the Chemical Section printed copies of a series of essays, not yet published, on different subjects of chemical and electrical science, and descriptive of various improvements in philosophical apparatus. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 47 Electrical Experiments. By AnvRrEew Crosse, Esq. Mr. Crosse gave an account of some experiments which he had made on the effect of long-continued galvanic action of low intensity in forming crystals and other substances analogous to natural minerals. At the time when he first commenced these experiments he had not heard of those by which M. Becquerel had previously arrived at similar results. A few weeks afterwards he was informed by a friend that that philosopher had produced sulphurets of lead and silver by electric ac- tion, but his account of the mode of conducting his experiments had not been seen by Mr. Crosse. ‘‘ It is but due to myself,” Mr. Crosse adds, ‘‘to mention that. I attended the meeting at Bristol without the least intention of intruding on the notice of the Association, well know- ing how incomplete my experiments were ; and had it not been for the advice of some friends whom I met there, I should not have presumed to offer any communication till I had gone further into the matter.” Mr. Crosse stated that by passing a galvanic current from batteries with various combinations of plates excited by water only, through so- lutions of carbonate of lime, he obtained rhomboidal crystals of that substance deposited round the negative pole. Having in oneof these ex- periments kept a piece of scouring brick moistened with the solution for four or five months, at the expiration of that time he found very fine prismatic crystals (which he took for arragonite) deposited on that part of the brick which lay contiguous to, without actually touching, the positive pole, whilst what he considered as common carbonate of lime was confined to the negative pole. Ina similar experiment made on fluo-silicic acid, after a deposit of lead at the negative pole, minute erystals, which he considered as siliceous, made their appearance at the extremity of the deposit of lead, and, on the removal of the lead, at the positive pole: a crystal which was a transparent hexahedral prism ter- minated with a similar pyramid, but which however was too soft to scratch glass, was removed at the end of two or three months from the bottom of the piece of brick; a second, well-formed crystal, measuring 7; of an inch in length by ;; in breadth, after being put in a dry place for one or two months, scratched glass readily. Mr. Crosse made simi- lar experiments on solutions of silicate of potash and obtained imperfect hexahedral crystallizations, which he judged to be siliceous, and in some instances chalcedonic deposits. The following is a list of mineral sub- stances which he considered himself to have formed by electrical action in addition to those above-mentioned :—Red oxide of copper in octa- hedrons opake and transparent, crystals of copper and silver in cubes and octahedrons, crystallized arseniate and carbonate of copper, phos- phate and grey sulphuret of ditto, sulphuret of silver, crystallized carbonate of lead, yellow oxide of lead, mammillated carbonate of lime, oxide of lime, mammillated black oxide of iron, sulphuret of iron, sul- phuret of antimony (Kermes mineral), crystallized sulphur. Between three and four years ago Mr. Crosse made a set of experi- ments on the voltaic battery, and found the power to be considerably increased when each copper plate of the one pair was brought into all- 48 . SIXTH REPORT.— 1836. but contact with the zinc plate of the other pair, but that the insulation of each separate pair of plates was of still greater efficacy. He put together 1200 pairs of zinc and copper cylinders on this plan,.- filled with water alone, and found the effects as follow: the average size of the cylinder being about equal to a four-inch plate, four pairs com- municate a charge to an electrical battery sufficient to cause iron wire barely to scintillate, and will just decompose water; 100 pairs cause the gold leaves of an electrometer to diverge 4 of an inch ; 200 pairs open the same 2 of an inch; 300 pairs cause the same to strike their sides, and fire gunpowder placed loosely on a brass plate, the opposite poles being connected. with an electrical battery ; 500 pairs give a smart shock, fire gunpowder readily, give a visible stream of fire to the dry fingers, and cauterize the skin as though with a red-hot wire; 1200 pairs being connected with an electrical battery fuze the point of a penknife, deflagrate brilliantly metallic leaves, tin-foil, and even stout silver sheeting, &c., &c. Mr. Crosse hes used a battery of this kind for eighteen months without any sensible diminution of power. These bat- teries are well calculated for electrical crystallization, and from ten to fifty pairs of insulated cylinders Mr. Crosse thinks would answer every purpose of that sort. Another subject noticed by Mr. Crosse was atmospheric electricity ; he has for many years paid considerable attention to this part of the science, and taken great pains in extending on lofty poles and insulating with all possible care a copper wire 54, of an inch diameter and 300 feet long. The experiments made with this resemble in general those made on a smaller scale by other experimenters. Mr. Crosse considers a thunder cloud to be divided into zones of alternate positive and nega- tive electricity. It appears to him that a nucleus is first formed of one electricity, then a layer or zone of the opposite, and so on weaker and weaker to the circumference. There are occasionally electric fogs nearly as powerful as a small thunder cloud. Mr. Crosse has known during five hours a stream of alternate positive and negative electricity pour from the atmospherical conductor during a fog, and driving rain sufficient to fuze a considerable length of strong wire. These electrical fogs appear to be composed of alternate positive and negative columns. Remarks on the Results of some Experiments on the Phosphate and Pyro- Phosphate of Soda. By Henry Hover Warson. Mr. Watson's attention having been drawn to the discordant state- ments given by different authors of the proportions of acid and base in the salt called phosphate of soda, viz., in the dry state, he Was induced to investigate the subject by experiment. On putting to the test the experiment which Dr. Thomson gives, page 199, vol. i. First Prin- ciples of Chemistry, of mixing a solution of 7°5 grains of anhydrous phosphate of soda with one of 20°75 grains of crystals of nitrate of lead, the result was not an entire decomposition of each salt, but a little of the nitrate of lead remained undecomposed. | Pe TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 49 Having exposed a quantity of gradually dried phosphate of soda to a bright red heat, he weighed out 30 grains while nearly red hot, dis- solved it in water, and added to it a solution of 83 grains of crystals of nitrate of lead,—proportions equivalent to those which Dr. Thom- son used, and half the numbers which are generally used to indicate the atomic weights. The mixture was well agitated; a precipitate of phosphate of lead formed, which was washed, dried, exposed to a low red heat, and weighed ; the liquor from which it was separated gave a precipitate of sulphate of lead by the addition of sulphate of potash. The mean of four nearly agreeing experiments gave phosphate of lead 66:96 grains, and sulphate of lead 4°42 grains. Now 4°42 sulphate of lead = 4°82 nitrate of lead ; and 83 — 4°82 = 78°18 nitrate of lead spent in producing the precipitate of phosphate. The acid in 78:18 nitrate of lead being capable of neutralizing 15-07 soda, and the liquor when freed from lead by sulphate of potash being neutral to the litmus test, it follows that 30 grains of anhydrous pyro- phosphate of soda are constituted of 15°07 soda and 14°93 acid; and the atomic weight of soda being 32, that of the acid in pyrophosphate of soda must be 31-7. One hundred grains of the crystals of the ordinary phospate of soda, by being placed under the exhausted receiver of an air-pump with a ves- sel of sulphuric acid, are reduced to 39°65 grains; and the residue, by exposure to a red heat, is reduced to 37:1 grains. From this and the result of the above-mentioned experiments Mr. Watson infers that the quantity of soda in 100 grains of crystals of the ordinary phosphate is 18°63 grains, and that the quantity of acid is 18°47 grains. Mr. Watson having decomposed both the ordinary uncalcined phos- phate of soda and the pyrophosphate with lime water, found thatthe quan- tity of lime which sufficed to saturate a proportion of the latter was not sufficient to saturate a corresponding proportion of the former. From this and other circumstances of the analysis Mr. Watson is led to sus- pect that the phosphate of soda when dried as much as possible in the exhausted receiver is rendered anhydrous, and that when afterwards exposed to a red heat a partial decomposition of the acid takes place ; and this opinion he thinks strengthened by the consideration that though no gas, nor anything but water, can be collected in converting the phosphate into pyrophosphate, a peculiar burnt smell is given out; and if the calcination of the salt (it having been previously dried gra- dually) be effected in a glass tube, the salt may be observed to acquire a carbonaceous tinge during the operation, which, however, vanishes by a continuation or perhaps rather an increase of the heat. He also adds, that though it has been asserted that a solution of the pyro- salt becomes changed, by keeping, into the ordinary phosphate, such has not been the case with a solution which he has kept from the 14th December, 1835, till now, in order to prove the fact ; for it still conti- nues to give a precipitate as perfectly white with nitrate of silver as it did when newly prepared. - Mr. Watson adds that there is a peculiar difference in appearance between the calcined precipitate obtained from the pyrophosphate and lime water, and the calcined precipitate obtained from the ordinary phos- VoL. v.— 1836. E 2 50 SIXTH REPORT.—1836. phate and lime water. Both precipitates are white when dried as much as possible at a low temperature ; but that from the pyrophosphate becomes black if exposed to a red heat, while the other by the same treatment retains its whiteness. When in the course of these experiments crystals were the subject of operation, Mr. Watson took care to use such as were neither damp nor effloresced. To manage this he powdered a quantity of large crystals, ~and then intimately mixed them with so much water as rendered them decidedly damp ; he then spread them very thinly over a flat surface in aroom where the force of vapour in the atmosphere was not so much as 0:15 of an inch of mercury less than it would have been if the atmo- sphere was saturated with vapour, and left them in that state until they discontinued to lose weight, an atmosphere of this drying power being imeapable of depriving the salt of any of its water of crystallization. Extracts from a Paper “ on Important Facts obtained Mathematically from Theory, embracing most of those experimental results in Chemistry, which are considered as ultimate facts.” By Tuomas Extzy, A.M. Mr. Exley observed that his object was to place chemistry under the domain of mathematical science, and to establish a new theory by legitimate but easy calculations. The principles of the theory are: 1. That every atom of matter con. sists ofan indefinitely extended sphere of force, varying inversely as the square of the distance from the centre; and that this force acts towards the centre and is called attraction at all distances except in a small concentric sphere, in which it acts from the centre and is called re- pulsion. 2. That there is a difference in atoms arising from a difference in their absolute forces, or in the radii of their spheres of repulsion, or in both these. The attraction is the same as that of gravitation in the theory of Newton or that of Boscovich ; but in both these theories, where gravita- tion ends a series of alternations of attraction and repulsion varying by unknown laws commences; Newton closes with a solid, Boscovich with a sphere of repulsion varying inversely as the distance. Mr. Exley con- siders that his theory differs in every particular from both these in the spaces where chemistry and its connate sciences are concerned, and does not like them launch into the regions of conjecture. The first principle, as far as regards the attraction, is really true in nature ; nothing in physics is better established. It is equally certain from pheenomena that there is some repulsion near the centre of atoms ; the law of its variation has not been determined, but the order of na- ture, the inductive procedure, obliges us, in the absence of every con- tradictory phenomenon, to continue the law of gravitation. As well may we contend that there is no force of gravitation in spaces where no particular observaticns have been made, as to say that the same force does not exist in the sphere of repulsion, in the law of force—in the quantity of force, there is no violation of the law of continuity ; the di- rection only changes per saltum, which is quite as easy to conceive as a 7A TRANSAGTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 51 change by continuous degrees, as Newton and Boscovich suppose, and which breaks the continuity in the law of force. The second principle is, the author thinks, as simple and as natural as can well be conceived, and an evident result from phenomena and the first principle. It was stated in a treatise lately published by the author, that nature presents two classes of atoms, the one comprehending ponderable matter, such as oxygen, carbon, &c., which adhering with great tenacity may be called tenacious atoms (tilla better name be found). The other consists of atoms which manifest their existence by motions and _actions under a form which has been called zthereal ; hence they may be denominated zthereal atums ; they comprehended the electric fluid, caloric, and light. In the same work the atoms of the electric fluid were considered as having a much greater absolute force than those of caloric and light. This has been confirmed by subsequent’observations, entitling the elec- tric atoms to the rank of an intermediate class, so that we may distin- guish atoms into three classes, tenacious, electric, and ethereal, not dif- fering in nature but only by a marked difference in their absolute force. Of the Ist and 3rd classes there are many sorts, but of the electric fluid probably only one sort. The weights of the other atoms used in this paper are taken from Dr. Thompson’s determinations. Respecting carbon, whose weight, according to Dr. Thompson, is 12 (taking oxygen 16), and according to Berzelius it is 124, the specific gravities are calculated on both sup- positions, and then compared with those ag) by experiment in the following table : nema th Al Gekieelwinitchl Genet) cic TT Atomic, Isp. Gr. by ies Gr. by Name. Weight} cal. exper, Authority. |Carbonic Oxide....| 12 | -9721| -9732 Thenard and Berzelius, mean, } 124} +9895 Lst,-0011 in defect; 2nd,-0163 excess. | Carbonic Acid. ....| 12 |1-5277] 1°5213|Thenard and Gay Lussac, mean, ' 123] 1:5451 Ist, 0064 excess ; 2nd, ‘0238 excess. Light Carburetted| 12 | -5555| *5590|Dr. ‘Thompson. }|__Hydrogen...... 121] -5728 Ist, -0035 defect ; 2nd, -0138 excess. filcohol;......... 12 Ee 15972 1:6133 Gay Lussac. 123] 1°6319 Ist, "0161 defect ; 2nd, -0186 excess. Atherine........| 12 | 1°9444] 1-9100|Dr. Faraday. 124/ 1°9791 Ist, -0344 excess ; 2nd, :0691 excess. ‘ panther teehee 12 2°5694!) 2°5830 Gay Lussac and Desprez, mean. 12} | 2°6388 Ist, ‘0136 defect ; 2nd, ‘0588 excess. 12 |2°84792/ 2°8330|Saussure. 121) 2-§993 Ist, ‘0142 excess ; 2nd, ‘0663 excess. ~12 [44444] 4-5280|Dumas. hea 4-5312 Ist, (0836 defect ; 2nd, 0032 excess. .--| 12 | 6°6666| 6-741 |Dumas. 123} 69270 Ist, 0074 defect ; 2nd, -1860 excess. . seeeeee-| 12 | 47222) 4°7670}/Dumas. ’ 124| 4:8090 Ist, 0848 defect ; 2nd, -0420 excess. EQ 52 SIXTH REPORT—1836. The author assigns reasons for adopting 16 as the atomic weight of oxygen, when that of hydrogen is taken = 1. It is seen that the calculated specific gravity exceeds that found by experiment in three of the ten compounds even when carbon is 12; in all cases there is an excess when 124 is used; and except in naphthaline the defect is always much less than the excess, which gives the prefer- ence to 12 for the atomic weight of carbon. The author next proceeds to deduce from the theory important facts which are already known to chemists as ultimate results of their expe- riments. ‘These are embodied in eight propositions with corollaries, of which the last is here given. Prop. 8. Taking each elementary atom as representative of a volume, then in all strictly chemical combinations, that is, whenever there is a condensation, the resulting volume is always, without exception, either one or two volumes exactly. Since after combination the volume is diminished, the centre of some atom, or those of several atoms, have penetrated the atmospherule of some other (prop. 3 and cors.) 1. When the atmospherule of one atom or single group is penetrated by the centres of all the others, the result is a single group, (def. 1.) and consequently (prop. 3, cor. 1) the result will be one volume exactly. 2. When the atmospherule is not penetrated by all the centres of the others, then one or more of the atoms will be brought by their mu- tual actions to the interval between the two remaining atoms, or single groups, which combine, and thus situated, will (prop. 3, cor. 3) supply the effect of the zthereal matter, which it displaces; hence the whole will form a double group, and (same cor.) will become two volumes exactly. 3. When one atom or single group combines with a double group, the centres of the combining atoms will penetrate the atmospherule of the double group, otherwise there would be only cohesive combination ; hence the compound will continue a double group, and form two volumes (prop. 3, cor. 3), except when the mutual actions bring all the centres within the sphere of repulsion of one of them, thus constituting one volume (prop. 3, cor. 1). Hence still we shall have either a single or double group, and itis, from this, evident that no other case can occur ; therefore the resulting volume will be always exactly one or two, how- ever many volumes combine. Cor. This prop. embraces, simplifies, and extends the theory of volumes. Having deduced this remarkable law from theory, it became import- ant to know if such an unexpected result be true in fact or not. To determine this point Mr. Exley carefully examined all the compound gases and vapours, whose specific gravities had been obtained by expe- riment, as far as he could find them in the best authors. These, to the amount of fifty-seven, are inserted in the following table. The specific gravities are calculated according to this law, from the atomic weights as given by Dr. Thompson, doubling some of his numbers to correspond with oxygen 16, and in every instance they agree within the allowable limits of unavoidable errors in experiments of that kind, except in boro- TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 55 chloric acid, which, says Dr. Thompson, requires further investigation, and a small discrepancy in oil of turpentine, a substance difficult to procure in a perfect state. Table of the varieties of Chemical Compounds, with their Elements and Specific Gravities in the form of Gas or Vapour. 1. Cohesive Combinations. S g eZ Seti Gravity, : es =1. Name, Nos, and Weights of Elements. £3 iS 3 s By Cal BY ES: Authority, 10n men 1. Carbonic Oxide . c+0 12+ 16 | 28)2| 14 972 ‘973 |Thenard. 2. Nitrie Oxide . N+0 144 16} 30/2} 15 1-041 1-037 Do. 3. Muiatie Acid r cl+H 36 + i | 37/2) 183) 1-284 1-248 |Biot & Arago. . Hydrobromic Acid . Br+H 80 + 1+} 81)}2)| 403} 2-812 2-731 |Turner. D. Hydriodic Acid. . I+H 126 + 1127/2) 633) 4-409 4-443 |Gay Lussac. et S+2M | 32 + 200 |232/3| 773) 5-370 | 5-384 |Dumas. 7. Common Air. O+4N 16+ 56] 72/5] 142) 1 1: Assumed. ¥ 2. Combinations in Single Groups. 8. ‘Cyanogen N+C 14+ 12] 26/1) 26 1-805 1-806 |Gay Lussac. 9.Dichloride of Sulphur $+ Cl 32 36 | 68]1]) 68 4:722 4-70 |Dumas. 10. Fluoboric Acid . F+B 18+ 16} 34/1] 34 2361 2-360 |Davy. L . Biniodide ofMercury} I-+ Hg 126 + 100 | 226) 1|226 | 15-694 | 15-670 |Mitscherlich. 2 Bichloride of Mercury} Cl + Hg 36 + 100 | 136] 1/1386 9-444 9:440 | Do. : et Ber Br+Hg | 80 + 100 |180/1\180| 1250 | 1236 | Do. 4,QlefiantGas ..| C+2H 124+ 2] 14}/1] 14 972 ‘978 |Henry. 5. Fluosilicie Acid. si+2F 16 + 36 | 52/1} 52 3611 3°60 |Thompson. 6. Chloride of Silicon Si + 2 Cl 16 + 72] 88/1] 88 6-111 5-939 |Dumas. . Nitrous Acid . .| N+20 14+ 32] 46/1/46] 3-194 3°177 |Gay Lussac. eesti ¥ Cl+(C4+2H)| 36 4+ 14] 50/1] 50] 3-472] 3-443] Do. 9. Mtherine ... 2C0+4H| 244 4] 28/1/28] 1-944] 1-91 |Faraday. ). Bicarburet of Hy-1] 3g 43H | 36 + 3] 39/1/39] 2708| 2776} Do. _ drogen + Naphtha . 8C+5H} 36+ £5] 41/1] 41 2-847 2-833 |Saussure. 2. Naphthaline . 5C+4H 60 + 41] 64/1] 64 4-444 4528 |Dumas. 3. Camphene -|5C+4+8H | 60+ £8] 68/1} 68} 4722] 4767] Do. . Oil of Turpentine .| 60 +8H |] 72+ 8] 80/1) 80] 5°555 | 5-013 |Gay Lussac. fe Ateenious Acid . 4As+30 152 + 48 | 2001112004 13-888 | 13°67 |Dumas. 3. Combinations in Double Groups. - SIXTH REPORT—1836. Name. Nos. and Weights of Elements. s 5 3< 26. Water - oy OP 2H 14+ 2] 18 2. St dtd Hy-l) s;eu | 324 2] 34 28. Carbonic Acid . c+20 12 + 32] 44 29. Sulphurous Acid .| S+20 32 + 382] 64 30. Chloride of Sulphur} S + 2 Cl 32 + 72 |104 31]. Nitrous Oxide . .{| O+2N 16 + 28} 44 82.Bisulphuretof Carbon} C+25S 12+ 64] 76 33. Borochloric Acid .| B+ 2 Cl 16+ 72) 88 34, DeutoxideofChlorine} Cl + 20 36 + 32] 68 35. Protochloride of Mercury Cl+2Hg | 36 + 200 | 286 36. Bromide of Mercury} Br-+ 2Hg | 80 + 200 | 280 37. Hydrocyanic Acid. |H + (N+C)) 1+ 26] 27 8. Chlorocyanic Acid. |C1+ (N+); 36+ 26] 62 39, Ammonia : N+3H ee Soy oe 40. Sulphuric Acid . Ss $+30 32 + 48] 80 41.Inflammable Gas o . Of Thome } (C+2H)3-4Cl] 14 4+ 108 | 122 42.Phosphuretted Hy- r drogen)” 2 2P+3H} 324 3] 3d sat “aed 49 Hy-llgas+3H| 764 3| 79 om ee of Phos-1) 9p 4 3¢1| 32 4 108 |140 45. Chloride of Arsenic |} 2As +3 Cl) 76 + 108 | 184 46, Perchloride of Tin. | Tn + 4 Cl | 116 + 144 | 260 47. Light Carburetted Hydrogen : c+4H 12,.4- . 4] 16 A8. Perchloride of Ti- , wit Ti+4H 52 4+ 144 | 196 49. Perphosphuretted ] i Hydcieeliog 3P43H |} 48+ 3] 51 50. Alcohol . . (0+2C4+6H 1642446] 46 51. Oil Gas 3C+6H 36 + 6 42 52. ther . . j0+4C+10H/16 + 48 + 10) 74 53. Muriatic ther. . |Cl+2C+5H) 364 2445) 65 54; Hydriodic ther . |T+ 2C + 5Hj126 + 24 + 5/155 55. Citrene . - . .| SC+8H 60 + 8 68 56. Paranaphhaline .|15C+4+12H}| 180 + 12 |192 57. Chloro-carbonicAcid|2 Cl-+ (0+ C)| 72 + 28 |100 On Gaseous Interference. Vol. bbrhr © ww hlhwlwhhy bw bo pr bt rw ww robo bob tor bn bo bo Ee By Calcula-| By Experi- Sil = tion. 9 *625 17 | 1-180 22) 1-527 32 | 2-222 52] 3-611 22.) 1527 88 | 2-638 44 | 3°055 34} 2°361 118 | 8-194 140 |. 9-722 133) -937 31 | 2-152 83] 590 40 | 2-777 61 4-236 174} (1-215 393) 2-743 70 | 4-861 92) 6-388 130 9-027 8 555 98 | 6805 253) 1:770 23 | 1:597 21 1-458 37 | 2-569 323] 2-256 773| 5°38] 341 2-361 96 | 6-666 50} 3472 a Specific Gravity, Air=1. ment. 628 1/190 1519 2°255 3°67 1-522 2:644 3:942 2346 8-20 9-665 ‘947 2-153 597 3°00 4175 1:214 2-695 4-875 6:30 9-199 “559 6°856 1-761 1-613 1-455 2-586 2-219 5474 2-383 6-741 3-472 By Dr. Cuar.es Henry. Authority. Mitscherlich. Do. It is universally known to chemists, that if oxygen and hydrogen be mixed, and brought into contact with metallic platinum in the state of wire or foil, or more especially in the spongy form, the combi- TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 55 nation of these gases is very rapidly achieved, and if mixed in the proper proportion, they are converted, usually with the phenomena of ignition, altogether into water. It is also well known, and was first noticed by Dr. Turner, that if into an atmosphere of oxygen and hydrogen, mixed in the ratio necessary for forming water, certain other inflammable gases, such as carbonic oxide and olefiant gas be introduced, the combination of the oxygen and hydrogen is, if not altogether sus- pended, at least materially interrupted. This is what Dr. Henry de- nominates gaseous interference. ‘The cause of this remarkable effect has, at different times, attracted the attention of eminent chemists. Dr. Turner has ascribed it to the soiling of the platinum by the inter- fering gas; Dr. Faraday to some peculiar condition induced in the metal ; while Dr. Henry himself, at a period long prior to the present, con- ceived it to arise from the fact of carbonic oxide and olefiant gas having a stronger affinity than hydrogen for oxygen gas. In his present paper, Dr. Henry investigated the entire question. The prominent facts and inferences appeared to be that carbonic oxide retards and limits, but does not altogether prevent the action of platinum on the usual explo- sive mixture, and the same may be said of olefiant gas. The interfering power, however, of the former is vastly greater than that of the latter, their ratio being represented by the numbers 18 and 1. In the case of carbonic oxide, carbonic acid is always produced, the amount depend- ing on the form of the platinum. employed, the quantity of the inter- fering gas, and the temperature at which the experiment is conducted ; and, as a general rule, it may be laid down, that the interfering in- fluence of the gas bears an inverse relation to the energy with which the platinum acts, and the degree of heat—conditions, however, which may be considered as identical. The diminution, and even disappear- ance, of interference at high temperatures, Dr. Henry attributes to a relative augmentation of the affinity of hydrogen for oxygen, an hy- pothesis indeed established by other and independent facts. That Dr. Henry’s theory of gaseous interference is the true one, he infers from the general fact of no gases exercising any such in- fluence but those which have an affinity for oxygen; and that it is strictly true, at least in the case of carbonic oxide, there can be no question, seeing that some of the oxygen is actually employed in the production of carbonic acid. In the course of the paper several other interesting facts, of a col- lateral description, were stated, and, amongst others, that platinum causes, though slowly, the combination of a mixture of oxygen and carbonic oxide, but that the process is facilitated by the introduction into the jar of a little caustic potash. This latter circumstance he attributed to the removal of the carbonic acid by the potash as fast as it was produced, 56 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Experiments on the Combinations of Sulphuric Acid and Water. By Tuomas Tuomson, M.D., F.R.S.L. and E., &c., Professor of Che- mistry in the University of Glasgow. To obtain pure sulphuric acid, Nordhausen acid diluted with water till its specific gravity was only 1°8375 was distilled in a retort till the liquid remaining in the retort was precisely the same with that of the last portion distilled over. This happened when the specific gravity of the acid was 1°8422. It was then a compound of l atom acid........ 5 l atom water ...... 1°125 6°125 and its atomic weight 6°125. This acid, which was pure, (excepting the presence of =,4,,th part of its weight of sulphate of lime) was employed in the following experiment : 1. Specific gravity of different atomic compounds of sulphuric acid and water. These were obtained by mixing determinate weights of acid and water, and taking the specific gravity of the compound. The following table shows the result : Acid. Water. By Expe-|By Calcu- Difference. riment. | lation. 1 Atom + 1 Atom | 1°8422 ‘ a 1°7837 | 1°7114| + 0°0723 or xg 4 Y 1°6588 | 1°6158| + 0°0430 or 545° b 1:5593 | 1°5429| + 0°0164 or gL “f 1:4737 | 14854) — 0°0117 or +37 1:4170| 1°4389} — 0°0219 or 74. ny; 1-3730| 1-4006| — 0°0276 or =4.7 s 1°3417 | 1°3684} — 0°0267 or =1.5 3 1°5105 | 1:°3410| — 0°0305 or 44.5 Qd,; 1°2845 | 1°3174| — 0°0329 or 45 t+tt+++4+ KH OONRH Ob & WO From this table we see that the compound of one atom oil of vitriol, with one, two, and three atoms water, has a specific gravity above the mean, while the compounds of one atom oil of vitriol, with four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine atoms water, are below the mean. In the first case there is a condensation, but in the second an expansion, and this expansion increases with the quantity of water. 2. Heat evolved when an atom of oil of vitriol is mixed with from one to nine atoms water. ; This was determined by pouring 1000 grains of oil of vitriol of 1°8422, upon the requisite quantity of water in a glass cylinder con- taining the water, and stirring the mixture with a thermometer. The thermometer rises with very great rapidity, and begins almost imme- diately to descend, so that it is difficult to notice the highest point to which it rises. ‘The following table shows the result. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. SSS Oil of Wat Weight of || Thermometer | Heat Vitriol. Pile: olmchigid Wate porase Stomi 2}evelved. ~I Gr — Grains. | Grains. 1 Atom + 1 Atom}1000 | 183-6] 60° to 245°! 1850 » |1000| 367:3|67 to 286 | 219 » |1000| 550:9| 60 to 268 | 208 » |1000| 734-6] 60 to 263 | 203° 1000 | 918-3] 60 to 238 | 178 » |1000|1102..|59 to 222 | 163 » |1000 |1285:7|59 to 207 | 148 » |1000|1469-3|59 to198 | 139 » |1000|16538 |59 to188 | 129 © CONT O) Or B® CO DO But when oil of vitriol previously mixed with water in atomic pro- _ portions is mixed with an atom of water, the heat evolved is much less. This will appear from the following table. 5 Thermometer} Heat Acid. Water. Water. rose from | evolved. ee 1 Atom + 1 Atom) + 1 Atom| 60° to 245°] 185° Driss parte ae ie viper lege whos bol seopie7O CEs h OSA eee) ies AU wae rt) Tota ee Ee oe Ca te ad en eq? gah tas De Siete PE a EO TE SO ee BONN is a Preto. area a oa bat 63 to 72 9 4 sa Ate yt) ee de et OS, ta. 7 MESO REE EC SSRN TE HI at TO Bef 6 Glink wreck I ok jae ii BS a RY 4 3. Specific heats of various atomic compounds of sulphuric acid and - water. This was determined by putting 24 cubic inches of the acids to be tried in a flask, heating them 80° above the air of the room, and noting the number of seconds which each took to cool 40°. The following table shows the result. Time of Cooling, 40°. Empty flasks... 2.0.0.0... 215"°5 24 Inches of Water ......... |5720'°7 1 Atom Acid + 1 Atom Water| 5860 i + 2 b> 4837°7 3 f, 4587-2 4 t, 4702°7 5 rr 4831°7 6 is 4967°3 7 y 5075. 8 : 5169 3 9 AA 5267°7 10 ip 53807°5 ++++4+4+4++ 58 SIXTH REPORT—1836. By subtracting the 215”:5 (the time the empty flasks took to cool) from the numbers in the preceding table, we obtained the ratios of the specific heat of equal volumes of the above mixtures. By dividing these numbers by the specific gravities of the various liquids as given above, we obtain the specific heats of equal weights of each. The following table shows these specific heats, that of water being reck- oned unity. Water :...6385 6548 1:0000 1 Acid + 1 Water | 0°3593 vw +2 na 0°4707 sp tke Ba 0°4786 » +4 a 0°5228 3 eho #, 0:5690 » +6. ,, |0°6091 Saebiiten sian otae oe a He Brice’, |. 026699 >». +9... ,,._ |.0°70038 +1 0:7201 To know how far these numbers accord with the theory of Dr. Ir- vine, at present universally admitted, namely, that the heat evolved when oil of vitriol and water are mixed is owing to the diminution of the specific heat, we must make a comparison of the specific heats above found with the specific heat of the mixture, supposing it a mean of the specific heats of the acid and water without any change. This is done in the following table. Sp. Heat | Mean Sp. | p- by Exp. | Heats. ig Water... euhrnus 1:0000 Acid. Water. 1 Atom + 1 Atom| 0°3593 » + 2 ,, |0°4707 | 0°-4587 | + 0°0120 » + 8 ,, |0°4786 | 0°5326 | — 0°0540 » + 4 ,, |0°5228 | 0°5869 | — 0:0641 » + 5 ,, |0°5690) 0°6306 | — 0:0616 » + 6. ,, |0°6091) 0°6660 | — 0:0569 » + 7. ,, |0°6428 | 0°6952 | — 0:0524 » +8 ,, |0°6699 | 0°7197 | — 0:0498 » +9 ,, |0°7003 | 0°7405 | — 0:0402 » +10 ,, |0°7201 | 0°7585 | — 0°0384 an I EE The slightest comparison of the second and third columns of the table is sufficient to show that the theory of Dr. Irvine cannot be ac- curate. The specific heat of a compound of 1 atom oil of vitriol and TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 59 _ 1 atom water is greater than the mean by about z4,th. Hence it is im- possible that the heat evolved can be a consequence of a diminution, when no such diminution exists.’ In all the other compounds there is a diminution of the specific heat, but it does not correspond with the heat evolved. The greatest takes place when one atom of oil of yitriol is mixed with three atoms water. It amounts, in that case, to about 4th, and the heat evolved is 208°. But when one atom of oil of vitriol is mixed with two atoms of water, the heat evolved is 219°; yet the diminution of specific heat is only about 3/5, and consequently _ Jess than when the heat evolved is only 208°. The same want of coin- eidence exists in every part of the table. Hence it follows, that when oil of vitriol and water are mixed the heat evolved is not the conse- quence of a diminution of the specific heat. Dulong and Petit observed that when the atomic weight of a simple body is multiplied by its specific heat the product is a constant quantity. Dr. Thompson has shown in a paper published in the third volume of the Records of General Science, that this constant quantity is 0°375. It fol- lows from this law, that the same absolute quantity of heat exists in com- bination with every simple atom; that the differences of the specific heats of different simple bodies are owing to a difference in their atomic _ weights. _ In the same paper it is shown that when the atomic weight of a compound body is multiplied by its specific heat, the product is always a multiple of 0°375 by a whole number, which number depends upon, or at least is connécted with the number of atoms of which the com- pound body is composed. If the number multiplying 0°375 be equal to the number of atoms in the compound body, then it follows that every atom of the compound body retains all the heat with which it was combined when in an isolated state. If the multiple be less than the number of atoms, then the compound contains less heat than ex- isted in its elements, and the difference between the multiple and the number of atoms gives us the proportion of heat wanting. Let us apply this method to the combinations of oil of vitriol and water. The following table exhibits the result. Atomic | Specific |Product o: weight. heat. |cols. 2 &3. MaWater’:0 lac. .: 1:125|1:0000 | 1-125 =0°375 x 3 ' 1 Acid + 1 Water | 6°125/)0°3593 | 2°201 }= x 5°87 is +2 wi 7°25. |0°4707 3°412 |= x 9:09 a5 +3 33 8°375 |0°4786 | 4:008 |= x 10°68 ies + 4 n 9°5 0°5228 | 4:966 |= x 13°24 a9 +5 * 10°625 |0°5690 | 6°046 |= x 16°12 ” +6 - 11°75 |0°6091 V hed 53/8 x 19°08 Por +7 ‘5 12°875 |}0°6429 | 8°277 j= xX 22°07 1 A +8 a 14 0°6699 | 9°379 |= xX 25°01 35 +9 ay 157125 | 0°7003 |10:592 |= xX 28°24 a3 +10 ~=,, 16°25 |0°7201 |11-702 |= x 31:20 60 SIXTH REPORT—1836. The last column shows to what number multiplied by 0°375, the product of the atomic weight by the specific heat is equal. These numbers approximate to 3, 6, 9,11, 13, 16,19, 22, 25,28, and 31 ; and Dr. Thompson thinks it probable that if the experiments on the specific heat of these compounds had been perfectly accurate, there would have been the exact numbers, which, multiplied by 0°375, would have re- presented the product of the atomic weight into the specific heat. Now, sulphuric acid is a compound of one atom sulphur and three atoms oxygen, so that an integrant particle of it contains four atoms. British chemists, in general, consider water as a compound of one atom oxygen and one atom hydrogen; but the continental chemists consider it as a compound of one atom oxygen and two atoms hydrogen, con- sidering the number of volumes as measuring the number of atoms. Many unanswerable reasons might be given for adopting this last con- clusion as the true one. If, then, we admit that sulphuric acid con- tains four atoms, and water three atoms, we may compare the number of atoms in each compound with the multipliers of 0°375, which represent the product of the atomic weight of each into its specific heat. This is done in the following table. Number | Multipl.|Differ-| Heat of atoms.| of 0°375.| ence. | evolved. sb +t++4+++4+t4++ wWwHWnwwwwwworo& a CC MID UP & DO From this table it is evident that when an integrant particle of oil of vitriol is combined with an integrant particle of water, the specific heat of the compound, instead of being 0°375 x 7, is only 0°375 x 6; so that 4th of the whole heat is thrown out. This amounts to 185°. We see from this the cause of the evolution of heat, and we see at the same time that the whole heat which existed in the water and oil of vitriol before combination was 185 x 7 = 1295°. When an integrant particle of acid, composed of (1 acid + 2 water) is mixed with a particle of water, the heat of the compound is less than 0:375 x 13, by 0°375 x 2. In this case ;%ths of the heat are evolved. When an integrant particle of acid composed of (1 acid + 3 water) is mixed with a particle of water, the heat of the compound, instead of being 0°375 x 16, isonly 0°375 x 18, or ;?; ths of the heat are evolved. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 61 From these examples the cause of the evolution of heat is evident, and we havea method of determining the absolute quantity of heat in bodies, which has been so long a desideratum. On a Method of Ascertaining the Strength of Spirits. By Wm. Brack. The author believes it has long been a desideratum with Government to find a more scientific and accurate mode of trying the strength of spirits than that now in use. A very slight inattention in the mode of using the hydrometer may make a difference of at least five per cent. ; and when the spirits are adulterated with sugar or salts that instrument is totally useless. : It is generally known that when equal quantities of proof spirits and water are mixed together at equal temperatures between 50° and 60° Fahrenheit, the thermometer will, if immediately immersed in the mixture, rise 91 degrees, half a degree of caloric being perhaps ab- sorbed by the instrument in making the experiment. Mr. Black however thinks it is not so generally known that the _ thermometer rises more or less according to the strength of the spirits, and that it does so apparently in very regular progression. When spi- rits 45 per cent. over proof are mixed in equal quantities with water, both being at the same temperature, between 50° and 60°, the thermo- meter, if immediately immersed in the mixture, will rise 14 degrees ; but with the strongest alcohol, also mixed in equal quantities with water, it will not rise above that temperature unless more water be add- _ed, showing that no further concentration takes place, and that the al- cohol can only combine with the water in fixed proportions, and that a certain portion of the spirit must remain in the first mixture im an un- combined state. Every degree on the thermometer appears to indicate a difference of 10 per cent. in the strength of the spirit. Thus, if we mix equal quantities of spirit, 10 per cent. over proof, and water, both at equal temperatures of about 55°, the thermometer will rise 103°; with spirits 20 o.p. it will rise 114°; and so on, one degree for every additional 10 per cent. o. p. until it reaches 40 or 45 o.P., when no further increase is apparent, unless, as before stated, more water be added. _ The thermometer seems to act in a similar manner with spirits under proof; thus with spirits 10 per cent. v. rp. mixed with water as above the indication is 84°, and one degree less for every 10 per cent. under until we get to45 percent. u.p., after which, although a rise does take place, Mr. Black is not sure that the indications are so regular. _. When spirits are mixed with sugar, thus increasing the specific gra- vity so as to falsify the hydrometer 20 or 30 per cent or more, the in- dications of the thermometer are precisely the same, if we make al- lowance for the slight difference in volume caused by the mixture of ar. __ If the mixtures be made at higher temperatures the thermometer indi- " cates a lesser number of degrees in rise according to the temperatures. i 62 SIXTH REPORT—1836. When between 70° and 80°, nearly two degrees less; but the progies- sions appear to go on regularly as before. ‘The thermometer also gives pretty accurate results with wine or strong beer when applied as above. The author does not however presume to give the above as accurate results, but merely to state that the thermometer appears to indicate a regular progression according to the strength of the spirits and the temperatures at which the experiments may be made. He desires at present to draw attention to the subject, in hopes that some mode of application may be discovered which may render it available, and per- haps accurate, in ascertaining the qualities of spirits or acids. Notice of a new Gaseous Bicarburet of Hydrogen. By Epmunp Davy, F.R.S., M.R.I.A., &c., Professor of Chemistry to the Royal Dublin Society. Early in the present year the author, in attempting to procure potas- sium by strongly heating a mixture of calcined tartar and charcoal in a large iron bottle, obtained a black substance, which readily decom- posed water, and yielded a gas which on examination proved to be a new compound of carbon and hydrogen. This gas is highly inflam- mable, and when kindled in contact with air burns with a bright flame, apparently denser and of greater splendour than even olefiant gas. If the supply of air is limited the combustion of the gas is accompanied with a copious deposition of carbon. When the new gas is brought in contact with chlorine gas instant explosion takes place, accompanied by a large red flame and the deposition of much earbon ; and these ef- fects readily take place in the dark, and are of course quite independent of the action of the sun’s rays or of light. The new gas may be kept over mercury for an indefinite time with- out undergoing any apparent change, but it is slowly absorbed by water. Distilled water recently boiled, when agitated in contact with the new gas, absorbs about its own volume of it; but on heating the aqueous solution the gas is evolved apparently unaltered. The new gas is absorbed to a certain extent by, and blackens, sulphuric acid. It detonates powerfully when mixed with oxygen gas, especially if the latter forms three fourths or more of the mixture ; and the only pro- ducts of its combustion with oxygen are carbonic acid gas and water. The new gas requires for its complete combustion two and half vo- lumes of oxygen gas, which are converted into volumes of carbonic acid gas and water. From the author’s analysis of the new gas by different methods, it ap- pears to be composed of one volume of hydrogen, and two volumes of the vapour of carbon condensed into one volume. Hence the new gas contains as much carbon, but only half the quantity of hydrogen, that is in olefiant gas. The density of the former is therefore less than that of the latter, by the weight of a volume of hydrogen equal to its own — bulk. The new gas is in fact a bicarburet of hydrogen, composed of - ; TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 63 two proportions of carbon and one of hydrogen, and may be represented by the formula C2 + H! or 2C + H, and differs in constitution, the au- _ thor presumes, from that of any other known compound of carbon and _ hydrogen. . From the brilliancy with which the new gas burns in contact with _ the atmosphere, it is, in the opinion of the author, admirably adapted for the purposes of artificial light if it can be procured at a cheap rate. | A more detailed account of the properties and relations of the new _ gas, and of the experiments on which the foregoing statements are _ founded, probably will shortly appear either in the Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society or of the Royal Irish Academy. | Professor Davy made the new gas, and illustrated some of its most _ striking properties, at the Scientific Meeting of the Royal Dublin So- ciety last March. Notice of a peculiar Compound of Carbon and Potassium, or Carburet of Potassium, &c. By Epmunp Davy, F.R.S., M.R.I.A., &c., Pro- Sessor of Chemistry to the Royal Dublin Society. In January last the author made different experiments to obtain the metal of potash on a large scale, by exposing to a high temperature in an iron bottle a mixture of previously ignited tartar and charcoal pow- der, in proportions of the latter varying from about +, to }; of the whole mass. In one experiment a substance was obtained of a dark grey colour, rather soft to the knife, though adhering with great tena- city to the iron and inclining to a granular structure. This substance, when thrown into water, decomposes it with great facility, carbona- ceous matter is disengaged and gas copiously evolved, with occasional inflammations on the surface, as is commonly the case with potassium under similar circumstances. The gas when examined was found to consist of hydrogen, and the new compound of carbon and hydrogen (noticed in a separate communication), in nearly equal volumes. The _ author regards this substance as a mixture of potassium and carburet of potassium ; the former by its action on water furnishing the hydrogen, and the latter the new gas. In collecting gas from this substance by the action of water over mercury a novel and interesting case of com- bustion was observed. A little of the substance being placed at the end of a tube filled with mercury, on letting up a few drops of water gas was copiously disengaged, and as the mercury descended along the tube small portions of the substance became ignited, exhibiting the ap- pearance of bright sparks of fire in continual succession. In another experiment with the iron bottle no potassium was ob- _ tained, but a small quantity of a substance partly in powder and partly ’ in smali lumps of a dense black colour, which the author considers car- _buret of potassium, probably in a purer state than has yet been de- _ scribed. _ This carburet exhibits no appearance of crystallization to the naked 4 eye, but when viewed with a glass of high magnifying power the au- 64 SIXTH REPORT—1836. thor thinks he has observed congeries of exceedingly minute four-sided prisms truncated at their solid angles. When a small portion of the carburet is exposed to the air it soon undergoes changes, oxygen is absorbed, and water, and the damp sub- stance has a burning taste and is caustic potash with carbon. When the carburet is put into water both substances are decomposed : one portion of the carbon unites with the hydrogen of the water form- ing the new bicarburet of hydrogen, which seems the only gaseous product, the remaining carbon being disengaged, whilst the oxygen of the water and the potassium form potash. Alcohol and turpentine act very feebly on the carburet, acids strongly. The carburet undergoes partial decomposition at a dull red heat in close vessels, potassium slowly rises from it, whilst the carbon remains of a deeper black colour than the carburet. From the author’s experiments the carburet appears to be composed of one proportion of carbon and one of potassium. Mr. Mvusuet exhibited to the Chemical Section several pieces of iron ore retaining their original structural form, but converted into masses of malleable iron perfectly ductile and capable of receiving polish. He explained to the section that this curious change was effected by a protracted process of de-oxydation in contact with carbonaceous matter shut up from all access of atmospheric air,—the temperature of the furnace about 80 of Wedgwood according to the old method of reckon- ing, this limitation of temperature being necessary to produce the ef- fects. With a higher temperature a more powerful affinity would be established between the particles of iron and the embedding carbona- ceous matter, which in the first instance would convert the masses into steel; and next, by superinducing fusion, into cast iron more or less a carburet, according to the proportion of carbon which may have united with the iron. The pieces of iron ore may, by being presented to fresh charcoal under a repetition of the process, be converted into steel, pre- serving as in the present specimen their original forms altogether un- changed. One of the pieces had by de-oxydation for twelve or four- teen days passed into the state of steel; the others in the state of mal- leable iron had been exposed for about a week. Mr. M. then stated that the specimens exhibited were made from the hydrous oxide of iron known in the Forest of Dean by the name of Black Brush, but that other ores, and even the peroxides of Lancashire and Cumberland, were subject to the same change by following the same line of opera- tion. The converted ore contained 95 per cent. of malleable iron, a portion of which if melted alone would be re-oxydized so far as to produce only 70 per cent. of cast malleable iron,—the waste or defi- cient iron being found in the state of a metallic shining glass covering the surface of the precipitated iron ; but if melted with j5th its weight of charcoal, 96 per cent. of good cast steel will be the result ; and with jth or sth the weight of the ore of charcoal, 98 per cent. of the richest TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 65 quality of cast iron. In the last two operations the stall quantity of earthy matter in the ore will appear in the form of a clear glass with a slight purple tinge. Mr. Mushet described the process of smelting iron ores in the blast furnace as of a twofold nature, and stated that it exhibited all the phe- nomena now alluded to (namely de-oxydation and carburation) ; crude or cast iron when run from the blast furnace must have passed through the various stages of malleable iron and steel before absorbing as much carbon from the fuelas would enable the iron to flow from the furnace. In the upper region of the blast furnace the first operation that takes place towards a perfect reduction is the gradual de-oxydation of the iron ore by the heated fuel in the absence, or nearly so, of oxygen. When this is perfected the particles are in the state of soft or malleable iron, but owing to the short time they are exposed, and the inferior tempe- rature, they are not welded together as in the specimens which were exhibited. As the ore, however, descends in the furnace and meets with a higher temperature and an enlarged volume of fuel, an affinity is established between it and the particles of iron, which by absorb- ing about 7th of their weight pass into the steely state. A further de- scent in the furnace towards its greatest diameter brings the iron in the state of crude steel into a still higher temperature and in contact with a larger body of fuel, in consequence of which a more powerful affinity is exerted, and the iron finally separated in the state of cast iron, more or less a carburet as the purposes of the manufacturer may require. In reference to the protracted process of de-oxydation first alluded to, Mr. Muschet stated that a higher temperature, although required to weld and compact together the particles of iron, was not necessary for the de-oxydation itself, for at a bright red heat all but the very last portions of oxygen may be attracted from the iron, and the pieces of ore left easy to be pulverized. He had at one time taken advantage of this cir- cumstance to form from the iron ore a powerful metallic cement calcu- lated to give stability to great national undertakings, such as the Ply- mouth Breakwater, Lighthouses, &c. He presented specimens of it resembling masses of iron at a meeting of the Society of Civil Engi- neers, with which that intelligent body (the late Mr. Telford then at their head) expressed themselves highly pleased. But without reference to its merits, as soon as it was known that it could not be rendered as cheap as Roman cement, it ceased to excite any interest and was never inquired after. Sir John Rennie however saw its value, and was anxious to introduce it at the Plymouth Breakwater and at other places, and took a great deal of trouble in the matter. Three or four casks were sent to the Breakwater and there misapplied, as an unfavourable report reached the Admiralty sometime afterwards. This singular cement dif- fers from all others, inasmuch as it expands in the act of setting, by which means it never shrinks from the substance to which it is at- tached, but becomes completely united with it. The West India _ Dock Company alone seem to appreciate its peculiar properties. They _ find that it binds together their granite pavement in a way superior to _ everything else. (The manufacture of it has been discontinued), > Vou. v.—1836. F 66 SIXTH REPORT—1836. On the Conducting Powers of Iodine. By James Ineuts, M.D. The author in this communication replies to objections which had been raised relative to the assertion contained in his Prize Essay on iodine, viz., that this substance is a conductor of electricity. In the experiments which he instituted for the purpose he employed iodine from the manufactory of Mr. Whitelaw of Glasgow, where no iron vessel is ever employed, and in which in its veriest impurity no iron can be detected. He exhibited a tube containing an aqueous solution of ioduret of iron, a second containing an aqueous solution of the iodine to be tested, and a third having in it a solution of the ferrocyanate of potass. Now, on adding a portion of the last to the iron solution, im- mediately the blueferrocyanate of iron is formed, but no sucheffect takes place when added to the solution of iodine. Add, however, now a sin- gle drop of the ioduret solution and instantly the blue precipitate falls. But supposing that a small portion of the ioduret was present, we know that from its great affinity for water it could be removed by washing. Being therefore washed, thoroughly dried with blotting paper, and lastly sublimed three times, it is presumed the iodine used was as pure as possible. Having put a portion of this into a tube with a platinum wire her- metically sealed into one extremity, a second wire was introduced at the other, till one end approached the former to within about the fourth of an inch; this extremity was now hermetically sealed; so that the arrangement consisted in a closed tube containing perfectly dry and pure iodine, with two separate platinum wires communicating together only through the medium of the iodine. A galvanic trough was now charged, and one of the platinum wires attached to the positive pole, whilst the other was placed in a glass of acidulated water; on forming the galvanic circle no effect was produced, nor was there any differ- ence on reversing the poles. The iodine being now liquified by the flame of a spirit lamp, and the tube attached to the negative pole, the platinum wire was placed as before in water, and on completing the circle by a copper wire from the positive pole, instantly bubbles of gas appeared, and were evolved at the platinum wire, whilst none appeared at the copper, being positive. The order being reversed, evolution took place at both wires, proving clearly that decomposition had been effected. Again, on placing the wire on the tongue, and touching the other pole, a strong galvanic sensation is instantly experienced. On removing the heat the power of conducting gradually dies away, so that in seven minutes it is in- capable of transmitting even sufficient to be felt by the tongue. There- fore Dr. Inglis, when he stated in a note attached to Mr. Solly’s paper that iodine when cold and concrete still conducted, was in error, being led to say so from recollection only. But his general statement that iodine was a conductor is satisfactorily shown to be borne out by experi- ment. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 67 ‘On Paracyanogen, a new Isomeric Compound. By J. F. W. Jounston, A.M., Professor of Chemistry, Durham. When protocyanide of mercury is heated, cyanogen is given off and a black substance remains. When the salt is perfectly dry, the gas given off is altogether absorbed by potash, and is perfectly pure. Pro- fessor Johnston therefore concluded that the residual black substance was isomeric with cyanogen. Having communicated this view to M. Liebig, an accurate analysis by that chemist confirmed its truth. Pro- fessor Johnston described the principal properties of this remarkable body, which is a very stable compound, but is converted into cyanogen by an elevated temperature, or by heating it with potassium, with which it forms the ordinary cyanide. On Arsenical Poisons. By W. Herararu. As arsenical poisons are obtained with much facility and their opera- tion is deadly, they are the principal means resorted to by the secret poisoner. It becomes, therefore, essential to the community that every new fact relating to their administration, operation, or detection should be made known. The author is not aware that any well-authenticated case of poisoning by red arsenic had been published till the Burdock case was examined. In this imstance the victim, Mrs. Smith, had been buried fourteen months; upon examination orpiment was found in the stomach, and the body was partly converted into adipocire. In prosecuting his experiments Mr. Herapath conceived the idea of identi- fying the poison found with that sold by the druggist to the witness Evans through an impurity he discovered in the poison of the stomach. With this view he purchased some out of the same box, and requested that it might be of the same kind as that sold the prisoner’s agent. It was then found that the box contained three different, kinds of substances mixed together, white, yellow, and red arsenic, the two former in lumps, the latter in powder, and that it was the powder of realgar ' only which had been administered, although it was undoubtedly foundas yellow orpiment in the exhumed body. In tracing the pos- sibility of change, he found two agents, sulphuretted hydrogen aud ammonia, which would convert realgar into orpiment. Now as it is well known that both of these gases are evolved during putrid decom- position, there could be no difficulty in accounting for the change of ‘colour. But, to place the matter beyond all doubt, a direct experiment was made by poisoning an animal with realgar, which after putrefaction ‘became changed, as in the case of Mrs. Smith. The conviction of the prisoner mainly rested on the evidence of a little girl, who deposed that s she saw the prisoner Mrs. Burdock put a powder into some gruel oe afterwards administer it to Mrs. Smith. At the time considerable doubt was entertained of the truth of her Readence from its being invariably precise, even to a word, and also from the difficulty of believing that any person would be so fool-hardy as to mix and administer poison before a child, and that child a stranger. FQ 68 SIXTH REPORT—1836. But what she stated proves satisfactorily that her evidence was correct, for she said that “‘ the gruel was of a nasty red colour,” when nothing had transpired of red arsenic; and had she invented a tale to account for the appearance of the body, or had she spoken from what she heard from others, she would have said the gruel was of a yellow colour. From what occurred, therefore, it is clear that the realgar of the shops would cause death; that half an ounce given at twice (by the prisoner’s confession) was sufficient for that purpose; that realgar became orpiment during putrefaction; that realgar, like arsenious acid, had a tendency to control putrefaction, and convert bodies into adipocire. During the experiments upon this case it was found that the mi- croscopic system of testing, which was first introduced by Dr. Wol- laston, and which Mr. Herapath constantly followed, could be made to improve the very beautiful reducing process proposed by Dr. Chris- tison, and also furnished an excellent method of proving to the jury the presence of arsenic. The whole organic matter having been decompo- sed in boiling nitromuriatic acid, potash added in excess to prevent the injurious effects of mineral acids on sulphuretted hydrogen, a slight excess of acetic acid poured in, and the sulphuret of arsenic precipi- tated and reduced in Berzelius’s tube to the metallic state, and then oxidized, as recommended by Christison, the author found in the subse- quent experiments a modification of Dr. Wollaston’s practice very be- neficial. Instead of putting the few drops of solution of arsenious acid thus obtained into test-tubes to apply the reagents, he used a china tablet, and having applied a drop of the solution, then a little ammoniacal sul- phate of copper, the green of Scheele became evident by the contrast of colour with the white plate; but even that might be improved by gui- ding the coloured drop by means of a glass rod down upon a piece of white blotting paper, previously placed on a flat chalk-stone, which by absorbing the solution removed any excess of the blue reagent, (which which was always liable to overpower the colour of Scheele’s green,) while it left the latter on the paper, and when dried it could be intro- duced into a sealed tube, which could be marked by a diamond, in the handwriting of the experimenter ready for identification before the jury. Mr. Herapath is satisfied that ,>4,5th of a grain of arsenious acid might be detected by these means, ‘The other two reagents, ammoniacal ni- trate of silver and sulphuretted hydrogen, can be applied in the same way, and when dried the product may be similarly inclosed. In all cases where a highly oxygenating process is followed, for instance, when the mixture is boiled in nitro-muriatic acid, or where deflagration with nitre is practised, the arsenical compound is converted into arsenic acid, and in passing sulphuretted hydrogen (after the usual precautions) the first portion of the gas is decomposed by giving hydrogen to the oxygen of the arsenic acid, consequently sulphur falls mixed with sulphuret of arsenic, but so extremely light that it takes some hours to deposit ; after which the mixed mass may be collected together, and upon re- ducing it to metallic arsenic the sulphur would be separated ; for from TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 69 - being more volatile it is found above the crust of metal, and in the ——— : oxydizing process forms sulphurous acid and disappears, while the arsenious acid condenses. It sometimes happens that arsenic is contained in substances which prevent the ordinary processes from being followed, for instance in the case of Sophia Edney, who was convicted at Taunton of poisoning her husband. The author found about an eighth of a grain in the duodenum (the contents of the stomach having been thrown away by the surgeon who examined the body, under the belief that an ulcer found in the stomach was sufficient to account for death); the only other matters brought for examination were a few grains of bacon-fat scraped from the edges of a frying-pan. In the fat he could find no arsenic, and the potatoe being an amylaceous substance, it was in vain to try the usual reagents or to make a filtered solution. It was therefore projected into melted nitre ; when it was deflagrated, diluted acetic acid was added to rather more than neutralize the carbonate of potass resulting from the deflagration of the charcoal of the vegetable and animal substances. A stream of sulphuretted hydrogen was then passed through it, which turned it yellow, and upon deposition and sub- sequent treatment in the way alluded to before, enough was obtained to take to a jury: specimens of the reduced metal, of arsenious acid, Scheele’s green, arsenite of silver and orpiment, although the reduced arsenic was not more than ;1, of a grain. It had been said by the dying man that his wife had fried potatoes in this pan for him and he had not been well since. The pan had been subsequently used to fry bacon, which had been eaten with impunity by two persons, exclusive of the prisoner, who had herself “ eaten a bit as big as a nut ;” yet there was enough left adhering to the pan to prove her guilt, which her con- fession subsequently acknowledged. Although nitre affords an excellent means of removing all organic matter, and thus leaving the operator free from all embarrassment, yet it cannot be depended on in quantitative analysis, as a certain propor- tion is volatilized during the process; this loss might be reduced by putting a little nitre in the solution before evaporating to dryness. The plan of discovering arsenious acid by arseniuretted hydrogen, and depositing the arsenious crust during its combustion, recently pro- posed by Mr. Marsh of Woolwich, was described by Mr. Herapath as the most elegant that could be conceived, and at the same time the most sensitive; he suggested the following precautions for the purpose _ of evidence before a jury. The zinc used for the preparation of hydro- _ gen should have been treated by the experimenter in the same way _ without arsenic, or it might be supposed that the arsenic was contained in the zinc; the metallic crust should be so received as to be kept as _ much as possible from atmospheric air, otherwise it would lose its lustre by passing into the ‘“‘ Fly Powder” of the Germans. Instead of a plate of glass to receive the crust Mr. H. used one of mica, with three drops of water in separate places on one of its sur- faces; if the flame was allowed to play under one of those drops, the evaporation of the water kept the place cool, and the crust was thicker 70 SIXTH REPORT—1836. while the risk of fracture was avoided. Then by inverting the plate, and holding the drops in succession some little height over the flame, they became solutions of arsenious acid, and could be tested with the three reagents as before stated. The part of the plate of mica con- taining the crust may then be cut off and introduced into glass tubes, hermetically sealed up like the slips of blotting paper containing the coloured results of the reagents. If it be necessary to make quantita- tive experiments, the products of the flame may be condensed in a large globe; the arsenious acid dissolved and precipitated by sulphu- retted hydrogen. On Lithiate of Ammonia as a Secretion of Insects. By Wm. Hrrapatu. Lithic acid has been discovered as an abundant secretion inthe urine of mammalia, in that of birds (particularly of those with carnivorous propensities), and in the excrement of the boa constrictor; but Mr. H. was not aware that it had been noticed among the insect tribes, previ- ous to his examination of a fawn-coloured substance which is ejected with considerable force by the common silk-worm (Phalena Mori) in its moth state of existence. ‘This is principally composed of lithiate of ammonia. As the insects do not eat either in the chrysalis or the moth state, or even for some days before spinning, and as they discharge at the last-mentioned period all the remains of food and become transparent, it would seem that the lithiate of ammonia is not excrementitious in the common acceptation of the term, but a secretion destined for:some particular purpose, possibly for softening the cocoon. He afterwards examined other insects of the moth tribe, and found that there are so many producing the same substance (varying a little in colour from the presence of rosacic or purpuric acids) that it might be considered as common to the tribe. Those who wish to carry on experiments upon this point will find good subjects in the privet hawk-moth (Sphine ligustri), the lackey (Neustria), the puss moth (Cerura vinula), and the ermine. It is remarkable that in the cases mentioned by Mr. Herapath the lithiate of ammonia should be produced by creatures living entirely on vegetable food. Analysis of the Water of the King’s Bath, Bath. By Wm. Heraratu. Grains. On June 4th, 1836, the temperature of the spring head of the King’s Bath while running was 114° F., and its sp. gr. at GOS Was hs sk hye ae od - bes s Feisin- welbptonte Aid - 1:001905 Upon evaporating to dryness an imperial pint of 8750 grs. the residue was found to be... .-. 2.2.05. 000 eee eens 19:075 A.—A little spirit of wine was three times affused upon this and decanted ; it had disselved 3°23 grs. ; slow crystalliza- tion under the microscope showed it to be chloride of mag- nesium and chloride of sodium ; there was no chloride of ed TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. ral ‘ Grains. calcium or strontium : precipitated by carbonate of ammonia and phosphate of soda the magnesia was equal to magnesium. "187 The liquid acidulated with nitric acid, precipitated by ni- trate silver, gave chloride of silver = chlorine ........... 1-124 As °187 magnesium is: equal to ‘560 chlorine, and the re- maining °564 chlorine to ‘376 sodium, it follows that the loss was 1°543. As this loss was enormous it was sup- posed to be water of the muriate of magnesia; to prove which some magnesia was dissolved in muriatic acid, eva- porated to dryness at the same heat, and found = 19°8 grs. while hot ; decomposed by heat in a platina dish it weighed 7°45 only. This loss was equivalent to 1°428 on the mu- riate of magnesia of the spirituous solution, the difference between 1:543 and 1°428 being caused by inequality of heat or extractive matter. The spirit salts were therefore Chloride magnesium... . ‘TAT Chloride sodium........ “940 WVBECENUD os ih olesa tein, sah fags 1°543 B.—Acted on theremaining salts with water containing enough alcohol to prevent the solution of sulphate of lime ; evapo- rated to.dryness and re-dissolved in as little water as pos- sible to leave behind any sulphate of lime which might yet have been dissolved; evaporation under the microscope showed the mass to be composed of the remainder of the common salt, sulphates of magnesia and soda. The ma- gnesia was precipitated and found to be ‘312 gr. . After the _ addition of nitric acid to suspend the phosphates, nitrate of silver precipitated chloride equal to chlorine -700. Then nitrate of barytes gave sulphate equal to sulphuric acid 1°360, of which ‘620 was required by the magnesia, the remaining °740 by soda, while the *700 chlorine was equal to -466 sodium. The water salts were therefore : Sulphate a id 2B 932 Sulphate soda..........). 17334 Chloride sodium,....... 1166 Ch) eee 188 C.—The pulverulent residue was acted on by muriatic acid with alcohol; it effervesced ; after decantation the fiuid was precipitated by oxalate ae yin paEeins heated red, gave ~ carbonate lime. . di ai sk shaebeeaei Silas “680 Ammonia gave red oxide ofiron...... ‘021 Phosphate of soda gave on concentration a | trace of 1 ma- gnesia. P=: The remaining 11°53 was treated with boiling muriatic acid diluted, but with no alcohol ; it was all dissolved but 220, which was taken as silica, the sulphate of lime being. 1131 72 SIXTH REPOoRT—1836. The solid contents of the water were then, As found. As ewxisting in the Water. Chloride of magnesium.. °*747 Chloride of magnesium.. °*747 Chloride of sodium....... noe Chloride of sodium...... 2°106 Sulphate of magnesia.... °932 Sulphate of magnesia.... °932 Sulphate of soda........ 1°334 Sulphate of soda........ 1334 Carbonate of lime....... “680 Bicarbonate of lime.,... 1°019 Carbonate of iron....... *021 Bicarbonate of iron...... *030 Carbonate of are .a trace. Bicarbonate of magnesia..a trace. et of lime... . 11°310 Sulphate of lime........ 11°310 Silica. 3 aud ng BEd 2220 Silica as -caot. tee. «alas 220 17°350 17°698 Loss, isdn extractive.. °188 Water.. dtwictnasiar wads 19:081 The author has some doubts whether the whole of the iron exists as bicarbonate ; certainly by far the greatest proportion is in that state, because upon standing an ochre is deposited and the water has but a very slight action on iron tests. Some experimenters have imagined that a part was dissolved as sulphuret, and others have found the iron as metal upon evaporation; but Mr. Herapath found no direct evidence of the first ; and as to the second he observes that every experimenter who found metallic iron had evaporated in a brass or other metallic boiler, which would easily account for its presence; but it is not un- likely that a small portion is held in solution otherwise than as bicar- bonate: The other water was found in Kingsmead-street. A well 59 feet deep and 40 feet boring had been upon the premises for some time, which contained water of the temperature of 76°, and from the heat of its sides it was evidently in the neighbourhood of hot water. As this spring fur- nished but 35 hhds. a day, and more was wanted, a boring hole was made which passed through the following strata: 35 feet of blue lias. 50 white lias. 11 —— white clay. 11 —— sulphur clay. 1 —— red soil. 108 59 original well. 40 original boring well. — 207 When at this depth no water was found; but one morning upon the workmen arriving the well was discov ered to be full of hot water to ens / ‘Sulphate lime....... 8-370 8'850 9-500 TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 73 within 7 feet 5 inches of the surface, and it was running over through a weak place in the side at a very rapid rate. Examined June 4th, 1836 ; it was found discharging at the rate of 137 gallons a minute, and it was stated that the flow had been invariable from the month of November last ; its temp. was 99°, and its s. g. at 60°, 1:001957. Upon treating 8750 grs. exactly as that of the King’s Bath, the fol- lowing salts were obtained as existing in the water : Chloride of magnesium........ 673 Chloride of sodium......... pie iil. Sulphate of magnesia.......... 17105 Sulphate of sodas. 0) PPT To. 2°090 Bicarbonate of lime........... 1170 Bicarbonate of iron............ 016 Bicarbonate of magnesia... .... a trace. Sulphate of lime and silica..... 11°472 19°446 ” This water then is of the same class as the King’s Bath, being ther- mal and chalybeate. It contains 13 gr. more of solid contents in the imperial pint, and the proportion of the various ingredients differs. The Bath waters have been repeatedly the subjects of analysis, but the results are very various, scarcely any two experimenters agreeing in the details, although the total quantity of solid matter is not so much a subject in dispute. Whether the water differs at distant periods, or the system of analysis followed is the cause of the disagreements, Mr. ‘Herapath does not attempt to decide, but contents himself with placing the operations of each chemist in juxtaposition, supposing them to operate upon the old wine pint, which was the quantity referred to by them. The carbonates are assumed to have existed as bicarbonates. Scudamore corrected Wilkinson, Phillips. by turning muriates into chlorides. Herapath: Chloride magnesium e % sodium.... 38°045} 3°24 » calcium... . ” Sulph. magnesia... . 1-630] 1:475 °797 -760 Bicarbonate. . -802 *200| -00196 01:985| Do........° » Magnesia.... Dowie. Silica. ......0.... °180 "19 -200 Extractive "090 Loss. . °58015 Water.'450 147303 |14°51696 14-0000 74 SIXTH REPORT—1836. On the Analysis of Wheat, a peculiar Volatile Fluid, and a Soluble Modi- fication of Gluten, Nitrogen in Lignin, &c. By W.C. Jonxs, Having observed a peculiar liquid and soluble gluten in experiments to ascertain the quantity of starch, &c. which exists in ordinary wheat, the author first gives the results of his observations on the gluten and starch. He carefully separated the starch from 100 samples of wheat,every 10 of which were as nearly alike as possible, and the analysis given below is the mean of every 10 of the similar samples. Every one of the 100 sam- ples was separated in two ways: the quantity of water was ascertained in cne set of experiments by heating the meal at a temperature of 160° until no more was given off, the quantity of gluten by washing away the starch in the usual way, the quantity of soluble matter by digesting with water at a moderate temperature, and evaporating to dryness before fermentation was produced. Inthe other method of operating, which has been found the most accurate, the meal was mixed with four parts of water atatemperature of 68° Fahrenheit; the fermentation wasallowed to go on, until the saccharine matter was converted into alcohol and the alcohol to acetic acid, which eventually dissolves every particle of gluten in the wheat. When the ingredients, viz., the meal and water, have been mixed 12 hours, the mass will swell up considerably, and the temperature will increase ; in 12 hours more the solid parts will subside and the supernatant liquid will have a sweet taste, slightly acid, s. g. 1-018. When all the alcohol and other principles are converted into acetic acid (more acetic acid being formed than the alcohol would produce), and when the gluten is dissolved, the liquid will have an acid, bitter taste, and a gravity of 1-047 ; this change will occur in about 15 days. On evaporating this solution to dryness a peculiar form of gluten is ob- tained in reddish brown transparent gummy masses, smelling like the brown part of roasted beef, very soluble in water and alcohol. The acetic acid still contained in this gluten has some effect in rendering it so so- luble in water, but only to a limited extent, as an alkali added to the aqueous solution causes ;%ths of the gluten to subside, the precipitate being soluble in alcohol. By treating this gluten in a peculiar manner a series of azotized bodies may be obtained, peculiarly interesting in their properties: and brilliant in their appearance. Having obtained the gluten in this way the author inferred the quan- tity of saccharine matter by the alcohol and acid produced, the starch by the usual separation, and the bran by a hair sieve, drying carefully at a temperature of 100°: the results of both sets of experiments did not materially differ, and most of them were further corroborated by a third series performed in a very large way. Chemists in analysing wheat have included the starch under one head, and taken no notice of a low-quality starch which exists in wheat, and which must be separated to render starch fit for its ordinary uses. This low starch gives a reddish brown colour with iodine, and a brown jelly with water, but when torrified the amidine approaches to that from the usual starch. In the following analyses the small quantity of phosphate of lime existing in wheat is TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 75 of course included in the starch experiment. No. 2 was a very plump English wheat, and all the others were corn of the British empire, some thin and some plump grains, that sample being fullest which contained least lignin, and vice versd. “ n i = oe co =] Ss = milar Samples. | a x ey a BY n 8 B= =) milar Samples. milar Samples. milar Samples. milar Samples. Mean of 10 si- milar Samples. 10. i Mean of 10 si- milar Samples. Mean of 100 Samples. Mean of 10'si- ' — QD i I oe ° i=} s = Mean of 10 si- 4, Mean of 10 si- milar Samples ae Mean of 10 si- Mean of 10 si- milar Samples. Mean of 10 si- Fine Starch.. Low Starch.. oo . Oll| 8 4 ig id G 9°243 RAT ees ; 4 iB " . Z 18°00 | 19°66 : , = 22°641 Saccharine and other ay 2 : : 2 fa 7 ? ‘: *, ‘ . soluble matter S Sri bt Ore 6-419 Bran or bigwip Si sve owe " Y 3 f i 13°8 | 12°90 H ‘ Y 13°512) “Water .. seevvecsecese . m id ‘ bs 12°10 | 14°11 5 5 "| 12°636) ae nore a) oo oe) oo wo é oo 6 3 = a From the above it will be seen that the manufacturer would be greatly deceived if he expected to obtain 60 per cent. of starch, as stated by some chemists ; he would in fact seldom or never obtain more than 84. Kirchoff discovered that very diluted sulphuric acid would convert starch to sugar of grapes, and after long boiling Mr. Jones finds the concentrated acid will produce this effect immediately. Dry starch is, by addition of sulphuric acid, instantly converted into charcoal, and acetic or malic acid can be distilled from the mass; but if 1 part of starch be mixed into a paste with 1 part of water, and then 2} parts of sulphuric acid added, the starch is instantly dissolved: the solution has a temperature of about 200°, smelling strongly saccharine and ethe- real, in facta peculiar zther cam be distilled from the solution. When the solution is diluted, and the acid removed, a light-coloured deliquescent sugar is obtained ; but only 63°8 parts of sugar are obtained from 100 parts of starch in this way, and it would be interesting to find in what form of soluble combination the other part exists, and. perhaps this in- quiry may tend to show the difference between starch and sugar, and throw some light on isomeric bodies. Volatile Liguid. — When the lignin of wheat is separated i in the humid way, dried at a temperature of 100°, and mixed into a paste with water to prevent charring, and sulphuric acid is then added in small quan- tities at a time, the | bran will be dissolved, and the solution will have a dark brown colour, and a pleasant ethereal odour; upon distilling this fluid a pungent liquid is obtained, smelling of hydrocyanic acid, though this cannot be detected in the solution. This fluid when rectified hasa specific gravity “9829 and boils at 186° Fahrenheit. When poured upon caustic lime, the lime slakes and becomes of a bright yellow colour, which appears to be peculiar to this fluid ; when boiled with lime-water the solution becomes dark orange ; pure ammonia, potassa, and soda change the brown liquid to yellow, but not orange; the property of changing lime yellow did not exist in the most volatile portion of the solution only, as the liquid in the retort after distillation had that pro- perty also. An acid changes the brown to yellow, which an alkali re- stores, showing some analogy to the colouring matter of turmeric. Sup- 76 SIXTH REPORT— 1836. posing from its slightly reddening litmus, and the colour which origi- nated from its combination with lime, that the fluid might contain a peculiar acid, the author precipitated the lime with oxalate of ammonia, thinking if the supposition was correct a coloured volatile salt of am- monia might be obtained. But on evaporating the supernatant liquid to dryness and heating to 300°, the colour still remained in a soluble state. Professor Hare, in a pamphlet he presented to the members of the Association, observed the tendency of sulphurous acid to change many volatile oils yellow, and it is not improbable that a portion was generated in this case as carbon always is produced in distilling the mixture. The author, strongly suspecting the liquid to contain nitro- gen, though he could not see from what source it was derived, as the husk of wheat is mere lignin, and chemists assert that lignin does not contain nitrogen, adduces the following experiment to prove that the lignin of wheat does contain nitrogen: a portion was successively boiled in alcohol, water, and muriatic acid, washed and dried; from 112 lbs. he obtained on destructive distillation 14 lb. of sesquicarbonate of ammonia. Chemists have observed that the seeds of the cerealia contain nitrogen, but Mr. Jones was not previously aware that the lignin of the wheat contains the same principle. He has not analysed the volatile liquid quantitatively, but it contains carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. Notice of Experiments respecting the effects which Arsenic produces on Vegetation. By Dr. Dauseny, Professor of Chemisiry, Oxford. Dr. Daubeny was led to undertake these experiments from having received a communication from Mr. Davies Gilbert, in which he stated that there was a district in Cornwall where the soil contained a large proportion of arsenic, and that no plants could grow in it except some of the Leguminose. By analysis, this soil yielded him about 50 per cent. of arsenic, in the form of a sulphuret, the rest being composed princi- pally of sulphuret of iron and a little silica. He had already ascer- tained that a little of the sulphuret mixed in soils produced no inju- rious effect on Sinapis alba, barley, or beans, and that they flowered and seeded freely when grown in it. Although the want of solubility in the sulphuret might be assigned as a reason for its inactivity, yet it was certainly taken up by water in small quantities, and imbibed by the roots of plants. Upon watering them with a solution of arsenious acid, he had found that they would bear it in larger proportions than was presupposed. The experiments were made and are continued at Oxford. On a new substance (Eblanine) obtained from the Distillation of Wood. By R. Scanvan. On a former occasion Mr. Scanlan described a new fluid obtained from pyroligneous acid, and he now detailed the properties of a new TRANSACTIONS OF THE SKCTIONS, 77 substance of similar origin, but solid. It is of yellow colour, insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol, from which it separates in long rect- angular prisms. Upon analysis by Mr. Scanlan and Dr. Apjohn it was found to be composed of ten atoms carbon, five atoms hydrogen, and two atoms oxygen. On the Insulation of Fluorine. By Mr. Knox. Mr. Knox, by operating with vessels of fluor spar, had been enabled to confine this singular substance and submit it to ocular examination. He separated it from fluoride of mercury by dry chlorine, and obtained it in the state of a gas of a deep orange colour. Dr. Darron explained his views relating to Chemical Symbols, and compared the method of representation which he advocates with the method of notation sanctioned by Berzelius and other chemists. (See in this volume the Address delivered by Dr. Daubeny. Mr. Bassacx exhibited a Thermometer recently discovered in Italy, and supposed to be one of those originally manufactured for the Societd del Cimento. It appeared to be filled with alcohol. The bulb was spherical ; the stem was divided into 50 equal parts by beads attached to it by fusion at equal distances. The scale of these instruments ha- ving been adopted without reference to fixed points (as boiling water or melting ice), it is a problem of some difficulty to render the results ob- tained by the use of them comparable with the indications of modern instruments. j Mr. Babbage stated the progress in this research made by Libri, and the methods which he had employed for the purpose. On a modification of the common Bellows Blowpipe. By Wma. Errricx. The author proposed to equalize the unsteady blast of the simple bel- lows blowpipe, by decreasing the usual size of the blower and giving it a rapid motion by means of a crank and multiplying wheels, turned by the hand or foot. A valve adjustible to any degree of pressure is placed on the upper bellows-board. On a means of detecting Gases present, in small proportions, in Atmo- spheric Air. By Wiiu1am West, of Leeds. The author proposes, by wind-sails or some similar means, to draw large measured quantities of air through liquids fitted to combine with the gases suspected. Mr. Lowe exhibited crystals of iron pyrites produced on the clay which lines the iron pots, used in the manufacture of sal ammoniac, (See vol, iii, p. 582.) 78 SIXTH REPORT—1836. GEOLOGY. On certain points in Physical Geology. By Wma. Horxrys, F.G.S. Distinct approximations to general laws have long been recognised in geological phenomena connected with the dislocations of the crust of the globe. In districts (as for instance our coal districts) where faults abound, they usually consist of two systems, those in the one meeting those in the other nearly at right angles, the faults in each system being approximately parallel. ‘The same observation applies to anticlinal and synclinal lines, and to longitudinal and transverse valleys where they appear to be connected with lines of dislocation. The directions of mineral veins present to us striking approximations to the same laws ; and further, it is important to remark with respect to all the phenomena now mentioned, that when they occur in stratified masses their directions are found to bear distinct relations to the dis- turbed positions of such masses, one system coinciding with the direc- tion of the strike, and the other with that of the dip of the beds. Mineral veins also (or rather the fissures in which the matter properly constituting a mineral vein has been deposited) possess many characters incommon. Their depth is uniformly greater than that to which man has been able to penetrate ; the most productive veins in stratified masses are in the direction of the dip, the cross-courses in that of the strike of the beds, the latter being in general of considerably greater and much more irregular width than the former. The corresponding beds in the opposite walls of a vein are frequently at different elevations, thus forming what is called the rHRow of the vein; the planes of most veins approximate to verticality; insulated masses of the adjoining rock (termed riders) are often found in them; and finally, at their intersec- tions they frequently present various appearances of relative displace- ments. ‘Trap and granite veins and horizontal beds of trap are also phznomena which must be regarded as associated with the elevatory movements to which the crust of the globe may have been subjected. That the appearances of fracture in the earth’s crust are not illusory, but afford certain indications of actual dislocation, it would appear im- possible to doubt in the present state of geological inquiry; and hence we are naturally led to the inference that some dislocating force must have acted beneath the fractured crust, and moreover that its action must have been general and simultaneous, at least to the extent of the districts throughout which the phenomena follow the same laws without breach of continuity. Assuming this to be the case, Mr. Hopkins’s ob- ject has been to institute an investigation, founded on mechanical and physical principles, and conducted according to mathematical methods, to ascertain how far the phenomena above-mentioned are referrible to the cause to which we have been led to assign them. The author makes no hypothesis in these investigations as to the manner in which the elevatory force is produced ; he merely assumes its simultaneous action under portions of the earth’s crust of consider- able extent. With respect to the constitution of the elevated mass in its undisturbed state, it is sufficient for the strict applicability of his re- TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 79 sults, that its cohesive power should vary according to any continuous law in passing in any direction from one point of the mass to another, or according to any discontinuous law in passing along a vertical line, so that a difference of constitution in the successive horizontal strata of a stratified mass is of no importance. ‘The effects of planes of less re- sistance existing irregularly in the mass are also taken into account. Taking a mass thus constituted, Mr. Hopkins investigates mathema- tically the manner in which fissures will be formed in it when subjected to tensions in assigned directions impressed on it by extraneous forces, and sufficient to overcome its cohesive power. After thus establishing various propositions, he proceeds to apply them to the dislocation of the crust of the earth, the tensions to which the mass is, in this case, subjected being produced by its elevation and consequent extension. One of the first inferences from this theory is that the directions of dislocation must in general bear definite relations to what may be termed the actual geological conformation of the disturbed district, 7. e., to that externai form which would be presented to us if any one originally un- broken horizontal stratum extending throughout the whole mass were at present to form its surface. In many cases it is easy to determine these relations; in others it is more difficult to do so, particularly in those in which the disturbed district is of limited extent, and irregular form and boundary. If there be a distinct azis of elevation, our system of fissures (always supposing them referrible to the cause here supposed) will be parallel to it, whether curvilinear or rectilinear ; and if another system exist, the fissures composing it must meet those of the former system approximately at right angles. If there be a distinct centre of elevation our systems will diverge from it, and another system may exist concentric about it. The latter kind of elevation will in general be on a much more limited scale than the former, and may be frequently superimposed upon it; and if this kind of double elevation take place at once, a:corresponding modification will result from it in the directions of the fissures. Two or three striking examples of this kind were se- lected by Mr. Hopkins from the mining district of Derbyshire and the adjoining coal district of Nottinghamshire, which, while they appeared to offer obvious exceptions to the daw of parallelism as usually inter- preted, are strictly in accordance with his theory. Another important inference from this theory is that of the simulta- neous formation of any system of fissures such as above mentioned, as far at least as regards the decided commencement of their formation. If there be two systems, they may either have been formed at the same or at different epochs. These fissures must be regarded as the primary phenomena of this branch of the science. The secondary ones of faults, mineral veins, anticlinal lines, &c. &c. are easily deducible from them. It is im- possible, however, in a limited abstract to enter into the particulars of this part of the subject, which may be found in considerable detail in the author’s original memoir, in the Transactions of the Cambridge Phi- losophical Society, vol. vi. part 1. Another view of the phenomena of elevation consists in regarding 80 SIXTH REPORT— 1836. the directions and positions of the primary fissures as determined by a regular structure of the mass (such as the jointed or laminated struc- ture) superinduced previously to its elevation. Mr. Hopkins thought it highly probable however that if such were the case the dislocations would be much more numerous in any disturbed district, and much less continuous than they are observed to be. He wished particularly however to impress on the minds of geologists that the claims of the two theories, one of which would assign the directions of the lines of dislocation to the mode of action of the dislocating force (as explained in his memoir), and the other to the previous constitution of the dislocated mass, must be ultimately decided by observation ; and to enable observers to do this, he begged to direct their attention to two or three points in particular, which might, probably, in many cases, decide the question. 1. If the lines of dislocation which we observe in the superficial por- tion of the earth’s crust were determined by the jointed structure which we now observe in that portion, there must manifestly be, not an ap- proximate, but an accurate coincidence of the joints and dislocations. Wherever such is not the case, we have an indubitable proof that the joints in the upper portion of the dislocated mass could not have been so far developed as to exercise any material influence on the directions of dislocation. 2. It may be conceived however that the lower portion of the mass may have been so far jointed at the period of dislocation as to determine the directions of fracture in the upper part. ‘To determine the truth of this hypothesis, the directions of the joints in the primitive rocks should be carefully examined at points nearest to the observed systems of dislocation, to ascertain how far this accuracy of coincidence or the absence of it can be established. The want of it must necessarily be conclusive, while its existence is inconclusive evidence as to the point in question. Further tests must be sought for by examining the directions of the lines of fracture in the proposed district; whether for instance they are related to an axis or to a centre of elevation, or whether they present distinct local deviations from the general law of the district, connected with any peculiar local geological con- formation. If such deviations be found, it must then be considered how far they are inconsistent with the theory Mr. Hopkins has investi- gated, or with the general laws which careful observation may hereafter establish respecting the directions of well-developed systems of joints. It is by these or similar observations, and not by any preconceived no- tions as to the constitution of the dislocated mass, that the question at issue must be decided. Mr. Hopkins elucidated these observations by a reference to the limestone, grit, and coal districts of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, in which two general systems of dislocation are well developed, the one being N. and S., the other E. and W., but presenting some local devi- ations from this law curiously in accordance with his theory. In the same districts (more particularly in the limestone) there exist two ex- tremely well defined systems of joints nearly at right angles to each other, and running very nearly magnetic N. and S. and E. and W. paees TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 81 These joints therefore cannot have determined the directions of disloca- tion, while the local deviations just alluded to, so far as nothing similar to them has yet been observed in the directions of joints, offer a strong proof that the lines of fracture have not been determined by the joints of the inferior portion of the mass, but by the mode of action of the elevatory force. Notes on the Sea Rivulets in Cephalonia: By Lord Nucenv. _ At the extremity of a rocky promontory, Point Theodori, in the har- bour of Argostoli, streams of water may be observed rushing inland by means of large fissures ; and Lord Nugent stated that Mr. Stephens had excavated pits and channels which he had turned toa profitable purpose by placing a mill in its course. The level of the water appears to be regulated by the height of the tide, and by the fresh waters which oc- casionally flow in. On the Stute of the Chemical Theory of Volcanic Phenomena. By C. Davseny, M.D., F.R.S., Professor of Chemistry, Oxon. In this communication Dr. Daubeny reviewed the hypothesis of vol- eanic action involving chemical principles, and defended the opinion which ascribes volcanic excitement to the admission of water to the metallic bases of the earths and alkalis in the interior parts of the earth. On Voltaic Agencies in Metalliferous Veins. By R. W. Fox. R. W. Fox submitted to' the Geological Section an experiment tend- ing to’ show that the native yellow, or bisulphuret of copper, is convert- ible into the grey sulphuret of that metal by voltaic agency. To effect this he employed a trough divided into two cells by a mass or wall of moistened clay. In one of these cells he put a piece of the yellow sulphuret of copper, and a solution of the sulphate of copper; in the other cell a piece of zinc, attached to the copper ore by means of a copper wire which passed over the clay, and he filled the latter cell with water. This simple voltaic arrangement quickly changed the surface of the copper ore from yellow to beautiful iridescent colours, afterwards to purple: copper, and finally, in a few days, to grey copper, on which metallic copper was abundantly deposited in brilliant crystals. He considered that the oxide of copper in the solu- tion parted with its oxygen to one portion of the sulphur of the bisul- phuret of copper, thus forming sulphuric acid, which was transmitted by the voltaic action through the clay to the zinc in the other cell, whilst the deoxidized copper was deposited on the electro-negative cop- er ore. PeThese results seemed to explain the reason why. metallic copper is often found in contact with grey and black copper ore in our mines, and not with the yellow sulphuret of that metal, and likewise, why the former generally occurs in metallic veins, nearer the surface and cross courses than the yellow sulphuret; in fact, in situations in which it is vou. v.—1836. G 83 SIXTH REPORT—1836. most exposed to the action of ferruginous matter, as indicated by the gossan, and of waters holding salts in solution. The gossan of the Cornish miners is a sort of iron ochre, which usually abounds in copper veins, but not in those of tin, and Mr. Fox obtained a substance closely resembling it by substituting a solution of the sulphate of iron for the sulphate of copper. He likewise mentioned his having found that when the muriate of tin in solution was placed in a voltaic circuit, a part of the tin accumulated at the negative pole ina metallic state, and the remainder at the positive pole in the state of a peroxide, the same as it exists in the mines, and he considered that this experiment is cal- culated to explain why tin and copper ores so commonly occur in dif- ferent veins, or in different parts of the same vein. He alluded toa paper of his which had been read before the Geological Society, in which he referred the definite arrangement of the ores in different rocks to voltaic agency, and assumed that the fact of veins being often found productive of ore in one rock and barren in another might be due to the relative electrical states of those rocks when the deposi- tions took place, and he conceived that the prevalence of different salts in solution in the minute fissures of different rocks might, amongst other causes, have tended to generate voltaic currents. The water taken from the mines which he had examined differed exceedingly in the nature and proportions of the saline matter which it contained ; and he had obtained considerable voltaic action by the influence of different ores oneach other, such, for instance, asa piece of yellow, and another of grey copper ore, separated by clay which was moistened with water taken from the same mine as the ores were. Mr. Fox thought that the prevailing direction of metalliferous veins might be connected with that of magnetic forces ; the former is nearly at right angles to the present magnetic meridian. He moreover stated his reasons for thinking that the phenomena of the intersections of some veins by others are not incompatible with the contemporaneous forma- tion of the original fissures in opposite directions, on the hypothesis of their having undergone a progressive opening ; and he considered that the proofs of such progressive opening abounded in the Cornish lodes and cross courses, the larger veins being commonly divided into smaller parallel veins, having walls resembling the outer walls, between which all were included. Thus he supposed that tin veins were intersected by copper veins in consequence of the latter being less hard than the former, and containing in general more clay and other mechanical deposits, whilst cross courses have still more of such mechanical de- posits, and intersect both tin and copper veins; for if we suppose such veins, nearly at right angles to each other, to be cracked or further opened, it is evident that the rent in the metallic vein might be rapidly filled up with clay or other matter conveyed into it by the water circu- lating in the veins. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 83 Remarks illustrative of the Physical Geography of the Pyrenees, parti- cularly in relation to Hot Springs. By Professor Forses. The author attempted to embody in this communication the results, more particularly geological, of a recent tour to the Pyrenees, and which form part of a paper recently read to the Royal Society of London. The intimate relations of hot springs to certain classes of rocks had be- fore been observed, and the occurrence of granite as characterizing these thermal sites is so striking as not to escape the most superficial observer. The author remarks in addition that these springs rarely or never ap- pear in the heart of a granite country, but on its borders, or at least near where stratified rocks occur in contact with granite. He quoted many examples in proof of the assertion, but one of the most striking is found in the department of the Pyrenees-Orientales, where an insue lated deposit of stratified rock surrounded by granite, has its outskirts or line of junction studded with hot springs. Stratified rocks under such circumstances are usually altered in their texture and composition, and the author shows that even where the granite does not directly appear its action may be inferred from the metamorphic character of the rocks and frequently from the fissures and contortions which accompany that character. The author includes the whole of Charpentier’s ‘‘ Baréges formation,” or primitive trap slates, in this class, and totheir occurrence attributes the hot springs of Baréges, St. Sauveur, and Cauteretz. Lastly, he shows that the quantity of metalliferous deposits in the Pyrenees seems intimately connected with the occurrence of the hot springs, being their almost invariable conco- mitants. He showed in a tabular view (which will be published in the Phil. Trans.) the number of coincidences of the five following coordinate phenomena :—Hot springs, elevatory or intrusive rocks, metamorphic rocks, lines of fissure and elevation, metalliferous veins. The author explained the importance which he attaches to an accu- rate determination of the temperature of these springs, and the precau- tions which he observed in order to make them comparable at future periods with observations which may be then made; and that the very _ few old observations of any value seem to indicate no decided change of temperature. The principal spring at Baréges cannot have changed _ half adegree of Fahr.in a century. The author also noticed the capricious intermingling of springs of every kind in such a way as to separate completely the phenomena of mineralization and high temperature. In - some parts of the Pyrenees hot springs of pure water, pure cold springs, mineral hot springs, and mineral cold springs rise within a few yards of one another. 1 On certain Phenomena connected with the Metalliferous Veins of Corn- wall. By H. T. De ta Becue, F.R.S., G.S. Mr. De la Beche brought forward observations on the directions, breadth, intersection, and other characters of mineral veins; described the relations of the veins to the adjoining rocks, and to the natural G2 48 SIXTH REPORT—1836. divisional planes in them; and explained the bearing of these data on the general question of the origin of the fissures now filled by the mixed or distinct masses of sparry, metallic, and earthy matters which constitute mineral veins. A Notice of the Remains of Vertebrated Animals found in the Tertiary Beds of Norfolk and Suffolk. By Eowarpv Cuartesworth, F.G.S. &c. The author brings forward this paper principally with a view to sub- stantiate the fact that some of the marine fossiliferous deposits on the eastern coast of England, belonging to the tertiary epoch, contain the remains of extinct and existing species of terrestrial mammalia, clearly contemporaneous with the shells and other organic bodies associated with them. ~, In 1835 the author described a newly-discovered bed of fossils sepa- rating the crag from the London clay at various localities in Suffolk, which he proposed to call “Coralline crag,” suggesting at the same time the term “Red Crag” as an appropriate designation for the overlying ferruginous shelly strata with which geologists were already familiar. Having never detected the remains of mammalia in either of the above- named deposits, and believing that the crag of Norfolk was merely an extension of the upper or red crag of Suffolk, the author, in common with Professor Phillips and some other geological writers, had thrown doubts upon the existence of the bones of elephants and other land animals in the tertiary beds of the former county, believing that their supposed occurrence probably originated in the erroneous identification of dilu- vium with crag; the extremely superficial character of the latter, and the abrasion to which it has in some places been exposed, rendering a precise separation of the two a matter sometimes of considerable diffi- culty. A recent examination however of Norfolk has produced a totale hange in the opinions previously entertained by the author upon this subject, for he finds that not only are the bones of land animals constantly found in the so-called crag of that county, but that they are of most frequent occurrence in those particular beds which furnish the strongest evidence of tranquil deposition; and further, the bones strictly belonging to these beds of marine origin can be at once distinguished from those of the overlying diluvial or lacustrine deposits by the peculiar chemical change which the former have undergone. The list of mammalia enumerated by the author belonging to the tertiary period includes six or eight species of rodentia and ruminantia, one of the genus lutra, besides teeth of the elephant, hippopotamus, and mastodon. Dr. William Smith was the first who announced the discovery of the mastodon in our own country, and though geologists have generally refused to place it upon the list of British fossil pachydermata, the existence of this genus has recently been most completely established by the researches of Mr. Fitch and Mr. Woodward of Norwich, and Captain Alexander of Yar- mouth. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 85 The author in the next place proceeds to discuss the relation which this mammiferous stratum bears to the two tertiary deposits of the ad- joining county, showing that it is not, as he had anticipated, an exten- sion of the red crag of Suffolk, but a deposit altogether distinct from it and the coralline, differing essentially from both in the number and nature of its organic contents. Its geographical limits are not confined to Norfolk, since it may be traced from Norwich to Aldeburgh in Suf- folk, overlying some part of the coral reefs in that most interesting locality. It may be most advantageously examined in the immediate neighbourhood of Norwich ; at Southwold, and on Thorp Common near Aldeburgh. This stratum as regards relative age may be looked upon as holding a station intermediate to the red crag, and those deposits in which the testacea appear to belong almost exclusively to existing species of mollusca. The beds above the chalk in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex may be grouped into two sections, determined by the presence of terrestrial mammalia throughout a part of the series, which in descending order will be as follows :— 1. Superficial gravel, containing bones of land animals, pro-) bably washed out of stratified deposits. 2. Superficial marine deposits of clay, sand, &c., in which the shells very few in number (10 or 15 species), may all be identified with such as are now existing. Ezamples.—Brick earth of the Nar, Norfolk. 3. Fluviatile and lacustrine deposits, containing a consider- able number of land and freshwater shells, with a small proportion of extinct species. (Mammalian remains in great abundance.) Localities —Ilford, Copford, and Grays inEssex. Stutton in Suffolk. 4, Mammiferous crag of Norfolk and Suffolk, hitherto con- founded with red crag, containing about 80 species of shells : proportion of extinct species undecided. Localities.—Bramerton near Norwich ; Southwold and Thorp in Suffolk. Beds containing numerous remains of ter- restrial mammalia 5. Red crag, containing 150 to 200 species of shells: propor-) 6 Sd tion of extinct species undetermined. SEE Localities. —Walton and Dovercourt, Essex ; Felixstow, New- | & § & bourn, and Bawdesey, Suffolk. ogo 6. Coralline crag, containing 3 to 400 species of shells ; pro- he 8 portion of extinct species undetermined. S38 Localities.—Ramsholt, Sutton, Tattingstone (beneath red = $ 2 crag), Aldeburgh, Orford. Solve 7. London clay. 338 8. Plastic clay. a The author next adverts to the remains of birds which he has re- cently obtained on several occasions in the mammiferous stratum of 86 SIXTH REPORT—~1836. crag. ‘The bones, principally belonging to the phalanges, have not yet been minutely compared with the corresponding portions of skeletons of existing species. These remains occur at Southwold, and have un- dergone the same chemical change as the bones of mammalia. No remains which can be satisfactorily referred to the reptilia have been discovered in the crag. The remains of fish are very abundantly dispersed throughout the red and mammiferous crag, but are less plentiful in the coralline. Oc- curring only as detached bones, it is not very easy to arrive at any very satisfactory results in their examination. Their distribution throughout the three deposits is as follows :— Mammiferous Crag.—Bones of the genus Platax in immense numbers ; several species of the genus Raia, vertebre of genera totally new to Agassiz. Red Crag.—Teeth of Carcharias, several species,including C. Megalo- don of Agassiz; palates of Myhobatis; teeth of Lamna, Notidanus, Galeus. Coralline Crag.—Genera undetermined. On the Fallacies involved in Mr. Lyell’s Classification of Tertiary Deposits according to the proportionate number of recent Species of Mollusca which they contain. By E. Cuarteswortn, F.G.S. (The abstract of this communication has appeared in Jameson’s Edinburgh Phil. Journal; and the author has subsequently treated of the subject in the Phil. Mag. and Annals for January, 1837, and also in the new Series of Loudon’s Magazine of Natural History. On certain Limestones and associated Strata in the Vicinity of Manchester. By Professor Paruuirs, F.R.S., &c. The subjects treated of in this Memoir were those members of the saliferous and carboniferous formations near Manchester which offered circumstances of interest in the general study of these deposits, or spe- cially important as bearing on a general conclusion presented by the author, that between Manchester and Shrewsbury a great deposit of coal probably exists below the new red sandstone rocks, though, from its want of conformity to these rocks, and the great depth at which only it could be found, the search for it might be at this moment unadvisable. Referring to the previous notices of thin limestones associated with coloured marls and inclosed between rocks of red sandstone at Colly- hurst near Manchester, the author proved by sections and analysis of specimens, and accounts of organic remains, that these certainly be- longed to the magnesian limestone formation. On the contrary, the limestone of Ardwick, near Manchester, was proved to belong to the upper part of the coal formation, and to contain, in its position with reference to the coal, its fossil remains, mineral composition, and asso- ciated deposits, perfect evidence of identity with the limestone of the Shrewsbury coal-field, first noticed by Mr. Murchison. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECYIONS. 87 The author having recognised in the Ardwick limestone the same minute shells (Microconchus carbonarius, Murchison) which exist in the rock, at Le Botwood, Pontesbury, Uffington, &c. near Shrewsbury, and found similar plants in the neighbouring shales, and a similar succession of strata, was induced to visit some localities in Shropshire to complete his knowledge of the facts before stating his conviction that the limestones of Shrewsbury and ‘Manchester were deposited in the Same great branch of the sea, under circumstances so very similar as to render it very probable that they and the coal strata about them were really parts of a continuous deposit. (The organic remains hitherto collected by different individuals from these deposits were described by the author, who ascribes to Dr. Phillips of Manchester the honour of first recognising the true geological relations of the Ardwick limestone.) On the Removal of large Blocks or Boulders from the Cumbrian Moun- tains in various directions. By Professor Puiuuirs, F.R.S., &e. This communication was intended to convey information on a subject proposed by the Committee of the Geological Section at the Dublin Meeting. Confining himself, for the sake of an accurate induction, to a case within his own personal knowledge, the author described the geo- graphical and geological features of the North of England, and traced the distribution of blocks of granite, sienite, metamorphic slates, and other rocks of the Cumbrian mountains in various directions. Contemplating this detritus, with reference to its abundance, the form and magnitude and nature of the masses, the configuration of the country over which they have been drifted, and the distances which they have thus reached from their native sites, the author stated as a general conclusion that in all the ascertained examples the distribution of the detritus from the Cumbrian mountains was such as no existing watery agencies could explain, nor any imagined simple relation of the level of land and sea allow; but that the phenomena required the somewhat difficult supposition of most powerful currents of water, guided in their direction by the general configuration of the land as it now appears, and assisted in their effect not merely by a single elevation of land, but by several risings and sinkings. The influence of the existing re- lations of the masses of land on the dispersion of boulders was shown _ by examples in the Vale of Eden, the Vale of York, the western border of Lancashire, &c., and the Pass of Stainmoor, in all which, and many other cases, the detrital masses were found to be accumulated against the ranges of high ground, and never to have passed these natural barriers except at comparatively low points. It was thus evident that the causes, whatever they were, which produced the phenomena were not capableof overcoming, exceptinalimited degree, the natural obstacles of the country, and this condition must be fulfilled in any satisfactory theory of diluvial action. The hypothesis that extensive deposits of detritus, such as there de- scribed, were accumulated before the land was raised above the sea, 88 SIXTH REPORT—1836. would remove much of the difficulty experienced in the study of this subject, but it appeared not generally applicable to the examples in ques- tion, because of the evidence afforded by ossiferous deposits and caverns in Yorkshire, that some parts of the country were dry land at the time of the occurrence of the diluvial floods. On the Ancient and Modern Hydrography of the River Severn. By R. I. Murcuison, V.P.R.S. On the western side of the Vale of the Severn, Mr. Murchison has ob- served the distribution of coarse gravel to be generally such as implied ’ Jocal action of water from the N.W. to the S.E., or down the slopes of the rocks, as they decline from the principal axes of elevation which run N.E. and S.W., and in the arrangement of the boulders of Cumbrian rocks which pass in along line of drift through Lancashire and Cheshire to the plains of Shrewsbury and the Vale of the Severn, he found reason to conclude that between the Mersey and the Bristol Channel the waters of the ocean had flowed in a strait, and there had distributed the de- tritus. ‘This strait must have existed in a comparatively recent geolo- gical period, since the remains of many marine mollusca now living on the shores of England abound in some of the gravelly deposits on the line of what is presumed to have been a former channel of the | ocean. In accounting for the position of the great boulders, coarse vel and sea-shells, found at different heights, the author expressed his belief that they were all accumulated under the sea, and converted into dry land by movements of elevation of unequal intensity.—See Ab- stracts of the Geological Society’s Proceedings. On the Bone Cave in Carboniferous Limestone at Cefn in Denbighshire. By J. E. Bowman. The author, referring to a memoir by the Rev. Edw. Stanley in the Edinb. New Phil. Journal for Jan. 1838, and to a ground plan which accompanies it, gives the following description of the present state of the cave. The recent excavations have been carried on in the main cave about 25 feet beyond D, and as far in the inner lateral fissure, commencing at 6*. ‘The floor has also been sunk 3 to 4 feet along its whole extent by the removal of an immense quantity of diluvium and bone earth, and is now on a level with the entrance. Holes have been dug in several places down to the solid rock, which was very uneven and free from stalagmite in every instance. A perpendicular section of the intruded matter, as now laid bare at the inner extremity of the main cave, exhibits the following appearance, commencing about 18 inches below the roof :—A series of innumerable thin beds of impalpable silt, some reddish, and irregularly alternating with others of different shades of pale ochre, slightly micaceous, the * All the references are to Mr. Stanley’s ground plan. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 89 whole when dry easily separating into laminz, often not thicker than the ;4,th of an inch; thereddish beds effervesce with acids, but not so the ochrey micaceous ones. The whole series varies from 18 inches to two feet and a half in depth in different places, and rests upon a stratum of marl or clay two feet thick, which imbeds a few water-worn pebbles of greywacké and angular pieces of limestone, and a little way from the top contains some fragments of bone. Lower down the proportion of the latter increases, so much so that the middle portion consists almost wholly of a mass of broken and splintered bones much decayed, and some teeth, closely jammed together by a mixture of clay and commi- nuted bone earth. Among the teeth those of bears, hyzenas, the rhino- ceros, of ruminating animals, and probably of the hippopotamus have been recognised, and on a few of the broken bones are evident marks of the teeth of carnivora. This stratum imperceptibly passes below into another of very compact coarse diluvium of clay and pebbles of clayslate, with a few splintered bones and broken stalactites, also about two feet thick and reaching down to the present artificial floor. On breaking up this floor the writer found a series of beds of coarse and fine sand, alternating with others of loam and clay, precisely as may be seen on the bank of a river, but without any bones, pebbles, or shells; the whole about three feet thick, and resting on the solid limestone rock. Another section at the extremity of the lateral fissure on the right corresponds in every respect, except that in the middle of the bone stratum is an additional interpolated series, about 20 inches thick, of the thin beds of parti-coloured silts, already described, which here contain a few small pieces of bone, and alternate with other beds of fine cal- careous matter, probably bone earth. This series has alsoa horizontal arrangement, and seems to have been deposited by water in a hollow in the bone stratum. Mr. Bowman then describes the strata found below the present floor in the anterior portion of the cavern, the material that formerly blocked it up even to the roof having been long since removed. For some yards round B the floor is a perfectly horizontal layer of stratified stalagmitic matter, 18 inches to two feet thick ; and below it is a bed of yellowish ochrey loam, very different to the marly diluvium already described, but containing, like it, smooth pebbles of primitive rocks, pieces of lime- stone, broken stalactites, with some splintered bones and teeth of car- nivora and ruminantia. It is of uniform complexion down to the solid rock, a depth of from four to five feet. In another excavation nearer the mouth of the cave the stalagmitic matter is replaced by sand, but below is the same ochrey loam, &c., with molar teeth of bears and fragments of jaws, and a few quartz pebbles ; while ina third, at the very entrance, about three feet of gravel and coarse sand was found under the loam, without bones, some of the polished clay slate pebbles being from nine inches to afoot in diameter. Below is the solid rock slanting inwards from each side, and about five feet lower in the middle than the foot- path in the front of the cave. There are, therefore, at the extremity of the openings, Ist, a series of fine silts; 2nd, the marl overlying and passing into the 3rd or bone 90 ’ SIXTH REPORT.—1836. stratum ; 4th, the lower marl or coarse diluvium with very few bones 5th, the beds of sand, extending down to the limestone rock. Again, near the entrance are, Ist, the bed of sand and stalagmite forming the present floor, on about the same level with the bottom of the 4th or lower marl just named; 2nd, yellow ochrey loam, with bones, &c., ex- tending along the vestibule from A to B, and passing down to the solid rock, but at the entrance resting upon coarse gravel. There is no trace of the ochrey ioam deposit at the upper end of the cave. The author forbears to speculate further on the above appearances, than to consider the upper series of fine silts to have been derived from two different sources, viz., the red and more compact layers from in- filtrations of the decomposed limestone of the cave, and the ochrey mi- caceous and more friable ones from water entering the mouth charged with a muddy sediment of the decomposed primitive rocks of the neigh- bourhood, and having a common origin with the water-worn pebbles so abundant within and about the cave. That the valley was occupied by water to at least the level of the cave before the deposition of the ossi- ferous strata, is proved by the beds of sand and smooth pebbles under- neath. Immense masses of these pebbles, more or less water-worn and mixed with diluvium, mask the face of the limestone rock in many places, and lie even on its summit, 40 or 50 yards above the level of the cave. Appearances about a very picturesquely perforated rock much below it, show that this diluvium must have been transported hither long subse- quent to the disruption and elevation of the limestone, and that not simultaneously, for the pebbles still adhere to its irregularly excavated sides, and there is an intermediate horizontal layer of them of smaller size. The author does not decide whether there are two distinct deposits of bones, viz., one in the yellow loam under the vestibule, and another at the upper extremity of the cave; though the different materials in which they are respectively found, the disparity of level, and the inter- mediate beds of sand, favour such a conclusion. From the concave trough-like shape of the sides about the entrance, as well as from the beds of sand and gravel within, the author infers that the cave must once have been a water-course ; for the abraded portions have been scooped out, alternately right and left, precisely in those places to which, from the opposite projections, the water-borne pebbles would have been driven with the greatest force. On an additional Species of the newly-discovered Saurian Animals in the Magnesian Conglomerate of Durdham Down, near Bristol. By Henry Ruitey, M.D., and Samueu Strurcusury, A.L.S.* , The remains about to be described were found in quarrying the brec- ciated beds of dolomitic conglomerate, which rests upon the highly in- * In March, 1836, a paper from the same authors was read before the Geological Society of London, entitled, “A description of various Fossil remains of three di- stinct Saurian animals discovered in the autumn of 1834, in the Magnesian Conglome- TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 91 clined carboniferous limestone at the south-eastern extremity of Durd- ham Down, near Bristol. Having in the memoir read some time since before the Geological Society entered into the particular characters of this formation, it is not necessary here to repeat them further than to show the proofs of this deposit being formed upon the spot, and not the effect of accumu- lated drift. ** In all the dolomitic formations we have been enabled to examine in this neighbourhood, we find them composed of fragments of the rock on which they rest. These observations equally apply to the conglo- merate beds of the new red sandstone. For instance, in the quarry from whence these bones have been recovered, fragments of the lime- stone only upon which it rests are found. In the beds which rest upon the old red sandstone, such as those of Ham Green, Valley of Kein, Thornbury, &c., it is found to be composed of quartzose pebbles, frag- ments of friable sandstone, and limestone boulders, in fact the precise components of the conglomerate beds of the old red sandstone which they immediately overlie. In the conglomerate or brecciated beds of the new red, which occur in the New Cut or River, and flank Brandon Hill, are found pebbles of quartz and of compact millstone grit, pre- cisely identical with the formation of Brandon Hill itself. “ From these facts it naturally follows that the animals were destroyed at a period of great local disturbance without transport from a distance or great movement. If the latter had taken place the bones would have been distributed over a large space, and not as now confined to a spot not exceeding half an acre in extent ; besides which, although the limestone and bones themselves were dislocated and fractured to a great extent, still there is no evidence of abrasion. “That the magnesian cementing paste was once subtile and fluid is exhibited in all the bones, and beautifully evidenced in a fragment of jaw which is exhibited to the Section, in which will be seen the sub- - maxillary canal, filled as if injected, also the alveoli of the jaw, hollows of the teeth, &c. That it quickly became viscid and tenacious is also evidenced by its holding up in its substance the portions of bones and fragments of limestone even of great weight, while smaller portions had gravitated to the bottom. In many instances, although the bed of dolomite is now at this place near twenty feet thick, some of the bones were found even resting upon the carboniferous limestone itself, and by careful selection would represent fossils occurring in the last-named formation.” The authors next describe the various bones which had been col- lected: as the right half of a lower jaw with teeth; an ulna; a ra- dius ; a metatarsal bone; an ungual phalange ; two left ilia ; an is- chium ; a left femur ; caudal vertebre ; and discuss seriatim their rela- tions to existing and extinct forms of Saurians. rate on Durdham Down, near Bristol ; by Henry Riley, M.D., and Mr. Samuel Stutch- bury.” In the above-mentioned memoir the authors have established two new ge- nera: Ist, Paleosaurus, of which they describe two species, P. cylindrodon, and P. platyodon ; 2nd, The codoptosaurus, the species of which they had not designated. 92 SIXTH REPORT-—1836. The authors then proceed to some general views: «To make our present notice more complete it will be necessary to extract from a former memoir the characters exhibited by a section through the axis of the vertebre, which exhibit a peculiar form in the spinal canal. In this section we have a mould of the vertebral or spi- nal canal formed by the matrix showing a very peculiar form in the up- per portion of the annular element, forming the inferior boundary of the canal. Thus its inferior surface would not be on one level plane like other vertebral canals, but would present a succession of hollows or depressions corresponding to the body of each vertebra, for the in- ferior surface would present a concavity to the depth of 38th of an inch in our specimen. ‘* In this way the vertical diameter of the canal would, at the middle of each vertebra, be at least one third more than at either of its points of junction with the next vertebra: traces of the same peculiarity may be found in other specimens. «< If we retrace our steps we shall find the pieces lately under review presenting at least two types. ‘« To the first belong the caudal vertebre with the chevrons, and the two others described immediately after them ; that is, a sacral and first caudal ; the two ilia and ischium, the large and small femur, and the pha- langes. oo To the second the series of caudals without chevrons, and the re- maining bones of the members. «« The association of the piece of jaw with the latter would be assu- ming more than we could prove ; although its characters are more those of a lizard than a crocodile, yet we cannot show that it belonged to the same animal, for it might have belonged to another extinct sub- genus of lizard. We must recollect that the blocks of stone in which these remains are met with, are sometimes so filled with bones that they would be called osseous breccia by those not aware of their origin. This is a sufficient proof of the multitude of animals whose remains are here enveloped in the magnesian conglomerate, and at the same time a plausible justification of our opinion, that by a careful examina- tion and study of these remains we shall be enabled to make out seve- ral subgenera of Saurians, independently of the remains of fishes. *« Jt is singular that in all the vertebre hitherto met with in this lo- cality we should find the double concave system only. We have al- ready dilated upon the greater resemblance of the vertebre to the cro- codilian type than to any other ; we have moreover pointed out analo- gies with other parts of their skeleton. ««The occurrence of crocodilian remains is both frequent and nu- merous in Great Britain as well as elsewhere: an examination of them according to their geological position, commencing with those at pre- sent in existence on the surface of this earth, and extending to those found in the new red sandstone of Guy’s Cliff by Mr. Conybeare, and the instances before us from Durdham Down, will show a regular se- ries of progressive changes in the type of their vertebrz, from the con- cavo-convex of the present day to the same in the newer extinct spe- . j « TRANSACTIONS OF-THE SECTIONS. 93 cies, and thence through the gradually disappearing concavo-convex to the superficially double concave, and to the deeply concave instances before us. : «In the lizards, with the exception of the monitors, we have the same order of phenomena. «« We should therefore have a right to conclude that the double con- cave system is more ancient than the concavo-convex, and that the . deep concavity indicates an earlier state of existence than the superfi- cially concave ; seeing that the Durdham Down specimens are more ancient than those of the chalk, of Honfleur, Caen, Sussex, Monheim, the Jura, &c. &c. “To carry this disquisition further, to attempt to show a succession of creations or changes from the ichthyoid type to the crocodilians (ascending as in the diagram), would require an infinitely more pro- found acquaintance with the subject than is at present attained. “ We nevertheless think ourselves justified in the assumption that the saurian type approaches the ichthyoid by two parallel lines, the one represented by the crocodiles, the other by the lizards.” Recent Crocodile. Lumbar Vertebra. First Caudal V. Second Caudal V. 94: SIXTH REPORT—1836. New Saurian. Lizarps. Saurians.) CrocoDILEs. Type. Locality Steneosaurus, Concavo-convex, Honfleur. Teleosaurus, Superf. concave, Caen. Plesiosaurus, 24 ' Lyme. Ichthyosaurus, Deeply concave, Lyme. Locality. Type. . Wealden. Concavo-convex, Iguanodon, Maestricht. Concavo-convex, Mososaurus, Monheim. Concavo-convex, Geosaurus, Stonesfield f Superficially con- } Megalosaurus, 2 Ascending to c 3 = Ascending to eee ee) and Tilgate. cave, Paleosaurus, a Durdham Tilgate. supenaly con- | tv1eosaurus, Se ee | ? ? ” ” Thuringia. Doubtful, Monitor, Fishes. The Rev. Mr. Crarxe stated the existence of two springs on the north side of Hales Bay (part of Poole Harbour), whose flow is constant, ! and whose temperature is also constant, day and night, summer and winter, at 514 degrees of Fahrenheit. The line of junction of these springs is parallel to the elevated vertical range of chalk which runs through the Isles of Wight and Purbeck. Mr. Boscawen Iszorson exhibited two models constructed by him- self; one of the Principality of Neufchatel, copied from the map of Osterwald, and on the scale of 4 an inch to the mile, and the other of 2a mile of the Undercliff in the Isle of Wight, on the scale of 3 feet to 1 mile. A letter from Dr. MantTeti was read, accompanying Drawings by Mr. Dinkel of various Reptilian Remains. A Drawing was exhibited by Mr. Murcutson of a remarkably large unknown Fish in the possession of the Rev. Mr. Noble from the Old Red Sandstone of Clashbennie in Fifeshire ;* communicated by Mr. J. Robinson, Sec. R.S.E. * A drawing of this fish having been forwarded to M. Agassiz, he has named it Holoptychus Nobilissimus. A figure and description of it will appear in Mr. Murchi- son’s new work. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 95 A letter was read from Dr. Trarut referring to some specimens of fossil fishes from the Caithness schist of the Island of Pomona (Ork- neys), and from Clashbennie, which were exhibited to the Meeting. A Classification of the old Slate Rocks of the North of Devonshire, and on the true position of the Culm Deposits in the central portion of that County. By Professor Szepvewicx and Mr. Muxcutson. The authors began by observing, that this was a mere outline of amore detailed memoir on the physical structure of Devonshire, which they were about to lay before the Geological Society of London. In the published geological maps of that county the whole system of the older slate rocks was represented under one colour, without any at- tempt at subdivision ; and one colour also represented different lime- stones, without any discrimination. The object of the authors was to remedy these defects, to ascertain and represent the true position of the successive deposits and their natural subdivisions, so as to com- pare them with corresponding deposits in other places. They also wished to determine the exact place of the remarkable carbonaceous de- posits of central Devon, which had been previously regarded as belonging to one of the lowest portions of the grauwacke formation. A section was exhibited of part of that county, from the north coast to one of the granite peaks of Dartmoor immediately south-west of Oakhampton. In the ascending order this section exhibits— 1. A system of slaty rocks, containing a vast abundance of organic remains, generally in the form of casts. These rocks sometimes pass into a fine glossy clay slate, with a transverse cleavage; sometimes into a hard quartzose flagstone, not unusually ofa reddish tinge ; some- times into a reddish sandstone, subordinate to which are beds of inco- herent shale. In North Devon they are very rarely so calcareous as to be burnt for lime, but in South Devon rocks of the same age appear to be much more calcareous. 2. A series of rocks characterized by masses of hard, thick-bedded red sandstone, and red, micaceous flagstone, subordinate to which are bands of red, purple, and variegated shales. The red colour occasion- ally disappears, and the formation puts on the ordinary appearance of a coarse, silicious grauwacke, subordinate to which are some bands of imperfect roofing slate. In this series are very few organic remains. It is several feet in thickness, occupying the whole coast from the west end of the Valley of Rocks to Combe Martin. 3. The calcareous slates of Combe Martin and Ilfracombe, of very great aggregate thickness, abounding in organic remains, and contain- ing in a part of their range at least nine distinct ribs of limestone burnt for use. This limestone is prolonged into Somersetshire, and appears to be the equivalent of that on the flanks of the Quantock Hills. 4. A formation of greenish and lead-coloured roofing slate of great thickness, and occupying a well-defined zone in North Devon, its upper beds alternating with and gradually passing into a great deposit of sand- 96 SIXTH REPORT—1836. stones of various colours and micaceous flagstones. These silicious rocks alternate with incoherent slates, and are in some places sur- mounted by great masses of red unctuous shale, which, when in a more solid form, generally exhibit cleavage oblique to the stratification. 5. The lower part of the Silurian system rests conformably on the preceding, and on the north-western coast, near Barnstaple, con- taining subordinate beds of limestone. In its range towards the eastern part of the county it gradually thins off, but its characters are well preserved, and it contains some characteristic organic remains. 6. The carbonaceous system of Devonshire ranges in a direction east and west across the county, in its southern boundary so close to Dartmoor, that its lower beds have been tilted up and altered by the granite. It occupies a trough, the northern border of which rests partly in a conformable position upon the Silurian, and partly upon older rocks, probably of the division No. 4. Its southern border also rests on the slate rocks of South Devon*. It everywhere exhibits a succession of violent contortions. In some places it is overlaid by patches of the Green Sand formation, and west of Bideford by conglomerates of the New Red Sandstone. The lowest portion of this vast deposit is gene- rally thin-bedded, sometimes composed of sandstone and shale, with impressions of plants, sometimes of indurated compact slate, containing wavellite. These beds are surmounted by alternations of shale and dark-coloured limestone with a few fossils. Subordinate to these, on the western side of the county, are thin veins and flakes of culm or an- thracite; but this is wanting on the eastern side, and the calcareous beds are more expanded. The higher beds of this deposit are well exhibited on the coast west of Bideford. These often contain impres- sions of vegetables. Though in astate of greater induration than the ordinary coal-mea- sures of England, and even in many places destitute of coal, these beds do not differ from the great productive coal or culm field of Pembrokeshire. The authors consequently concluded, that from the order of superpo- sition,—from mineral structure—from absence of slaty cleavage pecu- liar to the older rocks on which it rests—and from the specific character of its organic remains—this deposit may without hesitation be referred to the regular carboniferous series. In the course of the details a remarkable elevated beach was alluded to, occupying two miles of coast, on the north side of Barnstaple Bay, a more special account of which has since been prepared for the Geolo- gical Society. On the Site of the Ancient City of Memphis. By the Marquess SpinETo. The author read a paper, entitled, ‘‘ A Report of the Attempts made to ascertain the Latitude of the Ancient City of Memphis :” he considers the site of this city as having been in the present bed of the Nile, in latitude 29° 46! north, and longitude 31° 30’ east from Greenwich. * The authors have since read a Memoir before the Geological Society, on the gene- ral structure of Devonshire, in which the age of the strata of South Deyon is pointed out. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 97 ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY. An Account of the Organ of Voice in the New Holland Ostrich. By James Macartney, M.D., F.R.S., &c. Those who have visited zoological gardens containing the os- triches of New Holland, must have remarked the very singular sound produced by these animals; it is a species of grunt, but much softer than that of the hog, and involving the vibration of so large a volume of air, that the persons standing near the bird may feel a tremor communicated to their own bodies. Having had an oppor- tunity of examining the structure of the animal, Dr. Macartney found that there exists a mechanism amply sufficient for the pro- duction of the extraordinary sound above mentioned. In the middle of the trachea there is a large opening, directly communicating with a membranous cell of very considerable extent, which is placed under the skin of the neck. There is no peculiarity of structure at the bifurcation of the air tube into the two bronchi, and this part is only furnished with the two long muscles usually found in the organ of voice in birds when: it possesses the simplest mechanism; conse- quently the peculiar sound belonging to the New Holland ostrich is entirely occasioned by the reverberation or resonance produced in the membranous bag connected with the front of the trachea. Several birds of the duck and merganser genera are known to have the voice modified, and the volume of tone increased by dilata- tions or convolutions of the trachea. It is by a convolution of this kind that the land rail also is enabled to utter the creaking sound for which this bird is so remarkable. ‘The neighing of the horse and the hideous cry of the ass are effected by the addition of some membranous chambers situated near the exit of the air from the wind-pipe. In some monkeys there is a membranous bag commu- nicating with the top of the trachea, and the howling baboon has cham- bers composed of boné conjoined with the larynx. The bull-frog, which is heard to so great a distance, is provided with reverberating pouches; but Dr. Macartney is not aware of any example in the class of birds, except the New Holland ostrich, where the organ of voice is furnished with a membranous bag for augmenting the sound, nor any instances amongst the other classes of animals in which pouches are connected with the middle part of the trachea. The structure: of the organ for producing sound in the New Holland ostrich is therefore considered to be peculiar to that bird. As the animal from whence these observations were made was a male, the author was inclined to suppose that the peculiarity of voice did not belong to the female, which is usual in birds; but he has since ascer- tained that it belongs go both sexes, which is a still further deviation from common rule. VOL. vy.— 1836. H 98 SIXTH REPORT—1836. On the Foot of the ‘ Two-toed’ Ostrich (Struthio Camelus). By Henry Ritey, M.D. In this communication Dr. Riley showed that the number of toes in the foot of this bird was the same as that of the Cassowaries and the Nandua or Struthio Rhea. The difference observable is, that in Stru- thio Rhea the internal toe is fully developed, while in the ‘two-toed’ ostrich it is in a rudimentary state, and completely covered and con- cealed by the integuments of the foot. In the specimen exhibited (a young bird) there was a well defined condyle on the inner side of the phalangic extremity of the tarsal bone, smaller but similar in all other respects to the other two heads or condyles, serving the purpose of re- ceiving the first phalanges of the two toes already described by natu- ralists. Articulated with this condyle was a rudimentary toe about an inch and a half in length, and consisting of two phalanges; the first or tarsal phalange completely ossified, one inch long, cylindrical, and of the calibre of a crow’s quill. It was articulated with a second pha- lange, not yet ossified, cartilaginous, and barely half the length of the preceding. On the Manati or Cowfish of the Inland Waters of Guiana. By Joun Hancock, M.D. This communication contained the author’s observations on the na- tural history of the Manati, descriptions of the principal points of its remarkable organization, and habits of life. Mr. Curtis exhibited some specimens of the terminal shoots of a Pinus which had been attacked by the Hylurgus piniperda, and made some remarks upon the habits of this insect. Roserr Batt, Esq. of Dublin, exhibited for the purpose of eliciting information, several crania of a large species or rather genus of Seal, which had hitherto unaccountably escaped the notice of naturalists as a native animal, though very common on the coast of Ireland. Professor Nizsson of Lund pronounced the crania,to belong to the Halicherus griseus (synonymous with Phoca Gryphus of Fabricius), found in the Baltic, North Sea, and Iceland, and recorded as the type of a new genus in his Fauna Suecica. Mr. Batu also exhibited the skull of a seal taken on the coast of Sligo, agreeing with the principal descriptions of Phoca Vitulina, and much less common than the foregoing on the shores of Ireland; and Doctor Rirry produced the skeleton of a seal captured in the Severn, very di- stinct from the preceding (though under the same denomination). Pro- fessor Nitsson stated the former to be Phoca variegata, and the latter Phoca annellata, which with P. barbata had long been confounded under the name of P. Vitulina. , On Aranea avicularia. By S. Rootsry, M.D. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 99 On the Probability that some of the earlu Notions of Antiquity were derived from Insects. By Rev. F. W. Hore. In this essay the author has endeavoured, by the aid of the knowledge now attained concerning the natural history of insects, to explain the origin of many remarkable and erroneous opinions prevalent among an- cient nations, such as equivocal generation, the transmigration of souls, &c. Notice of Sivteen Species of Testacea new to Scotland. By Mr. Forzss. Abstract of Dr. Pritchard’s Views of the Criteria by which Species are to - be distinguished in Zoology and Botany. By W.R.Canpenter, Esq. On the Means of Preserving Animal and Vegetable Substances. By James Macartney, M.D., F.R.S., &c. When dead bodies were obtained with great difficulty for dissec- tion, Dr. Macartney has preserved them in a state quite fit for the purpose upwards of two months before the time they were wanted, by injecting the arteries so forcibly that the cellular system received a part of the fluid. ‘The compound used for this purpose was a con- centrated solution of equal parts of alum, nitre, and common salt in water, and an equal quantity of proof spirit, to which the essential oil of lavender or of rosemary had been added in the proportion of 2 to a quart of the spirit. When dead bodies have been thus prepared they are rendered incapable of the putrefactive process; they remain with an agreeable odour until they dry up or become mouldy, which may not take place for three or four months. When it becomes an object to preserve the whole body or a portion of it in a dried state, the injection above mentioned, either with or without the salt, according to circumstances, is to be used. The cu- ticle is then to be removed by scalding with hot water, and the surface having been washed over with the brown or impure pyrolig- neous acid, the preparation is exposed to dry air. Animal substances thus preserved on becoming dry acquire great hardness, and shrink but little; they appear to be perfectly impe- rishable, and more capable of resisting all external influences than the mummies of Egypt. If the injection be made with the salt, the forms fade so little that the resemblance of the original parts is retained, and if the prepa- ration*be coated over with a solution of wax in any of the essential oils, (which is found to be the best security against the exudation of the salt,) the part possesses considerable flexibility and softness. The empyreuma of the pyroligneous acid operates more suddenly and effectually than the smoke of burning wood, but in the same manner : thus, fish wiped over with it and hung up to dry, in a very short time acquires al/ the flavour and appearance of that cured by wood smoke, and hams or bacon washed over with the pyroligneous acid resemble those from Westphalia. For every purpose of preser- H 2 100 SIXTH REPORT-—1836. vation Dr. Macartney has found this acid in the impure state quite as effectual as the creosote. Some very curious examples have been met with in Ireland of en- tire bodies being preserved in bogs very perfectly for a period probably amounting to many centuries. One of these bodies, in the posses- sion of the Royal Dublin Society, was clothed with an undressed skin only, fastened by a rude skewer in front, a national dress of which we have no account either by history or tradition. Another body has been more lately found eighteen feet under the surface of a bog in the county of Roscommon. It appeared to have belonged to a female of rank ; the dress was injured in taking it up, but the hair was tastefully arranged, and ornamented by a pin. Her shoes were thin and nicely made, with only one seam at the heel, a method of con- struction which Dr. Macartney believes is only met with in Eastern nations. Some bones which had been taken from a bog, and are in the author’s possession, exhibit a very curious change of composition, as if they were converted into wood, which appearance they retain even after being burned. (Specimens shown.) The different essential oils have great powers in preventing putre- faction of animal substances, and also of destroying the vegetable mould which forms on the surface of vegetable infusions and other fluids. Mr. Carlile has employed for preserving animal jelly or size a few drops of the essential oil of cloves and of rosemary with com- plete success. No animal matter goes sooner into putrefaction than size, yet it has been preserved perfectly sweet for more than a year by the addition of a very small quantity of essential oil: this fact ap- pears very important to scene painters and all artists using what are called body colours. Dr. Macartney has likewise used essential oils to prevent the mouldiness of paste and of solution of gum arabic. . In preparing the dried skins of quadrupeds it is customary to be- smear the inner surface of the skin with an arsenical paste, or with a solution of corrosive sublimate. Independently of the objection which exists to the employment of poisonous substances, it has been found that these means have not been always effectual in protecting the ex- ternal surface of the skins from the attacks of insects. The following is the process which Dr. Macartney has made use of: the skin in the first instance is immersed for two or three days in a concentrated so- lution of alum and nitre, which has the effect of partially tanning it ; next, both surfaces of the skin are wetted with the impure or brown pyroligneous acid; this hastens the drying, and when the skin is com- pletely dried it becomes exceedingly hard, and whether from this cir- cumstance, or from the presence of the empyreuma, it is found that insects of any description are not disposed to attack those so prepared. If any stain remain on the hair it may be removed by brushing the surface with camphorated spirits. It is known to botanists that it is impossible to preserve by the usual means the forms of massy or succulent plants ; in order to effect this object Dr. Macartney has employed a method which exceeded his expectations; it consists in dipping the flower fresh pulled into TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 101 a mixture of the finest plaster of Paris and water, made about as thin as milk, or by coating the parts of the plant carefully with this mix- ture by a camel-hair brush: the plant on drying within this thin shell of plaster is easily detached, leaving the forms of the stamina, pistils, and petals in their natural position, with very little change of colour. Flowers thus preserved retain their peculiar odour for years, from which last circumstance it appears probable that this mode of drying vege- table productions would be found very valuable if employed for medi- cinal plants, roots, or fruits. On the Longevity of the Yew, and on the Antiquity of Planting it in Church~ yards. By J.E. Bowman, Esq. ‘ Being curious to ascertain how far the reputed longevity of the yew would be sustained by an examination of the annual rings of its trunk, and how far De Candolle’s average standard of increase at different periods of its growth was correct, the author measured the trunks of 18 yews now standing in the churchyard of Gresford in North Wales, which were planted out in 1726, and found their average diameter to be 20 inches or 240 lines. By comparing these with the dimensions of others whose ages are also known, he came to the conclusion that for yews of moderate age, and where the circumference is less than six feet, at least two lines or 4th of an inch of their diameter should be allowed for annual increase, and even three lines or more if growing in favourable situations. De Candolle says this tree increases little more than one line in diameter annually during the first 150 years, and a little less than one line afterwards, and in very old specimens he considers their age to be at least equal to the number of lines in their diameter. This average is too high for young yews, and, as will presently be seen, too low for old ones. The author described a noble yew in Gresford churchyard whose mean diameter is eight feet six inches or 1224 lines, and whose age, by De Candolle’s method, would be as many years. Sections taken from different sides of its trunk contained as follows: Average number of annual rings) On the north side... 43 per inch counted on the hon On the south side.. 46 FODUAL DIADG ot nti savas ho On the 8. W. side. . 15 giving a general average of 34% rings in an inch of the diameter. As- suming that this yew, when 120 years old, had a diameter equal to the average of the 18 already mentioned, and among which it grows, and that it continued to increase in the same ratio up to 150 years, and also making additional allowance for an intermediate rate of increase between 150 and 250 years, we arrive at the following result: at 150 years old its diameter would be 25 inches, at 246 years old 33 inches, leaving five feet nine inches of the diameter for subsequent increase, the radius of which, at 34 rings to the inch, would contain 1173 rings or years’ growth. To this add 246, and its present age will be 1419 years. A still greater yew in Darley churchyard, Derbyshire, having a mean diameter of nine feet five inches, was next described. Sections taken 102 SIXTH REPORT—1836. from its north and south sides gave 44 annual rings in the inch, so that its radius would contain 2486 such rings, supposing them of equal thickness throughout ; but making the same deductions as before, its present age may be estimated at about 2006 years. This examination shows the Gresford yew to be about 200, and that at Darley about 650 years older than De Candolle’s standard of one line per annum of the diameter would indicate, and consequently that for old trees his average is too low. Italso shows that the Darley tree, with a greater diameter than the other of only 11 inches, is 587 years older, the excess arising from the extreme thinness of its annual de- posits. No precise rule can therefore be laid down, and actual sections must be resorted to if anything like accuracy be required. Even this plan is liable to errors, unless sections from different sides of the tree be obtained, owing to the great and constantly recurring inequality in the thickness and parallelism of the rings. The same ring often alternately swells out and contracts several times in the course of its circuit round the trunk, and groups or fascicles of rings also do so as if by common consent, while other neighbouring series or individual rings, both within and without, will be thickest where the first were thinnest, and vice versd. Other sources of error are also pointed out. Mr. Bowman considers the custom of planting the yew in church- yards to be of very high antiquity, anterior even to the introduction of Christianity. It is well known that this tree was used by our Pagan ancestors as a substitute for the cypress, both in religious rites and to place upon the graves of their deceased friends; it was indeed consi- dered scarcely less sacred than their temples near which it was planted. On their conversion to Christianity these temples were not destroyed, but by an express order from Pope Gregory were converted into Chris- tian churches, the better to reconcile them to the change. For the same reason the sacred yew remained unmolested. Abstract of Observations on the Marsiliacee. By G. Luoyp, M.D. Finding in authors many contradictory statements on the nature of the organs of reproduction in this small but interesting order of plants, and having last year, for the first time, had an opportunity of examining Pilularia globulifera, the only British species (since Isoetes is transferred to the Lycopodiacez), Dr. Lloyd was induced to endeavour to ascertain their true nature. Without going into a lengthened detail of the structure of the involucre and its contents, it is necessary to state that when opened | it is found to contain two distinct kinds of seed-like bodies, differing in size, shape and structure, the larger being the true seeds, and the small- er appearing to perform an office similar to that of the anthers of phe- nogamous plants. The smaller bodies make no discernible attempt at germination under any circumstances, The seeds of Pilularia germi- nate when taken from the involucre previous to its natural bursting, and when entirely separated from the smaller bodies or granules ; so that if any impregnation be essential to the perfecting of the seed, it must take place within the involucre, and not after dispersion in water, as some TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 1038 have supposed. To determine the manner of germination, some seeds were placed in water in watch glasses, seeds alone, and seeds with granules, in separate glasses, and in a few days the seeds appeared swollen about the apex, which became of a blackish brown colour, and in a few days more a green point presented itself in a direction vertical to the axis of the seed and became a leaf. The leaf having attained about half an inch in length a white radicle appeared in the opposite direction. When the root had grown about half an inch the young plants all died, probably from exposure to too much light, and from being deprived of other advantages which soil might afford. Suspecting this might be the cause, a glass vessel was nearly filled with mud and water, which was covered by a bell glass, and a number of seeds placed on the surface of the mud and others buried a little below: germination soon commenced, but in this experiment the first leaf proceeded at right an- gles to the axis of the seed. The leaf invariably appeared before the radicle. In about a week a second leaf and radicle, and again a third appeared, with a rudiment of an horizontal stem, proceeding from the point of union between the first leaf and root. The seed or rather the external covering remained attached to the plants for many weeks. The number of leaves and roots previous to the appearance of the stem is uncertain in different plants. The first leaf is perfectly straight from its first commencement, but all succeeding leaves are coiled after the manner of the fronds of ferns. The plants obtained from the latter experiment are still growing, _ though indicating no signs of fructification at present. The embryo in all cases proceeds from one determinate point at the apex of the seed, which is plainly discernible in the seed in all its stages of development, at first in the shape of a minute conical point, gradually contracting and flattening ; and when the seed is matured it appears like a circular opening closed by minute converging teeth, through which the seminal leaf protrudes. The circulation of the sap seems to be carried on chiefly by endosmose and exosmose, as the sub- stance of the stems and leaves consists for the most part of oblong cells of various sizes, their extremities being closed; but in the centre of both stem and leaf may be observed a bundle of vessels of minute dimensions which appear to be ducts. No spiral vessels could be detected. Professor Lindley has noticed ducts in Marsilia. The de- velopment of the seminal leaf in Pilularia before the radicle is analogous to the germination of some of the Cyperacee, as, according to Mirbel, in Scirpus sylvaticus, &c. The habit of this plant also resembles some of the species of that order. When it is considered that so many of the essential characters of the cellulares do not apply to the Marsiliacez, as in the plant in question, the embryo proceeding uniformly from a deter- minate point of the seed, the stems and leaves being vascular, and no other order of the cellulares having a true stem or so perfect an or- ganization, it leads to the conclusion that this order is intermediate be- tween the monocotelydons and the cellulares, or at least first among the latter, as Mirbel and some other continental botanists have placed it. 104. SIXTH REPORT —1836. Abstract of a Paper on Alcyonella Stagnorum. By biererers: PRIDGIN Traxe, of Leeds. In this paper it was stated that from August to November, 1835, the Alcyonella was found in great abundance in a pond near Leeds, having never previously been observed in that district. It occurred in masses of considerable size, incrusting stones, leaves, twigs, earthenware, &c. ‘Lhe author described the anatomical peculiarities of the polype, digest- ive apparatus, and reproductive system. The paper was illustrated by drawings, and numerous specimens, and preparations in spirit. A more detailed account of the structure, habits, and literary history of this zoophyte was read by Mr. Teale before the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, and is published in the fasciculus of Transactions of that Society. The animal was supposed to be new to Great Britain, unless it be proved, as maintained by Raspail, that Plumatella and Cristatella are varieties of Alcyonella. Mr. Mackay read a communication he had received from John Nut- tall, Esq., of Tittour, county of Wicklow, ‘‘ On the management of the Pine tribe,” in which he stated that having observed almost all the plants of Pinus sylvestris and other species, when planted in a light clay slate soil on exposed situations, grow too rapidly, or out of proportion to their rooting, and thereby became windwaved, and that those which by accident had lost their leaders took a strong hold of the ground, he commenced a series of experiments as follows. In the spring, when the buds were fully developed, he went over those that were suffer- ing from the foregoing causes, and broke off all the buds except those on short branches. By this process their upward growth is checked for a year, the trunk increases in bulk, and the plant roots much more freely than if the shoots had been allowed to grow. New buds are formed during the summer, and in the following spring these plants present the most vigorous aspect. The larch he cuts down to a strong lateral branch, on the windward side, when possible. These soon begin to spread their roots, increase in size similarly, and ultimately become choice trees. In some instances he has cut them down a second time, when he found it necessary, and with equally good effect. On a new and scandent Species of the Norantia, or Ascium of Guiana. By Joun Hancock, M.D. This species of Ascium, which constitutes a remarkable and splendid climber (‘ Bush rope,’) in the forests of Guiana, was minutely de- scribed. Notice of Experiments, now in progress at Oxford, on the Effects pro- duced by Arsenic on Vegetation. By C. Dausuny, M.D., Professorof Botany, Oxford. Dr. Daubeny was led to undertake these experiments from having TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 105 received a communication from Mr. Davies Gilbert, in which he stated that there was a district in Cornwall where the soil contained a large proportion of arsenic; and that no plants could grow in it except some of the Leguminose. By analysis, this soil yielded him about fifty per cent. of arsenic, in the form of a sulphuret; the rest being composed principally of sulphuret of iron and a little silica. He had already as- certained that a little of the sulphuret mixed in soils produced no inju- rious effect on Sinapis alba, barley, or beans; and that they flowered and seeded freely when grown in it. Although the want of solubility in the sulphuret might be assigned as a reason for its inactivity, yet it was certainly taken up by water in small quantities, and imbibed by the roots of plants. Upon watering them with a solution of arsenious acid he had found that they would bear it in larger proportions than was presupposed. On Caoutchouc. By Professor Royux. Professor Royle stated that he had been induced to draw up the sub- stance of the present communication in consequence of a conversation which he had lately held with the director of an extensive establish- ment for the manufacture of this substance into various articles of com- merce, from whom he learned that the demand at present exceeded the supply. Professor Royle asserted that, in the East, there might be any quantity of the article procured from a great variety of plants, if the natives could only be induced to collect it with sufficient care. The South American caoutchouc is generally collected with so much greater care than that from the East Indies that it bears a very much higher price in the market. That from the latter country is of excellent qua- lity, but generally much mixed with a considerable quantity of dirt, bark of the tree, and other extraneous matter. Professor Royle then enumerated several of the uses to which caoutchouc is now applied, and stated that the East Indian kind, from its great impurity, can only be used for the purposes of distilling from it the volatile spirit caoutchou- cine. At the present time, the article from the East is selling at 2d. per pound, whilst that from Para fetches from 2s. 6d. to 3s. per pound. It is very remarkable that a substance so incorruptible in water, and so insensible to a variety of chemical re-agents, should have remained so long unknown in Europe. Professor Royle then recapitulated the chief circumstances of its early commercial history, and the method employed for procuring and preparing it. The substance is probably also pro- duced in the southern parts of China, and is now exported from the island of Singapore. The Mauritius, Madagascar, Java, Penang, were then instanced as other localities from whence caoutchouc was obtained, and reference was made to the manner in which it was prepared in the latter country. By experimenting upon other species of the same fami- lies as those which were known to contain caoutchouc, it would pro- bably be found that the list of plants from which it could be obtained might soon be much increased. Professor Royle then mentioned those families in which it had already been observed to exist in greater 106 SIXTH REPORT—1836. or less proportion. These were, the Cichoracex, Lobeliaceze, Apocynee, Asclepiadez, Euphorbiaceze, Artocarpee. It is remarkable that many plants of the families which yield caoutchouc are characterized by the strength and tenacity of their fibre, and in tropical countries birdlime is prepared from plants of the same families. These observations, con- nected with the fact that the silkworm feeds on several plants of the families which yield the caoutchouc, though otherwise little allied to each other, induced Mr. Royle to suppose that this substance might possibly form a necessary ingredient in those plants upon which only they can feed, and that it was in some way employed in furnishing the material from which the tenacity was given to their silk. This induced him to inquire whether caoutchouc existed in their favourite food the mulberry, and a friend having analysed the juices of this plant, substantiated the validity of his conjecture. On the Acceleration of the Growth of Wheat. By G. Wess Hatt, Esq. The usual period required for the growth and maturity of wheat (eight, ten, or even more months,) might, according to the results of experiments conducted by Mr. Hall, be considerably abridged. By the use of particular seed, planted in a peculiar situation, wheat, sown early in March, has been ripened before the middle of August. Mr. Hall is of opinion that, in consequence of the transmission of special quali- ties from plants to their seeds, the seeds of wheat which had ripened in five months would be more likely to exhibit a like acceleration than grain taken from plants which had been longer in ripening. Notice of Crystals of Sugar found in Rhododendron ponticum. By Pro- JSessor HensLow. Some crystalline fragments of pure white and transparent sugar, re- sembling sugar-candy, and of considerable dimensions, which had been naturally formed in the flowers of Rhododendron ponticum, were exhibited by Professor Henslow. There is a mimute glandular spot near the base, and on the upper surface of the ovarium, from whence exudes a thick clammy juice, which, on desiccation, crystallizes into the substance here mentioned. On the Fruits, cultivated and wild, of the Deccan, in the East Indies. By Lieut.-Col. Syxes. The author stated that they amounted to forty-five cultivated (many of which are found wild also), and twenty-one wild fruits. They were illustrated by many drawings which were formed from careful measures, and had scales of length attached to them. The times of flowering and fruiting were mentioned, and the uses of the various fruits in the arts, in the general economy of the people; and, deriving his intelligence from TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 107 several ancient Sanscrit works, the authordetailed their medical qualities according to the opinion of the Hindus; and enumerated the religious ceremonies and ideas with which the plants and their products were asso- ciated. He found the Annona, Anacardium, and Carica in universal cultivation, although they are supposed to be natives of the Western world. He described what he considered to be the original of the Citrus family, as abounding in the wild state as a good-sized tree along the Western Ghauts of the Deccan; and he stated the wild nutmeg to be a noble forest tree at the source of the Beema river. Colonel Sykes gave, also, the names of various fruits in the Mahratta, Sanscrit, and Hindustanee languages; and noticed that, wherever a Sanscrit name was wanting, the probability was that the fruit was not indigenous. It appeared there were three kinds of mulberry, the species of one of which was unknown; and it was suggested that the Deccan afforded a fine field for their cultivation, and the profitable production of silk. On Sugar, Malt, and an Ardent Spirit extracted from Mangel Wurzel. By 8. Rootsry, M.D. On the Formation of Peat. By Mr.Purtrs. (Illustrated by Specimens.) On Imbibition of Prussiate of Potash by Plants. By Dr. Corser. Many specimens illustrative of particular subjects in Natural History were presented by Mr. Hope, Mr. Bowman, Mr. Hewitson, Mr. Ball, Dr. Riley, Mr. Yates, Dr. Tyarck, Mr. Mackay, &c. &c. MEDICAL SCIENCE. On the Treatment of some Diseases of the Brain. By Dr. J.C. Pricuarp. After a general view of the state of knowledge as to the efficacy and modus operandi of the remedies and methods of treatment usually em- ployed in these diseases, the author gave the following account of a process adopted in the Bristol Infirmary. As the means which are within our reach for treating disorders of the encephalon are so circumscribed, it appears so much the more ne- cessary to endeavour to apply in the most efficacious manner such re- sources as we possess. I am not disposed to believe that any material improvement can be made in the ordinary rules for the use of evacuants or measures of depletion, but I have no doubt that an important ad- vantage may be gained by directing, in a particular manner, the mode of counter-irritation, and it is chiefly with the view of recommending this attempt that I have premised the foregoing remarks. Long ex- 108 SIXTH REPORT—1836. perience has convinced me that the most efficacious way of applying counter-irritation in diseases of the brain is a method not often practised in other places, which has been for many years in almost, constant use at the Bristol Infirmary. An objection would probably arise in the minds of those who have not witnessed the application of this remedy on account of its apparent severity. I hope to convince the Medical Section, and through this opportunity to make more general than would otherwise be done, the persuasion that the method of treatment to which I refer is by no means so painful or severe a remedy as it might be supposed to be, and that it greatly exceeds in efficacy all other means by which physicians have attempted to relieve diseases of the brain on a similar principle. The application I recommend is an issue produced either by means of a soft caustic, or what is much better, by an incision over the scalp. The incision is most frequently made in the direction of the sagittal suture, from the summit of the forehead to the occiput. The scalp is divided down to the pericranium. The incision, when that method is used, or the aperture left by the slough, when caustic is em- ployed, is kept open by the insertion of one or two, or in some instances three rows of peas. The discharge thus occasioned is considerable, and it obviously takes place from vessels which communicate very freely with the vessels of the encephalon. It would appear, @ priori, very probable that an issue in this particular region, just over the sagittal suture, would have a greater effect on the state of the brain than in any other situation, and the result of very numerous trials has abund- antly established the fact. I can venture to assert, that in all those cases of a cerebral disease in which counter-irritation is at all an avail- able remedy, an issue of the kind now described is, next to bleeding, by far the most important of all the means which have yet been, or are likely to be discovered. The kinds of cerebral disease in which counter- irritation is beneficial, include, according to my experience, all those complaints which are accompanied by usual stupor or dimitriotical sen- sibility, excluding all affections, attended by over-excitement, such as maniacal and hysterical diseases. In the latter, I believe all such mea- sures to be for the most part highly injurious. A case has lately occurred in my practice at the Bristol Infirmary, which strongly exemplifies the efficacy of the treatment which I have recommended, and which I have fortunately an opportunity of bringing before the Medical Section in the most convincing way. A youth’ about eighteen came into the Infirmary labouring under complete amaurosis, which had been coming on gradually for a week or ten days before his admission. At that time it had become so complete that vision was entirely lost, and the pupils were totally insensible to light even when the rays of the sun were suffered to fall immediately into the open eyes. At first he was freely and repeatedly bled from the arm and temporal artery, had leeches applied to the scalp, blisters to the nape of the neck, and took calomel so as to render his gums sore. Finding that no effect whatever was produced by these measures, I gave up the expectation which I had at first entertained of his recovering sight, but was resolved to give the remedies a complete trial. I ordered ce ey TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 109 him to be bled, ad deliguium. This took place after a small quantity of blood had flowed from his arm while he was in an erect posture. After a few days, he was still perfectly dark: an incision was now made over the sagittal suture from the forehead to the occiput. It was filled with peas. In three or four days, precisely at the time when suppuration began to take place, the patient declared that he perceived light, but was scarcely believed, since the pupils were still widely dilated and quite insensible to a strong light. In the course of a few days it Was quite evident that he saw ; he could tell when two or three fingers were held up. For some weeks the iris was still quite irritable, though vision had become in a great degree restored. The subsequent treatment of the case consisted chiefly in occasional leechings, purging, and low diet: when the issue healed, which was not till it had been kept open for some months, a seton in the neck was substituted. Under this treatment the case has terminated in a complete recovery of the blessings of sight. Abstract of an Unpublished Work on Tetanus. By James O’Berryez, M.D. Surgeon Extraordinary to the King, &c. &c., Dublin. { ‘Dr. O’Beirne commenced by showing the very extensive opportunities which he had enjoyed, both in his military and civil life, of observing and treating this most fatal and mysterious disease, the laborious re- search, and the patient and strictly clinical observation which he had devoted to the investigation of the subject from a very early period, particularly for the last fifteen years. He then repudiated all other species of the malady than the traumatic and the idiopathic, to the latter of which he applied the term ‘‘ atraumatic,” as being more expressive and scientific. He admitted no such varieties as trismus, tetanus, rectus, or pleurosthotonos, recognising only opisthotonos and emprosthotonos. Instead of dividing the latter varieties into acute and chronic, he pro- posed dividing them into the peracute, acute, subacute, and chronic. He agreed with most authors upon the causes, but considered certain unknown electrical states of the atmosphere as the most general and operative. The extreme periods of the accession of the traumatic species, he stated to be the fourth and seventeenth days from the inflic- tion of the wound, and also stated that it never attacks after the cica- trization of a wound, or during an inflamed state of a wound, and that it does not supervene upon burns, scalds, military flogging, or other in- juries of the skin which do not penetrate the fascize or the muscles. He asserted the general character of the disease to be the same in all climates and countries, and to have been the same inallages. He de- nied the existence of any premonitory symptoms, and stated that the disease is never ushered in or attended by cutaneous eruptions, or by any febrile symptoms; that it has no tendency whatever either to crisis or to sudden disappearance; and that recovery invariably takes place slowly, the period varying from eighteen days to seven, eight, and even nine weeks. After making these and many. other novel statements re- specting the attack, course, and termination of the malady, he described, 110 SIXTH REPORT—1836. with great minuteness, all the phenomena of the disease, and the general laws by which it is regulated, in order to show what constitutes genuine tetanus ; and, amongst other interesting facts, he mentioned that he has seen the peculiar tetanic expression of the face retained for fourteen years. (Here a lithographic representation of the face of a patient, during and between the tetanic paroxysms, was exhibited to the sec- tion). He considered the singular alteration of the countenance to be the only true pathognomonic sign of the disease, and declared the pheno- mena and laws of this affection to be more uniform and definite than those of any other. He considered that there were many strong reasons for believing that the degree of general suffering which the patient endures, is by no means so great as is universally supposed, or as the external and very frightful characters of the malady would seem to in- dicate. He then stated, that, after post-mortem examinations made in several cases of opisthotonos, and which he knew to be genuine, the only morbid or abnormal appearances were great distension of the cxcum and colon, and rigid contraction of the rectum; but that in cases of emprosthotonos, either the heart or lungs, or both of these organs, were always found more or less diseased. He next showed the extraordinary extent to which the disease has been confounded with injuries of the temple, face, mouth, and pharynx, and with hysteria, rheumatism, spinal irritation, spinal arachnitis, cynanche tonsillaris, and a peculiar affection to which he gave the name of, “ pseudotetanus.” He also showed how satisfactorily the knowledge of such mistakes explained numerous perplexing circumstances relating to the pathology and treat- ment of the disease. Dr. O’Beirne then described the difficulties which he had encoun- tered in founding a correct pathology of tetanus, the means and steps by which he was enabled to overcome those difficulties, and ulti- mately to arrive at a satisfactory solution of those long contested and unsettled points, the seat and nature of the malady. He placed its seat in the substance of the anterior columns of the spinal marrow, and showed that its nature is purely functional, and consists in either an accumulated or a peculiarly intense condition of the motific principle residing in the anterior spinal columns or pyramids, and perhaps their prolongation to the optic thalami and striated bodies. But he considered that an affection of the origin of the pneumogastric nerves is super- added in cases of emprosthotonos. The remedial agents which he em- ploys he stated to be tobacco, the gum-elastic tube, and croton oil, and then mentioned the rules which should guide their employment, and without a knowledge of which life might be sacrificed at the very mo- ment of success. He next laid before the Section a tabular view of twenty cases treated upon his plan, from which it appeared that eleven had terminated in perfect recovery. From this document it also ap- peared that, of the remaining nine fatal cases, one would have been successful if the use of the tube had been known at the time, while in six others it was found that the patients had laboured under organic disease of either the heart or the lungs for a long period previous to ; TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 111 the attack of tetanus. He then asserted this amount of success to be far greater than had ever been obtained, and that the uncomplicated disease is no longer to be considered as either incurable or mysterious. Dr. O’Beirne concluded by stating that Mr. Walker, a veterinary sur- geon of Dublin, to whom he had communicated his mode of treating the disease in man, had succeeded in recovering seventy-three horses affected with tetanus. On the Cause, the Prevention, and the Cure of Cataract. By Sir D. Brewster, F.R.S., &c. _ Having submitted to the Physical Section an account of a singular change of structure produced by the action of distilled water upon the crystalline lens after death, Sir D. Brewster was desirous of communi- eating to the medical section some views which this, and previous observations, have led him to entertain respecting the cause and the prevention and cure of cataract. ** The change of structure to which I have referred consists in the de- velopment of a negative polarizing band or ring between the two posi- tive rings nearest the centre of the lens; the gradual encroachment of this new structure upon the original polarizing structure of the lens; and the final bursting of the lens after it had swelled to almost a globu- lar form by the absorption of distilled water. “ As the crystalline lens floats in its capsule there can be no doubt that it is nourished by the absorption of the water and albumen of the aqueous humour, and that its healthy condition must depend on the relative proportion of these ingredients. When the water is in excess the lens will grow soft, and may even burst by its over absorption, and when the supply of water is too scanty, the lens will, as it were, dry and indurate, the fibres and laminz formerly in optical contact will sepa- rate, and the light being reflected at their surfaces, the lens will neces- sarily exhibit that white opacity which constitutes the common cataract. “« This defect in the healthy secretion of the aqueous humour, as well as the disposition of the lens to soften or to indurate by the excess or de- fect of water, may occur at any period of life, and may arise from the general state of health of the patient; but itis most likely to occur be- tween the ages of 40 and 60, when the lens is known to experience that change in its condition which requires the use of spectacles. At this period the eye requires to be carefully watched, and to be used with great caution; and if any symptoms appear of a separation of the fibres or laminze, those means should be adopted which, by improving the general ‘health, are most likely to restore the aqueous humour to its usual state. Nothing is more easy than to determine at any time the sound state of the crystalline lens ; and by the examination of a small luminous image placed at a distance, and the interposition of minute apertures and minute opake bodies of a spherical-form, it is easy to ascertain the exact point of the crystalline where the fibres and laminz have begun to sepa- rate, and to observe from day to day whether the disease is gaining ground or disappearing. 112 SIXTH REPORT—1836. ‘In so far as I know, cataract in its early stages, when it may be stopped or cured, has never been studied by medical men; and even when it is discovered, and exhibits itself in white opacity, the oculist does not attempt to reunite the separating fibres, but waits with pa- tience till the lens is ready to be couched or extracted. “* Considering cataract, therefore, as a disease which arises from the unhealthy secretion of the aqueous humour, I have no hesitation in say- ing that it may be resisted in its early stages, and in proof of this I may adduce the case of my own eye, in which the disease had made consi- derable progress. One evening I happened to fix my eye on a very bright light, and was surprised to see round the flame a series of brightly coloured prismatic images, arranged symmetrically and in reference to the septa to which the fibres of the lens are related. This phenomenon alarmed me greatly, as I had observed the very same images in looking through the lenses of animals partially indurated, and in which the fibres had begun to separate. These images became more distinct from day to day, and lines of white light of an irregular triangular form afterwards madetheir appearance. By stopping out the bad parts of the lens byinter- posing a small opake body sufficient to prevent the light from falling upon it, the vision became perfect, and by placing an aperture of the same size in the same position, so as to make the light fall only on the diseased part of the lens, the vision entirely failed. « Being now quite aware of the nature and locality of the disease though no opacity had taken place so as to appear externally, I paid the greatest attention to diet and regimen, and abstained from reading at night, and all exposure of the eyes to fatigue or strong lights. These precautions did not at first produce any decided change in the optical appearances occasioned by the disease; but in about eight months from its commencement I saw the coloured images and the luminous streaks disappear in a moment, indicating in the most unequivocal manner that the vacant space between the fibres or laminz had been filled up with a fluid substance transmitted through the capsule from the aqueous humour. These changes took place at that period of life when the eye undergoes that change of condition which requires the use of glasses, andI have no doubt that the incipient separation of the laminz would have terminated in confirmed cataract had it not been observed in time, and its progress arrested by the means already mentioned. Since that time the eye, though exposed to the hardest work, has preserved its strength, and is now as serviceable as it had ever been. “ If the cataract had made greater progress, and resisted the simple treatment which was employed, I should not have hesitated to puncture the cornea, in the expectation of changing the condition of the aqueous humour by its evacuation, or even of injecting distilled water or an al- buminous solution into the aqueous cavity.” On the Nature and Origin of Cancerous and Tuberculous Diseases. By R. CarMIcHAEL. Mr. Carmichael having stated that the averaged mortality in these TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 113 islands arising from tuberculous diseases amounts to one-fourth of the entire population, proceeded to describe the appearances of tubercles in the lungs, and entered into a consideration of the prevailing doctrine respecting their nature, viz., that they are inorganizable bodies consist- ing of lymph of a vitiated character, and analogous in every respect to the depositions which take place in scrofulous tumours near the surface of the body, and that therefore those most influential authorities, Clarke, _ Carswell, and Todd, insist upon the actual identity of the two diseases. From this opinion Mr. Carmichael altogether dissents, although willing to admit that the scrofulous constitution is above all others most dis- posed to tuberculous consumption, and argues from the following facts that tubercles are parasitic entozooa, in the possession of independent life, and no further connected with the animal in which they are lodged than that they draw from it the materials of their growth, which they imbibe and assimilate by their own innate powers. 1. Scrofulous tumours are preceded and attended by more or less inflammation, which tubercles are not, asis admitted even by those who contend for the identity of the two diseases. 2. Tubercles either present the appearance of grey semi-transparent vesicles, or of round compact granular-like bodies.of a medullary ap- pearance, totally unlike the depositions that are formed in scrofulous tumours ; but when they are clustered together in great numbers they may be compressed into each other, so as to give the appearance of an extended inorganized substance, and in such a state may be moulded into the form of the parts in which they are found ; a cir- cumstance that has afforded an argument not deemed conclusive. by Mr. Carmichael in favour of the opinion that the tuberculous substance is nothing more than vitiated lymph or strumous matter. 3. Tubercles cannot be injected (as was evinced by the prepara- tions laid before the Meeting), while no one will contend that scro- fulous tumours are not easily injected; therefore, as the former have no communication by vessels with the surrounding parts, and as they increase sometimes even to an enormous extent, it is inferred that their production and growth depend upon their internal powers, by which they imbibe nourishment from the surrounding parts. 4. The tuberculous substance, as long as it maintains life, will not give the stimulus of an extraneous body, as is exemplified by the facts adduced respecting the Filia medinensis, or Guinea worm; but when it dies it causes inflammation and its consequences in the surrounding parts: the softening process then takes place in the tuberculous sub- stance, which (when these bodies are produced in the lungs) is either expectorated by its making its way into the bronchial tubes in the form of a peculiar well known tenacious matter which has neither the © properties of pus nor mucus, or it is absorbed, leaving scarcely more behind than the earthy particles it contained, which appear in the con- sistence of chalk and water, or soft putty, lodged in a shrivelled carti- laginous cyst. 5. Pathologists and chemists agree in the fact that a large proportion of phosphate and carbonate of lime is found in tubercles, and it is I 114 SIXTH REPORT—1836. therefore common to find them at their last transmutation changed into a mixture resembling chalk and water, or even into solid calcareous or bony concretions. Now as these substances are not found in coagula- ble lymph, but are furnished in large quantities in the last transmuted state of hydatids (acknowledged animals), a strong argument is thus afforded against the present opinions respecting tubercles, and in favour of those which the author supports. 6. By feeding rabbits on unhealthy diet, in damp places where they are deprived of exercise, hydatids and medullary tubercles will be pro- duced in the course of a few months in the organs of the different cavities. Doctors Jenner and Baron were thus able to produce hydatids, which were afterwards transmuted into solid bodies. Mr. Carmichael by a similar experiment ascertained that medullary tubercles might also be produced ; and therefore, though he has no doubt but that tubercles are frequently transmuted hydatids, yet he infers from his experiments that they are also as often found ab initio in the medullary solid form. 7. It is only on the principle of the parasitic origin and growth of the tubercle, that we can satisfactorily account for those enormous masses of tuberculous growth found in the abdomen and elsewhere, which are not connected by vessels with the surrounding parts, are not occasioned by inflammation, and which only destroy the patient by their increase to an extent that interferes with the functions of the organs in which they are imbedded or surrounded. In a work on cancer, published in 1806, Mr. Carmichael advocated the independent vitality of that disease. At that period he supposed that the entire mass was of zoophytic nature. He has now:ascertained that there are two distinct substances in the cancerous mass,—the one medullary, the other cartilaginous. The first he considers to be the true entozooa; the last, which is capable of being injected, is part of the parent animal, and the barrier which it throws out to protect it from the progress of this entozooa. In cancer the great bulk of the morbid growth is cartilaginous; in fungus medullaris and fungus hematodes it is medullary. Hence the more rapid progress and destructive nature of the latter, which may generally be esteemed as constitutional, or owing to some fault in the habit ; and hence the ill success attendant upon all attempts to remove the disease by surgical operation. The author observes: ‘‘If my views of these diseases are correct and founded in nature, another, but a lower link will be added to the entozooa, which according to Cuvier belongs to the second class of zoo- phytes.” The following species may at present be enumerated : lst. Tubercle of the lungs and other parts, whether commencing in the form of a grey semi-transparent vesicle or of a whitish medullary substance. 2nd. Masses of tuberculous matter in the abdomen, which either commence in the hydatid form, or in that of medullary tubercle; these are called by Dr. Baron tuberculated accretions. 8rd. Fungus medullaris and fungus hematodes. 4th. Carcinoma. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 115 » Under these views Mr. Carmichael proceeded to offer some general suggestions on the subject of medical treatment in the diseases discussed, and referred to a work on scrofula which he had published in 1806. On the Structure of the Teeth, with an Account of the process of their Decay. By James Macartney, M.D., F.R.S., &c. It is universally known that human teeth are composed of two sub- stances, one which determines the figure of the teeth, and another superposed on the surface subjected to friction. Anatomists agree in considering the first of these as the production of the peculiar structure called the pulp, and the enamel as the secretion of the capsule or mem- branous bag which inclosed the pulp, and the rudiments of the proper substance of the teeth. All the other natural forms of osseous matter, whether they be original or provided for reparation, are preceded by a nidus or preliminary tissue, which is either of a gelatinous or cartila- ginous nature; for Dr. Macartney has ascertained that the bones of the eranium are produced, like all the others in the body, by the deposition of earthy matter in a cartilaginous substance, which is previously formed between the dura mater and the periosteum of the skull. The teeth therefore in all essential circumstances differ from common bone, and more nearly resemble in their mode of growth, and their natural tem- porary existence, the external coverings of the body. The pulps of teeth are known to be very vascular, and so sensible that they are popularly called the nerves of the teeth. When a pulp is successfully injected with size and. vermilion, and examined in a soft state, it appears of a pink colour, as if it were stained throughout, in- stead of deriving its colour from vessels charged with the matter of the injection. In this circumstance it differs from the capsule, which ex- hibits, after injection, distinct though numerous red vessels. If, how- ever, the pulp be dried on glass, its fine vessels become so apparent, that their arrangement can be easily seen. Dr. Macartney has been en- abled to see the disposition of the nerves in the pulp by the same means he has employed for rendering visible the ultimate arrangement of the nervous filaments in the brain. Thus if a section be made of the pulp ina recent state and a solution of alum applied for a few minutes, and the part examined with a lens, a number of white filaments appear at the base of the pulp. These coalesce,below the middle, so as to form a whitish cloud, from whence more distinct filaments radiate in great num- bers towards the surface of the pulp. This appearance may be considered as a ganglion of the most delicate structure in the nervous system, and fully explains the high degree of sensibility possessed by the pulps of teeth, and also the sympathy which is known.to exist between them and the rest of the nervous system. _ After discovering the structure of the pulps of the teeth, and com- paring it with the inferior degree of organization which belongs to the capsule, Dr. Macartney is disposed to attribute the irritation which so often attends the eruption of the teeth to pressure on the pulp, 1 2 116 SIXTH REPORT—1836. rather than to the tension of the capsule, against which opinion the immediate relief obtained by cutting the gum and capsule forms no argument, as this operation would also have the effect of liberating the pulp from pressure. When we contemplate the ultimate structure of the nerves in the pulp, and consider that they are branches of so complex a nerve as the fifth, we see sufficient cause for the numerous morbid feelings and actions which may attend the development of the teeth, and we may admit their connection with this event to the extent supposed by Dr. Ashburner in his ingenious little work on dentition. In the teeth we have an example of an animal substance resembling the cartilaginous material of common bone, but placed out of the circu- lation, and apparently carrying on no vital action, yet in immediate contact with a pulp which is perhaps the most highly organized sub- stance in the body, and adhering on the outside without a vascular union to the periosteum which lines the alveola of the jaws, and the vascular structure of the gums, and subject also to a peculiar species of decay, which is neither like the mortification of living structure, nor the putrefactive decomposition of the dead. The destruction of the substance of the teeth by what is improperly called caries, takes place in the following manner, which it is believed has not yet been accu- rately described by any author. At first a dark green speck is observed on the enamel. When a section is made of the tooth, the enamel at this part appears to have lost its animal substance; itis more porous, has a more opake white colour, and appears as if it were charred by heat. Tc this change succeeds the first step of decomposition in the proper sub- stance of the tooth, which is marked by a greenish streak leading from the place where the decay began in the enamel, to the nearest part of the cavity holding the pulp. The enamel afterwards breaks down, and is lost where it was first affected, and the fluids of the mouth are ad- mitted more freely to the proper substance of the tooth, which becomes soft, and gradually wears away, until the decay reaches the cavity of the tooth. The pulp is then exposed, and usually inflames, causing one species of toothache. Like all other very delicate tissues, such as the brain and the nerves of vision and hearing, the pulp cannot bear ex- posure and inflammation without sloughing more or less, and when a part of it is thus lost, it is never repaired, nor properly speaking even healed. The inflammation of the pulp may be excited, and kept up by the slightest external causes, such as contact of foreign bodies or any unusual degrees of either heat or cold. The tooth-ache is frequently produced by secret irritations of the sentient surface of the alimentary ~canal, or of some other part of the nervous system, and hence it is sometimes removed by an active purge, by baths, or by strong mental impressions. That the decay of the substance of the teeth is not a vital action, as supposed by Mr. Hunter and others, is proved by the fact of its taking place even more readily in artificial teeth, than in those naturally fixed in the head, whether these artificial teeth be taken from the human subject or made of the teeth of an animal: and that it is produced by TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 117 the fluids of the mouth is demonstrated by the decay taking place in those situations where these fluids are longest detained, as between the natural teeth, and most frequently in the back teeth and in those of the lower jaw, or on those parts of artificial teeth where the ligature, wire, or pivots are employed for fastening them. It is difficult to explain the manner in which the fluids of the mouth act on the teeth. It is evidently not by an acidity of the secretions of the mouth, which would dissolve the earthy part instead of affecting the animal substance of the teeth. There is every reason for believing that the state of digestion influences the secretions of the mouth, and prepares them for acting on the teeth. The qualities of the food seem to have considerable effect. Some nations, as the Americans and the French, suffer from decay of the teeth even at an early age, while some other people scarcely ever lose their teeth by the process of decay. Mechanic trituration has no effect in producing decay. The inhabitants of Greenland, who chew the tough skin of the whale, have their teeth worn to the stumps, which are nevertheless perfectly sound. On the Chemistry of the Digestive Organs. By Rozert D.Tuomson, M.D. Having shortly reviewed the progress of knowledge on the chemical actions which take place in the stomach, the author proceeded to the further consideration of the subject under two heads: I. Chemical state of the stomach: Ist, in health; and, 2ndly, in disease. II. The chemical state of the mouth and cesophagus in health and disease. I. Ist. He noticed Dr. Prout’s discovery of free muriatic acid in the stomach during the excitement produced in it by digestion. The author mentioned the successful repetition by himself of an experiment of M. Blondelet, in which a substance similar to chyme had been prepared by digesting muscle in dilute muriatic acid at the temperature of the human body. He found, on repeating the experiment by digestion at a tem- perature of about 100° in the sand bath during ten hours, the fibre still retained a portion of its original colour. From these facts it may be inferred that free muriatic is an important auxiliary in the process of digestion, 2nd. The most common departure from the natural state of the sto- mach is a redundancy of acid, occasioned by the introduction of acid fruits and by the fermentation of vegetable matter. This form of dys- pepsia is sufficiently well known under the common name of heart-burn. But the author showed that an alkaline state often exists which has hitherto been unobserved. He showed that pyrosis, or water brash, con- sists essentially of an alkaline secretion, instead of the natural acid se- cretion. A detail of the chemical analysis of the fluid emitted from the stomach in that disease showed that the alkali present was ammonia, and probably also free soda: 150 grs. were evaporated in a platinum crucible ; when reduced to one third of its original bulk, the fluid con- 118 SIXTH REPORT—1836. tinued to render reddened litmus paper blue, and emitted a somewhat caustic odour, not an ammoniacal one. When evaporated to dryness, the residue was white, and covered the bottom of the crucible in the form of a dried membrane. When heated, it became first red, then black, and gave out dark fumes and a strong smell of decomposed animal mat- ter. When ignited 0°8 gr remained at the bottom of the crucible in the form of a white fused mass. Water being poured on the mass, the whole of it dissolved, with the exception of a few flocks. During the evaporation the evolution of ammonia was apparent. The nature of this complaint being thus quite obvious, the treatment consequent upon it is apparent. The author accordingly has found the employment of acid an effectual remedy. He recommends, however, when the disease is of considerable standing, to employ also anodynes, because the nerves being affected they require a direct application. He has found also that if the acid treatment is carried further than is necessary to re-establish the natural secretion, acid dyspepsia is apt to supervene.. It is there- fore proper to use in the first instance acid, and then bark or quinine. He has observed the disease to be excited in many cases by apples and porter; but has detected no general laws which seem to regulate the disease, as it occurs in persons of all ages, and of different constitutions and countries. II. Ist. From an extended series of observations the author has de- duced the conclusion that the fluid of the mouth in the natural state is either alkaline or neutral, generally the former, in conformity with the results of Dr. Donné of Paris. This gentleman has observed that when one of the poles of a delicate galvanometer is placed on the tongue and the other on the cheek, the needle deflects 15°, 20°, or 30°, in which case the mucus of the mouth will be the negative side and the skin the positive side; consequently the current proceeds from the mouth to the skin. Hence we have a kind of bile, which is formed by causing an acid and an alkali to communicate by means of an intermediate body. These experiments have been repeated and confirmed by Matteucci of Florence. 2nd. The author has confirmed the results of Donné relative to the secretions from the mucous and serous membranes being acid in inflam- mation. He has found this particularly in laryngitis, bronchitis, pneu- monia, and in low typhoid fever, as well as in inflammatory diseases. He found the principal constituent of the membrane deposited in croup to be a substance approaching nearer to albumen in its properties than any other known matter, which would give support to the opinion that morbid products are deposited by the acid secreted on the surface of membranes. If this should turn out to be the case, the author sug- gested that an excellent method of retarding the formation of the mem- brane in the treatment of croup would be by the inhalation of ammonia. The author, in conclusion, directed the attention of the Medical Sec- tion to the importance of these facts as features of diagnosis, and also as pointing out an improved method of practice by the local application of alkaline solutions, frequently repeated, to inflamed surfaces, as in gonorrheea, sore throat, erysipelas, and all diseases where the natural secretion was alkaline and the abnormal one acid. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 119 A short Exposition of the Functions of the Nervous Structure in the Human Frame. By Rosert Rerp, M.D., M.R.I.A. The principal object of this communication was to enforce the method of studying the nervous system under three divisions: viz. the gangli- onic, the spiral, and the cerebral systems. Dr. Reid pointed out what he conceived to be the principal function and province of each of these systems, and stated his opinion that all diseases should be arranged, and all remedies selected, according as the latter have their action directed to, and the former are found to affect one or other of these divisions of the nervous system in particular. On Absorption. By Dr. Carson. Dr. Carson, having shortly sketched the history of discoveries on the subject of absorption, and explained the nature of the questions relating to the functions of the red veins, lacteals, and lymphatics in this respect, proceeded to state his view of the operation of the red veins, with refer- ence to the manner in which these veins communicate with the arte- ries. The author contended for an intermediate communication by means of cells, in all cases; that into these cells the extreme arteries poured their contents; that an extreme capillary artery had two com- munications, one with the particle which it had deposited for a fixed purpose, and another with the cell or channel common to it with the corresponding extreme vein, which was to receive the blood not to be deposited. ‘The extreme vein in like manner had a double communi- cation ; one through the.cell with the artery, another with the particle which had become useless in the system, and which was to be displaced by that deposited from the artery. The change of colour which takes place at this point of union of the arterial and venous systems, the nature of the motion in the capillary vessels, the permanence of their tubular character, owing to the resist- ance of their parietes to external pressure, the nature of the changes taking place in the blood as it passes to the lungs, were then discussed. The lacteals and lymphatics being shortly noticed as employed in sup- plying nutriment to the system, by absorbing from the alimentary canal and from other internal surfaces, the author examined the analogous action of the imbibers to the lungs, stating reasons founded on the me- chanism of respiration for the conclusion, based on experiments, that all the air which passes the bronchi enters the cavities of the veins and performs the circulation with the blood, yielding heat and ultimately nourishment to the frame. Dr. Carson observes, ‘‘ It would appear that the change or renovation of the frame is far more rapid than is generally supposed ; that air ex- pired in respiration is supplied by this renovation ; and that the change ‘must, in the course of any stated period, exceed the whole substance of the air expired in that period, as there are other channels through which other matters not so readily evaporable are discharged. It is contended 120 SIXTH REPORT—1836. that the process of putrefaction proceeds as rapidly at least before death as it does after it, but that the products of it are carried off before they become offensive to the senses.” The last absorbent process mentioned is that by which the water in the ventricles of the brain is renewed. That this fluid is constantly in a state of renovation is certain from the fresh condition in animals that have been recently killed, and from the smell of substances of a feetid nature being soon perceived in the water of the ventricles of the brain. There are no lymphatics in the brain. It would appear that the inter- nal cavity of the ventricles, or the veins of the arachnoid coat, are sup- plied with imbibers, after the manner of the lungs; and that it is by these vessels, in connection with the exhalants, that the water of the ventricles is renewed. As there are no surfaces within the cranium from which liquids required for the repair of the system could be taken up, there would be, according to Dr. Carson’s views of the uses of the lymphatic system, no employment for it; and he regards the total abs- ence of these vessels from the brain as confirmatory of those views*. On the Gyration of the Heart. By Avcustus F, A. Greerves, Fellow of the Royal Colleges of Suregons of Edinburgh and London. The following are the propositions which the author endeavoured to establish : 1. Muscular fibres can act as levers without a solid fulcrum, if there be another set of fibres set at an angle and contracting simultaneously. 2. A hollow organ may be dilated by the contraction of such an ar- rangement of fibres, if in contracting they become more parallel to a plane passing longitudinally along the axis of the organ. 3. That there are two spiral, two longitudinal, and one diagonal set of fibres in the heart interlacing each other. 4. The ventricles gyrate incessantly to and fro upon their axis; a. In systole or involution, as the left hand pronates; 6. In diastole or evo- lution, as the left hand supinates. 5. The double spiral curve of the two great arteries forms a compen- sating and regulating movement, causing, 6. First, a diminution of friction ; 7. Second, steadiness and celerity of motion, on the principle of the tilt-hammer ; 8. Third, an isochronous action, on the principle of the balance-wheel and spring ; 9. Fourth, the progression of the whole heart. 10. That the function of the auricle is to maintain the equilibrium of . the venous system. 11. The first sound is produced by the sudden tension and sudden * See on this subject Reports of the Association, Vol. 1V., Transactions of the Sec- tions, p. 92, 93. 4 7 TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 121 change of gyration, occasioning vibration of the ventricular walls. The second sound is from flapping of the sigmoid valves. 12. The impulse is partly caused by the progression, partly by at- mospheric pressure, and chiefly by the left ventricle first gyrating into the proper position to do so, carrying the apex against the thorax with a force equal to the difference of strength between the right and left ventricles. ; 13. The pericardium forms a peripherad axis for the motions of the organ. On the Functions of the Muscles and Nerves of the Eyeball. By Joan Watker; Surgeon to the Eye Institution, Manchester. The action of the oblique muscles of the eyeball is explained by Mr. Walker as rotating the eye inwards, but by opposite rotatory movements; so that if the eye were rotated in one direction by the action of one of these muscles, it would be returned to its former position by the action of its antagonist ; while, if both muscles were in action together, there would be no rotation at all, but a direct drawing of the eye inwards. An explanation of the reason for the complicated muscular apparatus of the eyeball is afforded in Mr. W.’s opinion by a reference to the arrange- ments of the nerves. The distribution of the third nerve to the supe- rior internal and inferior rectus, and to the inferior oblique, points out the association of these muscles in all corresponding motions of both eyes. And the two other nerves (the 4th and 6th) with which the two remaining muscles, viz. the external rectus and superior oblique, are severally supplied, are required for the direction of one eye outwards, while the other is turned inwards, as is the case when even an object is viewed laterally. Notice of a newly-discovered Peculiarity in the Structure of the Uterine Decidua, or Decidua Vera. By W. F. Montcomery, M.D., Pro- Sessor of Midwifery to the King and Queen’s College of Physicians in Ireland. The author confines himself exclusively to a brief notice of a pecu- liarity in the structure of this product; which, as far as he is aware, has never been described, although perhaps one of its most important and interesting features. About four years ago, while preparing the component parts of a human ovum in the third month for lecture, he observed that when the decidua vera was immersed in water, with its uterine surface uppermost, there appeared amongst the floating and shred-like processes which covered it certain small circular openings, which at first he took to be merely foramina in the membrane; but on attempting to pass the point of a fine glass rod through the opening, he found it to be a cul-de-sac, and being thus incited to ascertain how the matter really was, and ex- amining carefully then, and having repeated the examination frequently 122 SIXTH REPORT—1836. since, he has fully satisfied himself and others, who have examined the part with him, or to whom he has exhibited it in his lectures on em- bryology, both of its existence and peculiar character. There are on the external or uterine surface of the decidua vera a great number of small cup-like elevations, which project from it. They are like little bags, the bottoms of which are attached to or embedded in the substance of the decidua; they then expand or belly out a little, and again grow smaller towards their outer or uterine end, which is in by far the greater number of them an open mouth, when separated from the uterus; how it may be while they are adherent, Dr. Montgomery does not decide. Their form is circular, or very nearly so, and in size they vary in diameter from 4*; to 4 of an inch, and are elevated to about +z of an inch above the surface to which they adhere. In the way of comparison he would say that they were miniature representations of the suckers of the cuttle-fish. They are not confined to any one part of the decidua, and the author thinks they are usually most numerous and most distinct in those parts of it which are apart from the situation of the rudiments of the placenta, and at the period of gestation which precedes the formation of the latter (the placenta) as a distinct organ ; hence the best time for examining them is up to the third month: in the advanced periods of gestation they are not to be found, at least Dr. Montgomery has not seen them then. The author observes further : “I am ready to confess at once that I am not prepared to offer any very decided opinion as to the precise nature or use of these decidual cotyledons, for to that name their form as well as their situation appear strictly to entitle them; but, from having on more than one occasion observed within their cavity a milky or chylous fluid, I am disposed to consider them reservoirs for nutrient fluids, separated from the maternal blood, to be thence absorbed for the support and development of the ovum. ‘This view appears strengthened when we consider, that at the early periods of gestation the ovum draws all its support by imbibition and by means of the connexion existing between the decidua and the villous processes on the surface of the chorion.” An Account of Human Twin Fetuses, one of which was devoid of Brain, Heart, Lungs, and Liver ; with Observations on the Nature and Cause of the Circulation in such Monsters. By Joun Houston, M.D., M.RTI.A., &c., Dublin. Dr. Houston’s observations were principally directed to the circu- lating system in the monster, though he described in full the various anomalous conditions of other organs in its body. The placenta was double, with separate membranes and chords for each foetus: the placenta of the imperfect infant was considerably smaller than that of the perfect one. The points of attachment of the two chords were several inches asunder. The umbilical vein arising from the smaller placenta passed through the umbilicus, and opened into the vena cava abdominalis, the branches TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 123 of which all through the body were totally devoid of valves. The ar- terial system, commencing from the capillary terminations of the veins, ran together into a central vessel on the front of the lumbar vertebre, making there a sort of aorta, like that in fishes, from which two umbi- lical arteries arose, and proceeded in the usual manner to the placenta. There was no communication between the venous and arterial systems such as that established in the natural condition by the foramen ovale and ductus arteriosus. By whatsoever system the blood entered the umbilicus of the foetus, by the same it must have been distributed through all the textures of its body. A round tumour existed in the substance of the chord outside the umbilicus, which during the growth of the foetus had interfered with the freedom of the circulation: the umbilical vein was varicose between the tumour and the placenta, and the arteries were similarly affected from the opposite side of the same point, as far back as the aorta, as was readily ascertained by a comparison of the sizes of these vessels before and after they had passed the tumour. Reviewing the facts of this case in connection with the published views of physiologists, Dr. Houston adopts the opinion that the blood in the placentz and chords of both infants takes the same course, but that in circulating through their bodies the currents run in opposite di- rections ; viz., that in both it arrives at the placenta by the veins, but that in the natural infant it is transferred from the umbilical vein to the aorta by the foramen ovale and ductus arteriosus, to be distributed thence in the usual manner; whilst in the monster, in which there is no such communication between the venous and arterial systems, it is conveyed all through the body by the veins, and is returned therefrom by the arteries. ; As to the mode of circulation in the body of the monster, it is obvious, Dr. Houston observes, that the blood had but one course, and that the very reverse of what is usual. . Having been conveyed thereto by the umbilical vein, it passed into the vena cava, and was distributed by the valyeless branches of that vessel throughout all the textures of the body ; it was there taken up by the capillaries constituting the roots of the aorta, and conducted thence out of the body again by the umbilical arteries. On the Pathological Condition of the Bones in Chronie Rheumatism. By R. Avams, Esq. The various changes taking place in the extremities of the bones which constitute the joints principally attacked by this disease, were minutely described, and illustrated by interesting specimens, casts, and drawings. On the State of the new Circulating Channels in the case of double Pop- liteal Aneurism. By R. Avams, Esq. Mr. Adams exhibited to the Section a preparation and drawings il- 124 SIXTH REPORT—1836. lustrative of the changes which take place after the operation of tying the femoral artery, and pointed out some deductions of great importance to the surgeon which were to be drawn from a knowledge of the ra- pidity with which theanastomosing channels enlarge, with respect to the proper place of applying ligatures to wounded arteries. Case of extensive Aneurism of the Arteria Innominata and Thoracic Aorta. By Sir Davin J. H. Dickson, M.D., F.R.S.E., FLAS. This paper was accompanied by a drawing of the diseased parts. On the Question whether the Sense of Taste is dependent on Nerves from the Spheno-palatine Ganglion. By Mr. Aucocx. The statements in this paper were confirmative of the report by Dr. Hall and Mr. Broughton on the sensibility of the glosso-pharyngeal nerve. On some particulars in the Anatomy of the Fifth Pair of Nerves. By Mr. Aucocx. Dr. Howext communicated a case in which a large portion of the ilium was eliminated from the body, the patient surviving more than twelve months: it was illustrated by drawings. The Report of a Committee appointed in Dublin to pass opinion upon a Case exhibited by Mr. Snow Harris to the Section at the last Meeting of the Association was read by Dr. Evanson. The Committee are decidedly of opinion that this interesting case was not one of fracture of the neck of the thigh-bone, as had been sup- posed, but an instance of the disease known under the name of ‘‘ Mor- bus Coxze Senilis.” On a new Instrument for the removing of Ligatures at pleasure. By Wituram Heriine, Surgeon, Infirmary, Bristol. In consequence of the pain, danger, and delay arising from the pre- sent mode of detaching the ligatures of arteries, Mr. Hetling invented the simple and easily constructed instrument, of which a description is appended, and verified its utility in cases which occurred in the Ho- spital at Bristol. He remarks that it is applicable not only to cases of amputation and aneurism, but to a ligature on any occasion, whether to an artery, vein, tumour, excrescence, polypi, hemorrhoids, &c., and that in any unfortunate case of retained ligature, as commonly applied, it could easily be removed by a slight modification of the instrument. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 125 ; Description of the Instrument.—It consists of a canula and two sti- ettes. Ist. A small silver flat canula, about one quarter of the diameter of a common female catheter, and like that instrument smoothly rounded at its extremity, through which a small hole is drilled, large enough to admit freely the silk thread of the ligature. It is light, and about two inches and a half long. 2nd. A flat and blunt silver stilette fitted to the tube of the canula, not quite long enough to reach the eye-hole through which the ligature passes. This stilette is for the temporary purpose of merely preventing the tube of the canula from becoming encrusted or clogged with blood, pus, lymph, &c., &c., tillthe period arrives for the removal of the ligature. 3rd. A steel cutting stilette ground to a sharp edge, flat and fitted to the whole tube of the canula, and extending beyond the hole through which the ligature has been drawn so as to admit of its dividing the noose of the ligature close to the knot, which when effected, enables both the ligature and instrument to come away with the utmost facility. Mode of using it—The artery is to be denuded quite in the usual manner. ‘The ligature is then to be drawn through the eye of the ca- nula, previously armed with the blunt silver stilette, and then passed round the artery in the usual way, tying the knot of the ligature close to the eye of the instrument. The ligature is then to be loosely twisted once round the canula, and both together left to lie obliquely out of the wound, as in the ordinary way. The instrument and ligature are then allowed to remain in this state until the period arrives for the removal of the ligature, which is easily accomplished by with- drawing the blunt stilette, and introducing in its stead the cutting one. The ligature and canula are then to oe held together with the left hand, whilst the cutting stilette is pushed down the canula with the right, till encountering the noose stretched across its path, the edge cuts it off close to the knot, and the whole comes away without the least disturbance of the artery, by merely twisting the ligature between the finger and thumb (as well described by Sir Charles Bell for the removal of a com- mon ligature), instead of the usual dangerous and painful practice of pulling and tugging it away with more or less violence. Mr. Gorpon exhibited a correct anatomical Model of the Human Body, carved in ivory, upon which he has been engaged for many years. On the Sensibility of the Glosso-pharyngeal Nerve. By Dr. MarsHatu Haut, and 8. D. Broueuron, Esq. . The Committee of the Medical Section at the Cambridge Meeting of the Association appointed Dr. Marshall Hall and Mr. Broughton to investigate by experiments the disputed subject of the sensibilities of the cerebral nerves. A report was accordingly drawn up, and the results of the investigation were printed in the Transactions of the Association. To that report the authors have, at present, nothing further to add beyond a short notice respecting the sensibility of the glosso-pharyngeal nerve. 126 SIXTH REPORT—1836. «« It may be remembered that this nerve was the only one of the sen- sibility of which no demonstrable account could be rendered, no satis- factory experiment having been made upon it beyond what led to a mere negative result. It was freely exposed to view in an ass, irritated and divided, but no response occurred indicative of any apparent func- tion. No muscular fibres were made to quiver by pinching or bruising the nerve; nor was any movement indicating pain observed ; and when it was divided there was no apparent loss of any function. On the contrary, when the lingual branch of the fifth nerve was irritated, pain was expressed, and when it was divided, the surface of the tongue was deprived of tactile sensibility: also, when the ninth nerve was irritated, no sign of pain appeared, but the muscles of the tongue qui- vered; and when this nerve was divided, the voluntary motions of the tongue were destroyed, and the animal was unable to use its tongue. «« The evidences of the sense of taste were not investigated at all, being considered as satisfactorily demonstrated by Sir Charles Bell and M. Majendie to be referable to the lingual branch of the fifth nerve. «« Of the incorrectness of this hypothesis we never entertained a doubt until the appearance in this country of Professor Panizza’s details of a course of experiments of ten years’ standing upon the cerebral and spi- nal nerves*. Dr. Craigie’s translation of the professor’s account of his labours and results in the Ed. Med. and Surgical Journal is highly sa- tisfactory, and leaves no doubt of the correctness of the experiments detailed. “It has been gratifying to find that our results in reference to our paper read at the Edinburgh Meeting, stand generally confirmed by those of Panizza, with the important exception that the professor’s experiments supply the deficiency of ours regarding the glosso-pharyn- geal nerve, and explain the reason why we could not discover its’ sen- sibility by simply irritating and dividing it, without reference to the gustatory function of the tongue. “« The professor found that although the surfaceof the tongue became insensible to mechanical injury when the jifth nerves were divided, yet the sense of taste remained evidently recognised by the rejection and preference of certain substances. The ninth pair of nerves also being divided, the sense of taste continued to be exercised as usual, whilst the animal was thus deprived of the power of moving the tongue ; and the glosso-pharyngeal nerve being divided, no sense of taste was after- wards recognised. ‘The dog,’ says Panizza, ‘in which the glosso- pharyngeal nerves were divided, having recovered from the state of depression in which he was immediately after the operation, (the other nerves remaining entire,) lapped water, and ate as freely as if he had suffered no injury, and afterwards mastication and deglutition were per- fect ; but he had no other guide than smell in the choice of his food, so that he swallowed with the same readiness the most disgusting and the most noxious, and the most agreeable and beneficial articles, provided either they did not smell, or their odour was artificially disguised, or * See Ed. Med. and Surg. Journal for January, 1836, TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 127 blended with another agreeable to. the animal. The dog ate with equal avi- dity fresh animal food, or that rendered bitter by the same substance. A morsel of flesh pounded minutely in coloquintiva solution he eat, and even licked the rest of the fluid in the vessel.—‘ At the same time (continues Panizza) I experimented upon another dog, in which I had cut off the two lingual nerves (branches of the fifth pair), and after swallowing morsels of flesh with avidity, he swallowed an embittered portion also ; but it was scarcely in the gullet when he was attacked with vomiting, and obliged to disgorge it: when it was presented to the dog in which the glosso-pharyngeal nerve was divided on each side, he ate it imme- diately without any sign of disgust.’ “‘ With respect to the anatomical distribution of the glosso-pharyn- geal nerve, the professor says, ‘ In man, the dog, &c., it is wholly dis- tributed to the mucous membrane of the tongue, and the other parts which have the sense of taste in common with the tongue, and towards the base of the tongue, where the nerves are most numerous and the sense of taste is most acute.’ “« Not doubting the accuracy of these observations, we were neverthe- less desirous of communicating to the Section at the present Meeting our repetition of Panizza’s experiment on the glosso-pharyngeal nerve and its results, which are quite in accordance with those of the Italian professor, and thus render our original task more complete. The ex- periment was conducted with great care and caution in theidissecting rooms of our talented and skilful friend Mr. Lane of Grosvenor Place, to whose hands, as an independent party, was consigned the.necessary operation. «Previously to the experiment, accurate dissections and surveys were made of the parts concerned in the intricate distribution of the nerves about the throat. A small dog of the terrier breed was preferred, with a long and lanky neck, one central incision sufficing for both nerves: the glosso-pharyngeal nerve was divided on each side, and a piece cut out of about 3 of an inch long. No attempt was on this occasion made to prove the sensibility of this nerve to pain, as this cannot be so well effected in a dog as in a horse or an ass, the latter having (in our ori- gimal experiments) been allowed to stand up unconstrained after the exposure of the nerve, so that any feeling experienced on irritating the nerve might be freely expressed; the struggles of an animal held down forcibly being likely to embarrass the observations made. “‘ As soon as the dog had recovered from the necessary exhaustion of its situation, a piece of meat rubbed over with aloes was offered to it, which it ate, and it lapped water as usual. 'The next evening we re-as- sembled, and offered the dog fresh meat, which it eagerly ate. The next morsel offered was rubbed over with a strong solution of the extract of colocynth, which he snapped up, but instantly ejected from the mouth, took itup again, and swallowed it with a little hesitation. Although the odour of the extract is very slight, we resolved on the next occasion to use the coloquintida powder, which is quite free from odour, and also the quinine. . A second similarly embittered morsel was however offered the dog, which he ate unhesitatingly ; a third morsel was smelt 128 SIXTH REPORT—1836. at and rejected, and so indeed was a piece of fresh meat untainted, his appetite being apparently satisfied or yielding to instinctive caution. ** In a few days we again assembled and introduced another terrier dog, not experimented upon. Some pieces of fresh meat were cast before each dog on this occasion, and they both indicated voracious ap- petite. The next morsels were successively rubbed over with quinine, extract of colocynth, and coloquintida powder: the dog not operated upon bolted the morsel with the quinine, but rejected the others in suc- cession ; but the dog on which the experiment was performed ate all the medicated morsels without reserve, exhibiting at several repetitions some degree of caution and distrust, more than might perhaps have been evinced in eating the sound and fresh meats. « We then stirred up a considerable quantity of the extract of colo- cynth in a bowl of milk, which the dog not operated on began to lap, but instantly desisted with an expression of disgust: it was next placed before the dog operated on, and he instantly and voraciously lapped it all up. «« Such has been our experiment on the sense of taste ; and on compar- ing the phenomena mentioned by Panizza with those just detailed,a strict coincidence is observable. After the division of the nerve no diminution in the power of protruding the tongue occurred, and the dog could still lap, masticate, and swallow, and although in possession of the other nerves of the tongue entire, when the glosso-pharyngeal nerve was di- vided on each side, the recognition of the sense of taste was obviously lost, for substances of disgustingly pungent and bitter flavour, which dogs will not eat if tasted, were devoured indiscriminately with solid meat and milk. «« We therefore beg to submit to the deliberate consideration of the Section, whether there be not grounds sufficient to warrant the pre- sumption of that hypothesis being fallacious, which ascribes the specific sense of taste to the lingual branches of the fifth pair of nerves, and the power of deglutition to the glosso-pharyngeal nerves? We feel that we are fully warranted in acknowledging the conviction to which Panizza’s experiments tend, as to the separate functions and sensibili- ties of the nerves of the tongue, corroborated as they are by our own observations. ‘«‘ The sense of taste has never long together enjoyed any fixed locality amongst the lingual nerves, and each nerve in its turn has been deemed the gustatory nerve, whilst all three pairs have also been supposed to be concerned in the propagation of flavours to the sensorium. Latterly, indeed, the experiments of Sir Charles Bell and M. Majendie have in- duced a train of reasoning which terminated the question in favour of the fifth pair of nerves being alone concerned in the sense of taste, and anatomy is referred to in support of this notion; nevertheless, Pro- fessor Panizza was led to doubt the hypotkesis on anatomical grounds, and his researches confirmed his doubts, he having found this nerve ra- mified upon the mucous membrane of the tongue only. Without, how- ever, entering upon the controversial details of the case, it may be as well to state, that Mr. Owen, the intelligent comparative anatomist of Sle TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 129 the College of Surgeons’ museum, has observed (before be was aware of Panizza’s experiments) in Dr. Todd’s Cyclopedia, in the article upon Birds, that he never could discover any nerve corresponding with that which in mammalia is called the custaTORY NERVE in the tongues of birds, and that the GLOSsO-PHARYNGEAL nerve is freely distributed amongst the soft papille of the tongue, and lost where the tip in some birds is covered with a horny cuticle. The glosso-pharyngeal nerve moreover, is not found in fishes, which have no papillz for the propagation of taste, but the organ of smell powerfully developed, and whilst the fifth and the ninth branches are liberally distributed. In the assumed function of the glosso-pharyngeal nerve we find a close analogy to the optic nerve and the retina ; the latter possess no sense of common feeling or tact, but they are the media of a specific sense exclusively of all other sen- sations, and have no influence upon motion; and such appears to be the character of the glosso-pharyngeal nerve. Anatomy, both human and comparative, appears to corroborate the notion of the glosso-pharyngeal nerve being that which ought properly to be termed in future ‘‘ custarory”; at the same time we may ascribe “‘ tactile sensibility” to the lingual branches of the fifth, and de- glutition and mastication to those of the ninth pair of nerves exclusively. MECHANICAL SCIENCE. On the Theory of British Naval Architecture. By Henry CuHatriexp, Naval Architect. The author, after noticing the general disadvantage under which this country has laboured from not having applied the principles of science to ship-building, and the insufficiency of the experiments hitherto made on the construction and qualities of ships, proposes as a means of re- ducing the theory of British naval architecture to correct principles, to make it a part of an official system in the department of naval architec- ture to register, in a very systematic manner, the minutest calculations by which it is attempted to predict a ship’s qualities at sea; and to make an equally systematic arrangement of faithfully observed results to which the calculated predictions refer. Comparisons might thus be instituted which would tend gradually to the establishment of correct principles in cases where pure mathematics are insufficient. Mr. Chatfield contrasts with the precise information which would thus be gathered, the vague notions, rather than data, which have been collected in the official reports of what are called “ ships’ sailing quali- fications” ; replies to objections which have been urged against the at- tempt at numerical precision in recording observations of this nature made at sea, by showing that the nature of the problems to be solved. requires accurate data expressed numerically ; admits that to prosecute the subject in an adequate manner and with a reasonable chance of suc- voL. v.— 1836. K 130 SIXTH REPORT—1836. cess, would be a laborious task ; but shows by reference to the excellent condition of the science of navigation, that by great attention in col- lecting and classifying facts, the practice of naval architecture might be raised to a corresponding degree of perfection. On certain points in the Theory of Naval Architecture. By Mr. Henwoop. On the Tides. By the Rev. W. Wuewett, F.R.S. In this communication Mr. Whewell explained the state of knowledge. concerning the tide, to which recent investigations had conducted ; pointed out the importance of a continuous tide register in furnishing data for the improvement of this important branch of science; and ex- hibited a model of a tide machine now in the course of erection under Mr. Bunt’s direction. eeeecent Dr. Larpner explained his views of the most advantageous modes of forming a steam communication with the East Indies and North America*. On the Application of our Knowledge of the Phenomena of Waves to the Improvement of the Navigation of Shallow Rivers. By J. S. RussExu. Joun Rosison, Esq., suggested, and illustrated by a diagram, a method of measuring the interval and the velocity of waves at sea, by two ships kept parallel to and equidistant from each other, and counting the crests of waves between them. On certain points connected with the Theory of Locomotion. By Professor Mosetry. On the Performance of Steam-Engines in Cornwall. By Joun S. Enys. The object of the paper was to point out that within the last few months the work done (or the duty) per imperial bushel of Welsh coal, weighing on an average ninety-four lbs. had been more than doubled as compared with similar engines, by two engines employed in stamping ore, erected by Mr. James Sims; and that, making allowance for the difference of lifting stamp heads (or actual weight) with an uniform resistance, and lifting a weight of water, calculated from the size of the pumps, with a variable resistance exactly suited to a high-pressure expansion engine, a duty of fifty million lbs. raised one foot high per * See on this subject the Edinburgh Review. 1837. ——— TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 131 bushel of coal might be considered equivalent to eighty millions lifted ina pumping engine. Taking the quantity of water lately found, chiefly through the exertions of John Taylor, Esq., to have been evaporated per bushel, it was shown that the cubic feet of steam which could be formed by the consumption of the known quantity of coal per month, would readily supply the quantity of steam required in the cylinder per month, and be capable of producing at each stroke a mean pressure in the cylinder equal to the sum of the work done in the pump (that is the calculated weight of the water), the friction of the pit work, and the friction of the engine itself. The calculations most relied on referred to a large engine, the press- ure of whose steam had been ascertained by an excellent indicator from the North of England. Josrrn T. Price of Neath Abbey exhibited the model of a pair of paddle-wheels which he had fixed on the Lord Beresford steamer at Southampton, in substitution of a pair of ordinary wheels. It has an eccentric wheel fixed to the side of the vessel, in which a band is placed, having rods leading to cranks on each paddle iron ; these have each an axis, and hence as the engine moves the shaft and its pad- dle arms, the eccentric with its rods and cranks producesia motion which ensures the nearly vertical insertion of the paddle board or irons into the water, and when lifting turn it in like manner nearly vertically, hereby avoiding the pernicious effects of ordinary paddles, when from any cause they happen to be wading in water beyond the limit allotted them in smooth water, with the ship in exact trim. The effect J. T. Price described to be great relief to the engine, in so much that about two thirds the coal would produce an effect in the speed of the vessel, otherwise under equal circumstances, equivalent to her former speed, by cutting off part of the steam equal to the reduced resistance of the paddles in the water. The objection to these paddles J.T. Price fully admitted to lie in the additional liability to require repair, and the consequent need of attention ; but he resolved this into ‘a simple question of expense, and assuming that it might cost 100/ per annum more to maintain these than the ordinary paddles, which if all needful spare articles were constantly kept ready, he contended would suffice for a pair of forty-horse engines (say eighty-horse power), there appeared to him a clear advantage in their favour in the ceconomy of fuel -or in accelerating the voyages to be performed by the vessel employing them. Mr. Gower described the nature and construction of the boiler used in the steam-packet Vesta, the bottom of which is covered to a small depth with mercury, for the purpose of equalizing the distribution of heat, and regulating the evolution of steam. K 2 132 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Mr. Brauam exhibited an improvement on Pope’s fluid compass, by which he hoped to prevent wear of the pivot and cap, unsteady action, change of direction in the card, and obliteration of the points stamped on it. Dr. Davseny exhibited an instrument intended for drawing up water from great depths. Mr. Hawerns exhibited and described an improvement of Napier’s Rods, by J. N. Cossuam, Esq. of Bristol. The invention consists in cutting each of Napier’s rods into ten cubes, and in stringing the cubes together by means of pins passing through two perforations in each cube, the perforations being made at right an- gles to each other, and parallel to the planes and boundaries of the fi- gured faces, and passing by without crossing the middle of the cube. By this arrangement the cubes may be readily placed in such positions that the product may be obtained by addition only, without the necessity of previously transcribing the number from the cubes, thus avoiding a great liability to error, and effecting a saving of time in the calculation. Mr. Jonn Murray forwarded for exhibition a model of a life boat tlpon a new construction, accompanied by descriptive notices, and a work printed upon paper made from the New Zealand flax, (Phormium tenaz.) STATISTICS. Researches relative to the Price of Grain, andits Influence on the French Population. By Baron Durin, President of the Institute of France. In this communication the Baron observed that the small annual va- riation in births, deaths, and marriages, even for years of great difference of price, induced him to search for a function of these three social ele- ments, which would both render the variations more perceptible, and correcting one by the other, would remove the perturbations arising from accidental causes. This function is the mean between the numbers of births divided by the number of deaths, and the number of marriages divided by the number of deaths. It is sufficiently obvious that this function is independent of the amount of population, and the Baron considered that the magnitude is a very fair test of social prosperity. He proposed to name it the function of vitality. In the years of extreme scarcity, the function of vitality averaged 0°5937 ; in the years of high prices it averaged 0°6092; in the years of intermediate prices it ave- raged 0°6168. He then observed that according to Dr. Cleland’s paper, read on the preceding day, the function of vitality in Glasgow was about 0:7000, a clear proof that social happiness was greater in England than in France. He trusted that this function would be calculated for the principal continental nations, and for different epochs, in order to com- pare their social prosperity by a precise and identical standard. As one TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS, 138 valuable result, he showed that this function was far less in England during seasons of commercial depression than of agricultural distress. [This extract is taken from Dr. Cleland’s Statistical Documents re- lating te Glasgow. ] Mr. Porter presented the following statement of data drawn up by himself, for the determining of this function in England : Price of Wheat. Baptisms. | Burials. | Marriages. Shillings. 115°11 237 204 67:9 273 199 57:1 294 203 103°2 298 208 122°8 301 1S0 63°8 344 197 43°3 372 220 Baron Durrn explained two maps of Britain, shaded so as to repre- sent, 1, the density of population; 2, the degree of criminality. He presented tables showing the relative amount of male and female offend- ers, and the relation of criminality to education. Report on the State of Education in the Borough of Liverpool, in 1885—1836 *. This report was communicated to the Section by the Manchester Sta- tistical Society, having been drawn up by a Committee of that Society, under whose direction the inquiry was conducted. The report has been published by the Society since the meeting of the Association. In collecting the materials for this report, each school of every class had been visited, and the facts thus obtained by personal inspection and the testimony of the teachers were classified in numerous tables. The result proved that the returns made to Government in 1833 were ex- ceedingly defective ; in the parish of Liverpool alone the deficiency amounting to no less than 13,500 scholars, the returns from the out- townships being also grossly inaccurate. The whole number of children attending the schools in the borough of Liverpool was found by the Committee to be 33,183, viz. 17,815, or 72 per cent. of the population, attending day or evening schools only. 11,649, or 5 per cent. of the population, attending doth day and Sunday schools. 3,719, or 12 per cent. of the population, attending Sunday schools only, 33,183, or 142 per cent. of the population. * Sce in relation to this subject, vol. iv. p. 119, 134 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Of this number about 6000 were under 5, or above 15 years of age. Thus 27,200 children between the ages of 5 and 15 were found to be attending school, whereas it is estimated that there are in the borough 57,500 children of corresponding age (or one fourth of the total popu- lation of 230,000); and it consequently appears that 30,300 children between 5 and 15 years old (or more than half of the whole number of children of that age), were not attending any schools whatever, at the time of the inquiry. The Report minutely examines the quality and extent of the instruc- tion professed to be given in each class of schools, with the exception of those where the children of the wealthier ranks are instructed. The appendix contains a detailed account of the charity schools, which are numerous. Most of them are connected with the Sunday schools or congregations of particular sects, the members of which contribute to defray the expenses of their schools. The Sunday schools themselves form a very unimportant item in the sum total of the existing means of education. The Committee state in the following general terms the conclusions to which their inquiries have led them. First.—Of the whole number of children in the borough of an age to be instructed more than one-half are receiving no educatio. in schools, either really or nominally. Secondly.—Of those who do attend school, more than one-third are the children attending dame and common day schools, some of whom acquire nothing by their attendance at school to which the term educa- tion can reasonably be applied, and the remainder, with few exceptions, receive an education of the very lowest description. Fifthly.—The remaining schools, for the education of the children of the lower classes, consist chiefly of charity schools, some of which have infant, and most of which have Sunday schools attached to them ; they receive, within their walls, about forty-five per cent. of the whole number of children attending school in the borough, and are supported, in great part, by the funds of private individuals. The education given in these schools is of a more effective kind. The school rooms are more airy and spacious; and the teachers are often of a higher and better educated class, and have stronger motives to the zealous discharge of their duties. Further.—The result of the Committee’s inquiries may be expressed in the following condensed form: 12,000 Children of all ages receiving, entirely at the cost of the parent, an education of a very low order. 13,000 Children of all ages receiving, partly at the expense of the parents, partly from private benevolence, an education more or less effective, but in all cases of some real value to the child. 3,700 Children of all ages receiving some little instruction in Sunday schools, but no regular education. 4,000 Children of the upper and middle classes, educated in superior private schools, 32,700 Children of all ages receiving instruction, of whom 26,700 are between 5 and 15 years old; and there are not less than 30,000 children between the ages of 5 and 15 receiving no education in schools either really or nominally, Soren ; SLZIT [se ay ae cerry Cerrerrrrr *gfooyog Aepung 78 souUepus}}e a3eIAV] ¢ ** Tooyag Aepung & 0} payoryjz JooyDS Furmaaq 00.001 €F-Fl €8lsé *sADjoyos pup spooysg fo 4aquunny WIOL EE ————— ] f ad oZ.ep “* UOIINIWSUL [eIdIeMIULOD pues dyIWUdIDG ‘A1eI 6Q.T te. 8S 18% axe “OT 9y} 32 pue ‘uoryNjWsUL SoTULYITA, 949 9e S9SSE[O 944 JO AAISNOXa ‘srejoyog ayy Aq payzoddng 'S700YIG suzuanz ad $1.78 Jo dgo.pT 00.00T #1-28 £801 | 91686 QISEL | OOFST 628s Qo0F Hesssetesenaveaseunesteerpa gy: A a as teevesneesesesasseneeree (ogg oped) *O29 ‘SUOIINILISUT f = 90.68 FOE 16.4 6611 6829 SPOIL | 98 { DAN 0} payoes7e spooypg ‘sjooysg Az1AeYD 19130 80.2 $9.9 96. S0BG A 2801 | 8Itt 288 Sel prsreeeeeesereeseees orang a4 Aq paysisse sjooyog JULJUT 16-89 OF-0F 02.9 QIFst 0024 L6szt | 2996 SxEjoyoS a4} Aq Ajatos payzoddng LL-FI 08.21 LL os0r Zeog 191 * sjooyog Suiprvog pur ayeatrg ro1adng 80.18 18.81 69.3 9609 8tFS 62g * sjooyag s[tIp pue shog uouuto) Stink bat a8 rea aoe 8261 siieaesseeseacsmtisweneeesegTQQUOS OUIECL | rl - — *sqooyas 40d *s1P}OYIS 1-11 29-1 6126 quo uoysIny [aoys Avpung Suratasoy keq } Jo zaquinu OL-SE 90-S 6FOIT #12303 94350 ad ¢¢.06 |od gF.z H 00-00T 18.97 89-9 89EST G88EL 188 SE-bS Q1-S £9:6 0ses ¥Z69 66z me SXO;USESICL QS.F IL-3 08. 002 002 Psy “OTOueD UeWIOY TULIP +0.61 GLB 8189 8029 28 * puvjduy Jo yong) *sqooyas Appung *sejoyos 0000s 32 Aepung jo | ‘siejoyog | pazeuryjso |, E . “gi pue ¢ gaquina | Jo xaquinu | uoremdog J S21O49S |'soodS ere uaamjeg | 27°PUN P04 (0) *sjooyo: 1230} 243 JO | 1230} 943 JO} 12303 94350 padi seg id ‘TOVINGO Had “IV.LOL *s1e[OYoS ‘SIOOHOS JO NOILdIYOsaAa ‘ov ‘000% LY GALVWILSA NOILVINdOod ‘JOOdUTAIT JO HONOUOT “TOOdUAAIT 40 HSIuvd ‘9E—GE8T TOOMUTAIT 10 HONOUOT AHL NI SUVIOHOS GNV STOOHOS JO AUVNWOAS TVYINGSD “Saunans —— ——— eK rh 136 SIXTH REPORT—1836. IN THE BOROUGHS OF MANCHESTER & SALFORD, 1834-5. IN THE BOROUGH OF Le ae COMPARATIVESTATEMENT OF THE UMBERS RECEIVING INSTRUCTION. Per Centage. Of the total Po- Of the Scholars, Attending Day or Evening Schools only ...... aoe both Day or Evening and Sunday JOOIS se seeesesreareresesesenes 17815 7°75 5°06 12°81} 1°62 88°79 11°21 Attending Sunday Schools O71]¢/..s:ssssesveersere 14°43 | 100°00 Number of Scholars estimated to be under five or above fifteen years Of AGC sessscssereseerterees Children between five and fifteen years of age attending Schools ......-seeseeeeene aad Estimate of the total number of nin the boroughs between five and fifteen years AUPE Hee eeeeeeeeeanesees! ON ana desctncptenvercences Estimated number of Children Ketween five and fifteen years old, not receiving any in- StTUCTION at SCHOOIS ...ccseeseecesseeereneeesesecees Proportion which the number of Children betaveen five and fifteen, receiving no in- struction at School, bears to the total num- ber of Children between the same ages ...... On the Statistics of Popular Education in Bristol. By C. B. Fripp, Esq. After some general remarks on the importance of statistical inquiries into the state of education in the different towns of the kingdom, with the view of comparing their condition in this respect, and of illustrating the deficiencies which exist in our present means of instruction, the author stated that, as the best means in his power of obtaining the re- quisite information in Bristol, he had addressed eighty circulars to the clergy and other ministers of religion, soliciting their replies to various queries annexed in a schedule. With very few and unimportant ex- ceptions, these schedules were returned duly filled up, and from these returns various tables were compiled, exhibiting the details in such a manner as to admit of their comparison with those published by the Manchester Statistical Society. Due care was taken to avoid errors from duplicate returns where the children attended more than one school, and although some errors of omission may have occurred, the author considers the returns as indicating very nearly the actual extent of popular education in Bristol. It is to be observed however that the returns are confined to public schools, whether day, infant, or Sunday, and do not include the children attending private schools or dame schools. The instruction given in the latter class of schools is so very limited and elementary, that it hardly deserves the name, and as most of the children attending them also attend Sunday schools and are re- turned under this head, the omission is of little practical importance. a TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 137 The returns relative to the Roman Catholic schools were not received in time to include them in the tabular statements, and are therefore to be added to the numbers exhibited in the following abstract. In these schools there are boys, 123; girls, 92; total 215 ; being an increase of 58 boys and 33 girls since 1821. The number of Roman Catholics in Bristol at that period is estimated at 3000, at the present time it is above 5000. The instructionis wholly gratuitous, and embraces book-keeping and some of the practical mathematics. The population of Bristol and its suburbs (now incorporated in the new borough) according to the census of 1831 was 104,378. Which number at the usual rate of increase (14 per cent. per ann.) would now amount to 112,438. The total number of schools of which returns have been obtained is 128, of which there are, Scholars. Scholars. : Day schools 51 with 4,130, of whom 1526 attend Sunday schools also. Bitant P22 2D ee TOES: b> Doge OTT ditto. Sunday .. 68 .. 11,108. — 128 16,362 Deduct duplicates... 1,645, leaves scholars 14,717. In both day and infant schools the number of boys is greater than that of girls; in the Suzday schools the proportions are reversed. Of the 14,717 scholars: Scholars. Per cent. of Pop. Attend day or infant schools only .... 3609 ...... 3°20 .. day or infant and Sundayschools 1645 ...... 1-46 Sunday schools only ...... RS GAGS marry ons 8:42 14,717 13:08 Thus it would appear that the number of children receiving instruc- tion every day is only 35°70 per cent. of the total number under in- struction, and 64°30 per cent. of that number receive only Sunday instruction. On comparing the number of children under instruction in Bristol and some other places of which we have accurate returns, the results are as follow : 138 SIXTH REPORT— 1836. Per cent. of Population. Receiving Instruction in Manchester . 4 and Salford.} Liverpool. Bristol. Day and infant schools... . ; 10°46 12°81 Sunday Schools only...... “5. 11°58 1°62 Total’ i) 22°04 14°43 13°08 or | 1 to 3°5 | 1 to 4°6 | 1 to 6°9 | 1 to 7°6 —~v— — | —————_~ persjons. It is evident from this comparison that after making the most ample allowance for accidental omissions and for the private schools not in- cluded in the Bristol returns, the state of education in this city is far from satisfactory, looking merely to the number of the children recei- ving instruction. Classified according to age, the returns obtained exhibit Per cent. of leg —s Est. No: of Scholars. Pop. pride i Diahlerss 7 6Ota is of ¥ ares ac. pe 1290 isc vs epydade TATE 8:77 Between 5 and.15 years..... 12,680 .... 11°23 .... 85°82 Above 15, or not specified. . 7 9 ite, See One se a 5:41 14,717 13:08 100-00 It has been usual to employ an analysis of this sort’ for the purpose of showing the proportion of the instructed and uninstructed in the youthful population, but the author pointed out the fallacy of assuming that because the numbers at any one time under instruction between the ages of five and fifteen fall greatly short of the proportion between the same ages in the population at large (taken by the Manchester Statistical Society at twenty-five per cent.), the whole of those thus. unaccounted for must be entirely without instruction. It is evident that a great number of children may receive instruction for short inter- vals and from time to time, though not being at school when the returns are made, they would appear among those unaccounted for, and consi- dered uninstructed. The only mode to obtain correct results on this point, would be to ascertain the number under instruction, according to their several ages, from year to year, between five and fifteen, and then to compare these numbers with those of the same ages in the po- pulation at large at the same time. From the neglect of this distinc- tion, some very startling results, which can hardly be received as true, have been laid before the public on high statistical authority. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 189 Maintenance of Schools. Of the day schools there are twelve wholly, and ten others partially supported by endowment; twenty-one by pub- lic subscription and payments from the scholars; four by public sub- scription only ; two by the sole payments of the scholars ; and two out of the poor rates. The nine infant schools, with one exception, where there is a partial endowment, are maintained by subscription, and payments from the children. Of the sixty-eight Sunday schools, sixty-five are wholly supported by private and public subscriptions ; one by the poor rate; and two by endowment, subscription, and payment jointly. The rate of payment by the scholars varies from a halfpenny (in one school) to threepence per week (in two schools), but in the majority of cases it is either a penny or twopence per week. Instruction. In sixty-six out of the sixty-eight Sunday schools, the instruction is confined to reading, religion, and morals; in the other two (under the management of the Society of Friends) writing is also taught. Writing and arithmetic are taught in two of the infant schools; in the other seven, only reading and the elements of religion. In forty-three out of the fifty-one daily schools, the pupils learn to write; in thirty-seven to use figures; in fifteen they have some instruc- tion in geography and history ; and in two, a slight admixture of mathe- matics. Drawing is not taught in any of the schools. Religious Distinction. In connection with the Established Church there are Day Schools .......... 26 TRA ties «: dest Ate rvir. (os 2 ww 5 MBPNGAY yo. .tal be Pees ks 18 Total .... 49 which (after deducting duplicate returns) contain 4375 scholars, with 214 teachers. The average attendance is about eighty-five per cent. of the number on the books. In connection with the Wesleyan Methodists there are Day Schools'.........-. + Aundaygetee ss ..0Gk 2 19 Total .... 23 containing 3839 children, with 626 teachers. The average attendance is about seventy per cent. of the number on the books. In connection with other religious bodies distinct or dissenting from the Established Church, there are Day Schools .......... 11 Infante! Pou eed. 1.68 wins Sunday ...... «or ADO) 140 SIXTH REPORT—1836. containing 5026 scholars, with 591 teachers. The average attendance is about eighty-five per cent. of the numbers on the books. Unconnected with any particular denomination there are Day Schools .......... 10 oo aPC ORIN Na a0 1 Dumeay ys ye ey Shy 6 Total >: 17 containing 1477 scholars, with 74 teachers. The average attendance is about eighty-five per cent. of the numbers on the books. Almost all the endowed schools are connected with the Established Church. In many schools (particularly Sunday schools) which are supported at the charge of particular denominations, scholars of all creeds are received, and in few comparatively is a strictly exclusive character maintained. Dates of Establishment. On this point the returns were consider- ably defective, but on the whole, it appears that of the total number of schools now existing in Bristol, nearly one-half have been established since 1820, and nearly one-fourth since 1830. Mr. F. concluded his paper with some remarks on the influence of education in its present state as compared with what it should be on a wider and more efficient basis. He referred in illustration to the course of primary instruction established in the Canton of Zurich, as one of the most complete and rational schemes of cultivating the mind of a people that have yet been proposed. In an appendix, the author gave an account of the foundation and nature of instruction pursued in the endowed schools of Bristol. _ Extracts from Statistical Documents relating to Glasgow, drawn up by Dr.Cirevanv*, President of the Glasgow and Clydesdale Statistical Society. Population of Glasgow. Year. Souls. Year. Souls. Year. Souls. 1560 4500 1740 17034 1791 66578 1610 7644 1755 23546 1801 77385 1660 | 14678 1763 28300 1811 100749 1688 11948 1780 | 42832 1821 147043 1708 12766 1785 45889 1831 202426 The suburbs were included, for the first time in 1780. It will be seen that the population fell off immediately after the restoration of Charles IJ., in 1660, and that it required more than half a century to make up what it had lost. * In connexion with these documents see vol. iii. p. 688. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 141 Education.—In 1816, exclusive of the University, and 13 institutions in the city wherein youth were educated, there were 144 schools. In- cluding the publicinstitutions, 16,799 scholars, of whom 6,516 were taught gratis in charity or free schools. Several of these however attended more than one school. In 1820 there were 106 Sunday schools, 158 teachers, 4,668 scholars, viz. boys 2,235, girls 2,433, besides 3 adult schools, where there were 3 teachers, and 25 male and 54 female scholars. Since 1820 the number of Sunday schools has greatly in- creased. River Clyde.—In 1653 the merchants of Glasgow had their shipping harbour on the Ayrshire coast. This port being distant, and land-car- riage expensive, the magistrates in 1658 negotiated with the magistrates of Dumbarton for the purchase of ground for a harbour; after some discussion, the negotiation broke up, the authorities of Dumbarton con- sidering that “the great influx of mariners would raise the price of pro- visions to the inhabitants.” In 1662 the corporation of Glasgow pur- chased ground and laid out the town of Port-Glasgow for their shipping harbour, and in 1668 they built a small quay at the Broomielaw; Mr. John Golburn, civil engineer, inspected the river, and on the 30th November 1768 reported that it was in a state of nature, and that as far down as Kilpatrick there were only two feet of water. In 1775 Mr. Golburn had so far improved the navigation that vessels drawing six feet water could come up to Glasgow at the height of a spring tide. Less than 50 years ago gabbarts, and these only about 30 or 40 tons bur- then, couldcomeup to the city; and Dr. Cleland recollects when for weeks together not a vessel ofany description was to be found at the port. The increase of trade consequent on the improvements of the river almost exceeds belief. By the year 1831 vessels drawing 13 feet 6 inches water came up to the harbour ; and now large vessels, many of them up- wards of 300 tons burthen, are to be found three deep along nearly the whole length of the harbour. During the year 1834, about 27,000 vessels passed Renfrew ferry, and at some periods in that year between 20 and 30 in an hour. A few years ago the harbour was only 730 feet long, and all on the north side of the river. It is now 1,260 feet long on the south, and 3,340 on the north. There are four steam dredging machines and two diving bells employed in deepening the harbour and river. Amount of the Revenue, Expenditure, and Debt of the River. Date. Revenue. Expenditure. Debt. Eo s. d. £ s. d £ s. d. 1770 147 010 2,680 4 11 2 530).~ 4) 1 1780 1,515 8 4 1,509 O OL 21,305 3 1 1790 2,239 0 4 1,884 17 14 17,864 18 54 1800 3,319 16 1 1,904 8 8 11,001 7 5 1810 6,676 7 6 385,210 9 7 28,706 16 6 1820 6,328 18 10 7,076 12 2 49,736 18 10 1830 20,296 18 6 24,821 8 8 113,947 2 8 29,609 13 11 124,003 13 9 on 129,882 10 5 142 SIXTH REPORT—1836. _ Another proof of the increase of trade from the improvements on the river will be found in the duties paid at the Custom-house, as exhibited in the following table : Amount of Customs Duties collected at Glasgow in years ending 5th January. Duties, eeu ar..d. 1831) 72,053 17 4 71,922 8 03/1833) 97,041 11 11 74,255 O 14/1834) 166,913 3 3 29,926 15 0 |1830) 59,018 17 3 |1836)314,701 10 8 Steam Vessels which sailed from Glasgow in 1831 and 1835. ABSTRACT. 1831. 1835. Vessels. | Tonnage.| Vessels. | Tonnage. USER DORiE ethos fice ane ate : 18 3203 Goods and Passengers . . . . . . ll 834 Passengersiit) 15 Lii007 25.08 266, AG 26 1927 TM proper) cis, 2h ALLORITI Wid Se 470 DOWIE), sant Oto orca ciel) sulapocsyy « 257 6691 In 1836 there are 75 steam vessels plying from Glasgow, some of them as long as frigates of the first class. Intercourse with Glasgow.—The intercourse with Glasgow by coaches, steam boats, track boats, and railroads is so great that it almost exceeds belief. As several of the coaches and steam-boats depart and arrive more than once a day, and the mail coaches every day, the following may be taken as a low average of passengers by stage coaches and steam- boats, while the others.are from the books of the respective companies. In 1834 Dr. Cleland published the names and destinations of 61 stage coaches which arrived and departed during 313 lawful days, each avera- ging 12 passengers. This gave 458, 232 in the year. By 37 steam-hoats 25 passengers each, 579,050. By the swift boats on the Forth and Clyde Navigation and Union Canal, 91,975. By the light iron boats on the Paisley Canal, 307,275. By the boats on the Monkland Canal, 31,784; and by the Glasgow and Garnkirk Railroad, 118,882. These together make the gross number of persons passing and repassing to Glasgow yearly amount to 1,587,198. A number of these leave Glasgow and return to it on the same day. eee TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS, 143 Increase of Passengers.—The increase of passengers by the canal boats and railroads will be seen by the following statement :—viz. In 1836 by the swift boats on the Forth and Clyde Navigation and Union Canal, 198,461. By the Paisley Canal, 423,186. By the Monkland Canal, one boat making one trip per day, 33,400. By the Glasgow and Garnkirk Railroad, 146,296. Showing an increase in two years of 251,427 passengers. Experience has shown that the estimate of pas- sengers by coaches and steam-boats in 1834 was taken rather too low. Iron works in Scotland—quantity of pig iron made in the year ended on lst May 1836. Erected Name of Works. Tons. Aone Name of Works, years. Carron Company. 10,400 | 1805 | Calder . Clvde ire. wile 14,560 | 1805 | Shotts . Wilsontown . . 4160 | 1825 | Monkland . Muirkirk » .. 7800 | 1828 | Gartsherrie Cleland ... 2080 | 1834 | Dundyvan. . Devon: «... 3¢4%wns 6240 ——EES Total . |34 Exclusive of the above furnaces there are 22 additional ones in a state of forwardness, viz. 4at Somerlie, 4 at Govan, 4 at Carluke, 1 at Shotts, 2 at Monkland, 4 at Coltness, 1 at Gartsherrie, and 2 at Calder. These will make 79,560 tons, and the whole 56 furnaces will make 189,800 tons of iron annually. In 1825 the quantity of pig iron made in Scot- land amounted only to 55,500 tons, of which 2,862 tons was exported from Glasgow. In 1836, 23,792 tons were exported from this city. The above works are all in the neighbourhood of Glasgow excepting five, and none of them are thirty miles distant from that city. Post-office—On 17th November 1709, when the magistrates of Glas- gow applied to Parliament for a riding post between their city and Edin- burgh, the whole Post-office revenue of Scotland was under 2,000/. Revenue at the following Dates. £ s. d. & ed. £ July, 1781 4341 4 July, 1825} 34,190 1 7 | July, 1833) 36,481 — 1810} 27,598 6 — 1830} 34,978 9 OZ}| — 1834] 37,483 — 1815] 34,784 16 — 1831] 35,642 19 5 | — 18385) 39,954 — 1820) 31,533 2 — 1832| 36,053 0 0 ‘Quarter ending 5th April, 1835, 10,0197. lls. 3d.; 5th July, 9,904. 8s. 4d.; 5th October, 9,814/. 18s. 8d.; 5th January, 1836, 10,215/. 6s. 3d. Bridewell.—In 1835-6 there were 1613 commitments,—viz. males above 17 years of age, 738; ditto below 17 years, 213; females above 17 years, 589 ; ditto below, 17 years, 73. Persons committed during the year, 1946; of whomliberated,1632; remaining on 2nd August 1836, 144 SIXTH REPORT—1836. 314. Average number daily in the prison, 270; viz. males, 157; females, 113. Abstract accounts for the year ended 2nd August 1836, Dasthimementa2if,. AALLO>. [ise D. vile ww ae. £2,627 17 6 Receipts for work, &c............. £2,267 17 6 Balance, being the cost to the public for maintaining and keeping pri- soners, including all salaries, bed and body clothes, washing, furni- ture, working utensils, machinery, repairs on the buildings, keeping the ground in order, and everything else connected with the internal management of the establishment. . 360 0 O ————_ 2,627 17 6 The deficiency of 3607. when applied to 240, the daily average num- ber of inmates sentenced to labour, shows the expense of each prisoner to be only 1/. 10s. per annum, 2s. 4d. per month, or nearly 1d. per day. In 1828 Dr. Cleland ascertained that from Ist May 1827, to Ist May 1828, there were 17,840 bullocks slaughtered in the city and suburbs, and 144,900 sheep and lambs. The value of the butcher meat in the above year (details publishedinthe Annalsof Glasgow) was 303,978/. 14s. 5d.; bread, 177,266/. 10s. 8d.; milk, 67,342/.10s. Totalvalue of meat, bread, and milk, 548,587/. 15s. ld. On the comparative Value of the Mineral Productions of Great Britain and the rest of Europe. By Joun Taytor, F.R.S., &c. A calculation, he said, was made by Mr. C. F. Smidt, in 1829, of the value of the mineral productions of Europe, at continental prices; and, from the accuracy of the statements coming within Mr. Taylor’s own knowledge, he was disposed to believe in the others. It should be borne in mind that the continental prices differed greatly from those in England, and, consequently, that the amounts were comparative, and not absolute value. The value of the mineral products of Europe, in- cluding Asiatic Russia, were,—gold and silver, 1,943,000 ; other metals, 28,515,000; salts, 7,640,000; combustibles, 18,050,000 ; making in round numbers a total of about 56 millions exclusive of manganese. Now to this amount Great Britain contributed considerably more than one half—viz. 29 millions, in the following proportions :—silver, 28,500; copper, 1,369,000; lead, 769,000; iron, 11,292,000; tin, 536,000; salts, 756,250; vitriol, 33,000; alum, 33,000; coal, 13,900,000. He then gave a sketch of the history of mining in Great Britain, dwelling strongly on its vast increase since the introduction of the steam-engine. The following is Mr. Taylor’s estimate of the quantity of lead raised in Great Britain in the year 1835. Northumberland, Mines of Tons. Cumberland, and T. W. Beaumont, Esq. .. 9,500 Fodders 10,000 Durham, Manor of Alston, Green-| 14,139 Bingsof wich Hospital ...... Ore, producing 3,850 TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 145 Greensides Mine in Pat- Tons. terdale, and other 700 Mines in the West of ( *°**"***""** Cumberland........ Dufton, Crossfell, aan 1.000 arid Lungdales) 2 2onr proto 5° A i Derwent Mines™ aelh iacieoY).. .. S. 1,200 Ballhape 5 e's aus. om» & 231 Arynehead 5 5 sei snlvs'e « 140 Fallowfield ............ 100 Sherlock and Co. and 250 Jobling and Co. .... \ 791 TEESDALE. Duke of Cleveland’s Li- : berty, and Mr. Htc. ue Nom thea 2775 A é e@ inson’s of Shornbury Yorkshire .... SwWaLEDALE, Ankindale, 0nd, cOONET doco. 7 onetiou i gUe BQ IACeNG ic or» ............ 700 of Devonshire...... : Pateley, Greenhough * ei sik tec Da nasa! rayne Derbyshire .... About 8 furnaces in con- stant work, at10Tons > ............ 4000 , Ber Weel «snus... Shropshire .... Snailbeach Mine........ 1300 Roe NaMRGP 2 lees ole 2 avers 1554 Grit and Gravel Mines .. 685 — 3539 Devonshire and Wheal Betsy ........ a 40 Cornwall...... And other small Mines .. 100 140 North Wales... . TheLeadsmeltedin Flint- \ 13415 Tons shire in the year, was In Denbighshire ........ 177 13592 Of which was produced Flintshire. ..... from Ores raised ih 9380 Flintshire.. ........ Denbighshire .. SR AP dad a eR ae BS ga SASHA 177 South Wales. Cardiganshire .. Smelted in Flintshire .... 1020 Bristol ...... 180 —— 1200 Vou. v.—1836. L 146 SIXTH REPORT—1836. Tons Treland........ Smeltedin Flintshire .... 500 Ireland ...... 700* 1200* Isle of Man..., Smelted in Flintshire.... ............ 850 Scotland ....., Scotch Mine Company .. 600 Wanloch Head Mines... . 700 1300 The numbers on which Mr. Taylor has no certain information are marked *. Observations on the Periodicity of Births, showing the total Number born in each Month; the Number of Premature Children ; the Sex, &c. Se. ; the Number of Stillborn Children, and Children Dying ; also with regard to the Death of the Mothers, and the most important Complications met with in Delivery, deduced from the Experience of 16,654 Cases. By Roserr Coxiins, M.D., late Master of the Dublin Lying-in Hospital. This communication was supplementary to a former series of tables and deductions}, derived from the same accurate registry kept by Dr. Collins in the Lying-in Hospital, Dublin, for a period of seven years, commencing November, 1826, during which 16,654 births took place. These are classed with reference to several important points in the fol- lowing table, (37 being omitted, because the sex was not noted). The following are extracts. Total Children Born Monthly Month. each Month Premature First Children. each Month. Males. No. of Males in each Premature Births in Total First Children. Premature Males in No. of First Children September October... November. December. |_| | | FFT + A short abstract is given in Vol. iv. Reports of the Association, under the head of “ Transactions of the Sections,” p. 106. > ~ TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 147 In order to ascertain the results at different periods of the year, with regard to most of the above calculations, I divided the years into quar- ters, as given in the succeeding table :— YE es | 3 B | eee] OR | Ss 'o8 =a = ae 34 2 & | Sa Quarters. 3.8 s 2 og za 2 B 2s a S | 28 |ao | 88 | &'e ge fs | € | g- | 38 | ge | ts sy 1Nel Mevesliens iat ars PAs pt ye TS Jan., Feb., March.| 4283 | 2191 | 111 | 43 | 1194) 59 | 615 April, May, June. | 4109 | 2141 | 129 | 36 | 1213 |, 60 | 644 July, Aug., Sept. | 4122 | 2151 | 124 Oct., Nov., Dec. 4103 | 2065 | 134 ———— | | | SS | ls | The total number of children s¢i//-born in the Dublin Lying-in Ho- spital during the seven years the medical charge was intrusted to me, was one thousand one hundred and twenty-one ; thus eighty-four occurred in January, and so on. Bo bass he Bia hyets 2 o 2 Bel e\2| 8 21S |e] 8 nN a (=) 97 | 98 |117] 83 | 106 The following statement with respect to children dying in the Ho- spital, exhibits a similarly near approach at all seasons of the year ; thus, of the total number, 284, 26 died in January, &c. November. September. December. mf | ff | | | bo co i) a The following table shows the periods at which the several women died, during my residence in the Hospital. _The total number was one hundred and sixty-four ; of these eighteen died in January, &c. L2 148 SIXTH REPORT—1836. September October. November. December. er | i | | | | | | | | _ nD a bo In order to ascertain accurately the result as to periodicity, with respect to the most frequent, as well as the most important complica- tions met with in delivery, I have taken the dates from my registry, and arranged them in tables in the following order. Labours complicated with Hemorrhage of every variety. September October. November. December. io) Ne} — — Of 131 cases of labour complicated with hemorrhage of every variety, the greatest proportionate number (17) occurred in July; the least (8) in April. Of 239 cases of labour complicated with twins, the largest proportion (33) occurred in July; the least (12) in December. Other tables of complicated labours are presented, from which, owing partly to the fewness of the cases, Dr. Collins does not venture to draw any inferences as to the periodicity of the occurrences. Facts and Calculations on the present State of the Bobbin Net Trade, and the past and present State of the Hosiery Trade. By W. Fevxin, of Nottingham. From these very laborious and detailed communications, the following are extracts relating to the bobbin net trade. Capital employed in spinning and doubling the yarn required :—in 1831, 935,000/7. ; 1833, 760,000/. Capital employed in bobbin net making :—1831, 2,310,000/.; 1833, 1,932,000/. Number of hands employed :—in 1831, 211,000; 1833, 159,300. Value of raw material and manufactured goods :— 1831. Amount of South Sea cotton, 1,600,000 lbs., value, TOO Pied pee set in coo i, Oe een BL alte Mec 150,000/ ,, Amount of raw silk, 25,000 lbs., value, 30,000/.. . ;, Lhe same when made into a state fit for the bobbin \ 540,000/. TICUSIMAR OLS Hehe LVeN. Wi Veradere, hive et al en ae Meee SE — EEE ere Ee ee TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 149 1831. Value of 23,400,000 square yards, annual eva xa 1,891,875/. Oh bobhinipets ewes Hel ey. Le Oe eee 1833. Amount of South Sea cotton, 2,387,000 lbs., raw 224,0007. » The same in yarn fit for the bobbin net makers.. 766,000/.* » Value of 30,771,000 square yards of English bob- himenet! sje Fede aneiae Ae ee ceo. held he 1,850,650/. 1835. Amount of South Sea cotton, 1,850,000 lbs., worth 185,000. aon Amountiof rawisdk'$>9h0 8. 08O de act. 25,0002. », The same when fit to be used in the bobbin trade 664,3307. 5° » Value. of ‘the bobbin net... . 2.0.6. 0. ce eden’ 2,212,0007. Mr. Fexxrn also communicated some observations on the difficulties which impede the collecting of accurate statistical information. On the Utility of Co-operating Committees of Trade and Agriculture in the Commercial and Manufacturing Towns of Great Britain, &c. as projected by Mr. Holt Mackenzie and Mr. Forbes Royle, and advocated by Sir Alexander Johnston and Sir C. Forbes, for investigating more exclusively the Natural and Artificial Products of India. - By Colonel SYKEs. The object of the paper was to invite the formation of committees, as suggested in the above title, in our principal manufacturing and com- mercial towns, either in co-operation with the Royal Asiatic Society, or independently, for the following purposes :-— 1. To ascertain what articles, the produce of India, now imported into England, are of inferior quality to those produced in other coun- tries; to investigate the causes of the inferiority, and to explain and suggest means for removing them. 2. To ascertain what articles now in demand in England, or likely to be used if furnished, but not yet generally forming part of our com- merce with India, could be profitably provided in that country, or their place advantageously supplied by other things belonging to it; to take measures for making known in India the wants of England, and in En- gland the capabilities of India ; and to suggest and facilitate such ex- periments as may be necessary to determine the practicability of ren- dering the resources of the one country subservient to the exigencies of the other. 3. To ascertain what useful articles are produced in countries pos- sessing climates resembling those of the different parts of India whick are not known to that country, and vice versd. To consider the means of transplanting the productions, and transferring the processes of one country to another ; and to encourage and facilitate all useful inter- changes of that nature. _ 4, With the above views, and for the sake of general knowledge and improvement, to consider how the statistics of Indian agriculture and arts (including climate, meteorology, geology, botany, and zoology) may * Above 100,000/. worth of this yarn was sent abroad (262,000 lbs.). 150 SIXTH REPORT—1836. be most conveniently and ceconomically ascertained and recorded; and to encourage and facilitate all inquiries directed to those objects. Numerous illustrations of these national considerations were quoted from Mr. Royle. It appeared that so lately as 1784, an American vessel arrived at Liverpool with eight bags of cotton, which were seized, under the belief that America did not produce that article; and now her produce is four hundred millions of pounds, the greater part of which is consumed in Great Britain; and it is remarkable, that the native country of the Sea Island cotton is supposed to be Persia. The Carolina rice, which sells at 5d. per lb., whilst the best India rice sells at only 23d. or 3d., originated in a single bag of East India rice given by Mr. C. Dubois, of the India House, to an American trader. All the coffee of the West Indies originated in a single plant in the hot- houses of Amsterdam. Of new or little-known articles lately introduced from India, and which are of the utmost importance to our manufacturing interests, it was stated that in 1792, Mr. Brown, the resident at Cossimbazar, told the council at Calcutta, that if it should think proper to send a few ewts. of lac to Europe, it might be procured in Calcutta. The annual con- sumption in England is now estimated at six hundred thousand lbs. Catechu was so much neglected that its price was as low as 2s. per cwt.; it was discovered to be useful in dying cotton a peculiar brown, and is also employed in tanning; and its price is steady at 40s. per cwt. Royal safflower is another article of curious illustration. Ten years since only Turkey safflower was known, and now East India alone commands the market. Rape-seed, recently introduced, has, it is un- derstood, produced a profit to one mercantile house of £40,000. Flax or linseed, for which we are dependent on Russia for 50,000 tons an- nually, was first imported from India in 1832: it was found to be better than the Russian, and the crushers gave 15s. per cwt. more for it. The importation has amazingly increased, and England will doubtless ere long look to her own dependencies for the total supply of her wants. In India even, some kinds of Indian iron have recently been sold at more than double the price of the English iron. ‘The rapid increase of the importation of castor and cocoa-nut oils was mentioned; and spe- cimens of cocoa-nut fibre, as a valuable, cheap, and healthy substitute for horse-hair, in stuffing mattresses, &c., were exhibited. Many other articles were enumerated as of great value to the manufacturers of En- gland; gums, resins, varnishes, oil and cordage, plants, &c., &c., besides articles of the Materia Medica, such as senna, rhubarb, Xc., &c., &c. On Spade Husbandry in Norfolk. By Dr. YELuouy. On the Effect of Railroads on Intercommunication. By Dr. LarpnEr. The subjects discussed by Dr. Lardner, were the relative numbers of persons travelling now by railroads, and formerly by coaches, between the same points ; the general proportion being as 4 to 1, a result due TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 151 to the diminished price and augmented speed. The comparative effect of swift packets on canals was stated to be very small. The practica- bility of augmenting the celerity on railroads to even fifty miles an hour was advocated, and illustrated by the results of actual trials. Outlines of a Memoir on Statistical Desiderata. By W.R. Gree, Esq. In this communication the author brought forward proofs of the total deficiency of statistical information on some subjects of national im- portance, and the unsatisfactory nature of that which had been collected by public authority, on others. From examinations of population ta- bles, tables of births and deaths, criminal statistics, the statistics of education, of illegitimate birth, and of stolen property, the authoris led to conclude, that ‘ with the exception of the revenue and commercial tables, no general statistical documents yet exist in England from which any philosophical inferences can be safely drawn, and that till the materials are wholly re-collected, all attempts to elicit such im- ferences can only end in disappointment and error.” In order to obtain more satisfactory results in future, he deems it highly necessary to depart from the plan so commonly resorted to, of issuing circular queries, and to commit the task of obtaining authentic and complete in- formation to individuals who shall make the execution of it their pro- fessional duty, and whose labours shall be remunerated accordingly. On Formula of Returns of the gross Receipts of the Revenues of Great Britain, and of Savings Banks Returns. By Jurrries Kinesuey, Esq. The object of this communication was to enforce the propriety and advantage of an uniform and well-considered plan of gross, rather than net returns, on the above-named subjects, under the authority of Par- liament. M. Le Puay presented to the Section a copy of a “Resumé des Travaux Statistiques de l’ Administration des Mines en 1835.” [ 152 ] INDEX Ff. TO REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE. Oxy ECTS and Rules of the Asso- ciation, v. Officers and Council, viii. Officers of Sectional Committees, ix. Treasurer’s Account, xi. Reports on the progress and desiderata of different branches of science, al- ready printed, xii. Reports of Researches, already printed, xiv. Reports undertaken to be drawn up at the request of the Association, xv. Researches recommended, and deside- rata noticed by the Committees, xvi. Synopsis of sums appropriated to sci- entific objects, xix. Address by Prof. Daubeny, xxi. Alpine plants of Scotland, 258. America, North, physical geography of, 123. , climate of, 128. —_——_——, birds of, 164. , cetacea of, 161. —_——_—, ichthyology of, 202. ——_——_,, mammalia of, 137. , teptiles of, 197. , zoology of, 121. Arteries and absorbents, on the com- munications between the, 289. Atmosphere, mechanical theory of the, 226. Birds of North America, 164. Botany :—the remarkable plants of Dublin, Edinburgh, and south-west of Scotland, 253 ; plants which cha- racterize Scotland and Ireland, 257. Brain and nervous system, pathology of the, 283. Carlsbad waters, imitation of the, 54. Carbonate of soda, its origin in certain secondary rocks, 24. Cetacea of America, 161. Challis (Prof.) on the mathematical theory of fluids, 225. Chemical theory of thermal springs, 68. Clendinning (Dr.), report on the mo- tions and sounds of the heart, 261. Colouring matter of water explained, 35. Daubeny (Dr.), address, xxi; on the present state of our knowledge with respect to mineral and thermal wa- ters, 1. Dublin, the remarkable plants of the neighbourhood of, 253. Dublin Committee on the pathology of the brain and nervous system, 283. Sub-committee on the motions and sounds of the heart, 261. Earth, instructions for conducting ex- periments on the temperature of, 291. Earthquakes, their influence upon springs, 43. Edinburgh, remarkable plants of the neighbourhood of, 253. Elastic fluids, theory of, 246. Equations of elevated degrees, on trans- forming and resolving, 295. Fluids, on the theory of, 225, 246. Geography, physical, of North Ame- rica, 123 Geology :—position of thermal springs, - 62 ; products of springs, 56 ; theories of thermal springs, 67. Glairine, described, 31. Graham (Prof.) on the remarkable plants of Dublin, Edinburgh, and south-west of Scotland, 253. Hamilton (Sir W.) on Mr. Jerrard’s method of transforming and resolv- ing equations, 295, INDEX II. Heart, on the motions and sounds of the, 261, 275. Heat, central, theory cf, 69. Hodgkin (Dr.) on the communications between the arteries and absorbents, 289. Hydrogen, sulphuretted, in springs, 73. Ichthyology of Nerth America, 202. Ireland, on the remarkable plants of, 257. Jerrard (G. B.) on the validity of his method of transforming and resoly- ing equations, 295. London Committee on the communi- cation between the arteries and ab- sorbents, 289. London Sub-committee on the motions and sounds of the heart, 261. Lubbock (J. W.) on the discussions of observations of the tides, 285. Mackay (J. T.) on the remarkable plants of Dublin, Edinburgh, and south-west of Scotland, 253. on the plants which characterize Scotland and Ireland, 257. Magnetic force, terrestrial, its direc- tion and intensity in Scotland, 97. Mammalia of North America, 137. Marsupial animals of North America, 2: Medical science :—on the motions and sounds of the heart, 261 ; on the pa- thology of the brain and nervous system, 283. Meteoric water, on, 3. Migration of birds, 186. Mineral waters, on the state of our knowledge respecting, 1. Nervous system, pathology of the, 283. Nitrogen in springs, 71. ‘Ornithology, North American, 164. Phillips (Prof.) on subterranean tem- perature, 291. Powell (Rev. B.) on determining the _ refractive indices for the standard rays of the solar spectrum, 288. Pyrrhine, 1, 2. Rain-water, examination of, 2. 153 Reptilia of North America, 197. Richardson (Dr.) on North American zoology, 121. Sabine (Major Edw.) on the direction and intensity of the terrestrial mag- netic force in Scotland, 97. Salt-springs, ingredients of, 16; origin of, 74. Scotland, on the direction and inten- sity of the terrestrial magnetic force in, 97; remarkable plants of, 253, 257. Sea-water, mineral ‘substances found in, 4; gaseous contents of, 6. Silica, its origin in springs, 25. Snow-water, on, 2. Soda, carbonate of, in certain'seeon- dary rocks, 24; without carbonic acid in springs, 25. Solar spectrum, on determining the re- fractive indices for the standard rays of, 288. Y Sound, theory of the velocity of, 233; its propagation through liquids, 244. Springs, mineral, state of our know- ledge respecting, 1. » exerting a peculiar action“upon the animal ceconomy, 44. ——, gases evolved from, 36. ——, influence of earthquakes upon, 43. , ingredients of, 11, 14. , origin of springs in general, 58. » products of, 56. , temperature of, 7. ——, salt, origin of, 74. ——, thermal, origin of, 59; geologi- cal position of, 62; theories of, 67. Temperature, subterranean, report of experiments on, 291. Thermal waters, state of our knowledge respecting, 1; catalogue of, 80. Tides, discussions of observations of the, 285. Todd (Dr.), report on the motions and sounds of the heart, 261. Water, mineral and thermal, on the present state of our knowledge re- specting, 1. , definition of the term ‘ mineral water’, 1. , atmospheric, 1. of lakes, 6. —— of seas, 3. 154 Water of springs, their temperature, 7 ; periodical variations of temperature, 9; secular variation of temperature, 9; organic matter, 30; origin of springs, 58 ; products of springs, 56; springs exerting a peculiar action upon the animal ceconomy, 44. , mineral, classification of, 14; in- gredients found in, 11, 14; gases evolved from, 36; on analysing, 47 ; improvements in chemical analysis, 48 ; on the detection of organic mat- ter in, 51; apparatus for determin- ing the quality and amount of the gases combined with, 52; factitious, 58; works on, 76. INDEX II. Water, instruments for drawing it up from great depths, 5. , its colouring matter explained, , salt springs, origin of, 74. , thermal springs, on the term * thermal’, 7; origin of, 59; geolo- gical position of, 62; theories of, 67; catalogue of, 80. Williams (Dr. C. J. B.), report on the motions and sounds of the heart, 261. Zoology of North America, 121 ; some remarks on, 223. INDEX IL. TO MISCELLANEOUS COMMUNICATIONS TO THE SECTIONS. ApsorprTion, on, 119. Adams (R.) on the bones in chronic rheumatism, 123. on the new circulating channelsin double popliteal aneurism, 123. Addams (R.) on the vibration of bells, Alcock (Mr.) on taste being dependent on nerves from the spheno-palatine ganglion, 124. ; on the anatomy of the fifth pair of nerves, 124. Alcyonella Stagnorum, on, 104. Algebraic geometry, on the doubtful algebraic sign in certain formule of, i Ammonia, lithiate of, a secretion of insects, 70. Anemometer, Whewell’s, 39. Aneurism, popliteal, 123. Animal substances, means of pre- serving, 99. Apjohn (Dr.) on the specific heats of gases, 33. Architecture, naval, 129. Arsenic, its effects on vegetation, 76. Arsenical poisons, 67. Artificial crystals, 47. Atmospheric air, means of detecting gases present in, 77. electricity, on, 48. Aurora borealis, on the, 32. Babbage (C.) on a thermometer re- cently discovered in Italy, 77. Bath waters, analysis of the, 70. Berzelius, chemical nomenclature of, 44. Black (W.) on ascertaining the strength of spirits, 61. Blowpipe, common bellows, 77. Botany :—on the longevity of the yew, and the antiquity of planting it in- church-yards, 101; observations on the Marsiliacee, 102; Alcyonella Stagnorum, 104; on the manage- ment of the pine, 104 ; new and sean- dent species of the Norantia, 104; effects of arsenic on vegetation, 104; on caoutchouc, 105; on the accele- ration of the growth of wheat, 106 ; crystals of sugar found in Rhodo- INDEX II. dendron ponticum, 106; on the fruits of the Deccan, 106. Bowman (J. E.) on the bone cave at Cefn in Denbighshire, 88. on the longevity of the yew, and the antiquity of planting it inchurch- yards, 101. Brain, on diseases of the, 107. Brewster (Sir D.) on the action of crystallized surfaces upon common and polarized light, 13. on the polarizing structure in the crystalline lens after death, 16. on cataract, 111]. Broughton, (S. D.) on the sensibility of the glosso-pharyngeal nerve, 125. Calculus, integral, on the, 1 ; new pro- perty of the equilateral hyperbola, 2; | remarkable theorem of Mr. Abel, 3. of principal relations, on the, 4, 41. Calorimotor, Hare’s, 45. Cancerous diseases, on, 112. Caoutchouc, on, 105. Carbon and potassium, on a. compound of, 63. Carmichael (R.) on cancerous and tu- berculous diseases, 112. Carpenter (Rev. L.) on Lucas’s me- thod of printing for the blind, 41. Carpenter (W. R.) on the criteria by which species are to be distinguished in zoology and botany, 99. Carson (Dr.) on absorption, 119. Cataract, on, 111. Cement, metallic, from iron ore, 65. Cephalonia, on the sea rivulets of, 81. Cerebral nerves, on the sensibilities of the, 125. Charlesworth (E.) on the remains of vertebrated animals in the. tertiary beds of Norfolk and Suffolk, 48. Chatfield (H,) on British naval archi- ~ tecture, 129. Chemical nomenclature of Berzelius, —— symbols, 77. — theory of volcanic phenomena, 81. Chemistry :—on the chemical nomen- clature of Berzelius, 44; on a calori- motor for igniting gases, 45; aqueous sliding-rod hydrogen eudiometer, 46; Hare’s volumeters, 46; electri- cal experiments, 47; results of ex- periments on the phosphate and 155 pyro-phosphate of soda, 48 ; import- ant facts obtained from theory of those experimental results which are considered as ultimate facts, 50; on gaseous interference, 54; on the combinations of sulphuric acid and water, 56; method of ascertaining the strength of spirits, 61; new gaseous bicarburet of hydrogen, 62; peculiar compound of carbon and potassium, 63 ; de-oxydation of iron, 64; a new isomeric compound, 67 ; on arsenical poisons, 67 ; on lithiate of ammonia as a secretion of insects, 70; analysis of the King’s bath water, Bath, 70; analysis of wheat, &c. 74 ; effect of arsenic on vegeta- tion, 76; new substance from the distillation of wood, 76; insulation of fluorine, 77 ; chemical symbols, 77; an ancient thermometer, 77 ; modification of the common bellows blowpipe, 77; on detecting gases present in atmospheric air, 77. Church-yards, antiquity of planting the yew in, 101. ni Clarke (Rev. Mr.) on two springs on the north side of Hales Bay, 94. Collins (Dr.) on the periodicity of births, &c. 146. Compass, advantage of tempered nee- dles, 30. Corbet (Dr.) on inbibition of prussiate of potash by plants, 107. Cornwall, on the metalliferous veins of, 83; on the performance of steam- engines in, 130. Cossham (J. N.), improvement of Na- pier’s rods, 132. Craig (Rev. E.) on polarization, 19. Crosse (A.) on the formation of arti- ficial crystals, 47. Crystallized surfaces, action of upon common and polarized light, 13. Crystals, formed by electrical action, 47. of iron pyrites, 77. Cumbrian mountains, on the removal of boulders from the, 87. Dalton (Dr.) on chemical symbols, 77. Damoiseau’s work on the theory of the moon, 12. Daubeny (Dr.) on the effects. which arsenic produces on vegetation, 76. ou the chemical theory of vol- canic phenomena, 81. 156 Davy (Prof.} on a new gaseous bicar- buret of hydrogen, 62. on a compound of carbon and potassium, 63. Deccan, on the fruits of the, 106. De la Beche (H. 'T.) on the metalli- ferous veins of Cornwall, 83. Denbighshire, bone cave at Cefn, 88. Devonshire, on the physical structure of, 95. . Dickson (Sir D. J. H.) on extensive aneurism, 124. Digestive organs, on the chemistry of the, 117. Dublin Committee on a case of Morbus Coxz Senilis, 124. Dupin (Baron) on the price of grain, and its influence on French popu- lation, 132. Ear-trumpet, improved, 36. Eblanine, a new substance from the distillation of wood, 76. Education, state of, in Liverpool, 133; in Bristol, 136. Electrical experiments, 47. repulsion, on, 19. Electricity, atmospheric, 48. Electro-magnetism applied to machi- nery, 24, Empirical tables forfinding the moon’s place, on, 12, Enys (J. 8.) on the performance of steam-engines in Cornwall, 130. Ettrick (W.) on an instrument for ob- serving minute changes of terrestrial magnetism, 33. , new rubber for an electrical machine, 33. on the common bellows blow- pipe, 77. Eudiometer, aqueous sliding-rod hy- drogen, 46. Eudiometrical experiments, calorimo- tor for igniting gases in, 45. Exley (Thos.) on facts obtained ma- thematically in chemistry, 50. Eye, on cataract, 111; on the muscles and nerves of the eyeball, 121. Felkin (W.) on the state of the bob- bin-net trade, 148. Fluorine, on the insulation of, 77. Fetus, human, without brain, heart, lungs and liver, 122. Forbes (Prof.) on terrestrial magnetic intensity, 30. INDEX II. Forbes (Prof.) on the weight, height, and strength of men, 38. on the physical geography of the Pyrenees in relation to hot springs, 83. Forbes (Mr.) notice of sixteen species of testacea new to Scotland, 99. Fox (R. W.) on voltaic agencies in metalliferous veins, 81. Gas, new, 62. Gaseous interference, on, 54. Gases, on the specific heats of, 33. Geology :—physical, on certain points, in, 78; on the sea rivulets in Cepha- lonia, 81; chemical theory of vol- canic phenomena, 81 ; voltaic agen- cies in metalliferous veins, 81; hot springs of the Pyrenees, 83 ; metal- liferous veins of Cornwall, 83; ver- tebrated animals in the tertiary beds of Norfolk and Suffolk, 48 ; fallacies in Mr, Lyell’s classification of ter- tiary deposits, 86; limestones and associated strata near Manchester, 86; removal of large blocks from the Cumbrian mountains, 87; hy- drography of the Severn, 88; bone cave at Cefn in Denbighshire, 88; new species of Saurians, 90; two springs on north side of Hales bay, 94; Holoptychus nobilissimus, 94 ; classification of the old slate rocks of North Devonshire, 95; site of the ancient city of Memphis, 96. Glasgow, statistics of, 140. Glosso-pharyngeal nerve, sensibility of the, 125. Gluten, soluble, modification of, 74. Gossan of the Cornish miners, 82. Grecian music, on, 37. Greeves (A. F. A.) onthe gyration of the heart, 120. Greg (W.R.) statistical desiderata,151. Hall (Dr. M.) on the sensibility of the glosso-pharyngeal nerve, 125. Hall (G. W.) on accelerating the growth of wheat, 106. Hamilton (Sir W. R.) on the calculus of principal relations, 4, 41. Hancock (Dr.) on the manati of Gui- ana, 98. on anew and scandent species of the Norantia, 104. Hare (Dr.) on the chemical nomen- clature of Berzelius, 44. INDEX II, Hare (Dr.) on a calorimotor for pro- ducing ignition at a distance, 45. — on volumeters, 46. on the aqueous sliding-rod hy- drogen eudiometer, 46. Harris (W. S.) on some phenomena of electrical repulsion, 19. Heart, on the gyration of the, 120. Henry (Dr. C.) on gaseous interfe- rence, 54. Henslow (Prof.) on crystals of sugar in Rhododendron ponticum, 106. Henwood (Mr.) on naval architecture, 130. Herapath (W.) on the aurora borealis, 32. on arsenical poisons, 67. on lithiate of ammonia as a se- cretion of insects, 70. , analysis of King’s bath, Bath, 70. Hetling (W.) on anew instrument for removing ligatures, 124. Holoptychus nobilissimus, 94. Hope (Rey. F. W.) on the probability that some of the early notions of an- tiquity were derived from ins:cts,99. Hopkins (W.) on certain points in phy- sical geology, 78. Houston (Dr.), account of twin fo- tuses, one of which without brain, heart, lungs, and liver, 122. Hydrogen, new gaseous bicarburet of, 62. Inglis (Dr.) on the conducting powers of iodine, 66. Interference, gaseous, 54. Intensity, influence of height upon, 30. Iodine, conducting powers of, 64. Isoclinal lines in Yorkshire, direction of, 31. , direction of in England, 31. Johnston (Prof.) on paracyanogen, 67. Jones (W. C.) on the analysis of wheat, 74, Knox (Mr.) on the insulation of fluo- rine, 77. Lardner (Dr.) on the effect of railroads on intercommunication, 150. Lens, crystalline, after death, 16. Ligatures, new instrument for the re- moving of, 124. 157 Light, polarized, action of crystallized surfaces upon, 13. Lignin, nitrogen in, 74. Lithic acid, in the secretion of insects, 70. Liverpool, state of education in, 133. Lloyd (Dr.) on the Marsiliacez, 102. Lloyd (Prof.) on the direction of the isoclinal lines in England, 31. Logarithms, mnemonical, 38. Lowe (Mr.) on crystals of iron pyrites, 77. Lubbock (J. W.) on new empirical ta- bles for finding the moon’s place, 12. Macartney (Dr.) on the organ of voice in the New Holland ostrich, 97. on the means of preserving ani- mal and vegetable substances, 99. on the structure of the teeth, and account of their decay, 115. Machinery, application of electro-mag- netism to, 24. M’Cullagh (J.) on the laws of dou- ble refraction in quartz, 18. M’Gauley (Rev. J. W.), experiments in electro-magnetism, in its appli- cation as a moving power, 24. Magnetic force, terrestrial, on, 31. Magnetic intensity, terrestrial, influ- ence of height upon, 30. Magnetical instrument, new, 28. Magnetism, terrestrial, instrument for observing minute changes of, 33. Magnetometer, Scoresby’s, 28. Man, on the weight, height, and strength of, 38. Manchester, on the limestones and strata of, 86. Marsiliacez, observations on the, 102. Mathematicsand Physics :—researches in the integral calculus, 1; calculus of principal relations, 4, 41 ; on the doubtful algebraic sign in certain formulz of algebraic geometry, 5; rules for constructing compensating pendulums, 7 ; on new empirical ta- bles'for finding the moon’s place, 12; action of crystallized surfaces upon common and polarized light, 13 ; po- larizing structure in the crystalline lens after death, 16; laws of dou- ble refraction in quartz, 18; on po- larization, 19 ; phenomena of elec- trical repulsion, 19; electro-mag- netism as a moving power, 24; new 158 INDEX Ii. compass bar, 28; terrestrial mag- netic intensity, 30; isoclinal mag- netic lines in Yorkshire, 31; iso- clinal lines in England, 31; aurora borealis, 32; new method of inves- tigating the specific heats of gases, 33 ; improved ear-trumpet, 36 ; on the higher orders of Grecian music, 37 ; mnemonical logarithms, 38 ; on the weight, height, and strength of men, 38; Whewell’sanemometer, 39. Mechanical science :—on British na- val architecture, 129; on the tides, 130; on the performance of steam- engines in Cornwall, 130; paddle- wheels, 131. Medical science : — on diseases of the brain, 107; on tetanus, 109; on cataract, 111; on cancerous and tu- berculous diseases, 112; on the struc- ture of the teeth, 1]5; on the che- mistry of the digestive organs, 117 ; on the functions of the nervous sys- tem, 119; on absorption, 119; on the gyration of the heart, 120; on the muscles and nerves of the eye- ball, 121; newly discovered pecu- liarity in the structure of the uterine decidua, 121; account of human twin foetuses, one of which without brain, heart, lungs, and liver, 122; on the bones in chronic rheumatism, 123; on the new circulating chan- nels in double popliteal aneurism, 123; new instrument for removing ligatures, 124; sensibility of the glosso-pharyngeal nerve, 125. Memphis, site of the ancient city of, 96. Mineral productions of Great Britain, value of, 144. Montgomery (Dr.) on a newly dis- covered peculiarity in the uterine decidua, 121. Moon, Damoiseau’s and Plana’s works on the theory of the, 12. Moon’s place, on new empirical tables for finding, 12. Mushet (Mr.) on the de-oxydation of iron ore, 64; on a metallic cement from iron ore, 65. Music, Grecian, 37. Murchison (R. I.) on the hydrogra- phy of the Severn, 88, , classification of the oldslate rocks of Devonshire, 95. Napier’s rods, an improvement of, 132. Naval architecture, British, 129. Nerve, glosso-pharyngeal, on the sen- sibility of the, 125. Nervous system, functions of the, 119. New Holland ostrich, on the organ of voice in the, 97. Nitrogen in lignin, 74. Norantia, new species of, 104. Norfolk, vertebrated animals found in the tertiary beds of, 48. Nugent (Lord) on the sea rivulets in Cephalonia, 81. Nuttall (J.) on the management of the pine tribe, 104, O’Beirne (Dr.) on tetanus, 109. Ostrich, New Holland, on the organ of voice in the, 97. , two-toed, on the foot of the, 98. Paddle-wheels, on, 131. Paracyanogen, a new isomeric com- pound, 67. Pendulums, compensating, mathema- tical rules for constructing, 7 Phelps (Mr.) on the formation of peat, 107 Phillips (Prof.) on the direction of iso- clinal magnetic lines in Yorkshire, 81. on certain limestones and asso- ciated strata near Manchester, 86. on the removal of boulders from the Cumbrian mountains, 87. Plana’s work onthe theory of the moon, 12. Poisons, arsenical, 67. Polarization, on, 19. Polarized light, action of crystallized surfaces on, 13. Polarizing structure in the crystalline lens after death, 16. Population, influence of the price of grain on, 182, 133. ; Potassium and carbon, on a compound of, 63. Prichard (Dr.) on diseases of the brain, Principal relations, on the calculus of, 4, 41. Pyrenees, on the physical geography of the, 83. Quartz, on the laws of double refrac- tion in, 18. Refraction, double, in quartz, 18, Railroads, their effect on intercommu- nication, 150. INDEX II. Reid (Dr.) on the functions of the ner- vous system, 119 Repulsion, electrical, on, 19. Riley (Dr.) on an additional species of saurians found near Bristol, 90. on the foot of the two-toed os- trich, 98. Rock-blasting, on, 45, Rootsey (Dr.) on the higher orders of Grecian music, 37. on mnemonical logarithms, 38. on sugar, malt, and an ardent spirit from mange] wurzel, 107. Royle (Prof.) on caoutchouc, 105. Russell (J. 8.) on the ratio of the re- sistance of fluids to the velocity of waves, 41. Saurians found near Bristol, an addi- tional species of, 90. Scanlan (R.) on a new substance ob- tained from the distillation of wood, 76. Scoresby (Rev. W.) on amagnetometer for measuring minute magnetic at- tractions, 28 ; on anew compass bar, 28. Sedgwick (Rev. A.), classification of the old slate rocks of the North of Devonshire, 95. Severn, hydrography of the, 88. Ship-building, on, 129. Soda, phosphate and pyro-phosphate of, 48. ‘ Spinetto (Marquis) on the site of the ancient city of Memphis, 96. Spirits, method of ascertaining the |’ strength of, 61. Springs, hot, of the Pyrenees, 83. of Hales Bay, 94. Starch, on the quantity of in ordinary wheat, 74. Statistics :—influence of the price of grain on the French population, 1382; state of education in Liver- pool, 133; state of education in Bristol, 136; statistics of Glasgow, 140; on the value of the mineral productions of Great Britain, 144; periodicity of births, &c., 146; state of the bobbin net trade, 141 ; on co- operating committees of trade and agriculture, 149; effect of railroads on intercommunication, 150; on statistical desiderata, 151. Steam-engines in Cornwall, perform- ance of, 130. Stevelly (Prof.) on the doubtful alge- 159 braic sign in certain formula: of al- gebraic geometry, 5. Stavelly (Prof.) on the mathematical rules for constructing compensating pendulums, 7. Stutchbury (S.) on an additional spe- cies of saurians found near Bristol, 90. Succulent plants, means of preserving, 100. Suffolk, vertebrated, animals found in the tertiary beds of, 48. Sykes (Lieut.-Col.) on the fruits of the Deccan, 106; on the utility of co- operating committees of trade and agriculture, 149. falbe (H. F.) on the integral calcu- us, l. Taste, experiments on the sense of, 124, 126. Taylor (J.) on the value of mineral productions of Great Britain, 144. Teale (T. P.) on Alcyonella Stagno- rum, 104. Teeth, their structure and decay, 115. Tetanus, on, 109. Thermometer, recently discovered in Italy, 77. Thomson (Dr. R. D.) on the chemis- try of the digestive organs, 117. Traill (Dr.) on the aurora borealis of Aug. 11, 32. Tuberculous diseases, on, 112. Vegetable substances, means of pre- serving, 100. Vegetation, effects of arsenic on, 76. Veins, metalliferous, voltaic agencies in, 81; of Cornwall, 83. Vertebrated animals found in the ter- tiary beds of Norfolk and Suffolk, 48. Volatile fluid, peculiar, 74. Volcanic phenomena, chemical the- ory of, 81. Voltaic agenciesin metalliferous veins, 81. Voltaic battery, experiments on the, 47. Volumeter, Hare’s, 46. Walker (J.) on the muscles and nerves of the eyeball, 121. Watson (H. H.) on the phosphate and pyro-phosphate of soda, 48. West (W.) on means ofdetecting gases present in air, 77 Wheat, on the analysis of, 74. 5 ae aut 160 Wheat, on accelerating the growth of, 106. , influence of its price on popu- lation, 132, 133. j Whewell (Rev. W.), account of his anemometer, 39. on the tides, 130. Williams (Dr.) on an improved ear- trumpet, 36. Wood, a new substance obtained from the distillation of, 76. Yelloly (Dr.) on spade husbandry in Norfolk, 150. ’ INDEX II. Yew, its longevity and antiquity in church-yards, 101. Yorkshire, direction of isoclinal mag- netic lines in, 31. Zoology, New Holland ostrich, organ of voice in the, 97. , two-toed ostrich, foot of the, 98. ——, manati of Guiana, 98. , seals, crania of several, 98. , testacea, sixteen species new to Scotland, 99. » animal and vegetable substances, means of preserving, 99. END OF THE FIFTH VOLUME. LONDON: PRINTED BY RICHARD AND JOHN E. TAYLOR, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET, 4 5 .¥ a , 7 ; A : ee ‘ pee "tae Av lt ram * at aon 19 ~ ye Xb ted ’ hs eet * ai enc rth >, rg io a 3 \ i an | PAO Yh, piss ein > cue wage | ie oy oe ; ae Pal i) 7 oF | f =) ( ' ay % i * WY b 7 c i ' Pisa. 5 i ‘ 5 4 ) é . wal ic y : ad : , “i ee i | bs has Vn a> ’ 7 hae, J ave ¢ ee, iy vd ta! 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