“s « oe teen Hist He thet Sir i. iit i Te ath ae mele caters i) at Pe af : A =e ae = * Ry es DEP ere PIE Te iS te ELAS SOE EE GC NT AEE TS ee eee ee Grr Bak 9 ee REPORT f. OF THE 3 a FOURTEENTH MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE; HELD AT YORK IN SEPTEMBER 1844. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1845. p BY RICHARD AND JOHN E. TAYLOR, PRINTE FLEET STREET. RED LION COURT, CONTENTS. Ossrots and Rules of the Association .........ssccssseceeeceeceeecceneees Officers and Council .. Places of Meeting tha: Oficers aia ohcsanannibak Aan aGe aon Geciadian sree Table of Council from commencement ...........++ ‘ doaeadicy Officers of Sectional Committees and Disesestacicisns Meontierd odedieass Treasurer's Account .. EYE RE OY Bh dae Bacar ccmaenaaeeeeimeseaumes Reports, Researches, ed Pedaames Finguamasganisginesdatss pau sue aaiets Recommendations for Additional Reports and hse A ay in Solpass Synopsis of Money Grants ............ eaplbaws Us chs sna de Arrangements of the General inal “Meetings $06 bectidvecened cbevohebe Address of the President .. TTT Report of the Council to the ened Committee ase bSueanteny ss kibpe aioe REPORTS OF RESEARCHES IN SCIENCE. On the Microscopic Structure of Shells. By W.Carrenter, M.D., F.R.S. Report on the British Nudibranchiate Mollusca, By JosHuA ALDER and AtBany Hancock.. eS ool venncn fay anby Researches on the Hy Aberive of Lines on ae Gaiden of ‘Seeds and the Growth of Plants. By Rogert Huyr .......... Report of a Committee, consisting of Sir Joun W. F. seer en WHEWELL, and Mr. Bairy (deceased), appointed by the British Association in 1840, for revising the Nomenclature of the Stars ...... On the Meteorology of Toronto in Canada. ua! Lieut.-Colonel Epwarp SaBIneE, R.A., F.R.S. aad bes Ge Report on some recent es. into nine. eaniaitg pa and (Economy of the Araneidea made in Great Britain. ae Joun BLAcK- WALL, F.L.S.. On the Paeietion of lane fieficotne Telescopes, By the ee SRS LEMNSIIG cde tac oivainia’s cede dante decoish «deel sai Report on a Gas Bienen for Experiments on Vitrifaction aa othe Applications of High Heat in the Paget ee the Rev. Witiiam Vernon Harcourt, F.R.S., &. oo... eee eee Report of the Committee for registering Earthquake Shocks i in geaetaad Report of a Committee appointed at the Tenth Meeting of the Associa- tion for Experiments on Steam-Engines. Members of the Com- mittee: — The Rey. Professor Moserey, M.A., F.R.S.; Eaton ' Hopexinson, Esq., F.R.S.; J. S. oe aes EGS. ; "Professor Pore, F.G.S. (Reporter) .. Ge PRRs E A ioe ete 90 Iv CONTENTS. Page Report of the Committee to investigate the Varieties of the Human Race Fourth Report of a Committee, consisting of H. E. Srrickianp, Esq., Prof. DausEeny, Prof. Henstow and Prof. aera ine to continue their Experiments on the Vitality of Seeds...........sseseeeeee 94 On the Consumption of Fuel and the Prevention of ‘Smoked “a WVEIUAM PATRBAIBN, ESQ. cass cec ces csecesscecescesccecss cencnesysuacenmens ume Report concerning the Obsery Sars of the British Association at cb. from August the Ist, ai to dea the 31st, 1844. ie FRANCIS Ronatps, Esq., F.R. S... .. 120 Sixth Report of the Canes Saag of ‘Sir a “Hesse ‘the Master oF Trinity Cotiece, Cambridge, the DEAN or Ety, Dr. Lioyp and Colonel Sazine, appointed to conduct the Co-operation of the British Association in the system of Simultaneous Magnetical Bae eceorolomieal OUSETVALIONS ...,..<..+00i+ss0n8 one teseduspaseeeptanins 143 On the influence of Fucoidal Plants upon the Formations of the Earth, on Metamorphism in general, and particularly the ea of the Scandinavian Alum Slate. By Prof. G. ForcHHAMMER............ 155 Report on the recent Progress and present State of Onithology. on H. E. StricKLAND, M.A., ENGSS iS 80s) cian oles rene sere Report of Committee appointed to conduct Oise vations on Auittanies nean Temperature in Ireland. By T. OLpHam, Esq., M.R.LA....... 221 Report on the extinct Mammals of Australia, with descriptions of certain Fossils indicative of the former existence in that Continent of large Marsupial Representatives of the Order PAacHYDERMATA. Prof. wine ERS. acess ecdesss aes oe Report on the Working of ieee eal Osler’ s ee at Ply- mouth, for the ae 1841, Bile 1843. my W. Snow * ae fe Ss F.R.S., &c.. . 241 Report on Peoheric Wav yes. By W. R. ‘ieee aot eB 4. Rapport sur les Poissons Fossiles de foo de Boned "Pals cass, with translation ............ mene ke) Report on Waves. Ee J. Saath eval Da M. i “ER. s. Edin, made to the Meetings in 1842 and 1843. Members of the Com- mittee: — Sir Joun Rosison, Sec. R.S. aoe and J. Scott PPEISREDUL, WARS. Ed. ov..ccccecsescctassevessecccceecen tocecs een sheneeeaaaaaenanmm Provisional Reports and Notices of Progress in Special Researches en- trusted to Committees and Individuals..............ccssceessseeeceeseeeeeees 390 OBJECTS AND RULES OF THE ASSOCIATION. OBJECTS. Tur Association contemplates no interference with the ground occupied by other Institutions. Its objects are,—To give a stronger impulse and a more systematic direction to scientific inquiry,—to promote the intercourse of those who cultivate Science in different parts of the British Empire, with one an- other, and with foreign philosophers,—to obtain a more general attention to the objects of Science, and a removal of any disadvantages of a public kind which impede its progress. RULES. MEMBERS. All persons who have attended the first Meeting shall be entitled to be- come Members of the Association, upon subscribing an obligation to conform to its Rules. The Fellows and Members of Chartered Literary and Philosophical So- cieties publishing Transactions, in the British Empire, shall be entitled, in like manner, to become Members of the Association. Hey The officers and Members of the Councils, or Managing Committees, of Philosophical Institutions, shall be entitled, in like manner, to become Mem- bers of the Association. All Members of a Philosophical Institution, recommended by its Council or Managing Committee, shall be entitled, in like manner, to become Mem- bers of the Association. Persons not belonging to such Institutions shall be elected by the General Committee or Council, to become Members of the Association, subject to the approval of a General Meeting. SUBSCRIPTIONS. The amount of the Annual Subscription shall be One Pound, to be paid in advance upon admission ; and the amount of the composition in lieu thereof, Five Pounds. An admission fee of One Pound is required from all Members elected as Annual Subscribers, after the Meeting of 1839, in addition to their annual subscription of One Pound. The volume of Reports of the Association will be distributed gratuitously to every Annual Subscriber who has actually paid the Annual Subscription for the year to which the volume relates, and to all those Life Members who shall have paid Two Pounds as a Book Subscription. Subscriptions shall be received by the Treasurer or Secretaries. If the Annual Subscription of any Member shall have been in arrear for V1 RULES OF THE ASSOCIATION. two years, and shall not be paid on proper notice, he shall cease to be a Member. MEETINGS. The Association shall meet annually, for one week, or longer. The place of each Meeting shall be appointed by the General Committee at the previous Meeting; and the Arrangements for it shall be entrusted to the Officers of the Association.. GENERAL COMMITTEE. The General Committee shall sit during the week of the Meeting, or longer, to transact the business of the Association, It shal] consist of the following persons :— 1. Presidents and Officers for the present and preceding years, with au- thors of Reports in the Transactions of the Association. 2. Members who have communicated any Paper to a Philosophical Society, which has been printed in its Transactions, and which relates to such subjects as are taken into consideration at the Sectional Meetings of the Association. 8. Office-bearers for the time being, or Delegates, altogether not exceeding three in number, from any Philosophical Society publishing Transactions. 4. Office-bearers for the time being, or Delegates, not exceeding three, from Philosophical Institutions established in the place of Meeting, or in any place where the Association has formerly met. 5. Foreigners and other individuals whose assistance is desired, and who are specially nominated in writing for the Meeting of the year by the Presi- dent and General Secretaries. 6. The Presidents, Vice-Presidents, and Secretaries of the Sections are ex officio members of the General Committee for the time being. SECTIONAL COMMITTEES. The General Committee shall appoint, at each Meeting, Committees, con- sisting severally of the Members most conversant with the several branches of Science, to advise together for the advancement thereof. The Committee shall report what subjects of investigation they would par- ticularly recommend to be prosecuted during the ensuing year, and brought under consideration at the next Meeting. The Committees shall recommend Reports on the state and progress of par- ticular Sciences, to be drawn up from time to time by competent persons, for the information of the Annual Meetings. COMMITTEE OF RECOMMENDATIONS. The General Committee shall appoint at each Meeting a Committee, which shall receive and consider the recommendations of the Sectional Committees, and report to the General Committee the measures which they would advise to be adopted for the advancement of Science. All Recommendations of Grants of Money, Requests for Special Re- searches, and Reports on Scientific Subjects, shall be submitted to the Com- mittee of Recommendations, and not taken into consideration by the General Committee unless previously recommended by the Committee of Recommen- dations. LOCAL COMMITTEES. Local Committees shall be formed by the Officers of the Association to assist ir making arrangements for the Meetings. Local Committees shall have the power of adding to their numbers those Members of the Association whose assistance they may desire. / RULES OF THE ASSOCIATION. Vil OFFICERS. A President, two or more Vice-Presidents, one or more Secretaries, and a Treasurer, shall be annually appointed by the General Committee. ‘COUNCIL. In the intervals of the Meetings, the affairs of the Association shall be managed by a Council appointed by the General Committee. The Council may also assemble for the despatch of business during the weex of the Meeting. PAPERS AND COMMUNICATIONS. The Author of any paper or communication shall be at liberty to reserve his right of property therein. ACCOUNTS. The Accounts of the Association shall be audited annually, by Auditors appointed by the Meeting. OFFICERS AND COUNCIL, 1844—45. pa bros Trustees (permanent).—Roderick Impey Murchison, Esq., F.R.S., P. Geog. S. John Taylor, Esq., f.R.S. The Very Reverend G. Peacock, D.D., Dean of Ely, F.R.S. President.—The Very Reverend George Peacock, D.D., Dean of Ely. Vice-Presidents.—The Earl Fitzwilliam, F.R.S. Viscount Morpeth, F.G.S. The Hon. John Stuart Wortley, M.P., F.R.S. Sir David Brewster, K.H., F.R.S.L. and E. Michael Faraday, Esq., D.C.L., F.R.S. Rev. William VY. Harcourt, F.R.S. President Elect.—Sir John F. W. Herschel, Bart., F.R.S. Viee-Presidents Elect.—The Right Hon. The Earl of Hardwicke. The Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Norwich. The Rev. John Graham, D.D., Master of Christ’s College. Rev. Gilbert Ainslie, D.D., Master of Pembroke Hall. G.B. Airy, Esq., F.R.S., Astronomer Royal. Rev. Adam Sedgwick, F.R.S., Woodwardian Professor. General Secretaries,— Roderick Impey Murchison, Esq., F.R.S., P. Geog.S., London. Lieut.-Col. Sabine, F.R.S., Woolwich. Assistant General Secretary.—Professor Phillips, F.R.S., York. General Treasurer.—John Taylor, Esq., F.R.S., 2 Duke Street, Adelphi, London. Secretaries for the Cambridge Meeting in 1845.—Wm. Hopkins, Esq., M.A., F.R.S. D.T. Ansted, Esq., M.A., F.G.S., Prof. of Geology in King’s College, London. Treasurer to the Meeting in 1845,—C. C. Babington, Esq. Council.—Sir H. T. Dela Beche. Rev. Dr. Buckland. Dr. Daubeny. Professor E. Forbes. Professor ‘I. Graham. W.Snow Harris, Esq. James Heywood, Esq. Dr, Hodgkin. Eaton Hodgkinson, Esq. Leonard Horner, Esq. Robert Hutton, Esq. Sir Charles Lemon, Bart. Charles Lyell, Esq. Professor MacCullagh. ‘The Marquis of Northampton. Professor Owen. Rev. Dr. Robinson. Capt. Sir J, Ross, R.N. The Earl of Rosse. H. E. Strickland, Esq. Lieut.-Col. Sykes. William ‘Thompson, Esq. H. War- burton, Esq. Professor Wheatstone. C.J. B. Williams, M.D. Local Treasurers.—Dr. Daubeny, Oxford. C.C, Babington, Esq., Cam- bridge. Dr. Orpen, Dublin. Charlies Forbes, Esq., Edinburgh. Professor Ramsay, Glasgow. William Gray, jun., Esq., York.’ William Sanders, Esq., Bristol. Samuel Turner, Esq., Liverpool. G. W. Ormerod, Esq., Manchester. James Russell, Esq., Birmingham. William Hutton, Esq., Newcastle-on- Tyne. Henry Woollcombe, Esq., Plymouth. James Roche, Esq., Cork. Auditors. —Robert Hutton, Esq. Leonard Horner, Esq. Lieut.-Col. 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Table showing the Members of Council of the British Association from its commencement, in addition to Presidents, Vice-Presidents, and Local Secretaries, for a list of whom see p. viii. Rev. Wm. Vernon Harcourt, F.R.S., &c. ...... 1832—1836. Francis Baily, V.P. and Treas. R.S. ............ 1835. General Secretaries. < R. I. Murchison, F.R.S., F.G.S. ........cceeceeeee 1836—1844, Rev. G. Peacock, F.R.S., F.G.S., &c. .......0000 1837, 1838. Lieut.-Colonel Sabine, V.P.R.S. .......ee.eceee eee 1839, 1844. General Treasurer. John Taylor, F.R.S., Treas. G.S., &c. 1.2.2... 1832—1844 Charles Babbage, F.R.SS. L.& E., &c. (Resigned.) R. I. Murchison, F.R.S., &c. Trustees (permanent.)< John Taylor, F.R.S., &c. Francis Baily, F.R.S., (Deceased.) The Dean of Ely. Suet. al } Professor Pluilliag Puce e020 - eivessacdedoncseoss 1832—1844, Members of Council. G. B. Airy, F.R.S., Astronomer Royal ...... 1834, 1835, 1841. MeV THOthy IMD). ccckeccecc~.cacce~covcsbilcc's'es 1838, 1839, 1840. Francis Baily, V.P. and Treas. R.S. ......... 1837—1839. Sir H. T. De la Beche, F.R.S...............0005 1841—1844. George Bentham, F.L.S. .........sseseeseceeeees 1834, 1835. Robert Brown, D.C.L., F.R.S.........ceeceeeee 1832, 1834, 1835, 1838—184]. Sir David Brewster, F.R.S., &c. .......00..000e 1832, 1841—1842. Sir Thomas Brisbane, Bart. ............ceeeeeeee 1842. Sir M. I. Brunel, F.R-S., &. ....c.scsccecenecs 1832. Rey. Professor Buckland, D.D., F.R.S., &c.1833, 1835, 1838 —1844. The Earl of Burlington, F.R.S...............0008 1838, 1839. Rev. T. Chalmers, D.D., Prof. of Divinity, PIP TED Nt, tes ccspasceaciedeeen-ceceserae'sa 1833 Professor Clark, Cambridge.................0000- 1838. Professor Christie, F.R.S., &C. oo... eee eee eee 1833—1837. William Clift, F.R.S., F.G.S. .........ceeeeeees 1832—1835. J. C. Colquhoun, Esq. ...........sceecsveeeeeers 1840. John Corrie, F.R.S., &c. ....c.ccecesseecentecees 1832. Professor Daniell, F.R.S. .........ccccececeececes 1836, 1839. pe teeny, PES. , sai qinorenusvonntceesovsrece 1838—1844. Pepbre Prink Water ~.esscelecscs cnesencetaddccsco une 1834, 1835. Sir Philip G. Egerton, Bart., F.R.S............ 1840, 1841. The Earl Fitzwilliam, D.C.L., F.R.S., &c...1833. Professor Forbes, F.R.S. L.. & E., &c. ...... 1832, 1841, 1842. Davies Gilbert, D.C.L., V.P.R.S., &c. ...... 1832. Professor R. Graham, M.D., F.R.S.E. ......1837. Professor Thomas Graham, F.R.S...........+ 1838, 1839—1844. John Edward Gray, F.R.S., F.L.S., &c....... 1837—1839, 1840, 1843. Professor Green, F.R.S., F.G.S. .......00ec0eee 1832. G. B. Greenough, F.R.S., F.G.S. ............ 1832—1839—1843. Henry Hallam, F.R.S., F.S.A., &c.......0.00. 1836. Rev. W. V. Harcourt, F.R.S. ........ceceeesees 1842, Sir William R. Hamilton, Astron. Royal of eeland VERITON. %.- isetetnoee hence cece 1832, 1833, 1836. W. J. Hamilton, Sec. G.S. ........ ee repeee: es 1840—1842. W. Snow Harris, F.R.S...........0. Bee aeeaete 1844, James Heywood, Esq., F.R.S........c.c0eeceees 1843, 1844. (Ses hail CF gn ah da 1832. Thomas Hodgkin, M.D. ............cecceeeeeees 1833—1837, 1839, 1840, 1842. Eaton Hodgkinson, Bisqe, BeBe Si isicheews ees’ 1843, 1844. Prof. Sir W. J. Hooker, LL.D., F.R.S., &c.1832. Leonard Horner, F\R.S. ..sscccccessescceeeeeeee1841—1844, x MEMBERS OF COUNCIL. Rey. FP. W:- Hope; M.A. F.L.S: Jcsecssepss-ons 1837. Robert Hutton, F.G.S., Sib. cviessadat Faced oes ett 1838, 1839—1843, 1844, Professor R. Jameson, F. Rios Lis Buble euesen 183 Rev. Leonard Jenyns, F.L.S. .....csceceeeeeeee ise H Ba dlerrard, Ws. ...2.s5-sscasevtescapsoesessae 1840. UE OSes ccccs cocessaccdee Fes kbac ine egeans dagee 1839, Sir Charles Lemont Bart. 5: ukti.c- saceseceers 1838, 1839, 1842—1844, even Gardner. oosseseseceseneosoe¥esgsevens Gaus 1838, 1839. Professor Lindley, F.R.S., F.L.S., &c. «4... 1833, 1836. Rev. Prof. Lloyd, D.D., F.R.S., M.R.I.A. 1832, 1833, 1841—1843. J. W. Lubbock, F.R.S., F.L.S., &c., Vice- Chancellor of the University af oral. .1833—1836, 1838, 1839. Rev. Thomas Luby ....+s+sssessseeeressreeeeeres 1832. Charles: Lyell,.jun;, Pt. ..c.sceseeaseoeeedey 1838, 1839, 1840, 1843, 1844. Professor MacCullagh, IMRT Asce.cttsbevsecs 1843, 1844. William Sharp MacLeay, F.L.S...........044. 1837. Professor John Macneill .........sceeeeeeecerere 1843. ‘Professor Miller, ‘WGN iiees. ccbeateescess Ae eee 1840. Professor Moseley, F.R.S........seeceseseeeeees 1839, 1840, 1843, Patrick Neill, UL. D., PERS. By iss-d-cscestecee 1833. The Marquis of Northampton, P.R.S. ......1840—1843, 1844. Professor Richard Owen, F.R.S., F.L.S. ....1836, 1838, 1839, 1844. Rev. George Peacock, M.A., F.R.S., &c. ...1832, 1834, 1835, 1839—1842. ©. Pendarves, Hsqsp FP sitar dgsatsesscassasecas 1840. Rev. Professor Powell, M.A., F.R.S., Bite oo 1837, 1839, 1840. J. @Prichard; M.D, WR SA ees, ccs crcess 1832 George Rennie, FSRiS: s5....-s6:>senes 1840. Rev. J. J. Tayler, B. ‘A., Manchester ......... 1832. William Thompson, F, ERE A RR 1843, 1844, Professor Traill, M.D.......... BSesehres-cessanst 1832, 1833. N. A. Vigors, M.P., D.C.L., F.S.A., F.L.S.1832, 1836, 1840. James Walker, Esq., P.S.C. RS 1840. Captain Washington, VAIN, seat ipa ss >see ccont'e 1838, 1839, 1840. Professor Wheatstone, F.R.S.......ceceeeeecees 1838—1844. H. Warburton, Esq., F.R.S., Pres. G.S. ...1844, Rev. W. Whewell, F.R.S.,MasterofT.C.Camb.1838, 1839, 1842, 1843. Professor C. J. B. Williams, M.D., F.R.S..1842—1844. nev. Prof. Willis, MoAcs Hob cbpaesstscser ces 1842. William! Yarrell,, Hela Senumerpeheeeees ses aste rs 1833—1836. James Yates, Esq., M.A., F.R.S. ........000 1842, Secretaries to the { Edward Turner, M. ae SS. L. & E. 1832—1836. Council. James Yates, F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S. 1831—1840. a OFFICERS OF SECTIONAL COMMITTEES. x1 OFFICERS OF SECTIONAL COMMITTEES AT THE YORK MEETING. SECTION A.—MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE. President.—The Ear] of Rosse, F.R.S. Vice-Presidents.—Professor MacCullagh, M.R.I.A. Rev. Dr. Robinson, M.R.I.A. Rev. Dr. Whewell, F.R.S. Professor Wheatstone, F.R.S. Secretaries——Professor Stevelly, M.A. Rev. Wm. Hey, M.A., F.G.S. SECTION B,—CHEMISTRY AND MINERALOGY ; (including their applications to Agriculture and the Arts.). President.—Professor T. Graham, F.R.S. Vice-Presidents.—Marquis of Northampton, F.R.S, Professor Grove, F.R.S. Dr. Daubeny, F.R.S. Secretaries-—Dr. L. Playfair. E. Solly, Esq., F.R.S. T.H. Barker, Esq. SECTION C.—GEOLOGY AND PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. President.—Henry Warburton, Esq., M.P., President of the Geological Society of London. Vice-Presidents.—The Ear] of Enniskillen, F.R.S. Sir H. T. De la Beche, F.R.S. R.I. Murchison, F.R.S., P.R.Geog.S. (President for Geography) Rev. Professor Sedgwick, F.R.S. Secretaries.—Professor Ansted, M.A., F.R.S. E. H. Bunbury, M.A., F.G.S, SECTION D.—ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY. President.—The Very Rev. The Dean of Manchester. Vice-Presidents—Professor Owen, F.R.S. Hugh E. Strickland, F.G.S. W. Spence, F.L.S. Dr. Falconer, F.R.S. Secretaries.—Professor Allman. Dr. Lankester. Harry Goodsir, Esq. Dr. King. SECTION E.—MEDICAL SCIENCE. President.—J. C. Prichard, M.D. Vice-Presidents —W.P. Alison, M.D. H.S. Belcombe, M.D. George Goldie, M.D. Thomas Simpson, M.D. Seeretaries.—I. Erichsen, Esq. R. S. Sargent, M.D. SECTION F.—STATISTICS. President.—Lieut.-Col. W. H. Sykes, F.R.S., F.L.S., &c. Vice»Presidents.—Sir John V. B. Johnstone, Bart., F.G.S. Sir C. Lemon, Bart. T. Tooke, Esq. G.R. Porter, Esq. Secretaries. James Heywood, Esq. Joseph Fletcher, Esq. Dr. Laycock. SECTION G.—-MECHANICAL SCIENCE. President.—John Taylor, Esq., F.R.S. Vice-Presidents.—J. Scott Russell, F.R.S.E. Eaton Hodgkinson, F.R.S. Secretaries.—C. Vignoles, Esq. Thomas Webster, Esq. CORRESPONDING MEMBERS. Professor Agassiz, Neufchatel. M. Arago, Secretary of the Institute, Paris. A.D. Bache, Philadelphia. Professor Berzelius, Stockholm. Pro- fessor Bessel, Kénigsberg. Professor H. von Boguslawski, Breslau. Pro- fessor Braschmann, Moscow. Professor Dela Rive, Geneva. Professor Dumas, Paris. Professor Ehrenberg, Berlin. Professor Encke, Berlin. Dr. A. Er- man, Berlin. Dr. Langberg, Christiania. M. Frisiani, Astronomer, Milan. Baron Alexander von Humboldt, Berlin. M. Jacobi, St. Petersburg. Pro- fessor Jacobi, Kénigsberg. Dr. Lamont, Munich. Professor Liebig, Giessen. - Professor Link, Berlin. Professor CErsted, Copenhagen. M. Otto, Breslau. Jean Plana, Astronomer Royal, Turin. M. Quetelet, Brussels. Professor C. Ritter, Berlin. Professor Schumacher, Altona. Professor Wartmann, Lausanne. BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE TREASURER’S ACCOUNT from RECEIPTS. EN to pas Gs To Balance in hand from last year’s Account ........ songertep: 496 5 Il To Life Compositions received at the Cork Meeting andsince 160 0 0 To Annual Subscriptions ...... Ditto...... Ditto...... Ditto...... 446 0 0 ——- 606 0 0 To received for Ladies’ Tickets at the Cork Meeting ..... Hen. 160 0 0 To received for Sections’ ......... DittOy. tite. Ditto............ ae 0 (0 To received Compositions for Books (future publication) ... 66 0 0 To received Dividends of £5500 in the 3 per cent. Consols, 12 months to July 1844..........s.sceceuee isesachevanevspaancans 165 0 0 To received from the Sale of Reports, viz. Ist vo]., 2nd Edition.......:..cecseccssers SF Jats 212° 4 DNC VOlioscnandcsccss scutes covenseeseeeceeey eeea eet ts 3.0 0 OL! VOL wactneasscteeccee i tarees. Us coer nce MOM eeeeG 216 0 AL VO). caccocseosns sve sceessdandecdacetee tees eeemek 3.6 7 Sth VOI. .esecccnscocsscee AR cot ebelewcocevevieds eee 4 3 2 GEM VO), .coceersandaese eevevevcce Siodssapeevvencusesa 615 4 MEI VO). ceccvensss ioosabechinwenstececdseceusates “S TO 9A0 8th vol. ..... odscovscwccbecces sadadaseet te aeddee we vee 918 1 Otliwoldc.cpeskersetee sb enepacvaees aneayeredeees aesea 20 15 0 NOCH VOl ceeccexsvcenrsss eocccccccccceneducuecscosaccas 18 10 0 DEH VOM Near ccates senses Senensanapasle aseceseces Jouewe 34 611 P2thivole 7. ccccutbosttaceas cbse sapeeaes Sch coscd beecee 17 11 6 Lithograph Signatures ........0...seeseesseecens = Oe 140 ———_._ 1131 ‘18 11 Balances stedetdetecetcctusascsskens 478 1 5 £2135 16 5 The General Treasurer on Account of the Printing To Cash received from Her Majesty’s Government towards the expense of Printing the Catalogues of Stars of Lalande and Lacaille ........ wires LO00 0,0 £1000 0 0 British Association for the To Balance in hand of the Account for Printing Lalande and Lacaille’s Catalopitestica.cvasstes cig. ce een Roth sce eee es or rceer nes wanes ea £934 2 0 Se eee WM. YARRELL, sis JAMES HEYWooD, f @“@/07s- ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 15th of August 1843 to the 26th of September 1844. PAYMENTS. By Sundry Disbursements by Treasurer and Local Treasurers, including the Expenses of the Meeting at Cork, Adver- tising, and Sundry Printing .........c....sesceseeseseeceares By Printing, &c. of the 12th Report (11th Mal.)) diese. foe zwemews By Engraving, &c. for the 13th Report (12th vol.)............ By Salaries to Assistant General Secretary, Accountant, &c... By Paid on Account of Grants to Committees for Scientific purposes, viz. for— Meteorological Observations at Kingussie and Inverness... Completing......... ditto......... at Plymouth .............. we've Magnetic and Meteorological Co-operation ..........sses00e . Publication of the British Association Catalogue of Stars... Observations on Tides on the East Coast of Scotland ...... Revision of the Nomenclature of Stars ..............0008 1842 Maintaining the Establishment in Kew Observatory ...... Instruments for............ GIGEC LS sree sun GittO sess civessovaacens Influence of light on Plants ...........cececscececeeeneeseeeees 2 Subterraneous Temperature in Ireland..,........ Naeenaas cess Coloured Drawings of Railway Sections .....-....sc.seseeeee Investigation of Fossil Fishes of the Lower Tertiary Strata Registering the Shocks of Earthquakes............s0+.0+ 1842 Researches into the Structure of Fossil Shells ............... Radiata and Mollusca of the Augean and Red Seas ...1842 Geographical distributions of Marine Zoolog By Nedaren oo» Marine Zoology of Devon and Cornwall .........secseeeseeee Dosnc.aes vee. Corfu,..... Ueanbaverseneesgcaccseensecesease Experiments on the Vitality of Seeds ......... te scensesccseee Dittocaest ere eeeecnee ditto......... eecevcce seeceveee L842 Researches on Exotic Anoplura...... Senate ae eden Seereenoos nee Experiments on the Strength of Materials ............ eases Completing Experiments on the Forms of Ships ...........+ Inquiries into AsphyXia ...........scescosseceeseeees Spence espunas Investigations on the internal Constitution of Metals Braces Constant Indicator and Morin’s Instrument....,.......1842 of Lalande and Lacaille's Catalogues of Stars. bo —) ecocococo"ococooocooronoonsncooonooe — Oooooowwococoocooocooacowwaooros > bo — Ts a) CoN w 98112 8 £2135 16 5 By Cash paid on Account of Superintending the Press Work, &c. &c. .....- Balance ....e..0- Advancement of Science. By Balance due on the General Account eeeseeosace eeceeeteeseee By Balance in the Bankers’ hands ............. or ece Asan cece Ditto...... General Treasurer’s hands Ditto..,...Local Treasurers’ hands pees ee ec cereneeees fee eeeesseseee feereee —e ve . xiv REPORT—1844. The folloning Reports on the Progress and Desiderata of different branches of Science have been drawn up at the request of the Association, and printed in its Transactions. 1831-32. On the progress of Astronomy during the present century, by G. B. Airy, M.A., Astronomer Royal. On the state of our knowledge respecting Tides, by J. W. Lubbock, M.A., Vice-President of the Royal Society. On the recent progress and present state of Meteorology, by James D. Forbes, F.R.S., Professor of Natural Philosophy, Edinburgh. On the present state of our knowledge of the science of Radiant Heat, by the Rev. Baden Powell, M.A., F.R.S., Savilian Professor of Geometry, Oxford. On Thermo-electricity, by the Rev. James Cumming, M.A., F.R.S., Pro- fessor of Chemistry, Cambridge. On the recent progress of Optics, by Sir David Brewster, K.C.G., LL.D., F.R.S., &c. On the recent progress and present state of Mineralogy, by the Rev. William Whewell, M.A., F.R.S. On the progress, actual state, and ulterior prospects of Geology, by the Rev. William Conybeare, M.A., F.R.S., V.P.G.S., &c. On the recent progress and present state of Chemical Science, by J. F. W. Johnston, A.M., Professor of Chemistry, Durham. On the application of Philological and Physical Researches to the History of the Human Species, by J. C. Prichard, M.D., F.R.S., &c. 1835. On the advances which have recently been made in certain branches of Analysis, by the Rev. G. Peacock, M.A., F.R.S., &c. On the present state of the Analytical Theory of Hydrostaties and Hydro- dynamics, by the Rev. John Challis, M.A., F.R.S., &c. On the state of our knowledge of Hydraulics, considered as a branch of Engineering, by George Rennie, F.R.S., &c. (Parts I. and IL.) On the state of our knowledge respecting the Magnetism of the Earth, by S. H. Christie, M.A., F.R.S., Professor of Mathematics, Woolwich. On the state of our knowledge of the Strength of Materials, by Peter Barlow, F.R.S. On the state of our knowledge respecting Mineral Veins, by John Taylor, F.R.S., Treasurer G.S., &c. On the Physiology of the Nervous System, by William Charles Henry, M.D. On the recent progress of Physiological Botany, by John Lindley, F.R.S., Professor of Botany in the University of London. 1834. On the Geology of North America, by H. D. Rogers, F.G.S. On the Philosophy of Contagion, by W. Henry, M.D., F.R.S. On the state of Physiological Knowledge, by the Rev. Wm. Clark, M.D., F.G.S., Professor of Anatomy, Cambridge. On the state and progress of Zoology, by the Rev. Leonard Jenyns, M.A., F.L.S., &c. = ad RESEARCHES IN SCIENCE. XV On the theories of Capillary Attraction, and of the Propagation of Sound as affected by the Development of Heat, by the Rev. John Challis, M.A., F.R.S., &c. On the state of the science of Physical Optics, by the Rev. H. Lloyd, M.A., Professor of Natural Philosophy, Dublin. 1835. On the state of our knowledge respecting the application of Mathematical and Dynamical Principles to Magnetism, Electricity, Heat, &c., by the Rev. William Whewell, M.A., F.R.S. On Hansteen’s researches in Magnetism, by Captain Sabine, F.R.S. On the state of Mathematical and Physical Science in Belgium, by M. Quetelet, Director of the Observatory, Brussels. 1836. On the present state of our knowledge with respect to Mineral and Thermal Waters, by Charles Daubeny, M.D., F.R.S., M.R.I.A., &c., Professor of Chemistry and of Botany, Oxford. On North American Zoology, by John Richardson, M.D., F.R.S., &c. Supplementary Report on the Mathematical Theory of Fluids, by the Rev. J. Challis, Plumian Professor of Astronomy in the University of Cambridge. 1837. On the variations of the Magnetic Intensity observed at different points of the Earth’s surface, by Major Edward Sabine, R.A., F.R.S. _ On the various modes of Printing for the use of the Blind, by the Rev. William Taylor, F.R.S. On the present state of our knowledge in regard to Dimorphous Bodies, by Professor Johnston, F.R.S. On the Statistics of the Four Collectorates of Dukhun, under the British Government, by Col. Sykes, F.R.S. 1838. Appendix to Report on the variations of Magnetic Intensity, by Major Edward Sabine, R.A., F.R.S. 1839. Report on the present state of our knowledge of Refractive Indices for the Standard Rays of the Solar Spectrum in different media, by the Rev. Baden Powell, M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., F.R.Ast.S., Savilian Professor of Geo- metry, Oxford. f Report on the distribution of Pulmoniferous Mollusca in the British Isles, by Edward Forbes, M.W.S., For. Sec. B.S. Report on British Fossil Reptiles, Part 1., by Richard Owen, Esq., F.R.S., F.G.S., &c. 1840. Report on the recent progress of discovery relative to Radiant Heat, sup- plementary to a former Report on the same subject inserted in the first volume of the Reports of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, by the Rev. Baden Powell, M.A.,F.R.S.,F.R.Ast.S., F.G.S., Savilian Professor of Geometry in the University of Oxford. Supplementary Report on Meteorology, by James D. Forbes, Esq., F.R.S., es las Ed., Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Edin- urgh. xvi - REPoRT—1844, 0 © : u 1841. i" Behan on the Conduction of Heat, by Professor Kelland, F.R.S., fees’ Report on the state of our knowledge of Fossil Reptiles, Part IL, by Pro- fessor R. Owen, F.R.S. 1842. Abstract of Report of Professor Liebig on Organic Chemistry applied to Physiology and Pathology, by Lyon Playfair, M.D. : Report on the Ichthyology of New Zealand, by John Richardson, M.D., -R.S, Report on the Establishment of the German Meteorological Association, by Dr. Lamont of Munich, Report on Chemical Geology, by Professor Johnston (Parts I. and II.). Report on British Fossil Mammalia (Part I.), by Professor Owen. 1843. Synoptical Table of British Fossil Fishes, by Professor Agassiz. Report on British Fossil Mammalia (Part II.), by Piofessoe Owen. Report on the Fauna of Ireland (Invertebrata), by William Thompson, Esq. 1844. On the recent Progress and present State of Ornithology, by H. E. Strick- land, M.A., F.G.S. The following Reports of Researches undertaken at the request of the Associa- tion have been published in its Transactions, viz. 1835. On the comparative measurement of the Aberdeen Standard Scale, by Francis Baily, Treasurer R.S., &c. On Impact upon Beams, by Eaton Hodgkinson. Observations on the Direction and Intensity of the Terrestrial Magnetic Force in Ireland, by the Rev. H. Lloyd, Capt. Sabine, and Capt. J. C. Ross. On the phenomena usually referred to the Radiation of Heat, by H. Hudson, M.D. Experiments on Rain at different Elevations, by Wm. Gray, jun., and Professor Phillips (Reporter). Hourly Observations of the Thermometer at Plymouth, by W. S. Harris. On the Infra-orbital Cavities in Deers and Antelopes, by A. Jacob, M.D. On the Effects of Acrid Poisons, by T. Hodgkin, M.D. On the Motions and Sounds of the Heart, by the Dublin Sub-Committee. On the Registration of Deaths, by the Edinburgh Sub-Committee. 1836. Observations on the Direction and Intensity of the Terrestrial Magnetic Force in Scotland, by Major Edward Sabine, R.A., F.R.S., &c, Comparative view of the more remarkable Plants which characterize the Neighbourhood of Dublin, the Neighbourhood of Edinburgh, and the South- west of Scotland, &c. ; drawn up for the British Association by J.T. Mackay, M.R.1.A., A.L.S., &c.; assisted by Robert Graham, Esq., M.D., Professor of Botany i in the University of Edinburgh. Report of the London Sub- Committce of the Medical Section of the British Association on the Motions and Sounds of the Heart. RESEARCHES IN SCIENCE. Xvii Report of the Dublin Committee on the Pathology of the Brain and Nervous System. 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 purpose at the last Meeting of the Association, by J. W. Lubbock, Esq. Observations for determining the Refractive Indices for the Standard Rays of the Solar Spectrum in various media, by the Rev. Baden Powell, M.A., F.R.S., Savilian Professor of Geometry in the University of Oxford. Provisional Report on the Communication between the Arteries and Absorbents, on the part of the London Committee, by Dr. Hodgkin. Report of Experiments on Subterranean Temperature, under the direction of a Committee, consisting of Professor Forbes, Mr. W.S. Harris, Professor Powell, Lieut-Colonel Sykes, and Professor Phillips (Reporter). Inquiry into the validity of a method recently proposed by George B. Jerrard, Esq., for Transforming and Resolving Equations of Elevated De- grees; undertaken, at the request of the Association, by Professor Sir W, R. Hamilton. 1837. Account of the 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 purpose at the last Meeting of the Association, by J. W. Lubbock, Esq., F.R.S. On the difference between the Composition of Cast Iron produced by the Cold and the Hot Blast, by Thomas Thomson, M.D., F.R.SS. L. & E., &c., Professor of Chemistry, Glasgow. On the Determination of the Constant of Nutation by the Greenwich Ob- servations, made as commanded by the British Association, by the Rev. 'T. R. Robinson, D.D. % On some Experiments on the Electricity of Metallic Veins, and the Tem- perature of Mines, by Robert Were Fox. Provisional Report of the Committee of the Medical Section of the British Association, appointed to investigate the Composition of Secretions, and the Organs producing them. ‘ Report from the Committee for inquiring into the Analysis of the Glands, &c. of the Human Body, by G. O. Rees, M.D., F.G.S. Second Report of the London Sub-Committee of the Medical Section of the British Association, on the Motions and Sounds of the Heart. Report from the Committee for making experiments on the Growth of Plants under Glass, and without any free communication with the outward air, on the plan of Mr. N. I. Ward of London. Report of tle Committee on Waves, appointed by the British Association at Bristol in 1836, and consisting of Sir John Robison, K.H., Secretary of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and John Scott Russell, Esq., M.A., F.R.S. Edin. (Reporter). On the Relative Strength and other Mechanical Properties of Cast Iron ob- tained by Hot and Cold Blast, by Eaton Hodgkinson, Esq. On the,Strength and other Properties of Iron obtained from the Hot and Cold Blast, by W. Fairbairn, Esq. 1838. Account of a Level Line, measured from the Bristol Channel to the En- glish Channel, during the year 1837-38, by Mr. Bunt, under the Direction 1844 b Xvill REPORT—1844.: of a Committee of the British Association. Drawn up by the Rev. W. Whewell, F.R.S., one of the Committee. A Memoir on the Magnetic Isoclinal and Isodynamie Lines in the British Islands, from observations by Professors Humphrey Lloyd and John Phil- lips, Robert Were Fox, Esq., Captain James Clark Ross, R.N,, and Major Edward Sabine, R.A., by Major Edward Sabine, R.A., F.R.S. First Report on the Determination of the Mean Numerical Values of Rail- way Constants, by Dionysius Lardner, LL.D., F.R.S., &c. First Report upon Experiments instituted at the request of the British Association, upon the Action of Sea and River Water, whether clear or foul, and at various temperatures, upon Cast-and Wrought Iron, by Robert Mal- let, M.R.I.A., Ass. Ins. C.E. Notice of Experiments in progress, at the desire of the British Association, on the Action of a Heat of 212° Fahr., when long continued, on Inorganie and Organic Substances, by Robert Mallet, M.R.I.A. Experiments on the ultimate Transverse Strength of Cast Iron made at Arigna Works, Co, Leitrim, Ireland, at Messrs. Bramah and Robinson’s, 29th May, 1837. Provisional Reports, and Notices of Progress in Special Researches en- trusted to Committees and Individuals. 1839? Report on the application of the sum assigned for Tide Calculations to Mr. Whewell, in a letter from T. G. Bunt, Esq., Bristol. Notice of Determination of the Are of Longitude between the Observato- ries of Armagh and Dublin, by the Rev. T. R. Robinson, D.D., &c. Report of some Galvanic Experiments to determine the existence or non- existence of Electrical Currents among Stratified Rocks, particularly those of the Mountain Limestone formation, constituting the Lead Measures of Alston Moor, by H. L. Pattinson, Esq. Report respecting the two series of Hourly Meteorological Observations kept in Scotland at the expense of the British Association, by Sir David Brewster, K.H., LL.D., F.R.SS.L. and E. Report on the subject of a series of Resolutions adopted by the British Association at their Meeting in August 1838, at Newcastle. Third Report on the Progress of the Hourly Meteorological Register at the Plymouth Dockyard, Devonport, by W. Snow Harris, Esq., F. Rs. 1840, Report on Professor Whewell’s Anemometer, now in operation at Ply- mouth, by W. Snew Harris, Esq., F.R.S., &c. Report on the Motions and Sounds of the Heart, by the London Com- mittee of the British Association for 1839-40. An Account of Researches in Electro-Chemistry, by Professor Schonbein of Basle. Second Report upon the Action of Air and Water, whether fresh or salt, clear or foul, and at various temperatures, upon Cast ir on, Wrought Iron, and Steel, by Robert Mallet, M.R.I.A., Ass. Ins, C.E. Report on the Observations recorded during the Years 1837, 1838, 1829 and 1840, by the Self-registering Anemometer erected at the Philosophical iatitution, Birmingham, by A. Follett Osler, Esq. Reportrespecting the two series of Hourly Meteorological Observations kept at Inverness and Kingussie, at the Expense of the British Association, from Nov. Ist, 1838, to Wow Ist, 1839, by Sir David Brewster, K.H., F.R.S., &c. RESEARCHES IN SCIENCE. xix ) Report on the Fauna of Ireland: Divi Vertebrata, Drawn up, at the re- quest of the British Association, by William Thompson, Esq. (Vice-Pres. Nat. Hist. Society of Belfast), one of the Committee appointed for that pur- ose, : Report of Experiments on the Physiology of the Lungs and Air-tubes, by Charles J. B. Williams, M.D., F.R.S. Report of the Committee appointed to try Experiments on the Preservation of Animal and Vegetable Substances, by the Rev. J.S. Henslow, F.L.S. 1841. On the Tides of Leith, by the Rev. Professor Whewell, including a com- munication by D. Ross, Esq. On the Tides of Bristol, by the Rev. Professor Whewell, including a com- munication by T. G. Bunt, Esq. On Whewell’s Anemometer, by W. S. Harris, Esq. On the Nomenclature of Stars, by Sir John Herschel. On the Registration of Earthquakes, by D. Milne, Esq. On Varieties of the Human Race, by T. Hodgkin, M.D. On Skeleton Maps for registering the geographical distribution of Animals or Plants, by — Brand, Esq. On the Vegetative Power of Seeds, by H. E. Strickland, Esq. On Acrid Poisons, by Dr. Roupell. Supplementary Report on Waves, by J. S. Russell, Esq. On the Forms of Ships, by J. S. Russell, Esq. On the Progress of Magnetical and Meteorological Observations, by Sir John Herschel. ~ On Railway Constants, by Dr. Larduer. On Railway Constants, by E. Woods, Esq. ‘On the Constant Indicator, by the Rev. Professor Moseley. 1842. Results of Hourly Meteorological Observations at Inverness, from Nov. 1, 1840 to Nov. 1, 1841, by Sir David Brewster, K.H., F.R.S. Second Report of the Committee for registering Earthquakes, by David Milne, Esq. Results of Investigations on Waves, by John Scott Russell, M.A. On the Progress of simultaneous Magnetical and Meteorological Observa- tions, by Sir John Herschel. On the Electrolysing Power of a simple Voltaic Circle, by Professor Schonbein. _ Results of Researches on Marine Zoology by means of the dredge,—off the Mull of Galloway by Captain Beechy, R.N.,—off the Mull of Cantyre by Mr. Hyndman,—off Ballygally Head, Co. of Antrim, by Mr. Patterson. ‘On the Preservation of Animal and Vegetable Substances, by C. C. Ba- bington, F.L.S. Reports of Committee on Railway Sections, by Rev. Dr. Buckland and Mr. Vignoles. On the Fishes of the Devonian Rocks and Old Red Sandstone, by M. Agassiz. On the Growth and Vitality of Seeds, by H. E. Strickland, F.G.S. On Zoological Nomenclature, by H. E. Strickland, F.G.S. On the Races of Man, by T. Hodgkin, M.D. On the Form of Ships, by John Scott Russell, M.A. OY 4c! ; b 2 XxX _ REFORT—1844,. On the Constant Indicator, by Professor Moseley. On the Meteorological Observations made at Plymouth during the past year, by William Snow Harris, F.R.S. On Vital Statistics, by Colonel Sykes, and the Committee on that subject. 1843, Third Report on the action of Air and Water on Iron and Steel, by R. Mallet, M.R.I.A. Report of Committee for simultaneous Magnetic and Meteorological co- operation. Report of Committee for Experiments on Steam-Engines. Report of Committee for Experiments on the Vitality of Seeds. Report on Tides of Frith of Forth and East coast of Scotland, by J. S. Russell, M.A. Y Report of Committee on the Form of Ships. Report on the Physiological Action of Medicines, by J. Blake, M.R.C.S. Report of Committee on Zoological Nomenclature. Report of Committee on Earthquakes, Report of Committee on Balloons. Report of Committee on Scientific Memoirs. Report on Marine Testacea, by C. W. Peach, Report on the Mollusca and Radiata of the Aigean Sea, by Professor E, Forbes. Report of the Excavation at Collyhurst, near Manchester, by E. W. Binney. Concluding Report of Railway Committee. 1844. On the Microscopie Structure of Shells, by W. Carpenter, M.D., F.R.S. Report on the British Nudibranchiate Mollusca, by Joshua Alder and Albany Hancock. Researches on the Influence of Light on the Germination of Seeds and the Growth of Plants, by Robert Hunt. Report of a Committee for revising the Nomenclature of the Stars. On the Meteorology of Toronto in Canada, by Lieut.-Colonel Edward Sabine, R,A., F.R.S. Report on some recent Researches into the Structure, Functions and Gico- nomy of the Araneidea, made in Great Britain by John Blackwall, F.L.S. On the Construction of large Reflecting Telescopes, by the Earl of Rosse. Report on a Gas Furnace for Experiments on Vitrifaction and other Applications of High Heat in the Laboratory, by the Rev. William Vernon Harcourt, F.R.S., &c. Report of Committee for registering Earthquake Shocks in Scotland. Report of Committee for Experiments on Steam-Engines. Report of Committee to investigate the Varieties of the Human Race. Report of Committee for Experiments on the Vitality of Seeds. On the Consumption of Fuel and the Prevention cf Smoke, by William Fairbairn. Report concerning the Observatory of the British Association at Kew, from August the Ist, 1843, to July the 31st, 1844, by Francis Ronalds, F.R.S. Report of Committee for simultaneous Magnetic and Meteorological co- operation. RESEARCHES IN SCIENCE. XX1 On the influence of Fucoidal Plants upon the Formations of the Earth, on Metamorphism in general, and particularly the Metamorphosis of the Scan- dinavian Alum Slate, by Professor G. Forchhammer. ‘Report on Subterranean Temperature in Ireland, by T. Oldham, Esq. Report on the extinct Mammals of Australia, with descriptions of certain Fossils indicative of the former existence in that Continent of large Marsu- pial Representatives of the Order Pachydermata, by Professor Owen, F.R.S. Report on the Working of Whewell’s and Osler’s Anemometers at Ply~ mouth, for the years 1841, 1842, 1843, by W. Snow Harris, F.R.S., &c. Report on Atmospheric Waves, by W. R. Birt. Rapport sur les Poissons Fossiles de l'Argile de Londres, par L. Agassiz. Report of Committee on Waves, by J.S, Russell, M.A., F.R.S.E. Provisional Reports and Notices of Progress in Special Researches en- trusted to Committees and Individuals. RECOMMENDATIONS ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL COMMITTEE AT THE YORK Meetine 1n Sept. anp Oct. 1844. Recommendations for Reports and Researches not involving Grants of Money. That the Thanks of the British Association be given to Her Majesty’s Government for their prompt and liberal acquiescence in the request of the Association for the publication of Mr. Forbes’s Aigean Researches at the public cost. That a representation be made to Her Majesty’s Government on the im- portance of providing adequate funds for the development of the Cautley Collection of Siwalik Fossils, and publication ofan account of the same. The representation to be made by a Committee consisting of the President of the British Association, the President of the Royal Society, the President of the Geological Society, in co-operation with the President of the Royal Asiatic Society. That, in consequence of the difficulty, delay, and expense which attend the transmission of Scientific Journals between the British Isles and foreign coun- tries, an application be made to Government by the President and General Secretaries, to take the subject into its favourable consideration. That the Dean of Ely be requested to accept the office of a Trustee of the ‘Association, in the room of F. Baily, Esq. deceased. ». That Sir John Herschel, the Astronomer Royal, and Lieut. Stratford, R.N., be requested to continue the Reduction of Stars in the ‘ Histoire Céleste’ of Lalande and the ‘Ccelum Australe Stelliferum ’ of Lacaille. That Sir D. Brewster be requested to continue his investigations on the action of different bodies on the Spectrum. That Col. Sabine, Professor Wheatstone, Prof. Miller and Prof. Graham, be ‘a Committee for superintending the translation and publication of Scientific Memoirs. ~ That Col. Sabine’s Paper ‘On the Meteorology of Toronto’ be published entire among the Reports. That Professor Schénbein be requested to prepare a Report on Ozone. “That! Professor Kuhlman of Lille, be requested to extend his Researches on the Silicification of soft Minerals. Xxil REPORT —1844, That Dr. Forchhammer’s Paper on the influence of fucoidal Plants in the formation of strata and on the Metamorphic Phenomena in the Rocks of Scandinavia, be printed entire among the Reports. That Mr. West be requested to extend his analysis of English Mineral Waters, and report the results, That H. Goodsir, Esq. be requested to prepare a Report on the Cirripeda, That G. J. Johnston, M.D. be requested to prepare a Report on the British Annelida. That J. Paxton, Esq., J. Taylor, jun., Esq., J.S. Russell, Esq.,and E. Hodg- kinson, Esq., be requested to make and report the results of Experiments on the Hydrodynamical Phenomena of the Reservoir and Fountain at Chatsworth. That E. Hodgkinson, Esq. be requested to continue his Experiments on the Strength of Materials. That W. Fairbairn, Esq. be requested to continue his Experiments on the Internal Constitution of Metals. That the Meteorological Obseryations made at the request of the Asso- ciation be discontinued, and the instruments transmitted to the Kew Physical Observatory, except in the cases where the observations can be continued gratuitously. That the Council be authorized to invite, in the name of the British Asso- ciation, the attendance of MM. Humboldt, Gauss, Weber, Kupffer, Arago, Plana, Hansteen, Kreil, Lamont, Boguslawski, Gillip, Quetelet, and other di- Stinguished foreigners who have taken a leading part in the great combined system of magnetic and meteorological observations which are now in progress, at the next Meeting of the Association at Cambridge, with a view to a con- ference on the expediency of continuing the observations for another triennial or longer period, and for the adoption of such measures with respect to the observations which have been or may hereafter be made, as they may deem best calculated to promote the advancement of those branches of Science. That Mr. Bateman, C.E. of Manchester, be requested to furnish a Report on the fall of rain in elevated tracts of country, and on the best means of collect- ing and retaining the water for the supply of towns for agricultural and manufacturing purposes, and for affording motive power to hydraulic machines. That it be referred to the Council to consider of the propriety of modifying the title and regulations of Section E, so that it may include a more general range of subjects, and to report on the best mode of carrying that modification into effect. Recommendations of Special Researches in Science, involving Grants of Money. MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE. That a Committee be appointed, consisting of the Rev. Dr. Robinson, Prof, Challis, and Lieut, Stratford, R.N., for the purpose of continuing the publica- tion of the British Association Catalogue of Stars, with the sum of £615 at their disposal. That a Committee be appointed, consisting of Rey. Dr. Robinson, Col, Sabine, and Prof. Wheatstone, for the purpose of conducting experiments with Captive Ballooas, with the sum of £50 at their disposal. That a Committee be appointed, consisting of Sir John F. W. Herschel, Rey. Dr. Whewell, the Dean of Ely, the Astronomer Royal, Rev. Dr. Lloyd, and Col. Sabine, for the purpose of Magnetic and Meteorological co-operation, with the sum of £50 at their disposal. RESEARCHES IN SCIENCE. XXili That a Committee be appointed, consisting of Sir John Herschel, the Rev. Dr. Whewell, and the Astronomer Royal, for the purpose of revising the No- menclature of Stars, with the sum of £10 ar their disposal. That a Committee be appointed, consisting of F. Ronalds, Esq, Prof. Wheat- stone, and the Astronomer Royal, for the purpose of conducting the Electri- cal Experiments at Kew, with the sum of £50 at their disposal. That a Committee be appointed, consisting of W. S. Harris, Esq., Col. Sabine, and Prof. Forbes, for the purpose of reducing the existing anemo- metrical observations made at the request of the Association, with the sum of £25 at their disposal. That the Bills for Meteorological Instruments due to Mr. Adie and Mr, Johnstone of Edinburgh, amounting to £18 12s, 6d., be discharged. That the sum of £57 be placed at the disposal of the Council for the pay- ment of expenses incurred in the provision of electrical apparatus for the Kew Physical Observatory. : KEW OBSERVATORY. That the sum of £150 be placed at the disposal of the Council for the pur- pose of maintaining the establishment in Kew Observatory. That the sum of £30 be placed at the disposal of the Council for the erec- tion of Kreil’s Barometrograph at the Kew Observatory. CHEMICAL SCIENCE. That a Committee be appointed, consisting of Prof. Graham, Dr. Lyon Play- fair, and Mr. E. Solly, for the purpose of analysing the ashes of Plants grown on different soils in the British Islands, and reporting the results, in case the Royal Agricultural Society of England concurs with the Association in making the request and is willing to contribute to the expense, with (in that case) the sum of £50 at their disposal. That this Resolution be communicated to the Royal Agricultural Society, and that they be requested to co-operate with the British Association in con- ducting the inquiries, and to assist in defraying the expense of the analyses. That the Marquis of Northampton, and Sir J. Johnstone, be requested to press this subject upon the attention of the Royal Agricultural Society. That a Committee be appointed, consisting of Prof. Bunsen and Dr. Lyon Playfair, for the purpose of continuing their researches on the Gases evolved from Furnaces used in the manufacture of iron, and reporting thereon, with the sum of £50 at their disposal. That a Committee be appointed, consisting of Dr. Daubeny, Dr. Kane, Dr. Apjohn, Mr. Ball, Mr. Babington, Prof. Owen, Prof. Forbes, and Mr. Goadby, for the purpose of continuing examinations into the best method of preserving Vegetable and Animal Substances, with the sum of £10 at their disposal. That Dr, Kane be requested to continue his researches on Tannin, and res port thereon to the next Meeting, with £10 at his disposal for the purpose. That Dr. Kane be requested to continue his researches into the nature of Colouring Substances, and report thereon to the next Meeting, with £10 at his disposal for the purpose. i That Mr. R. Hunt be requested to institute experiments on the Actinograph, with £15 at his disposal for the purpose. Nag GEOLOGICAL SCIENCE, : That, Mr, Oldham be requested to continue his observations on Subterra- _ nean Temperature in deep mines in Ireland for one year, with £4 at his dispo- sal for the purpose. XXiv REPORT——1844. GEOLOGY AND ZOOLOGY. “That Dr. W. Carpenter be requested to continue his Microscopic Researches into the Structure of Recent and Fossil Shells, &c., with £20 at his disposal for the purpose. That Dr. Carpenter’s Report on the Microscopic Structure of Shells be illustrated by Lithographic Plates not exceeding twenty in number. BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY. That a Committee be appointed, consisting of Professor Owen, Prof. E. Forbes, Dr. Lankester, Mr. R. Taylor, Mr. Thompson, Mr. Ball, Prof. Allman, Mr. Hugh E. Strickland, and Mr. Babington, for the purpose of preparing a Report on the registration of periodical phenomena of animals and vegetables, with the sum of £5 at their disposal for the purpose. : That a Committee be appointed, consisting of Sir W. Jardine, Mr. Yarrell, and Dr. Lankester, for the purpose of continuing their researches on the Exotic Anoplura, and reporting the results to the next Meeting, with the sum of £25 at their disposal. That aCommittee be appointed, consisting of Mr. H.E. Strickland, Dr. Dau- beny, Dr. Lindley, Prof. Balfour, and Mr. Babington, for the purpose of con- tinuing researches on the Vitality of Seeds, with the sum of £10 at their disposal. That a Committee be appointed, consisting of Prof. Forbes, Mr. Thompson, and Mr. Ball, for the purpose of assisting Capt. Portlock in investigating the Marine Zoology of Corfu, with the sum of £10 at their disposal. That aCommittee be appointed, consisting of Prof. Forbes, Mr. Goodsir, Mr Patterson, Mr. Thompson, Mr. Ball, Mr. J. Smith, Mr. Couch, and Dr. All- man, for the purpose of continuing their investigations of the Marine Zoology of Britain by means of the dredge, with the sum of £20 at their disposal. That a Committee be appointed, consisting of Prof. Owen, Prof. Forbes, Sir C. Lemon, and Mr. Couch, for the purpose of aiding Mr. Peach in his researches into the Marine Zoology of Cornwall, with the sum of £10 at their disposal. That a Committee be appointed, consisting of Dr. Hodgkin, Dr. Prichard, Prof. Owen, Dr. H. Ware, Mr. J. E. Gray, Dr. Lankester, Dr. A. Smith, Mr. A. Strickland, and Mr. Babington, for the purpose of continuing researches on the varieties of the Human Race, with the sum of £25 at their disposal. MEDICAL SCIENCE. That a Committee be appointed, consisting of Mr. Blake, and Dr. Williams, for the purpose of reporting on the Physiological Action of Medicines, with the sum of £29 at their disposal. STATISTICAL SCIENCE. That a Committee be appointed, consisting of Dr. Laycock, Dr. Alison, and Mr. E. Chadwick, for the purpose of inquiring into the relative Statistics of Sickness and Mortality in thecity of York, with the sum of £40 at theirdisposal. GENERAL NOTICE. : Gentlemen engaged in scientific researches by desire of the British Asso- ciation, are requested to observe that by a Resolution of the General Com- mittee at the Manchester Meeting (1842), all Instruments, Papers, Drawings and other property of the Association, are to be deposited in the Kew Ob- servatory (lately placed by Her Majesty the Queen at the disposal of the Association), when not employed in carrying on Scientific Inquiries for the Association ;-and the Secretaries are instructed to adopt the necessary mea- sures for carrying this resolution into effect. - SYNOPSTS/" © XXV. Synopsis of Grants of Money appropriated to Scientific Objects by the General Committee, at the York Meeting, October 2, 1844, with the ~ Name of the Member, who alone, or as the First of a Committee, is entitled to draw for the Money. Mathematical and Physical Science. £8 a Rosrnson, Dr.—For the Publication of the British Association Catalogue of Stars ....... oticidnde 2E cent sleanldelaee . RGe ED. Rosinson, Dr.—For conducting experiments with Captive Bal- TOONB sh sods ee 0 a eate (ump Oils seb bacnceds Wiodls 46.8% -to. 50 0 0 Herscuet, Sir J.—For Magnetic and Meteorological Co-opera: VOB. chen avasian quis WHR 18s 1s Ose sition sates OO 1G HO Harnis, W. S.—For Reduction of praeehicoans ber (Obstrcahintin 25 0 0 Herscuet, Sir J.—For Nomenclature of Stars........ eoeeee 10 0 0 Ronatps, F., Esq.—For Electrical Experiments at Kew...-.. 50 0 0 Expenses Incurrep.—For continuing hourly Meteorological: Observations at Inverness ..........-+ 80 18 11 —- For Meteorological Instruments at Edinburgh 18 12. 6 —— For Electrical Apparatus at Kew ........5. 57 0 0 £906 11. 5 Kew Observatory. For maintaining the establishment in Kew Observatory ...... 150 0° 0 For Kreil’s Barometrograph Ve seddcetvosenveccesctevevve 30° 0 DO £180 0 0 Chemistry y and Mineralogy, including their application to Agriculture and the Arts. Bouwssn, Professor.—For Gases from Iron Furnaces ...... 50 0 0 Davzeny, Dr.—-For Preservation of Animal and Vegetable Sub- StANCES 2. cece senceeeaes nee ce cece e cece eececscnes 10 0 0 Kane, Professor.—For inquiries into the Chemical History of IED bx Ws, = © 0.90 aie Biniels » 9p Sinle's a.niain, AREA Sled sictsls dail’ 10 0 0 Kanz, Professor.—For investigating ‘the Chemical History of Co- SEC LULTED 5.5 6 «Gls pial site fis pins sia. tus Lain itive > ae wae a 10 6 0 Hunt, R., Esq.—For Experiments on the Actinograph aise hy van ye ioe a Granay, Professor.—For Ashes of Plants Seah s a a.m & Areca ROCESS Lae ne — £145 0 0 Geology and Physical, Geography. Opa, T., Esq.—For experiments on Subterraneous Tem- perature in Ireland .......... 6 a fRGISSi ere bie o WEL 1Q.6yd Ip 5 0 0 Carrenter, Dr.—For Researches into the Microscopic Struc- ture of Fossil and Recent Shells, &c. .. sees. eee eeeees 20 0° 0 £25 000 XxXVi REPORT—1844. Zoology and Botany. Owen, Professor.—For Periodical Phenomena of Organized Betegs saa2 ia tes owe sees ale cteeeeceescreeapevee OO JARDINE, Sir W., Bart. ose Rescarchet on Exotic Anoplura.. 25 0 0 Srrickianp, H. E., Esq.—For Experiments on the Vitality of DEBUG has SSS se. Th annie lelgisinipigcie ss este ee se 10 OMNyH Portiock, Captain.—For a Report on the Marine Zoology of Corfu Plies VEY) eS TET ee 10 0 0 Forses, Professor E.—For Researches on the Marine Zoology OMEritain, 4b ey tee ee eke ae en bre reels sale eo0e's 20 oO! '® Owen, Professor.—For Researches on the Marine Zoology of Cormnwall ss als g oe sade ud pecercegsenersesseseces. 10) 09 Hopvexin, Dr.—For Inquiries into the Varieties of the Human Race eee weer ee ee eer wee eee see eee eames seseeeeeoeeseenens 25 0 0 £105 0 0 Medical Science. Brake, J., Esq.—For Physiological Action of Medicines .... £20 0 0 Statistics. Laycocx, Dr.—For Statistics of Sickness and Mortality in VGH, aco fers Aferton Sl. poeene Ae Rei Stcte-broe/sue.e ohhe Sele. £40 0 0 Total of GrantS se-.sscose £1421 14°°5 General Statement of Sums which have been paid on Account of Grants for Scientific Purposes. 1834, 1837. £ s. d. foe yee Tide Discussions .... 20 0 QO Brought forward 435 0 0 Tide Discussions..,.... 284 1 0 : h : 1835 Chemical Constants .. 24 13 6 Tide Discussions .... 62 0 0 Tunar Wutaiih ccc eae eee BritishFossillchthyology 105 0 0O Observations on: Waveds 100) 4a) x ae Tides at Bristol ..... - 150 0 0 £167 0 0 Meteorology and Subter- 1836. ranean Temperature. 89 5 0 Tide Discussions .... 163 0 O VitrificationExperiments 150 0 0 BritishFossillchthyology 105 © 0 | Heart Experiments.... 8 4 6 Thermometric Observa- Barometric Observations 30 0 0O tions, & Cc... 202s es 50 0 O | Barometers...... B47") Be 6 Experiments on long- — continued Heat .... 17 1 O £918 14 6 Rain Gauges ........ » 46""0 : Refraction Experiments 15 0 0 1838. Lunar Nutation ...... 60 0 0 | Tide Discussions...... 29 0 0O Thermometers ...... 15 6 O | British Fossil Fishes .. 100 0 0 Carried forward £435 0 0 Carried forward £129 0 0 GENERAL STATEMENT. Xxvii £ s. d. Brought forward 129 0 0 Meteorological Observa- tions and Anemometer (construction) .-,... 100 0 0 Cast Iron (strength of). 60 0 0 Animal and Vegetable Substances (preserva- ee cnet BO FLO Railway Constants .... 41 12 10 Bristol Tides .,...... 50 0 0 Growth of Plants .... 75 0 0 Mud in Rivers ...... 3 6 6 Education Committee.. 50 0 0 Heart Experiments.... 5 3 0 Land and Sea Level .. 267 8 7 Subterranean Tempera: PURE ries! s o-0 $v. e,0-asainin 8 46 Steam-vessels.....--- 100 O O Meteorological Commit- FAGr Stele vaawads eb oO Thermometers ,-.»-- 16 4 0 £956 12 2 : 1839. Fossil Ichthyology .... 110 0 0 Meteorological Observa- tions at Plymouth ... 63 10 0 Mechanism of Waves.. 144 2 0 Bristol Tides .,.....- 8518 6 Meteorologyand Subter- ranean Temperature, 21 11 0 VitrificationExperiments 9 4 7 ‘Cast Iron Experiments. 100 0 0 Railway Constants.... 28 7 2 Land and Sea Level .. 274 1 4 ‘Steam-Vessels’ Engines, 100 0 0 Stars in Histoire Céleste 331 18 6 Stars in Lacaille...... 11 0 0 StarsinR.A.S.Catalogue 6 16 6 Animal Secretions .... 1010 0 Steam-engines in Corn- Welle es as ccean sie neo Atmospheric Air,..,.. 16 1 0 Cast and Wrought Iron, 40 0 0 Heat on Organic Bodies 3 0 O Gases on Solar Spec- BENET" ae pig «sin @ ie a alas ieee sO Hourly Meteorologica Observations, Inyer- ness and Kingussie.. 49 7 8 ‘ Carried forward £1427 8 3 £ ss. d. Brought forward 1427 8 3 Fossil Reptiles ...... 118 2. 9 Mining Statistics,.,... 50 0 0 £1595.11. 0 1840 Bristol Tides ..... ene? 100; ; 000 Subterranean ‘T’empera- tUNE |e a eiele.ss le o's seoe 13.18. 6 Heart Experiments..,, 18 19 0 Lungs Experiments .. 8 130 Tide Discussions...,.. 60 0 0 Land and Sea Level .. 11 6 91 Stars (Histoire Céleste), 242 10 0 Stars (Lacaille) ..... on) 4a ED Stars (Catalogue) .... 264 0 90 Atmospheric Air..... «) Died 6 Water on Iron...,.... 10 0 @ Heat on Organic Bodies 7 0 0 Meteorological Observa- HIGNS ..0y ese cccccs 382 17 6 Foreign Scientific Me- Morsese. whist! LheoptAle Working Population .. 100 0 0 School Statistics ...... 50 0 0 Forms of Vessels ...- 184 7 0 Chemical and Electrical Pheenomena.....-,- 40 0 0 Meteorological Observa- tions at Plymouth ,, 80 0 O Magnetical Observations 185 13 0 £1546 16 4 1841. Observations on Waves, 30 O O Meteorologyand Subter- ranean Temperature, 8 8 O Actinometers ......+. 10 0 0 Earthquake Shocks .. 17 7 0 Acrid Poisons...,+++. 6 0 0 Veins and Absorbents.. 3 0 O Mud in Rivers....,..- 5 0 O Marine Zoology ...--. 15 12 8 Skeleton Maps ..... ay Bh! 0 Mountain Barometers,. 618 6 Stars (Histoire Céleste), 185 0 0 Stars (Lacaille) ...... 79,45, 0 Stars (Nomenclature of) 17 19 6 Stars (Catalogue of) .. 40 0 0 Water on Iron........ 50 0 O Carried forward £494 10 8 XXVili £ at Brought forward 494 10 Meteorological Observa- ’ tions at Inverness .. Meteorological Observa- S. i) tions (reduction of).. 25 0 Fossil Reptiles3322..'° 50 0 Foreign Memoirs .... 62 0 Railway Sections .... 88 1 Forms of Vessels .... 193 12 Meteorological Observa- tions at Plymouth .. 55 0 Magnetical Observations 61 18 Fishes of the Old Red Sandstone ........ 100 0 Tides at Leith...... 200 0 Anemometer at Edin- eels. ..47..%o ene OO Tabulating Observations 9 Races of Men.... 5 Radiate Animals...... 2 d. 8 o £1235 10 11 1842. Dynamometric Instru- MATENES’ 0.7 eo Sc%e'etete ee VLG Anoplura Britannize 52 12 Tides at Bristol ...... 59 8 Gases on Light ...... 50 14 Chronometers........ 26 17 Marine Zoology ...... Ke5 British Fossil Mammalia 100 0 Statistics of Education.. 20 0 Marine Steam-vessels’ EAINES | s%'e'20.%6's'e'e 28 0 Stars (Histoire Céleste), 59 0 Stars (British Associa- tion Catalogue of) .. 110 0 Railway Sections .... 161 10 British Belemnites .... 50 0 Fossil Reptiles (publica- tion of Report) .... 210 0 Forms of Vessels . 180 0 Galvanic Experiments on ROCKS je, ore eisveis sens aie 5-8 Meteorological Experi- ments at Plymouth.. 68 0 Coustant Indicator and Dynamometric Instru- MREDUS. | aise Slate ie lactate 90 0 Force of Wind ...... 10 0 Carried forward £1376 coco anoon oo “ REPORT—1844, © £& gi) id. Brought forward 1876 6 9 LightonGrowthofSeeds 8 0 0 Vital Statistics ...... 50 0 0 Vegetative Power of Séeds .. 28% ane ee Spey 1 Questions on Hutiin Race s..o8HROeor. 7°90 £1449 17° 8 1843, Revision of the Nomen- clature of Stars .... 2 0 0 Reduction of Stars, Bri- tish Association Cata- logue .. JIQT¢2 hs ORI Anomalous Tides, Frith OL FOrtht ./o%07ete%ets%ofo's 120 0° 0 Hourly Meteorological Observations at Kin- gussie and Inverness. 77 12 8 Meteorological Observa- tions at Plymouth .. 55 0 0 Whewell’s Meteorolo- gical Anemometer at . Plymouth a Ogee oO Ae a Meteorological Observa- tions, Osler’s Anemo- meter at Plymouth... 20 0 0 Reduction of Meteorolo- gical Observations .. 30 0 0 Meteorological Instru- ments and Gratuities. 39 6 0O Construction of Anemo- meter at Inverness... 5612 2 Magnetic Co-operation. 10 8 10 Meteorological Recorder for Kew Observatory 50 0 0 Action of Gases on Light 1816 1 Establishment at Kew Observatory, Wages, Repairs, Furniture,and Sundries .......... 183 4 7 Experiments by Captive Balloons .......... 81 8 0 Oxidations of the Bails of Railways... 20 0. 0 Publication of Report on Fossil Reptiles .... 40 0 0 Coloured Drawings of Railway Sections.... 147 18 3 Carried forward £937 6G 7 GENERAL STATEMENT. £s. d. Brought forward. 937. 6 7 Registration of Earth- quake Shocks...... 30 0 0 Uncovering Lower Red _ Sandstone near Man- chester. » enerclele sae Ai) 46 Report on Zoological _ Nomenclature...... 10 0 0 Vegetative Power of Seeds ....eeeeee Beory Sw hii 8 Marine Testacea (Habits Be Oh) te os ance cere sia 1040150. 0 Marine Zoology...... -10 0 0 Marine Zoology...... 2 14 11 Preparation of Report on British Fossil Mam- ~ malia ....seseeeee 100 0 0 Physiological operations of Medicinal Agents 20 0 0 Vital Statistics.....+. «86.5. 8 Additional Experiments ontheFormsofVessels 70 0 0 Additional Experiments onthe Formsof Vessels 100 9 0 Reduction of Observa- tions on the Forms of Vessels....ssee-++- 100 0 0 Morin’s Instrument and Constant Indicator... 69 14 10 Experiments on _ the Strength of Materials 60 0 0 £1565 10 2 Kew Observatory Esta- _ blishment.......... 150 0 0 Kreil’s Barometrograph 30 0 0 British Association Cata- logue of Stars...... 615 0 0 Captive Balloons..... wp OO Os 70 Meteorological Observa- 30 18 11 tion at Inverness.... ~_— Carried forward £875 18 11 Extracts from Resolutions of the General Committee. XX1X £ os. d. Brought forward, 875 18 11 Magnetic and Meteor- / ological Co-operation 50.0, 0 Meteorological. . Instru- ments at Edinburgh... 18 12. 6 Reduction of Anemome- trical. Observations.. 25.0.0 Nomenclature of Stars... ,.10 0 0 Electrical Experiments at Kew. .eecevecs >» 50.0 0 Electrical Apparatus... 57 0 0 Gases from Iron Fur- NACES. oc ofeceld ofall do 50 0 0 Preservation of animal and vegetable Sub- stanceS....eeeeoeee 10 0.0 Report on Tannin .... 10 0 0 On Colouring Matter... 10.0 0 Experiments on the Ac- tinograph.....+602. 15,0 ,.0 Ashes of Plants ...... 50 0 0O Subterranean Tempera- tureinIreland...... 5 0 O Microscopic Structure of Shells, &c......---. 20 0 0 Periodical Phenomena of Organized Beings ... 5. 0.0 Exotic Anoplura ..... 25 0.0 Vitality of Seeds...... 10,0,.0 Zoology of Corfu .... 10.0.0 Marine Zoology of Bri- 2 py CAIN Sete 0 c's) ea ts wreyele dt Be Oyj Oes0 Marine Zoology of Corn- Wall Bas ciee'a es cove AO aOR 0 Varieties of the Huma Race * 6 c\ecieeumohs sti4:20) O90 Physiological Action of Medicines ..... sapinasOreDire Statistics of Sickness and Mortality in York,. 40 0 0 £1421 11 5 - Committees and individuals to whom grants of money for scientific pur- poses have been entrusted, are required to present to each following meeting of the Association a Report of the progress which has been made ; with a statement of the sums which have been expended, and the balance which re- mains disposable on each grant. , Grants of pecuniary aid for scientific purposes from the funds of the Asso- bn. REPORT—1844, ciation expire at the ensuing meeting, unless it shall appear by a Report that the Recommendations have been acted on, or a continuation of them be ordered by the General Committee. In each Committee, the Member first named is the person entitled to call on the Treasurer, John Taylor, Esq., 2 Duke Street, Adelphi, London, for such portion of the sum granted as may from time to time be required. In grants of money to Committees, the Association does not contemplate the payment of personal expenses to the Members. In all cases where additional grants of money are made for the continua- tion of Researches at the cost of the Association, the sum named shall be deemed to include, as a part of the amount, the specified balance which may remain unpaid on the former grant for the same object. On Thursday evening, September 26th, at 8 p.m., in the Festival Concert Room, York, the late Presideiit, the Earl of Rosse, resigned his office to the Very Rev. the Dean of Ely, who took the Chair at the General Meeting, and delivered an Address, for which see p. xxxi. On Friday evening, September 27th, in the same room, Charles Lyell, Esq., F.R.S., delivered a Discourse on the Geology of North America, particularly noticing the latest surveys of the Western Coal-fields of the United States, and new facts which had been discovered, bearing on the recession of the Fails of Niagara. The discourse was illustrated by Diagrams and other drawings. On Saturday evening, September 28th, in the same room, Dr. Falconer, F.G.S., delivered a Discourse on the Gigantic Tortoise of the Siwalik Hills in India, illustrated by a restoration drawing of the full size (20 feet) and specimens of particular bones of the fossil. On Wednesday evening, October 2nd, at & p.m., in the same room, the Concluding General Meeting of the Association was held, when the Pro- ceedings of the General Committee, and the grants of money for scientific purposes, were explained to the Members. ADDRESS : BY THE VERY REV. GEORGE PEACOCK, D.D., DEAN OF ELY, F.R.8., F.R.A.S., &c. GentieEmen,—The Noble Lord to whose office I succeed, and who has introduced me to your notice, has spoken of me in terms which, however flattering to my pride, I can only accept as the expression of his friendship and good wil!; and I nope ie will permit me to add, that whilst there are few persons for whose characte® and attainments I feel a more sincere respect, there is none whose favourable opinion I should be more anxious to merit. The Members of the Association who were present at the Meeting at Cork, can bear witness to the courteous, dignified and able manner in which he discharged the duties of his office ; whilst others who, like myself, had the opportunity of seeing them, could not fail to be deeply impressed with the magnificent works which are accomplished, or in progress, at his noble resi- dence at Birr Castle. Whatever met the eye was upon a gigantic scale: telescopic tubes, through which the tallest man could walk upright; tele- scopic mirrors, whose weights are estimated not by pounds but by tons, polished by steam power with almost inconceivable ease and rapidity, and, with a certainty, accuracy and delicacy exceeding the most perfect produc- tion of the most perfect manipulation ; structures of solid masonry for the support of the telescope and its machinery more lofty and massive than those of a Norman keep; whilst the same arrangements which secure the sta- bility of masses which no ordinary crane could move, provide likewise for their obeying the most delicate impulse of the most delicate finger, or for following the stars in their course, through the agency of clockwork, with a movement so steady and free from tremors, as to become scarcely perceptible when in- creased one thousand-fold by the magnifying powers of the eye-glass. The instruments, which were mounted and in operation at the time of my visit, exceeded in optical power and in the clearness and precision of their defi- nition of celestial objects, the most perfect productions of the greatest modern artists; and though much had been then accomplished, and great difficulties had been overcome by a rare combination of mechanical, chemical and ma- thematical skill and knowledge in the preparation for mounting the great tele- scope of six feet diameter and fifty-four feet focal length, yet much remained to be done ; but I am quite sure that the Members of the Association will learn with unmixed satisfaction that the Noble Lord has entirely succeeded in his great undertaking; that the great telescope has already made its first essay, and that its performance is in every way satisfactory; and that he proposes to communicate to the Mathematical and Physical Section, in the course of the present Meeting, an account of the process which he has followed in the pre- paration and polishing of his. mirrors, and of the expedients which he has XXXli REPORT—1844, adopted for bringing under the most perfect control the movements of the vast masses with which he has had to deal. It is now more than sixty years since the elder Herschel, by the superior optical and space-penetrating powers of his telescopes, began a brilliant career of astronomical discovery, and the interest which the construction of his great forty-foot reflector—a memorable monument of his perseverance, genius and skill—excited amongst men of science of that period, was, if possible, not less intense than what now attaches to the similar enterprise of the Noble Lord: nor were the expectations which were thus raised disappointed by the result; for though this noble instrument was generally reserved for the great and state occasions of astronomy only, requiring too great an expenditure of time and labour to be conveniently producible for the daily and ordinary business of observation, yet the very first time it was directed to the heavens it dis- covered the seventh satellite of Saturn, and contributed in no inconsiderable degree to the more complete developement of those views of the construction of the heavens (I use his own expression), which his contemporaries never suf- ficiently appreciated, but which present and future ages will probably regard as the most durable monument of his fame. It is no derogation to the claims of this great discoverer that art and know- ledge are progressive, or that a successor should have arisen, who, following in the track which he has pointed out, should bring a coordinate zeal and more ample means to prepare the way for another great epoch in the history of as- tronomical discovery ; and I know that I do not mistake the sentiments of the accomplished philosopher who has succeeded to his name and honours, and who throughout his life has laboured with such exemplary filial piety and such distinguished success in the developement and extension of his father’s views, that no one takes a deeper or more lively interest in the success of this noble enterprise, and no one rejoices more sincerely in the vast prospects of discovery which it opens. Gentlemen, it is now thirteen years since the British Association held its first Meeting in this ancient and venerable city, under the presidency of the Noble Earl Fitzwilliam, who is always the first to offer his services in the promotion _of the interests of science and of every good and useful undertaking. It was in this city that its constitution and laws were first organized, and it is by these laws, for which we are chiefly indebted to the excellent sense and judgement of Mr. William Vernon Harcourt, with very unimportant changes, the Associa- tion has continued to be governed. It is in conformity with the spirit of these laws that we should seek to cooperate, and not to interfere, with other societies which have pursuits and objects in common with our own; that we should claim no right to the publication of Memoirs which are read at our Sections, and which are not prepared at our request; that we should endeavour to con- centrate and direct the influence of the public opinion of men engaged or in- terested in the pursuits of science in favour of such objects, and such objects only, as they agree in considering important for its interests ; and, above all, that we should avail ourselves of the advantages which we possess, in the ex- tensive range of our operations, and in our independence of particular so- cieties and particular localities, of organizing and carrying into effect well- digested systems of cooperative labour. Again, our Meetings were also designed to bring men who are engaged in common pursuits and interested in common objects into closer union and more frequent intercourse with each other; to encourage the more humble and less generally known cultivators of science, by bringing their labours under the notice of those men who are best able to appreciate and to give currency to - ADDRESS. XXXiil their value; to enable our Members to see us in the places which they visited, — where all establishments are, with rare exceptions, most liberally thrown open to their inspection,—whatever is most remarkable in the productions of their manufactures, in the principles and construction ot their machinery, in their eollections connected with art or the natural sciences, in their public esta- blishments for charity or education, in the moral or physical condition of their inhabitants, or whatever other objects their neighbourhood presents which may interest the antiquary, the geologist, or the lover of picturesque scenery. We may venture to add, likewise, that they were designed for purposes of social as well as of philosophical recreation,—a consideration of no small importance with men whose occupations are frequently monotonous and laborious, and such as require the occasional stimulus of change and variety. In accordance with these views, we have visited, in their turn, the most re= markable localities of the three kingdoms, including the universities of En- gland, Scotland and Jreland, the great seats of our manufacturing industry, the great marts of our commerce ; and it is not necessary for me to speak of the success which has marked our progress. The numbers who have attended our Meetings have been always large, and sometimes so great as to embarrass our proceedings from the difficulty of finding adequate rooms to receive them ; the communications which have come under the notice of our several Sections have continued to increase in importance and interest, more particularly since the great cooperative inquiries of our body have come into full operation. We have been enabled, by the application of our funds, to complete some and to forward many scientific enterprises of the highest importance and value, and IT see no reason to apprehend that the future Meetings of the British Association will not continue to advance in scientific interest, or cease to exercise a most powerful influence in originating and promoting scientific labours, which will equally tend to promote the interests of knowledge and the honour of the empire. The founders of the British Association justly conceived that men of dif- ferent shades of political opinion or religious belief would rejoice in the opportunities which such Meetings would afford them of coming together, as it were, upon neutral ground, where their mutual warfare would, for a season at least, be suspended, and no sounds be heard but those of peace: they felt persuaded that the softening influence of reciprocal intercourse would tend to soothe the bitterness of party strife, and would expose to view points of con- tact and union even between those whom circumstances had most violently estranged from each other, and show them that the features of the monsters of their apprehension were not so repulsive as their imaginations or intole- ranee had drawn them. I know that there are some zealots who are ready to denounce the interchange of the commonest charities of life with those ‘whose opinions, however honestly and conscientiously formed, they believe to be unfounded or dangerous. But there is a wide and fundamental distinction ‘between the condemnation of opinions and of the persons who hold them ; and though | should be far from advocating that spurious and false liberality which should assume that in the selection of friends, or even in the ordinary ‘intercourse of society, there should be a total suppression of all that is di- stinctive, both of profession and of opinion, yet there are numberless occasions ‘on which we can neither, notice them or know of their existence without the ‘violation of all those rules of courtesy and good breeding which the most ‘serupulous regard for the integrity of our christian profession and for the best ‘interests of mankind would equally teach us to practise and to respect. © Tewas with a view of securing this neutral ground as the exclusive basis 1844, c XXXiv REPORT—1844, of their operations, that the founders of the Association cautiously guarded against any extension of its boundaries which might tend to admit new claim- ants to its occupation. ‘They did not attempt to define the precise limits at which accurate science terminates and speculation begins, but they endea- voured to keep sufficiently within them to prevent the intrusion of discussions which might disturb the peace of our body or even endanger its existence. Experience has fully established the wisdom of this law, and the absolute necessity of a rigid adherence to its provisions. In returning to the scene of our first labours, the place of our nativity, it becomes us, as grateful children, to acknowledge our filial obligations to our founders. I regret to say that, for my own part, I can claim no share in the honour which that character confers, having been engaged at the time, in common with my friends the Master of Trinity College and Professor Sedgwick, in duties at Cambridge from which it was impossible for us to escape. I ven- ture, therefore, in the name of all those who are similarly circumstanced with myself, to render our just tribute of gratitude to the venerable Archbishop of this province, who bears the honours of his high station in a green and vigorous old age, and whose munificent patrenage and support we must ever be ready to acknowledge ; to the Noble Earl, our first President, who main- tains so worthily the honours of the house of Wentworth ; to Viscount Mor- peth, the accomplished representative of the name and honours of another of the princely houses of this great county; to Sir J. Johnstone, who so gene- rously protected the old age of the Father of English Geology ; to Sir'Thomas Macdougall Brisbane, who is equally eminent as a patron and a cultivator of astronomy, and whose infirm health alone prevents his being present at this Meeting ; to Sir David Brewster, so justly celebrated for his numerous and important discoveries in physical optics, and in almost every department of physical science, who first suggested and urged the scheme of our Institution ; to Mr. William Vernon Harcourt, our lawgiver and proper founder ; to our indefatigable General Secretary, Mr. Murchison, who assisted so materially in our first organization and subsequent progress, and who has only once been absent from our Meetings, when engaged in extending his own Silurian system to the feet of the Ural Mountains and into the steppes of Siberia; to Dr. Daubeny, who has studied so successfully the relations of chemistry to geology and agriculture, and who has at all times laboured so strenuously in our ser- vice; to Professor Johnston of Durham, who has taken a distinguished part in the great extension which agricultural chemistry has recently made, and who has at various times been a valuable contributor to our Reports; to Dr. William Pearson, so distinguished as a practical astronomer and the libe- ral founder of the observatory in this city; to Mr. Greenough, whose map was so important a contribution to English geology; to Professor Forbes of Edinburgh, one of the most distinguished of the living cultivators of physical science, and whose important scientific tours alone have prevented his attend- ance at some of our later Meetings; to Dr. Scoresby, whose early adven- tures contrast so remarkably and yet so honourably with the labours and occupations of his maturer years ; to Professor Phillips, who has so long and so ably organized the complicated machinery of our Meetings, and reduced our annual volumes into order and form; and to Mr. J. Taylor, our excellent Treasurer, whose punctuality and vigilance has kept order and system in every department of our finances. A reference to the list of our founders presents, as might be expected after a lapse of thirteen years, some very distinguished names who have been lost eae me ADDRESS. XXXV to science : in their number we find the name of Mr. William Smith, who first received at our meetings the ample recognition of the value of those original and unaided researches, which must for ever entitle him to be considered as the father of English geology; of Mr. William Allen, of Edinburgh, the eminent mineralogist ; of Dr. Lloyd, Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, the father of our excellent colleague, Professor Lloyd, and the founder of that truly illus- trious school of accurate science in that university, which has given to the world a Robinson, a Hamilton, and a MacCullagh; of Sir J. Robison, who inherited from his father, the well-known Professor Robison, his taste for science and its application to the arts; of Dr. Henry, one of our most di- stinguished theoretical and practical chemists, and only second in reputation to his fellow-townsman, Dr. Dalton, whose very recent loss we have occasion to deplore, and whose name, under such circumstances, it would be unbe- coming in me to pass over with merely a passing notice. Mr. Dalton was one of that vigorous race of Cumberland yeomen amongst whom are sometimes found the most simple and primitive habits and manners combined with no inconsiderable literary or scientific attainments. From teaching a school as a boy in his native village of Eaglesfield, near Cocker- mouth, we find him at a subsequent period similarly engaged at Kendal, where he had the society and assistance of Gough, the blind philosopher, and a man of very remarkable powers, as well as of other persons of congenial tastes ‘with his own. In 1793, when in his twenty-third year, he became Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in the New College in Mosley Street, Manchester, a situation which he continued to hold for a period of six years, and until that establishment was removed to this city, when he became pri- vate teacher of the same subjects, occupying for the purposes of study and instruction the lower rooms of the Literary and Philosophical Society in George Street, rarely quitting the scene of his tranquil and unambitious la- bours beyond an annual visit to his native mountains, with a joint view to health and meteorological observations. He made his first appearance as an author in a volume of “ Meteorological Observations and Essays,” which he published in 1793, a book of humble pretensions and form, but which contains the germ of many of his subsequent speculations and discoveries, more particularly as regards the co-existence of an atmosphere of air and aqueous vapour, and their relations to each other : and his first views of the atomic theory, which must for ever render his name memorable as one of the great founders of chemical philosophy, were first distinctly suggested to him during his examination of olefiant gas and carbu- retted hydrogen gas. This theory was noticed in lectures which he delivered at Manchester in 1803 and 1804, and much more explicitly in others delivered at Edinburgh and Glasgow in the two following years; it was however first made generally known to the world in Dr. Thomson’s Chemistry in 1807, and ' was briefly but very explicitly developed in his own “System of Chemical Philosophy,” the first part of which appeared in the following vear; and though his claims to this great generalization were subject to some disputes _ both at home and abroad, yet in a very short time both the doctrine and its author were acknowledged and recognized by Wollaston, Dayy, Berzelius, and nearly all the great chemists in Europe. It is quite true that many important laws of chemical synthesis had been discovered before his time: Richter, Wenzel and Proust, at various periods between 1777 and 1792, had established the constant proportion in which the elements of many bodies combine, and had likewise hinted at the import- ant derivative law, that if two elements combine in a certain proportion with c2 XXXVI REPORT—1844. a third, they may combine in the same proportion with each other. In 1787, Dr. Higgins of Dublin had approximated to the law of the combination of different multiples of the elements of bodies, in the case of sulphur and iron: but these discoveries, considerable as they were, were not generally known, and the laws derivable from them were not formally enunciated; they had hitherto exercised no influence upon the processes or the results of analytical chemistry; and so little was their authority recognized, that even Berthollet, one of the greatest chemists of his age, continued to maintain that the ele- ments of bodies might combine in variable proportions, a conclusion which the vague forms under which the analyses of bodies, more particularly those of the mineral kingdom, were commonly exhibited, was not a little calculated to favour. The atomic theory, however, by the clear conception which it enables us to form of the conditions of the co-existence of the elements of bodies in chemical combinations, by which they acquire permanent and distinctive characters, as different from the results of their indefinite aggregation and mixture, has totally changed the whole face of the science of chemistry. It was by considering the weights as well as the number of the elementary atoms which form the compound atom of the resulting body, that this theory was not merely distinguished from the vague speculations of the atomic philoso- phers of a former age, but became, when it was once admitted and established, the guide as well as the basis of all accurate chemical analysis. The very de-~ finite and comprehensive form in which this law was enunciated by its author was the immediate expression of his primary conception of the constitution of bodies ; and simple, natural and obvious as it may appear to us who are now familiar with the results to which it leads, it was not, on that account, a less important step in the science of chemistry, whose form and language it rapidly changed : the revolution which it effected in our views of the laws and results of chemical combination, was nearly as great as that which was produced in Physical Astronomy by the discovery and enunciation of the law of universal gravitation. It has been contended, however, that he only discovers who proves, and that inasmuch as most of the analyses which Dalton made the foundation of his law, were either erroneous or insufficient, he has no sufficient claim to the character of its discoverer. The atomic weight which he assigned to oxy- gen was 7 instead of 8°01, that of hydrogen being 1; and his analyses of ole- fiant gas and carburetted hydrogen, which he made, in the first instance, the basis of the law of multiple combining proportions, was likewise imperfect : the theory of atoms also, in the form in which he presented it, was not free from very serious objections, as involving assumptions respecting the ultimate constitution of bodies, which are not only removed beyond the range of our experience, but opposed to our primary conception of matter as susceptible of infinite divisibility. But admitting the defects of his analyses, it may be justly contended that they in no respect affect the form in which he ex- pressed the law of definite proportions ; and what is more important, they were not of such a nature as to affect the form and character of the researches, which, even if his fundamental analyses had been found to be perfectly accu- rate, would still have been necessary for its further and complete develop- ment; and what is more, that the bearing of such investigations upon the esta- blishment or refutation of the theory had been fully pointed and exemplified : whilst, in reply to the last objection, it might be contended that not only is our conception, of the infinite divisibility of matter, rather geometrical than physical, but likewise that it by no means precludes other modes of exhibiting ADDRESS. XXXVI1 the theory in a form in which the use of the term atom would be hypothetical only, and not absolute and indispensable. It is always unsafe and perhaps unphilosophical to speculate upon the amount of the good fortune which is connected with the time and circum- stances of any great discovery, with any view to detract from the credit which is due to its author; but it has been contended that Wollaston, Berzelius and others were already in the track which would naturally lead to this important generalization, and that it could not Jong have eluded the vigilant pursuit of — those distinguished chemists. In reply to this insinuation, however, we may venture to repeat, what has been often before observed, that if philosophy be a lottery, those only who deserve to win them, ever draw its prizes; that those only who have scrutinized closely and cautiously the well-known and recognized approaches to the temple of nature, have ever been able to dis- cover the new paths which lead to its unexplored treasures, however plain and obvious, when they are once made known to us, they may appear to be. To Dalton this discovery was not due tu any momentary philosophical inspi- ration, for which his previous contemplations had not prepared his mind; it was the legitimate result of long and profound reflection upon the relations, which chemical analysis had made known to him, of their separate elements to the gaseous, fluid or solid bodies which they composed, and also of the va- rious circumstances which appeared to determine their combination with each cther ; it was, in fact, the capital conclusion, to which his speculations, from the earliest period of his philosophical life, had constantly heen tending. The atomic theory is not the only great contribution to chemical science which we owe to Dalton; he discovered contemporaneously with Gay-Lussac, with whom many of his researches run parallel, the important general law of the expansion of gases; that for equal increments of temperature all gases expand by the same portion of their bulk, being about three-eighths in pro- ceeding from the temperature of freezing to that of boiling water. His con- tributions to meteorology were also of the most important kind. Dr. Dalton was not a man of what are commonly called brilliant talents, but of a singularly clear understanding and plain practical good sense; his ap- proaches to the formation of his theories were slow and deliberate, where every step of his induction was made the object of long-continued and persevering thought; but his convictions were based upon the true principles of inductive philosophy, and when once formed were boldly advanced and steadily main- tained: the style of his writings, particularly in his ‘ System of Chemical Phi- losophy,’ bears strongly the impress of his philosophical character ; it is clear, precise, and unembarrassed ; always equal to his subject, and never above it. “Though Dalton’s great discovery,” says the historian of the inductive sciences, ‘ was soon generally employed and universally spoken of with ad- miration, it did not bring to him anything but barren praise, and he conti- nued in his humble employment when his fame had filled Europe, and his name become a household word in the laboratory. After some years he was appointed a Corresponding Member of the Institute of France, which may be considered as a European recognition of the importance of what he had done ; and in 1826, two medals for the encouragement of science having been placed at the disposal of the Royal Society by the King, one of them was assigned to Dalton for his development of the atomic theory. In 1833, at the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science which was held at Cambridge, it was announced that the King had bestowed upon him a pension of £150* ; at the preceding meeting at Oxford, that University * This was afterwards increased to £300. XXXVill REPORT—1844. had conferred the degree of Doctor of Laws, a step the more remarkable since he belonged to the sect of Quakers. At all the meetings of the British Association he has been present, and has always been surrounded with the re- verence and admiration of all who feel any sympathy with the progress of science. May he long remain among us thus to remind us of the great ad- vance which chemistry owes to him.” This was written in 1837, the year in which an attack of paralysis se- riously impaired his powers. He last appeared among us at Manchester, where he received the respectful homage of the distinguished foreigners and others who were there assembled. He died on the 27th of July last, in the 78th year of his age: his funeral, which was public, was attended by all classes of the inhabitants, who felt justly proud of being the fellow-citizen of so distinguished a man. [ now proceed to notice some other topics which are connected with the distribution of the funds, and the general conduct of the affairs of the Asso- ciation. Like other public bodies, we have had our periods of financial prosperity and decline, and like other bodies, we have sometimes drawn more freely upon our resources than their permanent prospects would altogether justify; the statement which will be read to you by our excellent Treasurer (see ante, p. xii. ), will show that during the last year our capital has been reduced: the great number of life subscribers, which at one time rapidly augmented our re- sources, has a natural and necessary tendency to reduce our annual subscrip- tions at every succeeding meeting, and some alterations in the conditions of admission for those inhabitants of the places where we are received, who are not likely to follow the further movements of the Association, have not tended to swell our receipts, though rendered at the time necessary by the great num- bers who crowded inconveniently some of our sectional meetings. I regret to find that some currency has been given to the notion, which I believe to be altogether erroneous and unfounded, that a large excess of in- come above our necessary expenditure, which may be devoted to the promo- tion of scientific researches and scientific objects, is essential to the successful working of the business of the Association, and that our movements should therefore be always directed to those places where our coffers are most likely to be filled: it may be quite true that the objects of the Association are most certainly and effectually promoted by going to those places which are likely to attract the largest concourse of scientific visitors, and that our financial thus becomes immediately dependent upon our general prosperity; but if under any circumstances these two principles of selection should ever come into collision with each other, there can be no doubt to which of them our preference should be given; and though I think we should very imperfectly accomplish the de- sign of our institution, if our tour of visits did not comprehend in their turn every important district in the three kingdoms, yet it would be not only un- advisable, but dangerous even to our very existence, if we fixed our standard in any locality which did not present a reasonable prospect of procuring the requisite scientific supplies, and of not sustaining the union as well as vigor- ous action of the body to which we belong. There are some great principles which have generally governed the Com- mittee of Recommendations in recommending, and the General Committee in confirming, grants of money for scientific objects, which I hope we shall never lose sight of,—that no part of our funds should ever be applied to defray the personal expenses or to compensate the loss of time or labour of any of our members in making researches or experiments, even when they are undertaken ADDRESS. XXXIX or made at the request of the Association; that they should not be granted for the general promotion of this or that branch of science, but for specific and well-defined objects; that in no case should they be applied to make a bookselling or other speculation remunerative, which would otherwise not be so; that the results of ipquiries which are carried on partly or wholly at our charge, should so far belong to the Association as to secure its just claim to the scientific credit which they are calculated to confer. I know that some of these principles have been in some instances partially departed from, under very pressing and peculiar circumstances ; but the remembrance of the dis- cussions to which some claims of this nature have given rise, which it was im- proper to grant, but difficult and painful to refuse, has tended to confirm my own impression not merely of the wisdom of those important rules, but likewise of the almost imperative necessity of adhering to them. It was at the memorable meeting of the Association at Newcastle, a period of great financial prosperity, that it was resolved to recommend and to under- take a very extensive system of astronomical reductions and catalogues: the first was the republication, under a greatly extended and much more com- plete form, of the Astronomical Society’s Catalogue, exhibiting the latest and most accurate results of astronomical observations, reduced to a common epoch, with the permanent coefficients for their reduction which the Nautical Almanac does not supply. The second was the reduction of all the stars in the ‘ Histoire Céleste’ of Lalande, nearly 47,000 in number, containing the most complete record which existed sixty years ago of the results of obser- vation, and affording therefore an interval of time so considerable as to en- able astronomers, by comparing them with their positions as assigned by modern observations, to determine their proper motions and other minute changes, almost independently of the errors of observation: a third was a simi- lar reduction of the stars in the ‘Coelum Stelliferum Australe’ of Lalande, 8700 in number, which had assumed an unusual degree of importance from the recently completed survey of the southern hemisphere by Sir John Her- schel, and the establishment of observatories at Paramatta and the Cape. Another work of still greater expense and labour, was the reduction and publication of the Planetary and Lunar Observations at Greenwich, from the time of Bradley downwards, which was undertaken by the Government at the earnest application of a Committee of the Association, appointed for that purpose and acting in conjunction with the Council of the Royal Society: this great undertaking has been nearly brought to a conclusion under the systema- tic and vigilant superintendence of the Astronomer Royal. The publication of these works must form a great epoch in astronomy ; and though the expense to which it has exposed the Association has been very considerable, and will amount when completed to nearly £3000, yet it cannot fail to prove a durable monument of the salutary influence which it has exer- cised upon the progress of science. The catalogues of Lacaille and Lalande are to be printed and published, as is already known to you, at the expense of Her Majesty’s Government, and the first, which has been prepared un- der the superintendence of Professor Henderson, is nearly complete: the catalogue of Lalande and the British Association Catalogue were placed under the superintendence of Mr. Francis Baily, and in referring to the irre- parable loss which astronomical science has so recently sustained by his death, I should neither do justice to my own feelings nor to his long and important connection with the Association if I did not detain you for a few moments. Mr. Baily was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable men of his time; it was only in 1825 that he retired from the Stock Exchange with an ample xl REPORT—1844, fortune, and with a high character for integrity and liberality; but his subse- quent career almost entirely belongs to astronomy, and is one of almost un- exampled activity and usefulness. The Astronomical Society was almost en- tirely organized by him, and throughout life he was the most considerable con- tributor to its Memoirs; the catalogue of the Astronomical Society, the funds for which were contributed by several of its members, was entirely formed under his superintendence, and we are chiefly indebted to his exertions for the more ample development which the Nautical Almanac has of late years received, and which has added so much to its usefulness. There was no experimental research connected with the more accurate determinations of astronomy or physical science, undertaken in this country, which was not generally en- trusted to his care. The discovery, or rather notice, by Bessel of the correction due to the re- sistance of the air, which had been neglected in the reduction of the experi- ments for the determination of the length of the pendulum by Kater, and which consequently vitiated the correctness of the definition of the standard of length which had been prematurely adopted by the legislature, first di- rected his attention, not merely to the character and influence of this correc- tion* as affected by the forms of the pendulums which were used, but like- wise to the modes which had been adopted for suspending them; and the discussion of the elaborate series of experiments which he instituted for this purpose, which was given in the Philosophical Transactions for 1829, is a model of that happy union of precise and luminous theoretical views with the utmost minuteness of practical details, for which his memoirs are generally so remarkable. The reduction and discussion of the pendulum observations made by Captain Foster, in his well-known voyage in the Chanticleer, to which that experimental inquiry had been preliminary, were entrusted to him by the Admiralty, after the unfortunate death of that valuable officer, and were pub- lished in the seventh volume of the Memoirs of the Astronomical Society, forming a contribution to this branch of science which was only second in im- portance, whether we regard the character of the observations themselves or of the conclusions to which they were subservient, to those which recorded the observations which had been previously made by Colonel Sabine in his various scientific voyages. His comparison of the Standard Scale of the Astronomical Society with the Parliamentary Standard and its various representatives, as well as with the French métre, presents another remarkable example of his unequalled accu- racy and care in conducting experimental inquiries of the most delicate and difficult nature, and the result of them has acquired an additional value and importance, from the destruction of our national standards in the burning of the Houses of Parliament. He had also undertaken, for the Commission of Weights and Measures, the conduct of the process for forming the new Standard Yard from the scale which he had thus constructed, but unfortunately little progress had been made in the execution of this task, for which his habits so peculiarly fitted him, when death put an end to his labours. It was in consequence of a suggestion of Mr. De Morgan that he undertook, at the expense of the Government, the repetition of the celebrated experiment of Mr. Cavendish, and his account of the various precautions which he con- sidered necessary to obviate every source of uncertainty and error, and to overcome the practical difficulties which presented themselves in the course of the inquiry, as well as his theoretical discussion of the conclusions to which * This correction had been previously determined by Colonel Sabine, by swinging a pen- dulum in air and in vacuo, ADDRESS. xli they lead, which forms a recent volume of the Memoirs of the Astronomical Society, will be a durable monument to his patience, perseverance and skill. He published, at the request of the Admiralty, the Correspondence and Catalogue of Flamsteed, with a most laborious examination and verification of all his authorities. He presented to the Astronomical Society a volume containing the catalogues of Ptolemy, Ulugh Beigh, Tycho Brahe, and Heve- lius and Halley, with learned prefaces and critical notes, showing their rela- tions to each other, and to later catalogues. His preface and introduction to the British Association Catalogue, and more than one third of the catalogue itself, are already printed, and from the critical examination of the authorities upon which his assumed positions rest, and the careful distribution of the stars which are selected, (more than 8000 in number) in those parts of the heavens where they are likely to be most useful to observers as points of comparison, it promises to be the most important contribution to the science of practical astronomy which has been made in later times. The whole of the stars of the ‘Histoire Céleste’ are reduced and a considerable portion (more than one-fifth) printed, but it is not known whether the introductory matter, which from him would have been so valuable, was prepared at the time of his death. Mr. Baily was the author of the best Treatise on Life Annuities and In- surances which has yet appeared, as well as of several other publications on the same subject ; his knowledge of the mathematicians of the English School was very sound and complete, though he had never mastered the more re- fined resources of modern analysis. His conception of mechanical principles and of their bearing upon his experimental researches, was singularly clear and definite, and though in the prosecution of the Cavendish and other ex- periments, he freely availed himself of the assistance of the Astronomer Royal and of Mr. De Morgan, in the investigation of formula, which required the aid of dynamical or other principles which were somewhat beyond the reach of the mathematics of the school with which he was familiar, yet he always applied them in a manner which showed that he thoroughly understood their principle, and was fully able to incorporate them with his own researches. In the midst of these various labours (and the list which I have given of them, ample as it is, comprehends but a small part of their number), Mr. Baily never seemed to be particularly busy or occupied; he entered freely into so- ciety, entertaining his scientific as well as his mercantile friends at his own house with great hospitality. He was rarely absent from the numerous scien- tific meetings of Committees and Councils (and he was a member of all of them), which usually absorb so large a portion of the disposable leisure of men of science in London ; but if a work or inquiry was referred to hin, it was generally completed in a time which would have been hardly sufficient for other men to make the preliminary investigations. Much of this was un- doubtedly owing to his admirable habits of system and order; to his always doing one thing at one time ; to his clear and precise estimate of the extent of his own powers. Though he always wrote clearly and well, he never wrote am- bitiously ; and though he almost always accomplished what he undertook, he never affected to execute, or to appear to execute, what was beyond his powers. This was the true secret of his great success, and of his wonderful fertility, and it would be difficult to refer to a more instructive example of what may be effected by practical good sense, systematic order, and steady perseverance. It was the same Meeting at Newcastle which gave rise to the design for the greatest combined scientific operation in which the Association has ever been engaged, for the extension of our knowledge of the laws of magnetism and meteorology. xlii REPORT—1844. It was the publication of Colonel Sabine’s ‘ Report on the Variations of the Magnetic Intensity at different points of the Earth’s Surface,’ and the maps which accompanied it, which appeared in our volume for 1837, which first en- abled the celebrated Gauss to assign provisionally the coefficients of his series for expressing the magnetic elements: the proper data of this theory are the values of the magnetic elements at given points uniformly and systema- tically distributed over the surface of the earth, and it was for the purpose of supplying the acknowledged deficiency of these data and of determining the laws which regulated the movements of this most subtle and mysterious ele- ment, which induced the Association to appoint a Committee to apply, in con- junction with the Royal Society, to Her Majesty’s Government to make a magnetical survey of the highest accessible latitudes of the Antarctic seas, and to institute fixed magnetical and meteorological observatories at St. Helena, the Cape, Hobarton, and Toronto, in conjunction with a normal establishment at Greenwich, and in connection with a great number of others on the con- tinent of Europe, where systematic and simultaneous observations could be made, which would embrace not only the phenomena of magnetism, but those of meteorology also. It is not necessary to add that the application was promptly acceded to. The views and labours of the framers of this magnifi- cent scientific operation, the brilliant prospects of discovery which it opened, the noble spirit of cooperation which it evoked in every part of the civilized world, were alluded to in terms so eloquent and so just in the opening ad- dress of Mr. William Vernon Harcourt, when occupying this Chair at Bir- mingham, that I should do little justice to them if I employed any terms but his own, and I must content myself with simply referring to them. Much of what was then anticipated has been accomplished, much is still in progress, and much remains to be done; but the results which have already been ob- tained have more than justified our most sanguine expectations. Sir James Ross has returned without the loss of a man, without a seaman on the sick list, after passing three’'summers in the Antarctic seas, and after making a series of geographical discoveries of the most interesting and import- ant nature, and proving in the language of the Address to which I have just referred, “ that for a man whose mind embraces the high views of the philoso- pher with the intrepidity of the sailor, no danger, no difficulty, no inconvenience could damp his ardour or arrest his progress, even in those regions where Stern famine guards the solitary coast, And winter barricades the realms of frost.” The scientific results of the two first years of this remarkable voyage have been discussed and published by Colonel Sabine in his ‘ Contributions to Ter- restrial Magnetism,’ in the Transactions of the Royal Society, and they are neither few nor unimportant. ‘They have shown that observations of the de- clination, dip and intensity, the three magnetic elements, may be made at sea with as much accuracy as on land, and that they present fewer anomalies from local and disturbing causes; that the effects of the ship’s iron are entirely due to induced magnetism, including two species of it, one instantaneous, coin- cident with and superadded to the earth’s magnetism, and the other a polarity retained for a shorter or longer period, and transferable therefore during its operation by the ship’s motion from one point of space to another ; that in both cases they may be completely eliminated by the observations and formule which mathematicians have proposed for that purpose. No intensity greater than 2°1 was observed; and the magnetic lines of equal declination, dip and intensity, were found to differ greatly from those laid down in Gauss’s theoretical map, the northern and southern hemispheres possessing much ADDRESS. xliii greater resemblance to each other than was indicated by that primary and ne- cessarily imperfect essay of the theory. The range of Sir James Ross’s observations extends over more than three- fourths of the navigable parts of the southern seas, and you will learn with pleasure that one of his most efficient officers, Lieut. Moore, has been des- patched from the Cape with a vessel under his command to complete the survey of the remainder, Nothing could exhibit in a more striking light the completeness of the organization and discipline of the system of magnetic observatories than the observations of the great magnetic storm of the 25th of September 1841; it was an event for which no preparation could be made, and which no ex- isting theory could predict ; yet so vigilant and unremitting was the watch which was kept, that we find it observed through nearly its whole extent, and its leading circumstances recorded at Greenwich, in many of the obser- vatories on the continent of Europe, at Toronto, St. Helena, the Cape, Ho- barton, and at Trevandrum in Travancore; for even the mediatized princes of the East have established observatories as not an unbecoming appendage to the splendour of their courts. Some of the observations of this remark- able phenomenon, and of many others (twenty-seven in number) of a similar nature, have been discussed with great care and detail by Colonel Sabine, and lead to very remarkable conclusions. They are not absolutely simultaneous at distant stations, nor do they present even the same succession of phases as at first anticipated ; and it is the disturbances of the higher order only which can be considered as universal, They are modified by season as well as by place; the influence of winter in one hemisphere and of summer in the other, on the same storm, being clearly distinguishable from each other. The simul- taneous movements in Europe and America have been observed to take place sometimes in opposite and sometimes in the same direction, as if the disturb- ing cause was in one case situated between these continents, and in the other not; and we may reasonably expect, when our observatories are furnished with magnetometers of sufficient sensibility to indicate instantaneously the effects of disturbing causes, that the localities in which they originate may be approximately determined. These are very remarkable conclusions, and well calculated to show the advantages of combined observations. In such inqui- ries, observations in a single and independent locality, however carefully they may be made, are absolutely valueless. The meteorological observations are made, in all these observatories, on the same system and with equal care with those of magnetism; they embrace the mean quantities, diurnal and annual variations, of the temperature, of the pressure of the atmosphere, of the tension of the aqueous vapour, of the di- rection and force of the wind, with every extraordinary departure from the normal condition of these elements, as well as of auroral and other pheenomena. It would be premature to speak of the conclusions which are likely to be de- duced from these observations, inasmuch as the reduction and comparison of them, with the exception of those at Toronto and Greenwich, has hitherto made little progress; but they cannot fail to be highly important ; for it is by the comparison of observations such as these, made with reference to a definite system, with instruments constructed upon a common principle and carefully compared with each other, and by such means alone, that the science of meteorology can be not only advanced but founded. Our philosophical records have for the last century been deluged with me- teorological observations ; but they have been made with instruments adapted tono common principle, compared with no common standard, having reference xliv REPORT—1844, to no station but their own, and even with respect to it possessing no sufficient continuity and system; they have been for the most part desultory, indepen- dent, and consequently worthless. It would be unjust however to the merits of one of the most assiduous and useful of our members, Mr. Snow Harris, if I did not call your attention, in connection with this subject, to his Reports (included in the Reports of our Twelfth Meeting) on the meteorological obser- vations at Plymouth made by him, or under his superintendence with the aid of a very moderate expenditure of the funds of the Association. They compre- hend observations of the thermometer at every hour of the day and night during ten years, and of the barometer and anemometer during five years, carefully reduced and tabulated, and their mean results cymographed or pro- jected in curves. Nothing can exceed the clearness with which the march of the diurnal changes are exhibited in these results, and I sincerely hope that means may be found for printing them in such a form as may secure to them their permanent authority and value. Another discussion of the meteorological observations made at sixty-nine stations, at the equinoxes and solstices, in the years 1835, 1836, 1837 and 1838, which have been reduced and cymographed with great care by Mr. Birt, at the expense of the Association, forms the subject of a Report by Sir John Herschel in the volume of our Reports for the present year, and may be con- sidered as a prelude, on a small scale, of the species of analysis which the results of the great system of observations now in progress should hereafter undergo. The inferences which are drawn from the examination of the changes of atmospheric pressure, with more especial reference to the Euro- pean group of stations only,are in the highest degree instructive and valuable. The system of magnetic observatories was at first designed to continue for three years only, but was subsequently extended to the Ist of January 1846 ; for it was found that the first triennial period had almost elapsed before the instruments were prepared or the observers instructed in their duties or con- veyed to their stations; the extent also of cooperation increased beyond all previous expectation. Six observatories were established, under the zealous direction of M. Kupffer, in different parts of the vast empire of Russia, the only country, let me add, which has established a permanent physical obser- vatory. The American government instituted three others, at Boston, Phila- delphia and Washington ; two were established by the East India Company, at Simla and Sincapore ; from every part of Europe, and even from Algiers, offers of cooperation were made. But will the work which has thus been undertaken with such vast prospects be accomplished before the termination of the second triennial period ? or is it not probable that the very discussion of the observations will suggest new topics of inquiry or more delicate methods of observation ? If the march of the diurnal, monthly and annual movements of the needle be sufficiently determined, will its secular movements be equally well known? in other words, shall we have laid the foundation of a theory, which may even imperfectly approximate to the theory of gravitation in the accuracy and universality of its predictions? It is with reference to these important questions, and the expediency of continuing the observatories for another triennial term, that M. Kupffer has addressed a letter to Colonel Sabine, suggesting the propriety of summoning a magnetic congress, to be held at the next Meeting of the British Association, and at which himself, Gauss, Humboldt, Plana, Hansteen, Arago, Lamont, Kreil, Bache, Quetelet, and all other persons who had taken a Jeading part in conducting, organizing, or forwarding these observations should be invited to attend. This proposal has been for some time under the anxious consideration ot ADDRESS. xlv your Committee of Magnetism, consisting of Sir John Herschel, Colonel Sabine, the Astronomer Royal, Dr. Lloyd, the Master of Trinity College, and myself; and it will be for the General Committee, before we separate, to decide upon the answer which must be given. I think I may venture to say that there would be but one feeling of pride and satisfaction at seeing amongst us the whole or any considerable number of these celebrated men; and there can be little doubt but that whatever be the place at which you may agree to hold your next Meeting, they will experience a reception befitting the dignity of these great representatives of the scientific world. It is quite true that the preparations for such a meeting would impose upon your Committee of Magnetism, and more especially upon Colonel Sabine, no small degree of labour. Reports must be received from all the stations, up to the latest period, of the state of the observations; their most prominent results must be analysed and compared, and communicated as extensively as possible amongst the different members of the Congress, so as to put them in possession of the facts upon which their decision should be founded. Great as is our reliance upon the activity and zeal of Colonel Sabine and of his ad- mirable coadjutor, Lieut. Riddell, perfect as is his acquaintance with every step of an inquiry with the organization and conduct of which he and Prof. Lloyd have had the principal share, I fear that he would require greater means than his present establishment could furnish, to meet the pressure of such overwhelming duties. But if it should be the opinion of such a congress, that it was expedient to continue the observations for another triennial period, and if such an opinion was accompanied by an exposition of the grounds upon which it was founded, there can be little doubt that there is not a government in the civilized world which would not readily acquiesce in a recommendation which was supported by such authority. The last volume of our Transactions is rich in reports on natural science, and more especially in those departments of it which have an important bear- ing on geology ; such is Prof. E. Forbes’s Report “ On the Distribution of the Mollusca and Radiata of the A.gean Sea,” with particular reference to the successive zones of depth which are characterized by distinctive forms of ani- mal life, and the relation existing between living and extinct species. You will, I am sure, be rejoiced to hear that Her Majesty’s Government have not only secured the services of its author in connection with the Geological Sur- vey, but have most liberally undertaken, upon the application of the Council, to defray the expense of printing the very interesting work upon which this Report is founded. The Report of Mr. Thompson, of Belfast, on an ana- logous branch of the Fauna of Ireland, is remarkable for the minuteness and fullness of the information which it conveys. Prof. Owen has continued his Report “On the British Fossil Mammalia,” which was begun in the preceding volume, and towards procuring materials for which a contribution was made from the funds of the Association. I regret to find that a class of reports on _ the recent progress and existing state of different branches of science, which occupied so large a portion of our earlier volumes, and which conferred upon them so great a value, have been almost entirely discontinued. Ifthe authors of these Reports could find leisure to add to them an appendix, containing the history of the advances made in those branches of science during the last decad of years, they would confer an important benefit on all persons engaged in scientific inquiries. The history of the sciences must ever require these periodical revisions of their state and progress, if men continue to press forward in the true spirit xlvi REPORT—1844. of philosophy, to advance the boundaries of knowledge ; for though there may be impassable boundaries of human knowledge, there is only one great and all-wise Being, with whom all knowledge is perfect, who can say, “ Thus far shalt thou go and no further.” The indolent speculator on the history of the sci- ences may indulge in an expression of regret that the true system of the uni- verse is already known, that the law of gravitation is discovered, that the pro, blem of the three bodies is solved, and that the mine of discovery is exhausted and that there remain no rich masses of ore in its veins to make the fortune and fame of those who find them; but it is in the midst of this dream of hope- lessness and despondency that he is startled from time to time by the report of some great discovery—a Davy has decomposed the alkalies, a Dalton has discovered, and a Berzelius has completely developed, the law of definite pro- portions ; a Herschel has extended the law of gravitation to the remotest dis- coverable bodies of the universe, and a Gauss has brought the complicated and embarrassing phenomena of terrestrial magnetism under the dominion of ana- lysis; and so it will ever continue to be whilst knowledge advances, the high- est generalizations of one age becoming the elementary truths of the aext. But whilst we are taking a part in this great march of science and civilization, whilst we are endeavouring to augment the great mass of intellectual wealth which is accumulating around us, splendid as may be the triumphs of science or art which we are achieving, let us never presume to think that we are either exhausting the riches or approaching the term of those treasures which are behind; still less let us imagine that the feeble efforts of our philosophy will ever tend to modify the most trivial and insignificant,—if aught can be termed trivial and insignificant which He has sanctioned,—of those arrange- ments which the great Author of Nature has appointed for the moral or ma- terial government of the universe. Far different are the lessons which he taught us by the revelation of his will, whether expressed in his word or impressed on his works; it is in a humble and reverent spirit that we should approach the fountain of all knowledge, and it is ina humble and reverent spirit that we should seek to drink of the living waters which for ever flow from it. Report or tHe Councrn to tHE GENERAL CoMMITTEE. 1. The General Committee assembled at Cork in August 1843 having passed a Resolution to the effect that an application should be made, on the part of the British Association, to the Master-General of the Ordnance, en- treating his assistance in the proposed experiments with Captive Balloons, the Council has to report that the application has been accordingly made, and that a reply has been received from the Master-General, stating that the Com- mandant of the Garrison at Woolwich has been directed to afford the facilities - and assistance which are requested. 2. The General Committee assembled at Cork having directed that “an application be made to Her Majesty’s Government for the insertion of Contour Lines of Elevation on the Ordnance Maps of Ireland, such lines being of great value for engineering, mining, geological and mechanical purposes,”—the Council has to report, that a copy of this Resolution was transmitted to Her Majesty’s Government, accompanied by the following Memorial :— “ The undersigned Membersof the British Association for the Advancement REPORT OF THE COUNCIL TO THE GENERAL COMMITTEE. Xxlvii of Science have the honour, by the direction of the General Committee of the Association, assembled at Cork in August 1843, to make an earnest applica- tion to Her Majesty’s Government for the addition to the engraved sheets of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland, of a series of contour lines, representing the various degrees of elevation of the surface of the country from actual survey. * The grounds of this application are, that the execution of such lines would prove eminently serviceable to the landed, commercial, and mining interests of Ireland; that it would afford information and assistance of the highest value to persons engaged in the cultivation of science, and in applying scientific discoveries to practical purposes ; and that the work sought to be accomplished can be performed by the present Ordnance establishment in Ireland within a short time and at a moderate cost. ** Tn all cases where the improvement of farms, by opening them to markets, or to each other, by the cheapest roads, by drainage or by irrigation, is desired—in all the operations for ameliorating the condition of towns, espe- cially by diverting for their use existing streams of water, or obtaining new supplies by Artesian wells—in arranging the situations of coal-pits and mining adits—in planning or diverting roads, railways and canals, a knowledge of the inequalities of level of the surface of the country is of primary importance. “ This knowledge, contour lines, engraved on the Ordnance Maps, would supply, not only in a general sense, but with an exactness suited to particular cases and actual operations, and thereby facilitate in a high degree the pre- paration of good plans for public improvement, and save the heavy expense of innumerable special surveys, which, however well performed, cannot be compared in authenticity and applicability with theresultsof a general system, which, once completed, would be available for new cases and future times. * Independent of the assistance which the Ordnance Maps thus rendered complete would afford to public works and private enterprises, their aug+ mented value in a multitude of cases, embracing the applications of science and the ordinary concerns of life, is worthy of attention. In fact, without the introduction of such lines marking inequalities of level, these splendid maps would be incomplete, and less useful to the public than they might be made. “ The British Association has been assured that this desirable addition to the Irish maps is extremely practicable at the present time, because in the progress of the survey a great number of the lines and stations necessary for contouring have been determined, and a large body of persons has beentrained to the correct use of the instruments which must be employed in the process, whose services are now disposable. As experiments, the county of Kilkenny, and parts of Donegal and Louth, have been already contoured for general purposes ; a property of the Crown at Llangeinor, in South Wales, for mining operations, and Windsor for sanatory objects. “From these trials the probable cost of the operations, by which the data for contouring the whole of the Maps will be supplied, has been estimated at £10,000, a sum which it is hoped Her Majesty’s Government will deem altogether inconsiderable in comparison with the public advantages which cannot fail to arise from the performance of the work. It is also worthy of notice, that the newly-discovered process of electrotype is applicable to the purpose of enabling duplicate plates to be produced at an extremely small cost, in which these lines can be inserted, leaving the original plate unaltered, to furnish other duplicates for other purposes—such, for example, as the in- sertion of geological lines. “The British Association therefore begs leave to solicit from Her Majesty’s Government a favourable consideration of the subject; and that Her Majesty’s xlviil REPORT—1844., Government will be pleased to authorise the officers of the Ordnance depart- ment to take immediate steps for contouring on the whole of the maps of Ire- land, according to the specimen already executed for the county of Kilkenny.” (Signed by the Earl of Rosse, President; the Marquis of North- ampton and John Taylor, Esq., Members of the Committee.) No direct reply has been received to this application ; but the Council has learnt from other sources that the Contour Lines are to be inserted in the Ordnance Maps. 8. The General Committee assembled at Cork having passed a Resolution to the effect that application be made to Her Majesty's Government to give its aid in the publication of Professor Edward Forbes’s researches in the #gean Sea, the Council has to report that the General Secretaries, accompanied by Mr. Lyell, waited on Sir George Clerk, one of the Secretaries of the Trea- sury, and presented a Copy of the Resolution passed by the General Committee, accompanied by the following Memorial :— «Professor E. Forbes was engaged as naturalist in the ‘ Beacon’ surveying- vessel, under the command of Captain Graves, employed in a Hydrographical Survey of the Mediterranean, by direction of the British Government. While thus engaged, he embraced every occasion of obtaining, by the dredge, exact knowledge of the contents. of the Egean Sea, at all depths, ranging from the surface to 230 fathoms: he studied the fauna and flora of the isles of the Archipelago and the mountains of Lycia, and, by carefuland copious notes and drawings, he has preservedauthentic and complete accounts of the information thus gathered. “ During the survey of the submarine zoology of the Agean, and in the ex- amination of the coasts and interior country, Professor Forbes observed up- wards of 150 species of animals which he regards as altogether new to science, and a much larger number which have been previously unknown in these localities. “ Among many interesting results established by careful registration of the circumstances under which the several races of plants and animals were dis- covered in the Aigean, it appears that several distinct zones of depth are naturally defined in the Augean Sea, by distinct and peculiar groups of plants and animals; that the lower we pass downward in this sea the more do the organic forms resemble species which occur near the surface of the ocean in arctic regions; and that some species of Mollusca have been dredged alive in the Egean of which the remains only had been previously known ina fossil state, and were thought to be extinct. “These and some other conclusions derived by Professor Forbes from his researches, have an important bearing on the philosophy of natural history, and on the establishment of general truths in geology. The announcement of them in a report to the British Association has created great interest among persons devoted to natural science ; and it appears desirable for the advance- ment of knowledge that the data on which the conclusions rest should be published in a complete form. This cannot be done upon the expectation of remuneration through the ordinary channels of trade ; nor is it compatible with the means or the course of proceeding of the Association to undertake such a publication, though the sum of £100 was willingly devoted from their funds to assist Professor Forbes in defraying the cost of the dredging opera- tions, whose results are esteemed to be so valuable: except by aid from the Government, the'results of Professor Forbes’s labours can never be fully given to the public. If published in detached fragments and at various times, they will bealmost inaccessible,exceptto a very small numberof students; whereas, REPORT OF THE COUNCIL TO THE GENERAL COMMITTEE. xlix published by Government, the whole may be produced in a complete and creditable form, and be placed within the reach of the public at a moderate price, and given to foreign institutions of science, from which returns of like nature may be expected. “ To fulfil these conditions, to render the publication possible, and to make it useful by a sufficient series of illustrations, would probably require a sum not exceeding £500.” The Council has now the pleasure of stating, that Sir Robert Peel has con- sented to Mr. Forbes’s work being published at the expense of Her Majesty’s Government, under the superintendence of the Comptroller-General of Sta- tionery, and agreeably to the plan submitted by the General Secretaries, viz. that the publication should consist of about 300 pages of text in octavo, and about 100 plates; 500 copiesto be printed of the text, and the plates to be taken off as required ; that 50 copies should be presented in the name of the British Government to public libraries and institutions at home and abroad, according toa list to be furnished; that 50 copies should be at the disposal of Mr. Forbes, to be presented to persons who had assisted in his researches, or contributed towards the work; and that the remainder of the copies should be sold at a price considerably less than that of their cost. 4. The Council reports that the General Treasurer has received from Her Majesty's Treasury the sumof £1000, granted by Government for the publica- tion of the Catalogue of Stars in the ‘ Histoire Céleste’ of Lalande, and of La- caille’s ‘ Catalogue of Stars in the Southern Hemisphere.’ 5. The Council reports that the railway geological sections and documents connected therewith, which had been made at the expense of the British Asso- ciation at a cost of £363 6s. 9d., have been transferred to the Museum of conomic Geology, upon theassurance that these sections and documents shall be open to the public, as other documents in the Mining Record Office at the Museum now are, and with the understanding that the sections are to be con- tinued by the authority and at the expense of Government, for which purpose a sum of £250 has been taken on the estimates of the Museum of Ciconomic Geology for 1844—-45. 6. The Council has added the name of Dr. Langberg, of Christiania, to the list of Corresponding Members of the British Association. 7. TheCouncil has requested Professor Wheatstone to prepare a Report on the performance of the Self-registering Meteorological Apparatus belonging to the Observatory at Kew, and to present it at the Meeting at York. 8. The Council has requested Messrs. Wheatstone and Ronalds to prepare a Report on the performance of the Electrical Apparatus established at Kew, and on the results obtained with it; to be presented at the Meeting at York. 9. The Council, having ascertained that the Earl of Rosse, President of the Association, would not be indisposed to communicate to the Meeting at York an account of the recent improvements which he has effected in the construc- tion of Reflecting Telescopes, has requested His Lordship to prepare a Report on that subject ; to be presented at the York Meeting. 10. It having been stated to the Council that since the electrical apparatus has been fitted up in the cupola of the Kew Observatory, Mr. Galloway has been required, in addition to the general duties for which he was engaged, to attend to its registry every day from half an hour before sunrise until night ; and that the same constant attendance would continue to be required of him for this and other meteorological registries, the Council has increased Mr. Gallo- way’s salary to One Guinea a week, on the understanding that for this salary his whole time should be at the service of the Association. 1844. d ] REPORT—1844., 11. TheGeneral Committee assembled at Cork having placed at the disposal of the Council a sum of £200 for the purpose of maintaining the establish- ment at Kew, the Council reports that of this sum £118 5s. 23d. has been expended in the year which now closes, for salary and house-expenses. 12. Letters have been received from the Mayor and Town Council of the city of Bath ; from the Chairman, Committee and Secretary of the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution ; and from the President and Vice-Presidents of the Bath Mechanics’ Institution—inviting the British Association to hold its meeting in the year 1845 in that city. 13. The Council has been informed that the Senate of the University of Cambridge has passed a grace to the effect that if the meeting of the British Association should take place at Cambridge in 1845, the use of the Senate- house, and such of the public buildings and lecture-rooms as may be required for the different general and sectional meetings of the Association, should be granted under the superintendence of a syndicate ; and further, that the Phi- losophical Society of Cambridge designs, at the York Meeting, to invite the British Association to hold their Meeting in 1845 at Cambridge. 14. A letter has been received from Charles P. Deacon, Esq., Town Clerk of Southampton, containing an invitation from the Mayor and Borough Coun- cil to the British Association, to hold its Meeting for 1845 at Southampton ; and stating that in such case the Guildhall, Audit-house, and other public buildings, should be placed at the disposal of the Association ; and that the Literary and Scientific Society and the Polytechnic Institution would also place their lecture and other rooms at the disposal of the Association, and most cheerfully co-operate with the authorities in affording every facility and as- sistance in their power. (Signed on the part of the Council) Rosse. York, September 25th, 1844. REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE. On the Microscopic Structure of Shells. By W.Carprenter, M.D., F.R.S. I. Introductory Remarks. I mAvE in vain searched the works of recent Conchological writers, for any indication that Shell has any claim to the title of an organic structure. The researches of Reaumur and Hatchett appear to have induced the universal belief, that shell is an inorganic exudation from the surface of the mantle, consisting of calcareous particles held together by a sort of animal glue. It seems to have been formerly maintained by Herissant, however, that shell has an organic structure, and that it grows by interstitial deposit in the manner of bone. I have not been able, however, to find his original paper; and only make this statement on the authority of a reference which I have found to it in the article Conchyliologie in the ‘ Encyclopédie Méthodique,’ in which he is quoted as having endeavoured (but failed) to establish by “les expériences ingénieuses, bien plus que solides,” that shells grow by intus-susception, in- stead of by accretion, as demonstrated by Reaumur. In this doctrine he was undoubtedly wrong, as I shall hereafter show; since, although all shell pos- Sesses a more or less definite organic structure, this structure rather cor- responds with that of the various Epidermic appendages of Vertebrated animals, than with that of their internal vascular skeleton; and its mode of _ growth must therefore be analogous rather to that of the former than to that of the latter. The idea that such would be probably found to be the case, I expressed in the second edition of my ‘ Principles of General and Comparative Physio- logy’ (October 1841), as follows :—‘ The dense calcareous shells of the Mol- lusea, and the thinner jointed envelopes of the Crustacea, have been com- monly regarded as mere exudations of stony matter, mixed with an animal _ glue secreted from the membrane which answers to the true skin. The hard _ axes and sheaths of the Polypifera, however, have been also regarded in the _ same light; and yet, as will hereafter appear, these are unquestionably formed _ by the consolidation of what was once living tissue*. From the analogy _ which the shells of Mollusca and Crustacea bear to the epidermic appendages of higher animals, there would seem reason to believe that the former, like the latter, have their origin in eells, and that these are afterwards hardened by the deposition of earthy matter in their interior.’—(§ 44.) Acting upon this view, I commenced, in the spring of 1842, a series of in- * Reference was here made to the researches of M. Milne-Edwards, upon the development and growth of some of the corals. The nature of their organic structure has been subse- quently elucidated with great success by Mr. Bowerbank.—(Phil. Trans. 1842.) 1844. B 2 REPORT—1844. quiries into the structure of the shells of Mollusca, Crustacea, and Echinoder- mata; which I have since been prosecuting as time and opportunity have been afforded me. About the same period, Mr. Bowerbank commenced an inde-~ pendent series of observations ; which have had reference, however, rather to the formation of shell, than to its microscopic characters when complete ; and which have been limited to a comparatively small number of species, whilst my own have included a very extensive range. Finding that our paths of in- quiry were so distinct, Mr. Bowerbank and I agreed to pursue them inde- pendently of each other; and the results of our researches were simul- taneously communicated,—on his part to the Microscopical Society,—and on mine to the Royal Society,—in January 1843. A brief sketch of my own inquiries was laid before the British Association at its Cork meeting ; and, with the aid of the grant which was then made to me from the funds of the Association, together with the assistance I have received from various quar- ters, in regard to the collection of subjects for examination,—especially from the Geological Society, the Council of which has liberally permitted me to examine duplicate specimens from its valuable museum, and from Messrs. H. Cuming, S. Worsley, S. P. Pratt and J. Morris,—I have made during the past year little short of a éhousand preparations of shell-structure. A considerable part of my labour has been directed to the determination of the questions,— whether an uniform structure prevails through every part of the same shell, so that the structure of the whole shell may be predicated from that of a small portion of it,—and whether the same structure is found in different in- dividuals of the same species, and among different species of the same genus. It is obvious that a settlement of these questions must be of great importance in the application of the Microscope to the determination of fossil shells ; and I think that I am now entitled to answer them with some degree of confi- dence. I have, in a considerable number of instances, submitted every por- tion of a shell to microscopic investigation, selecting such specimens as, from the peculiar characters of their structure, would serve as types to which to refer others; and I have invariably found that an uniform structure pervades the whole of each; so that the examination of but a very small fragment is sufficient to determine the structure of the entire shell. I feel equally certain with respect to the correspondence between the structure of different individuals of the same species; as I have never found any decided variation, although I have in some instances examined several specimens of one kind. With respect to the degree of difference which may exist among the several species of the same genus, I am not yet prepared to speak with certainty. In general I have found the correspondence such, that the size of the elementary parts is the chief point of difference ; but occasionally I have found particular forms of structure present in one species and absent in another. It will hereafter appear, however, that this difference corresponds with other variations, which are probably to be considered as establishing generic distinctions in the cases in question. In the following Report, it is my intention to give a general account of the chief forms of elementary structure, which I have met with in Shell; and to enter into systematic details in regard to the group of Brachiopoda, and the families of Placunide, Ostracee, Pectinide, Margaritacee, and Unionide, among the Lamellibranchiate Bivalves. The remaining families of Bivalves, and the whole group of Univalves, must be reserved for a future report. I am desirous that it should be understood that, where I do not express myself to the contrary, my statements are the result of my own researches ; and that I am ready to substantiate them by reference to the preparations on which they are grounded, all of which are in my possession. ON THE MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE OF SHELLS. 3 I shall commence with a brief outline of the researches and conclusions of Mr. Hatchett (Phil. Trans. 1799), and of Mr. Gray (Phil. Trans. 1633) ; the only two original inquirers on this subject, so far as I am aware, since the time of Reaumur. The experiments of Mr. Hatchett led him to divide Shells into two classes, the porcellanous and the nacreous. He stated that those belonging to the former group are composed of carbonate of lime, held together by so small a proportion of animal matter, that, although its presence may be recog- nized by the effects of heat upon the shell, no membranous film is left after the action of dilute acid upon it. Under the zacreous group he placed those shells which, though they do not all exhibit the nacreous lustre, possess an amount of animal membrane sufficiently great for the form of the shell to be more or less perfectly preserved, after the calcareous matter has been com- pletely dissolved away by dilute acid. To such shells the term membranous has been subsequently applied with much greater propriety ; and of the class of membranous shells, the true nacreous form a subordinate division. This distinction, however, cannot now hold good; since all shells, without excep- tion, have a distinct animal basis, as will be shown hereafter. According to Mr. Gray, another classification of Shells may be founded upon the manner in which the carbonate of lime is deposited in their sub- stance; some shells exhibiting a distinctly crystalline fracture, whilst others are granular or concretionary. Mr. Gray states that, among the crystalline shells, some may be found, in which the carbonate of lime exhibits a rhomboidal erystallization, whilst in others it is prismatic. I think it will appear from my inquiries, that the calcareous matter in ail shells is nearly equally crystalline in its aggregation ; and that the particular forms which their fracture presents are determined, chiefly if not entirely, by the arrangement of the animal basis of the shell, which possesses a more or less highly organized structure. I shall now proceed to describe the principal varieties of structure which I have met with in the examination of upwards of 400 species of Shells, recent and fossil, selected from all the principal families of Mollusca. When exami- ning recent shells, I have, in nearly every instance, submitted them to micro- scopic investigation in at least two ways; first, by making thin sections of them, so that their structure might be examined by transmitted light; and second, by examining the animal membrane left after the removal of the cal- careous matter by dilute muriatic acid, which I shall name for convenience the decalcifying process. In many instances also, I have found the examina- tion of the natural or fractured surfaces of the shell by reflected light, or of the thin laminz into which many shells will readily split, to afford valuable information. These methods of investigation mutually aid and correct each other; and neither can be prosecuted alone, without much liability to error. Il. On the Condition of the Calcareous Matter in Shell. 1. All thin sections of recent Shell are translucent, except those which con- tain a large amount of opake colouring matter, or which (as sometimes hap- pens) have a layer of calcareous particles deposited in a chalky or concre- tionary state between the proper lamine of shell-structure. This is the case in the common Oyster, as pointed out by Mr. Gray ; and in many other shells which possess an opake white aspect, such as Fusus despectus. But I can- not regard such layers as forming part of the proper structure of the shell; since the particles of carbonate of lime, of which they consist, are not con- nected by any organic basis. 2. Again, all thin sections of shell possess the power of depolarizing light, so that the portion of shell appears bright upon a dark ground, when the B2 4 REPORT—1844, polarizing and analysing plates or prisms are so arranged as to prevent the transmission of ordinary light. 3. From these facts I think we are entitled to conclude, that the caleareous matter of shell is in a state of crystalline aggregation, even when no crystal- line forms are presented by it. The absence of the latter is probably due to the mode in which the calcareous matter is set free from the whole surface at once ; so that there is not room (so to speak) for these forms to be generated. This conclusion is strengthened by the remarkable fact, that crystalline forms do present themselves under peculiar circumstances. Thus I have met, in the Oyster, with layers incompletely calcified; so that, instead of being covered by a continuous and uniform deposit of carbonate of lime, the membrane was studded with a multitude of minute rhomboidal bodies, varying in size from about the 1-6000th to the 1-2000th of an inch across (fig. 16); the effect of polarized light and of chemical reagents upon which, left no doubt that they are crystals of carbonate of lime*. In very thin sections of parts of Cyprea and other porcellanous shells, in which the quantity of animal matter is ex- tremely small, I have frequently seen the apparently-homogeneous calcareous deposit crossed by lines, inclined to each other in such a manner, as to indicate a rhomboidal crystallization in its substance. And in the tooth of Mya arenaria, I have seen an appearance which seems to me (from a comparison of it with numerous allied forms of structure) to indicate the crystallization of the carbonate of lime in a radiating manner, (the centres being the nuclei of the cells, within which each group of crystals was originally inclosed,) somewhat after the manner of radiating Arragonite or Wavellite (fig. 14). III. Of the Animal Basis of Shell. 4. When a portion of any recent Shell is submitted to the decalcifying process, a perfectly definite animal basis remains. This basis may be nothing more than a film of membrane, so delicate as almost to elude detection+}, but evidently not an amorphous residuum; or it may be a membrane of firmer consistence, presenting regular plications or corrugations ; or it may consist of an aggregation of cells, having very definite membranous walls, and a more or less regular form. My first division of shell-structures, therefore, is, according to the character of the animal basis, into the cellular and the mem- branous ; these I shall now proceed to describe in detail. IV. Prismatic Cellular Structure. 5. If a small portion be broken away from the thin margin of the shell of any species of Pinna, and it be placed without any preparation under a low magnifying power, it presents on each of its surfaces, when viewed by ¢rans- mitted light, very much the aspect of a honeycomb; whilst at the broken edge it exhibits an appearance which is evidently fibrous to the eye, but which, when examined under the microscope with reflected light, resembles that of an assemblage of basaltic columns. The shell is thus seen to be com- posed of a vast multitude of prisins, having for the most part a tolerably regular hexagonal shape and nearly uniform size. These are arranged per- pendicularly (or nearly so) to the surface of each lamina, so that its thick- ness is formed by their length, and its two surfaces by their extremities. A more satisfactory view of these prisms is obtained by grinding down a lamina, * It is stated by Wagner, that minute crystals of calcareous matter are to be found in the ae envelope of Ascidia mammillata.—(Lehrbuch der vergleichenden_Anatomie, p- 60. + When such films have not been visible in the menstruum, I have found them inyolyed in the bubbles that lay on the surface after the effervescence was over. ON THE MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE OF SHELLS. 5 until it possesses a high degree of transparency ; and it is then seen, that the prisms themselves appear to be composed of a very homogeneous substance, but that they are separated by definite and strongly-marked lines of division (fig. 3). In general the substance forming the prisms is very transparent, but here and there is seen an isolated prism, usually of smaller size than the rest, which presents a very dark appearance, even in a section of no more than 1-400th of an inch in thickness, as if the prism contained an opake substance (fig.6). These dark cells are seen in very great abundance, when we examine a lamina in which the natural external surface has been pre- served, the reduction of its thickness having been effected by grinding down the under side only ; and it is then seen that their degree of opacity varies considerably (fig. 5). To the cause of this appearance I shall presently revert, as it is a matter of some interest in reference to the formation of this kind of shell-structure. 6. When a piece of the shell of Pinna has been submitted to the action of dilute acid, the carbonate of lime being dissolved away, a consistent and almost leathery membrane remains, which exhibits the prismatic structure just as perfectly as does the original shell; the hexagonal division being seen when either of its surfaces is examined, and the basaltiform appearance being evident on the inspection of its edge. No resemblance can be stronger than that which exists between a layer of this membrane and a corresponding layer of the pith or bark of a plant, in which the cells are hexagonal prisms. In many instances I have been able to detect distinct nuclei or eytoblasts in all the cells of a naturally thin layer; although, from some cause which I am not able to explain, these are generally invisible (fig.8). I have often been able to detect them with reflected light, however, when I could not distinguish them with transmitted. As the nucleus occupies one of the ends of the prismatic cell, it is of course useless to look for it when the natural surface of the lamina has been removed by grinding. The decalcified membrane presents no trace of the opake cells just now mentioned ; indeed the small cells which would probably have presented this appearance in a section of the shell, are now, if anything, rather more transparent and free from colours than the rest. 7. The action of dilute acid having thus enabled us to obtain the mem- branous element of shell in a separate state, we are enabled to inquire into the condition of the calcareous element, by means of specimens, in which the animal matter has been removed by the long-continued action of water. I am indebted to Mr. S. Stutchbury for an interesting specimen, in which the thick outer layer had become disintegrated during the life of the animal, by the decay of its organic structure, and the prisms of carbonate of lime were left in situ, but not in any way held together, so that they could be sepa- rated by a touch. On treating these prisms with dilute acid, I have found them encircled by an extremely delicate membranous film ; the remainder of the cells in which they were originally formed having been removed by decay. In the fossil Pinne of the oolite and neighbouring formations, it very fre- quently happens that the prisms exhibit a similar tendency to come apart, so as to admit of separate examination. . It is then seen, that whilst some of them are ¢runcated at both ends, so that their extremities appear at the two surfaces of the layer which they form, others gradually come to a poznt at one end, so that this is lost in the thickness of the layer (figs. 9-11). A careful examination of these prisms, and of their irregularities of form, quite disproves the idea that their shape is due to a prismatic crystallization of carbonate of lime, it being evident that they are casts of the interior of organic cells, the shape of. which is determined by their mode of origin and formation. The variations in the size of the prisms at different parts of their length, accounts 6 REPORT—1844, satisfactorily for the varying size of the reticulations as shown on a transverse section of them,—some of the cells being cut across at their thickest, and some at their thinnest part. The very small hexagons which are occasionally seen in the midst of larger ones (fig. 7), are evidently the sections of prismatic cells, which are coming to a pointed termination. Of this fact I shall pre- sently make further use (§ 14). 8. The great thickness of the basaltiform layers in many of the fossil Pinne (and their allied genera) renders them very favourable subjects for examination of their structure, by a section at right angles to their surfaces. It is then seen that the direction of the prismatic fibres is seldom quite straight. In the same section they are often cut longitudinally in one part, and obliquely or almost transversely in another. Hence, although it is plain from the appearances shown on fracture, or by the disintegration of the shell, that most of the fibres pass continuously from one surface to the other, it is seldom that the whole length of them canbe displayed in any one sectton,— one set frequently passing off by a change of direction, and another coming into view. Even to the naked eye, the curvature of these fibres is often sufficiently evident in the large Pinne and Inocerami; a circumstance which may, I think, be regarded as adding weight to the conclusion, that the pris- matic character of the fibres is not to be attributed to crystalline action, but to the form of the cells in which the calcareous matter is deposited. 9. The general structure of the outer layers of the shell of Pinna (and, as I shall hereafter show, of many other genera) may be thus described :— it consists of a stratum of prismatic cells, usually more or less hexagonal, adherent to each other by their sides, and forming the surfaces of the layer by their flattened terminations. Most of these cells pass continuously from one surface to the other, so that their length corresponds with the thickness of the layer; but some of them end, by acute terminations, in the interior of the layer, when its thickness is considerable (figs. 2 and 10). These cells are filled with carbonate of lime, which give firmness to what would be otherwise a soft membranous stratum. From the universality with which this kind of structure, when it presents itself at all, forms the external layers of the shell, and from the complete correspondence between the form and aggregation of its cells, and those of the Epithelium covering the free surfaces of the other membranes of the body, I think we are justified in regarding the prismatic cellular substance of shell (which is the term by which I have designated this kind of structure) in the light of a calcified epithelium. It would thus correspond with the Enamel of Teeth, to which it is analogous in every re- spect, save the character of the mineral deposit, and the much larger size of the prisms. 10. A more minute investigation of this structure throws some additional light on the mode in which it is at first produced. When a thin section is made of the shell of Pinna nigrina parallel to its surface, it exhibits a beau- tiful reddish-violet hue by transmitted light, which is not, however, uniformly diffused over the whole section, some parts being commonly almost or com- pletely colourless (fig. 1). This appearance is completely explained by the examination of a thin section made in the opposite direction; and it is then seen that there is an alternation of coloured and colourless strata through the whole thickness of the layer; so that the variations in the hue of the hori- zontal section are due to the mode in which these strata crop out, one from beneath another (fig.2). If the section, however, should happen to traverse one layer only, its hue will be uniform throughout; and thus I have sections of the same shell, taken from the same part of it, in some of which the whole is colourless, whilst in others it is uniformly tinted. Now these facts are in- ON THE MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE OF SHELLS. 7 teresting, as proving, I think, beyond a doubt, that the filling up of these long prismatic cells with carbonate of lime was not accomplished at one nisus ; and that there must have been a succession of deposits, of which some were tinted by the admixture of a coloured secretion, whilst others were left colourless. The ouéer portion of each layer will of course be the part first formed; and the coloured layers are usually most numerous and deeply tinted in its neighbourhood. 11. The idea of a succession of deposits is borne out by a very curious ap- pearance, which is presented by the two elements of the structure, when they are separately examined. The prismatic cells of the decalcified membrane ex- hibit a series of transverse markings at a small distance from each other, which bear no small resemblance (as Mr. Bowerbank has remarked) to the transverse striz of muscular fibre. These markings may be best seen by looking at the sides of the cells, in a vertical section which has been decalcified by dilute acid; and they impart to the long prisms very much the aspect of the sealariform yessels of plants (fig.11). But they may frequently be well seen in a horizontal section (with or without decalcification), when, as often hap- pens, the direction of some of the prisms is somewhat oblique, instead of being perpendicular to the plane of the section. Markings of a precisely similar nature are seen upon the calcareous prisms themselves, both from recent and fossil shells ; and they evidently correspond with those which the cell-walls exhibit. 12. These markings are attributed by Mr. Bowerbank to the existence of a vascular network, by which he supposes each stratum of prismatic cells to be surrounded. He thinks that a network of tubes, passing round each cell, may frequently be seen in the decalcified membrane; and that the slight bulging inwards, which the passage of the tube between the contiguous walls of two cells will give to each of them, is the cause of the marking in question. I cannot but think, however, that this view has been somewhat hastily adopted. In the first place, we know of no instance in which vessels pass in this manner through a cellular structure, except in the adipose tissue of animals, to which the fabric of shell bears no resemblance. I have in vain looked, in many scores of carefully-prepared specimens, for appearances distinctly indicative of the passage of tubes between these cells; but have never succeeded, I can in any one, however, readily produce the appear- ance figured by Mr. Bowerbank as a vascular reticulation, by throwing the cut edges of the membrane a little out of focus, Moreover, if these tubes have a real existence, they ought to be very evident in the shell, before decal- cification; in which I have never been able to find a trace of them, although I have examined more than 100 sections, cut in various directions, of various species of Pinna alone. When it is considered that the strize are seldom more than 1-5000th of an inch apart, and are frequently much less, it is evident that there must be at least 5000 strata of this vascular network in a layer of shell an inch thick. According to Mr. Bowerbank, these strata communicate with each other by vertical tubes passing upwards and down- wards from the angles of the reticulations. These also I have failed to see, although I have used *every variety of magnifying power and of method of examination. I may mention also that, as will presently appear, I have found numerous instances, in which a tubular structure of great delicacy is readily discernible in Shell ; so that I am quite familiar with the appearances which such a structure in Pinna might be expected to present. 13. By submitting the eut edges of the membranous wall of the prismatic cell to a high magnifying power, under favourable circumstances, I have been able to discoyer what I believe to be the real cause of the transverse S REPORT—1844. : striation in question. The membrane evidently projects inwards at those parts, not in consequence of being pushed inwards from without, but be- cause its own thickness is there increased. This appearance corresponds well with the conclusion already drawn, in regard to the progressive formation of each layer of shell; and I am much inclined to believe that each transverse marking indicates a distinct deposit. Whether, during the time when this succession of deposits was taking place, the prismatic cells grew at their bases, and these lines indicate the additions which were progressively made to the length of the cells,—or whether the long prismatic cells, as we now find them, are made up by the coalescence of a number of layers of flat pavement- like epithelium-cells, placed one upon another, and the lines indicate their points of junction,—I do not feel warranted in affirming with certainty, as the question could be only rightly decided by examining the shell in the progress of its formation, which I have not yet had the opportunity of doing. I am much inclined, however, to adopt the latter view ; which was suggested to me by Professor Owen. The coalescence of cells, linearly arranged, so as to form a single long cell or tube, is an occurrence with which Animal and Ve- etable Physiologists are alike familiar. The idea derives strength from the fact, that I have occasionally met with a layer of prismatic cellular structure of such extreme tenuity, that it was almost impossible to separate it, lying between thicker layers of the same in the shell of Pinna. The cells of this layer, instead of being elongated prisms, were flat and pavement-like, resem- bling the epithelium of serous membrane; and it was in such that I have found the cytoblasts most perfectly preserved (fig. 8). It is hardly to be supposed that this layer was produced by a distinct act of shell-formation, as it would not add in any appreciable degree to the size or solidity of the shell ; and it seems probable that it was a supplemental portion, which had not coalesced with the remainder of the layer, of which it should properly have formed a part. 14. The last point to which I shall advert, is one which I have already noticed,—the presence of dark or semi-opake cells in great numbers on the natural outer surface of the layers of prismatic cellular substance in the Pinna (fig.5); their presence in a much diminished proportion, and only as small cells, in sections taken from the interior of the layer (fig.6); and their complete absence (in general at least) from the natural internal surface of the layers (fig.7). I have nearly satisfied myself, that the appearance of opacity is due to the presence of a small quantity of air in or near the ex- tremities of the celis. That this, being enveloped in a substance of so high a refracting power as carbonate of lime, would give the appearance of opa- city, is easily understood on optical principles, and is practically well known to the microscopist. Now when we consider that the exterior surface, on which this appearance is chiefly seen, is the one furthest removed from that surface on which the carbonate of lime is being poured forth, it does not appear surprising that the calcifying substance should not always find its way to the ends of the cells, but should occasionally leave a void space there. And when it is remembered that the dark cells of the interior of the layer are few and small, and that, as already shown, these small cells are the sections of the acute terminations of prisms which do not pass on to the surface, it is obvious that the same view fully accounts for their occurrence in this situation. 15. Although the prismatic cellular structure has not yet been observed in actual process of formation, yet certain appearances which are occasionally met with in the marginal portions of its newest layers, throw great light upon its mode of growth, and indicate its strong resemblance to cartilage in this respect ; for in these situations we find the cells neither in contact with each + : / ® t . » ON THE MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE OF SHELLS. 9 other nor polygonal in form, but separated by a greater or less amount of intercellular substance, and presenting a rounded instead of an angular border (fig. 12¢.). Upon looking still nearer the margin, the cells are seen to be yet smaller, and more separated by intercellular substance (fig. 12 6.) ; and not unfrequently we lose all trace of distinct cells, the intercellular sub- stance presenting itself alone, but containing cytoblasts scattered through it (fig. 12 a.). This appearance has been noticed by myself in Perna and Unio, and by Mr. Bowerbank in Osérea; so that I have no doubt that it is general in this situation. We may, I think, conclude from it, that the cells of the prismatic cellular substance are developed, like these of cartilage, in the midst of an intercellular substance, which at first separates them from each other; that as they grow and draw into themselves the carbonate of lime poured out from the subjacent surface, they approach each other more and more nearly ; and that as they attain their full development, their sides press against each other, so that the cells acquire a polygonal form, and the intercellular substance disappears. V. Membranous Shell-substance. 16. Under this appellation I describe the substance, of which (under va- rious forms) all those shells consist, that do not present the prismatic cellular tissue just described. In this substance no trace of cells can for the most part be discovered; and when they do present themselves, they are usually scattered through it with little or no regularity, and do not form a continuous stratum, when the calcareous matter has been removed by acid. In no shell, even those most decidedly porcellanous, have I failed in detecting some membranous basis, although the film is often of extreme tenuity. I believe that there is no shell, in which this kind of structure does not exist under some form ; for even where almost the entire thickness is made up of the prismatic substance, as in Pinna and its allies, there is still a thin lining of nacre, which I shall presently show to be but a simple modification of the ordinary membranous structure. 17. Although I cannot yet speak positively on the subject, still lam much disposed to believe, that in every distinct formation of shell-substance there is a single layer of membrane; and J am further of opinion that this membrane was at one time a constituent part of the mantle of the mollusc. The late researches of Mr. Bowman upon mucous membrane, have shown that the essential consti- tuent of this tissue is a delicate, transparent and homogeneous expansion, the free surface of which is usually covered with epithelium-cells, whilst the attached side is in contact with that complex tissue (composed of areolar structure, blood-vessels, lymphatics, &c.) to which the name of “mucous membrane” is commonly applied. This expansion is termed by Mr. B. the “ basement membrane ;” and it is found, not merely on the mucous membranes, but also on the external surface of the true shin, lying beneath the epidermic cells. _ Now the manile of the Mollusca, being essentially analogous to the true skin of higher animals, may be inferred to possess this element; and if it be pe- _ Yiodically thrown off and renewed, we have a case strongly analogous to the formation of the “decidua” in the human uterus. Whether this be or be not the origin of the membranous residuum, which is found after the decal- cification of shell, the correspondence between this tissue and the basement- membrane of Mr. Bowman is extremely close. In its simplest condition, the former, like the latter, is a pellucid structureless pellicle of extreme delicacy and transparency, exhibiting no trace either of cells, granules or fibres (fig. 19). T have occasionally found it, however, of a somewhat granular appearance, as if formed by the solidification of a thin stratum of fluid, including an immense 10 REPORT—1844. number of minute molecules. In other cases, again, I have found it studded here and there with what seemed to be incipient cells. And lastly, I have occasionally found these cells more developed, and forming an almost conti- nuous layer on the surface of the membrane. In this state they somewhat resemble the incipient form of the prismatic cellular substance. These cells may be occasionally seen in sections of the shell itself ; and they will be often found in very different degrees of development, even in the corresponding layers of two shells of the same species. Coupling the appearances which I have myself observed with the observations of Mr. Bowerbank on the forma- tion of shell, and keeping in view the general doctrines of cell-action, which I have elsewhere endeavoured to develope, I am inclined to believe that these cells are, like the cells of the prismatic cellular structure, the real agents in the production of the shell, it being their office to secrete into their own cavities the carbonate of lime supplied by the fluids of the animal. But whilst the cells of the prismatic cellular structure advance in their de- velopment, so as to form a perfect tissue,—the “ calcigerous cells,” of which we are row speaking, appear to burst or liquefy, and to discharge their contents upon the surface of the subjacent membrane, on which a shelly layer is thus formed. A greater or smaller proportion of these being left entire, and being included in the substance discharged from the rest, would pre- sent the appearances I have mentioned as occasionally manifesting them- selves in sections of membranous shell-structure, and in the decalcified mem- brane. Thus in Mya, Anatina, Thracia, and other allied genera, I have met with obvious indications of a cellular structure in sections of the exterior layer of the shell (fig. 15) ; but I have seldom been able to obtain any distinet layer of cell-membrane (like that existing in the shell of Pinna and its allies) by the action of acid, except in Thracia and Pandora ; although traces of seattered cells do present themselves. Hence it is evident that the cells, if they ever existed as such (of which I have little doubt), have ceased to exist ; but that their solid contents have been left. The difference between this kind of structure and the regular prismatic cellular substance, will be made evident by a comparison of the two forms delineated in figs. 3 and 15. The sharp- ness and definiteness of the lines dividing the cells in the former, are in striking contrast with the irregularity of the spaces intervening between the latter. In the shells of the family Myide, too, I have seen other appearances which fall in with the view just expressed in regard to the “fusion” of cells with each other; these I shall describe more particularly in a future Report ; but in the mean time I may direct attention to fig. 13, as most clearly indi- cating the existence of such a “fusion ;” its various stages being evident in the different parts of the same specimen. 18. The Membranous shell-substance presents many curious varieties of - aspect, which may be generally accounted for by corresponding diversities in the arrangement of the basement-membrane. ‘Thus it sometimes presents a simple homogeneous character, as if the shelly matter had been uniformly diffused over a plane surface ; but this is comparatively seldom the case, for there are few instances in which the shell does not present, in some part of its thickness, an appearance which indicates an unevenness of surface on the part of the basement-membrane (fig. 43); and this appearance is usually found to correspond with the aspect of the membrane after decalcification. Sometimes this unevenness amounts simply to a corrugation or wrinkling, closely resembling that of morocco leather. The boundaries of the wrinkles are so strongly marked in some shells, that even the experienced Microscopist may be deceived into the belief that he is looking at a section displaying fusi- form cells. Such is the case with the inner layer of the shell of Patella. In ON THE MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE OF SHELLS. 11 all these instances, the decalcification of the shell affords a tolerably con- elusive test of the real nature of the structure; for the absence of cells in the membranous residuum, coupled with the existence of the corrugations in the membrane itself, clearly indicates its character. 19. In many other instances the membrane is still more gathered up into plaits or folds, which lie over one another, so that their edges present them- selves as a series of lines, more or less exactly parallel. I shall presently show that the peculiarity of nacreous structure is dependent upon this kind of arrangement; and that another very remarkable form of it is characteristic of the Zerebratule and their allies. 20. I am at present inclined to believe that a great part of the appearances, which are attributed by Mr. Gray to the rhomboidal crystallization of the carbonate of lime, are really due to the corrugation or plication of the base- ment-membrane; for there may be noticed in the disposition of the folds, exactly that variation between the different layers, which Mr. Gray has pointed out as resulting from the different directions of the crystallization. Thus in Cyprea and its allies, the three layers of shell are easily made to come into view in the same section, and it is then seen that the corrugations of each layer cross those of the adjoining one. A different explanation has been offered however by Mr. Bowerbank ; and until I have examined the subject afresh, I avoid expressing a positive opinion on the subject. VI. Nacreous Structure. 21. The superficial aspect of nacre (or mother-of-pearl), and the’ optical phenomena which it presents, have been examined and described by Sir D. Brewster* and Sir John F. W. Herschel+. My inquiries into its structure will enable me, I think, to give a more satisfactory description of its forma- tion than has yet been offered ; and also to explain some of the optical pha- nomena, which have not yet been fully accounted for. 22. When a thin layer of nacre is submitted to the microscope, its surface is seen to be marked with numerous delicate lines, which traverse it with greater or less regularity: sometimes these lines are almost straight, and run nearly parallel to each other at tolerably regular intervals ; whilst in other parts of the same specimen they are seen to follow a more irregular course, and to diverge widely from each other (fig.17). Sir J. Herschel has not unaptly compared this appearance to that of the surface of a smoothed deal board, in which the woody layers are cut perpendicularly to their surface in one part, and nearly in their plane in another. ‘These lines are seen on the natural interior surface of the nacre, and no polishing obliterates them. Their distance from each other is extremely variable ; I have seen them only 1-7500th of an inch apart; but,they are usually in much less close proximity. 23. When the nacre-lines are carefully examined, it becomes evident that they are produced by the cropping-out of lamine of shell, situated more or less obliquely to the plane of the surface. The greater the dip of these _ laminz, the closer will their edges obviously be; whilst the less the angle they make with the surface, the wider will be the interval between the lines. When the section passes for any distance in the plane of a lamina, no lines will present themselves on that space. 24. As far as I can understand Sir D. Brewster’s idea of the structure of nacre, he appears to me to suppose, that it consists of a multitude of layers of carbonate of lime alternating with animal membrane, and that the pre- nea Transactions, 1814; and “Optics” in Lardner’s Cabinet Cyclopedia, pp. 115-120. { Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, vol. ii. 12 REPORT—1844. sence of grooves on the most highly-polished surface is due to the wearing- away of the edges of the animal lamin, whilst those of the hard calcareous laminz stand out. If each line upon the nacreous surface, however, indi- cates a distinct layer of shell-structure, a very thin section of mother-of-pearl ought to contain many thousand such layers, in accordance with the number of lines upon its surface. But when the nacre is treated with dilute acid, so as to dissolve away its calcareous portion, this is found not to be the case. The number of layers of membrane bears no proportion whatever to the number of lines upon its surface ; and it is impossible therefore to imagine, that the laminations indicated by these lines are so many distinct layers of shell-structure. 25. It is generally difficult to ascertain anything from the examination of the decalcified membrane, as to its disposition in the nacreous structure ; since the disengagement of carbonic acid more or less completely unfolds the plaits, of which some indications remain in it (fig. 19): but one shell affords us the opportunity of examining the plaits iz seéw, and thus presents a clear demon- stration of the real structure of nacre. The shell I allude to is Haliotis splen- dens, in which, as Mr. Gray has remarked *, a considerable quantity of animal matter intervenes between the layers of nacre. This is not disposed in spots, however (as stated by Mr. Gray), but in the form of numerous plates of a horny substance, very like tortoise-shell in colour and aspect. As the sur- faces of these plates usually follow the curvature of the shell, a plane sec- tion will not pass through any one of them for any considerable distance, and consequently its cut portion will appear as an insulated spot. If a piece of this shell be submitted to the action of dilute acid, the calcareous por- tion of the nacreous layers, which intervene between these plates and hold them together, is dissolved away, and they readily separate. Each horny plate is then seen to be covered on one side with the membranous residuum of the nacre, whilst on the other it is bare,—this surface being applied, in the un- altered shell, to the layer of nacre which adheres to the next plate. Only a single layer of nacre-membrane exists between each pair of horny lamine, and we have thus a most favourable opportunity of studying its disposition. It is generally found that, when the horny plates fall asunder in the dilute acid, some of them exhibit the nacre-membrane in an undisturbed condition, and their surfaces then exhibit the iridescent lustre, although all the calcareous matter has been removed from the structure. On looking at the surface with reflected light, under a magnifying power of about 75 diameter, it is seen to present a series of folds or plaits more or less regular (fig. 18); and the iri- descent hues which these exhibit are of the most gorgeous description. If the membrane be extended with a pair of needles, these plaits are unfolded, and it covers a much larger surface than before ; but the iridescence is then completely destroyed. 26. I think it will be admitted that this is an expertmentum erucis, in regard to the cause of the iridescence of nacre, demonstrating that the peculiar lineation of its surface (on which the iridescence undoubtedly depends) is due, not to the outcropping of alternate layers of membranous and calea- reous matter, but to the disposition of a single membranous layer in folds or plaits, which lie more or less obliquely to the general surface ; so that their edges present themselves as lines, at a greater or less distance from each other, according to the direction in which the section traverses them. 27. Besides the images described by Sir D. Brewster, another optical phe- nomenon has been pointed out by Sir J. Herschel, as presented by mother-of- pearl, when light is reflected from its surface. This he has aptly compared * Philosophical Transactions, 1833. ON THE MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE OF SHELLS. 13 to the minute ripples which cross the surface of the larger waves. I think that my observations furnish the explanation of these appearances. The lines which mark the edges of the plaits are seldom or never quite even, but are more or less wavy. Of these irregularities, some are caused by the mi- nute scratches or indentations left by the polishing material; but these may be readily distinguished by the experienced observer; and there is, besides them, a regular series evidently caused by slight transverse undulations in the plaits themselves, which thus form a secondary series of minute corruga- tions, lying at right angles with the principal plaits. These secondary cor- rugations, however, are seldom deep enough to overlie one another, and hence they exhibit no lined edges. I have been able to detect them very readily in the decalcified nacre-membrane, when it has suffered no exten- sion ; when it has been in the least degree stretched, however, the secondary corrugations are flattened, and the edges of the primary folds become quite straight. The reason why the optical appearances resulting from this arrange- ment cannot (as Sir J. Herschel has remarked) be communicated, like those of the primary series, to surfaces of wax, resin, &c., appears to me to be sim- ply this, that the folds are not deep enough to overlap each other, and that thus no lined edges are produced; consequently the corrugations give rise to no inequalities on the polished surface, and cannot communicate any pecu- liar character to substances impressed upon it. 28. In no nacreous shells that I have examined, have I failed to discover the structure which I have described ; and my examination has comprehended examples, both recent and fossil, from all the tribes in which this character presents itself. 29. There are several shells which present what may be termed a sub- nacreous structure, their polished surfaces being covered with lines indicative of folds in the membrane; but these folds being destitute of that regularity of arrangement, which is necessary to produce the iridescent lustre. This is the case, for example, with most of the Pectinide, also with some of the Mytilacee, and with the common Oyster. It is easy to understand, therefore, why there should be a variation in this respect within the limits of a single genus. Thus in Ostrea there is usually no perfect nacre, yet there are spe- cies which are truly nacreous. On the other hand, in Mytilus there is usu- ally a truly nacreous interior; yet there are species in which this is wanting. When so very slight a difference in the arrangement of the folds will produce this variation, it is not surprising that it should occur among the species of the same genus. A want of transparency, also, appears to be one cause of the absence of the iridescent lustre. Thus in a very thin layer of the shell of Ostrea edulis, the nacreous lineation is here and there very characteristi- cally shown; yet the shell possesses no iridescence, partly in consequence, I am inclined to think, of the presence between its layers of the chalky, depo- sits formerly mentioned (§ 1), which can neither transmit nor reflect light. VII. Tubular Structure. 30. All the different forms of membranous shell-structure are occasionally traversed by tubes, which seem to commence from the inner surface of the shell, and to be distributed in its several layers. These tubes vary in size from about the 1-20,000th to the 1-2000th of an inch; but their general dia- meter, in the shells in which they most abound, is about 1-4.500th of an inch. The direction and distribution of these tubes are extremely various in differ- ent shells; in general, where they exist in considerable numbers, they form a network, which spreads itself out in each layer, nearly parallel to its sur- face; so that a large part of it comes into focus at the same time, in a section 14 ; REPORT—1844. which passes in the plane of the lamina (fig.20). From this network some branches proceed towards the nearer side of the section, as if to join the net- work of another layer; whilst others dip downwards, as if for a similar pur- pose. The most characteristic examples of this structure which I have met with are to be found in the outer yellow layer of Anomia ephippium (fig. 40), the external layer of Lima scabra, and in Chama florida. In other in- stances, the tubes run at a distance from each other obliquely through the shelly layers, and they are then usually of large size. This is the case for instance in Arca Noe, and Pectunculus. In no cases have I seen any such variation in the size of the tubes of the same sheli, as would convey the idea of their resemblance to blood-vessels ; and even where a division occurs, the size of each of the branches is usually equal to that of the single trunk. Sometimes these canals are quite straight, whilst in other instances they are sinuous. That they are not mere channels or excavations in the shell-sub- stance, is proved by the fact that they may be seen in the decalcified mem- brane (fig. 41). I have frequently seen in them indications of a cellular origin, as if they had been formed by the coalescence of a number of cells arranged in a linear direction ; and I find that Mr. Bowerbank has come to the same conclusion. $1. The tubular structure is usually found only in the ordinary membra- nous shell-substance ; in fact, I have seldom observed it in the nacre, except where the tubes penetrate this, to be distributed in a layer external to it, as is the case, for example, in Anomia and Trigonia. I have nowhere found it coexisting in the same shell with any great amount of prismatic cellular substance ; consequently it is for the most part absent in the Margarita- ceé and .Vayadee, and but very slightly manifested in the true Ostracee. In most of the families of Bivalves, however, in which the lobes of the mantle are united, some traces of it may be detected ; though these are often very scanty. There is less regularity in regard to this character, than in respect to most others furnished by the microscopic examination of the shell. Thus I have found a little collection of tubes in one spot of the nacre of an Avicula, in no other part of which did I meet with any; and I have frequently found one species of a genus extremely tubular, whilst another, closely allied to it, was almost or entirely destitute of tubes. Nevertheless, in conjunction with other characters, I consider that the presence or absence of this structure may often afford valuable assistance in determining the position of an unknown specimen. Of this I shall presently adduce a stri- king example. VIII. Cancellated Structure. 32. I give this denomination to a peculiar structure closely resembling the cancellated texture of bone, which is remarkably characteristic of that very peculiar and perplexing group,—the Rudistes. I can scarcely de- scribe this structure so well, as by comparing it with the prismatic cellular structure of Pinna and its allies, upon a large scale; with this important dif- ference, however, that in this cancellated structure the prismatic cells are not solid but hollow*. It is true that in many specimens of Hippurite and Spheerulite, the cancelli are found to be completely tilled with carbonate of lime ; but there are appearances about this deposit, which lead to the belief that it is the work of subsequent infiltration; and this view is confirmed by the fact, that the Rudistes of the Chalk are commonly found with their can- celli empty. In what manner these minute chambers were occupied during * This structure has been described by Mr. Gray in the Magazine of Zoology and Botany, vol. ii. p. 228. ON THE MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE OF SHELLS. 15 the life of the animal, it is impossible now to say; as there is no existing group, to which the Rudistes seem to bear any close resemblance. The shape of each is usually that of a very short hexagonal prism, terminated at each end by a flat partition: consequently a section in one direction will exhibit the walls of the chambers disposed in a hexagonal network (fig. 22); whilst, when the section passes in the opposite direction, the transverse partitions come into view (fig. 23). The cancellated structure is externally and inter- nally covered with a shelly plate, in which no perforations whatever can be seen. It is difficult to imagine, therefore, how any communication could have existed between the animal contained within the shell, and the cancel- lated structure which forms its thickness. 33. The only approaches to this structure, so far as I am aware, presented by any recent shells, are to be found in the irregular cancellated structure of the base of some of the sessile Cirrhopods; and in a similarly irregular can- cellated structure, which has been described by Mr. Gray* as existing be- tween the lamine of an undescribed species of Oyster, named by him Ostrea purpurea. 1 have not myself met with anything at all to be compared with it among the shells of ordinary Mollusca ; and I cannot but think that its ex- istence, as nearly the sole component of their shells, marks out the Rudistes as a group altogether distinct from them. The position which I should be myself inclined to assign to them, from the structure of the shell, is between the Ostracee and the sessile Balani; and I believe that the most complete information we possess on the character of the animals, would lead to the same conclusion. 34. The presence of this structure in any fossil, whose situation is doubt- ful, appears to me a sufficient reason for referring it to the group of Rudistes. Thus from finding it in Pleurorhynchus Hibernicus (figs. 24, 25), { should almost unhesitatingly assign this position to that shell, notwithstanding its strong resemblance in form to some of the Curdiacee. It has not the least correspondence, however, to the Cardium cardissa, or to any of the Cardiacee that I have examined, in regard to the structure of its shell, which entirely consists of cancellated texture,—the cancelli being formed by the intersec- tion of planes at right angles to each other. When the shell disintegrates, the casts of these cancelli, which are produced by the infiltration of carbonate of lime, are disposed to separate from each other; and thus a layer of iso- lated parallelopipeds are found in place of the shell. 35. Having now described the principal component elements, of which the shells of Mollusca are made up, I proceed to detail the results of my inquiries into the combination of these, in the several groups which altogether form this sub-kingdom. From what has been already stated, the question natu- rally presents itself, how far the elementary structure of the shell may furnish characters of importance in classification and in the determination of fossils. My inquiries, so far as they have yet proceeded, tend to establish this po- sition, that where a recognizable and constant diversity presents itself in the ele- mentary structure of the shell among different groups, that diversity affords characters, which are to a very high degree indicative of the natural affinities of those groups. It is not always that peculiarities sufficiently distinctive pre- sent themselves, even between what are regarded zoologically as distinct fami- lies ; but where a marked diversity does exist, I believe that it will always be Indicative of the affinities of the animal. Thus the conformity in structure between all the shells of one natural family is usually so close, that any strongly-marked difference in a particular genus would make me hesitate in * Loe. cit. v/v ’ 16 REPORT—1844. admitting it into the group. I think it well at once to premise, that the cha- racters derived from the intimate structure of the shell are not likely to serve for the distinction of species from each other, and that they will not often distinguish genera ; but for the separation of some natural families, I believe that they will furnish the best single set of characters that the naturalist pos- sesses, especially among particular groups, in which the application of other characters is very uncertain. IX. Brachiopoda. 36. The shells of the Brachiopoda or Palliobranchiata (Owen) present many interesting objects for inquiry; their structure is, in almost every in- stance, quite distinct from that of the shells of the Lamellibranchiate bivalves ; so that, as I shall presently show, even amorphous fragments of shell may be referred with certainty to this group, when not altered by metamorphic action. I have recognized in the shells of Brachiopoda two leading types of con- formation; one of which is a peculiar variety of the plicated membranous structure; whilst the other is an equally peculiar form of the éubular. The former occurs in the genus Terebratula and its allies, the latter in Lingula and Orbicula. 37. The shell of Terebratula psittacea, which (for a reason preseutly to be specified) I shall take as a type of the first of these structures, is remarkable for its divisibility into thin micaceous plates, which may be split into lamin of extreme tenuity. I do not know any one of the Lamellibranchiate bivalves whose shell corresponds with it in this respect, except Placuna and Anomia, which evidently verge towards the Brachiopoda. This facility of lamination characterizes a large number of the fossil species of the group; especially those which correspond with the one now under consideration, in its peculiar characters. The natural laminz thus obtained frequently aflord better sub- jects for microscopical investigation than can be procured by making sections in the ordinary manner. When these lamine are examined with a good microscope, they are found to present a most remarkable and characteristic appearance; they are traversed by a very regular series of lines, usually nearly straight, but sometimes slightly curved, and running quite parallel to each other (figs. 27,28). The distance of these lines from each other averages about 1-2000th of an inch, and from this average I have never found any very wide departure,—the greatest distance I have met with being in Terebratula octoplicata, where the space between them is about 1-700th of an inch. 38. When the broken extremities of these natural lamine are examined, it is seen that the lines in question are produced by sharp foldings of the shelly layer, which foldings are parallel to each other; and this view is confirmed by examination of the decalcified membrane, of which only one continuous stra- tum exists in each lamina. 39. When the natural internal surface of the shell is examined, a very beautiful appearance is presented by it; a most regular imbricated arrange- ment is seen, exactly resembling a tiled roof, in which the lower margins of the tiles are rounded, instead of being quadrangular (fig. 29). If a portion of the surface be slightly rubbed down, so that the connection of these tile- like markings with the interior structure can be traced, it is seen that they are the extremities of the longitudinal folds just mentioned, each row of them belonging to one lamina, and a series of these laminze cropping-out, one be- neath another. 40. When artificial sections, instead of the natural laminz or surfaces of this shell, are examined, a great variety of appearances will be presented, ac- cording to the mode in which the plane of the section traverses the plaited ON THE MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE OF SHELLS. 17 surface (fig. 30). These appearances, however, are all reconcileable with the description which I have given of this peculiar kind of structure, and are easily recognized as appertaining to the group in question, and to this alone. 41. When any other recent species of ZYerebratula is examined, an addi- tional peculiarity is observed ; this consists of the presence of a large number of perforations in the shell, generally passing somewhat obliquely from one surface to the other, and terminating by an orifice at each (figs. 33-39). The size of these perforations is sufficiently great, to enable them to be detected with a hand-magnifier, as minute punctations on the surface ; and as such they have been recognized by many, who have madethis group their particular study. I am not aware, however, that the fact of these punctations being the orifices of large canals, passing from surface to surface of the shell, has been previously - noticed. The diameter of these perforations in the shells of recent Tere- bratule varies from about ‘0006 to *0024 of an inch; they are readily distin- guished in the decalcified membrane, and are seen to be lined by a tubular prolongation from it. Of their object or purpose I can give no definite ac- count ; and not having had the opportunity of examining a recent specimen with the animal preserved, I am unable to speak confidently as to the degree of connection, which these passages have with the mantle and with the interior of the shell. 42. Having examined all the recent Terebratule in the British Museum, and in the collection of Mr. Cuming, I feel able to state as a general fact, that all these species possess this remarkable character, with the exception of Terebratula psittacea; which, in the opinion of many, has other distinctive characters of its own, quite sufficient to separate it from the group. Upon turning my attention to the fossil species, however, a difference in this respect soon became obvious; for whilst some presented these perforations very distinctly, others were found entirely destitute of them. The presence or absence of the perforations cannot be detected in the fossil species, as in the recent, by the examination of the surface of the shell with a hand-magnifier ; since, owing to the filling-up of the passages with the fossilizing material, their extremities are not sufficiently distinguishable from the surrounding sur- face. Hence, in order to determine the existence of this character in the fossil species, it is necessary to make a section of the shell. Believing that it must have some intimate relation with the structure and habits of the animal, and that it must consequently be a character of zoological importance, I have endeavoured to carry out this kind of examination to an extent sufficient to test its value; and the following is the result of the examination of thirty- five fossil species of the genus Terebratula :— Perforated. Not Perforated. Acuta. ~! Coarctata. Ampulla. Concinna. Bidens. Depressa. Biplicata. Inconstans. Bullata. Latissima. Caput serpentis. Nuciformis. Carnea. Obsoleta. Detruncata. Octoplicata. Digona. Plicatella. Fimbria. Reticularis. Globata. : Rostrata. Hemispheerica. Spinosa. Oblonga. Subrotunda. 1844. Cc 18 REPORT—1844, Perforated. Not Perforated. Obovata. Variabilis. Ornithocephala. Subplicata. Ovata. Tetraedra. Perovalis. Wilsoni. Spheeroides. This list will enable any one conversant with the genus to see, that, with searcely an exception, the perforated species are smooth, or but slightly pli- cated, not exceeding in their plication the Terebratula caput serpentis, which is, I believe, the most plicated of the recent species; whilst the non-per- forated species are deeply plicated*. Besides the species named in this list, I have examined about ten other species of non-plicated Terebratule, whose names I was unable to ascertain; they all agreed with the other non-plicated species, in the possession of the perforations. 43. Among the genera most nearly allied to Terebratula, I have usually. found a similar variation. Thus, Orthis canalis and Orthis ( Spirifer, Phil.) Jiliaria present exactly the same structure as the perforated Terebratule ; whilst Orthis hemipronites, Orthis resupinata, and another species from the Silurian formation, Ohio, are destitute of perforations. 44. In Spirifer, again, the perforations are present in some of the species, and absent in others. For want of good specimens I have not been myself able to examine many species of this genus; but I have found the perforations very well marked in Spirifer Walcotii of the Lias, whilst they are absent in Spirifer cuspidatus and another Mountain Limestone species, and in a species from the Devonian formation at Hudson’s Bay. I learn from Mr. Morris, that he has remarked the punetations in the Spirifers of the Silurian and later secondary strata, but not on those of the mountain limestone; which circumstance he attributed to the metamorphic condition of the shell in the latter. I am satisfied, however, that such is not the case ; since, although the structure of the shell is often obscured by this action, I possess sections in which it is extremely well preserved, and in which there is an evident absence of the perforations. 45. In no Atrypa, however, have I met with perforations. The species I have examined are Atrypa ajffinis, A. pugnus, A. lineata, A. galeata, and a crag species closely allied to Zerebratula psittacea, if not identical with it. 46. In Pentamerus Knightii I have found the structure characteristic of the group, but without perforations. 47. The structure of the shells of Zingula and Orbicula is equally peculiar, but very different from that which has been now described. ‘These shells are almost entirely composed of laminz of horny matter, which are perforated by minute tubuli, closely resembling those of ivory in size and arrangement, and passing obliquely through the lamine (fig.22). Near the margin of the shell, these tubuli may be seen lying nearly parallel to the surface. X. Placunide. 48. This family has been separated by Deshayes from the Ostracee, and con- stitutes, according to his views, “a descending and lateral line, really inter- mediate between the ordinary Bivalves and the Brachiopoda,” The propriety of such an arrangement is completely borne out by the microscopic structure * There are one or two apparent exceptions to this, as the case of the Terebratula sub- plicata, in which the plications are very slight; but this is thought by Mr. Morris to be the young of a deeply-plicated species; and the same explanation will probably apply to other cases. ON THE MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE OF SHELLS. 19 of the shells; for Placuna and Anomia agree in several particulars, in which both differ from the Ostracee. The principal part of the shell of the Pla- cunide consists of true nacre, the laminz of which are peculiarly separable from each other, thus in some degree corresponding with Terebratula and other Brachiopoda. In the Oyster, the shelly layers are more divisible than they are in most other Conchifera, and so far it approaches the Placunide ; but this divisibility is not nearly so great as in the latter. In the form of the nacreous lineation, too, the Placunide show more resemblance to Producta than they do to the ordinary Conchifera. Their chief point of distinction from the Ostracee is the entire absence of the prismatic cellular structure which characterizes the latter, and the presence, in its stead, of a tubular structure which is found in the nacre itself of Placuna and Anomia, but more particularly in the yellowish external coat of the upper valve in the latter genus (figs. 40, 41). The tubuli are about 1-2000th of an inch in dia- meter; they sometimes form a network parallel to the laminz, and sometimes dip down and penetrate them obliquely or vertically ; the wavy direction of the tubes is particularly evident in these shells. By these characters I should have no difficulty in identifying a small fragment of a shell belonging to this family, as I know no other shells which have so regular a distribution of large tubes in their nacreous layers. XI. Ostracee. 49. This family now contains only the genera Ostrea and Gryphea, between which there is a very close resemblance in general characters, so that it is doubted by many conchologists whether they are really distinct, the one passing gradually into the other. This correspondence exists also in their microscopic structure; in both we find a layer of prismatic cellular sub- stance, in which the cells are very obliquely arranged, forming the margin of each lamina (fig. 44), whilst the general structure of the shell is sub- nacreous (§ 29). Between the recent Gryphea and Ostrea, I have not been able to detect any difference; but in the Gryphea incurva of the lias, I have found the nacre perforated by scattered tubes, of which no trace exists in Ostrea edulis. XI. Pectinide. 50. In the several genera of this family, the structure of the shell is almost exclusively membranous. There are generally two very distinct layers, an inner and outer; but there is no essential difference in their structure, the chief point of distinction being usually in their colowr, as in Pecten and Spondylus. Ihave occasionally met with traces of cellular structure, especially on the external surface of the shell; but I am not inclined to believe that these are to be regarded as constant, or as peculiarly characteristic of the group (fig. 42). No distinct cellular layer can be obtained by the decalcification of the shell ; but cells are seen here and there seattered among the folds of the basement- membrane. Hence J am inclined to regard them simply as the remains of the original calcigerous cells, by which the shell was at first formed.—The most characteristic feature of the shells of the Pectinide is the coarsely- corrugated structure which they exhibit, both in their inner and outer layers (fig. 43): there is also, in some instances, an extremely delicate corrugation, visible only with a high power, and giving to the shell the appearance of possessing a delicate fibrous texture. Both these arrangements are seen in the decalcified membrane, as in the shell itself. In some shells of this family there is a very remarkable amount of tubular structure ; in fact, I have no- where found a more characteristic example of it than in Lima scabra, but it is not constantly present even in species of the same genus. 51. We shall hereafter find that this corrugated structure, with a greater or c2 20 REPORT—1844, less amount of tubular perforation, is characteristic of several other families of Lamellibranchiate bivalves, which have the mantle wholly or partially closed ; and it would not, therefore, serve by itself to distinguish a fragment of a shell of this family from those alluded to. But it is guzte sufficient to distinguish a shell of this family from any of the neighbouring families, to which, in its general characters, it might possess an affinity. The following is a charac- teristic example of its use:—A shell was described by Prof. Philips, in his ‘ Geology of Yorkshire,’ as an Avicula, which had been previously described by Messrs. Young and Bird as a Pecten. The same species, or one closely allied to it, found near Bristol, was described by Mr. S. Stutchbury as an Avicula; he not being at the time aware, that it had been met with and de- scribed elsewhere. The mixture of characters is such, as would sanction its being placed in either group, according to the relative value attached to them. Thus, in the form of its hinge it is most allied to Avicula, whilst in the flatness of its under valve, and in the disposition of its coste, it rather corresponds with the Pectens. The intimate structure of the shell here serves, I think, to decide the point; for we find no trace of either the pris- matic cellular substance or the nacre, which are characteristic of Avicula; but we meet, on the other hand, with the coarsely-corrugated and somewhat tubular structure of the Pectinide. XIII. Margaritacee. 52. I employ the above designation of this family, because I believe it to be the one most applicable to the genera I include in it, which are the follow- ing :—Perna, Malleus, Crenatula, Vulsella, Avicula and Pinna, with the addition of the fossil genera Gervillia, Inoceramus and (I presume) Catil- lus*. All the genera thus associated together exhibit a remarkable uniformity as to the structure of their shells,—the exterior being composed of prismatic cellular substance, and the interior of true nacre,—both of which structures here present themselves in their most characteristic form. There is no dif- ference whatever, that I have met with, except as to the size of the cells, be- tween the elementary structure of any of these shells. This difference is often very considerable; thus the average diameter of the hexagonal cells of the large fossil Penna is about 1-100th of an inch, whilst that of the cells of a small (unnamed) species of Vulsella, kindly presented to me for examination by Mr. Cuming, is about 1-2800th of an inch. One cell of the former would contain, therefore, in its area, about 784 of the latter. In three species of recent Pinna which I have examined, the average diameter of the cells has been found very nearly the same, namely, 1-500th of an inch. One of these, however, shows a remarkable difference in the size of the cells at the exterior and interior of each layer, the average of the former being about 1-380th of an inch, whilst that of the latter is about 1-833rd: this difference is due to the fact, that several of the cells of the superficial part of the layer are not prolonged through its thickness, but cease near its middle, as shown by exa- mination of the vertical section, so that there is room for the enlargement of the others. In the genera Perna, Avicula and Malleus, I have found more variation in the size of the cells in the same shell than in the preceding; a layer of much smaller dimensions than the, average, being generally found where this tissue comes in contact with the nacreous substance (figs. 45-50). 53. Although the genus Pinna has been placed by nearly all Conchologists in the family Mytilacee, yet I have ventured to associate it with the other genera I have named, on account of its close conformity with them in the structure of its shell, and its entire difference in this respect from the true Mytilacee. And this alteration of its position seems justified by a careful * T have not had an opportunity of examining this genus. ON THE MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE OF SHELLS. 91 comparison of the general characters of the animal, with that of Avicula on the one hand, and Mytilus on the other. In Mytilus there are always two ad- ductor muscles, the anterior very small, the posterior much larger; the lobes of the mantle are united posteriorly at one point, so that there is a single anal siphon ; the aperture of the mouth is not furnished with papille ; and the liga- ment is altogether external. In Pinna there are stilltwo unequal adductor muscles; the lobes of the mantle have no posterior commissure (though partly united along the back), and consequently there is no anal siphon; the mouth as well as the lips are covered with membranous papille ; the ligament is very narrow and elongated, often covered by a thin testaceous lamina, and loses almost all the characters of the external ligaments. In Avicula there is no longer any anterior adductor muscle; there is no posterior commissure of the mantle ; the mouth is furnished with papillze, and the ligament has no longer any of the characters of external ligaments, entirely resembling those of the other Monomyaria. The animal of Perna, so far as it is known, ap- pears to be very closely allied to that of Avicula. Hence the only impor- tant character by which Pinna is connected with Mytilus, is the presence of an anterior adductor muscle; but against this are to be set the want of the posterior commissure of the mantle, the difference in the position of the ligament, and the presence of papilla: on the inner surface of the mouth and lips,—in all which points there is a much closer approximation to Avicula. Thus we see how correct is the determination which would have been formed from the sole consideration of the structure of the shell; and even if we con- sider this but as a single character, to be taken into account with others in the determination of the position of the genus, I think it difficult to resist the preponderance of evidence for detaching Pinna from the family Myt- lacee, and for uniting it with the Margaritacee. XIV. Nayadee. 54. Although this family is usually separated widely from the Margaritacee by systematists, there appear to me many points of resemblance between _ them. Contrary to Lamarck’s statement, the lobes of the mantle in both - Unio and Ancdon are entirely open along their whole extent, and the chan- nel which forms the anal passage is made up of the two branchial lamine, which are there adherent together. Now it is extremely interesting to find _ that in this group, which conducts us so remarkably from the Lamellibran- chiata with the lobes of the mantle entirely open, to those in which it is closed, _ the prismatic cellular structure so characteristic of the former division is still found, but in small quantity. The principal part of the shell is nacreous ; __ and the prismatic cellular structure forms but a very thin layer beneath the _ periostracum (fig. 51). It is to this that the dead-white aspect of the shell is due, when the epidermis has been frayed off (as it often is during the life _ of the animal, especially near the umbo) without the nacre being brought into View. I can discover no difference between Unio and Anodon in the micro- _ Scopic characters of the shell; and consequently can offer no objection on _ this score to the reunion of these two genera, as proposed by M. Deshayes. ___ 55. In connection with these last families, I may allude to the structure of ‘the curious genus Ltheria; in regard to the place of which, there is not yet an _ agreement amongst systematists. By many Conchologists it has been arranged ‘among the Chamacee, chiefly on account of its tendency to attach its lower _ valve to solid bodies. Its removal from these, however, has been proved to be required by additional knowledge regarding the structure of the animal. Mz. Deshayes seems inclined to rank it among the Nayadee ; M. de Blain- ville thinks it should be associated with the Margaritacee. The lobes of its mantle are entirely open, but there is an anal passage formed by the adhesion | 92 REPORT—1844. of the branchiz, as in Unio; and, as in the Nayadee, there is a large foot. When we add to these characters the attachment of the shell by one of its valves, as in Ostracee and Chamacee, the assemblage becomes very per- lexing. The microscopic structure of the shell here affords, I think, valu- able aid (fig. 52). The prismatic cellular structure here exists in large amount, as in Pinna; and the interior is nacreous or sub-nacreous. In these respects it entirely differs from the Chamacee, in which there is not a trace of pris- matic cellular structure, and in which the inner layer has characters which that of Htheria does not possess. 56. In all the preceding families, the lobes of the mantle are disunited ; and it is very interesting to find how completely the Prismatic Cellular sub- stance is restricted to the group thus constituted. The only approaches to it, which I have met with in other Bivalve Mollusca, are among the family Myide ; and it is only in the very aberrant genus Pandora, that it shows itself in a truly characteristic form. Of this group I should be disposed to take the Margaritacee as the typical or central family. From these we might pass off towards the Brachiopoda on the one hand, by the true Ostracee, which conduct us towards the Placunide. Again, by Avicula and Pinna, we are led towards the Mytilacee. By Etheria we are conducted to the Nayadee, and these lead us towards the Chamacee. The most aberrant family, in respect to the structure of the shell, is that of Pectinide, in which the prismatic cellular structure is entirely absent, whilst there is also an ab- sence of the true nacreous character. Now although the general structure of the Pectinide is not usually regarded as widely different from that of the Ostracee, their habits depart most widely from those which prevail in the group; for while the Oysters are fixed by the adhesion of their shells, and the Margaritacee by a byssus, the Pectens are usually free, and seem to possess more locomotive power, together with a more complete sensory appa- ratus, than any others of the group. It seems to me that, in these respects, they have a relation of analogy with the Cardiacee: and if such a relation exist, it is remarkably borne out by the intimate structure of the shell, which is closely allied in these two families; as well as by that ribbed surface, which is well known to be characteristic of its exterior, at least in the typical genera of each family. List or ILLUSTRATIONS. Prate I.—Fig. 1. Section of Pinna nigrina, parallel to its surface, under a power of 10 diameters; cutting the prismatic cells transversely, and showing the outcrop of the coloured layers (§ 10).—Fig. 2. Section of Pinna nigrina, perpendicular to its surface, under a power of 50 dia- meters; showing the alternation of coloured and colourless layers (§ 10). Prate II.—Fig. 3. A portion of fig. 1, magnified 185 diameters.—Fig. 4. A corresponding portion, after immersion in dilute acid, showing the residual membrane, composed of cells (§ 5, 6). Prate III.—Fig. 5. External surface of Pinna marina, showing nu- merous large dark cells; magnified 185 diameters.—Fig. 6. Section parallel to the surfaces, but through the middle of the thickness of the same layer; showing a comparatively small number of dark cells. Mag- nified 185 diameters.—Fig. 7. Internal surface of the same layer; showing the entire absence of the dark cells, and the greatly-increased size of the remainder (§ 5, 14). Pirate IV.—Fig. 8. Thin (natural) lamina of Pinna ingens, showing the nuclei of the cells. Magnified 300 diameters (§ 6).—Fig. 9. Separate ; ON THE MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE OF SHELLS. 23 calcareous prisms of outer layer of Pinna. Magnified 185 diameters Puate V.—Fig. 10. Section of Pinna nigrina, perpen dicular to the sur- face, cutting the prismatic cells longitudinally. Magnified 185 dia- meters (§ 11).—Fig. 11. The same decalcified by immersion in acid; showing the residual membrane (§ 11). Piarr VI.—Fig. 12. Various stages of cell-formation in Perna ephippium ; showing at a small cells (?) in incipient stage of development, imbedded in intercellular substance; at 5, their development more advanced ; at ¢e, their polygonal form beginning to show itself; and at d, their com- pletion, their walls coming into contact with each other, and the inter- cellular substance disappearing.—Fig. 13. Various stages of cell-trans- - formation in the same shell; showing at a the distinct cells; at 6, the process of fusion beginning to manifest itself ; and at ¢, the fusion so far advanced, that the partitions between the cells cease to be discernible, except at the angles. Magnified 250 diameters. Prate VII.—Fig. 14. Cells in external layer of Mya arenaria. Magnified 125 diameters (§ 3).—Fig. 15. Cells in external layer of Anatina olen. Magnified 250 diameters (§ 17).—Fig. 16. Crystals in imperfectly-cal- cified layer of Ostrea edulis. Magnified 350 diameters (§ 3). Piate VIII.—Fig. 17. Polished surface of Nacre, showing the lines by which it is marked. Magnified 85 diameters (§ 22).—Fig. 18. Decalcified membrane of the same, from Haliotis splendens, with the plaits undis- turbed. Magnified 75 diameters (§ 25).—Fig. 19. Basement-membrane of Naere irregularly extended. Puare IX.—Fig. 20. Tubular structure of Lima scabra. Magnified 200 dia- meters (§ 30).—Fig. 1. Portion of the same, magnified 412 diameters. Gan 22. Tubular structure of Lingula. Magnified 400 diameters § 47). oot X.—Fig. 23. Section of Hippurite—horizontal. Magnified 10 dia- meters (§ 32).—Fig. 24. Section of Hippurite—vertical. Magnified 10 diameters (§ 32). Pirate XI.—Fig. 25. Section of Pleurorhynchus Hibernicus, parallel to the surface. Magnified 10 diameters (§ 34.).—Fig. 26. Vertical and oblique sections of ditto. Magnified 10 diameters (§ 34). wee Puare XIIL.—Fig. 27. Fractured surface of Terebratula (Atrypa) psittacea. Magnified 125 diameters (§ 37).—Fig. 28. Thin shred of ditto. Mag- nified 250 diameters (§ 38). Pxare XIII.—Fig. 29. Internal surface of Terebratula (Atrypa) psittaeea. Magnified 75 diameters (§ 39).—Fig. 30. Section of ditto, parallel to the surface. Magnified 185 diameters (§ 39). Puate XIV.—Fig. 31. Section of Zerebratula octoplicata, parallel to the surface. Magnified 250 diameters (§ 42).—¥Fig. 32. Fractured surface of ditto. Magnified 250 diameters (§ 42). Piate XV.—Fig. 33. Internal surface of Terebratula truncata. Magnified ~ 75 diameters (§ 40).—Fig. 34. Internal surface of Terebratula. Mag- nified 125 diameters (§ 40). ; Pirate XVI.—Fig. 35. Horizontal section of Terebratula truncata. Magni- fied 125 diameters (§ 41).—Fig. 36. Horizontal section of Zerebratula bullata. Magnified 125 diameters (§ 41). Puate XVII.—Fig. 37. Vertical section of Zerebratula truncata. Magni- fied 55 diameters (§ 41).—Fig. 38. Vertical section of Terebratula am- pulla. Magnified 125 diameters (§ 41).—Fig. 39. Vertical section of Terebratula variabilis. Magnified 125 diameters (§ 41). S aeeniealiaaeaiate 24 REPORT—1844. . Prate XVIIL.—Fig. 40. Tubular structure of Anomia ephippium. Mag- nified 250 diameters (§ 48).—Fig. 41. Decalcified membrane of ditto. Magnified 250 diameters (§ 48).—Fig. 42. External surface of Lima squamosa, showing its cellular structure. Magnified 200 diameters (§ 50). —Fig.43. Section of internal layer of Lima sqguamosa; showing corru- gated structure. Magnified 125 times (§ 50). Piate XIX.—Fig. 44. Prismatic cellular structure from Ostrea edulis. Mag- nified 250 diameters (§ 49).—Fig. 45. Ditto from Perna ephippium. Magnified 125 diameters (§ 52).—Fig. 46. Ditto from Avicula marga- ritacea. Magnified 125 diameters (§ 52).—Fig. 47. Ditto from Malleus albus. Magnified 125 diameters (§ 52). Prats XX.—Fig.48. Ditto from Vulsella. Magnified 250 diameters (§ 52). —Fig. 49. Ditto from fossil Pinna of Oolite. Magnified 40 diameters (§ 52).—Fig. 50. Ditto from Gervillia mytiloides. Magnified 125 dia- meters (§ 52).—Fig. 51. Ditto from Unio occidens. Magnified 125 dia- meters (§ 54).—Fig. 52. Ditto from Etherta. Magnified 125 diameters (§ 55). Report on the British Nudibranchiate Mollusca. By JosHua ALDER and ALBANY Hancock. Tur Mollusca Nudibranchiata of Cuvier, although forming a small order in the class Gasteropoda, are sufficiently peculiar in their characters and in- teresting in their zoological relations to allow of their being reported upon separately from the extensive class to which they belong. ‘Their interest in a physiological point of view has also been much increased lately by the re- searches that have been made into their structure and mode of development. The anatomical researches of M. de Quatrefages have disclosed, according to his views, so many peculiarities of conformation in some of the species, that he has been induced to detach a considerable portion of this order, and, uniting them with some other Mollusca rather dissimilar in external appearance, to institute for them a new order, which he has called Phlebenterata. Not en- tirely coinciding with the views which M. de Quatrefages has taken, we shall content ourselves in the present report with considering the Mollusca Nudi- branchiata of Cuvier as still forming one entire group, divisible into two sections, distinguishable from each other by external characters, and probably equally so by physiological peculiarities, the limits of which have not yet been ascertained in the several genera. The little animals forming this interesting group were long neglected by naturalists, and were scarcely known to any of our earlier writers. Six spe- cies only were described by Linnzeus in the twelfth edition of his ‘ Systema Nature.’ These were included in the class Vermes, and formed the genera Doris, Scyliea and Tethys. ‘Miiller paid more attention to them. Four- teen species are published in his ‘ Zoologia Danica,’ the figures and descrip- tions of which, considering the time at which they appeared, are good. Not- withstanding the contributions of Miiller, Fabricius and some others, these animals still continued a neglected tribe, until the appearance of the cele- brated memoirs of Cuvier, published in the ‘ Annales du Muséum,’ formed a new era in their history, and laid the foundation of those enlightened views of their structure and affinities which were carried out in his ‘ Régne Ani- mal,’ where the order Nudibranchiata was first instituted for their reception. It is to be regretted however that so few species were known even in Cuvier’s time, and that he was obliged to have recourse to specimens in spirits for his descriptions. So far as their anatomy is concerned the disadvantages arising from this circumstance were not greatly felt, but those only who have seen ON THE BRITISH NUDIBRANCHIATE MOLLUSCA. 25 these animals alive can know how very imperfect an idea of their external characters specimens preserved in spirits can convey. Considering the early period at which the British naturalists of the Linnean school applied them- selves to the study of species, we are surprised to find how little was effected in this department. Pennant published his ‘ British Zoology’ in 1777, which contains just three species of Mudibranchiata, under the names of Doris Argo, D. verrucosa and D. electrica. The latter has not since been recog- nised. No further attention appears to have been paid to these animals until Colonel Montagu, to whom we are so deeply indebted for his contributions to British zoology, published figures and descriptions of several species found on the Devonshire coast in the Linnean Transactions. In 1807 Dr. Turton published his ‘British Fauna,’ where nine species were described, one only of which appears to have been introduced from personal observation ; three are those of Pennant and five of Montagu. The whole number of species described by Montagu is twelve, published at different times between 1802 and 1811. For more than twenty years afterwards scarcely anything was done in this department. A few species collected by Dr. Leach are pre- served in the British Museum, and some additional species observed by Dr. Fleming and other Scottish naturalists appeared in his ‘ British Animals’, pub- lished in 1828, at which time the number of species, including Pennant’s and Montagu’s, only amounted to twenty. Dr. Johnston’s excellent monograph on the Scottish Nudibranchiata appeared in the first volume of the ‘ Annals of Natural History’ in 1838. This treatise gave a new impetus to the study of the order, and with it the first adequate knowledge of the British Nudibran- chiate Mollusca may be said to have commenced. An anatomical and phy- siological account of the animals comprised in the order was given as far as then known, and an attempt was made to extricate the synonyms from the confusion in which they had long been involved,—a task of no easy accom- plishment, but necessary to remove a chief obstacle to the study of these animals. This monograph, which was entirely confined to Scottish species, contains descriptions of twenty-one species, ten of which were new to Bri- tain. In the extensive researches that Professor Edward Forbes has made among the Jnvertebrata.of our shores, and the many new species that he has added to our Fauna, the Nudibranchiata were not forgotten; nine or ten species have been added by this gentleman in different publications, and Mr. Thompson of Belfast, whose success in the cultivation of Ivish zoology is so well known, has added at least an equal number. During the time that your reporters have paid attention to the subject, it has also been their good fortune to meet with many new species. Those published by them in the ‘Annals of Natural History,’ at different times during the last three years, amount to thirty-one species. The present number of known British species, making allowances for some erroneously raised to that rank, may be stated at seventy-five, which are dis- _tributed in the following genera :— Doride. Tritoniade. Doris ERY Goan Fi L'2° METItOMIA poceccaetiocs cece st Goniodoris ............. 4 Melibcea ........c.ccceceee. 4 Dolyeera \ iis sv twice GB Proctonotus,... BlSi4/4/8\/4/a| 8 a) [ee las) go) ee bee Aug.25.| 10} 40; A} 5} 5| 3} 4/ Ce wo li w]e } | 29°5 8s | 2] D mes 5} 11)..); A} Pi bj] ij 1 c ‘ het ane ot 5 Oe te ee — te Slaw) Pi it Bp 2 Sept. 1.| 5)15}/ AJ] 2} 2) 2} 2) ¢ . oe oe . “ eve | oes |e —— 2.| 12 AC |e S| Ses eS Bale i Z . = ae Se endl Rees meet Hi Go pises dt Ad Lyf Ped pio Ay? ose . ees is . 30°15 | 60 |...) ] 10) 1 fis | A} Lt do) Dp 2 |e wee mae = : ‘ ses’ | wee loam |i ead i cay Nove) @pafAl pa epay vy ac tis % vs | aah saat anleutt see 4b mae | AL. 2 [ely Sul eed ae t aa & ” a fisas Potter eee ath EREOO ave fee | AT 2 Leah Dt Sea one tG 1 deh. |. Sebe, f-auegll oneal Mean LO Set SO.| aad wow | Ald): Dapeadipen ds a t és ; Bs ay en ge WMS Eris yg ts Op IPP 38 APS TO a as a i | c t " uve ive ° ‘ sos | one | ose’ |) eee i—— 3.) 3|..) A 1 1 1 1 c t As ‘ : . . 5 ose | aps Ay see i—— §./ 5|..1 A 1 1 5 Ws hae | c t ‘ . ove rn eno | eae ——— 14.) Lj. | P| 89) #} 2) 3) ves r 511 WH 9 Va ee Hs UE et t | | j—— 14.) 1/20) P} 1) 1) 1) 1) Cc t | ——. 14, 1137] P| 24 4] 2] 3] ses T Sea ey Peay Ty 7) t 0 0 Bo] vse [oe | ove | one | one ees FAG | Oi seul By p dof) sR i] a tas t ome Ar UL) | Pk] Ped) Ld de t yi re eh ano» te i es OU tm t eee ENB] nce AN Mil] Dl eh) a ee t nee 5 5 Fre Wook Oy Feb. 6.) 4]../ A 1 1 1 1 a t oa o 7 = ey) xy te ——16.| 0 |... | A} tT] 2] -a4 hy we t see A Be ys “ ene iG) SO) 1 AC Me SE) ial ce t Ke é eco) fers Wien Mars) Si} 27) |)<-'}, an)” 1) dt 1 Get t “5 . eee act ose | ove |} eee ——~ 90.) Ppa) PPR Apoep Th a t " tee ose sab as wee ee a do ek RT a Ra es t “8 ane . as . age |, ake etna it MBG 21D faci) Be La ae ao t eee “ | Pr (i ey te —i4.| 4)../ A 1 1 1 1 aan t she eee 7 ots w fete | os a | ove —e | Flue | Al 2) 21 al} Bl ous t ek se 5 zoe) oes) [paeaed] bebee —225.| 5)30/ A] 1] 1] 1] 1]... t ots . ats : re een ot en Wak Ss July 9.; 3)..)/ A] 1 1 1 1 os t ose oa Pry os Ss © | wae | oe Aug.25.| 3]..)/ Al] 1 1 1 1 «é t ase Pty A, . a | eee ace Neneh IS | Py Sp od | ali eee ae aa ‘ . vow | aheid eonhll G5 — 4./ 6/15) P| 1] 2] 1] 1]. t Rie < ace ° . aco} ase aneih) man ON REGISTERING EARTHQUAKE SHOCKS IN SCOTLAND. 87 EARTHQUAKE SHOCKS. NATIONS. indicated by P; thus, 4 o’clock in the morning would be marked in the Table 4 A ; afternoon, 4 P. and intermediate degrees of intensity by intermediate numbers ; thus, one half as violent or ferred to, to be entered 5. than first (which is almost always the case) the latter to be marked with a small c; thus Cc second weaker than the first. or all; using the small letters here too to mark the relative force of each; thus c Ht and ending in a slight tremor; and C HT, one such as that of Oct. 23, 1839, where all were intense. observer to proceed from, most needed in slight shocks that do not affect the instruments ; instrument enables the observer to ascertain it. tered only by those observers who have such instruments at hand. The strength of the and 10 for a hurricane; and a calm, 0. M, much, and L, little. F G Five minutes after = ock. ia i“ 5 | aie Other particulars not included in preceding list, that might be Wind. | %/| 3 4, 3 2 considered as either directly or indirectly con- Co] x Po g a} 5) 3 nected with the shocks. eS /Elsisltis g E/S\ els|s BI/S/sIiTIls eae: EI 2|s \ OB i|HIA|a|n | 29°6 L |The direction and dip in this case (10. 40. A) given most distinctly by spiral sss | vee | eee | eee | eee | *** | pendulum in steeple. The horizontal force one in Post-office attics ranged fully half an inch. Day cloudy, cold and showery. Close rain from 2 to | 44 P.; mostly fair afterwards. Next day (26) cloudy with occasional sun. H shine ; much thunder at 2 P., and cloudy with light rain afterwards. g : n S es 0 see | see | aoe | ace | +++ | 2+ |Other three slight shocks observed by some during the night between the Ist iii | os. |. |---| “| and 2nd; rain in morning of 2nd; light, cloudy, mild, moist and warm day. 80°15 | GO|... | ... | ... | ++ |Fine harvest morning; splendid dry fine night. “| wee | one | see | oe | e+e | *** |Morning cloudy; day also; with occasional blinks of sunshine. see | eee | «+. | t+ |Day dark; drizzling rain occasionally. This shock observed only at Tomperran. +» |Most dark and dull; rain at night. F A +++ |Very dark morning ; much rain through the day. see | eee | eee | *** | Very dark morning ; much rain through the day. ses | aes | ees | *** | Frosty, clear and sunshine, aes | ese | wee | eve | ee | *** |Dim and cloudy ; afall of about 1in.snow during the night ; a.m. sunshine ; p.m. overcast. see | see | eee | eee | ose | *** | Very dark and overcast ; after 103 sleet and snow. In all 8 shocks to-day. During first 5 deys bright and sunny. Barometer at 3 o’clock at 30°2; ext. thermometer 35. Wind gentle aud S. W. allday. Spiral in steeple indicated 3-8ths in perpendicular heaves ; no lateral mark. Hori- TARE | ces | ese | cee zontal pendulum in Post-office attics indicated same amount of heaves as spiral in steeple; sand in glass had fallen 2 in. since last noticed ; but part of L this fall might have been owing to other causes, as it had not been marked for a month before. 5 ; Fine morning ; fine day and night. sss | ene | vee | eee | ave | oes [SeVEre frost; fine clear and dry day; night overcast. .. | «. |... |Dull morning; showery day; clear night. wee | soe | ove | woe | aoe | «-- (Clear sharp frost. . |Dull and snowy morning ; fine clear night. .. |Fine morning ; afternoon dull, inclined to rain. . |Dull foggy morning; fine day and night. Beautiful morning ; showery afternoon. . |Clear, fine day; a little rain at night. ... |Clear morning; fine day ; rain at night. . |Dull morning ; showery during day. Cloudy morning ; cloudy and sun-shining day. a eee eorae el alittle cold towards evening. Thisshock observed only at Tomperran. wes | ese | eee | ace | ove | ove | Fine day. see | eee | vee | vee | ose | «ee |Fine Gay. This shock observed only at Lawers. 88 REPORT—1844. Mr. Macfarlane observes, regarding the shock of 25th August 1843, in a letter accompanying his Register, that he had “an excellent opportunity of witnessing the effects of it on many persons, being at the time in the front of the gallery of our church, in the midst of a congregation engaged in public worship. Some became pale, others flushed; some started, others trembled ; and the momentary perfect silence that followed the awful concussion and sound was really sublime. After witnessing this, I am more inclined than ever to ascribe all the various sensations experienced by many on these occasions to the effects of the sudden alarm rather than to those often alleged as the cause, such as electricity, &c. On this occasion somehow I instinctively, as it were, thought the concussion and peculiar sound arose to us from an immense depth within the earth ; and that it actually did so was afterwards confirmed by the fact, that this shock was felt simultaneously over an area of more than 100 square miles, and that with nearly equal intensity throughout.” Mr. Macfarlane reports further in regard to this shock, that it moved the instruments at the following places, and produced on them the effects now to be stated :-— Kingarth, two miles north of Comrie, inverted pendulum, had point thrown to three-quarters of an inch to north-west. Clathick, three miles east of Comrie, spiral pendulum and sand-glass; sand fell two inches. Crieff, six miles east of Comrie, inverted pendulum, had point thrown three- quarters of an inch to west. Invergeldie, six miles north of Comrie, inverted pendulum, had point thrown three-quarters of an inch to south-west. In regard to the shock of 14th January 1844, Sir David Dundas of Duneira, whose house is situated about two miles W.N.W. of Comrie, writes,—‘* That shock was attended with a louder noise and a longer-continued dying-away rumble than many of them, and the quake was not so severe as I have expe- rienced, though quite enough to be very disagreeable and make one feel un- comfortable. Since then there has been nothing of any consequence, and I wish I could persuade myself that we shall never have any more.” Sir David adds, that “the instrument in his house, a spiral pendulum, was not affected by this or any other shock during the year. It had not been erected at the date of the shock in August 1843.” Mr. Stewart of Ardvoirlich happened at the time of this same shock to be at Balquhidder, which is about seventeen miles west of Comrie, and he writes that there were “two pretty severe shocks at an interval of from half an hour to three-quarters of an hour, accompanied by considerable rolling noise. I was at the time in Balquhidder Church, and heard and felt them distinctly. On my return home I examined the seismometer, but no perceptible motion seemed to have taken place in any direction, nor was the column of sand in the tube in any degree displaced. No earthquakes have been felt here since, so far as I have heard.” This shock of 14th January was distinctly perceived at Tyndrum, which is about thirty miles W.N.W. of Comrie. On that day, at one o'clock, an ex- traordinary subterranean noise was felt by the inhabitants of the village, and which was generally recognized by them to be that caused by an earthquake. The innkeeper happened to be in bed unwell, and felt it shake as well as heard the rumbling sound. It will be observed, from the effects produced on the instruments by the” shock of 25th August 1843,—1, that it was only in the village of Comrie that the ground had an upward movement, the movement in more distant places ON REGISTERING EARTHQUAKE SHOCKS IN SCOTLAND. 89 , dee | ¥ being horizontal; 2, that at all the places above-mentioned the movement eame from the westward, these being all more or less to the east of the hill from which, according to former observations, the shocks emanate. Had the instruments now at Duneira and Ardvoirlich been at that date erected, any effects on chem, it might be expected, would have been in an op- posite direction. The meteorological observations have been faithfully carried on at Comrie under the superintendence of Mr. Macfarlane, to whose diligence and assi- duity the Committee are much indebted. A complete register of these obser- vations has been rendered to them, of which a copy is herewith sent. When these meteorological observations have been carried on for a few years, they will afford some data for ascertaining whether, as has been gene- rally believed, any connexion prevails between the state of the weather or time of the year with the number and violence of the shocks. No earthquake shocks have occurred in other parts of the United Kingdom during the last year, in so far as known to the Committee, except one on the 12th of June 1844. The following notices of it have been extracted from the newspapers :—“ Earthquake.—A slight shock of an earthquake was felt at Stamford on Wednesday evening, 12th June 1844, about seven. Many per- sons were sensible of the tremulous motion of the earth for ten or fifteen seconds. It was accompanied with a noise like distant thunder, and was by some mistaken for that phenomenon; but there is no doubt that it was a con- valsion of the earth. At Tinwell, Ketton, Tixover, Duddington, Cliffe, Ape- thorp, Wansford, Collyweston, Easton, &c. &c., the shock was distinctly felt. In some of the above named villages various articles were displaced; at a gentleman’s house at Easton, the bell at the outer gate was rung in conse- quence of the vibration produced by it.”— Stamford Mercury. “ Earthquake in Huntingdonshire. Yaxley, June 14.—A most severe shock of earthquake was felt here on Wednesday evening last, the 12th inst., at about half-past seven o'clock, more particularly on the hill where my house is situate, appear- ing like a park of artillery passing under it, shaking it to the very founda- ‘tion. Scarcely a shower of rain has fallen since the 26th of March.” The Committee, in accordance with the suggestion in their last year’s Re- port, and which they understood met with general approval, have placed a seismometer at Tyndrum, and Lord Breadalbane has given directions to his overseer there that it should be attended to. By means of instruments thus placed on all sides of the earthquaking district, and at different distances from if, additional data for inference will be obtained. Stirling, 23rd Sept. 1844. My bear S1r,—Since sending off the Earthquake Report I have obtained some additional information, which I would have introduced into it had I known of it before. I therefore sit down to communicate it by letter to you, in order that you may, if you see fit, take notice of it in presenting the Report. You will see from the register, that the two most severe shocks during the last year occurred in August 1843 and January 1844. I met yesterday and today a very intelligent person (Lady Moncrieff) who felt both of these Shocks. The first she felt in Comrie House, situated within three-quarters of a mile of the hill, from which all the shocks in Perthshire appear to emanate. The noise and concussion produced by this shock alarmed her so much that she fell from her seat on the floor, and it was a few seconds before she re- covered. She was residing in Comrie House for some months last autumn, and she states that scarcely a day passed without her hearing either the rum- _ bling noise in the earth or the moaning in the air, produced by this mysterious agent, the nature of which we are so anxious to discover. The second of these 90 REPORT—1844. shocks Lady Moncrieff felt in Perth (about twenty-two miles east of Comrie) ;_ she was in church at the time, but it was not generally perceived by the con- gregation. I learn that this shock was felt also at Callendar, about fifteen miles south-west of Comrie. I am happy to tell you that I felt one of these earthquake shocks last night at 8" 50' p.m. I was in Lawers House at the time, which is (as you know) about two miles east of Comrie. The noise was like that produced by the rumbling of a cart over a pavement beneath the house ; it continued for about four seconds ; it was loudest in the middle. Its progress was distinctly from the westward, and at a great depth below the house. There was neither un- | dulation nor concussion. I could form no opinion, from the nature of the noise, what was the agent which caused it. This morning I met a gentleman who was to the south of Comrie (about two miles) when it occurred ; he perceived the course of the noise to be from the north. At Ardvoirlich (about eight miles west of Comrie) the same noise was perceived. The barometer was falling all yesterday afternoon, after having been for some days remarkably high, and before seven o'clock this morning it had fallen three-fourths of a tenth more. Yours very truly, To the Rev. Dr. Buckland. Davip Mitne. Report of a Committee appointed at the Tenth Meeting of the Associa- tion for Experiments on Steam-Engines. Members of the Com- mittee:—The Rev. Professor Mosretey, M.A., F.R.S.; Eaton Hovexinson, Esq., F.R.S.; J. 8. Enys, Esq., F.G.S.; Professor Poe, F.G.S. (Reporter). Your Committee, in reporting the progress of the experiments entrusted to their care, have the pleasure of stating that they have succeeded in accom- plishing the principal object which has engaged their attention during the past year; namely, to ascertain by actual experiment the velocity of the — piston of a single-acting Cornish pumping-engine, at all points of its stroke. Unfortunately, however, from delays and accidents, arising from causes in- herent in the delicate nature of the operations required and the machine used, there has not been yet time to obtain the data and work out the calculations necessary for comparing the results of experiment with those of theory, and by that means eliciting the useful information which it is hoped this com- parison will offer to practical science. The velocity-measuring machine constructed by Breguet of Paris, under the kindly proffered direction of M. Morin, was received a few months ago. — It is on the same principle as those with which the beautiful experiments of — M. Morin on friction were made, and which are described minutely in the works of this writer (Nouvelles Expériences sur le Frottement, or Déscrip- tion des Appareils Chronométriques). These may be referred to for a full and complete explanation of the construction and action of the machine, but the principle of it may be briefly explained as follows. A circular disc, covered with card or paper, is made to revolve with a unz- form motion by means of clockwork regulated by air-vanes. Plate XXV. Upon this disc, a revolving pencil, whose motion is caused by and corresponds with that of the body whose variable velocity is to be measured, describes a curved line: and from this curve, which results from a combination of the_ variable with the uniform motion, the velocity may be easily ascertained by processes and formule adapted to the purpose, This beautiful and ingenious contrivance, by which spaces described in_ x a a pile oe ON THE EXPERIMENTS ON STEAM-ENGINES. 91 the 10,000dth part of a second may be easily discerned, is the invention of M. Poncelet, carried into execution by M. Morin. On examining the machine, it was found necessary to make some few re+ pairs of injuries it had received in carriage, and also some alterations to fit it for the particular purpose it was proposed to apply it to. These were done by Mr. Holtzapffel. The instrument, when put in order, was first tried at King’s College, a variable motion being given by a small carriage made to descend an inclined plane. The correspondence of the velocity shown by the machine, with that deduced by the known laws of dynamics, was such as to give great confi- dence in its accuracy ; and after a few minor alterations suggested by fre- quent trials, it was removed to the East London Water Works, Old Ford, and, by the kind permission of Mr. Wicksteed, the engineer, was attached to the Cornish engine at work there. This was considered a very favourable engine to experiment upon, inasmuch as the constants involved in its work- ing had been so accurately ascertained by Mr. Wicksteed in his previous ex- periments, and so amply confirmed by the long trial of the constant indicator upon it by your Committee during the years 1841 and 1842. After several preparatory trials and adjustments, some diagrams were taken on the 8th of August, and the velocities calculated from these have been ex- pressed in the form of geometrical curves, whose abscisse represent the spaces passed over by the piston of the engine, and whose ordinates indicate the corresponding velocities at the different points of the stroke. Plate X XVI. shows diagrams which represent the velocities of the piston both in the descending and ascending strokes of the engine, or as they are tech- nically termed, the in-door and out-door strokes. The velocity of the in-door, or descending stroke of the piston, is taken from the mean of three experi- ments, differing very little from each other. The velocity begins from zero, accelerating as the piston descends, until at about four feet of the stroke it attains a maximum of about 10:4 feet per second. This is the point where the pressure of the steam in the cylinder has, by expanding, become exactly equal to the resistance opposed to the motion of the piston; and from this point the velocity gradually decreases as the steam becomes more attenuated, until the piston is gradually brought to rest by the exhaustion or expenditure of the whole of the work accumulated in the moving mass (in the shape of vis viva) during the early part of the stroke, while the steam power exceeded the resistance. ‘The velocity of the owé-door, or pumping stroke, is much less than that of the former, the greatest velocity being only about 3°8 ft. per sec. Plate XX VII. contains diagrams of the spaces and ¢imes constructed in a similar manner ; the abscisse of the curves representing, as in the former case, the spaces passed over by the piston, and the corresponding ordinates indi- cating the ¢imes in which those spaces are described. It will be seen that the whole in-door stroke is performed in about 14 se- cond, and the out-door stroke in about 4 seconds. As a check to these re- sults, the time occupied in the strokes was observed directly with a stop-watch, and was found perfectly to agree with the indications of the machine. The observed times were, as nearly as could be ascertained, Per erOKe eg er. eee) PS Pe SO) 5 Sebold: Short pause between the in-door and out-door strokes* 5 ,, BT SurO ce eee PEAY Fe pK Cu Sera 5 ETE Hig OR Tee toast Map oehie ks dup sul Sy yet g Total . . . .« . 8seconds. * This is not usual in the engines at work in the Cornish mines; in most of these the 92 REPORT—1844, The engine made 8 strokes in 63 seconds. The various elements of the motion of the piston of the engine are arranged _ below in a tabular form. In column B. are stated certain periods of time from the commencement of the stroke, after which periods of time the positions of the piston indicated in column A. are respectively attained. Column C. represents the approximate velocity of the piston in each cor- responding position. It will be evident that the numbers in column A. are equivalent to the abscisse of the curves in Plates XX VI. and XXVII., while the column B. re- presents the ordinates in Plate XXVII., and column C. those in Plate XXVI. The times are given in these tables only as far as the hundredths of a se- cond, and the velocities to the twentieth part of a foot per second; but the delicacy of the machine enables them to be calculated, when necessary, to a much greater nicety. Tables of the Elements of the Motion of the Piston of the Cornish Pumping Engine at the East London Water Works, Old Ford. ; Table I. Table II. a a ee_—e——————————————— IN-DOOR STROKE. OUT-DOOR STROKE. A. B. Cc. A. B. Cc. Spaces Times in Spaces Times in passed over) which the } Velocities passed over| which the | Velocities by spaces are | acquired. by spaces are | acquired. Piston. | described. Piston. | described. Feet. Seconds. | Ft. per sec. Feet. Seconds. | Ft. per sec. 0:0 0:0 0:0 0:0 0:0 00 0°5 0°17 5°05 0°5 06 0°85 10 0:26 71 1:0 0°97 16 15 0°33 8:3 1°5 1-22 21 2°0 0°39 9°05 2:0 1-42 25 25 0°44 9°6 2°5 1°61 28 3°0 0°49 10°05 30 1°78 3°0 3°5 0°54 10°3 3°5 1°94: 3°2 | 40 0°58 10°4: 40 2-1 3°35 4s5 0°63 103 4°5 2°24: 3°45 50 0°68 10:2 | 50 2°38 3°55 55 0°73 9°9 55 2°52 3°6 6:0 0°78 9°55 | 6:0 2°66 3°65 6°5 0°84 9°15 6°5 2°38 s baF 7:0 0:9 8°7 70 2:94. 3°75 15 0:96 31 La 3°07 3°78 8:0 1:02 745 8:0 32 3°8 8°5 1:09 6°65 8°5 3°33 3°8 9°0 1°17 5°55 9°0 3°47 3°8 9°5 1:27 4-0 9°5 3°65 on 10°0 145 0:0 10:0 397 0-0 A slight oscillation of the calculated velocity is found to occur on either equilibrium valve is opened by the plug-rod at the end of the in-door stroke, and the engine immediately returns. But in the Old Ford engine this valve is worked by a second cataracts and therefore a short pause is often allowed. ; ‘ ‘ ve a BL ON THE VARIETIES OF THE HUMAN RACE. 93 side of the mean valve, which is given in the diagrams, and this particularly happens about the position of maximum velocity. This oscillation has its origin in an irregularity of the instrument. The plate which carries the card does not revolve with a perfectly uniform motion, the moving power being a spring, and the regulating power the resistance of the air; it is demonstrable that any variation, however slight, in the effort of the former, must result in an oscillation of the plate about a certain mean velocity corresponding to that resistance of the air which will exactly counteract the newly-acquired effort of the spring. It is desirable to take this opportunity of acknowledging that the thanks of the Committee are particularly due to Mr. Wicksteed and his sub-engineer, Mr. Price, for the accommodation rendered at Old Ford ; to Mr. Cowper, of King’s College, for his kind and able assistance in the experiments ; to Mr. Holtzapffel and Mr. Timme for the attention paid to the repairs and adjust- ments of the machine; and to Mr. Penn, of Greenwich, for the loan of an excellent indicator. H. MosEvey. E. HopexInson. J. S. Enys. London, April 1844. Witt1AM Poze (Reporter). Report of the Committee to investigate the Varieties of the Human Race. Tue Committee report that copies of the arranged queries have been for- warded to the remotest parts of North America, in the neighbourhood of the Rocky Mountains, to Mexico, Guiana, and to several of the States in South America ; to the West Indies, to Western, Southern and Northern Africa, to different localities in Asia, the Indian Archipelago, and several of the Islands of the Pacific Ocean. They have, for the most part, been addressed to indi- viduals, and accompanied with communications of greater or less extent, urging the importance of the subject. Sets of queries have likewise been forwarded to scientific gentlemen, who : have either visited races but imperfectly known, or have made ethnological research a part of their studies. In former years, answers have been furnished : by travellers particularly acquainted with the sections of the human race to which they related. The correspondence on the subject has produced com- munications relating to it which have contained various points of information. It is a gratifying fact that ethnology is now receiving systematic attention in France, Germany, and the United States, and that in this country it is also advancing. The Ethnological Society of London, of which the commencement was announced at the meeting of the Association last year, is now regularly con- stituted, and it is greatly to be desired that mutual assistance may long con- tinue to advance the study, and rescue from oblivion many interesting facts, of which without prompt attention no record will remain. With the exception of the sums required to defray the bills for printing the queries, no demand has been made upon the grants awarded to the Com- mittee in former years. Strict ceconomy has been employed in the distribu- tion, advantage having been taken of private opportunities and other channels requiring no expense on the part of the Association, aud numerous small sums have been laid out of which no account has been charged. Of the £15 granted last year, the sum of £7 6s. 3d. has been drawn upon the Treasurer to cover the expense of postage, lithography and stationery. | Tuomas HopeKkIn. 94 REPORT—1844, Fourth Report of a Committee, consisting of H. EK. SrRicKLAND, Esq., Prof. DauBENY, Prof. HeEnstow and Prof. LinDLEY, appointed — to continue their Experiments on the Vitality of Seeds. THESE experiments have this year been conducted in the same manner as in former years, one portion of the seeds having been sown in the Botanic Gar- den at Oxford, a second at the Horticultural Society’s Garden, Chiswick, and a third in Prof. Henslow’s garden at Hitcham, Suffolk, instead of the Botanie Garden, Cambridge, as was at first: proposed. The Committee have this year expended 11/. Os. 10d. in the purchase of seeds, materials for their preservation, and incidental expenses, Seeds of 48 additional genera have been added to the Seminarium at the Botanic Garden, Oxford. The Committee are indebted to Sir W. J. Hooker for a very inter- esting collection, consisting of 303 packets of seeds, gathered at various dates from 1800 to 1843. These have all been sown at Oxford, the quantity of © each having been in most cases too small to admit of distribution, The de- structive effects of time upon the vitality of seeds is well exemplified by this collection, and the following is the general result :— Of 92 kinds gathered from 1800 to 1806, only 2 per cent. have vegetated. — pen bee 05 be 1816 ... 1823, ... 21 Sas as ee oe ae oes sin hy ant reece hoe ed “se a ea The Committee beg to renew their request for similar contributions of an- cient seeds from all persons who may be interested in the inquiry. The seeds that were gathered in 1841 and sown in 1842 have also been resown this year. The following is a register of the results :-— No. of Seeds of each Species which vege- Time of yegetating in days. No. tated at Name and Date when gathered. | sown. — a. — Remarks. 5 peaeeaoenl 4M as 1793. 1. Hordeum vulgare.....,... 100 | 0 0 At Oxford the 1841. seeds were sown 2. Vicia SATIVA .-.vce-rs..000e 50 | 48) 41 Si es 13 | 10 Jon the 17th of 3. Daucus Carota.......++.+- 100 | 30) 39 10} 11} 385 | 42 |May, on a bed 4, Cannabis sativa ......... 50 prepared _ for 5. Pastinaca sativa ......... 100 8 9 3; 18 40 | 35 |them in a cold} 6. Brassica Rapa ....+.++-++» 300 |163| 76 96) 5 8 4 | frame, with the 7. Linum usitatissimum ...| 150 | 87] 39 76| 6 8 8 |exception of 8. Lepidium sativum ...... 100 | 97| 37 61| 5 8 3 |those usually 9. Polygonum Fagopyrum..| 50 5 6 14| 14 34 7 |sown on a hot- 10. Phalaris canariensis...... 100 | 55 52 40) 7 53 8 | bed. These were 11, Brassica Napus..........+. 150 |143); 71 |109| 5 8 5 |sown in pots} 12. Carum Carn ....-.+5++0. 200} 0 and placed in|. 13. Petroselinum sativum...| 50] 7} 18 17} 25} 63 | 42 | gentle heat. 14. Trifolium ? repens ...... LES ED ite sha E: Ma ee 7| 33 At Chiswick 15. Lactuca sativa ........-... BOM a, Dege Pepin pose - 33 the seeds were} 16. Brassica oleracea ......... 50 5 3 3| 10 33 | 35 | not sown till 17. Pisum sativum ............ 50 | 42) 15 BE| 27 35 6 | late in the sea- 18, Faba vulgaris ..........-, 25 | 25| 22 24) Il 36 | 21 | son. 19. Phaseolus multifiorus .... 25 | 17] 17 13| 12 26 | 28 20. Triticum estivum ...... 100 | 44) 383 86) 7 33 5 21. Hordeum vulgare......... 100 | 86} 15 66) 6 13 3 22. Avena Sativa....osccsseeres 100 | 91} 57 89| 7 18 5 23. thusa cynapoides ...... 100 3 24, Antirrhinum majus ...... 300 |257| 116 |102) 11 43 | 35 25. Calendula pluvialis ...... 200 | 126) 135 140| 9 33 8 tee ge Ae No. sown. , 1841 (continued). . ¥ }26. Collinsia heterophylla ...| 300 27. Datura Stramonium..,....| 100 28. Gilia achillzifolia......... 200 29. Lasthenia glabrata ...... 200 30. Ligusticum Levisticum, .| 100 31. Peonia mixt vars. ...... 100 182. Verbascum Thapsus..,... 500 4 1843. '|33. Asphodelus luteus ...... 50 134, Arctium Lappa.. ......... 100 (85. Angelica Archangelica... _ \36. Ageratum mexicanum... 187. Aster tenella..........00+++ 200 _ (88. Allium fragrans ......++- 100 139. Bidens diversifolia ...... 150 _ /40. Biscutella erigerifolia ...) 100 41. Borkhausia rubra......... 100 ‘42. Bartonia aurea ...........- 200 (48. Callistemma hortensis ...| 200 /44. Campanula medium..,,.. 100 145. Centaurea depressa ...... 100 (6 Cladanthus arabicus......) 200 _ |47. Cleome spinosa............ 100 ‘48. Cnicus arvensis ......... 50 _ 49. Convolvulus major ...... 50 50. Dianthus barbatus ...... 100 i. 1. Echium grandifiorum ...| 100 162. Eucharidium concinnum.| 200 _ |53. Euphorbia Lathyris...... 7 Gypsophila elegans . Helenium Douglasii Hebenstretia tenuifolia. . + Heliophila araboides . Hesperis matronalis, Hypericum hirsutum .. Kaulfussia amelloides ... Leptosiphon androsacea . . Lunaria biennis Loasa lateritia ............ Plantago media ......... , Polemonium ceruleum.. Rumex obtusifolium Silene inflata ............ Smyrnium Olusatrum ... 74. Schizanthus pinnatus ... #75. Tallinum ciliatum......... 200 ‘79. Xeranthemum annuum... {80, Zinnia multiflora ,........ } ¥ No. of Seeds of each ON THE GROWTH AND VITALITY OF SEEDS. ie ich _ | Time of vegetating Speci 3 eer. in days. a IChis-| Ox. |43: eS fai. ae lwick. He ‘ae gama ick. fae | | 982| 296 |... 6| 34 21 19 69| 17 36 8 77 92 | 451 7 33 | 35 139; 169 55) 7 35 es [lbh Bove tea ge | eat DAD eracel Rane || pie 12 21 19| 26 49 35 ae coves | 1G], ,.065] -eeere | 42 16 7 Hah) AE 30 61 Sass Bios] OL aI ane a AB 26 48 |110}] 11 35 «| 28 63 SOM, inegze 84 56 12 10 | 17) 9 33 35 10} 5 6| 17 36 49 47 54 30; 5 33 za 7G NOU? sewers 7 33 13 52 5| 14 30 42 55 23 47| 17 49 | 35 100 5 | 7) 12 33 21 79 67 54) 4 35 35 40 55 31; 8 41 8 5 EAA es creeee ANP IY. sconesk yp Ae 12 8 9| 13 34 8 100 53 89} 9 43 8 100 44 57) 7 18 6 47 40 23 10 40 49 6 3 11} 19 43 35 77 eae GUE dining ass 42 76| 116 |...... 9 33 43 69 63) 5 33 5 110 96 69| 6 33 7 72 80 70} 11 33 28 ashy eel! .fegaene Bites Ail Sandee 49 85 54 42; 9 36 42 82 61 59)P ao 33 6 45 59 Ly RNY 30 49 64 66 13] 16 36 35 Sma des are PA eee leulenss ss] aot 59 84 60) 7 34 8 36 46 24| 5 30 8 80 86 76| 40 57 42 18 2 15 | 26 68 49 OB! yh. .s. G4) TO) vases 5 67 3 55| 12 44 56 47 69 |110; 30 46 49 37 14 Ane 40 | 56 12 45 45 | 27 50 49 122; 138 |138}) 7 50 8 70 65 61} 18 35 35 4 3 Balleacase 7 56 95; 40 67| 10 40 30 ARS son mo Bee a 25 | 95 Remarks, 96 REPORT—1844. The following seeds, preserved in waxed cloth, were also resown:— No. of Seeds of each : sore Species which vege- Time - moa No. tated at ae Name and Date when gathered. | sown, |_——_-—————_ Remarks. ae Hitcham. |chis- on Hitcham. oes 1841, 81. Hordeum vulgare......... 100 | 90} 63 | 83} 6 30 4 82. Avena sativa.....--seeesees 100 | 95 41 74 | 6 18 5 83. Triticum estivum ...... 100 | 65 26 | 48| 6 33 5 84. Vicia sativa ....ccceeceee-- 50 | 41 34 | 40 8 26 6 85. Brassica oleracea .......+- 50 | 20 15 5110 33 8 86. Triticum zstivum......... 100 | 58 40 | 42] 7 33 5 |) Preserved in 87. Lasthenia glabrata ...... 200 }100) 141 | 29] 7 33 8 open jars. Of the 303 packets contributed by Sir W. J. Hooker, 32 kinds were gathered in 1800. None of which have yet vegetated. Fi ee sits _. 1801. Of these 6 have failed. 21 se a .. 1802. One kind only has vegetated. ] eS aS .. 1803. This has not vegetated. 12 ae are .. 1804. ‘These have all failed. 3 Ae A a8 , OUDs oi a 16 ae 4E .. 1806. be be 1 oe SE .. 1816. This has also failed. 23 a es .. 1817. Of these 8 have vegetated. 25 Me sila 42, ELS. soe th cS 18 ne A - 83 aes g Chronometer || .£| .33 £y Sef Mal ae ge oe 2 ra az = eS |#/a] 85 |S a] a 1844,4 h m Ls z ‘ | in > ee July 28. SR. ||P.|17 |V..... TO a an ee has tie » 9 O|P55 |v ip sf 30-306} {3 74-25 > WB OP) 12 [V.lescecolere] sarees [eeufessforelerefose|-aef] 302241... | 81-75 SH GFA Race! pete el a | ian, te as al a 17 IV. Se ee) MPG. ol... 55 IV. AGW IPI. Loeb: ipgbas tees 9 |v. SSRs ae aes? 99-5 |Vleeslecsleeelese S. July 29. SR. ||P] 7 [Veleessectees] sosses [eoefeee|ere | eS DSS. bs Pi te » 9 ofp 7 fv... sdeccfecaeeeleonl sell 30-04 {5st 62:5 Beas OP.) a il iedecage: He veclescleeeleool{ 30-02 ||...” 169 are, SSe Pd Wo Maleacecalecalreaeee eee ts Paces Ss a aysin: ae ON THE KEW OBSERVATORY. 137 - The insulator c, with its table, &c. removed into the north room, without any fire in the stove. Time Insul.a. | Insul.}. | Insul.c. | Daniell’s Hygrom. . 7 Elect. A. | Elect. C. | Elect. E. |inS, Room.jin N.Room. e ° ° ° o 20 20 20 14 8 3 15 0 20 20 20 13 12 4 25 2 20 20 20 14 12 65 4 4:5 20 20 20 30 22 65 7 4 20 20 20 26 21 4 2 4 20 20 20 16 9 6:5 45 35 20 20 20 19 12 5 3°5 5 It appears from these observations that very little difference arises in the insulating powers of our warmed glass pillars, from the circumstance of their being placed in an atmosphere a little more or less humid and cold. 4. CoMPARISON OF TWO UNITED WITH TWO SINGLE INSULATORS. In the wnited state of the insulators a and 3, in these experiments every- thing was disposed as in experiment 1. In their single state the uniting wire was withdrawn in the manner stated in experiment 2. , Insul.a. | Insul. 3. | Daniell’ M ime, | Hie | Berg |Besom| —xosttime, | h m hm Aug. 31. | 11 21 20 30 Bledel Lael 13 22 35 35 LE SRE ee united 165 2 13 35 ZOE tdece Sef seo eal Werner et 15 35 ROWAN BM PN 8. MDE single, 165 2 0 Sept. 11.) 14 5 20 20 Be eee eae 15 25 3°5 35 oe Rg ER united. 14 30 Pid | bia shtine 24 165 1 20 15 29 20 20 S| Re an eee 16 52 4 3:5 Sena pecsere Hel aetata single. 1 i a arcu baie 26 16°25 1 23 10 6 20 20 afi al ata lias raicades ll 3 35 35 sctynl eoubac hail liable Sacer united. LOP2S. «| kee Bee 18 165 1 24 11 34 20 20 = dso uray "** (9) suoryearasqo Jo sequin eee cerccoserees (v) SD.10J jo sung ————_—_____—___—.. ~ “THI et a ae er es a ee ee ee ee eae “OPST pue TFET savok oy} 10j yxoduoaagq 3e TOPMOMIOUY S198 JO S}[Msay uvout oy} Surmoys “ATX TTAVI, REPORT—1844. 266 8696 | SI8T | 6483 err | 98 | SIL 6 | FIIs | FFE 641 | BS | 86% ig 66 sé rs) 9 | ¢-ZOl 809E | O8FF | 86zF PIT | 00% | 02 0-26 | FS | 9-61 VS | LHS | 83-1 &8 gg £9 ALLGT |G9EL | L811 | G-1Ze | 688 |Z-1611| FOIL | 2-807 | LET PANS NO NT “MN “MINT 9OZTT | $0821 | 92606 | 8408 | 8898 geS | 26s | 916 | er | OSF 9L-1G | 8-12 | 6-ZS | 9-81 | 1-81 3 | ce-g | 8¢-3 | 141 | 19-1 96 | gfe | I8f | Fes | 98 Fes | GIS | FRZL | OOF | GEI L8091 | TFSLT | Z899G | SFBST | LE901 864 | 808 | 9611 | #89 | 80g 91-06 | £16 | 18-86 | L1-83 | 6-06 0-3 | 48:3 | ShS | $93 | 91-3 OO | 6£8 | 98h | ZIP | L8I "M |AAS*M ] CAAS | “ASS a) scg |} £69 | O09 oF 0¢ 69 69:81 |Fo1S | oé LI | G&S | L1F-0 OF 6 € G89 | 06 | S&T G69 | 916 | 986 961 8L tL 8-61 | S211 | €€-€1 €6-1 | 89:0 | 228-0 IZ L iié GLP | &é ‘as's | ‘a's | ‘a's'a PSL9 | ZOLE Sey | O16 GP-S | €9-Z1 AVI | &S1 8$ 19 89 | £86 £866 | £89 FOG | FE PS-61 | €6-L6 88-1 | S9-€ €@ | SII G-EP | L:08P ‘c | ‘OND SIgs | L996 yoy | sor 9¢-91 | Ge-S1 cel | FLT Lag Lest I9IF At OFS vE-LT | OT: ae 8F-1 6F GLZL | 218 ‘ON | ‘a'N'N sa A ya LPI sil SPLIT so 2 = r6l S-F0P Dp = SOtOZ ULI, *** (9) suoTyvArOsqo JO Joqunyy seeeeneeoresees(D) Sa0L0F JO SUING “BFS terse X 9 = Qoaya [VGOUT * (p) smoy Jo soquinu [ex0F, (0) moy sod sazror ut Az100T9A, a. D seeeeeeerervees = 9010} ULITNT ** (9) suorjearasgo Jo Joquinyy omens Sa0I10} jo sums serene DO XI = FMNsL [VABIyUT * (p) smoy jo raquinu jejoy, - moy red soprur ur Ay0079 4, beeieier aes See eee Wie Ape A ae Ped ee el ck We ieee ae eee ieee gee aed RR oe ea ‘GEST Pue TFET sivok oy} OJ YOIAUIATH ye JoJOWOWIAITY SA9[SCO JO S}[Nsoyy usu 04} SurMoys “AX ATAV], ON ATMOSPHERIC WAVES. 267 Report on Atmospheric Waves. By W. R. Brrr. Tue British Association, at its last meeting, having entrusted me, under the superintendence of Sir John Herschel, with the further investigation of at- mospheric waves, I immediately entered on the inquiry, and now present the following report of the progress I have made during the past year. It con- sists, first, of the copy of a letter addressed by me to Sir John Herschel, in which is detailed the plan on which I have proposed to examine these in- teresting atmospheric movements, a list of the stations from which I have obtained observations, and the conclusions which I have drawn from a dis- cussion of them ; second, of remarks on the waves and their phases as they passed the several stations ; third, an examination of barometric curves having the spaces between them coloured to exhibit the slope or dip of the atmo- sphere between the stations; fourth, an explanation of sections of waves in various directions; and fifth, of additional remarks drawn up after the pre- ceding were finished. Cambridge House Academy, Cambridge Road, Bethnal Green, London, August 10th, 1844. Dear Srir,—Since the last meeting of the British Association, I have endeavoured to collect materials for the purpose of determining the extent, direction of motion, and velocity of the atmospheric waves. Several heads of inquiry have suggested themselves to me, such as the progress of large waves similar to that observed by myself in November 1842, an examination of nodal points at Brussels, lines of contemporaneous elevation, or those lines that at any particular period may possess a similarity of pressure, and other sub- jects of a more restricted interest. In order to assist in this inquiry, you most kindly lent me observations made in Russia, Prague, and other parts of Europe. Mr. Airy has most obligingly furnished me with the volume of ‘Observations made at Greenwich during 1840, 1841,’ and I have obtained observations from other localities. Some of the Russian observations I have _ projected in curves, from which I obtain the same evidence of the progression _ of the wave as from the discussion of the quarterly observations. I have also projected and compared a few curves at Greenwich and Prague. These at present are too few and the stations too far apart to admit of scarcely any re- _ sults beyond the motions of the waves ; there are however two periods which promise some very interesting results,—the Equinoctial observations of Sep- _ tember 1841, from about sixty stations, and the great November wave of 1842. The latter I have paid the greatest attention to, as from its symmetry and the conclusive evidence we have of its motion from Dublin to Munich, it appeared to promise a rich harvest of results. The stations I have obtained observa- tions from during November 1842, are as per accompanying list ;— ENGLAND. IRELAND. Longstone. Dublin. York. Haishoro. ScoTLAND. Liindén: Makerstoun. Greenwich. Glasgow. ‘ Canterbury. CONTINENTAL. Hastings. Heligoland. St. Catherine’s Point. Brussels. Scilly. Gratz. South Bishop. Carlsruhe. Bardsey. Munich. Birmingham. Prague. 268 REPORT—1844. CoNTINENTAL. CoLoNnIAL. Milan. Toronto. Naples. St. Helena. Great St. Bernard. Cape of Good Hope. Geneva. Van Diemen’s Land. Paris. In the spring of the present year, the Honourable the Corporation of the Trinity House allowed me most obligingly free access to the barometrical records kept at certain lighthouses, and I obtained observations made at the following stations :—Longstone, coast of Northumberland ; Heligoland ; Hais- boro, coast of Norfolk; St. Catherine’s Point, Isle of Wight ; Scilly ; South Bishop; and Bardsey Island, coast of Wales. The plan I propose for tho- roughly examining the wave is this :— I. To reduce all the observations to the level of the sea; this I apprehend is the only efficient test that can be brought to bear on the theory that the non-periodic oscillations of the barometer are due to waves; for if we con- template a single wave, a barometer at the station over which the apex passes at any given time, will exhibit a greater pressure than any of those at other stations, and the slope to the other stations will be greater or less according as they are situated on, or at any angle to, the transverse or longitudinal sec- tions of the waves. II. To ascertain the difference of such reduced pressures between all the stations, and to exhibit such differences on a diagram of the area over which the stations extend. By this means I apprehend a more accurate idea can be formed of the disposition of the atmosphere than the curves will afford, and the highest and lowest points may be readily seen. As the lighthouse observa- tions are taken every six hours, I propose constructing four such diagrams for each day from the 8th to the end of November, and, as I find it neces- sary; to colour certain portions of the areas indicating the progress of the waves *, III. When necessary, to construct models with a view to approximate to the slopes of the waves, and particularly to mark the directions of the crests and troughs, the maxima and minima. IV. With the assistance of the above-named diagrams and models, to pro- ject sections of the waves taken in various directions, from which, should the area be sufficiently extensive, the spans and altitudes may be approximately deduced. V. To select the most advantageous lines from the area, and to project the curves obtained at stations situated on or near such lines on the same sheet, and referred to the same normal altitude, 29°500 for instance. The spaces between each curve to be coloured, the same colour to be continually wander the same curve. These coloured projections will indicate three things as con- nected with the disposition of the atmosphere ;—lst, the depth or extent of colour will show the depression of the lower station below the upper; 2nd, the intersections of the curves will indicate that at the time of intersection the stations had an equality of pressure; and 3rd, the change of the position of the same colour will point out that the station which exhibited or expe- rienced the higher or lower pressure, afterwards experienced the lower or higher, with its amount. In this manner I have commenced the discussion of the observations now in hand, and as the depression of the | 1th November appears to be the com- mencement of the large wave, I have thought it best to study the disposition of the atmosphere over the area a few days previous, in order to obtain the * See Plate XLII. T See Plate XLIII. ON ATMOSPHERIC WAVES. 269 true character of the depression. The result of this portion of my investiga- tion is, that during the 8th and 9th of November é¢wo systems of waves were traversing the British Isles and the neighbouring parts of Europe, the largest from the N.W. and the smallest from the S.S.W. A trough belonging to the largest system extended from Scilly to Longstone, or, as shown by the model, in a line to the S.E. of this. A well-marked wave of the second system passed over on the 9th from Scilly to Longstone ; the altitude varied accord- ing to the disposition of the atmosphere arising from the first wave from 29-537 at Bardsey to 29°590 at Longstone*. From a very careful examina- tion of the passage of this wave over the area, it appears that its transverse section extended over 341 miles with an altitude of ‘090 inch. This wave progressed at the rate of twenty-five miles per hour. The great depression from Geneva to Longstone appears to be connected with, or result from, a permanent depression in the north-west of England, or a gradual diminution of pressure from the central part of Europe ; and it is probable that the nodal eharacter of Brussels may depend on its enjoying permanently a greater pressure than the stations to the north-west of it, and that it is only very high waves, such as that of the 18th November, that are capable of depressing Brussels below stations situated in the atmospheric valley, as Dublin. It is remarkable, that in all large storms the barometer is more depressed in the central part of England. It appears that the maximum, or the apex of the wave succeeding the trough of the first system, was comparatively small, ap- pearing only as a bulge on the posterior slope of a large wave. This however will be better determined by the further examination of the curves. I apprehend I have thus obtained a starting-point from which the true character of the wave or waves from the 11th to the 25th November may be _ determined, and the agreement or anomalies of the curves explained. I have accompanied this communication with specimers of the tables I intend to construct, the diagrams of the areas (these are at present imperfect, owing to _ all the stations not having been inserted), models to assist in obtaining an idea of the disposition of the atmosphere, sections of the waves projected from observations reduced to the level of the sea, and the projected curves with the spaces between them coloured as before mentioned. I shall endeavour to _ execute, by the meeting of the Association, the continuation of these and other curves past the depression of the 11th, with their appropriate colours; but I fear I shall not be able to obtain any further results by that time than those already mentioned in this communication. I have also inclosed copies of remarks I have made with a view to explain the drawings and models, and to illustrate the manner in which I pursue the inquiry. These remarks and explanations I do not by any means consider in the present state of the inquiry as final; I have used them merely to assist in ob- taining an idea of the nature of the barometric fluctuations within the area and at the times named, with the view of clearly understanding the nature of the great depression of the 11th. You will perceive I have scarcely touched on any of the continental stations; and as I more fully investigate their curves and sections, many of the views recorded in the remarks, &c. will doubtless require modification. Iam inclined however to consider the two systems as clearly made out, and that the form, direction, and velocity of wave B 1 has been tolerably well apprehended. I have left blank leaves in writing the re- marks and explanations, for any notes or suggestions you may feel desirous of inserting. You will probably notice the progress I have made, or rather the plan I * At Scilly the altitude of the maximum was 29°645. 270 REPORT—1844. intend to pursue, in the report of the Committee for Magnetical and Meteoro- logical Co-operation. When you allude to it, may I respectfully solicit your kindness to inquire if the Association will favour me with extracts from Mr. Snow Harris’s ‘ Hourly Observations of the Barometer at Plymouth for No- vember 1842,’ and from Sir David Brewster’s ‘ Observations,’ I believe at Inverness and Kingussie, for the same month? ‘The first station will be ex- ceedingly important in the south-western part of the area, and Sir David's will furnish some valuable information relative to the progress of the waves further north than Longstone. I am exceedingly anxious to obtain barometric records for this month, November 1842, from Ireland and Scotland. I have inclosed the copy of Lamont’s ‘ Annalen,’ No. 4, which you kindly lent me, and for which 1 beg you will accept my best thanks. If you can favour me with a few copies of the ‘ Report on the Reduction of Meteoro- logical Observations,’ I shall feel obliged. Col. Sabine advised me to have some printed, but I found the type had been broken up. I have the honour to be, dear Sir, Yours very respectfully, Sir John F. W. Herschel, Bart. W. R. Birr. REMARKS ON ATMOSPHERIC WAVES. Stations of Observation. Heligoland. Brussels. Birmingham. South Bishop. Longstone. Geneva. Bardsey Island. Scilly. Haisboro. St. Catherine’s Point. Dublin. (1.) From a careful study of the altitudes of the barometer observed at the stations above-enumerated when reduced to the level of the sea, I am in- clined to believe that the area included by the extreme stations was traversed at the commencement of the observations by two systems of waves. The axes of translation of these systems formed a considerable angle; one ap- peared to have a N.W.—S.E. direction, the other $.S.W.—N.N.E. Iam also inclined to consider that a permanent depression of the atmosphere from Geneva to the centre of England exists; or should this be found not to be the case, the phenomena observed most probably result from the passage of a normal wave or waves of very extensive magnitude, The projection of the barometric altitudes in curves (the abscissze representing the times) clearly indicates the passage of vast waves, but the only efficient test of this indica- tion consists in obtaining sections of such waves, or projecting curves, in which the distances of the stations are considered as abscissee. Now as it is difficult to obtain stations (especially when the observations have not been made with a view to this particular inquiry), situated in a right line and sufficiently nume- rous for the purpose, but by constructing models from the curves obtained by a combination of all the stations, a tolerable idea may be formed of the dis- position of the atmosphere over the whole area; and from a succession of such models, illustrated by curves in particular directions and carefully studied with reference to the curves obtained from the times as abscisse, the passage of these waves can be clearly made out, and, I apprehend, their magnitudes tolerably well ascertained. In the following inquiry I shall term the system of waves flowing from the N.W. A, and that flowing from the S.S.W. B; each particular wave will be designated A i, A 2, &c., B 1, B 2, &e. (2.) Wave A 1.—A line cutting the crest of the wave A 1 transversely e ¥ ON ATMOSPHERIC WAVES. 271 appears to have passed through Geneva and Brussels, and a continuation of this line would pass to the north-east of Longstone ; the highest blue curve a in fig. 2, Plate XLIV., will give the approximate form of the slope of this part of the wave, Nov. 8.21 hours. At 8.15, six hours earlier, a line joining Scilly and St. Catherine’s Point appeared to be somewhat parallel to the crest of the wave; the slope could not have extended much further than Dublin, the slope from Dublin to Longstone being only -093. (3.) Wave B 1 appears to have flowed from Scilly towards Longstone; the highest blue curve a, in fig. 1, Plate XLIV., will give an approximate form of the slope of this part of the wave (or rather the form of the atmosphere on this line, arising from a combination of the two waves, A 1 and B 1), for at 8.15 the remarkable bulge in the neighbourhood of South Bishop appears to have been a portion of wave Al, which at that time was passing South Bishop from the N.W.* (4.) Nov. 8.21—Wave Al. The highest blue curve a, in fig.2, Plate XLIYV., gives the approximate form of the slope of this wave from Geneva, to Brussels. The highest blue curve a, in fig. 3, gives an approximate section of this wave from Brussels to Dublin, crossing the section of wave B 1, in fig. 1, at 01 in fig. 3. Dublin is now at a minimum}. The bulge which characterized the line from Scilly to Longstone in fig. 1, curve a, appears very conspicuously in this curve between Birmingham and Dublin. The three curves in fig. 3 exhibit the variations in the pressure at the stations Brussels, Birmingham and Dublin; during the twelve hours from Nov. 8.21 to 9.9, the bulge appears to be peculiar to Birmingham; and the minimum, as it advances, appears to run up the slope, and not to pass onwards at the same level. (5.) Wave B1.—The progression of the bulge towards the S.E. left the gradual and gentle slope as exhibited in fig. 1, curve 6, Plate XLIV., and this either formed a portion of the slope of wave A 1, or of a normal wave, or resulted from the permanent depression before alluded to. It is worthy of remark, that the fall of the slope accompanies the progression of wave A 1 f. (6.) Model for this term gives a general idea of the slope of wave A 1, from a line joining Brussels and Heligoland to a line joining Dublin and _Longstone. (6*.) Nov. 9.2.—Dublin and Bardsey at the same level, the atmosphere ‘rising to South Bishop and Scilly, and dipping to Longstone; this equality of level is occasioned by the passage of the trough of Al. See coloured ‘diagrams, fig. 2, Plate XLIII., intersection of Dublin and Bardsey curves, : near m. (7.) Nov. 9.3.—The minimum has now passed Dublin, and a trough exists between Dublin and St. Catherine’s Point; minima now exist at Longstone, Bardsey Island, South Bishop, and Scilly, so that the trough of the advancing wave Al extends in the line from Scilly to Longstone, with a dip of *369 to Longstone. The minima at Longstone, Bardsey, and South Bishop, appear to be produced by the posterior trough of A 1, and the minima at Scilly and Geneva by the anterior trough of B 1, see Plate XLII.; if so, the curve e, fig. 1, Plate XLIV., must exhibit, not the anterior slope of B 1, but a slope _ * From the consideration that the minimum at Scilly at 9.3 was occasioned by the anterior trough of B 1, the curve a, fig. 1, could not have represented any portion of the an- | terior slope of this wave. It is most probable that the curve resulted from a combination of the slope of A 1 with the bulge, and the slope arising from the permanent depression, See (5) and (7). + The observed minimum occurred at Dublin Nov. 9.1.0. } At this time wave B 1 had not entered on the area. 272 REPORT—1844, arising from the permanent depression before noticed, a normal wave, or from Al. See (5.) A slight rounding of this curve is seen very near Longstone, and the depression between it and Scilly is developed as the wave B 1 ad- vances. The curve at 9.15 e exhibits the crest of wave B1 passing South Bishop, and indicates the wave to be very small. The blue curves on all the lines are descending ; this would result from the passage of the posterior slope of Al. The curves ascend as the anterior slope of B1 approaches: this is found to be the case Nov. 9.9, Scilly to Longstone and Geneva to Brussels. Brussels does not exhibit this rise, as neither the trough of A 1 nor the apex of B 1 has arrived at this station. (8.) Wave A1.—The trough of this wave is now passing Longstone, Bardsey, and South Bishop; the bulge at or near Birmingham is lessened, and it begins to appear eastward of Haisboro (see curves 6 4, figs. 3 and 2, Plate XLIV.). We have thus satisfactorily traced the progression of this bulge from the north-west, past South Bishop, and also in the neighbourhood of Haisboro ; there can be no question that its longitudinal direction was con- siderable, but we have not at present sufficient data for determining it. (9.) Wave B 1.—The anterior trough of this wave now enters on the area and passes Geneva and Scilly ; the wave also enters, producing a rise of the barometer, at both stations. (10.) Wave A 2 (or shoulder).—This wave has now entered on the area 72 miles (from Dublin to Bardsey) ; the extremity of the curve 8, fig. 3, Plate XLIV., tinted red, shows the barometric rise due to this wave. (11.) Nov. 9.3.—Model exhibits the general slope of A 1 (or normal) in the same direction as before; the trough between Dublin and Birmingham is brought fully into view. (12.) Nov. 9.5.—Dublin attains the altitude of South Bishop, and the two curves continue nearly identical for the next nine hours; Dublin rising from the anterior slope of A 2, combined with that of B 1 and South Bishop, prin- cipally from the latter wave (see coloured diagrams, fig. 2, Plate XLIII.). (13.) Nov. 9.9.—Wave A 1, fig. 3, curvec, Plate XLIV. As wave B | ad- vances, the anterior slope will occasion a rise, while the barometer is falling from the passage of the posterior slope of the wave Al. This is particularly observable at Birmingham, and a secondary trough is occasioned in con- sequence between this station and Brussels. The normal slope is however clearly seen, for the minimum, which now is situated a little north-west of Birmingham, is considerably above the level of the minimum of the last term. (14.) The bulge, which towards the north-east assumes a more gentle and flowing character, passes beyond Brussels towards Geneva at this term ; this is exhibited in curve c (red) of fig. 2, Plate XLIV. (15.) Wave B1.—The crest of this wave passes over Scilly, and at the same moment its anterior trough passes St. Catherine’s Point ; the half-breadth cannot therefore extend much beyond South Bishop, or about 150 miles. From the red curve d, in fig. 1, Plate XLIV., it would appear to form a part of the slope of the depression before-mentioned. Since the passage of the posterior trough of A 1 at Longstone, Nov. 9.3., the barometer has risen at this station from the anterior slope of A 2 alone, amount ‘099. As this slope passes over Longstone, the anterior trough of B 1 becomes more conspicuous on the slope of the depression, and is fully developed next term. (16.) Nov. 9.9.—Model. The approach of the trough of A 1 is clearly seen on the model for this term, also its direction as it cuts a line joining St. Catherine’s Point, Bardsey and Dublin obliquely, and is at right angles to a) line joining Geneva and Brussels. According to this view, it would appear & ON ATMOSPHERIC WAVES. 973 that the trough had made no progress since Nov. 9.3%. I am however in- clined to consider that, as it passed Bardsey at this epoch (Nov. 9.3.), it would have passed the intersection of the line from Birmingham to South Bishop at 9. It is probable that the altitude at the point of intersection should be less than given in the model; if so, the two troughs, posterior A and anterior B 1, would nearly coincide, and Bardsey being the nearest station of observation, would give the lowest reading. Upon this view we shall have the flowing on of the two waves; the rise at Scilly from 3 to 9, being produced by the joint action of waves A 2 and B }, and that at South Bishop also, while at Bardsey the rise from 3 to 9 is due only to the anterior slope of A 2, and B 1 does not occasion any rise at this station until after 9 hours. The supe- riority of the Dublin to the Bardsey curve, Plate XLIII., fig. 2, indicates that the two stations are situated under the anterior slope of A2. Upon com- paring this model with the two former, the approach of the area to a level is very apparent, although the slope is generally in the same direction as in _ the former models. (17.) Nov. 9.9.—St. Catherine’s Point and Scilly approach nearly to a level, as the trough of B 1 passes St. Catherine’s while the maximum is pass- ing Scilly. See(15.) The curve at St. Catherine's Point, fig. 2, Plate XLIIL., _ exhibits a very small rise ; probably the trough of A 1 has tended to depress the maximum of B 1. (18.) Nov. 9.13.30 (about ).—Scilly, South Bishop and Dublin at the same level with South Bishop near its maximum. (19.) Nov. 9.15.—Wave A 1. The trough of this wave appears to be still between St. Catherine’s Point and Dublin. _ (20.) Wave B 1.—The apex of this wave now passes over St. Catherine’s Point and Bardsey. Curvee (red+), fig. 1, Plate XLIV. exhibits this apex, also _ the anterior trough between Bardsey and Longstone noticed in (15.). __ The annexed figure represents an approximate transverse section of wave _B 1 as it passed South Bishop and Bardsey. Bardsey. South Bishop. Scilly. Altitude of wave ‘090 measured from the slope from Scilly to Longstone. _ (21.) Nov. 9.15.30.—Scilly and Bardsey on a level, with South Bishop ‘rising between them. Dublin is still rising, most probably from the anterior ‘slope of wave A 2. * The progression of the anterior trough of wave A 2 is clearly seen in the annexed ‘section from Dublin to St. Catherine’s Point at 9.15. ‘ Wave A 1}. eee anne eae 29°500 ~ 72 miles. r 214 miles. -99°500 Dublin. Bardsey. St. Catherine’s Point. Section of anterior trough of A 2 at 9.15. The transverse section of B 1 for the same epoch cuts this line, and indicates that that wave was moving along this trough. See (20.) + Figs. 2 and 3, Plate XLIII., have not been coloured, the ¢inting of the spaces under each eurve answering the same purpose. The term “coloured” is retained in the Report as indi- Cating that the original diagrams which accompanied it were coloured, and also for the pur- pose of more readily referring the reader to these particular diagrams. In the explanation of Plate XLIV. the colours of the curves have been retained for the Same reasons. In the original of this plate Jlue curves represent the barometer descending, and red curves the barometer ascending. 1844. z 274 REPORT—1844. (22.) Nov. 9.17.0.—A maximum passes Dublin. This is most probably the apex of wave A2.* The posterior minimum of A 1, or anterior minimum of A 2, passed this station Noy.9.1.0, and the anterior minimum of B 1 did not pass Scilly until Nov. 9.3. The rise at Dublin, South Bishop, Bardsey and Longstone must have been occasioned by the anterior slopes of A 2 and B 1 combined ; but more light will be obtained on these points by a discussion of the curves of the remaining stations. (23.) Nov. 9.18 and 19.—Scilly, South Bishop, Bardsey and Longstone nearly on a level. The barometer descending at the three first-named stations and rising at Longstone, indicates that the apex of the wave was passing be- tween Longstone and Bardsey. The coloured diagram exhibits a considerable depth of atmosphere from St. Catherine’s Point to Bardsey, and a rise from Bardsey to Dublin, showing that the trough of A 1 is still between the ex- treme stations, or that it has not been sufficiently deep to depress St. Cathe- rine’s Point below Bardsey, This, however, with several other interesting points, will be fully elucidated in the further discussion. (24.) The characters of the two waves A | and B 1 (or rather three, in- cluding A 2), as developed in the foregoing inquiry, support, I apprehend, the idea of a permanent slope from Scilly to Longstone. The waves B1 and A 2 appear to have been nearly of the same altitude, or to have exerted nearly the same pressure in their passage. The curves due to their combined action in the south of England are small: these curves increase towards the north. Longstone, which exhibits the least pressure during the period of these observations, developes the largest curve ; and at this station a consi- derable rise is due to the passage of A2. This must necessarily take place at a station situated as Longstone appears to be,—in a vallée atmosphériquet. . * The superiority of the Dublin to the Bardsey curve, for some hours subsequent to this epoch, indicates that this maximum was due to the apex of B 1. + Since this paragraph was written, I have inserted in Plate XLIV., fig, 1, the curves exhibit- ing the distribution of pressure on the line from Scilly to Longstone for the epochs Noy. 10.3 and 10.9 (see curves g and #). These curves very clearly indicate the precise characters of the waves A 1 and B 1, and when we combine them with the synchronous curves at these stations, we at once see that both A 1 and B 1 were small waves riding on others of a much greater magnitude. The curves é and e, fig. 1, Plate XLIV., exhibit a slope on which B 1 rolled. (See 5 and 7.) The coloured diagram at the epochs Nov. 8.21 and 9.3 also shows a very considerable fall from Scilly to Longstone. Now as Scilly exhibited the greatest and Long- stone the least pressure, it is clear that these stations were situated under thé anterior slope of the larger wave during the continuance of these conditions, provided such wave was moying in the same direction as B 1. When the apex passed between Scilly and Longstone their synchronous curves intersected (see fig. 2, Plate XLIII., about 18h. 30m. of Nov. 9). Im- mediately after the intersection Longstone became the superior curve, and upon the apex passing Longstone the previous conditions were changed, and both these stations were then situated under the posterior slope of the larger wave. The curves 4 and ¢, fig. 1, Plate XLIV., exhibit that portion of the slope in advance of B 1. The curve e of the same figure exhibits B 1 riding on the apex of this wave, and the curves g and / show its posterior slope, which succeeded B1. By selecting two curves, 4 and g for instance, the change in the distribution of pressure on this line resulting from the passage of the larger waye is clearly apparent. The group of curves affords an illustration of a nodal point on a small scale,—the great extent of oscilla- tion at Scilly, its gradual diminution towards and past Bardsey, its small amount at the point n between Bardsey and Longstone, and its augmentation (compared with this point) at Longstone, are interesting illustrations of the increase of oscillation noticed in Sir John Herschel’s ‘ Report on Meteorological Reductions’ (Report, 1843, p. 85), which are here clearly seen to result from the passages of the anterior and posterior slopes of a large wave between the transits of its anterior and posterior troughs, n being the nodal point in which the curves representing the anterior and posterior slopes intersect. The following table exhibits the depression of Longstone below Scilly during a portion of the transit of the anterior slope of the larger wave, and the depression of Scilly below Long- stone during the transit of its posterior slope :— ee ‘ON ATMOSPHERIC WAVES. 275 Barometric Observations reduced to the Level of the Sea, November 1842. TT : St. Ca- : dipochs. therine’s. Seilly, South Bishop. Bardsey. | Dublin. |Longstone. Noy. h 8, 15|29°901 |29°849 |29°810 |29°627 |29°563 | 29°470 21 °798 °702 "511 "4.58 391m, °*296 9, 3 723 *594m.) °428m,| °385m.) °395 295m. 9 ‘651m.} °645m.| °529 “468 *530 324, 15 ‘678M.| °553 *870M.| °537M,| °576M.| °426 21 "656 491 477 “506 *555 “570 M maximum, m minimum. Examination of Coloured Diagrams. Fig. 2, Plate XLITI.—Diagram exhibiting the variations of the barometer at thestations named in the above table, the altitudes reduced tothe level of the sea. The depth of each colour indicates the depression of the atmosphere between the terminating stations ; and the intersections of the curves show that at the times of intersection the pressure at each station was the same, and that the relative pressure at these stations became altered, diminishing at one and aug- menting at the other. The progression of the minimum in a line from Dublin to St. Catherine’s Point* is very apparent, also the direction of the trough from Scilly to Longstone. The progression of the maximum from Seilly towards _ Longstone is also exhibited; namely, Scilly, South Bishop, St. Catherine's Point, Bardsey, Dublin. The general tendency to a level, with the intersec- _ tion of the curves in the western portion of the area during the last eight hours, is very apparent. _ Fig. 3, Plate XLIII.—Projection of the St. Catherine’s, Bardsey and Dublin _ curves, showing the depth of atmosphere from St. Catherine’s to Dublin, and _ the interchange of level between Dublin and Bardsey. These diagrams are intended to exhibit, not only the variations of atmo- _ spheric pressure at the stations selected, but also those over the area included by them. This area is shown in fig.1, Plate XLIII. The observations com- _mence with a considerable dip from Scilly to Longstone ; the depth of each colour indicates the slope between the two stations bounding it. The form of the atmosphere, Nov. 8.15 hours, between the two extreme stations, Scilly and Longstone, is given by the highest blue curve (a) in fig. 1, Plate XLIV. The trough of the wave A 1 (see remarks on atmospheric waves) passed Dublin about two hours earlier than the recorded minima at the other 4 | Epochs. Longstone. | Scilly. Diff, Scilly +. | 4 ‘ 1842, | Nov. 8, 15h 29°470 29°849 +°379 21 1296 +702 +:406 | 9, 3 225 594 +°369 4) \ 9 °324 *645 +°321 A 15 “426 553 +°127 x . 21 570 "491 —:079 4 10, 3 “590 286 —°304 ifn u) “oll 162 —*349 15 *286 "081 —’205 a ic F 21 164 061 —'103 11, 3 28°990 081 +°091 Bho * It is probable from other considerations that the minimum at St. Catherine's Point was occasioned by the passage of the anterior trough of waye B 1. rg 276 REPORT—1844, stations; but upon a careful consideration, the curve (Dublin) appears to in- dicate that the trough of this wave passed Dublin about six in the morning of the 9th Nov. About 2 p.m. Dublin and Bardsey were at the same level, the disposition of the atmosphere remaining the same at the other stations, and at 3 P.M. the trough of the wave A 1 extended from Scilly to Longstone. Other considerations imply that the minimum at Scilly, although coincident with the minima at South Bishop, Bardsey and Longstone, did not form a part of the posterior trough of Al. The model of Nov. 9.9 indicates that the trough ran in a direction at right angles to a line joining Geneva and Brussels; and as a minimum passed Geneva at the same time, Nov. 9.3, it is probable that these minima, Scilly and Geneva, were occasioned by the ante- rior trough of B1. At 5 p.m. Dublin.attained the elevation of South Bishop, and the two curves run together until 2 a.m. of the 10th. The rise at all the stations is occasioned by the anterior slope of the wave B 1 combined with the anterior slope of A. The parallelism of Dublin and Bardsey is very apparent. The passages of the maximum are well-marked, Scilly occurring at 9 p.m. with the greatest elevation except St. Catherine’s Point. At this moment St. Catherine’s Point passes a minimum. The diagram suggests that this minimum is the posterior trough of A 1, but the model shows that the trough of A 1 is now in the neighbourhood of Bardsey, and has not yet pro- _ gressed as far as St. Catherine’s Point; it must therefore be the anterior trough of B 1 which occasions this depression at St. Catherine’s Point. The transverse section of this wave (B 1) east of Scilly appears to be but small; it is, however, considerably enlarged towards Longstone. It appears probable that the small rise at Scilly and the smaller at St. Catherine’s Point* were occasioned by a step or shoulder on the posterior slope of A 1, similar to that which appears between Bardsey and Scilly at 8.15, and in the neighbour- hood of Birmingham at all the terms (see Sections and Models); and that the apex of B 1 was but slightly raised above it, so that after the passage of the step the posterior slopes of both waves coincided. South Bishop, St. Cathe- rine’s Point, Bardsey and Dublin next pass their maxima in this order. The three red curves de f, fig.1, Plate XLIV., exhibit the passage of the wave (B 1) in the direction from Scilly to Longstone. The occurrence of the maximum — at St. Catherine’s Point and Bardsey about the same time indicates the direc- tion of the crest of B | to pass through these stations: this direction is rather different from the direction of the anterior trough, for Geneva does not pass its maximum until 9.21. At 2 a.m. of the 10th a decided change of level takes place in three localities, Scilly, Dublin and South Bishop: this is evi- dently occasioned by the passage of the posterior slope of B 1 over Scilly at — the time the apex is approaching South Bishop and Dublin. At 3 a.m. the apex passes South Bishop, and shortly after Scilly and Bardsey are on the ~ same level with South Bishop rising between them. The next intersections — of the curves occur betwen 6 and 7 a.m. of the 10th; the highest level — is Bardsey and South Bishop, and the lowest Longstone and Scilly. The apex is now rapidly rolling on towards Longstone, depressing South Bishop. Shortly before 7 Longstone and Bardsey are on the same level, the wave rising between them. About 8 the curves of Scilly and South Bishop again intersect, and immediately after Longstone and Dublin are at the same level. General Conclusion. That while the posterior slope of a very large wave, with a shoulder pro-— ducing a small trough (A 1), passed over the area, a small wave passed over at a considerable angle to the first. The passage of the apex of this wave * The maximum occurring earlier at St. Catherine’s Point than at Dublin, clearly indicates that the St. Catherine’s maximum was due only to the apex of B 1. tT = , ' 2m a ON ATMOSPHERIC WAVES. 277 (B 1) has been most satisfactorily traced, but the distance from Scilly to Longstone was not long enough to exhibit the span and altitude*. Explanation of the Sections of Waves, Figs. 1, 2 and 4, Plate XLIV. Fig. 1.—The curves in this figure are intended to exhibit the variations of pressure from Scilly to Longstone ; the extent and form of the line selected is shown below. The three blue curves, abe, give the approximate atmo- spheric form, the barometer descending. The three red curves, de J, the varia- tions of form during the passage of wave B 1, and the curves gh the form of the posterior slope of the larger wave on which B1 was superposed. See note to (24.), Remarks on Atmospheric Waves. Fig. 2.—The curves in this figure represent the form of the atmosphere be- tween Geneva and Brussels. They are projected from the reduced altitudes at Geneva and Brussels, and altitudes taken from the models at two points, 01 and 02; 01 between Geneva and Brussels, and 02 in the same line beyond Brussels. Fig. 3.—The curves in this figure represent the Jorm of the atmosphere in a line from Brussels by Birmingham to Dublin, with two intermediate sta- tions, as in fig. 2. v.61 miles. Ey 248 miles, . ° a 148 miles. 5 8 e 5 > ) = a Additional Remarks. (1.) The object of the discussion of the barometric observations of the 9th and 10th of November 1842, has been to obtain, as nearly as possible, a clear apprehension of the distribution of atmospheric pressure with its variations over the area included by the stations furnishing observations, previous to undertaking an examination of the great symmetrical wave which traversed Europe from the 11th to the 25th of the month. In the course of the exa- mination, the sections for the epoch November 9.3 are the most complete ; and as but few of them have been given, it may be interesting to subjoin the results obtained from an examination of the remaining sections, especially as they are particularly illustrative of the wave A 1, which has already been alluded to as traversing Europe on those days. Epoch, Nov.9.3.0, 1842; area, Longstone, Dublin, Scilly, Paris, Heligoland, 3 Munich, Geneva. _ (2.) In this area, Longstone, Scilly and Brussels form a triangle inclosing England. Longstone to Brussels will give a section of the distribution of _ Ptessure on the eastern coasts of England ; Longstone to Scilly, the distribution / on the western, and Scilly to Brussels on the southern; Longstone, Birming- ham and St. Catherine’s Point, the distribution nearly from north to southt. ney (3:) An inspection of these sections, as given in the first sheet of sections, » Plate XLV., will show that the most precipitous slope occurred on the eastern »shores of our island, and that this is characterized by a bulge (or most probably /asuperposed wave) in the neighbourhood of Haisboro on a normal wave or a permanent slope. The same result is obtained across the island from obser- _Yations entirely distinct, as at Birmingham and St. Catherine’s Point, and the _ two sections are essentially similar, especially in the precipitous manner in ave * A more attentive consideration of the circumstances of the passages of these waves has induced me to come to the conclusion, that the span of B 1 was 341 miles and its altitude 090 inch. See (20.), Remarks on Atmospheric Waves. t. The coast line of England has been inserted in Plate XLIL., in order to illustrate the ‘sections in Plate XLV. ae) *on0}sSu0'T 278 REPORT—1844, which the line 29°500 is crossed. They appear in fact to be converging sec: tions of a wave having its posterior trough near and to the north of Longstone. (4.) The western section from Scilly to Longstone presents a nearly un- broken descent, and it is probable that the wave which is so apparent on the central and eastern sections did not extend to this; there is a slight rise a little to the north-east of Bardsey, which may probably result from the extremity of the wave. The section from Brussels to Scilly is also of an unbroken character. (5.) The central and southern sections are crossed by two others, which ex- hibit the distribution of pressure over the area included by Dublin, Munich and Geneva; thesesections (Plate XLVI. )are extremely interesting, they supply defi- ciencies in the sections already given, and are both characterized by two bulges or superposed waves. The lowest of these waves (A 1) stretches from the coast of Wales to the coast of Holland on the Munich line; and from Bardsey to the coast of France on the Geneva line. From a careful consideration of the sections drawn in other directions, there can be no question that the bulge on the eastern and central of the English sections and this wave is the same. It covered nearly the whole of England at this time (Nov. 9.3.0), its apex or crest stretched from Cornwall to the shores of Suffolk, taking a somewhat circular direction about midway between London and Birmingham, and it is probable that it extended considerably towards the east over the German Ocean, and on the continent. (6.) Of the wave preceding this we obtain but a small portion; the two sections from Dublin to Munich and Geneva indicate that the direction of the crest was nearly parallel to that of the wave we have just examined. A section exhibiting the distribution of pressure from Longstone to Geneva, constructed from interpolated ordinates, also gives this wave. (7.) The curves exhibiting the distribution of pressure are constructed from observed and interpolated ordinates. The latter are measured on those points of the curves where they ititersect others, and where the pressure must necessarily be the same in both. The sections are consequently mere approxi- mations to those that would be given were the stations of observation suffi- ciently fear to each other to project from them the true curves of pressure on a line, as from Dublin to Munich ; in fact we require a much longer line than this, which probably does not give the half breadth of the normal wave. The same principle of short intervals, which Sir John Herschel has so effi- ciently applied to time in the solstitial and equinoctial observations, pte to space in arranging series of observations on certain lines, would make us ac- quainted with the true distribution of pressure over a tract of country, and the two combined would give us the march as well as the distribution. (8.) The waves deduced from the observations are affected by two cireum- stances, hamely, the diurnal oscillation, which must to a certain extent inter- fere with the form of the wave, and the influence of the aqueous vapour dif- fused in the atmosphere. The pressure of the aqueous vapoiit varies in a different manner to that of the gaseous atmosphere, and will materially modify the forms of the waves, &c. On the occasion we have been examining the pressure of the vapour increases, while that of the whole atmosphere decreases. It appears quite as important to examine the distribution of the vapour over a tract of country as that of the whole pressure ; and in pursuing the investi- gation, it is necessary either to get rid of the effects of the vapour, or to exa- mine how far it influences the forms, directions, amplitudes and progress of the waves deduced from the whole pressure. In order to render barometric observations as efficient as possible, it will be absolutely necessary to observe at the same time the wet and dry bulb thermometer, and it would be still better to accompany them with readings of Daniell’s hygrometer. The determina- tion of the co-efficients of the diurnal oscillation will also become of para- mount importance, that the forms of the waves may be corrected. SUR LES POISSONS FOSSILES DE L’?ARGILE DE LONDRES. 279 - Rapport sur les Poissons Fossiles de ? Argile de Londres. Par L. AGASSiz. Les fossiles de l’argile de Londres ont attiré depuis longtemps l’attention des géologues par le nombre considérable et la variété de leurs espéces qui ap- partiennent 4 toutes les classes du régne animal et végétal, ainsi que par le bel état de conservation dans lequel se trouve un grand nombre d’entre eux. De- puis les Recherches de Sowerby sur les coquilles de ce terrain, nous avons vu paraitre plusieurs mémoires d’un mérite éminent sur les fossiles de différentes classes. Mr. Owen a décrit avec sa supériorité habituelle les reptiles, les oiseaux et les mammiféres qu’on trouve épars ¢a et la dans les couches de ce terrain, et ses savantes investigations ont jeté un jour tout nouveau sur les rapports qui lient les étres fossiles de cette formation aux espéces de la créa- tion actuelle. Tout le monde connait le beau travail de Mr. Bowerbank sur les fruits de ce méme terrain. L’ichthyologie seule avait été 4 peu prés com- plétement négligée. Ce n’est pas quil y ait pénurie de poissons fossiles dans ce dépét; car il n’est pas de gite 4 poisson connu qui en compte autant d’espéces, et aucune collection de fossiles tertiaires d’ Angleterre qui n’en ren- ferme au moins quelques exemplaires. L’ignorance dans laquelle nous avons été jusqu’ici 4 I’ égard des poissons de Sheppy n’a d’autre cause que les diffi- cultés toutes particuliéres qu’ offre l’étude de leurs débris. Ailleurs, et no- tamment dans les couches des terrains primaires et secondaires, dans les schistes, les calcaires, les grés, les ichthyolithes sont plus ou moins entiers, et il est rare qu'un fragment n’offre plusieurs parties du corps, différentes parties des nageoires, de la cuirasse écailleuse, de l'appareil operculaire, &c.; ou bien si les piéces elles-mémes ne sont pas conservées, leur empreinte indique au moins la forme générale et les contours du corps, ensorte qu’ avec une connaissance Report on the Fossil Fishes of the London Clay. By L. Acassiz. _ Tue fossils of the London clay have long since attracted the attention of geologists, from the considerable number and variety of their species be- _ longing to all classes of the animal and vegetable kingdom, as well as from the beautiful state of preservation in which a large number of them occur. Since _ the researches of Sowerby on the shells of this deposit several memoirs of at merit have appeared on the fossils of different classes. Professor Owen ? described with his usual acuteness the reptiles, birds and Mammalia _ which are met with scattered here and there in the layers of this deposit, and his erudite investigations have thrown quite a new light on the relations _ which connect the fossil creatures of this formation with the species of the present epoch. The beautiful work of Mr. Bowerbank on the fruits of this deposit is well known to every one. The Ichthyology alone had been almost entirely neglected ; not that there is any scarcity of fossil fish, for there is no known fish-bed which counts so many species, and no collection of tertiary fossils of England which does not at least contain some specimens. The want of knowledge which has hitherto prevailed with respect to the fish of Sheppey is solely owing to the very peculiar difficulties which the study of their fragments present. Elsewhere, and especially in the strata of ‘primary and secondary rocks, in the schists, limestones and sandstones, the ichthyolites are more or less entite; and it is seldom that a fragment does not present several parts of the body, different portions of the fins, of the scaly ‘coating, of the opercular apparatus; or, if indeed the pieces themselves are not preserved, their impression indicates at least the general form and the outlines of the body ; so that with a sufficient knowledge of living fish, of 280 | REPORT—1844, suffisante des poissons vivans, de leur forme et de leurs caractéres extérieurs, on peut arriver a des déterminations exactes et rigoureuses. En outre la plupart des pvissons anciens ont des écailles osseuses plus dures méme que les os et leur enchevétrement contribue a conserver la forme générale du poisson, quand méme les os ont disparu et que les autres parties sont détruites. Ce sont ces caractéres extérieurs, entre autres la forme, le nombre et la position des nageoires, la structure des écailles, les rapports des différentes parties du corps entre elles, la dentition, l’arrangement des piéces operculaires, &e., sur lesquels on a basé jusqu’a présent les classifications en ichthyologie. Que l'on parcoure les ouvrages les plus estimés de notre temps sur histoire naturelle des poissons, on ne rencontrera dans les diagnoses des familles, des genres et des espéces, que des caractéres extérieurs, faciles a saisir et suffisants aussi pour le but qu’on se propose. Si je parle de lacunes, que présente encore cette branche de la science, 4 laquelle je me suis voué depuis tant d’années, ce n’est pas que je veuille amoindrir le moins du monde le mérite de tant d’ouvrages que la postérité la plus reculée regardera encore comme des chefs d’ceuvres de sagacité, d’application et d’étude; mais c’est qu’ayant choisi une branche toute spéciale de l’ichthyologie, j'ai peut étre été plus a méme qu'un autre, d’entrevoir tout ce qu'il reste a faire dans ce vaste do- maine. Cela est surtout vrai a l’égard des poissons de Sheppy, qui n’ont plus rien de ces formes et de ces caractéres bizarres propres a la plupart des pois- sons des anciennes formations. Tout en eux rappelle au contraire les poissons de nos mers actuelles, en sorte qu’avant d’en avoir fait une étude détaillée, on croirait avoir a faire a des espéces récentes. Leurs débris sont enfouis dans un limon plus ou moins durci, qui quelquefois prend la dureté des roches caleaires, tandis qu’en d’autres endroits il est resté parfaitement mou. La their form and external characters, it is possible to arrive at accurate and strict determinations. Moreover, the majority of older fish have osseous scales harder even than the bones; and the mode of their arrangement (enche- vetrement) contributes to preserve the general form of the fish even when the bones have disappeared and the other parts have become destroyed. Classifications in ichthyology have hitherto been based on external cha- racters; among others, on the form, number and position of the fins, the structure of the scales, the relations of the different parts of the body to each other, the dentition, the arrangement of the opercular pieces, &c. If we glance over the most esteemed works of our time on the natural history of fish, none but external characters will be met with in the diagnoses of the families, genera and species, easily conceived, and sufficient indeed for the proposed object. If I speak of the voids which this branch of science, to which I haye devoted myself for so many years, presents, it is not that I wish to detract the least in the world from the merit of so many works which the most distant posterity will still regard as master-works of sagacity, application and research; but it is that having selected a special branch of ichthyology, I have perhaps been enabled more than others to perceive what remains to be done in this vast domain. This is especially true with respect to the Sheppey fish, which have none of those forms and of those fantastic characters peculiar to the majority of the fish of the older forma- tions; all in them, on the contrary, recall to mind the fish of our present oceans, so that before having made a minute study of them, we should be inclined to think that we had to do with recent species. Their fragments are buried in a more or less hardened clay, which sometimes presents the hardness of calcareous rocks, while in other localities it has remained per- aa re SUR LES POISSONS FOSSILES DE L’ARGILE DE LONDRES. 281 plupart des poissons se sont pourris dans ce fin limon, leurs os se sont dé- tachés, et les parties molles ont été remplacées par du limon. Or comme ce ne sont plus des Ganoides a corps cuirassée recouverts d’écailles osseuses en- chevetrés, mais des Cycloides, des Cténoides 4 écailles minces, fragiles, leur enveloppe n’a pas été assez solide pour maintenir l’intégrité de leur forme et de leurs contours. Leur corps s'est décomposé, leurs nageoires se sont dé- faites, leurs écailles désagrégées, et il n’est resté du plus grand nombre que les boites craniennes qui se sont conservées en entier, grace 4 la soudure de leurs piéces osseuses. Si au lieu d’appartenir 4 des poissons, ces cranes pro- - venaient de mammiféres ou de reptiles, il est 4 présumer qu’on en tirerait tout le parti possible, et que le paléontologiste n’aurait pas de peine a les déter- miner, car pour ces classes les matériaux de comparaison ne manquent pas, les points de départ sont fixés; on connait les traits caractéristiques des cranes des mammiféres et des reptiles, on sait quelles sont les variations que tel os, telle créte, telle fosse” part subir dans telle ou telle famille, et du pre- mier coup d’ceil déja on peut s’assurer, si l’animal qu'on a devant les yeux, est un carnivore, un ruminant, ou un solipéde. Mais rien n'est variable comme les formes du crane et de la téte des pois- sons. Ces multitudes d’arétes et d’épines qui servent d’attache aux muscles, cette infinie variété de formes dans les familles elles-mémes, donne aux cranes des poissons une telle diversité que l’ichthyologiste désespére souvent de pou- voir les ramener a leurs types respectifs, et en effet une craniologie comparée des poissons n’existe pas, et il n’est personne que je sache qui puisse dire demblée si tel ou tel crane appartient 4 un Percoide, a un Sparoide, ou & un Chétodonte, &e. _ La grande majorité des fossiles de Sheppy avons nous dit, consiste en ver- fectly soft. The greater number of the fish have rotted in this fine clay, their bones have separated, and the soft parts have been replaced by clay. Now, since it is no longer Ganoids with cuirassed body covered with in- terlocked bony scales, but Cycloids and Ctenoids with thin fragile scales, their coating has not been sufficiently solid to preserve the integrity of their form and outline. Their body has become decomposed, their fins have be- come detached, their scales disaggregated, and of the greater number only the cranium has remained preserved entire, owing to the soldering of the osseous pieces composing it. If, instead of belonging to fish, these skulls were derived from Mammalia or reptiles, it is to be presumed that all possible ad- vantage would be taken of them, and that the paleontologist would have no trouble in determining their relations, since for these classes the materials for comparison are not wanting, the points of departure are fixed. The charac- teristic features of the skulls of the Mammalia and Reptilia are known; the variations which such a bone, such a crest, such a groove may undergo in such and such a family are understood, and already at the first glance it is possible to ascertain whether the animal under consideration is carnivorous, ruminant, or solipedal. But nothing is more variable than the forms of the cranium and of the heads of fish. The multitude of bones and of spines which serve for the at- tachment of the muscles, the infinite var iety of forms in the families them- selves, imparts such a diversity to the crania of fish, that the ichthyologist frequently despairs of being able to reduce them to their respective types, and in fact a comparative craniology of fish does not exist. There is no one that I know who can tell at first sight whether such and such a cranium belongs to a Percoid, to a Sparoid, or to a Chetodontal type. The great majority of the fossils of Sheppey consists, we have said, of de- 282 REPORT—1844. tébres détachées ou en cranes isolés. Ces derniers sont en outre ordinaire- ment dépourvus des os de la face; les machoires, les appareils operculaires et _branchiaux manquent, et il n’est resté le plus souvent que la boite cranienne proprement dite, et trés-souvent méme il lui manque toute la partie antérieure, le museau, formé par la réunion des naseaux et du vomer, de sorte qu’on n’a d’autre point de départ que la boite cérébrale dégagée de tous ses appendices. Pour déterminer ces débris, j’ai suivi le méme procédé que la nature a em- ployé pour mettre ces fossiles dans l’état dans lequel nous les trouvons. Des squelettes ordinaires, tels qu’on les a dans les musées d’histoire naturelle et d’anatomie comparée, n’auraient pu suffire 4 mon but. J’ai donc commencé pat préparer un certain nombre d’ossemens détachés de différens poissons marins, et je posséde maintenant une centaine de cranes isolés, avec les autres os détachés, collection que j’augmente journellement. Cotime il importe que les différens os du crane ne soient pas isolés, mais que la boite cranienne con- serve sa forme naturelle, tous ces cranes ont di étre préparés avec le plus grand soin ; et ici s’est présenté une grande difficulté, qui résulte de la ma- niére dont les os du crane sont joints chez les poissons. Chez les autres ver- tébrés cette jonction se'fait par sutures, les bords crenelés et dentelés se cor- respondent, et il est facile de-reconstruire un crane démembré. Chez les poissons il n’en est point ainsi. Le plus souvent les os sont appliqués sur une boite cartilagineuse interne, souvent trés épaisse, d'autres fois plus mince, et leurs bords, si toutefois ils se touchent; sont appliqués les uns sur les autres par leurs faces, ou bien séparés par de larges bandes de cartilage. La forme générale du crane est done souvent tout a fait différente de ce qu'elle serait si Yon essayait de reconstruire le crane avec des cssemens isolés, en rapprochant ces derniers par leurs bords. Dans les poissons de Sheppy les cartilages ont tached vertebrz, or of isolated crania. The latter, moreover, are generally deprived of the bones of the face; the jaws, the opercular and branchial ap- paratus are wanting, and most frequently only the cranial envelope, properly so called, remains; and very often indeed even this has lost the whole of the anterior portion, the snout formed by the union of the nostrils and of the vomer, so that there is no other point to start from than the cranium, de- prived of all its appendages. To determine these fragments, I have followed the same process that nature employed to place these fossils in the state in which we meet them. Ordinary skeletons, such as are contained in the museums of natural history and comparative anatomy, would not have sufficed for my purpose. I began therefore by preparing a certain number of de- tached bones of different marine fish, and I possess at present a hundred detached crania with the other bones separated, a collection which I am daily increasing. As it is of importance that the different bones of the cranium be not isolated, but that the envelope which they form should preserve its natural form, all these crania have required the greatest care in their preparation ; and in this a great difficulty occurred, arising from the manner in which the bones of the cranium are joined in fish. In the other Vertebrata this junction is effected by sutures; the crenulate and dentate margins correspond, and it is easy to reconstruct a dismembered cranium. In fishes such is not the case. Most frequently the bones are applied on to an internal cartilage form, fre- quently very thick, sometimes thinner, and their margins, if indeed they touch, are applied the one on the other by their faces, or separated by broad bands of cartilage. The general form of the cranium is therefore frequently entirely different from what it would be if we were to attempt to reconstruct the cranium with isolated bones, approximating these latter by their margins. In the fish from Sheppey the cartilages have disappeared, the clay has taken SUR LES POISSONS FOSSILES DE L’ARGILE DE LONDRES. 283 disparti, le limon les a remplacés, mais pas entiérement, de maniére que les cranes ont la forme que prennent des cranes a demi-sechés de poissons vivants. C’est ce point de désiccation que j’ai cherché a atteindre dans mes cranes de poissons vivants. Ces moyens de comparaison pourraient paraitre suffisants, si l’on ne ren- contrait une autre difficulté, qui s’oppose a l’application directe de ces maté- riaux au but que l’on se propose. Les poissons de Sheppy appartiennent aux dépéts tertiaires ; ils se rapprochent par conséquent des types qui viveut main- tenant. Mais on sait, et l'étude des poissons de Monte-Bolea !’a suffisamment prouvé que, plus les familles et les genres remontent a des terrains anciens, moins ils comptent de représentans dans la création actuelle, et encore ces re- présentans se trouvent ils en général dans des parages trés éloignés. Ainsi, de toute la puissante famille de Sauroides qui anciennenient petplait les mers, il n’est resté que deux représentans dans les eaux douces de la création actuelle, tandis que les familles les plus nombreuses de notre époque, les Siluroides, les Cyprins, les Gades, et plusieurs autres ne comptent que peu ou point de repré- sentans parmi les fossiles. Ce n’est done pas parmi les poissons les plus comi- muns de nos Gétes, qu'il faut chercher les analogues des poissons fossiles ter- tiaires. En passant en revue les ichthyolithes de Monte Bolea, on rencontre une quantité de poissons, faisant partie de familles peu nombreuses dans nos pa- rages, dont les représentans ne vivent pour la plupart que dans les mers des Indes 6u de l Ocean austral, tels que les Squammipenties, les Atilostomes, les Gymnodontes, les Sclérodermes; &c. &c. Pour déterminer rigoureusement les poissons de Monte Bolca ou des atitres dépéts tertiaires j’ai pu appeler 4 mon secours les matériaux rasseimblés dans les musées, et surtout les squelettes du musée de Paris. Les comparaisons devaient surtout porter sur le corps, les nageoires, tous points qui sont assez their place, but not entirely, so that the crania have the form which the skulls of half-dried recent fish acquire. It is this point of desiccation which I have endeavoured to attain in my crania of recent fish. These means of comparison might appear sufficient, did we not meet with another difficulty which is opposed to the direct application of these materials to the object in view.. The fish of Sheppey belong to the tertiary deposits, they consequently approach types at present existing. But it is known, and the investigation of the fish of Monte Bolca has sufficiently proved, that the More the families and genera ascend to the older deposits, the less number of representatives do they possess in the present creation, and these represen- tatives are moreover in general met with in distant regions. Thus of all the large family of the Sauroids which formerly peopled the sea, but two repre- sentatives remain in the freshwaters of the present creation, while thé most numerous families of our epoch, the Siluri, the Cyprini, the Gadi, aid seve- ral others, have few or no representatives among fossils. It is therefore not among the most common fish of our coasts that we must search for the ana+ logues of the fossil tertiary fish. On passing in review the ichthyolites of onte Bolea, we meet with a quantity of fish belonging to families contain- ing few members in our seas, the representatives of which live for the greater part only in the Indian sea, or the southern ocean, such as the Squamipenne, the Aulostomaia, the Gymnodonts, the Sclerodermata. . To determine accurately the fish of Monte Bolca, or of the other tertiary deposits, I have been able to call to my aid the materials collected in the Museums, and especially the skeletons in the Museum of Paris. The com- parisons had principally to be made with the body and the fins, which are 284 -REPORT—1844. . AUS bien conservés dans ces fossiles et que les squelettes mettent en évidence. Pour déterminer les poissons de Sheppy je devrais avoir 4 ma disposition une collection non moins riche de squelettes démembrés, de cranes détachés, d’os- semens isolés. Or, une telle collection ne peut se faire que lentement et a grands frais, surtout lorsque celui qui la forme vit éloigné de la mer et n’a a sa disposition qu’un petit musée destiné plutét a acquérir des exemplaires typiques de genres, que des séries d’exemplaires de la méme espéce. Si malgré ces difficultés je puis présenter aujourd’hui un aper¢u assez complet sur les poissons fossiles de Sheppy, je le dois 4 l’obligeance des géo- logues anglais, en particulier de Lord Enniskillen, de Sir Ph. Egerton, du Dr. Buckland, du Rev. M. Hope, de MM. Bowerbank, Cumberland, des Directeurs du Musée Britannique, du Collége des Chirurgiens, &e., qui tous mont communiqué a l’envi les piéces originales de leurs collections, que j'ai pu de cette maniére comparer directement avec des cranes de poissons vivans. Ce travail a ainsi été fait sur des bases toutes neuves. Les travaux des ich- thyologistes antérieurs n’ont pu méme m’étre que d'un faible secours, et meme les grands ouvrages d’anatomie comparée de Cuvier, de Meckel, et de tant d’autres m’ont rarement fourni des renseignemens suffisants, car ils ont pour but de faire connaitre les os du crane et de la téte en général, d’indi- quer la part que ces os prennent a la formation du squelette osseux de la téte, de décrire les variations qu’ils peuvent subir en composant les types les plus extravagants, et enfin de faire ressortir l’analogie des os avec ceux des autres classes des vertébrés plutdt que d’indiquer la forme précise de chaque os dans tous les genres. Il en est de méme des grandes discussions ana- tomiques du commencement de notre siécle qui ont porté sur l’analogie de la tolerably well-preserved in those fossils, and which are exhibited by the ske- leton. To determine the fish of Sheppey, I was obliged to have at my disposal a collection not less rich of dismembered skeletons, detached crania, and of isolated bones ; but it is only possible to form such a collection slowly and at great expense, especially when the person who forms it lives at a distance from the sea, and has at his disposal but a small museum, destined rather to receive typical specimens of genera than series of specimens of the same species. If, notwithstanding these difficulties, I am able to offer at present a tolerably complete sketch of the fossil fish of Sheppey, I owe it to the kindness of En- glish geologists, in particular of Lord Enniskillen, of Sir Philip Egerton, of Dr. Buckland, of the Rev. Mr. Hope, of Messrs. Bowerbank, Cumberland, the Directors of the British Museum, of the College of Surgeons, &¢., who have all eagerly communicated to me the original fragments from their col- lections, which I have thus been able to compare directly with the ecrania of recent fish. This investigation has thus been made on entirely new bases. The labours of former ichthyologists have scarcely afforded the least assistance ; and even the great works on Comparative Anatomy of Cuvier, Meckel and so many others have rarely furnished sufficient information ; for their object is to make known the bones of the cranium and of the head in general, to indi- cate the part which these bones take in the formation of the osseous skeleton of the head, to describe the variations they may undergo in composing the most extravagant types, and lastly, to point out the analogy of the bones with those of other classes of Vertebrata, rather than to indicate the precise form of each bone in all the genera. The same is the case with respeet to the great anatomical discussions at the commencement of the present cen- tury, which related to the analogy of the head of fish with that of the other as fi é aoe SUR LES POISSONS FOSSILES DE L’ARGILE DE LONDRES. 285 téte des poissons avec les autres vertébrés plutdt que sur les détails néces- saires 4 la détermination des os fossiles. Le but que j'ai di me proposer dans ces nouvelles études sur l’ostéologie des poissons est avant tout de connaitre les formes de la téte et du crane, d’en déterminer les arétes, les fosses, le relief dans tous leurs détails, et de retrou- ver dans ces différentes formes des types généraux de la famille, du genre, de Yespéce. Si mes prédécesseurs se sont attachés a un type régulier, la carpe ou la perche, en décrivant leur ostéologie, et en indiquant combien ces types peuvent varier dans les genres irréguliers, j’ai dG au contraire m’attacher prin- cipalement aux types peu differenciés, rechercher les petites déviations, qui peuvent accompagner les différences spécifiques, étudier le caractére général du genre, indiquer les variations que peut subir le type encore plus général de la famille, et arriver ainsi 4 pouvoir distinguer les familles, les genres, les espéces d'aprés l’ostéologie du crane. Cette étude, on le sent bien, est presque sans fin; car,—et c’est la une nouvelle manifestation de l’infinie variété de la nature—chaque genre, chaque famille a ses traits caractéristiques, et ses va- -riations spécifiques ont lieu dans des limites déterminées. Chez telle famille Yabsence d’une créte mitoyenne du crane, peut-étre un trait caractéristique, commun 4 toute la famille, tandisque chez telle autre cette créte ne formera qu'un earactére de genre ou d’espéce, et ainsi de suite. Pour arriver 4 la con- naissance exacte et détaillée des lois qui président a toutes les variations qui peuvent survenir dans les espéces, les genres, les familles, il faudrait posséder les cranes de toutes les espéces de poissons connus jusqu’a présent. Espérons qu’on y arrivera quelque jour. Pour le moment nous en sommes encore fort loin. Pour donner un apercu de la maniére dont il faut traiter l’ostéologie des Vertebrata, rather than to the details necessary for the determination of fossil bones. The object which I proposed to attain in these new researches on the osteo- logy of fish, was above all to become acquainted with the forms of the head and of the cranium, to determine their ridges, the hollows, and the relief in all their details, and to find in these different forms general types of the family, of the genus, and of the species. If my predecessors have fixed on a regular type, the Carp or Perch, in describing their osteology, and in pointing out how these types may vary in the irregular genera, I on the con- trary have had to direct my attention principally to closely-allied types, to search for the minute deviations which might accompany specific differences, to study the general character of the genus, to indicate the variations which the still more general type of the family might be subject to, and thus to arrive at the possibility of distinguishing families, genera and species by the osteology of the cranium. It will be conceived that this study is almost interminable ; for,—and this is a new manifestation of the infinite variety of nature—each genus, each family has its characteristic features, and its spe- cific variations occur within fixed limits. In one family the absence of a ¢en- tral crest of the cranium may constitute a characteristic feature common to the whole family, while in another this crest will form but a generic or spe- cific character, and soon. ‘To arrive at an exact and minute knowledge of the laws which determine all the variations that may occur in the species, genera and families, it will be necessary to possess the crania of all fish hitherto known. Let us hope that some day we shall arrive at this point; at present. we are still far distant from it. . To give a sketch of the manner in which the osteology of fish must. be 286 - REPORT—1844. poissons, dans le but d’éclairer l'étude des poissons fossiles et de ceux de Sheppy en particulier, je vais indiquer en peu de mots les traits caractéristiques des principales familles dont on a rencontré jusqu’ici des représentans dans Yargile de Londres. Si je ne dis rien des autres familles, ce n'est pas que je les aie négligées, mais ne voulant pas allonger ce rapport, je m’en tien- drai exclusivement 4 celles qui ont des représentans parmi les fossiles de Sheppy. La famille des Percoides se distingue par le développement considérable de Yocciput, tandis que les parties antérieures du crane sont trés-étroites et peu développées. La eréte mitoyenne du crane ne s‘éléve presque jamais au dessus du plan incliné du front. Les frontaux eux-mémes ne présentent ja- mais de créte bien marquée et dans aucun cas la eréte mitoyenne ne se con- tinue sur les frontaux. II y a méme toujours une partie plus ou moins con- sidérable de l’occipital supérieur qui s’intercale entre les petits parietaux et lextrémité des frontaux, et qui est aplatie comme le front, Les erétes parié- tales ou intermédiaires sont toujours bien prononcées et aplaties a leur extré- mité postérieure. Les erétes temporales sont fortes et séparées des précédentes par une fosse temporale profonde, au fond de laquelle on apercoit une lacune plus ou moins grande entre Voccipital externe et le temporal, Cette lacune est bouchée par du cartilage. Jamais aucune de ces fosses ne s’ayance au dela du burd postérieur de l’orbite, ou, en d’autres termes, jamais les fosses temporale et occipitale ne se continuent sur les frontaux principaux. La partie inférieure du crane n’offre presque jamais de traits caractéristiques, J’ai trouvé jusqu'ici parmi les poissons de Sheppy sept genres de Percoides, dont l'un le Ceeloperca, se rapproche beaucoup du genre Perea proprement dit, tandis que les 4 autres, Podocephalus, Brachygnathus, Percostoma et Synophrys ressem- treated for the purpose of throwing light on the inyestigation of fossil fish, and in particular on those of Sheppey, I shall indicate in a few words the characteristic features of the principal families, representatives of which have been met with in the London clay. If I pass over in silence the other fami- lies, it is not that I have neglected them; but not wishing to extend this re- port to too great a length, I shall confine myself exclusively to those which have representatives among the fossils of Sheppey. The family of the Percoide is distinguished by the considerable develop- ment of the occiput, while the anterior portions of the cranium are very nar- row and only little developed ; the central crest of the cranium rarely rises above the inclined plane of the front. The frontals themselves never pre- sent a very marked crest, and in no case does the central crest continue on the frontals. There is indeed always a more or less considerable portion of the upper occipital which is inserted between the small parietals and the extremity of the frontals, and which is flattened like the front. The parietal or intermediary crests are always very marked and flattened at their pos- terior extremity, The temporal erests are strong and separated from the preceding by a deep temporal groove, at the bottom of which is perceived a more or less large space between the external occipital and the temporal. This space is filled up by cartilage. Never do any of these grooves advance beyond the posterior margin of the orbit, or in other words, the temporal and occipital grooves never continue over the principal frontals. The lower portion of the cranium scarcely ever presents characteristic features. I have found up to the present time among the fish of Sheppey seven genera of Percoide, one of which, Celoperca, approaches considerably to the genus Perea itself, whilst the four others, Podocephalus, Brachygnathus, Percostoma — ~ SUR LES POISSONS FOSSILES DE L’ARGILE DE LONDRES. 287 blent d’avantage aux Serrans, et le genre Hurygnathus aux Centropomes. Le ‘septiéme genre est le seul qui existe aussi dans la création actuelle, c’est un veritable Myripristis, appartenant 4 ce curieux groupe de Percoides a plus de sept rayons a la membrane branchiostégue et aux ventrales, et qui probable- ment devra former a l'avenir une famille a part, a cause de la structure tout a fait différente de ses écailles et de sa vessie natatoire, Je n’ai pas encore pu trouver des restes de Sczénoides. On sait que la téte de ces poissons se reconnait facilement 4 ses boursoufflures caverneuses, qui sont dies 4 un développement énorme des canaux muciféres de la téte. Les Joues euirassées ne figurent pas non plus dans les couches de Sheppy. _ La famille des Sparoides compte plusieurs représentans dans l’argile de Londres. Ce qui distingue cette famille c’est la forme de la créte occipitale qui s’avance jusqu’au milieu de l’orbite, mais ne la dépasse jamais. Dans les Sparoides ordinaires, tels que les Dentés, les Spares, les Pagres, la face supé- rieure du crane forme une ligne brisée sur deux points, en sorte que le nasal et le vomer avec la eréte supérieure tranchante représentent un plan incliné, tandis que la partie moyenne des frontaux est presque horizontale, et l’oeciput descend de nouveau en arriére. Les crétes intermédiaires sont assez hautes, mais trés minces et tranchantes comme la eréte occipitale ; elles s'avancent au dela du bord supérieur de l’orbite et forment en général un angle aigu, dont la pointe se réunit au milieu du front avec la créte occipitale mitoyenne. Les erétes temporales sont en général plus épaisses, et offrent de nombreuses ou- vertures pour les canaux muciféres, d’o résulte parfois une assez grande ressemblanee avec des Sciénoides. La créte temporale est séparée du bord postérieur de l’orbite par une fosse assez profonde qui conflue avec la fosse mastoidienne. J’ai pu m’assurer au moyen de ces caractéres que le genre and Synophrys, more resemble the Serrani, and the genus Hurygnathus the Centropomi. The seventh genus is the only one which exists in the present creation ; it is a true Myripristis belonging to that curious group of Percoide which has more than seven rays to the brauchiostegous membrane and to the ventrals, and which will probably form in future a separate family, on account of the entirely different structure of the scales and of the swimming-bladder. Hitherto I have not met with remains of Seienoide. The head of these fish is easily recognised by the hollow protuberances arising from an enor- mous development of the muciferous canals of the head. Neither do the ‘Joues euirassées’ ( Cottoide) occur in the Sheppey strata. The family of the Sparoide has several representatives in the London clay. What distinguishes this family is the form of the occipital ridge, which ad- vances to the middle of the orbit, but never extends beyond it. In the ordi- nary Sparoide, such as the Dentices, the Spari and the Pagri, the upper sur- face of the cranium forms a line interrupted at the two points, so that the nasal and the vomer with the sharp-edged upper crest represent an inclined plane, while the central portion of the frontals is nearly horizontal, and the oceiput again descends posteriorly, The intermediary crests are tolerably high, but very thin and sharp-edged, like the occipital crest; they advance beyond the upper margin of the orbit and form in general an acute angle, the apex of which unites at the middle of the front with the median occipital erest. The temporal crests are in general thicker and present numerous aper- tures for the muciferous canals, whence sometimes results a great resem- blance with the Scienoide. The temporal crest is separated from the pos- terior margin of the orbit by a tolerably deep groove, which is confluent with the mastoid groove. I have been able to convince myself by means of these 288 REPORT—1844. Scienurus, que j’avais placé provisoirement parmi les Sciénoides appartient effectivement aux Sparoides, et doit étre placé dans le voisinage des Dentés. La famille des Teuthies est caractérisée par une séparation assez tranchée entre l’occiput et la partie antérieure de la téte comprenant les frontaux et les autres os contigus. Les formes générales de la téte varient beaucoup; cepen- dant il y a toujours une petite créte occipitale assez mince et fragile, ainsi que des crétes pariétales et temporales. Les intervalles qui séparent ces crétes ne sont pas de véritables fosses, ou du moins elles ne sont pas plus profondes que la surface du crane en général, et les crétes ressemblent plutdt 4 de petites lames tranchantes posées sur cette surface uniformément bombée. Les fron- taux sont en général grands et vigoureux ; ils sont plus épais que dans aucune autre famille, et montrent des dessins variés dans l’arrangement de leurs fibres osseuses. , Le plus souvent ils présentent de fines mailles ou des pores trés- serrés. La surface inférieure du crane forme une quille tranchante tout le long du sphénoide. Je connais jusqu ici trois genres appartenant a cette famille, qui se trouvent dans l’argile de Londres. L’un, le Ptychocephalus radiatus se rapproche assez des Amphacantes. Lautre, le Pomophactus Egertoni parait former un type a part par ses grands sous-orbitaires qui recouvrent les joues. Les exemplaires de Calopomus que j'ai di placer provisoirement dans cette famille sont trop incomplets pour que je puisse me prononcer définitivement sur la place que ce poisson doit occuper. Les écailles assez grandes qui distinguent ce genre et qui ne se retrouvent pas dans la famille des Teuthies devront étre soumises a un examen approfondi, lorsqu’on possédera un plus grand nombre d’échan- tillons mieux conservés. ? characters that the genus Scienurus, which I had placed provisionally among the Scienoide, effectively belongs to the Sparoide, and ought to be placed in the vicinity of the Dentices. The family of the Zeuthie is characterized by a tolerably marked separa- tion between the occiput and the anterior portion of the head comprising the frontals and the other contiguous bones. The general forms of the head vary considerably ; however, there is always a small occipital crest, rather thin and fragile, as well as parietal and temporal crests. The intervals which separate these crests are not true grooves, or at least they are not deeper than the surface of the cranium in general, and the crests rather resemble small sharp-edged plates placed on this uniformly vaulted surface. The frontals are in general large and strong, they are thicker than in any other family, and exhibit various patterns in the arrangement of their osseous fibres. Most frequently they present fine meshes or closely-pressed pores ; the under surface of the cranium forms a sharp-edged keel throughout the whole length of the sphenoid. Up to the present time I am acquainted with three genera belonging to this family, which are found in the London clay: one, the Ptyehocephalus radiatus, approaches closely to Amphacanthus; another, the Pomophactus Egertoni, appears to form a distinct type from its large suborbitals which cover the cheeks. The specimens of Calopomus which I have been com- pelled to place provisionally in this family, are too imperfect to enable me to decide definitively on the place which this fish should occupy. The tolerably large scales which distinguish this genus, and which are not met with in any other of the family of the Tewthie, must be submitted to minute investiga- tion when we are in possession of a larger number of better-preserved frag- ments. : SUR LES POISSONS FOSSILES DE L’ARGILE DE LONDRES. 289 Les autres families de Cténoides n’ont pas encore de représentans dans Yargile de Londres. Parmi les Cycloides acanthoptérygiens \a famille des Xiphioides est large- ment représentée par quatre genres dont l’un le Tetrapterus compte aussi un ressortissant vivant, tandis que les autres, les genres Acestrus, Phasganus et Colorhynchus n’ont existé que pendant l’époque tertiaire. Les caractéres des Xiphioides sont tellement tranchés qu'il est presque inutile d’y revenir. L’absence totale de créte quelconque sur toute la face supérieure du crane qui est uniformément incliné et rectiligne feront toujours facilement distinguer cette famille de toutes les autres, et surtout des Scombéroides avec lesquels on les ‘a confondus jusqu ici. La famille des Scombéroides restreinte aux limites que je lui ai assignées dans les ‘ Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles,’ v. i. p. 16° et suiv., présente deux types de cranes assez différents, en rapport avec la forme générale du corps. Dans les vrais Scombéroides, la face supérieure du crane est presque tout d’une venue. La créte occipitale mitoyenne est haute; elle avance tou- jours sur les frontaux, ot elle est double, et trés souvent les frontaux eux- mémes sont relevés au milieu jusque vers le nasal. Les crétes pariétales sont minees et considérablement relevées ; elles sont paralléles 4 la créte mitoyenne et viennent se perdre le plus souvent au milieu du bord supérieur de l’orbite. Les frontaux sont trés-souvent squammeux dans leur partie antérieure, et ce caractére est développé d’une maniére extraordinaire dans le genre Ceelopoma de l’argile de Londres. Les crétes temporales sont trés-fortes; elles se ré- unissent au haut de l’orbite avec les crétes pariétales, et sont presque aussi minces et tranchantes que ces derniéres. Une fosse latérale externe est encore formée par le bord externe du frontal postérieur, qui descend séparément de _ la eréte temporale. The other families of Ctenoide have as yet no representatives in the Lon- _ don clay. _ Among the Acanthopterygian Cycloids the family of the Xiphioide is _ abundantly represented by four genera, one of which, Tetrapterus, likewise _ counts a living representative, while the other genera, Acestrus, Phasganus _ and Celorhynchus, existed only during the tertiary epoch. The characters of _ Xiphioide are so marked that it is almost useless to return to them. The "total absence of any crest whatsoever over the whole upper surface of the _ cranium, which is uniformly inclined and rectilinear, will always allow of this _ family being readily distinguished from all others, and especially from the _ Scomberoide, with which they have hitherto been confounded. _ The family of the Scomberoide, confined within the limits I have assigned _ to it (in the ‘Récherches sur les Poissons Fossiles,’ vol. i. p. 16, et seq.,) 5 presents two very different types of crania in relation to the general form of _ the body. In the true Scomberoide the upper surface of the cranium is nearly _ allof apiece. The central occipital crest is high, it always encroaches on the frontals where it is double, and very frequently the frontals themselves are raised in the middle as far as the nasal. The parietal crests are thin and considerably raised ; they are parallel tp the central crest, and most frequently disappéar towards the centre of the upper margin of the orbit. The frontals are very often squamose in their front portion, and this character is developed in an extraordinary manner in the genus Celopoma of the London clay. The temporal crests are very strong, they unite above the orbit with the parietal crests, and are almost as thin and sharp-edged as the latter. An ex- ternal lateral groove is moreover formed by the external margin of the pos- el frontal, which descends separately from the temporal crest. 4. U Pk 290 REPORT—1844. Il est assez difficile de distinguer de prime abord les Sparoides des Scom- béroides qui ont les uns et les autres les mémes crétes 4 l’occiput, cependant dans la plupart des Scombéroides, la créte mitoyenne se. prolonge sur les frontaux, ce qui n’est pas le cas dans les Sparoides. D’un autre cété, les erétes pariétales convergent en avant chez les Sparoides, tandis que dans les Scombéroides, elles sont paralléles 4 la créte mitoyenne ou bien méme diver- genies en avant. Enfin ce qui distingue encore les Sparoides c’est le museau prolongé en quille et la ligne brisée de la surface du crane, tandis que dans les_ Scombéroides cette surface est tout d’une venue et le museau beaucoup plus court. Le second type des Scombéroides n’est représenté que par la Dorée (Zeus Faber) et quelques poissons peu nombreux qui sen rapprochent. Malgré la forme comprimée et élevée de la téte, la créte occipitale manque complétement ace poisson. Les pariétaux qui, dans les autres Scombéroides, sont séparés par l’occipital supérieur, se touchent ici sur la ligne médiane. J’ai déja indiqué dans les Recherches sur les Poissons fossiles qu'il serait pos- sible que le Zeus Faber devant le type d’un groupe a part, et cette prévision parait confirmée par I’ostéologie de la téte. Les Scombéroides sont représentés par plusieurs genres, dont l’un, le Cybium, compte aussi des représentans dans l’époque actuelle, tandis que les Celopoma, les Bothrosteus et les Colocephalus wont encore été trouvés jusqu ici que dans les terrains tertiaires. Les Sphyrénoides sont représentés dans l’argile de Londres par le genre Sphyreenodus, dont les dents formidables rappellent les véritables Sphyrénes, mais dont je ne connais jusquici que des machoires. Quoique je n’aie pas encore eu l'occasion de comparer de nouveau le crane des Sphyrénes vivantes avec celui des Sphyrénoides tertiaires et crétacés n’ayant pas les fossiles sous It is somewhat difficult to distinguish at first sight the Sparoide from the Scomberoide, both of which have the same crests on the occiput ; however, in the majority of the Scomberotde the central crest is prolonged over the frontals, which is not the case in the Sparoide. On the other hand, the parietal crests converge anteriorly in the Sparoide, while in the Scomberoide they are parallel to the central crest, or even divergent anteriorly. What, moreover, distinguishes the Sparoide is the snout prolonged in the form of a keel, and the interrupted line on the surface of the cranium, while in the Scomberoide this surface is continuous, and the snout much shorter. The second type of the Scomberoide is only represented by the Doreys (Zeus Faber), and some fish, few in number, which are allied to it. Notwithstand- ing the compressed and elevated form of the head, the occipital crest is totally wanting in this fish, The parietals, which in the other Scomberoide are separated by the upper occipital, here touch on the median line. I have already indicated, in the ‘ Récherches sur les Poissons Fossiles,’ that it was probable that the Zeus Faber would become the type of a separate group, and this supposition appears to be confirmed by the osteology of the head. The Scomberoide are represented by several genera, one of which, Cy- bium, has likewise representatives in the present period, while Celopoma, Bothrosteus and Celocephalus have hitherto only been found in the tertiary beds. The Sphyrenoide are represented in the London clay by the genus Sphyrenodus, whose formidable teeth call to mind the true Sphyrene, of which, however, Iam as yet only acquainted with the jaws. Although I have not yet had occasion to make a fresh comparison between the cranium of the recent Sphyrene and that of the tertiary and cretaceous SUR LES POISSONS FOSSILES DE L’ARGILE DE LONDRES. 291 la main, je crois cependant devoir en éliminer dés a présent le genre Hypso- don qui, par son crane aplati et depourvu de fosses, me parait plutét appartenir 4 la famille des Scomberésoces. Le genre Sphyrzna au contraire a des fosses occipitales distinctes sépareés par une créte mince, et des fosses temporales trés profondes de forme triangulaire, qui s'avancent jusqu’au dessus de l’orbite. Il n/a point cette dépression frontale qui distingue le genre Hypsodon. Les Labroides ont occiput conformé a peu prés de la méme maniére que les Scombéroides. Ony trouve les mémes crétes, mais beaucoup plus raccour- cies. La créte mitoyenne ne s’avance jamais sur les frontaux; elle est limitée a Voccipital supérieur. Les crétes pariétales n’atteignent jamais le bord su- périeur de l’orbite, mais s’arrétent vis 4 vis de son bord postérieur. Les fosses pariétales sont beaucoup moins profondes. Une fosse assez profonde se trouve aussi sur la partie antérieure des frontaux, et s’étend jusque vers Vendroit ot le nasal se joint a ces derniers. Il y a en outre une articulation particuliére des pharyngiens au dessous du grand trou occipital. Les Blennioides se reconnaissent au premier coup d’ceil a la singuliére con- formation de leur crane. L’occiput est applati en arriére et forme un triangle presque équilatéral, dont le sommet est tourné en avant, et se continue en une créte mitoyenne qui s'avance jusqu’au dessus de l’orbite. Ici, en arriére de lorbite, le crane est tellement comprimé latéralement qu'il y a a peine un espace entre ces parvis osseuses pour la partie antérieure du cerveau. Les bords postérieurs de l’orbite s’étendent latéralement sous forme de deux ailes triangulaires. L’espace compris entre les orbites est allongé et assez étroit. Les bords de l’orbite sont relevés, de sorte qu’il y a un sillon quelquefois assez profond au milieu du front. Cette absence de créte mitoyenne sur Sphyrenoide, not having the fossils at my disposal, I am however induced to remove from it, even at present, the genus Hypsodon, which appears to me, from its flattened cranium, which is deprived of grooves, rather to belong to the family of the Scomberesocide. The genus Sphyrena, on the contrary, has distinct occipital grooves separated by a thin crest and very deep temporal grooves, of a triangular form, which advance beyond the orbit. There is not that frontal depression which distinguishes the genus Hypsodon. The Labroide have the occiput shaped nearly in the same manner as the Scomberoide ; we find the same crests, only much more shortened. The central crest never advances over the frontals, it is restricted to the upper occipital. The parietal crests never attain the upper margin of the orbit, _ but stop opposite its posterior margin. ‘The parietal grooves are far more _ Shallow. A tolerably deep groove is likewise met with on the anterior por- tion of the frontals, and extends to the place where the nasal joins these latter. ‘There is besides a peculiar articulation of the pharyngians below the _ large occipital aperture. The Blennioide are recognised at first sight from the singular conformation of their cranium. The occiput is flattened posteriorly, and forms nearly an equilateral triangle, whose summit is directed anteriorly, and is continued in a central crest, which advances to just above the orbit. Here, behind the orbit, the cranium is compressed to such a degree laterally that there is scarcely space between the osseous walls for the anterior portion of the brain. The hinder margins of the orbit extend laterally in form of two triangular wings. The space comprised between the orbits is elongated and somewhat narrow. The margins of the orbit are raised, so that there is sometimes a tolerably profound furrow in the middle of the front. This absence of a u2 992 REPORT—1844. Yocciput, tandis qu'il en existe une au dessus des fosses mastoidiennes est un caractére tout particulier qui n’existe que dans cette famille. La séparation des Blennoides d’avec les Gobioides ne pourrait étre mieux justifiée que par les types si entiérement différens de leurs cranes. La face intérieure du crane forme une quille tranchante qui est surtout relevée entre les yeux. Le seul représentant de cette famille que j'ai trouvé dans l'argile de Londres, le La- parus alticeps, se rapproche par la forme de son crane du Loup de Mer, Anarrhichas Lupus. Je ne connais pas encore sa dentition. La famille des Scomber-Esoces établie derniérement par M. Miller pour plusieurs poissons Malacoptérygiens dont les os pharyngiens inférieurs sont réunis en une seule piéce; a pour représentans principaux les Exocetus, les Hemiramphus, et les Orphies (Belone). Quoique les formes extérieures de ces genres soient trés-différentes, je n’en trouve pas moins une grande ana- logie dans l'ostéologie de leur téte. La face supérieure du crane est entieré- ment aplatie, sans créte saillante ni fosse distincte. L/’occipital supérieur est extrémement petit, prolongé en arriére, non point en une créte, mais en une pointe assez gréle et courte. Le milieu du front est un peu déprimé. Le bord de l’orbite, au lieu d’étre relevé comme dans les Joues cuirassées, avec lesquelles les Scomberésoces ont le plus d’analogie, est abaissé vers les cétés. Le genre Hypsodon parait appartenir a cette curieuse famille, et la preuve en sera fournie irrévocablement dés que l’on trouvera un exemplaire dont la face inférieure du crane offrira cette articulation propre sur laquelle les pha- ryngiens sont fixés dans tout ce curieux groupe que M. Miller a désigné sous le nom de Pharyngognathes. Les Clupéides se distinguent par un caractére tout particulier de leur crane, la prolongation de deux crétes pariétales en arriére sous forme d’é- central crest on the occiput, while one exists above the mastoidian grooves, is quite a peculiar character, which exists only in this family. The separation of the Blennioide from the Gobioide could not be better justified than by the entirely different types of their crania. The lower sur- face of the cranium forms a sharp-edged keel, which is especially raised be- tween the eyes. The only representative of this family which 1 have found in the London clay, Laparus alticeps, is allied, by the form of its cranium, to the Sea-wolf Anarrhichas Lupus. I am not acquainted with its dentition. The family of the Scomberesocide, recently established by M. Miller, for several Malacopterygian fish, the lower pharyngeal bones of which are united into a single piece, is principally represented by the Exocetus, Hemiramphus and Belone. Although the external forms of these genera are very different, I nevertheless find a great analogy in the osteology of their head. The upper face of the cranium is entirely flattened without any prominent crest or di- stinct groove. The upper occipital is extremely small, prolonged back- wards, not into a crest, but into a somewhat thin and short point. The centre of the front is slightly depressed ; the margin of the orbit, instead of being raised as in the Cottoide with which the Scomberesocide have most analogy, is lowered towards the sides. The genus Hypsodon appears to belong to this curious family, and the proof will be irrevocably furnished as soon as a specimen shall have been found with the lower surface of the cranium pre- senting that peculiar articulation, on which the pharyngeals are attached throughout this curious group, which M. Muller has designated by the name of ‘ Pharyngognathes.’ The Clupeide are distinguished by a very peculiar character of their cranium, the prolongation of two parietal crests hindwards in the form of SUR LES POISSONS FOSSILES DE L’ARGILE DE LONDRES. 293 pines émoussées ce qui fait que la petite créte occipitale se trouve placée dans le sinus antérieur d’une profonde entaille triangulaire. De ce sinus partent en méme temps deux saillies divergentes qui viennent mourir au mi- lieu du bord supérieur de lorbite, et entre lesquelles se trouve placé un en- forcement assez considérable de forme triangulaire qui occupe le milieu du front. Les fosses temporales sont assez considérables; leur extrémité anté- rieure s’efface au bord postérieur de l’orbite. Les frontaux antérieurs et pos- térieurs forment de grandes éminences latérales. Ce qui caractérise surtout la face inférieure ce sont deux prolongemens en forme d’aile qui partent de Yextremité postérieure du sphénoide et s’adaptent latéralement sur les cétés de la colonne vertébrale. Je nai trouvé que deux genres dans l’argile de Londres dont l'un le genre Megalops a des représentans vivays ; tandis que l'autre le genre Halecopsis est complétement éteint. J'ai rangé provisoirement dans la famille des Characins, sous le nom de Brychetus Mulleri, une énorme téte fossile, dont les machoires sont armeés dune série de dents trés allongées. Cette téte se distingue en outre par un caractére trés tranché, c’est que le pourtour de la bouche est formé en avant par les intermaxillaires supérieurs qui portent également des dents. C’était le caractére qui distinguait mon ancienne famille des Halécoides que le prince de Canino a le premier demembrée, et que M. Miller a plus tard si heu- reusement subdivisée en plusieurs familles trés-bien caractérisées. Le Bry- chetus ne peut appartenir qu’aux Characins ou aux Célacanthes; mais n’ayant pas encore pu me procurer des squelettes d’un Characin vivant ni des écailles de ce fossile, je dois attendre pour le classer définitivement de plus amples renseignemens, qui ne manqueront point, je l’espére, puisque la gran- deur de cette espéce doit nécessairement attirer l’attention des collecteurs. _ two blunt spines, so that the small occipital crest is situated in the anterior sinus of a deep triangular notch. From this sinus part together two di- verging crests, which disappear in the centre of the upper margin of the _ orbit, and between which occurs a very considerable depression of triangular form occupying the middle of the front. The temporal grooves are some- _ what considerable ; their anterior extremity becomes obliterated at the pos- terior margin of the orbit. The anterior and posterior frontals form large ' lateral eminences. What especially characterizes the lower surface, are two _ Wing-shaped prolongations which proceed from the posterior extremity of the _ sphenoid, and adapt themselves laterally to the sides of the vertebral column. __ Ihave only found two genera in the London clay, one of which, Megalops, has living representatives, while the other, the genus Halecopsis, is entirely extinct. _ I have arranged provisionally in the family of the Characide, under the name of Brychetus Mulleri, an enormous fossil head, the jaws of which are provided with a series of very long teeth. This head is moreover distinguished by a very marked character, the circumference of the mouth being formed in front by the upper intermaxillaries, which likewise are furnished with teeth. ‘This was the character which distinguished my old family the Hale- coide, which the Prince of Canino was the first to dismember, and which M. Miller subsequently subdivided with so much judgement into several well- characterized families. The Brychetus can belong only to the Characes or to the Celacanthi, but having hitherto been unable to obtain skeletons of a recent Characes or scales of this fossil, I must wait for ample information in order to classify it definitively, which I hope will not be wanting, as the size of this species will necessarily attract the attention of collectors. 294 REPORT—1844, La famille des Gadoides présente des variations assez notables al’égard de la eréte occipitale, dans des genres qui, sous d’autres rapports, sont assez rapprochés. C’est ainsi que chez les Motelles, les Merluches, les Lottes et les Phycis, la créte s’étend en arriére, sans s’élever au dessus du plan général de l’occiput, tandis que dans les Merlans et les Gades proprement dits, la eréte s'avance jusqu’au dessus des orbites en s’élevant sensiblement au dessus de Yocciput. L’occiput in général est large, de forme triangulaire et a, comme tout le crane, un aspect foliacré. Les os en général sont tres minces, retenus dans leur position par le développement considérable des cartilages craniens. Les crétes sont des lames trés minces, mais les fosses de l’occiput sont en général trés peu accusées ; le front est rétréci entre les orbites et des pro- longemens particuliers du frontal forment, chez le plupart des genres, des doubles bords autour des orbites. Les frontaux antérieurs s étendent laté- ralement sous forme d’aile. La partie inférieure de l’oeciput est large et trés bombée, sans aucune quille médiane, et c’est la boursoufllure générale de cette partie qui fait qu’on distingue facilement les Gadoides des autres familles, et surtout des Gobioides, dont ils se rapprochent le plus par le con- formation des os du crane. Je connais jusqu’ici quatre genres de cette intéressante famille dont j'ai trouvé les premiers fossiles dans l’argile de Londres: Ce sont le Rhinoce- phalus planiceps, qui par la formation de son crane tient le milieu entre les Merluches et les Phycis; les genres Merlinus et Goniognathus, qui se rap- prochent d'avantage des Merlans; et Je genre si curieux que Mr. Konig a appelé Ampheristus, et qui parait constituer un nouveau type dans la famille des Gadoides. Les Anguilliformes forment un type tout a fait 4 part qui se distingue au The family of the Gadoide presents considerable variations with respect to the occipital crest in genera which in other respects are nearly allied. Thus, for instance, in the Motelle, the Merlucci, the: Lote, and the Phyeis, the crest extends posteriorly without rising above the general level of the occiput, while in the Whitings and the Cods, properly so called, the crest advances to just above the orbits, rising gradually above the occiput. The occiput is in general broad, of triangular form, and, like the whole of the cranium, has a foliaceous appearance. The bones are in general very thin, held in their position by the considerable development of the cranial carti- lages. The crests consist of very thin laminz, but the grooves of the occiput are in general extremely faint; the front is contracted within the orbits, and the peculiar prolongation of the frontal, forming in most of the genera double margins around the orbits; the anterior frontals extend laterally in the form of a wing, the lower portion of the occiput is broad and much-vaulted, with- out any median keel; and it is the general protuberance of this part which renders the Gadoide easy to distinguish from the other families, and especially from the Gobioide, to which they most approach by the conformation of the bones of the cranium. I am at present acquainted with four genera of this interesting family, of which I found the first fossils in the London clay. They are the Rhinoce- phalus planiceps, which, from the formation of its skull, is intermediate be- tween Merluccius and Phycis ; the genera Merlinus and G'oniognathus, which are more nearly related to the Whitings; and the curious genus which M. Konig has called Ampheristus, and which appears to constitute a new type in the family of the Gadoide. The Anguilliformes constitute quite a separate type, which is distinguished + Fa ORC ee cel . a ¢ SUR LES POISSONS FOSSILES DE L°ARGILE DE LONDRES. 295 premier coup d’ceil des Ophidioides, dont ils doivent étre séparés comme famille 4 part. Toute la face supérieure de la téte est unie et lisse, sans crétes saillantes. La surface postérieure de l’occiput se détache a angle droit de la face supérieure et présente souvent des fosses latérales, au dessus des quelles le bord supérieur de l’occiput s’avance en forme de toit. Le temporal s’avance en forme de pointe entre les frontaux principaux et posté- tieurs qu'il sépare completement, et le frontal postérieur est relégué derriére Yorbite, ot il forme une saillie trés considérable en forme de crochet. Le nasal se prolonge en arriére jusqu’au dessus du milieu de l’orbite. Le crane en géneral est trés solide, et présente le forme d’une pyramide a base trian- gulaire et a faces trés allongées. Le genre Rhynchorhinus qui est le seul veprésentant de cette famille dans Vargile de Londres tient 4 peu prés le milieu entre les Murénes proprement dites et les Congres. Pour donner une ideé de l’exactitude a laquelle on peut arriver en étudiant comparativement les poissons de Sheppy je vais donner ici une déscription de lune des espéces les plus répandues dans cette formation, le Scienurus Bowerbankii. Je joins a cette déscription une réstauration au trait de l’ani- malentier. (Voir la planche ci contre.) Ce poisson a le corps court, haut et trés comprimé, a Ja maniére des Sargues ou méme des Dorées (Zeus). Sa hauteur, prise au bord antérieur de la nageoire anale, est contenue deux fois et demi dans sa longueur; son épaisseur, méme en tenant compte de la pression habituelle aux fossiles de Sheppy, est comprise quatre fois dans sa hauteur. Sa téte participe des mémes caractéres que le tronc ; elle est haute, comprimée et tronquée en avant. Elle est aussi longue que haute, et sa longueur est 4 la longueur totale du corps comme 227. Le front forme at first sight from the Ophidioide, from which they should be separated as a distinct family. The whole of the upper surface of the head is continuous and smooth without projecting crests. The hinder surface of the occiput sepa- rates at a right angle from the upper surface, and frequently presents lateral grooves, above which the upper margin of the occiput projects in the form of a roof. The temporal advances in form of a point between the principal and posterior frontals, which it separates entirely, and the posterior frontal is removed to behind the orbit, where it forms a considerable hooked projection. The nasal is prolonged posteriorly to just above the middle of the orbit. In general the cranium is very solid, and presents the form of a pyramid, with triangular base and very lengthened sides. The genus Rhynchorhinus, which is the only representative of this family in the London clay, holds about the middle between the Murene, properly so called, and the Congers. To give an idea of the accuracy to which it is possible to attain in making a comparative study of the Sheppey fish, I will give in this place a description of one of the most common species in this formation, the Scienurus Bower- bankit. I add to this description an outline restoration of the entire animal. (See Plate XL.) This fish has the body short, high, and much-compressed, resembling in this respect the Sargi, or even the Doreys (Zeus). Its height, taken at the front margin of the anal fin, is contained twice and a half in its length; its thickness, even taking into consideration the pressure com- mon to the Sheppey fossils, is comprised four times in its height; its. head participates in the same characters as the trunk ; it is high, compressed, and anteriorly truncated. It is as long as high, and its length is to the total length of the body as two to seven. The front forms a straight line, de- a oF 296 REPORT— 1844. une ligne droite déscendant obliquement depuis une saillie au dessus des yeux. Le nuque est presque horizontale, s’élevant insensiblement vers la nageoire dorsale. Le museau est tronqué presque verticalement et forme une caréne tranchante. L’ceil est trés-grand et comprend plus du tiers de la hauteur totale de la téte. Il est placé trés-haut, presque a fleur de front, au milieu entre le bout du museau et le bord postérieur du préopercule. La capsule sclé- rotique qui l’entoure est assez forte et conservée dans la plupart des exem- plaires. La constitution du crane offre quelques particularités frappantes ; sa face supérieure présente une ligne brisée en trois parties presque égales. La partie postérieure ou la nuque est oblongue, insensiblement rétrécie d’arriére en avant et divisée en deux parties par la créte mitoyenne du crane qui, a ce qu'il parait, était trés mince et trés haute. Cette créte mitoyenne s’étend en arriére, jusque vers le premier rayon de la dorsale. Les deux erétes pa- riétales qui circonscrivent cette partie oblongue supérieure de la nuque sont trés marquées, mais assez minces; elles s’étendent considérablement en arriére, ou elles forment l’articulation du supra-scapulaire ; elles se prolongent égale- ment dans l’angle saillant au dessus des yeux. I] en est deméme de la créte mitoyenne. Les deux fosses pariétales s’étendaient ainsi jusqu’au dessus des yeux en se rétrécissant insensiblement et en s’élevant au niveau du front. La surface de la nuque formait par conséquent une espéce de toit allonge, relevé sur la ligne médiane et bordé des deux cétés par les crétes pariétales. L’os occipital supérieur s’avance en biseau aussi loin que la créte mitoyenne, entre les deux frontaux qui s’étendent en arriére jusqu’a la moitié de la lon- gueur de la nuque. ‘Trois os participent 4 la formation des crétes pariétales : Yoccipital externe en arriére, l’os pariétal au milieu et l’os frontal dans la scending obliquely from a prominence above the eyes; the nape is nearly horizontal, rising gradually towards the dorsal fin. The snout is almost vertically truncated, and forms a sharp-edged keel. The eye is very large and occupies more than a third of the total height of the head; it is placed very high, nearly on a level with the forehead, in the centre between the end of the snout and the posterior margin of the preoper- culum. The sclerotic capsule which surrounds it is strong and well-preserved in the majority of the specimens. The construction of the cranium presents several striking peculiarities ; its upper surface exhibits a line broken into three nearly equal portions; the hinder portion, or the nape, is oblong, gradually contracted from behind anteriorly, and divided into two portions by the central crest of the cranium, which appears to have been very thin and very high. This central crest ex~ tends hindwards as far as the first dorsal ray. The two parietal crests which circumscribe this upper oblong portion of the nape, are very prominent but somewhat slender; they extend for a long way hindwards, where they form the articulation of the suprascapulary ; they likewise extend into the projecting angle above the eyes. ‘The same is the case with the central crest; the two parietal grooves extended therefore to above the eyes, becoming gradually smaller, and rising to the level of the front. The surface of the nape conse- quently formed a sort of elongated roof raised on the median line, and bounded on the two sides by the parietal crests. The superior occipital bone advances, en biseau, as far as the central crest, between the two frontals, which extend hindwards half the length of the nape. Three bones concur in the formation of the parietal crests ; the external occipital behind, the parietal bone in the SUR LES POISSONS FOSSILES DE L’ARGILE DE LONDRES. 297 partie antérieure. Les faces latérales de la nuque déscendent presque per- pendiculairement pour se relever ensuite de nouveau et former les puissantes erétes temporales, sur lesquelles sont articulés les opercules. Les fosses tem- porales qui sont formées par ces crétes s élévent insensiblement vers la saillie du front; mais elles n’atteignent pas la longueur des fosses pariétales. Enfin, au dessous dle ces fosses se trouvent encore deux petites fosses mastoidiennes comprises entre le frontal postérieur et la créte temporale qui se continue derriére le préopercule, sur l’opercule. Le front est entiérement formé par les deux frontaux; il forme une surface tout a fait plane, qui est méme un peu déprimée sur la ligne médiane, au lieu d’étre relevée comme dans beau- coup d’autres poissons. Les frontaux sont plus larges en arriére qu’en avant et leurs parties orbitaires déscendent en arc des deux cétés. Cet arc est com- plété en avant par le frontal antérieur, au dessus duquel les frontaux princi- paux finissent brusquement comme tronqués. Le nasal s‘enchasse entre les deux frontaux principaux par un bouton aplati, dont la face supérieure continue la surface du front; mais plus loin il déscend presque verticalement, formant une créte tranchante et trés étroite; entre cette créte et le frontal antérieur se trouve une fosse trés profonde qui est limitée en avant par les sous-orbitaires et la mAchoire supé- rieure. Le premier sous-orbitaire est €norme, en forme de trapézoide a bords ar- rondis. Sa partie antérieure est poreuse, sa partie postérieure squammeuse et plisseé en rides rayonnant de haut en bas. Le préopercule est long, étroit, surtout en haut, ot il forme une aréte qui déscend verticalement. Sa partie horizontale est trés-courte, le limbe qui Z borde le coin de Véquerre est plissé grossiérement en rides rayonnantes. centre, and the frontal bone in the anterior portion. The lateral portions of the nape descend almost perpendicularly, to rise again subsequently and form the strong temporal crests on to which are articulated the opercula. The temporal grooves which are formed by these crests, rise gradually towards the projection of the front, but they never reach the length of the parietal grooves. Lastly, below these grooves are situated two smaller mastoidian grooves, comprised between the posterior frontal and the temporal crest, which continues behind the preoperculum over the operculum. The front is made up entirely of the two frontals; it forms a perfectly level surface, which is even slightly depressed on the median line instead of being raised as in many other fish, The frontals are wider behind than in front, and their _ orbital portions descend in the form of an arc along the two sides. This are —" hen is completed in front by the anterior frontal, above which the principal fron- tals terminate suddenly as if truncated. The nasal is encased between. the two principal frontals by a flattened pro- tuberance, the upper surface of which is a continuation of the surface of the front, but subsequently it descends almost vertically, forming a sharp-edged and very narrow crest; between this crest and the anterior frontal there is a very deep groove, which is limited anteriorly by the suborbitals and the upper jaw. The first suborbital is of immense size, trapezoidal, with rounded margins. Its anterior portion is porous, its posterior portion squamose and folded in plaits, radiating from above downwards. ’ The preoperculum is long, narrow, especially above, where it forms a crest which descends vertically. The horizontal part is very short, the margin (4mbe) by which the corner of the ‘ equerre’ is bordered is coarsely folded in 298 REPORT—1844, Toute la fosse orbitaire entre le préopercule et le sous-orbitaire est recou- verte d’écailles semblables a celles du corps. Les maxillaires supérieurs sont presque entiérement cachés sous les sous- orbitaires; ils sont élargis en arriére et engrenés en avant avec la branche montante de l’intermaxillaire. Celui-ci est court, courbé en are et garni sur son bord inférieur d’une rangée de fortes dents crochues, dont la longueur diminue d’avant en arriére. Les maxillaires inférieurs sont courts et hauts; ils sont garnis, comme les intermaxillaires, de dents crochues qui en arriére sont en simple rangée, tan- dis qu’a la symphyse il y en a piusieurs placées les unes derriére les autres. Les dents diminuent en arriére de la méme maniére que celles de I'inter- maxillaire ; on ne remarque pas de caniues plus saillantes que ies autres. Je ne saurais dire si le palais et la langue étaient aussi garnis de dents; mais la position générique de notre poisson me fait présumer qu’ils étaient lisses. Les piéces operculaires sont couvertes de plusieurs rangées d’écailles tout a fait semblables a celles du corps. L’opercule lui-méme était beaucoup plus haut que long, et formait un trapézoide a angles postérieurs arrondis. Son bord libre est mince mais entiérement lisse, aussi bien que celui du pré- opercule. La ceinture thoracique est extremement forte, elle forme en arriére vers la gorge, un coin arrondi, au devant duquel se trouve dans un creux, l’ar- ticulation de la nagevire pectorale qui était assez petite, 4 ce qui parait, mais dont je ne saurais rien dire de plus, ne l'ayant jamais vue conservée en entier. Les nageoires ventrales étaient placées au dessous de la gorge, peut-étre méme un peu plus en avant que les pectorales. La dorsale commence immédiatement derriére la nuque par des épines radiating plaits. The whole of the orbital fossa between the preoperculum and the suborbital is coated with scales resembling those of the body. The upper maxillaries are almost entirely hidden under the suborbitals ; they are widened behind, and in connection anteriorly with the ascending branch of the intermaxillary, which is short, curved like a bow, and furnished on its lower margin with a series of strong, crooked teeth, whose length di- minishes from the front hindwards. : The inferior maxillaries are short and high; they are provided like the intermaxillaries with crooked teeth, which hindwards are in simple rows, while at the symphysis there are several placed one behind the other. The teeth diminish hindwards in the same manner as those of the intermaxillary ; the canines are not observed to be more projecting than the others. I am not able to say whether the palate and the tongue were likewise provided with teeth, but the generic position of our fish leads me to presume that they were smooth. The opercular pieces are covered with several rows of scales perfectly similar to those of the body. ‘The operculum itself was much higher than long, and formed a trapezoid with rounded posterior angles. Its free margin is thin but entirely smooth, which is also the case with that of the preoper- culum. The thoracic girdle is extremely strong ; it forms hindwards towards the throat a rounded angle, in front of which, situated in a hollow, is the ar- ticulation of the pectoral fin, which was rather small, at least so it appears, but of which I am able to say nothing further, never having seen it preserved entire. The ventral fins were placed beneath the throat, perhaps even a little more in front than the pectorals. The dorsal fin begins directly behind the nape with very strong and long a SUR LES POISSONS FOSSILES DE L’ARGILE DE LONDRES. 299 trés fortes et longues; elle parait finir au commencement du dernier tiers de la longueur totale. Je présume que ses derniers rayons étaient mous, et qu'il n'y avait pas de séparation dans la nageoire entre les deux espéces de rayons. L’anale commence presque au milieu du corps; elle est étroite mais longue, et pouvait avoir une quinzaine derayons, dont les trois premiers sont épineux. La caudale n’est pas encore connue en détail; ses rayons sont couverts a la base par de petites écailles trés serrés, La ligne latérale décrit une courbe paralléle 4 celle du dos, occupant en haut le premier tiers de la hauteur totale du corps. Les écailles qui recouvrent tout le corps sont assez grandes et trés minces, de sorte que le bord postérieur est rarement con- sérvé, Examinées 4 la loupe, ces écailles présentent de nombreuses lignes concentriqués, trés serrées les unes contre les autres, et munies dans leur partie antérieure d'une douzaine de sillons en éventail qui sont visibles 4 Yceil nu. Les lignes concentriques se perdent sur le champ postérieur de Vécaille, o0 l’on voit de petites granulations qui deviennent des dentelures ex- trémement exigues sur le bord libre del’écaille, et qui devaient tomber facile- ment méme pendant la vie, car je ne les ai trouvées conservées que sur quelques écailles peu nombreuses. En résumé, le Scienurus Bowerbankii est un Cténoide acanthoptérygien thoracique ayant les joues écaillées et le bord postérieur des piéces opercu- laires lisse ; les machoires armés de dents crochues et égales ; les os du crane assez solides, 4 crétes minces. Un caractére particulier réside dans les sous- orbitaires énormes, et dans la présence d’une seule dorsale et d’une seule anale. Si maintenant nous cherchons a déterminer la place de ce-poisson dans la classification actuelle, nous ne trouverons qu'une seule famille d’ Acanthopté- rygiens cténoides a laquelle il puisse étre associé, celle des Sparoides, qui spines ; it appears to terminate at the commencement of the last third of the total length. I presume that its last rays were soft, and that there was no separation between the two kinds of rays in the fin. The anal commences near the middle of the body; it is narrow but long, and may have possessed about fifteen rays, the first three of which were spinous. The caudal is not yet known in detail ; its rays are covered at the base by very close, minute scales. The lateral line describes a curve parallel to that at the back, occupying at top the first third of the total height of the body. The scales which cover the entire of the body are somewhat large and very thin, so that the posterior margin is rarely preserved. Examined under the microscope, these scales present numerous concentric lines, very close upon each other, and furnished in their anterior portion by a dozen grooves arranged like a fan, which are visible to the naked eye. The concentric lines disappear on the hinder portion of the scale, where we see small granulations which become excessively minute denticulations on the free margin of the scale, and which fell off easily during life, for I have never found them preserved except on some few scales. In fact, Scienurus Bowerbankii is an Acanthopterygian thoracic Ctenoid, having scaly cheeks, the hinder margin of the opercular pieces smooth, and the jaws furnished with crooked and equal teeth; the bones of the cranium rather solid with thin crests. A peculiar character is found in the enormous suborbital, and in the presence of a single dorsal and of a single anal. Now if we endeavour to determine the place of this fish in the present system of classification, we find but a single family of Acanthopterygian Ctenoids with which it can be associated, that of the Sparoide, which, while they have 300 REPORT—1844. tout en ayant les bords operculaires lisses, participe des autres caractéres des Percoides. En effet, voici quels sont les caractéres assignés par Cuvier ases Sparoides. ‘Les piéces operculaires sont dénuées de dentelures et d’épines ; les os de la téte sont solides, mais non point caverneux comme chez les Sciénoides. Le palais est dénué de dents; les rayons épineux et les rayons mous réunis en une seule dorsale. Les joues et le corps sont couverts d’écailles, qui d’aprés mes recherches ont pour caractére d’avoir peu de den- telures au bord postérieur, encore ces dentelures sont elles trés faibles et tombent facilement. Les Sparoides se distinguent des Sciénoides par l’ab- sence de creux caverneux dans les os dela téte; par le manque d écailles sur les nageoires, l’absence d’épines ou de dentelures sur les piéces operculaires. Ce dernier caractére les distingue aussi des Percoides.” C’est done parmi les Sparoides qu'il faut placer le genre Scizenurus. Cuvier a déja divisé cette famille en plusieurs tribus d’aprés leur dentition, il n’y ena qu'une seule, celle des Dentés (Dentex) qui soit entiérement dépourvue de molaires arrondies, et chez laquelle on ne trouve que des dents crochues et coniques ordinaire- ment sur un seul rang. J'ai comparé le squelette du Dentex vulgaris avec celui du Sciznurus. On y retrouve les mémes caractéres, mais la division de la surface supérieure du crane en trois parties n’est pas aussi bien mar- quée, et surtout le front n’est pas aussi développé que chez le Sciznurus. En revanche on y retrouve la méme quille du nasal; les fosses pariétales forment un oblong allongé et bordé par deux crétes pariétales, relevées et minces, les mémes fosses temporales profondes et séparées des fosses mas- toidiennes particuliéres. On rencontre en outre chez les Dentés la méme forme du préopercule avec son aréte verticale et son limbe étroit, et dans toute la famille des Sparoides cet énorme sous-orbitaire qui cache pres- que la totalité du maxillaire supérieur. Cuvier a distingué des véritables smooth opercular margins, possess in other respects the characters of the Per- coide. The following in fact are the characters assigned by Cuvier to his Sparoide :—“ The opercular pieces are not furnished with denticulations or spines; the bones of the head are solid, but not hollow, as in the Scienoide. The palate is not furnished with teeth ; the spiny and the soft rays are united into a single dorsal. The cheeks and the body are covered with scales, which, according to my researches, are characterized by their having few denticulations on the posterior margin; moreover this toothed structure is very weak, and easily falls off. The Sparoide are distinguished from the Scienoide by the absence of cavities in the bones of the head, by a want of scales on the fins, by the absence of spines or of denticulations on the opercular pieces. This latter character distinguishes them likewise from the Percoide.” The genus Scienurus must therefore be placed among the Sparvide. Cuvier has divided this family into several tribes according to their dentition; there is only one, that of Dentex, which is entirely deprived of rounded molars, and in which none but hooked and conical teeth, generally arranged in a single row, are found. I have compared the skeleton of Dentex vulgaris with that of Scie- nurus. The same characters are met with, but the division of the upper surface of the cranium into three parts is not so marked, and the front is likewise not so developed as in Scitenurus. However, the same keeled nasal is found; the parietal fosse form an elongated oblong, bordered by two raised and thin parietal crests, the temporal grooves are similar and separated from the peculiar mastoidian grooves. We moreover find in the Dentices the same form of the preoperculum, with its vertical crest and its straight border, and in the whole family of the Sparotde the enormous subor- SUR LES POISSONS FOSSILES DE L’ARGILE DE LONDRES. 301 Dentés le genre des Pentapodes qui comprend des espéces a bouche moins fendue, 4 téte trés écailleuse, et 4 caudale écailleuse jusqu’au bout. C’est & cété de ce genre qu'il faut placer notre Sciznurus. Ce qui le distingue c'est son corps comprimé et élevé, tandis que les Pentapodes ont le corps fusiforme et allongé. II se distingue en outre par sa dentition; les Dentés ont comme les Pentapodes des dents inégales; les Pentapodes ont deux fortes canines qui surgissent entre plusieurs autres dents crochues plus petites placées en arriére entre des dents en velour ras. Le genre Sciez- nurus n’a point de canines, ses dents diminuent d’une maniére égale d’a- vant en arriére; elles sont toutes crochues. Mais tout en se rapprochant des Pentapodes par la caudale écaillée a la base, il se place d'un autre céoté prés des Dentés par son corps comprimé. Mon genre Sparnodus dont jai décrit plusieurs espéces de Monte Bolea, se rapproche aussi du genre Scieenurus par l'uniformité de ses dents, mais il en différe en ce que ses dents sont courtes et trés-obtuses. Je connais maintenant deux espéces du genre Sciznurus, provenant toutes deux de l’argile de Londres, de Sheppy. Il faut étre sur ses gardes pour ne pas confondre avec les Sciznurus les fragmens d’une espéce de Myripristis qui s’en rapproche beaucoup par sa forme générale, mais qui en différe par les rides saillantes de l’opercule et par la structure des écailles. Ce n'est que par un examen trés-approfondi de tous les exemplaires que j'ai eus a ma disposition que j'ai réussi 4 déterminer exactement ce genre; mais il se pourrait bien qu’entre les échantillons que jai étiquetés dans les collections d’Angleterre il se trouvat quelque fragment de Myripristis sous le nom de Scizenurus. Aprés ces détails venons-en 4 examiner les caractéres d’ensemble des bital which nearly hides the whole of the superior maxillary. Cuvier distin- guished from the true Dentices the genus Pentapodes, which comprises the species, having the mouth less divided, with very scaly head and caudal scaly tothe end. Itis by the side of this genus that Scienurus should be arranged ; its compressed and raised body distinguishes it, while in the Pentapodes the body is fusiform and elongated. It is moreover characterized by its dentition; the Dentices, like the Pentapodi, have the teeth unequal ; the Pentapodi have two strong canines, which are situated between several other smaller hooked teeth, placed behind the teeth en velour ras. The genus Scienurus has no canines; its teeth diminish equally from the front hindwards; they are all hooked ; but while approaching the Pentapodi by the caudal which has scales at the base, it is, on the other hand, related to the Dentices by its compressed body. My genus Sparnodus, of which I have described several species from _ Monte Bolca, likewise approaches to the genus Scienurus, by the uniformity _ of its teeth, but it differs from it in the teeth being short and very obtuse. I am at present acquainted with two species of the genus Scienurus, both derived from the London clay of Sheppey. It is necessary to guard against confounding the fragments of a species of Myripristis with the Scienuri, to which they approach considerably in their general form, but differ from them by the prominent strie of the operculum, and by the structure of the scales. It is only by a very minute examination of all the specimens which I have had at my disposal, that I have succeeded in accurately determining this genus; it is however possible that among the specimens which I labelled in the English collections, some fragment of Myri- pristis may occur under the name of Scienurus. After these details we will now examine the collective characters of the 302 REPORT—1844, poissons fossiles de Sheppy. J'ai fait d’aprés l’excellente monographie des poissons Anglais de Mr. Yarrell, le relevé de tous les poissons de mer des cétes d’Angleterre. La comparaison de ce relevé avec celui des poissons de Sheppy donne des résultats assez curieux. Voici les chiffres auxquels je suis arrivé. Les cétes de |’ Angleterre sont habités par 155 espéces qui se répartissent dans 81 genres. Les différentes familles sont représentées de la maniére sulvante : Cténoides. Percoides* 7 espécesdans 5 genres. Sparoides 7 aa ' Scienoides 2 ‘ Cottoides 16 ove Gobioidest 6 ext Aulostomes 1 ; Mugiloides 3 Pleuronectes 18 me 60 2 Cycloides Acanthoptérygiens. Scombéroides + 11 espéces dans 9 genres. Xiphioides 1 = Tenioides 5 5 Athérines 1 1 Labroides 13 ae debby Blennioides§ 10 “pe bathe Lophioides 1 aa Trachinides|| 2 ] Discoboles 5 a , Echénéides 1 ay 1 42 28 Cycloides Malacoptérygiens. Scomberésoces 4 espéces dans 3 genres. Clupéides 8 ie Shee Salmonides 2 BER seb Gadoides 20 2 eee Anguilliformes 8 oad 6 42 22 * Je range dans cette famille le genre Capros et j’en sépare le genre Trachinus. + J’en ai séparé les Blennioides. + Le genre Brama me parait devoir étre reporté dans la famille des Scombéroides. § Famille distincte des Gobioides. || Famille séparée des Percoides. fossil fish of Sheppey. I have drawn up, according to Mr. Yurrell’s excellent monograph of the British fish, a summary of all the sea-fish of the coast of England. The comparison of this number with that of the Sheppey fish affords some rather curious results. The following are the figures to which I have arrived. The English coasts are inhabited by 155 (163) species, which are divided among $1 genera. The different families are represented in the following manner. [See table supra. } * [arrange under this family the genus Capros, and have removed from it the genus 7'ra- chinus. + I have separated the Blennioide. + The genus Brama should, in my opinion, be referred to the family of the Seomberoide. § A distinct family from the Godioide. \| A family separated from the Percoide. SUR LES POISSONS FOSSILES DE L’ARGILE DE LONDRES. 303 Ganoides (types récents). Lophobranches 7 espéces dans 2 genres. Gymnodontes 3 2 Sclérodermes 1 oh 1 1] 5 Les Cténoides sur 8 familles et 26 genres comptent 60 espéces. Les Cy- cloides acanthoptérygiens en comptent 50 sur 33 genres et 10 familles, les Ma- lacoptérygiens 42 sur 22 genres et 5 familles, tandis que les Ganoides ne comp- tent que 3 familles, 5 genres et 11 espéces. Les familles les plus nombreuses sont les Gadoides, les Pleuronectes, les Cottoides, les Labroides, les Scom- béroides et les Blennioides, tandis que les Scizenoides, les Xiphioides et plu- sieurs autres ne comptent qu’un fort petit nombre de représentans. Comparons maintenant ce tableau avec celui que m’a fourni jusqu’ici l'étude des poissons osseux de Sheppy. Comme le dépdét de Sheppy appar- tient 4 des couches relativement trés-récentes, l’on pouvait s’'attendre A trouver dans la répartition des espéces une certaine conformité avec la maniére dont les poissons vivans sont répartis de nos jours sur les cétes d’Angleterre. C’est en effet ce qui a lieu dans certaines limites; car si l'ensemble de la faune a un caractére un peu différent, il n’en est pas moins vrai que la localisation et l’association des types étaient soumises durant l’époque tertiaire a peu prés aux mémes lois que de nos jours. Je dois cependant rappeler ici ce que j'ai déja dit au commencement de ce rapport, c’est que les études que ja pu faire jusqu’ici portent essentiellement sur les tétes fossiles. II reste uni autre travail que je n’ai pas encore pu entreprendre, et qui sera tout aussi indispensable que ce premier, la comparaison des écailles avec celles des poissons vivans ; travail encore plus difficile, puisque ces recherches ne pour- ront étre faites qu’a l’aide du microscope. Ayant réuni depuis longtemps The Ctenoide consist of 60 species, distributed among 8 families and 26 genera; the Acanthopterygian Cycloide, 50 in 33 genera and 10 families ; the Malacopterygians, 42 in 22 genera and 5 families, while the Ganoide consist of but 3 families, 5 genera, and 11 species. The most numerous families are the Gadoide, the Pleuronecti, the Cottoide, Labroide, Scombe- rotide, and the Blennioide, while the Scienoide, the Xiphioide, and several others have but a very small number of representatives. Let us now compare this list with that furnished up to the present time by my investigation of the osseous fish of Sheppey. Since the Sheppey deposit belongs to comparatively very recent strata, it was natural to expect to find, in the distribution of the species, a certain coincidence with the manner ac- _ cording to which living fish are distributed at the present time on the coasts of England. ‘This indeed obtains within certain limits; for if the collective _ fauna has asomewhat different character, it is not the less true that the loca- lization and association of types were subject during the tertiary epoch to nearly the same laws as in our days. I must, however, call to mind what I have already stated at the commencement of this report, that the investiga- _ tions which I have hitherto been able to make relate essentially to the fossil erania. I have still another investigation on hand, which I have as yet not been able to undertake, and which will be quite as indispensable as this first,— _ comparison of the scales with those of living fish, a work which is still more difficult, since these researches can only be made with the assistance of the microscope. Having for some years collected for my ichthyological in- 304 REPORT—1844, Aue pour mes études ichthyologiques un grand nombre d’écailles, les ‘moyens de comparaison ne me feront pas défaut. Il est un autre inconvénient plus grave, c ‘est que dans la plupart des échantillons qui me sont confiés, les bords postérieurs libres des écailles sont usés et brisés. Or ce sont précisement ces bords qui fournissent les caractéres les plus saillans pour la détermina- tion rigoureuse des espéces. Quoiqu’il en soit, voici le relevé des espéces que j'ai pu déterminer jusqu’ici. Les poissons osseux de Sheppy, que je connais maintenant, se rapportent a 37 genres, représentés par 44 espéces, et peuvent étre répartis dans les familles suivantes. Cténoides. Percoides 7 espéces dans 7 genres. Sparoides 2 ee 1 Teuthies 3 a 3 12 11 Cycloides Acanthoptérygiens. Scomberoides 12 espéces dans 9 geures. Xiphioides 5 4 Sphyreenoides 2 1 Labroides 1 1 Blennioides 1 Athérines 1 16 1 ] 2 Cycloides Malacoptérygiens. Scomberésoces 3 espéces dans 2 genres. Clupéides 2 2 Scopélines 1 a 1 Gadoides 4. sa 4, ll 10 Il est A remarquer que dans ce tableau les Cténoides ne comptent que trois familles représenteés par 11 genres et 12 espéces. II se trouve que la famille des Percoides est de beaucoup la plus nombreuse, tandis que les familles les vestigations a large number of scales, the means of comparison will not be wanting. There is another more serious inconvenience ; it is, that in the majority of the fragments which have been entrusted to me, the free hinder margins of the scales are worn or broken. Now it is precisely these margins which fur- nish the most prominent characters for the accurate determination of the species. However, the following is the list of species which I have hitherto been able to determine. The bony fish of Sheppey with which I am at present acquainted, belonged to 37 genera, represented by 44 species, and may be distributed among the following families. [See table supra. ] It should be observed that in this list the Ctenotde have but 3 families, represented by 11 genera and 12 species. It happens that the family of the Percoide is by far the most numerous, while the largest families of recent j ss SUR LES POISSONS FOSSILES DE L’ARGILE DE LONDRES. 305 plus nombreuses des poissons actuels, savoir les Pleuronectes, les Cottoides et les Gobioides manquent complétement dans les argiles de Sheppy. Les Teuthies par contre, cette famille essentiellement méridionale, qui ne se trouve que dans les mers du Sud, et qui n’a aucun représentant dans la faune actuelle de |’Angleterre, ne compte pas moins de trois genres dans la faune de Sheppy, d’ou il faut conclure que cette faune doit avoir vécu dans des conditions climactériques différentes de celles des cétes actuelles de Angleterre. Ce fait, qui est d’une haute importance pour toute la géolo- gie, se confirme aussi par |’étude des autres groupes de la classe des poissons. Les Cycloides acanthoptérygiens comptent 10 familles dans la faune vivante de l’Angleterre. La faune de Sheppy en compte six, en y comprenant un poisson encore quelque peu douteux voisin des Athérines. Il n’y a que les Lophioides et les Tzenioides, les Trachinides, les Discoboles et les Echénéides, toutes familles peu nombreuses de nos jours, qui n’auraient pas existé dans lépoque tertiaire en Angleterre. Les Sphyrénes, qui appartiennent surtout aux mers tropicales, et qui ne se trouvent pas maintenant sur les cétes de l’Angleterre, sont représentés par un genre trés voisin de la Sphyréne com- mune, et les Xiphioides qui habitent de préférence les parages des pays chauds ne comptent pas moins de 4 genres 4 Sheppy. La seule espéce qui se _ péche quelquefois sur les cétes de I’ Angleterre, savoir l’espadon commun (Xi- phias gladius), n’y est qu’en passage ; sa véritable patrie est la Méditerranée. _ Les Xiphioides de Sheppy ont tous le bec arrondi comme le Tetrapture et les Histiophores; or ces derniers ne quittent jamais les mers du Sud. On ne peut rien conclure des Labroides, qui sont 4 peu prés dans la méme propor- tion dans la faune d’Angleterre que dans celles des mers du Sud; il est pourtant digne de remarque que le seul Labroide que j’aie trouvé jusqu’ici a Sheppy, se rapproche d’avantage des vrais Labres, qui habitent encore _ fish, for instance the Plewronectide, the Cottoide and Gobioide, are altogether absent from the Sheppey clays. The Teuthie, on the contrary, a family es- sentially meridional, which only occurs in the Southern seas, and which has | no representative in the present fauna of England, is represented by no less _ than 3 genera in the Sheppey fduna, whence it must be concluded that this fauna existed under conditions of climate very different from those of the present coasts of England. This fact, which is of considerable importance _ for geology, is likewise confirmed by the study of other groups of fish. _ The Acanthopterygian Cycloide count 10 families in the present fauna of _ England, that of Sheppey comprises 6, including a fish still somewhat doubtful, _ but which comes near to the Atherine. Only the Lophioide and Tenioide, _ the Trachinoide, the Discoboli, and the Hceheneide, all small families, at the _ present day appear not to have existed in the tertiary epoch of England. The _ Sphyrene, which belong especially to tropical seas, and which do not occur | at present on the coasts of England, are represented by a genus nearly related _ to the common Sphyrena, and the Xiphioide, which inhabit, by preference, the coasts of hot countries, have not less than 4 genera at Sheppey. The _ only species which is sometimes taken on the coast of England, namely the common Espadon, Xiphias gladius, is merely on its passage, its true habitat being the Mediterranean. The Xiphioides of Sheppey have all a rounded beak like Tetrapturus and the Histiophori ; now these latter never quit the Southern seas. No conclusion can be drawn from the Labroide, which are _hearly in the same proportion in the English faunaas in those of the Southern Seas; it is however worthy of remark, that the only Labroid which I have hitherto found at Sheppey, more nearly approaches to the true Labri which 1844. x 306 340404 Jd FSO ARpPeRTALIe4ANe 2.022105 eat Aue maintenant ces parages, que des formes que l'on trouve dans les mers du Sud. HB Les Cycloides malacoptérygiens enfin comptent 5 familles dans largile d Sheppy, et le méme nombre dans les mers d’Angleterre, mais ce ne sont pas exactement les mémes. La famille qui fait défaut dans le terrain tertiaire est celle des Salmonides. En revanche une famille essentiellement méri- dionale, celle des Characins, qui n’existe pas dans les parages Anglais, est représentée dans l’argile de Londres par une, et peut étre par deux espéces, de taille trés considérable. C’est 4 Sheppy que j'ai découvert les premiers Gadoides fossiles connus, et ce fait est d’autant plus curieux que la famille des Gadoides appartient presque exclusivement aux mers froides, et ne compte que fort peu de représentans dans les mers chaudes et tempérées de l’époque actuelle. Ila fort-bien pu en étre autrement aux époques tertiaires ; car les argiles de Sheppy sont le premier dép6t septentrional marin de formation récente dont on ait examiné les poissons. Les dépéts d’Giningen sont des terrains d’eau douce et ne contiennent aucun Gadoides; les schistes de Monte-Bolea n’en récélent pas non plus, et en ceci ils se montrent d’accord avec le caractére essentiellement tropical de leur faune. Les Gadoides avee leurs nombreuses espéces si utiles 4 homme sont encore maintenant les ha- bitans des mers du Nord ; la faune d’ Angleterre en posséde un grand nombre, et il n’est pas sans intérét de retrouver dans ces mémes lieux les premiers représentans d'une famille, que je croyais jusqu’ici exclusivement récente. Ce fait joint 4 celui de la nature du Labre fossile que je viens de mentionner, prouve que, nonobstant la physionomie plus méridionale du dépét de Sheppy dans son ensemble, il y a pourtant déja dans les poissons de cette intéressante localité un acheminement vers le caractére actuel de la faune ichthyologique d’ Angleterre. still inhabit those coasts than the forms which are met with in the Southern seas. The Malacopterygian Cycloide comprehend 5 families in the Sheppey clay, and the same number in the British seas, but they are not exactly the same. The family which is wanting in the tertiary deposit is that of the Salmonide. On the other hand, a family totally meridional, that of the © Characide, which does not exist on the English shores, is represented in the London clay by one or perhaps two species of very considerable size. It was at Sheppey that I discovered the first known fossil Gadoid, and this fact is the more curious as the family belongs almost exclusively to the Northern seas, and has very few representatives in the hot and temperate seas of the present period. It was probably different during the tertiary epochs, for the Sheppey clays are the first septentrional marine deposit of recent formation of which the fish have been examined. The deposits of Oeningen consist of freshwater beds, and do not contain any of the Gadotde, nor do any oceur in the schists of Monte Bolca, and in this they agree with the essentially tro- pical character of their fauna. The Gadoide, with their numerous species so useful to man, are at present still inhabitants of the Northern seas; the fauna of England possesses a large number, and it is not without interest to find in these same localities the first representatives of a family which I- hitherto believed to be exclusively recent. This fact, added to that relating to the nature of the fossil Zabrus above-mentioned, proves that notwithstand- ing the more meridional physiognomy of the Sheppey deposit as a whole, there is nevertheless already an approximation in the fish of this interesting locality towards the actual character of the ichthyological fauna of England. | . ei SUR LES POISSONS FOSSILES DE L’ARGILE DE LONDRES. 307 - Quant a la détermination générique de ces fossiles, je n’ai pu faire rentrer que fort peu d’espéces de Sheppy dans les genres vivans. II n’y a que & genres, les Megalops, Cybium, Tetrapterus et Myripristis, dont on connait encore des représentans dans la création actuelle. Mais on chercherait en vain des espéces de ces genres dans la faune actuelle des mers d’ Angleterre ; c'est dans les mers plus méridionales, que se trouvent les espéces qui se rap- prochent de celles qui ont vécu en Angleterre pendant l’époque tertiaire. En me voyant ainsi contraint d’éloigner des genres de notre époque un grand nombre de poissons des temps tertiaires, j'ai cong¢u quelques doutes sur la détermination générique de plusieurs poissons de Monte-Bolea que j'ai rapportés 4 des genres vivans. II importera de les reveir, en tenant compte des moindres différences qu’ils présentent, pour s’assurer si, comme la faune ichthyologique de Sheppy, celle de Monte-Bolca ne renferme pas un nombre de types génériques éteints plus considérable qu’on ne I’a cru jusqu’ici. Pour completer cet apercu je joins ici la liste des poissons fossiles de Sheppy que je suis parvenu a déterminer jusqu'ici. Les espéces déja mentionnées dans mes Recherches sont marquées d’un astérisque, méme celles qui ne sont que simplement indiquées, sans étre décrites. CreNnoiDEs. Teuthies. Pesneaden: Ptychocephalus radiatus. Pomaphractus Egertoni. Eesti tohaiaeas, yripristis toliapicus Calopomus porosus ? Ceeloperca latifrons. Eurygnathus cavifrons. . CycLoipres ACANTHOPTERYGIENS. *Podocephalus nitidus. Synophrys Hopei. *Brachygnathus tenuiceps. Scombéroides. *Cybium macropomum. *Ccelopoma Colei. Percostoma angustum. *Coelopoma leve. Sparoides. *Bothrosteus latus. *Sciznurus Bowerbanki. *Bothrosteus brevifrons. *Scizenurus crassior. Bothrosteus minor. _ With respect to the generic determination of these fossils, I have been able to reduce but very few species from Sheppey to living genera. There are but 4 genera, Megalops, Cybium, Tetrapterus and Myripristis, represen- tatives of which are still known in the present creation. But we should look _ in vain for species of those genera in the present fauna of the English seas ; it is only in the more southern seas that species occur approaching to those which lived in England during the tertiary epoch. Finding myself obliged ‘to remove a vast number of fish of the tertiary period from genera now exist- ing, I have some doubts as to the generic determination of several fish from Monte Bolca which I had referred to recent genera. It will be important to re-examine them, taking into account the smallest differences they present, in order to ascertain whether, like the ichthyological fauna of Sheppey, that of Monte Bolea does not contain a number of extinet generic types far more Considerable than hitherto supposed. To render this sketch complete, I here add the list of the fossil fish of Sheppey which I have hitherto succeeded in determining. _ The species already mentioned in my ‘Recherches’ are marked with an asterisk, even those which have been simply indicated without being de- scribed. [See table supra. ] x2 REPORT—1844, Phalacrus cybioides. | Rhonchus carangoides. | Echenus politus. | Scombrinus nuchalis. *Coelocephalus salmoneusf. Naupygus Bucklandit. Xiphioides. *Tetrapterus priscus. *Ccelorhynchus rectus, *Ccelorhynchus sinuatus. Phasganus declivis. Acestrus ornatus. Sphyrenoides. *Sphyrenodus priscus. *Sphyreenodus crassidens. Labroides. Auchenilabrus frontalis. Blennioides. Laparus alticeps. CycLoipes MALACOPTERYGIENS. Scomberésoces. *Hypsodon toliapicus. *Hypsodon oblongus. Labrophagus esocinus. Clupéides. *Halecopsis levis. *Megalops priscus. Characins. Brychetus Miilleri. Gadoides. *Rhinocephalus planiceps. Merlinus cristatus. * Ampheristus toliapicus. *Goniognathus coryphenoides. Anguilliformes. Rhynchorhinus branchialis. Famille douteuse. *Pachycephalus cristatus. Rhipidolepis elegans. *Glyptocephalus radiatus. Gadopsis breviceps. ' Loxostomus maneus. Ganoipest (Types anciens). Pycnodontes. *Pycnodus toliapicus. | | | | | | i ) *Periodus Keenigii. *Gyrodus leevior. *Phyllodus toliapicus. *Phyllodus planus. *Phyllodus polyodus. *Phyllodus marginalis. *Phyllodus irregularis. *Phyllodus medius. *Pisudus Owenii. Acipenserides. * Acipenser toliapicus. PLACOIDES. Rayes. *Myliobates Owenii. *Myliobates acutus. *Myliobates canaliculatus. *Myliobates lateralis. *Myliobates marginalis. *Myliobates toliapicus. *Myliobates goniopleurus. *Myliobates Dixoni. *Myliobates striatus. *Myliobates punctatus. *Myliobates gyratus. *Myliobates jugalis. *Myliobates nitidus. *Myliobates Colei. *Myliobates heteropleurus. * Aetobatis irregularis. * Aetobatis subarcuatus. *Pristis bisulcatus. *Pristis Hastingsiee. Squalides. *Notidanus serratissimus. *Glyphis hastalis. *Carcharodon toliapicus. *Carcharodon subserratus. *Otodus obliquus. *Otodus macrotus. *Lamna elegans. *Lamna compressa. *Lamna (Odontaspis) Hopei. *Lamna (Odontaspis) verticalis. Chimérides. *Elasmodus Hunterii. *Psaliodus compressus. *Edaphodon eurygnathus. + Jai quelque doutes sur la position systématique de ces deux poissons. ; t Si je nv’ ai rien dit des familles suivantes dans ce rapport, c’est que je n’ai, pour le mo- ment, rien & ajouter de nouveau a ce que j’ai publié a leur sujet, dans mes Recherches. t I have some doubts as to the systematic position of these two fish. -_ + If I have made no mention of the following families in this report, it is that I have no- thing new at the present moment to add to what I have already published on them in my ‘Recherches.’ < x Py F SUR LES POISSONS FOSSILES DE L?ARGILE DE LONDRES. 309 On voit par 14 que le nombre des poissons fossiles de Vargile de Londres s’éléve 4 92, dans la seule localité de Sheppy, sans compter une dixaine d’espéces auxquelles je n’ai pas encore donné de noms, n’ayant, pas encore pu les caractériser d’une maniére suffisante. Il ne sera peut-étre pas inutile d’ajouter 4 ce rapport le liste des cranes et des squelettes de poissons vivans que j'ai réunis pour l’étude des poissons fossiles de Sheppy. Les géologues et les anatomistes jugeront par la du degré de confiance que mérite ce travail, et ils verront en méme temps ce quil y a encore 4 faire dans ce domaine aussi vaste que neuf. J’espére du reste augmenter de jour en jour cette collection dans la mesure de mes forces, de méme que j’ai la confiance que les géologues Anglais voudront bien con- tinuer 4 me faire part des nouvelles acquisitions qu’ils feront dans la faune ichthyologique de l'argile de Londres. Je ne serais pas moins reconnaissant envers les zoologistes qui voudraient contribuer 4 lavancement de mon tra- vail, en m’envoyant des squelettes ou des tétes de poissons préparées, ou méme _ simplement des poissons conservés dans l’esprit de vin propres a augmenter ma collection de squelettes et de cranes. | Pagellus erythrinus. CTENOIDES. | y / Pagellus mormyrus. Percoides. Pagellus centrodontus. Labrax Lupus. Boops Salpa. Centropomus undecimalis. Boops vulgaris. Apogon Rex Mullorum, Dentex vulgaris, Capros aper. Mena vulgaris, 4, Priacanthus macrophthalmus. Mena Osbecki, 4 Anthias sacer. Smaris insidiator. 3 Serranus Scriba. nok OD 7 Serranus Cabrilla. Scienoides. 5 Mullus barbatus. Hemulon lanna. 5 E Ancylodon jaculidens. a Sparoides, Otolithus turu. 4 Sargus annularis. Corvina nigra. i Sargus Salviani, ; b Charax Puntazza. Chromides, : Chrysophrys microdon. Cychla labrina, From this it will he seen that the number of fossil fish from the London ‘clay amounts to 92 in the one single locality of Sheppey, without counting 10 species to which I have not vet assigned names, not having hitherto been “able to characterize them in a satisfactory manner. _ It will perhaps not be useless to add to this report the list of the crania and skeletons of recent fish which I have collected for the study of the fossil fish of Sheppey. It will enable geologists and anatomists to judge of the de- gree of confidence which this investigation merits; and they will see at the same time what still remains to be accomplished in this vast and new field of research. ! hope to increase this collection daily in proportion to my means, and [ am confident that English geologists will still kindly continue to communicate to me the new acquisitions they may make in the ichthyological fauna of the London clay. I shall not be less grateful towards those zoologists who would contribute to the advancement of my researches by forwarding me skeletons or heads of prepared fish, or simply fish preserved in spirits adapted to increase my collection of skeletons and crania. W 310 REPORT—1844., Pomacentrides. Heliases Chromis. Amphiprion tunicatus. Cottoides. Dactylopterus volitans. Trigla adriatica. Trigla Lyra. Trigla Hirundo, Platycephalus insidiator. Scorpena Scrofa. Synauceya Brachio. Mugiloides. Mugil cephalus. Gobioides. Gobius niger. Gobius auratus. Gobius jozzo. Teuthies. Acanthurus Chirurgus. Naseus Beselii. Amphacanthus Bahal. Aulostomes. Centriscus Scolopax. Chétodontes. Chetodon vagabundus. Pomacanthus 5-cinctus. Ephippus faber. Pleuronectes. Rhombus levis. CyCLOiDEs. a. ACANTHOPTERYGIENS. Scombéroides. Scomber Scomber. Centrolophus pompilius. Lepidopus Peroni. Caranx trachurus. Zeus Faber. Zeus pungia. Xiphioides. Xiphias Gladius. Tetrapterus Belone. Sphyrenoides. Sphyreena Spet. Tenioides. Cepola Tzenia. Gymnetrus Iris. Trachinides. Trachinus lineatus. Trachinus Draco. Uranoscopus scaber. Athérinoides. Atherina Hepsetus. Atherina Humboldtii. : Labroides. b Labrus viridis. Labrus carneus. Crenilabrus Norwegicus. Crenilabrus melops. Crenilabrus Pavo. Coricus Lamarckii. lulis Giofredi. Xyrichthys Novacula. Blennioides. Blennius oceHaris. Blennius Gattorugine. Anarrhichas Lupus. Lophioides. Lophius piscatorius. Batrachus Surinamensis. b. MALACOPTERYGIENS. Scomberésoces. Belone longirostris. Hemiramphus Brasiliensis. Exoccetus evolans. Clupéides. Alosa vulgaris. Alosa Finta. Clupea sprattus. Engraulis encrasicholus. Scopélines. Saurus fcetens. Salmones. Osmerus Eperlanus. Anguilliformes. Conger vulgaris. Murena Helena. Ophisurus Serpens. Ophidioides. Ophidium barbatum. Gadoides. Merlangus vulgaris. Gadus minutus, Motella fusea. Merlucius vulgaris. Phycis Tinea. Echénéides. Echeneis nemora. - ») ON WAVES. 311 Report on Waves. ByJ.Scorr Russz11, Esq., M.A., F.R.S. Edin., made to the Meetings in 1842 and 1843. Sir Joun Rosrson*, Sec. RS. Edin. J. Scorr Russet1, F.R.S. Edin. A Provisionat Report on this subject was presented to the Meeting held at Liverpool in 1838, and is printed in the Sixth Volume of the Transactions. That report was a partial one. It states that “the extent and multifarious nature of the subjects of inquiry have rendered it impossible to terminate the examination of all of them in so short a time; but it is their duty to report the progress which they have made, and the partial results they have already obtained, leaving to the reports of future years such portions of the inquiries as they have not yet undertaken.” The first of these subjects of inquiry is stated to have been “to determine the varieties, phenomena and laws of waves, and the conditions which affect their genesis and propagation.” It is this branch of the duty of the Committee which forms the subject of the present report. Ever since the date of that report, it has happened that the author of this has been so fully pre-occupied by inevitable duty, that it was not in his power to indulge much in the pleasures of scientific inquiry ; and as the active part of the investigation necessarily devolved upon him, it was not practicable to continue the series of researches on the ample and systematic scale originally designed, so soon as he had anticipated, so that the former report has necessarily been left in a fragmentary state till now. But I have never ceased to avail myself of such opportunities as I could contrive to apply to the furtherance of this interesting investigation. I have now fully discussed the experiments which the former report only registered. I have repeated the former experiments where their value seemed doubtful, I have supplemented them in those places where examples were wanting. I have extended them to higher ranges, and where necessary to a much larger scale. In so far as the experiments have been repeated and more fully dis- cussed, they have tended to confirm the conclusions given in the former re- port, as well as to extend their application. The results here alluded to are those which concern especially the velocity and characteristic properties of the solitary wave, that class of wave which the writer has called the great wave of translation, and which he regards as the primary wave of the first order. The former experiments related chiefly to the mode of genesis, and velocity of propagation of this wave. They led to this expression for the velocity in all circumstances, v= WVg(h+h), k being the height of the crest of the wave above the plane of repose of the fluid, # the depth throughout the fluid in repose, and g the measure of gra- vity. Later discussions of the experiments not only confirm this result, but are themselves established by such further experiments as have been recently instituted, so that this formerly obtained velocity may now be regarded as the phzenomenon characteristic of the wave of the first order. The former series of experiments also contained several points of research ‘not published in the former report, because not sufficiently extended to be of Members of Committee es | eS te * T cannot allow these pages to leave my hands without expressing my deep regret that the death of Sir John Robison has suddenly deprived the Association of a zealous and di- stinguished office-bearer, and myself of a kind friend. In all these researches the responsible duties were mine, and Lalone am accountable for them; but in forwarding the objects of the investigation I always found. him a valuable counsellor and a respected and cordial cooperator. 312 REPORT—1844, the desired value. Among these were a series of observations on the actual motion of translation of particles of the fluid during wave transmission ; these have since been completed and extended, and the results of the whole are now given. a The former report was inevitably a fragment. I have endeavoured to give to the present report a somewhat greater degree of completeness. For this purpose I have now incorporated under one general form all those results of the present as well as of all my former researches, which could contribute to the unity and completeness of the view of a subject so interesting and im- portant. I have re-discussed my former experiments, combined them with the more recent observations, and thus, from a wider basis of induction, obtained results of greater generality. Until the date of these observations, there had been confounded together in an indefinite notion of waves and wave motion, phzenomena essentially different,—different in their genesis, laws of propagation, and other characteristics. I have endeavoured, by a rigid course of examina- tion, to distinguish these different classes of phenomena from each other. I have determined certain tests, by which these confused phenomena have been made to divide themselves into certain classes, distinguished by certain great characteristics. Contradictions and anomalies have in this process gra- dually disappeared; and I now find that all the waves which I have observed may be distinguished into four great orders, and that the waves of each order differ essentially from each other in the circumstances of their origin, are transmitted by different forces, exist in different conditions, and are governed by different laws. It is now therefore easy to understand how much has been hitherto added to the difficulty of this difficult subject, by confounding together phenomena so different, The characteristics, phenomena, and laws of these great orders I have attempted in the present report to determine and define. The knowledge I have thus endeavoured to obtain and herein to set forth concerning these beautiful and interesting wave phenomena, is designed to form a contribution to the advancement of hydrodynamics, a branch of physical seience hitherto much in arrear. But besides this their immediate design, these investigations of wave motion are fertile in important applications, not only to illustrate and extend other departments of science, but to subserve the purposes and uses of the practical arts. I have ascertained that what I have called the great wave of translation, my wave of the first order, furnishes a type of that great oceanic wave which twice a day brings to our shores the waters of the tide, This type enabled us to understand and explain by analogy many of the phenomena of fluvial and littoral tides, formerly ano- malous (see Proceedings R.S, Ed., 1838) ; and thus do these wave researches contribute to the advancement of the theory of the tides, a branch of physical astronomy long stationary, but which has recently made rapid strides towards the same high perfection which other branches of predictive astronomy have long enjoyed, a perfection which we owe chiefly to Sir John W. Lubbock, to Mr. Whewell, and the co-operation of the British Association. It is the wave of the first order enumerated in this report which furnishes to us the model of a terrestrial mechanism, by means of which the forces primarily imparted by the sun and moon are taken up and employed in the transport of tidal waters to distant shores (see previous Reports of Brit. Ass.), and their distribution in remote seas and rivers, which they continue in succession to agitate long after the forces employed in the genesis of the wave have ceased to exist (see Report on Tides). This application of the phenomena of waves to explain the tides is not their only application to the advancement of other branches of science. The phenomena of resistance of fluids I have found to be intimately connected with those waves (see Phil. Trans. Edin. oe ee, ‘ a5 ec? ‘of 4 ae ON WAVES. > 313 1837). The resistance which the water in a channel opposes to the passage of a floating body along that channel depends materially on the nature of the great wave of the first order, which the floating body generates by the force which propels it, and its motion is materially affected by the genesis of waves also, of the second order, arising from the same cause. These waves are therefore important elements in the resistance of fluids, and acquaintance with their phenomena is essential to the sound determination and explanation of the motion of floating bodies. If to these two branches of science we add the useful arts, in which an accurate acquaintance with wave phenomena may be of practical value to the purposes of human life, we shall find that the improvement of ¢idal rivers, the construction of publie works exposed to the action of waves and of tides, and the formation of ships (see Reports of Brit. Ass. passim), are among the most direct and necessary applications of this knowledge, which is indeed essential to the just understanding of the best methods of opposing the violence of waves, and converting their motion to our own uses. By a careful study of the laws and phenomena of waves, we are enabled to convert these dangerous enemies into powerful slaves, By such applications of our wave researches, we therefore extend our knowledge in conformity with the maxims of the illustrious founder of our inductive phi- losophy, who enjoins that we always study to combine with our ewperimenta lucifera such experimenta fructifera, that while science is advanced society may be advantaged. The Nature of Waves and their Variety. When the surface of water is agitated by a storm, it is difficult to recog- nize in its tumultuous tossings, any semblance of ordey, law, or definite form, which the mind can embrace so as adequately to conceive and understand. Yet in all the madness of the wildest sea the careful observer may find some traces of method ; amid the chaos of water he will observe some moving forms which he can group or individualize; he may distinguish some which are round and long, others that are high and sharp; he may observe those that are high gradually becoming acuminate and breaking with a foaming crest, _ and may notice that the motion of those which are small is short and quick, while the rising and falling of large elevations is long andslow. Some of the crests will advance with a great, others with a less velocity ; and in all he will recognize a general form familiar to his mind as the form of the sea in agita- _ tion, and which at once distinguishes it from all other phenomena. Just as the waters of a reservoir or lake when in perfect repose are cha- _Yacterized by a smooth and horizontal surface, sc also does a condition of dis- turbance and agitation give to the surface of the fluid this form characteristic of that condition and which we may term the wave form. When any limited portion of the wave surface presents a defined figure or boundary, which appears to distinguish that portion of fluid visibly from the surrounding mass, our mind gives it individuality,—-we call it a wave. It is not easy to give a pertect definition of a wave, nor clearly to explain its nature so as to convey an accurate or sufficiently general conception of it. Persons who are placed for the first time on a stormy sea, have expressed to me their surprise to find that their ship, at one moment in the trough between two waves, with every appearance of instant destruction from the huge heap of waters rolling over it, was in the next moment riding in safety on the top of the billow. They discover with wonder that the large waves which they see rush- ing along with a velocity of many miles an hour, do not carry the floating body along with them, but seem to pass under the bottom of the ship without injuring it, and indeed with scarcely a perceptible effect in carrying the vessel 314 REPORT—1844. out of its course. In like manner the observer near the shore perceives that pieces of wood, or any floating bodies immersed in the water near its surface, and the water in their vicinity, are not carried towards the shore with the ra- pidity of the wave, but are left nearly in the same place after the wave has passed them, as before. Nay, if the tide be ebbing, the waves may even be ob- served coming with considerable velocity towards the shore, while the body of water is actually receding, and any object floating in it is carried in the opposite direction to the waves, out to sea. Thus it is that we are impressed with the idea, that ‘he motion of a wave may be different from the motion of the water in which it moves; that the water may move in one direction and the wave in another; that water may transmit a wave while itself may remain in the same place. If then we have learned that a water wave is not what it seems, a heap of water moving along the surface of the sea with a velocity visible to the eye, it is natural to inquire what a wave really is; what is wave-motion as distinct from water-motion ? For the purpose of this inquiry let us take a simple example. I have a long narrow trough or channel of water, filled to the depth of my finger length. I place my hand in the water, and for a second of time push forward along the channel the water which my hand touches, and instantly cease from further motion. The immediate result is easily conceived ; I have simply pushed forward the particles of water which I touched, out of their former place to another place further on in the channel, and they repose in their new place at rest as at first. Here is a final effect, and here my agency has ceased —not so the motion of the water; I pushed forward a given mass out of its place into another, but that other place was formerly occupied by a mass of water equal to that which I have forcibly intruded into its place; what then has become of the displaced occupant? it has been forced into the place of that immediately before it, and the occupant which it has dislodged is again pushed forward on the occupant of the next place, and thus in succession volume after volume continues to carry on a process of displacement which only ends with the termination of the channel, or with the exhaustion of the displacing force originally impressed by my hand, and communicated from one to another successive mass of the water. This process continues without the continuance of the original disturbing agency, and is prolonged often to great distances and through long periods of time. The continuation of this motion is therefore independent of the volition which caused it. It is a pro- cess carried on by the particles of water themselves obeying two forces, the original force of disturbance and the force of gravity. It is therefore a hy- drodynamical phenomenon conformable to fixed law. I have now ceased to exercise any control over the phenomenon, but as I attentively watch the processes I have set a-going, I observe each successive portion of water in the act of being displaced by one moving mass of water, and in the act of displacing its successor. As the water particles crowd upon one another in the act of going out of their old places into the new, the crowd forms a tem- porary heap visible on the surface of the fluid, and as each successive mass is _ displacing its successor, there is always one such heap, and this heap travels apparently along the channel at that point where the process of displacement is going on, and although there may be only one crowd, yet it consists suc- cessively of always another and another set of migrating particles. This visible moving heap of crowding particles is a true wave, the rapidity with which the displacement of one outgoing mass by that which takes its place, goes forward, determines the velocity with which the heap appears to move, and is called the velocity of transmission of the wave. The shape which r ON WAVES. 315 the crowding of the particles gives to the surface of the water constitutes the form of the wave. The distance (in the direction of the transmission) along which the crowd extends, is called the length or amplitude of the wave. The number of particles which at any one time are out of their place, constitute the volume of the wave; the time which must elapse before particles can effect their translation from their old places to the new, may be termed the period of the wave. The height of the waveis to be reckoned from the highest point or crest to the surface of the fluid when in repose. Such is the wave motion—very different is the water motion. Let us select from the crowd of water particles an individual and watch its behaviour during the migration. The progressive agitation first reaches it while still in perfect repose ; the crowd behind it push it forward and new particles take its place. One particle is urged forward on that before it, and being still urged on from behind by the crowd still swelling and increasing, it is raised out of its place and carried forward with the velocity of the surrounding par- ticles; it is urged still on until the particles which displaced it have made room for themselves behind it, and then the power diminishes. Having now in its turn pushed the particles before it along out of their place, and crowded - them together on their antecedents, it is gradully left behind and finally settles quietly down in its new place. Thus then the motion of migration of an in- dividual particle of water is very different from the motion of transmission of the wave. The wave goes still forward along through the channel, but each individual water particle remains behind. The wave passes on with a continuous un- interrupted motion. The water particle is at rest, starts, rises, is accelerated, is slowly retarded, and finally stops still. The range of the particle's motion is short ; its ¢rans/ation is interrupted and final. Its vertical range and hori- zontal range are finite. It describes an orbit or path during the transit of the wave over it, and remains for ever after at rest, unless when a second wave happens immediately to follow the first, when it will describe a second time its path of translation, passing through a series of new positions or phases during the period of the wave. The motion of the particle is not therefore like the apparent motion of the wave, either uniform or continuous. The motion of the water particles is a true motion of translation of matter from one place to another, with the velocity and range which the senses observe. But the wave motion is an ideal individuality attributed by the mind of the observer to a process of changes of relative position or of absolute place, which at no two instants belongs to the same particles in the same place. The water does not travel, the visible heap at no two successive instants is the same. It is the motion of particles which goes on, now at this place, now at that, having passed all the intermediate points. J¢ is the crowding motion _ alone which is transmitted. This crowding motion transmitted along the water idealised and individualised is a true wave. Wave propagaticn therefore consists in the transmission from oneclass of par- _ ticles to another, ofa motion differing in kind from the motion of transmission. - Wave motion is therefore ivanseendental motion ; motion in the second degree ; the motion of motion—the transference of motion without the idneferenibe 4 of the matter, of form without the substance, of force without the agent. It is essential to the accurate conception and examination of waves, that this distinction between the wave motion and the water motion be clearly cou- _ ceived. It has been well illustrated by the agitations of a crowd of people, and of a field of standing corn waving with the wind. If we stand on an Bedicn we notice that each gust as it passes along the field bending and owding the stalks, marks its course by the motion it gives to the grain, and vr 316 REPORT—1844. the visible effect is like that of an agitated sea, The waving motion visibly travels across the whole length of the field, but the corn remains rooted to the ground; this illustration is as apt as old, being given to us in the Iliad, at the conclusion of the speech of Agamemnon, beginning °Q ¢éido, ipwes Aavaoi. “Qs gare. . Kivi Oy & dyopn, Os Kupara paxpa Aadaaens [lovrov “Ikapiou, ra ev 7 Epds re Noros re "QOpop’, éxaikas marpos Atos éx vedediwr. ‘Os @ dre Kevyjoer Zépupos Baby Arjiov, May Adfpos, émaryifwy, éri 7’ ypver doraxveca’ “Qs tov waa’ dyopn kwOy.—ll. II. 144-149. In the examination of the phenomena of waves, we have therefore two classes of elements for consideration, the elements of the wave motion and the elements of the water particle motion. We may first examine the phenomena of a given wave-motion, its range of transmission over the surface of the fluid, the velocity of that transmission, the form of the elevation, its amplitude, breadth, height, volume, period. We may next consider the path which each water particle describes during the wave transit; the form of that path, the horizontal or vertical range of the motion, the variation of the path with the depth, the relation of each phase of the particle's orbit to each portion of the corresponding wave length. By this examination I have found that there exist among waves groups of phznomena so different as to suggest their di- vision into distinct classes. I find that the general form of waves is manifestly different, one kind of wave making its appearance in a form always wholly raised above the general surface of the fluid, and which we may call a pos?- tive wave, and so distinguish it from another form of wave which is wholly negative, or depressed below the plane of repose, while a third class are found to consist of both a negative and a positive portion. I find them propagated with extremely different velocities, and obeying different laws according as they belong to one or the other of these classes, the positive wave having im a given depth of water a constant and invariable velocity, “while another class has a velocity varying according to other peculiarities, and independent of the depth. Some of them again are distinguished by always appearing alone as individual waves, and others as companion phenomena or gregarious, never appearing except in groups. In examining the paths of the water particles corresponding differences are observed. In some the water particles perform a motion of translation from one place to another, and effect a permanent and final change of place, while others merely change their place for an instant to resume it again; thus performing osezllations round their place of final repose, These waves may also be distinguished by the sources from which they arise, and the forces by which they are transmitted. One class of wave is a motion of successive transference of the whole fluid mass ; a second, the partial oscillation of one part of it without affecting the remainder ; a third, the propagation of an impulse by the corpuscular forces which deter- mine the elasticity of the fluid mass; and a fourth, by the capillary forces uniting its molecules at the surface. These classes, so various both in their origin, cause and pheenomena, have not hitherto been sufficiently distinguished, but have either been unknown, or have been confounded with each other under the vague conception and general designation of wave motions. The following table is given as a first approximation towards a classification of the phenomena of wave motion. It comprehends all the waves which I have investigated, and sufficiently di- 4 i ~ >, c x ON WAVES. 317 stinguishes them from each other. I find that water waves may be distributed into fous orders. The wave of translation is the wave of the FIRST ORDER, and consists in a motion of translation of the whole mass of the fluid from one place to another, to another in which it finally reposes; its aspect is, a solitary elevation or a solitary hollow or cavity, moving along the surface with a uniform velocity ; and hence it presents two species, positive and negative, and each of these may be found in a condition of free motion, or affected in form and velocity by the continual interference of a force of the same nature with that from which its genesis was derived. The wave of the sECcOND ORDER is partly positive and partly negative, each height having a companion hollow, and this is the commonest order of visible water wave, being similar to the usual wind waves, in which the surface of the water visibly osedllates above and below the level of repose ; these waves appear in groups ; in some cases, as in run- ning water, they may be standing elevations and depressions, and in others progressive along the surface, and like the waves of the first order, may be altered in form and velocity by the presence of a disturbing force, so as to differ from their phenomena when in a state of perfect freedom. The THIRD CLASS are met with under such conditions as agitate the fluid only to a very minute depth, and are determined by the same forces which in hydrostatics produce the phenomena of capillary attraction; and the FOURTH ORDER is that wave insensible to sight, which conveys the disturbance produced by a sonorous body through a mass of the fluid, and which is at once an index and a result of the molecular forces which determine the elasticity of the fluid. This classification has been adopted throughout the following paper. ‘ Taste I. System of Water Waves. ORDERS. First. SECOND. THIRD. | Fourrs. Designation./Wave of translation. {Oscillating waves.|Capillary waves.|\Corpuscular wave. Characters...|/Solitary. (Gregarious. Gregarious. Solitary. . |Positive. 'Stationary. Free. RPErAS :-- { (Negative. ‘Progressive. Forced. kt ‘Free. \Free. Mitietics 1 ore. ae ‘The wave of resistance. Stream ripple. |Dentate waves. |Water-sound wave. Instances + The tide wave. |Wind waves. Zephyral waves. | |The aérial sound wave. Ocean swell. | An observer of natural phenomena who will study the surface of a sea or large lake during the successive stages of an increasing wind, from a calm to a storm, will find in the whole motions of the surface of the fluid, appear- ances which illustrate the nature of the various classes of waves contained in Table 1., and which exhibit the laws to which these waves are subject. Let him begin his observations in a perfect calm, when the surface of the water is smooth and reflects like a mirror the images of surrounding objects. This appearance will not be affected by even a slight motion of the air, and a ve- locity of less than half a mile an hour (83 in. per sec.) does not sensibly disturb the smoothness of the reflecting surface. A gentle zephyr flitting along the surface from point to point, may be observed to destroy the perfec- tion of the mirror for a moment,and on departing, the surface remains polished as before ; if the air have a velocity of about a mile an hour, the surface of the water becomes less capable of distinct reflexion, and on observing it in such a condition, it is to be noticed that the diminution of this reflecting power is «SI 318: REPORT—1844. owing to the presence of those minute corrugations of the superficial film which form waves of the third order. These corrugations produce on the surface of the water an effect very similar to the effect of those panes of glass which we see corrugated for the purpose of destroying their transparency, and these corrugations at once prevent the eye from distinguishing forms at a consider- able depth, and diminish the perfection of forms reflected in the water... To fly-fishers this appearance is well known as diminishing the facility with which the fish see their captors. This first stage of disturbance has this distinguishing circumstance, that the phenomena on the surface cease almost simultaneously with the intermission of the disturbing cause, so that aspot which is sheltered from the direct action of the wind remains smooth, the waves of the third order being incapable of travelling spontaneously to any considerable distance, except when under the continued action of the original disturbing force. This condition is the indication of present force, not of that which is past. While it remains it gives that deep blackness to the water which the sailor is accustomed to regard as an index of the presence of wind, and often as the forerunner of more. The second condition of wave motion is to be observed when the velocity of the wind acting on the smooth water has increased to two miles an hour. Small waves then begin to rise uniformly over the whole surface of the water; these are waves of the second order, and cover the water with considerable regularity. Capillary waves disappear from the ridges of these waves, but are to be found sheltered in the hollows between them, and on the anterior slopes of these waves. The regularity of the distribution of these secondary waves over the surface is remarkable; they begin with about an inch of amplitude, and a couple of inches long; they enlarge as the velocity or duration of the wave increases ; by and by conterminal waves unite; the ridges increase, and if the wind increase the waves become cusped, and are regular waves of the second order. ‘They continue enlarging their dimensions, and the depth to which they produce the agitation increasing simultaneously with their magnitude, the surface becomes extensively covered with waves of nearly uniform mag- nitude. How it is that waves of unequal magnitude should ever be produced may not seem at first sight very obvious, if all parts of the original surface continue equally exposed to an equal wind. But it is to be observed that it rarely occurs that the water is all equally exposed to equal winds. The configura- tion of the land is alone sufficient to cause local inequalities in the strength of the wind and partial variations of direction. By another cause are local inequalities rapidly produced and exaggerated. The configuration of the shores reflects the waves, some in one direction, some in another, and so deranges their uniformity. The transmission of reflected waves over such as are directly generated by the wind, produces new forms and inequalities, which, exposed to the wind, generate new modifications of its force, and of course, in their turn, give rise to further deviations from the primitive condition of the fluid. There are on the sea frequently three or four series of coexisting waves, each series having a different direction from the other, and the indivi- dual waves of each series remaining parallel to one another. Thus do the condition, origin, and relations of the waves which cover the surface of the sea after a considerable time, become more complex than at their first genesis. It is not until the waves of the sea encounter a shallow shelving coast, that they present any of the phenomena of the wave of the first order (Report of 1838). After breaking on the margin of the shoal, they continue to rollalong in the shallow water towards the beach, and becoming transformed into waves of the first order, finally break on the shore. i ‘i } a ON WAVES. © 319 But the great example of a wave of the jirs¢ order, is that enormous wave of water which rolls along our shores, bringing the elevation of high tide twice a day to our coasts, our harbours, and inland rivers. This great com- pound wave of the first order is not the less real that its length is so great, that while one end touches Aberdeen, the other reaches to the mouth of the Thames and the coast of Holland. Though the magnitude of this wave renders it impossible for the human eye to take in its form and dimensions at one view, we are able, by stationing numerous observers along different parts of the coasts, to compare its dimensions and to trace its progress at different points, and so to represent its phenomena to the eye and the mind ona small seale, as to comprehend its form and nature as clearly as we do those of a mountain range, or extensive country which has been mapped on a sheet of paper by the combination together of trigonometrical processes, performed at different places by various observers, and finally brought together and pro- tracted on one sheet of paper. : As this great wave of the first order is not comprehended by the eye on account of its magnitude, so there is a wave of the fourth order which equally escapes detection from that organ, on account of its minuteness. By an un- dulation propagated among the particles of water, so minute as to be altoge- ther insensible to the eye, and only recognised by an organ appropriate to that purpose, there is conveyed from one place to another the wave of sound. This wave, though invisible from its minuteness, is nevertheless of a nature almost identical with the wave of the first order. In air the sound wave is indeed the wave of the first order. It is only in liquids, when the measure of pressure of the fluid mass is diiferent from the measure of the intercorpuscular force, that the phzenomena of the wave of the first order is different from those of the fourth, and that we have one measure for the velocity of the water wave, and another for that of the sound wave. In a gaseous fluid, on the contrary, the measure of the pressure of the mass is also the measure of the intercorpuscular force, and the sound wave becomes identical with the air wave, the fourth order with the first. Section I.—WAVE OF THE First OrpDER. The Wave of Translation. MATACLER assis nis, wet a a 87 | —0-7 | 29:8 88 | —06 | 92-4 89 | —0°5 | 62:8 9-0 116 | —09 | 29:2 —_ > z i) 16-8 | —1-7 | 22-2 - | —15 | 22-0 17-4 | —1-1 | 21-6 18:0 | —05 | 21-6 _ 7y S —15 | 19:0 | 100° | 5:26 | 5:73 24:7 | —1:3 | 18:9 | 100° | 5-29 | 5°75 —12 0 4+ 47 |-0893 | 5-55 | + + -46 |-0869 | 5-60 |4 -31 186 | 100: | 538 | 576 |+ -38 |-0706 | 5-62 | + + - 186 | 100° | 5-38 | 5:78 ‘40 | -0743 | 5-67 | +3°31 |:7180 +178 Mean! +0°275 | -0598 | Mean} — -26 +152 eas + +126 ) / i | / | The horizontal translation of water particles in the negative wave presents considerable resemblance to the corresponding phenomenon in the positive wave. All the particles of water in a given vertical plane move simultane- ously with equal velocities backwards in the opposite direction to the trans- mission, and repose in their new planes, at the end of the translation ; with this modification, however, that this state of repose is much disturbed near the surface by those secondary waves which follow the negative wave, but which do not sensibly agitate the particles considerably removed from the surface. (See Plate LII. fig. 9.) The path is the ellipse of the positive wave inverted. The following measures may be useful. In a rectangular channel 4 inches deep in repose and 8 inches wide, a volume of 72 cubic inches is withdrawn ; the depth of the negative wave below the plane of le is 3ths of an inch deep, the translation throughout the lower half-depth is 24 inches, and diminishes from the half-depths upwards, settling finally at the wap hae at 17 inch from the original position of the superficial ‘particle. The form of surface of the anterior half of the negative wave resembles closely the posterior half of a positive wave of equal depth, but the posterior half of the negative wave passes off into the anterior form of a secondary wave which follows it. After translation the superficial particles continue to oscillate, as shown in Plate LU. figs. 9, 10, in the manner hereafter to be described, as a phenomenon of the train of secondary waves. The characteristics of this species of wave of the first order are,— (1.) That it is negative or wholly below the level of repose. ON WAVES... 3561 (2.) That it is a wave of translation, the direction of which is opposite to the direction of transmission. (3.) That its anterior form is that of the positive wave reversed. 4.) That the path of translation is nearly that of the positive wave reversed. 83 That its velocity is, in considerable depths, sensibly less than that due by gravity to half the depth reckoned from the lowest point, or the velocity of a positive wave being the same total height. (6.) That it is not solitary, but always carries a train of secondary waves. It is important to notice that the positive and negative waves do not stand to each other in the relation of companion phenomena. They cannot be con- sidered in any case as the positive and negative portions of the same phe- nomena, for the following reasons :— (1.) If an attempt be made to generate or propagate them in such manner that the one shall be companion to the other, they will not continue together, but immediately and spontaneously separate. (2.) If a positive wave be generated in a given channel and a negative wave behind it, the positive wave moving with the greater velocity, rapidly separates itself from the other, leaving it far behind, (3.) If a positive wave be generated and transmitted behind a negative wave, it will overtake and pass it. (4.) Waves of the secondary class which consist of companion halves, one part positive and the other negative, have this peculiarity, that the positive and negative parts may be transmitted across and over each other without preventing in any way their permanence or their continued propagation. It is not so with the positive and negative waves of the first order. (5.) If a positive and negative wave of equal volume meet in opposite directions, they neutralize each other and both cease to exist. (6.) If a positive wave overtake a negative wave of equal volume, they also neutralize each other and cease to exist. ! (7.) If either be larger, the remainder is propagated as a wave of the larger class. _(8.) Thus it is nowhere to be observed that the positive and negative wave coexist as companion phenomena. _ These observations are of importance for this reason, that it has been sup- posed by a distinguished philosopher that the positive and the negative wave might be corresponding halves of some given or supposed wave. On some Conditions which affect the Phenomena of the Wave of the First Order. —It has not appeared in any observations I have been able to make on the subject, that the wave of the first order retains the stamp of the many pe- culiarities that may be conceived to affect its origin. In this respect it is apparently different from the waves of sound or of colour, which bear to the ear and the eye distinct indications of many peculiarities of their original ex- citing cause, and thus enable us to judge of the character of the distant cause which emitted the sound or sent forth the coloured ray. It is not possible lways to form an accurate judgement from the phenomena of the wave of the rst order, of the nature of the disturbing cause, except in peculiar and small number of cases. _,L have not found that waves generated by impulse by a fluid column of given and very various dimension, by immersion of a solid body of given figure, by motion in given velocity or in different directions; I have not found in the wave obtained by any of the many means any peculiarity, any variation either of form or velocity, indicating the peculiarity of the original. In one respect therefore the wave of translation resembles the sound wave; that all waves travel with the velocity due to half the depth, whatever be the nature of their source. 352 REPORT—1844. In one respect alone does the origin of the wave affect its history. Its volume depends on the quantity of power employed in its genesis, and on the distance through which it has travelled. A great and a little wave at equal distances from the source of disturbance, arise from great or little causes, but it is impossible to distinguish between a small wave which has travelled a short distance, and one which, originally high, has traversed a long space. This however does not apply to compound waves of the first order, here- after to be examined. Form of Channel.—Its Effect on the Wave of Translation.—The conditions which affect the pheenomena of the wave of translation are therefore to be looked for in its actual circumstances at the time of observation rather than in its history. The form and magnitude of the channel are among the most important of these circumstances. Thus a change in depth of channel imme- diately becomes indicated to the eye of the observer by the retardation of the wave, which begins to move with the same velocity as if the channel were everywhere of the diminished depth, that is, with the velocity due to the depth. Thus in a rectangular channel 44 feet deep, the wave moves with a velocity of 12 feet per second, and if the channel become shallower, so as to have only 2 feet depth, the change of depth is indicated by the velocity of the wave, which is observed now to move only with the velocity of 8 feet per second ; but if the chaunel again change and become 8 feet deep, the wave indicates the change by suddenly changing to a velocity of 16 feet per second. Length of Wave an Index of Depth.—In like manner, a wave which in water 4 feet deep is about 8 yards long, shortens on coming to a depth of 2 feet to a length of 4 yards, and extends itself to 16 yards long on getting into a depth of 8 feet. This extension of length is attended with a diminution of height, and the diminution of length with an increase of height of the wave, so that the change of length and height attend and indicate changes of depth. In a rectangular channel whose depth gradually slopes until it becomes nothing, like the beach of a sea, these pheenomena are very distinctly visible ; the wave is first retarded by the diminution of depth, shortens and increases in height, and finally breaks when its height approaches to equality with the depth of the water. The limit of height of a wave of the first order is there- fore a height above the bottom of the channel equal to double the depth of the water in repose. If we reckon the velocity of transmission as that due to half the total depth, and the velocity of translation as that due to the height of the wave, it is manifest that when the height is equal to the depth these two are equal, but that if the height were greater than this, the velocity of individual particles at the crest of the wave would exceed the velocity of the wave form; here accordingly the wave ceases, the particles in the ridge of the wave pass forward out of the wave, fall over, and the wave becomes a surge or broken foam, a disintegrated heap of water particles, having lost all continuity. In like manner does the gradual narrowing of the channel affect the form and velocity of the wave, but its effects are by no means so striking as where the depth is diminished. The narrowing of the channel increases the height of the wave, and the effect of this is most apparent when the height is consi- derable in proportion to the depth ; the velocity of the wave increases in pro- portion as the increase of height of the wave increases the total depth; but with this increase of depth, the length of the wave also increases rapidly, and. it does not break so early as in the case of the shallowing of the water. Its phenomena are only visibly affected to the extent in which a change of depth is produced in the channel, by the volume of water added to the channel taking the velocity and form peculiar to that increased depth. j On WAVES!” 363° ; ‘eh —Sygaeig a TOPTB: SINE OP IB STP soph sui cbadul“Spieg a Observed Heights of a Wave in Channel of variable Breadth.— Depth 4 inches. fait meet B. be oy Breadth 12 in. Breadth 6 in. Breadth 3in. Height of wave. Height of wave. Height of wave. im. in. in. I. 2:0 D4. 33 II. 2:0 D4 36 III. 2:0 2°55 3:3 IV. 15 25 295 V. 1°5 9°35 3°25 VI. 1-25 20 25 VII. 1-0 1-3 2-0 VIII. 0°25 : 03 O04: These numbers appear to indicate that the increase of height does not widely _ differ from the hypothesis, that the height of a given wave in a channel of variable width is inversely as the square root of the breadth. ‘Thus, the inverse square roots of the breadths are as 1°73, 2°45 and 3°47, and the mean heights of the first five experiments are 1:8 2°45 3°39. In the first five experiments the velocity observed was 4°25 feet per second. The velocity due by gravity to half the total depth 4+ 2°45 inches is 4-15 feet per second ; and as the range of the wave was only 17 feet, and the time was only observed to half-seconds, these numbers coincide well enough to bear the conclusion that the velocity does not considerably differ from that due to _ the wave of the same mean height in a parallel channel of the same depth. * i ts Tape XIV. - Observations in a Channel of variable Depth—Diminution of depth from 4. inches to 0: in a length of 17 feet. A. B. C. D. E. AY Height of wave Height of wave Depth of water where Time of tra- Velocity in burrs inadepth of4in, breaking in depth (C). wave (B) broke. versing 17 ft. feet per sec, in. in. in. s. ee tT 4r0* 4°0* 4°O0 5°5 3:09 pe tepy, 3°7* 3°7* 3°7 5:5 3°09 OTM. 3-4 34 "3-4 55 3-09 Bey? 025 #7 a7 55 3-09 my, 2:0 D4, 24 5°5 3:09 mT | 1°8 2-2 2:2 55 3:09 VI 1-5 2-0 21 ‘VII. 13 1:9 “19 IX) 1-95 1-9 1:9 ge: 1:2 1°7 1°7 ORL 1-1 14 14 6:0 2°83 XI. 10 1-2 1-2 ‘XU. 0°8 0's ll 6°5 26 ‘XIV. 05 0-7 0-9 7-0 4 EVE! OQ* 0:2* 02 75 2:0 “Hence we find that the numbers representing depths in column C may be regarded as the limits of those in column B, that the depth of the fluid below | the level of repose is equal to the greatest height which a wave can attain at | that point, and at that height the wave breaks. Mid These numbers are interpolated ; the numbers in column D are waves not observed on the mean waves in the first three columns, but are others of nearly equal heights, in iden- ‘conditions. 1844. 2A 354 REPORT—1844, . 1 The time occupied by the largest class of wave is 5°5 seconds, and the cor- responding mean velocity is 3:09 feet per second; this is the velocity due to a depth of 3°6 inches, but the depth total at the one end of the channel is nearly double this quantity, diminishing to 0 at the end. The time in which the wave in a shelving channel passes along the whole length, is therefore nearly equal to the time in which a wave would travel the same distance if the channel were uniformly of a depth equal to the mean depth of the channel, reckoning in both cases from the top of the wave. In these cases the height of the wave is large. Let us take a small height of wave as Ex. XIV.; there we have also in this case the mean depth reckoned from the top of the wave =2°2, the velocity in a channel of that uniform depth =2°4, and the time 75:08. These experiments are sufficiently accurately represented if we take for the velocity of the wave in the sloping channel that of a wave in a channel having a uni- form depth equal to the mean depth of the channel, reckoned as usual from the top of the wave. If therefore we are to calculate the time in which a wave will traverse a given distance gq, to the limit of the standing water-line, after it has begun to break on a sloping beach, we have, the height at breaking being 4 =the standing depth of the water at the breaking-point, fan and v= olh +h). Vqh+h) VG(h+hk). Ex. A wave 3 feet high breaking in water 3 feet deep, on a sloping shore at a distance of 60 feet from the edge of the water, would traverse that space in about 6 seconds, for Pi) _ 60 _ US 8237 982 By repeated observations I have ascertained that waves break whenever their height above the level of repose becomes equal very nearly to the depth of the water. The gradual retardation of the velocity of waves breaking on a sloping beach, as they come into shallower water, is rendered manifest in the closer approximation of the waves to each other as they come near the margin of the water. Vide et seq. It may be observed also that the height of the wave does inerease, but very slowly (before breaking), as the depth diminishes ; thus in VII., a height of 1°8 in a depth of 4 inches becomes 2°2 in 2 inches depth, and in XII.a height of 1 inch in a depth of 4 inches becomes a depth of 1-2 inch only 1*2 inch high. The increase of height is therefore very much slower than the inverse ratio of the depth, or than the inverse ratio of the square of the depth. Form of Transverse Section of Channel—We have seen that in a given rectangular channel, the volume of the wave, its height and the depth being given, no peculiarity of origin or other condition sensibly affects its actual phenomena. But it becomes of importance to know whether the form of a given channel, its volume being given, will affect the phenomena of the wave of the first order; for example, whether in a channel which is semicircular on the bottom, or triangular, but holding a given quantity of water, the wave would be affected by the form of the channel, the volume or cross section remaining unchanged. Considering this question @ priori, we might form various anticipations. We might expect in a channel in which the depth of transverse section varies, that as its depth is greatest at one point, suppose the middle, and less at the sides, the wave might move with the velocity due to the middle or greatest — =6 seconds nearly. depth ; or we might expect that it would move with the velocity simply due — ON WAVES, ~ 355 . to the mean depth, that is, with the same velocity as in a rectangular channel _ of a depth equal to the mean depth of the channel; or we might expect that each portion of the wave would move with a velocity due to the depth of that part of the channel immediately below each part of the wave, and so each part passing forward with a velocity of its own, have a series of waves, each propagating itself with an independent velocity, and speedily becoming dif- fused, and so a continued propagation of a wave in such circumstances would become impossible from disintegration ; and instead of a single large wave we should have a great many little ones. Or, finally, we might have a perfect wave moving with a velocity, the mean of the velocities which each of these elementary waves might be supposed to possess. I soon found that the propagation of a single wave, @. e. one of which all the parts should have a given common velocity, was possible in a channel whose depth at different breadths is variable ; that the wave does not neces- sarily become disintegrated ; that its parts do not move with the different velocities due to the different depths of the different parts of the channel, but that the entire wave does (with certain limits) move with such velocity as if propagated in a channel of a rectangular form, but of a less depth than the greatest depth of the channel of variable channel. It became necessary therefore to determine the depth of a rectangular channel equivalent to the depth of a channel of variable transverse section ; to determine, for example, in a channel of triangular section y, the depth of rectangular channel in which a wave would be propagated with equal velocity. Tn this case the simple arithmetical mean depth of the channel is half of the depth in the middle. But on the other hand, if we calculate the velocity due to each point of variable depth, and take the mean of these velocities, we shall _ find a mean velocity such as would be due to a wave in a rectangular channel _ two-thirds of the greatest depth. _ In the first series of experiments I made on this subject, I conceived that the _ results coincided sufficiently well with the latter supposition; but they were on 5 so small a scale, that the errors of observation exceeded in amount the diffe- rences between the quantities to be determined, and the results did not esta- blish either. Mr. Kelland arrived at the opposite conclusion, his theoretical investigations indicating the former result. I examined the matter afresh, and after an extensive series of experiments, have established beyond all question the fact, that the velocity in a triangular channel is that due by gravity to one-fourth of the maximum depth. Although therefore the absolute velocity assigned by Mr. Kelland’s investigations deviates widely from the true velocity, yet he has assigned the true relation between the velocities in the triangular and the rectangular channel ; and if therefore we take the absolute velocity which I have determined for the rectangular channel, and deduce from it the relative velocity which Mr. Kelland has assigned to the triangular form, we obtain a number which is the true velocity of the wave in a y” channel. MM TaBLe XV. __ Observations on the Wave of the First Order in triangular Channels. The sides of the channels are planes, and slope at an angle with the ho- rizon = 45°, Col. A is the observed depth of the channel in the middle, reckoned from the crest of the wave. _ Col. B is the height of the wave taken as the mean between the observa- ‘tions at the beginning and end of the experiment. + Col. C is the observed time in seconds occupied by the wave in describing the distance in column D. ZAQ i 356 RENE Vee. Col. D is the space in feet described by the wave during each observation. Col. E is the velocity resulting from these observations. eS a is the velocity due by gravity to } of the depth of the fluid, 2g(h+h). rst G : the andes due by gravity to 2 of the depth of the fluid, v= Veg(h+h). Cols. H and K show the difference between Cols. F and G and the obser- vations, and the result in favour of F. A B | c 1 OS ee Gc | # K in. in | | 415 | O15 36-5 80-0 2:19 2:35 272 | 4-16 |+4+ -53 423 | 0-22 33-0 80-0 | 2-42 2:38 275 |— 04/4 -33 432 | 031 31-0 75°5 2-43 2-40 278 | — 03 |+ 35 438 | 0:37 47-0 | 115-5 2-46 2-42 279 | — 04 |+ -33 471 | 0-70 135 35-5 2-62 2-51 290 | ~—-ll |+4+ -28 481 | 0-80 29:5 755 2°57 2°54 2:93 | — -03 |+ -36 436 | 0-85 14:0 35-5 2-53 2-55 295 |+4+ 02/4 -42 5-29 | 0-18 31:0 80-0 2-58 2°66 3-07 | + 08 |4+ -49 5-44 | 0:33 45-5 | 120-0 2-63 2-70 311 | + 07 |4+ -48 555 | 0-44 58:0 | 1600 2°75 2-72 315 | — -03 |+ -40 5:59 | 0-48 300 80-0 | 266 2°73 316 | + -07 |+ 50 5:99 | 0:88 120 35-5 2-95 2:83 327 |—-12|4 32 6-01 | 0-90 24-5 71:0 2-89 2°84 329 | — -05 |4+ +40 618 | 0-14 28-0 80-0 2-85 2-87 332 | + -02 |+ +47 626 | 0-21 555 | 160-0 2°88 2:89 334 | + 01 |4 -46 638 | 034 14-0 40-0 2°85 2-92 3:37 | + -07 |+ 52 6-44 | 1:33 12-0 35:5 2-95 2-93 339 | — 02 |4. -44 652 | 0-48 26°5 80-0 3-02 2-95 341 | — -07 |4+ 39 678 | 0-74 35:0 | 111-0 3:17 3-01 348 | —-16 |4 31 710 | 0-60 265 80-0 3-02 3-08 356 | + -06 |4+ -54 7-12 | 0-08 395 | 120-0 | 3-03 3-09 356 | + 06 |+4 -53 715 | O11 785 | 240-0 | 3-05 3-09 357 | + -04 |+ 52 716 | 0-12 525 | 1600 | 3-04 3:10 358 | + -06 |+ -54 721 | 0-17 26°5 80-0 3-02 3-11 359 | + 09 |+ 57 7:36 | 0-32 26°5 80-0 | 3-02 314 362 | +-12 |+ -60 7-51 | 0-47 25-0 80-0 | 3-20 3-18 366 | — 02 |+ -46 753 | 0-47 24-0 80-0 | 333 3-17 367 | —-16 |+4+ -34 10-0 0-75 55-4 | 2155 3°89 3-66 423 | — 23 |+ 34 105 11 41-94 | 166-0 3:95 3-75 433 | — 20 |+ -38 11-0 1-44 31-2 | 123-1 3-94 3-84 443 | — -10 |+ +49 145 2-0 48:36 | 215-5 4-45 4-4] 509 | — -04|+ -64 15-0 2-58 26-46 | 119-25 | 4:50 4-48 518 | — -02 |+ -68 15-5 3-1 22-2 | 100-0 4-50 4-56 526 |+ 06 |+ -76 19:0 0-35 19-8 | 100-0 5-06 5-04 583 | — 02 |+ 77 19°5 0-87 19:5 | 1000 5:13 511 5:90 | — 02 |+ °77 20-0 1:35 25-66 | 138-5 5-40 5-18 598 | — 22 |4+ -58 20°5 1-85 28-8 | 157-75 | 5-48 5-24 605 | — 24 |+ 57 21:0 2-36 24-93 | 138-5 5°55 5°30 613 | — 25 |4+ -58 21:5 2-8 17-3 | 100-0 5-61 5°36 620 | — 25 |4+ -59 26-0 15 35°83 | 215-5 6-02 5-90 682 | — -12 |4+ -80 265 1-95 22-46 | 138-5 6-16 5-96 688 | — 20 |+ -72 27-0 2°12 20-7. | 12887 | 6-22 6-01 695 | — 21 /+ -73 27°5 2-4 21-73 | 138°5 6:37 6-07 701 | — 30 |+ -64 28-0 3-12 20-45 | 128-75 | 6-29 6-13 707 | —-16 |+ -78 28:5 3-03 15:93 | 1000 6-27 6-18 714 |.— 09 |+ -87 29-0 3-02 15°38 | 100-0 6°33 6-23 7:20 jah psd og) BF 29:5 25 15-68 | 100-0 6:37 6-29 726 | — 08 |4 -89 30-0 2-77 15-6 | 100-0 6-41 6-34 732°) 07 4-51 30:5 2-25 156 | 1000 6:41 6:39 738 | — 02 | o> 31-0 25 158 | 1000 633 | 6-44 744. | +-ll 315 3-0 15-26 | 100-0 6°55 6:50 750 | — 05 | | —2:77 ‘ON WAVES. . 357 No great number of experiments has been made on channels of other forms of variable depth, such as have been made coinciding with those in the tri- angular chamnel, so far as to show that we may take the simple arithmetical mean depth as the depth of the rectangular channel of a wave of equal velo- city, and so in general reckon the mean depth as 1 L—— dx, i=— fydz : Lael 3 or v (2 fvaz) ‘ The form of transverse section does not therefore affect the velocity of the wave otherwise than as it becomes necessary to use the mean depth as the argument in calculating it, and not the maximum depth. The Form of Channel affects the Form of the Wave as well as its Velocity.— When the channel is very broad the wave ceases to have a velocity, it loses unity of character, and each part of it moves along the channel independent of the velocity of the other, and with the velocity due to the local depth of the channel. Where the water is shallow the wave becomes sensibly higher and shorter, and when the difference of depth is not consi- derable, the wave is found to increase in height so as to give in the shallow part a velocity equal to that in the narrow part. When the channel is narrow in proportion to its depth, this unity of propagation exists without sensible difference of velocity towards the side, and without very great difference in height at the sides. In a channel of the form of a right-angled and isosceles triangle, with the hypothenuse upwards and horizontal, it is visible to the eye that the wave is somewhat longer and lower in the middle, but higher and shorter at the sides, but that it retains most perfect unity of form and velocity, and moves along unbroken with the velocity due to the mean depth. The same figure with the angle at the bottom increased so that each side has _a slope of one in four, still contains a single wave propagated with a single velocity, being that due to half the depth, but breaks at the shallow side, be- coming disentegrated in form though not in velocity. In a channel 12 inches wide, 5 inches deep on one side, and 1 inch deep on the other, the following observations were made :-— Height of the Wave. Deep side. Shallow side. in. in. 2°00 2°50 1°50 2°50 1:20 2:00 0°75 1:20 0°75 1:20 0°75 1:00 0°50 1:00 0:25 0°50 0:25 0°40 0°25 0°40 On the Incidence and Reflexion of the Wave of the First Order—When a wave of the first order encounters a solid plane at right angles to the direc- tion of its propagation, it is wholly reflected and is thrown back in the oppo- ' site direction with a velocity equal to that in which it was moving before impact, remaining in every respect unchanged, excepting in direction of a0 Mae Cai 358 REPORT—1844, motion. This process may be repeated any number of times without affect- ing any of the wave phenomena excepting the direction of motion. When the angle which the ridge of the incident wave makes with the solid plane is small, that is, when the direction of propagation does not deviate much from the perpendicular to the plane, the wave undergoes total re- flextion, and the angles of reflexion and of incidence are equal, as in the case of light. When the deviation of the direction of propagation from the perpendicular is considerable, the reflexion ceases to be total. At 45° the reflected wave is sensibly less than the incident wave. When the ridge of the wave is incident at about 60° from the plane sur- face, and the direction of the ridge only diverges about 30° from a perpendi- cular to the plane, reflexion ceases to be possible. A remarkable phenomenon is exhibited which I may be allowed to designate the Lateral Accumulation and Non-Reflexion of the wave. It is to be understood by considering the effect of supposed reflexion; this would be to double over upon itself a part of the wave moving in nearly the same direction ; the motions of translation of the particles being compounded will give a resultant at right angles to the plane, and will also give a wave of greater magnitude and a translation of greater velocity. By these means accumulation of volume and advancement of the ridge in the vicinity of the obstacle take place; as represented in the diagram. These phenomena are accurately represented in Plate LILI., as observed in a large shallow reservoir of water. On the Lateral Diffusion and the Lateral Accumulation of the Wave of the First Order —When a wave of the first order has been generated in a narrow channel, and is propagated into a wider one, it becomes of some im- portance to know whether and how this wave will affect the surface of the larger basin into which it is admitted. It is known that common surface waves of the second order diffuse themselves equably in concentric circles round the point of disturbance. How is the great primary wave diffused ? Taste XVI. Observations on the Lateral Diffusion of the Wave of the First Order, generated in a narrow Channel and transmitted into a wide Reservoir. The apparatus employed for this purpose is exhibited in Plate LIV. figs. and2. T was a tank 20 feet square, filled to the depth of 4 inches; the chamber C, fig. 2, was 12 inches square, in which the wave was generated by impulse for the first five experiments, in all subsequent to which C was en- larged in width to 2 feet, as shown in fig. 1. The line marked A, figs. 1 and 2, was a wooden bar, in which were inserted at intervals of 6 inches, sharp pieces of pencil, projecting downwards to the surface of the water; the num- bers of which, reckoning from the side of the tank outwards, are contained in the first vertical column of numerals, the Roman numerals in this table de- noting the number of the experiment. The bar being placed parallel to the side of the tank at C, and distant from it 12 feet, consequently distant 9 feet from the mouth of the channel, whose length is 3 feet; the distance from its under edge to the surface of the still water was carefully measured, and when the wave had passed, and before its reflexion, the bar was removed, the distances from its under edge to the highest marks on the pencils were put down in column A of the table, and the absolute height of the wave itself, obtained by subtracting these figures from the statical level, was put down in column B. ON WAVES. 359° In the diagrams, Plate LIV., the waves are laid down from the line A A, and at horizontal intervals of one-tenth of an inch, corresponding to the relative positions of the points at which they were observed. In figs. 1 and 2, an ap- proximate mean is given of the waves generated in the large and small chan- nels, each line at the bar A indicating a height of one-tenth part of an inch. vV VI. A B A. B 8 7 ‘3 1:2 85 |-65 | °4 1-1 95 | -575 | °5 1:0 8 |-725 |°4 1-225 85 | ‘675 | -4 1:225 925) 612 |-45 | 1:075 925) °625 | °5 1:035 1:25 |°5 625 | ‘925 1:05 |°5 625 | °925 10 |:55 | °65 9 Vl |45 | +7 “85 1:05 |°512 | 825 | *75 1:075| °487 | °8 775 1:1 | 487 | °8 775 1-1 |°475 | °9 675 V1 | °475 | -85 ‘735 “85 75 - This table shows in column B, how the height of the wave diminishes as it spreads out from the line of original direction in which it was generated. - Lateral diffusion therefore takes place, but with a great diminution of height of the wave. This phenomenon is of importance in reference especially to the law of diffusion of the tides, in such situations as where they enter the German Sea through the English Channel, and the Irish Sea through St. George’s Chan- nel. It enables us to account for the great inequality of tides in the same locality. It likewise furnishes an analogy by which we may explain some of the hitherto anomalous phenomena of sound. Axis of Maximum Displacement of the Wave of the First Order.—That a wave of the first order, on entering a large sheet of water, does not diffuse itself equally in all directions around the place of disturbance (as do the waves of the second order produced by a stone dropped in a placid lake), but that there is in one direction an aais along which it maintains the greatest height, has the widest range of translation, and travels with greatest velocity, viz. in the direction of the original propagation as it emerged from the generating reservoir, is a phenomenon which I have further confirmed by a number of experiments. This phenomenon is of importance, especially if we take the wave of the first order, the same (as I think I have established) as type of the tide wave of the sea and of the sound wave of the atmosphere. I determined this in the simplest way. I filled a reservoir which has a smooth flat bottom and perpendicular sides some 20 feet square, to a depth of 4 inches with water. In a small generating reservoir only a foot. wide, I generated a wave of the first order. A circle was drawn on the bottom of the large basin, and of course visible through the water, having its centre at the place of disturbance, and divided into arcs of 30°, 45°, 60° and 90°, on which observers were placed, and the heights of the same wave, as observed at the points, is given in the accompanying table. | alae 360 REPORT—1844, Tasie XVII. ; Observations on the Diffusion of the Wave of the First Order round an Axis of original Transmission. - The observations were made upon the wave at various points in circles of 9 and 15 feet radius, described from the outer extremity of the side of the channel C, as shown in Plate LIV. fig. 3. The depth of the water when at rest was taken at the various points, and these being subtracted from the absolute height to which the wave attained in its transit, gave the amounts which are contained in the lower part of the table, the absolute heights from which these are deduced being given immediately above in columns marked thus, A, B, C, D, E, while the deducted heights are distinguished thus, A’, B’, C', D’, E’.. Experiments VII. to XV. were made in the 9 feet circle, and the remainder in that of 15 feet radius. It will be observed that in the latter set there are two columns which are headed zero, but it must be remembered that the one in brackets contains observations which were made at the 9 feet distance along the axis and the remainder on the outer circle. Fig. 3 contains the approximate ratio of the height of the wave at different points in the circumference of the circles expressed by lines concentric to the circles, each of which denotes the tenth part of an inch. The observations are laid down accurately in the diagrams, where the lines A B and C D represent the circumference of the quadrants of the ob- served circles. Upon these lines the true heights of the wave are measured upwards at their respective points of observation, and a curve drawn through these, representing the mean of the wave’s height. From these and from a numerical discussion of the observations, it appears that the height of the wave at 0° being 1, its height at the remaining points will be 3, 2, 4, and 54, or taking integral numbers to express the ratio, it will stand thus, 30, 15, 12, 10, 3. And from a discussion of the whole of the experiments it is found that the height of the wave is inversely as the distance from the centre. Fig. 4 shows the appearance of the wave upon which these observations were made. A, & | | K |%. M 0° 0°. | 30°. | 60°. | 90? | VIL. | 4:5 25 | 43 44 VIIL. | 4-625 4135 45 | IX. | 4875 (425 | 45 X. | 45 14:25 | 4-4 XI. | 4-325 14:95 | 43 XII. | 4°5 . 43 XII. | 45 43 | XIV. | 4:75 43 | XV. | 455 4:25 Al. Kl. V M’. VII. | 1-0 3 1 VIL. | 1-125 5 IX. | 1-375 5 X. | 1-0 “4 PE 82 3 XII. | 1-0 25 XIII. | 1:0 25 XIV. | 1-25 25 XV. | 1-0 | 2] | nA? ON WAVES. 361 Thus it was determined that along the axis of maximum intensity, the height of the wave there being the greatest, there was a corresponding acce- leration of the wave motion. On each side of this axis the magnitude of the wave diminishes rapidly, being at 30° diminished to 3, and at 60° to 4 of its height along the axis, and as this diminution was attended with a corre- sponding retardation of propagation, so the ridge of the wave became some- what elliptical, having for its major axis the axis of maximum intensity of the wave. At right angles to the principal axis of propagation the wave is searcely sensible, a height of one-tenth part of that in the axis being the greatest that was observed ; and that indeed was, in the circumstances of observation, scarcely sensible. Concluding Remarks and Application.—There are several great applica- tions of our knowledge of waves of the first order, which give value to that knowledge beyond that which belongs to truth for its own sake. The phe- nemena of the wave of translation are so beautiful and regular, that as a _ study of nature it possesses a high interest. The velocity of the wave is one of the great constants of nature, and is to the phenomena of fluids what the pendulum is to solids, a connecting link between time and force; as a phe- nomenon of hydrodynamics, it furnishes one of the most elegant and inter- esting exercises in the calculus of the wave mathematics. But besides its importance in these aspects, there are others in which it is capable of being regarded, each of which gives it value both in art and in science :— 1. The wave of the first order is to be regarded as a vehicle for the trans- mission of mechanical force (geological application). 2. The wave of ‘the first order is an important element in the calculation and phenomena of resistance of fluids (form of ships, canals, &c.). 3. The wave of the first order is identical with the great oceanic wave of the tide (improvement of tidal rivers). 4, The water-wave of the first order presents some analogy to the sound wave of the atmosphere (phenomena of acoustics). TABLE XVIII. The Velocity of the Wave of the First Order, calculated for various depths of the fluid in a channel of uniform depth, extending a depth from 0:1 of an inch to 100 feet. Column A contains the depths of the fluid in decimal parts of an inch. Column B the corresponding velocities in feet per second. Column C gives the depth in inches. Column D the corresponding velocities in feet per second. Column F gives the depths in feet. Column G the corresponding velocities in feet per second. Columns of Differences, E and H, will assist in extending the table. REPORT—1844. A. B. Cc. D. E. F. G. H. Value of Value of Value of Value of First /Valueof| Value of First h+e A/ 2(e+h) h+e ‘ /z(e+h) hte WV g(e+h) differ- in inches. |in feet per sec.| 12 inches. jin feet per sec. in feet. lin feet per sec,| €nce. —— 0-0 0:0000 0-0; 0-000 0-0 0-000 ‘1 05179 1-0) 1-637 1:0 5°674 2 0°7325 20) 2-316 2-0 8-024 3 0°8971 3:0) 2-836 30 9°827 “4 1:0359 4:0! 3-275 40} 11347 i) 11581 50) 3662 5-0 | 12687 6 1:2687 * 60) 4-011 60 | 13-898 7 13703 7:0| 4-333 70 | 15-031 8 1:4649 8:0) 4-632 8-0 | 16-047 1] 15538 9:0| 4-913 9:0 | 17-021 1:0 1:6378 10:0; 5-179 10:0 | 17-942 di 17178 11:0; 5-432 253 11:0 | 18817 875 2 1:7942 I. 12:0} 5-673 241 12:0 | 19-654 837 3 18674 130, 5-905 231 13-0 | 20-457 803 4 19379 14:0) 6-128 222 140 | 21-229 772 oi) 2:0060 15°0| 6-343 215 15:0 | 21-974 745 6 20717 16:0) 6-551 207 16:0 | 22-695 721 7 2°1355 17-0, 6-758 201 17:0 | 23-393 698 8 21974 18:0) 6-948 195 18-0 | 24-071 678 1) 2°2576 19:0, 7-139 190 19-0 | 24-731 660 2:0 23163 20:0| 7324 185 20:0 | 25-374 643 ll 23735 21:0) 7-505 180 21:0 | 26-000 626 2 2°4293 22:0} 7-682 176 22-0 | 26°612 612 3 24839 23:0) 7-854 172 23-0 | 27-210 598 “4 2°5373 II. 240) 8-023 168 240 | 27-796 586 i) 2°5896 25:0) 8-189 165 25:0 | 28368 | 572 6 2°6409 26:0, 8-351 162 26-0 | 28-930 562 rf 26913 27:0) 8-510 159 27:0 | 29-481 551 8 2°7405 28:0| 8-666 | 156 28-0 | 30-023 542 9 2°7891 29:0; 8-820 153 29:0 | 30-554 531 3:0 2°8368 30:0) 8-970 150 | 30:0} 31-076 522 rl 2°8834 31:0) 9-118 149 31:0 | 31-589 513 2 29299 32:0) 9-265 147 32:0 | 32-095 505 3 2:9753 33:0) 9-408 143 33:0 | 32-593 497 “4 3°0200 34:0 9550 | 141 34:0 | 33-083 490 i) 3°0641 35°0| 9-689 139 35-0 | 33-566 480 6 31076 | III. 36:0 9-827 137 36:0 | 34-042 476 ai 31505 37:0} 9-962 135 37:0 | 34-512 470 8 31928 38:0) 10-096 133 38:0 | 34-976 464 “9 3:2337 39:0) 10-228 131 39:0 | 35-434 458 4-0 32756 40-0} 10-358 130 40-0 | 35-883 449 ‘1 33164 41:0} 10-487 128 41:0 | 36-329 446 “2 33566 42:°0| 10-614 127 42:0 | 36-771 442 3 33963 43°0| 10-740 125 43:0 | 37-205 434 “4 3°4356 44:0) 10°864 124 44-0 | 37-635 430 i) 34744 45:0) 10-987 122 45:0 | 38-060 425 6 3°5128 46:0} 11-108 121 46:0 | 38-481 421 fs 35508 47-0} 11-229 120 | 47:0 | 38-897 416 8 35884 IV. 48:0} 11:347 118 48-0 | 39-308 411 =) 3°6225 49-0} 11-464 117 49:0 | 39-716 408 5-0 36623 50:0) 11-581 116 50:0 | 40-119 403 ‘1 3°6988 51:0} 11-696 115 51:0 | 40-518 399 2 3°7348 52:0| 11-810 114 52:0 | 40-913 395 3 37704 53-0) 11-923 113 530 | 41-304 391 “4 3°8056 54:0} 12-035 112 54:0 | 41-693 389 3 3°8405 55:0) 12-146 111 55:0 | 42-079 386 6 3°8758 560) 12-256 110 56:0 | 42-458 379 7 39101 57-0| | 12°365 109 57:0 | 42-834 376 8 3°9441 58:0) 12-475 108 58:0 | 43-209 375 / 9 39778 59-0} 12-580 107 59°0 | 43-580 371 ~ fo) v=) i > SSRNAAHA SOAS SHAAGCK SHIH SSHYAAEBNOASSHYVAGCK AGNES B. Value of V g(e+h) in inches. |in feet per sec. 4:0120 4:0451 40779 41105 41434 4°1755 42074 4:2390 4:2710 43021 43333 43640 43958 44251 44551 44850 45152 4:5447 45740 46031 46325 46612 4-6898 4°7182 4:7470 47761 48040 48318 48586 4:8860 49134 49404 4:9678 49946 50213 5:0479 5:0746 51011 5:1275 51538 5:1792 ON WAVES. Table XVIII. continued. 6, Value of h+e in inches. jin feet per sec. V. 60:0 61:0 62:0 63:0 64:0 65:0) 66:0 67:0! 68:0 69-0 70:0 71:0 VI. 72:0) 73:0 74:0) 75:0) 76:0 770 78:0 79:0 80:0 81-0 - 82:0 83:0 VII. 84:0 85°0 86:0 87:0 88:0 89-0 90-0 91-0 D. Value of Vg(e+h) 12°686 12-791 12895 12/998 13:101 13-203 13°305 13°406 13°506 13°605 13:704 13801 13:897 13:993 14:088 14183 14:277 14371 14-464 14:556 14648 14-739 14830 14:921 15:011 15:100 15189 15:277 15:364 15:451 15:537 15°623 15-709 15°794 15°879 15963 16:047 16:130 16-212 16°293 16:373 60-0 61:0 62:0 63:0 64-0 Vg(e+h) in feet. jin feet per sec.| ence. 43°948 44315 44:678 45:037 45-392 45°745 46:095 46-442 46°786 47-127 47-467 47°805 48-142 48°477 48°809 49-137 49-462 49°786 50-108 50°429 50°748 51-061 51:376 51:689 52-000 52-309 52-616 52-921 53°224 53526 53°827 54126 54-423 54-719 55-014 55-307 55°597 55:886 56°172 56:455 56°737 Section I].— WAVES OF THE SECOND ORDER. Character Species .. PMATICUICON!. 4.6 fila p tube ado ie cco Instances Oscillating Waves. ee Gregarious. Stationary. Progressive. Free. Forced. Stream ripple. Wind waves. Ocean swell. H. First differ- 368 367 363 359 355 353 350 347 344 34] 340 338 337 335 332 328 325 324 322 321 319 363 ie we as ¥ -, al 364 REPORT—1844. . The Standing Wave of Running Water—Among oscillating waves of the second order, I know none more common or more curious than the standing wave of running water. I begin the account of my examination of waves of the second order, because it is that species which appears to me to be the most easy to be conceived, because it presents the closest analogy to the ordi- nary known phenomena of wave motion, and because, although most fre- quently exhibited to the eye of the common gazer, it has not, as far as I know, ever been made the subject of accurate observation. If the surface of a running stream be examined as it runs with an equal velocity along a smooth and even channel, its surface will present no remark- able feature to the eye, although it is known by accurate observation that the surface of the water is higher above the level in the middle or deep part than at the sides of the channel. On the bottom of the channel let there be found a single large stone; this interruption, although considerably below the surface of the water, will give indication of its presence by a change of form visible on the surface of the water. An elevation of surface will be visible, not immediately above it, but in its vicinity. Simultaneous with the appearance of this protuberance, there will appear a series of others lower down the stream. These form a group of companion phenomena, are waves of the second order, oscillatory, and of the standing species, their place re- maining fixed in the water, while the water particles themselves continue to flow down with the stream. For examples see Pl. LV. This species of wave is especially deserving of the notice both of the ma- thematician and of the natural philosopher, for this cause especially, that the apparent motions of the water are in this case identical with the actual paths of individual particles ; each particle on the surface actually describes the path apparent on the surface; the outline of the surface of the water is the true path of a particle during its progress down the stream. It does not ex- hibit like other waves the form merely, a form very different from the true motion of the water particles, nor does it exhibit the motion of a motion, nor do the particles themselves remain behind while they transmit forward the wave. The particles are themselves translated along the fluid in the paths which form the apparent outline of the fluid. In this respect, therefore, this wave appears to me important as presenting a case of transition from ordinary fluid motion to wave motion. I found by observation on a mountain stream that waves 33 feet long rise in water moving at the rate of 33 feet per second. Also, that waves 2 feet long rose in water moving at 23 feet per second. These numbers coincide with those given in Table XXI. from which the following approximate numbers are deduced. These numbers will enable an observer to judge of the velocity of a stream by inspection of the waves on the surface. The length of wave being 1 inch, the velocity of the stream per second is 3 foot. rf a5 *3 inches, 3 + sy *] foot. 6) +s 1 foot, if + 7% 13 feet. ” » 1} feet, » » » 2 feet. ” »” 2 feet, » » ” 25 feet. ” ” #32 feet, ” » ” *32 feet. » ” 6 feet, ” » ” 43 feet. ” ” 7 feet, ” ” 2 5 feet. 43 5 10 feet, i 43 45 6 feet. i S *30 feet, i 4) 9 *10 feet. This Table is given for convenience of reference to observers, and it is useful and easy to recollect the velocities corresponding to 3 inehes, 34 feet, ON WAVES. 365 and 30 feet. By these means it will be easy for observers to verify or correct _ these numbers. __ These waves are very peculiar in this respect, that they exhibit little or no tendency to lateral diffusion ; the breadth of a wave does not apparently ex- ceed the length of a wave, and is often much smaller. When a stream enters a large pool, its path across the pool is marked by these waves very distinctly, and the diminishing length of the waves accompanies the diminishing velocity of the stream, and at the same time indicates the extreme slowness with which diffusion takes place. The motion of the particles of water, as observed by a body floating on the surface, is this, the motion is retarded at the top of each wave and accelerated in the bottom, thus oscillating about the mean motion of the stream. The motion, as far as it can be observed by bodies floating near the surface, is a simple combination of a circular with a rectilineal motion. The disturbing body, the stone at the bottom, gives to the particles which pass over it the _ motion of eddy as indicated, Plate LV. fig.2, and this being continued down- wards, and combined with the rectilineal motion of the particles, presents _ the cycloidal form of the wave. If we conceive a uniform revolving motion in a vertical plane communi- cated to a particle of water, the centre of the circle of revolution being at _the same time carried uniformly along the horizontal line, Plate LVI, then the path of the particle having these two motions is marked out by the cycloidal line 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 joining these points, and if every suc- _ eessive particle of the fluid have the same motions communicated to it, the simultaneous places of successive particles will give the line 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, &c. as the form of the surface of the fluid. It is to be observed that at _A and C the direction of the motion of revolution is opposite to the motion _ of transference, and .>. the absolute velocity of the particle is diminished by The oscillating motion, while at B and D it is increased by an equal amount, and in the intermediate positions 3 and 9 it is neither increased nor dimi- nished. It is also to be observed, that when the motion of the water in the ‘direction of transference is slowest (i. e. when the motion of oscillation is opposite to the motion of transference), the transverse section of moving fluid is greatest, and when the motion of transference and of oscillation _ €oincide, and the motion is quickest in the direction of transference, the trans- ‘Verse section of the fluid is greatest. ‘Thus we see how during a change of form the dynamical equilibrium of the fluid may be unchanged. The fluid may thus be conceived as moving with varying velocity along a channel of variable section, its upper surface being conformable to the Outline of the wave.’ Hence we might infer that a rigid channel of varying area, of the form of this standing wave, would not interfere with the free ‘motion of the fluid. _ And hence it may follow, that when the area of a pipe conveying fluid is to undergo a change, the best form of pipe or channel is indicated by the form of this wave. Thus the velocity has undergone a change between 0 and 4 which the form of a close pipe might render permanent. _ In the examples already given, a solid impediment has generated the waves on the surface of the fluid. At the confluence of streams I have observed the same waves generated by the oblique action of one current on another meeting it in a different direction. The height and hollow of the fluid and the change of velocity are to be regarded as reciprocally the cause and effect each of the other. The obstacle first retards the velocity of the fluid, so as to accumulate it above the obstacle, the water rises to a height due to this diminished velocity, and as all the a) 366 REPORT—1844. particles of the stream pass through this area of the stream with a diminished velocity, the area of transverse section must be increased at this point; thus the elevation of surface, enlargement of section, diminution of velocity above the obstacle are its necessary consequences of that obstacle. Again, below the obstacle the accumulation above generates an additional velocity due to that height in addition to the mean motion of the stream; the same volume of water which passed through the large area, with its increased section and diminished velocity, being now a higher velocity, is transferred through the smaller area which allows its transmission. ‘Thus the constant volume pass- ing down the stream varies its velocity with the conservation of its forces by means of a varying area of transference ; and thus we are enabled to con- ceive how the observed form of the surface becomes at once possible and necessary to the transmission of the fluid under the action of the disturbing force. I am not aware that this species of standing wave in moving water has ever before been made the subject of philosophical examination. But I con- ceive that its study is highly important, especially in a theoretical view, as the means of conveying sound elementary conceptions of wave motion, as exhibiting the transition from the phenomena of water currents to those of water waves, as the intermediate link between motions of the first degree and motions of the second degree, and as affording a basis from which we may commence, with some prospect of success, the application of the known principles and laws of motion to the investigation of the difficult theory of waves. Moving Waves of the Second Order—Sea Waves.—It is not difficult to pass from the conception of standing waves in running water to the conception of running waves in standing water. Let us first conceive the waves in Plate LV. to be formed in water running in the direction there indicated from right to left, with a given mean motion, and a given motion of uniform circular oscil- lation: and next let us conceive the whole water channel and waves to be transferred uniformly in the opposite direction with a velocity equal to the mean velocity of transference; then the absolute motion of transference of the water will become nothing: the waves formerly standing are now moved in the opposite direction with a velocity equal to the former mean velocity of the running stream, and the motion of oscillation remains. Thus, the running water becoming still, the waves become moving waves, and if we reverse the hypothesis once more, and conceive the waves which move with a given velocity to exist in water which has a motion of transference with equal velocity in the opposite direction, it is manifest that these waves run- ning up the stream as fast as the waters run down, the wave-crests remain fixed in place. Thus then the same oscillating phenomenon which in stand- ing water gives moving waves, will give in moving water standing waves; taking for granted always that the motions of oscillation are such as to be possible, cousistent with the nature of the fluid, and independent of the com- mon mean motion of the fluid ; a condition equally essential to the possibility of the wave motion and of our conceptions of it. I have been able accurately to observe the phenomena of wave motion in still water, the waves being of the second order and gregarious, under the following circumstances :— 1. I have drawn a body through the water with a uniform motion, and have observed the group of waves which follow in its wake. 2. I have propagated the negative wave of the first order, and observed the group of waves which follow in its wake. I have not observed in the results of these two methods any distinction of form, velocity, or other character. . ON WAVES. 367 The form under which these waves appear has already been exhibited in Plate LII. figs.9 and 10, and equally in Plate LV. figs.1,2,3, and in Plate LVI. fig. 1. “3 I have made a series of observations by dragging a body through the water, the results of which are given in the following Table. I first made pre- paratory observations to find whether the form of body or depth of channel made any change on the phenomenon. I found that larger bodies and higher velocities made higher waves, but that the length and velocity of the wave: were unchanged by either the form of body, or the depth of the channel, or the height of the wave. I observed that when the waves became high and broke, the elevation above the mean level was 6 inches, and the depression below it 2 inches, making a height total of 8 inches ; this was at a velocity of 6°25 feet per second. Immediately behind the body dragged through the water, the mean level appears to be considerably lowered. I examined the motion of oscillation of these waves by means of small floating spherules. Waves of the second order having a total height of half an inch, in water 4 inches deep made by a negative wave, were accom- panied by motion in a circle of half an inch diameter at the surface, and the particles below described also circles which rapidly decreased in diameter and at 3 inches deep ceased to be sensible; the waves were about one foot long. TasBiLe XIX. Observations on the Length and Velocity of Waves of the Second Order. Column A the order and number of the experiments. Column B the number of seconds in which the waves were transmitted along 100 feet. Column C the aggregate length in feet of the number of waves in Column Column D the number of waves extending to the length in Column C. ~ Column E the length in feet of one wave ‘from crest to crest. ~ Column F the velocity in feet per second given by experiment. These results are the means of many experiments, differing from each other not more than the examples preceding them, which have been given in detail as a fair specimen. a A. B. C. 19 by bao F. A. I. 33°2 | 265 | 10 265 | 3:01 I. II. 332 | 26°5 | 10 2°65 | 3:01 Il. Ill. 31:6 | 25: x | 294 | 316 Ill IV. 31°8 | 25: % | 2:94 | 314 IV V. 31°8 | 25: e | 294 | 314 Vv VI. ~ | 804 | 25: 8 3°125 | 3:29 VI Vil. 29°6 | 25° 72 | 3:26 | 3:37 VII VIII. 29°6 | 25° 7% «| 3:26 | 3:37 VI IX. 28:0 | 25° 7 357 | 3:57 IX X. 28:4 | 25- 7 3°57 | 3°51 X XI. 28:0 | 25- 7 3°57 | 3:57 XI XII. 28:0 | 25: 7 =| 3857 | 357 XII XII. 28:0 | 25° 7 =| 857 | 3:57 XIII XIV. 28:0 | 25- 7 3°57 | 3°57 XIV. TXV.-XVII. | 268 | 25° GE | 384 | 3°72 XV.-XVIL. +XVIII-XXII. | 26:0 | 25- 6 | 4:18 | 3-84 XVITL-XXII. TXXIIT-XXVI. | 24:0 | 25- 5 5:00 | 4:16 XXITI.-XXVI. + XXVIL-XXXIV,| 21°6 | 25° 4 6-25 | 4:62 | XXVIL-XXXIV. — a. 368 REPORT—1844. As these waves appear in groups, their velocity and lengths are easily ob- served and measured. I have reckoned as many as a dozen such waves in a group all about the same magnitude, so that the aggregate length of the first six was sensibly equal to the length of the second group of six. The method of observation was this: a given distance was marked off along one side of the channel; an observer marked the instant at which the first of a group of secondary waves arrived at a given point, while another observer at the fur- ther end of the given distance counted the number of waves as they passed, and marked the point at which the last had arrived when the signal was given that the first wave had reached the other station ; thus it was observed that in a group of waves moving over 100 feet in 28 seconds, there were seven comprehended in a distance of 25 feet, whence 28 100 =3'57 feet per second for the velocity of the wave, and 2 =3°57 feet as the length of the wave. Also, since the wave passes along 3°57 feet its own length in one second, its length divided by the velocity gives 1 second as the period of one com- plete oscillation. The velocity of the wave of the second order, the /ength from the crest of one wave to the crest of the next, or from hollow to hollow, and the time of passing from one crest to another, called the period of the wave; these are the principal elements for observation. These elements are calculated for the convenience of observers in the Table XXI. It will also be observed that the circles which represent the oscillatory motion of the water particles (Plate LVI.), showing the Wave Motion of the Second Order, diminish very rapidly with the increasing depth of the particles below the surface of the water at the lowest part of the wave. By my observations I found that in high waves at a depth = 3rd of a wave length, the range of oscillation of the particles is only about z/gth of that of particles on the surface *. * T have here to express the favourable opinion which I have formed of a wave theory given to the world by M. Franz Gerstner, so early as 1804*, and reprinted in the work of the MM. Weber, to whom I am indebted for my acquaintance with this theory. Gerstner’s theory is characterized by simplicity of hypothesis, precision of application, its conformity with the phznomena, and the elegance of its results. It is not without faults, yet I cannot agree with the Messrs. Weber, nor with MM, Professors Mollweide and Mobius, in the precise opinion at which they arrive, although I confess I could wish that he had assumed as an hypothesis the doctrine which in (14.) he deduces as a conclusion from hypotheses less firmly established than this conclusion, unless indeed we should esteem it an argument in favour of his hypothesis, that it conducts him directly to a conclusion of well-known truth. Neither do I find that his hypotheses are so much at variance with the actual conditions of the waves I have observed, as they appear to be in MM. Weber's view of their own experiments. The calculations of M. Gerstner are applied primarily to a kind of standing oscillation. But it does not appear to me that his calculations ought to be applied in any way to the standing oscillations which M. Weber reckons to be their closest representation. In M. Gerstner’s first part of the work the wave form is standing, wave oscillation is circular, the fluid is in motion, and the particle paths are identical with the lines which indicate the form of the wave. I conceive, therefore, that the wave which he has examined, and the conditions of its genesis, find a perfect representative in my standing waves of the second order, in running water, which I have represented in Plates LV. and LVI. From this hypothesis it is not difficult to arrive at the moving wave of standing water, for if we conceive the whole channel moved horizontally along in an opposite direction with a velocity equal to the horizontal velocity of transference, the particles will then be re- latively at rest, the cycloidal waves become moving forms, the particle paths stationary circles, and the motion of transmission of the wave equal and opposite to the former mean horizontal * Theorie der Wellen. Prague, 1804. ON WAVES. 369 One observation which I have made is curious. It is, that in the case of oscillating waves of the second order, I have found that the motion of pro- pagation of the whole group is different from the apparent motion of wave transmission along the surface ; that in the group whose velocity of oscilla- tion is as observed 3°57 feet per second, each wave having a seeming velocity of 3°57, the whole group moves forward in the direction of transmission with a much slower velocity. The consequence of this is a difficulty in observing these waves (especially such as are raised by the wind at sea), namely, that as the eye follows the crest of the wave, this crest appears to run out of _ sight, and is lost in the small waves in which the group terminates. The termination of these groups in a series of waves becoming gradually smaller and smaller, yet all continuous with the large wave, is curious and leads to a curious conclusion. It is plain that if these large waves are moving with the same velocity as the small ones, this, result would be inconsistent with the other experiments. But if we conceive each to be transmitted with the velocity due to its breadth, we shall have the velocity of oscillation varying from point to’point in the same group of waves, but it will be impossible always to measure this velocity directiy as it may be continually changing. There is to be observed, therefore, this distinction in a group of waves of the second order, between the velocity of individual wave transmission and the velocity of aggregate wave propagation. I have not found it possible to measure this velocity of aggregate propa- gation of a group of waves, from want of a point to observe. If I fix my eye upon a single wave, | follow it along the group, and it gradually diminishes and then disappears; I take another and follow it, and it also disappears. My eye, in following a wave crest, follows the visible velocity of transmission merely. After one or two such observations, I find that the whole group of motion of transference of the particles. In short, they become moving waves of the third order, __ the common waves of the sea. ___ From M. Gerstner’s investigations we obtain the following results, for oscillating waves which _ correspond to our second order :— _ __1. Waves of the same amplitude are described in equal times independently of their height. _ (This corresponds with the results of our experiments.) 2. Waves are transmitted with velocities which vary as the square roots of their amplitudes. 3. The waves on the surface are of the cycloidal form, always elongated, never compressed ; the common cycloid being the limit between the possible and impossible, the continuous and the broken wave. ye __ 4, The particle paths in the standing waves of running water are cycloids, which on the sur- face are identical with the wave form, and below the surface have the same character with the _ wave lines of the surface, the height of the waves only diminishing with the increase of depth. _ 5. The particle paths of moving waves in standing water are circles corresponding to the circles of height of the cycloidal paths; the diameters of these circles of vertical oscillation di- Minish in depth as follows. Let 0, u? wu, 3 u, &c. be depths increasing in arithmetical pro~ ey 4 24 _3e gression, then b,b¢ @%,be %»bt %, which decrease in geometrical proportion, are the ratio of the diminishing diameters of vertical oscillation. Thus, if 0, 4 a, 2 a, 2 a, &c. be depths, a, 0°6065 a, 0°3679 a, 0°2231 a, 0°1353 a, are the ranges. 6. The forms of these paths and the circles of oscillation are shown in Plate X. fig. 1, which has been drawn with geometrical accuracy from the data of M. Gerstner’s theory, and it is at the same time the most accurate representative I am able to give of my observations on the wave of the second order. 7. The period of wave oscillation is cataink: 2a. Oo 5 8. The velocity of wave propagation is v= n/ 2 ag, a being the radius of the wave cycloid generating circle. 9. It follows that the length of a pendulum isochronous with the wave is less than the wave length in the ratio of the diameter of a circle to its semi-circumference. Newton made these equal. These last three results are inconsistent with my observations on transmissior:, 1844. ae 370 REPORT—1844. oscillations has been transferred along in the direction of transmission with a velocity comparatively slower; but I have not been able to measure this velocity of propagation of the wave motion from one place to another. We have already seen that the velocity assigned by Mr. Kelland and Mr. Airy falls much short of that of the wave of the first order, to which they have thought their results were to be applied. Their results are much nearer to that of the secondary wave, so that it may be questioned whether they should not have applied their results to that rather than the other. Thus by comparing Table XXI. with Table XVIIL., it will be found that while the velocity of a wave of the first order, about 6 feet long, is from 5°5 to 8 feet per second, according to the height, that of a wave of the second order is only 4°62 feet, which is much nearer to their results. There remains however this difficulty, that high and low waves of the second order of equal length have equal velocities. On Observations of the Waves of the Sea.—The chief difficulty in obtain- ing accurate measures of sea waves consists in this fact, that the surface is seldom covered with a uniform series of equidistant equal waves, but with several simultaneous groups of different magnitude or in different directions. If there exist more groups than one, the resulting apparent motion of the surface will be extremely different from the motion of either, and may be apparently in an opposite direction from that of the actual motion of the in- dividual series themselves. Besides the coexistence of different series of waves, we have the difficulty arising from the fact already mentioned, that a difference exists between the velocity of transmission and the velocity of propagation. From this it results, that after the eye has followed the apparent ridge of a wave, moving with a given velocity of transmission, it will outrun the velocity of propagation, and the wave will appear to cease. This I have continually observed at sea. The eye follows a large wave and suddenly it ceases to pass on, but on look- ing back we find it making once more an appearance on the same ground along which we formerly traced its ridge; this arises from the cause just mentioned. But there are still many occasions on which tolerable observations may be made, and the best will be such as are least complicated by separate systems. The best observations of this kind I have been able to obtain were made for the Committee of the British Association, by the Queen’s Harbour-master at Plymouth, William Walker, Esq., who has paid much attention to this sub- ject. He observed the waves as they traversed a space of about half a mile, between two buoys, noting the time of passing, and also the number of waves in the distance between the buoys, whose distance was accurately known. He remarks that in counting the number of waves, great difficulty was found in following a single wave along this space. In fact, as we have already shown, a wave will be often found to fall behind its expected place. The resulting velocities got from Mr. Walker's experiments are very various. But on taking out of the. others all those which are mentioned by Mr. Walker as having causes of uncertainty, I found those which remained very close to those given in Table XXI. The following is the Table of observations on sea waves. Distance traversed about half a mile; depth 40 to 50 feet. “ON WAVES. 371 ldo TaBLe XX. Observations on the Length and Velocity of Waves of the Second Order.—In the Sea. Height of wave Wave eet Map sec, Vel. perhour. infeetabove Remarks at the time of Observations. eet. eet. i miles. mean level. I.110°5 202 11°9 2% _A fresh breeze blowing. IL. 175°0 343 20°3 2% Waves not easily traced. Til. 302: 37°0 21:9 4. * High seas overtake smaller ones. IV. 345° 37:0 21°9 41+ These waves came down channel. V. 306° 37°0 21°9 42, Long low swell. VI. 408: 41:2 2402 Small waves merged in large ones. Height of wave correctly measured, they 42. VII. 442: 41°8 24°7 27 { break in 5 and 6 fathoms water. VIII. 450° 4407 26°5 ? Strong S.W. wind. IX. 460° 46:0 27:2 ? Waves running high and breaking. X. 345° 46°0 27°2 5 Long low swell. XI. 394: 38°3 22°7 5 Waves generated by wind of yesterday. XII. 345° 41°5 24°5 4 Waves crowd near the beach. XIII. 306: 36'8 21°6 irregular. Shifting wind. XIV. 460° 42°5 25°2 regular. Easterly winds. Of these there are five which coincide with my observations and with my tables, Nos. XIX. and XXI.; and it is curious that these five are those which are made in the most unexceptionable circumstances. No. II. has the remark _ that the waves are not easily traced. No. III. has a mixture of waves, which always causes great confusion and difficulty of observation. No. V. and No. X. are long and low, and therefore not easily traced, and so on; but Nos. I., IV., VIL, XI., XIV., are unexceptionable, and are compared with my formula in the following Table :-— Length of wave Velocity of wave Velocity of wave observed. observed. calculated, feet. feet per sec. ii 110°5 20°2 19°5 IV. 345° 37-0 35° VII. 449° 41°8 40° XII. 394° 38°3 37° XIV. 460° 42- 40°* We may therefore continue to use Table XXI. for the velocity of sea waves, unless we obtain further and decisive experiments to the contrary. It does not appear that sea waves present any characteristic to distinguish them from other oscillating waves of the second order which I have experimentally ex- amined. It also follows that these waves coincide with my observations, that the depth of water is the limit of the height of waves; see No. VII., where waves 27 feet high, break in water of 5 to 6 fathoms. How it happens that individual large waves should ever arise in the sur- face of a large sea, uniformly exposed to the action of the wind, is not very obvious. Thus much is plain—that if a wave, greater than those around it, be generated by a local inequality of the wind, or by one of the moving whirl- pools which we know to be so common, ¢hat wave will be increased con- tinually by the presence of other waves coexisting with it, for when these other waves are crossing the top of this larger wave, they are suddenly ex- posed to increased force by the obstruction they present to the wind, and 2B2 372 REPORT—1844, being cusped in form by the coincidence of the crests, they are in a position of delicate equilibrium easily deranged; and the derangement producing a breaking of the wave, the disintegrated fragments of the smaller wave de- tached from it, leave it smaller, and increase by an equal quantity the mag- nitude of the larger. This exaggeration of an individual wave or group is increased by the phenomenon already noticed, that the velocity of wave transmission may be very different from the velocity of wave propagation. A large wave of the sea remaining in a state of much slower motion than the motion of wave transmission, being traversed by another series of different velocity, exposes them successively on its summit to the increased action of the wind to disin- tegration, thus making them tributary to its own further accumulation ; such phznomena I have often noticed at sea; the wave appears to over-run itself; and the wave behind seems to take its place and acquire the magnitude and form it has appeared to lose ; but it is the same wave which remains behind it, and its motion is merely a deception, or rather it is as explained in a pre- ceding paragraph. The final destruction of the waves of the sea, as they expend their strength and conclude their existence on the rocks and sands of the shore, is a subject of interesting study and observation. The sea-shore after a storm is a scene of great grandeur ; it presents an instance of the expenditure of gigantic forces, which impress the mind with the presence of elemental power as sub- lime as the water-fall or the thunder. It is peculiarly instructive to watch these waves as they near the shore: long before they reach the shore they may be said to feel the bottom as the water becomes gradually more shallow, for they become sensibly increased in height; this increase goes on with the diminution of depth and a diminution of length likewise as the wave becomes sensible ; finally, the wave passes through the successive phases of cycloidal form, as in Plate LVI., and becoming higher and more pointed, reaching the limit of the cycloid, assumes a form of unstable equilibrium, totters, becomes crested with foam, breaks with great violence, and continuing to break, is gradually lessened in bulk until it ends in a fringed margin on the sea-shore. But there are a variety of questions to be determined concerning this shore wave or breaking surf. Why and how does it break? What happens after it begins to break? What are the relative levels of the waves and of the water? What is the mean level of the sea, and what sort of waves are breakers ? It is not at first obvious what form the mean level of the sea will assume on a sloping beach sea-ward on which heavy breakers are rolling. It is plainly not level; the action of the wind is known to heap the water up on it. The impetus of the waves also must raise it to some height due te their ve- locity and force. Hence the mean surface of the sea will form a slope upwards towards the sea-shore; and this slope will form a continual and uniform current of water outwards towards the sea, except when it is directly opposed by the action of the wave in the opposite direction. There is a phenomenon of some importance in breaking waves, to which T have directed attention ; it is this, that the wave of the second order dis- appears, and that a wave of the first order takes its place. It is to be observed as follows :—In waves breaking on a shore, I have observed a phenomenon which is curious and not without importance. The wave of the second order may disappear, and a wave of the first order take its place. The conditions in which I have noticed this phenomenon are as follows. One of the com- mon sea waves, being of the second order, approaches the shore, consisting as usual of a negative or hollow part, and of a positive part elevated above ON WAVES. ; 373 the level ; and as formerly noticed, this positive portion gradually increases in height, and at length the wave breaks, and the positive part of the wave falls forward into the negative part, filling up the hollow. Now we readily enough conceive that if the positive and the negative part of a wave were precisely equal in height, volume, and velocity, they would, by uniting, exactly neutralize each other's motion, and the volume of the one filling the hollow of the other, give rise tosmooth water; but in approaching the shore the positive part increases in height, and the result of this is, to leave the positive portion of the wave much in excess above the negative. After a wave has first been made to break on the shore, it does not cease to travel, but if the slope be gentle, the beach shallow and very extended (as it sometimes is for a mile inwards from the breaking-point, if the waves be large), the whole inner portion of the beach is covered with positive waves of the first order, from among which all waves of the second order have disappeared. This accounts for the phe- nomenon of breakers transporting shingle and wreck, and other substances shorewards after a certain point; at a great distance from shore, or where the shores are deep and abrupt, the wave is of the second order, and a body floating near the surface is alternately carried forward and backward by the waves, neither is the water affected to a great depth; whereas nearer the shore, the whole action of the wave is inwards, and the force extends to the bottom of the water and stirs the shingle shorewards ; hence the abruptness also of the shingle and sand near the margin of the shore where the breakers generally run. I have observed this most strikingly exemplified in Dublin Bay after a _ storm: there is a locality peculiarly favourable to the study of breaking waves above Kingston, where over an extent of several miles there is a broad, _ flat, sandy beach, varying in level very slightly and slowly. Waves coming in from the deep sea are first broken when they approach the shallow beach in the usual way ; they give off residuary waves, which are positive ; these are wide asunder from each other, are wholly positive, and the space between them, several times greater than the amplitude of the wave, are perfectly flat, and in this condition they extend over wide areas and travel to great dis- tances. These residuary positive waves evidently prove the existence, and _ represent the amount of the excess of the positive above the negative forces _ in the wind wave of the second order. See Plate XLIX. fig. 7. it 374 REPORT—1844. TABLE XXI. Length, Period and Velocity of Transmission of Waves of the Second Order. A the length of the waves (observed) in feet. B the period of the waves in seconds. C the velocity of the waves in feet per second (by observation). D the velocity of the waves in feet per second, calculated by formula. A B Cc D A. A B Cc D A 0-01) :053 1889] 0-01 8 1:496 5344 8 0:05 | :118 4224) 0-05 9 1:587 5°667 9 0-1 | -167 5975) O-1 10 1-670 5:975 10 0:25 1:00 20 2-366 8°45 20 03 | :290 1:034 | 0:3 30 2-90 10°34 30 05 | 374 1-336 | 0°5 40 3°34 11:95 40 0-7 | 443 1580 | 0:7 50 3°74 13°36 50 10 | °529 1:889 | 1:0 100 5:29 18:89 100 1:2 | 579 2:070 | 1:2 110 20°| 19°5 1:5 | -648 2314 | 15 200 7:48 26°72 200 1-7 | -690 2-463 | 1-7 300 9°16 32°73 300 2:0 | +748 2°672 | 2-0 345 37°| 35° 22 | 781 2°802 | 2:2 394 38°| 37° 24 | *820 2:927 | 2-4 400 | 10°58 37°78 400 2:65| 862 | 3:01) 3:075 | 2-65 442 42-| 40: 2:94] :907 | 3:15) 3:240 | 2-94 460 42-| 40° 3:00} -916 3'273 | 3:00 500 | 11:83 42:25 500 3:12| -934 | 3:29} 3°338 | 3:12 1,000 | 16°70 59°75 1,000 3:26| -955 | 3°37 |3°411 | 3:26 2,000 | 23°66 84:5 2,000 3:57 | 1-000 | 3°57 | 3°57 | 3:57 3,000 | 29-0 103-4 3,000 3°84 | 1-038 | 3°72) 3°702 | 3°84 4,000 | 33-4 119°5 4,000 4:00 | 1:058 3:778 | 4:00 5,000 | 37:4 133°6 5,000 4:18| 1-095 | 3°84] 3-909 | 4:18 10,000 | 52:9 188-9 10,000 4-50 | 1-122 4:008 | 4:50|| 20,000 | 74:8 267:2 20,000 4-70 | 1-147 4:096 | 4:70|| 30,000 | 91:6 3273 30,000 5:00 | 1-188 | 4:16} 4-225 | 5:00} 40,000 | 105-8 3778 40,000 6:00 | 1-296 4628 | 6:00|} 50,000 | 1183 422°5 50,000 6°25 | 1:323 | 4-62 | 4-724 | 6-25 |} 100,000 | 167-0 597°5 100,000 65 |1:349 4817 | 65 || 500,000 | 374-0 1336-0 500,000 7 1-400 4999 | 7 1,000,000 | 529-0 1889:0 —|1,000,000 Ce eee ee ee eS ON WAVES. 375 Section IJ].—WaAveEs oF THE THIRD ORDER. Capillary Waves. Character 2.032: Gregarious. eit Forced. Warieties”: ccs... obs ne Free. Dentate waves. Instaneesies. <" -vsis ses Zephyral waves. Capillary Waves.—If the point of a slender rod or wire, being wet. be inserted in a reservoir of water perfectly still, to a minute depth, say one- tenth part of an inch below the surface of repose, it is known that the surface of the water will visibly rise in the vicinity of this wire, being highest in the immediate vicinity of the wire, and gradually diminishing until it cease to be sensible. I have examined this elevation by reflected rays from the surface, and I find that this elevated mass does not sensibly rise from the surface at more than an inch distance from the centre of the rod, the rod itself being one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter. This statical phenomenon belongs to a well-known class of phenomena, which have been experimentally examined by many philosophers, and success- fully explained by Dr. Thomas Young and Laplace, and recently investigated very fully and completely by M. Poisson, in his profound work entitled, ‘ Nou- velle Théorie de l’ Action Capillaire,’ Paris, 1831. An admirable Report on the present state of our knowledge of the phenomena of capillary attraction will be found in the Transactions of the British Association, vol. ii. All that it is necessary for my present purpose to advert to on this subject is, that the phe- _. nomena of elevation of fluids by capillary attraction, are chiefly due to the condition of tension of the superficial particles of the water under the influence of a force acting on these superficial particles at insensible distances only, or by physical contact or adhesion. These superficial particles form a chain, or catenary, or lintearian curve, one end supported by the immediate adhesion of one extremity to the solid body at a given height above the water, the other end lying on the surface of the water, the underlying particles being suspended immediately by their mutual adhesion to this superficial film. M. Poisson especially has shown that “ capillary phenomena are due to mole- cular action, modified by a particular state of compression of the fluid at its superficies.” I have been thus particular for the purpose not only of ex- plaining my meaning in a future article, but also to justify a term which I am desirous of introducing here as an expression not only convenient, but also philosophically sound. I have called the phenomena noticed in this section Capillary Waves, because they appear to me to present themselves exclusively in the thin superficial film which forms the bounding surface of the free liquid, and which is already recognised in the known hydrostatical phenomena of capillary attraction, and which if I may be allowed, I will call the capillary film. By capillary waves 1 therefore designate a class of hydrodynamical phe- nomena, which exhibit themselves when particles of water are put in motion under the action of such forces as when at rest produce the usual hydrosta- tical capillary phenomena. Let the slender rod already alluded to, as sup- porting a capillary column, bounded by a concave surface of revolution, be moved horizontally along the surface of the fluid with a velocity of ore foot per second, ana we shall have exhibited to us all the beautiful phenomena re- presented in Plate LVII. In order to produce these phenomena, it is only necessary that the slender rod touch the surface without descending to any 376 “REPORT—1844. sensible depth; and the depth to which it descends in no sensible manner affects the phenomenon. JI have called these phenomena capillary waves. Free Capillary Waves.—If the point of a rod sustaining a capillary column be suddenly raised, so as to allow the capillary film to remain without support, it descends and propagates through the capillary film an undulation which dif- fuses itself in every direction circular-wise, in a small group of about half a dozen visible waves which soon become insensible. Or if avery slender silk fibre, stretched horizontally along the surface of the water, be first wetted, and made to sustain a long strip of the capillary film, and then suddenly with- drawn, leaving a ridge of unsupported fluid, waves parallel to this are gene- rated, which remain longer visible, are short and narrow at first, and becoming longer and flatter, at first about a quarter of an inch in amplitude from ridge to ridge, and about half a dozen in number, they become an inch in amplitude about the time when they are last visible; their /ongevity does not exceed twelve or fifteen seconds, and their visible range eight or ten feet. These latter are what I designate the free capillary waves; the former class, shown in Plate LVII., existing under the continued influence of the disturb- ing force, may be called the forced species of this order of wave. As forced waves, and while under the influence of the exciting body, they may appa- rently attain great velocity ; but if the disturbing body be suddenly removed, they immediately expand backwards from the place where they were crowded by the solid point, and becoming all of nearly equal breadth, move forward together as free waves for twelve or fifteen seconds, at a rate of 83 inches per second. Forced Capillary Waves.—I have aiready stated that if a slender rod or wire, one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter, be inserted, after having been wetted, into water in repose, there will be raised all round this rod a column of fluid by the action of the capillary forces, as indicated at figure 2, Plate LVI. I have stated that this surface may be observed by reflexion to extend on every side about an inch, forming a circular elevation, bounded by a surface of re- volution round the axis of the rod asa centre; the line which divides the elevated from the level surface being a circle of two inches in diameter. When this rod is moved horizontally along the surface of the fluid, the form of the elevated mass changes; before the disturbing point the extent of elevation diminishes, and the outline of the capillary volume of fluid sustained by the cylinder ceases to be a figure of revolution, becoming distorted as at fig. 3. At a velocity of about eight inches per second, the capillary volume has taken the bifurcate form, fig. 6, and a small wave, 6b, about an inch broad, is visible before the disturbing point, and a ridge, aa, begins to manifest itself, diverging from the disturbing body ; at about ten inches per second there become visible distinctly three waves, the disturbing body being in the middle of the first a, and the sum of the length of waves 6 and e, being about an inch. At higher velocities than this, the waves increase rapidly in number, diminish in amplitude, and extend out in length, spreading into the form indicated in Plate LVII., which is formed at a velocity of 60 feet per minute, or of 12 inches per second. As the velocity increases, the following changes are to be observed :— 1. The waves diminish in amplitude from ridge to ridge; that is to say, de- nominating the wave in which is the disturbing body ridge a, and the others in succession before the point 6 ¢ d, &c. the first space of an inch forward, in the direction of motion contains at a velocity of 12 inches per second, or 60 feet per minute, besides a, 3 ridges bed; at 65 feet per second, 4 ridges b cde; at 72 feet per second there are in the first inch formed five ridges bcdef,andso on. This crowding of the ridges with the velocity is given in the following Table :-— ON WAVES. _ 377 Tasie XXII. "Observations on the Velocity, Distance, and Divergence of Waves of the Third Order. i Column A contains the time in which the disturbing body, a wire of one- _ sixteenth of an inch in diameter, was drawn with a uniform motion along , distances of 12 feet each ; each experiment being frequently repeated. B and C are the corresponding velocities of the disturbing body. 4 D, E, F are the number of complete waves, reckoning from hollow to hol- __ low, ‘contained in each successive inch from the centre of the disturbing ‘ wire, formed in the direction of the motion of the wire. __ G. The numbers in this column are measures of the divergence of the first _ wave from the path of the exciting wire, measured at 25 inches behind that _ wire, and of course these numbers are tangents to the radius 25 for the angle _ of divergence. H contains the angles deduced from the numbers in G. Observations on the Capillary Waves. See Plate LVII. A. B. Cc. D. | E. | F, G. H. No. of waves observed before Tang. of Angle of crest Time of | Velocity | Velocity the disturbing body, angle to | of first wave aa, describing| in feet | in feet | —_______________ | "7... | with direction 12 feet. | per sec. |permin-| i, grst lin second| in third| 25. of disturbing inch. inch. inch. bodies. —$$— | | | | | J | Ty 12 1 60 3 4 ap 25 | 45 II. 11 14+ 65 4 5 6? 21 40 III. 10 14 72 5 6 7? 17 34 IV. 9 13 80 6 7 14 29 V. 8 14 90 7 8 LE 24 VI. 7 13 103 8 9 20 VII. 6 2 120 9 8 18 VIII. 5 24 132 Vf IX. 4 3 180 6 _ The crowding of the ridges is not the only phenomenon that accompanies _ the increase of velocity of the moving point ; the first wave, that whose ridge ‘is in the focus, scarcely differs from a straight line, and the angle which it makes with the path of the disturbing point, diminishes with the increase of _ Yelocity ; the divergence of the first wave from the path of the exciting body _ is given in another column by an observation of the distance of the wave ; vas om that path at a given distance behind the body. These numbers show "that the velocity of the wave, taken at right angles to the ridge, is nearly that ‘of the free wave. This angle therefore becomes an index of the relation of % the velocity of disturbance to the velocity of wave propagation. __ The form of the wave ridges appears to be nearly that of a group of confocal ee yperoolas, the exciting body being in the focus. & T have found the numbers given in columns C, D and E, to be determined _ by the velocity of the disturbing body, and quite independent of its size and form. But while I have found the number of ridges in an inch at a . _ velocity to be thus invariable, I have not found the number of inches 5¥e. ‘- 378 REPORT—1844, over which these vibrations range to be equally invariable. At a velocity ot 100 feet per minute, they may sometimes be observed advancing only over the first two inches before the point ; then suddenly the vibrations will spread out, not increasing in magnitude but in number to thirty or forty, extending along many inches in advance of the disturbing point, and covering ten or twelve square feet with an extension of the representation in Plate LVII. Then suddenly without apparent cause, they will subside and become visible only as a thin narrow belt, comprising the two or three waves nearest the disturb- ing body, and as suddenly will again spread out over the surface of the water. The play of this beautiful symmetrical system of confocal hyperbolas is a phenomenon not inferior in beauty to some of the exquisite figures exhibited by polarising crystals. I have found that the purity of the water had much to do with the éxtent and range of this phenomenon; that any small particles loading at a few points the capillary film was sufficient to derange the propa- gation of these waves, and prevent their distribution over a wide range ; but I have not found that the agitation of the water at all affected the formation of these waves. It is perhaps of importance to state that when these forced waves were being generated, I have suddenly stopped or withdrawn the disturbing point, that the first wave immediately sprang back from the others, showing that it had been in a state of compression—that the ridges became parallel, and moving on at the rate of 85 inches per second, disappeared in about 12 seconds. The manner in which the divergence of the ridge passes through the point of disturbance is shown in the annexed diagram. A B is the path of disturbance, the disturbing point being in B; a rod B A is 25 inches long; BC is the diverging wave ridge ; a graduated rod A C projects from A B at the point A, 25 inches behind B, on which are observed the distance of the wave from A along A C, registered in Col, 6, Table XXIII. A ie. B If a body move with a given velocity along a known line A B, the side A C being measured at right angles to the line of direction A B, and cutting, in C, the line B C which represents the 4 ridge of the wave proceeding from the moving body B; it is required to find the velocity of the wave in the line A D perpendicular to its ridge. c As the triangle A B C is right-angled, sin Bo and since the triangle A B Dis right-angled, x= Ls ; hence, the time being the same as that in which A B is described, the ve- locity is at once obtained. Table I. contains some observations which were made with a view to the investigation of the ratio subsisting between these velocities. The sides and angles are indicated by the same letters which are used in the diagram. ¢, its velocity, and & being given; 2, its velocity, and B were calculated by means of the preceding formule. ON WAVES. 379 TABLE XXIII. Comparison of Experiments on the Divergence due to given Velocities of Genesis. Column c is the constant measure in inches taken along the path of gene- sis A B in the figure ; the adjacent column is the velocity of genesis along A B in inches per second. Column d is the length A C, measured by observation in a direction at right angles to A B. Column z is the length of « deduced from the measure 6, and the adjacent column shows the corresponding deduced velocity of the wave at right angles to its ridge. Column B shows the angles of divergence given by these observations. Column 6! and B! are numbers corresponding to 6 and B obtained from the supposition that the velocity of the wave in a direction at right angles to its own ridge is constant and precisely equal to the velocity of the free wave, viz. 81 inches per second. The deviations of 6! and B' from 6 and B were chiefly due to disturbance of the fluid produced by the apparatus employed in genesis. Velocity Velocity c. f|ininches|) 3. x. |ininches B. uw. B’. per sec. per sec. Oly vip th o 4 4 25 12 25 17:67; 849 | 45 0 0; 25:0 | 45 O O 25 13 21 16:07| 8:37 | 40 0 1 | 21-60} 40 49 48 25 14:4 17 14:05; 810 | 34.13 7 | 1827| 36 10 26 25 16.0 14 12:16| 7:79 | 29 7 46 | 15-67| 32 5 23 25 18-0 11 10:05 | 7:28 | 23 42 55 | 13:38| 28 9 32 25 20°6 9 8-44] 6:98 | 19 44 43 | 11:31) 24 21 24 25 24-0 8 7-61| 7-31 | 17 43 22 9:46 | 20 44 27 25 7 | 674 15 38 35 25 6 5°83 13 29 44 Various considerations induced the acceptance of a constant velocity along x of 85 inches per second. The deviations from it in the increasing veloci- - ties are due principally to the disturbance of the fluid by the peculiar method of genesis in that instance employed as most convenient. On this assump- tion the values of 4 were calculated by the following formula and placed in the column 0’, and the values of the angle B found in this manner are written under B’. In the triangle A BD, sin —— ; sinD xz sinC * From what has been said, it follows that there can be no difficulty in cal- culating the velocity of a body or current from the divergence of the capillary wave. Let 6 represent the amount of divergence per foot, the time in which a _ foot will be described, and consequently the velocity per second, can be ob- tained by the formule which were first given; thus, finding the length of z, and its velocity being known, the absolute time occupied can at once be found, which time is that in which the moving body traverses one foot. In Table II., columns A, B, contain the divergence of the wave expressed in inches per foot, and the corresponding velocity in inches per second. whence in the triangle A C D, 6= 380 REPORT—1844. TABLE*XXIV. For determining the Velocity of Currents or Moving Bodies by Observations of Divergence. Column A gives the divergence from the path of disturbance measured at right angles to the path, in inches per foot of distance from the disturbing point. Column B gives the corresponding velocity in inches per second, measured along the direction of the stream or the path of the disturbing point. Column C contains the angle, which may be observed, at which the wave passes off from the disturbing point, and gives in degrees its divergence from the direction of the stream or the path of the disturbing point. Column D gives the velocity in inches per second corresponding to the angles in C. A. B. Cc. D. ° 12 12-0 60 9°81 ll 12°62 55 10°37 10 13-49 50 11-09 9 14°16 45 12-02 8 15°38 40 13-22 17-0 35 14-82 6 19-08 30 17:0 5 22-10 25 20°12 4 27:0 20 24°85 3 2 1 35-13 | 15 | 3284 51-77 | 10 | 48-94 10233 | 5 | 97-51 1 | 487-10 | When the angle of divergence is given, the process is facilitated, as one of the equations used in the previous case has for its sole object the finding of that angle; in Table II., columns C, D, contain the velocities in inches per second corresponding to the given angle of divergence. Waves of a similar description with those I have here examined, appear first to have been noticed by M. Poncelet, in the course of the valuable experiments made by him and M. Lesbros, which are published in their ‘ Mémoire sur la dépense des orifices rectangulaires verticaux 4 grandes di- mensions présenté a l’ Académie Royale des Sciences,’ 16th November, 1829. In a notice in the ‘ Annales de Chimie et de Physique,’ vol. xlvi. 1831, “ Sur quelques phénoménes produits a la surface libre des fluides, en repos ou en mouvement, par la présence des corps solides qui y sont plus ou moins plongés, et spécialement sur les ondulations et les rides permanentes qui en résultant,” M. Poncelet gives the following description of the phanometa. “Lorsqu’on approche légérement l’extrémité d'une tige fine, formée par une substance solide queleonque, de la surface supérieure d’un courant d’eau bien réglé ou constant, il se forme aussitét 4 cette surface une quantité de rides proéminentes, enveloppant de toutes parts le point de contact de la tige et du fluide, et présentant l’aspect d’une série de courbes paraboliques qui s’envelopperaient les uns les autres, et auraient pour axe de symmétrie, ou pour grand axe commun, un droit passant par le point dont il s'agit, et dirigée dans le sens méme du courant en ce point. L’extrémité inférieure de la tige occupe le sommet de la premiére parabole intérieure, qui sert comme de limite commun 4 toutes les autres ; le nombre des rides parait d’ailleurs étre infini, et elles sont disposées entre elles 4 des intervalles distincts qui croissent ON WAVES. 381 avec leur distance au point du contact ..... . les rides sont parfaitement immobiles et invariables de forme tant que l'état de repos de la tige et de mouvement du courant n’est pas changé; de plus, au lieu de persister plus ou moins aprés que cette tige a été enlevée, le phénoméne disparait brusque- ment, et a l'instant ot le liquide abandonne I’extrémité inférieure de la tige, & laquelle il n’est plus retenue vers la fin qu’en vertu de l’'adhérence...... le phénoméne s’opere essentiellement a la surface supérieure du fluide. “,.....quand Je courant se trouve limité per des parois plus ou moins voisines de la tige, et paralléles 4 la direction générale des filets fluides, le phénoméne des rides se reproduit de la méme maniére et avec des circon- stances sensiblement identiques 4 celles qui auraient lieu si ces parois n’exist- aient pas, ou si la masse du fluide était indéfinie ; c’est-d-dire que la disposi- tion, la forme et les dimensions des rides sont sensiblement les mémes, a cela prés qu’elles se trouvent brusquement coupées ou interrompues par les parois solides qui limitent le courant comme on le voit représenté, sans éprouver dailleurs aucune sorte d'inflexion, de déviation ou de réflexion; l’action de la paroi n’ayant d’autre effet ici que de soulever, al’ordinaire la surface géné- rale du niveau du fluide ....!!.... le phénoméne des rides se manifeste également 4 l’entour des corps de dimensions plus ou moins grandes, si ce n’est que ces rides s’étendent plus au loin, sont plus larges, plus saillantes, et forment par conséquent des courbes moins déliées et moins distinctes ..... . soit que Yon considére les ondulations dans un méme profil, soit que l’on considére les ondulations qui se correspond dans des profils différens ou qui appartien- nent aux mémes rides l’amplitude de ces ondulations, c’est-a-dire leur hauteur verticale sera autant moindre, et l’intervalle qui les sépare d’autant plus grand, que les points auxquels elles appartiennent se trouveront plus éloignés..... ces différens systémes se superposent exactement aux points de leur rencontres _ mutuelles sans que leur forme soit aucunement altérée .... . l’examen attentif de ces changemens de forme et de position des rides produites 4 la surface _ @un courant quelconque par la presence d’un point fine, serait donc trés-propre a faire juger, au simple coup d’ceil, de l'état méme du mouvement en chacun des points de cette surface, et pour chacun des instants successifs o0 I’on viendrait l’observer . . . . mais cela suppose qu’on a fait a l’avance ; une étude beaucoup trop compliquée et trop délicate pour que nous ayons pu jusqu’ ici nous en occuper. .... on trouve, 1°, que les rides sont imperceptibles quand 8a vitesse est moyennement au dessous de 25 c. per seconde; 2°, qu’elles sont dautant plus déliées d’autant plus distinctes que la vitesse est plus grande; _ 3°; que le nombre des rides se multiplie aussi 4 mesure que la vitesse du cou- rant augmente, surtout aux environs du point du contact de la tige; 4°, que les longues branches des rides se réservent de plus en plus.... quand la vitesse surpasse 5 ou 6 métres les differens rides paraissent se réduire a une seule... . ce phénoméne est telle (in standing water) qu’on croirait volontiers que le déplacement de la tige n’a d’autre effet que de pousser les rides en avant delle et d'un mouvement commun sur la surface immobile.” These are mere points of difference between these observations and my own, which I am disposed to attribute to the peculiarities of condition in which the observations of M. Poncelet were made. His observations appear chiefly to have been made in currents, where it was of course impossible to secure uniformity of motion over the whole surface. 382 REPORT—1844. Section [V.—Waves or THE FourTH ORDER. The Corpuscular Wave. The Sound Wave of Water. This order of wave I have denominated the corpuscular wave, because the motions by which it is propagated are so minute as to escape altogether direct observation, and it is only by mathematical @ priori investigation and indi- rect deductions from phznomena, that we come to recognise its existence as a true physical wave. The motions by which it is propagated are so minute, that it is only by supposing a change in the form of the molecules of the liquid, or of their density, if conceived to be in contact, or an instantaneous and infinitesimal change in the minute distances of the molecules from each other, that the existence of such a wave can be conceived to be possible. I have not examined this wave by any experiments of my own, and indeed I find that labour to be perfectly unnecessary, for there has been kindly transmitted to me by M. Colladon, a communication of his to the Academy of Sciences, which has been printed in the fifth volume of the ‘ Mémoires des Savans Etrangéres,’ in which there is given in great detail, an account of a complete and most satisfactory determination of the elements of this question. Newton's approximate determination of the velocity of sound in the at- mosphere was followed by that of Dr. Young and M. Laplace, who effected a similar approximation for water and other liquids, and finally the complete solution was satisfactorily given by M. Poisson, the velocity being determined both for solids and liquids by the formula where D is the density of the substance, & the length of a given column, and ¢ the small diminution of length caused by a given pressure P. For the determination of the velocity of the sound wave in water, MM. Colladon and Sturm undertook a series of experiments on the compression of liquids, conducted with very ingenious apparatus, and observed and dis- cussed with much accuracy; by this means they obtained values for the quantities P, # and ¢, from which the velocity of sound should be theoretically determined. They obtained for the water of the lake of Geneva the following quan- tities :— Assuming D=1, k=1,000,000, they found ==48'66, and P=(0™76).g.m=(0™76).(9°8088 ).(13,544), whence c=1437°8 métres, being the theoretical velocity per second of the sound wave in water. A very elegant apparatus was next employed for the direct determination by experiment of the truth of this result. Two stations were taken on the lake of Geneva, the mean depth of water lying between them being about se- venty fathoms, and the distance between the stations was carefully determined to be 13,487 métres, or 14,833 yards, about eight miles and a half, lying be- tween the towns Rolle and Thonon. At one end of this station a large bell was suspended at a depth of five or six fathoms below the surface of the water, and struck by mechanism so contrived, as at the instant of striking to explode a small quantity of gunpowder, and so indicate (during a dark night) ae ON WAVES. 383 to the observer, eight miles off, the instant at which the bell was struck. This sound was distinctly heard by a sort of ear-trumpet lowered in the water at the other end, and so the observations, made. The mean time occupied in propagating the sound from one station to the other as thus determined, was nine seconds and a half, or more precisely 9:4. seconds, giving for the velocity of sound by direct experiment c= BATS 1435 métres, the actual velocity of the sound wave thus being found to differ from the theoretical by not three métres per second. The velocity of transmission of the wave of the fourth order in water is therefore in English measure about 1580 yards per second, being about one- half more rapid than the velocity of sound through the atmosphere. DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. PiatEe XLVII. Genesis and Mechanism of the Wave of Translation —Order I. Fig. 1. Genesis by impulsion.—A X is the bottom of a long rectangular chan- nel filled with water to a uniform depth; P a thin plate inserted vertically in the fluid and fitting the internal surface of the channel. It is moved forward from A towards X through the successive positions P,, P., Ps, P., P,, and heaping up the water before it generates a wave of the first order W,, W,, which is transmitted along the channel as at W,, W, to W,, &c., being transmitted with uniform velocity as a great solitary wave, _ _and leaving the water behind it in repose at the original level. Fig. 2. Genesis by a column of fluid.—In the same channel the moveable _ plate P, is fixed so as with the end and sides of the channel to form reser- voir A G P,, containing a column of water G W, raised above the surface _ of repose of the water in the channel. P, is suddenly raised as at P, and _ P,; the column descends, presses forward the column anterior to P, and raises the surface, generating a wave of translation, which is transmitted along the channel as before. After genesis the volume g, reposes on the level g., the water in the channel having been translated forwards from P to kk; every particle of water in the channel has during the transmission of the wave been translated towards X through a horizontal distance equal my to Pk. Fig. 3. Genesis by protrusion of a solid.—L, is a solid suspended at the end of the channel, its inferior surface slightly immersed in the fluid. It is suddenly detached, descends, displaces the adjacent fluid, and generates a wave of translation as in the foregoing methods. Fig. 4 exhibits the phenomena of genesis, transmission and regenesis, or reflexion of the wave of translation. Fig. 5 exhibits in four diagrams the motions of individual wave particles during wave transmission. The first diagram represents by arrows the simultaneous motions of the particles in different portions of the same wave at successive points in its length. At the front of the wave the particles a, ¢, €, g, taken at equal depths below the surface, are at rest. The wave- length is divided into ten equal parts: at the first the motion is chiefly up- wards, and yery slightly forwards; at the second, less upwards and more 384 REPORT—1844. forwards; at the third, still less upwards and still more forwards, and so on; the inclination of the path diminishing to the middle of the wave, where the velocity is greatest and the direction quite horizontal. Behind this part of the wave the particles are to be seen descending more and more with a motion gradually retarded, and at the hinder extremity of the wave they are in repose, as at the front. These motions of the particles of water are rendered visible by minute particles of any kind mixed with the water and nearly of the same specific gravity. Such are the simultaneous motions of the successive particles at different stations along the same wave, as ob- served in a channel by glass windows placed in the sides and carefully gra- duated in small squares for the purpose of observation, the side of the chan- nel opposite to the window being similarly graduated. The second diagram represents the paths of four particles described during the whole period of transmission of a wave. The wave is transmitted from A towards X. The anterior extremity of the wave finds one particle at @ and carries it for- ward through an ellipse to 6, where it is left by the end of the wave: the same wave translates the particle ¢ vertically below @ through its elliptical path and leaves it at d vertically below 6, and in like manner e and g are transferred to fand h. All these paths are semi-ellipses (as nearly as it is possible to observe them), and are of the same major axis; but the semi- minor axis is at the surface equal to the height of the wave-crest, and di- minishes with the distance from the bottom of the channel, where it is nil. The ¢hird diagram exhibits the pheenomena of vertical sections during wave transmission: small globules of greater specific gravity than water are sus- pended at different depths by means of long slender stalks of less specific gravity. These globules are arranged while the water is in repose, in ver- tical planes at equal distances along the fluid. These vertical planes are, by transmitting the wave, made to approach each other, but still retaining their verticality without sensible disturbance. At the middle of the wave- length they are brought closest, and at the hinder extremity they recede and settle down at their original depth. The fourth diagram shows the change of the position of points in the same horizontal planes during wave transmis- sion, particles vertically equidistant in repose remaining equidistant during wave transmission. Fig. 6. Genesis of compound waves.—The first diagram represents the gene- sis by a large low column of fluid of a compound or double wave of the first order, which immediately breaks down by spontaneous analysis into two, the greater moving faster and altogether leaving the smaller. The second diagram represents the genesis by a high small column of fluid of a positive and negative wave, which soon separate, the positive wave travel- ling more rapidly, leaving altogether the residuary negative wave. The negative wave is further noticed in another Plate. W, is the positive and wl the residuary positive or negative wave as generated. W, and w, represent them separated by propagation. Piare XLVIII. Discussion of Observations on the Velocity of Waves—Order I. : Fig. 1. Comparison of the observations marked by stars with the formula B, — indicated by the parabola A B, of which A X is the axis, parallel to which’ are measured abscisse I., II., II., &c., representing the depth of the’ fluid in inches, the corresponding velocities being represented by ordinates Al, A2, A3, AY, &c.at right angles to AX. The manner in which the curve passes through among the stars, shows the close oppeomaee ¥ ON WAVES. 385 | the results of individual experiments to the formula B adopted to represent _. them. These are taken from the Table V. Fig. 2 exhibits a similar comparison for waves of a larger size than the former. See Table IV. Figs. $3 and 4 show a comparison with the observations, marked by stars as before, with formule proposed by Mr. Airy, shown as dots connected by dotted lines, and with the formule employed by the author, shown by a continuous black line AB. The eye at once decides whether the black line or the dots and dotted line most nearly coincides with the stars. See Tables VI. and VII. Fig. 5 exhibits a similar comparison of the velocity of negative waves, as ob- served in a rectangular channel along A B, and in a triangular channel as shown along AB’. The stars show that the velocity falls below that which the formule would assign as due to the depth, especially in the triangular _ channel. See Tables XI. and XII. _ Fig. 6 exhibits the general results of experiments on velocity ; the horizontal spaces indicate depths of five inches to each, and the velocities in per __ second are represented by the vertical spaces which represent each the ve- locity of one foot per second in transmission of the wave. c0seces2sec0-consenseansspamcuaeedel Mr. Eaton Hopexinson’s Experimental Inquiries into the Falling-off from perfect Plasticity im SONG Odes ie .g tenes. soncees. cos ncn on ccnacseas soseucceeassreenads Communications from Norway, presented by Mr. John Lee.........s.seser0es teense CHEMISTRY. Mr. W. Wesr on the Mineral Springs and other Waters of Yorkshire............ Professor DauBENyY’s Account of the Phosphorite Rock in Spanish Estremadura Mr. J. C. 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Musprartt on the supposed Formation of Valerianic Acid from Indigo, and on the Acid which is formed by the Action of Hydrate of Potash upon WVEOPOGIUAMA ee ker ona sec eke oud seen aeecaaeatese smn case cass: ass cevepse se cpaanaeee meena Mr. Rosert Riee’s Experiments on the Formation or Secretion of Carbon by Animals, the Disappearance of Hydrogen and Oxygen, and the Generation of Animal Heat during the processasadiecsss-ccscsdst2ccqsscescsesecrcesatgectaenssage Mr. C. J. Jornpan on increasing the Intensity of the Oxyhydrogen Flame ...... Mr J.P. J OUR ON MS peciiciHeatisecsstatendsnsacssescsaccee cas acc gengs cuanuer amen emebense Mr. W. Wesv’s Account of Experiments on Heating by Steam..........-.ssecee00e Dr. Tuomas Tittey on a peculiar Condition of Zinc, produced by a long-con- tittued EUsh Perm peragewre yo. esses essen ascends sss deoscesseccuseneee gus spesetenaseeaaeha Mr. T. M. GREENHOW’s Description of an Air-Duct to be used in Glass Furnaces for the Prevention of Smoke, with Models ..............sceseeeecceccceceseess ropa: Mr. Rosert Hunt on the Influence of Light on Chemical Compounds, and Hleetro-OhermicaltAchiones oes sresecesetacedesas secs occns -creccvagssnessasmataseeebe ——_—_—_————— on the Ferrotype, and the Property of Sulphate of Iron in developing Photographic Images .........ccsecsesesseeeceeesencnceeeeeses Ht set sh Mr. Tuomas Woops on the Electrolysotype; a new Photographic Process ... Professor Grove on Photography ........ anpanan aes Peausapsanereenine Kesccapinnne ais CONTENTS. “Mr. L. L. B. Inperson on a Method of Electrotype, by which the Deposition on Minute Objects is easily accomplished...... deeratmsererevesheress one UB cake heeds . ir. THomas Extey on the Alternate Spheres of Attraction and Repulsion, _ noticed by Newton, Boscovich and others; and on Chemical Affinity ......... Sir G. Grsszs on the Constitution of Matter .........ce:cccsseeneceeneeneeeeeeeseenens Mr. W. Lucas on the Alteration that takes place in Iron by being exposed to long-continued Vibration .......secesseeeeecensernecsseenceeereeeees wach ide one psee I i GEOLOGY AND PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. Mr. G. A. Manrett on a newly-discovered Species of Unio, from the Wealden Strata of the Isle of Wight...... Arab safe Han AB Ee ae ba ce Gr aoe ti ener Hak Aa Professor ANSTED on Mining Records, and the Means by aniel their Preserya- HOW, May be best ensured... ss. ..s.csacenecsspotcccnreraresensenssenchwenesososneneedsecdee Professor E. Forses and Mr. L. L. Boscawen Issertson on the Tertiary and Cretaceous Formations of the Isle of Wight.......-....sssesssecceescessrececsseances The Very Rev. the Dean oF York’s Critical Remarks on certain Passages in ' Dr. Buckland’s Bridgewater Treatise......cccsscsssccssseesseestcenes ssateecseseneesaee “Mr. G. W. FeatHerstonHAueH on the Excavation of the Rocky Channels of __ Rivers by the Recession of their Cataracts .......--.+2.-sseesecseceeeeceneneee conees Mr. Exras Hatz on the Midland Coal Formations of England...............e0e0+ ‘Sir H. T. Dz 1a Bucue’s Account of that Portion of the Ordnance Geological Map of England now completely coloured, and Notes concerning a Section Pome the one Rocks in the vicinity of Builth PoURUeEEPeeeerrr errr re reer rere) On the “Lbieal by Mr. Searles Wood, of an Ae in the Freshwater Cliff at Hordwell, associated with extinct Mammalia ............scsccssesecsesceeeeenes Professor Loven on the Bathymetrical Distribution of Submarine Life on the Northern Shores of Scandinavia .......ccccscccsecscsccscvaeescceceresncecsseeeestecsees * H. E. SrrickLanp on an Anomalous Structure in the Paddle of : a Species 1 Of Uchthyosaurus...-........ssescseeeeesnssceeeeneeececceseeeerscecensenenetsesecesewesens ‘Queries and Statements concerning a Nail found imbedded in a Block of Sand- _, stone obtained from Kingoodie (Mylnfield) Quarry, North Britain........ aon pet. J. Rooke on the Relative Age and True Position of the Millstone Grit and _ Shale, in reference to the Carboniferous System of Stratified Rocks in the Ge _ British Pennine Chain of Hills .......s.ccccsececveseceeesscveceeee Suid poh oe ads cates als Mr. Joun Atsop on the Toadstones of Derbyshire......... sev bepbRb aceon cantanenae gee ccsemutncon tious Mr. T. Meynett on the Fishes of Yorkshire ..........cccccscsccccscsscsccctccsccccees Report of the Dredging Committee for 1844,........:sccsecseseeescesersseteenccr neces Professor E. 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Gas noe aiae cactgcete sae RSG sees hey ey ou'ax'es ean. ease ge auebd cette i eee ps aia a Mr. A. Goapsy on the Conservation of Substances ...,..s+ssesreeseperreepenteeess Dr. Tuomas Laycock’s Suggestions for the Observation of Periodic Changes ROWS cedea cn cease he puertscans Bamcearraarecsastis Ranarnaredseaze sede vets cee re reaseuke ree ——_——_-——_——_ on a new Species of Barbacenia .....+..serreererseerees on the Ophiocaryon Paradoxa, the Snake-nut Tree.. ——~—— on the Calycophyllum Stanleyanum...... Seaerass¥inne cas Description of Lightia lemniscata, a new Genus of the Wamgily Buttneriaepesssspeenparnerescanpeserast-ncres os epitscnnseenens saan ae ppb ete on two New Species of the Family Laurinee, from the Forests of Guiana .......... soiree Samana sale -dnczebla eneha s<-A seh tgeerMtancane tinea - Mr. THomas ALLIS on some Peculiarities in the Flight of Birds, especially as that is influenced in some Species by the power wey possess of decreasing and —. ~~ adjusting their Own Specific Bravity ,.,...+0.sssccseesrecserecevapnerensees ee ee Pr Mrs. Wurrsy on the Cultivation of the Silk Barta occ oes cose aaa saheaay Mr. T. Auuis on the Cultivation of Ferns..,.......ssesesserereres ssotes Mads eeaenain Sebee Madame Jeanette Power’s Further Experiments and Observations on the PAL GONGULA ATGO -.asscncssnt dnd 3+ rekopec Ree raat eaeeD EM Mr. W. B. Brent on the Stature and relative Proportions of Man at different _. Epochs and in different CountrieS..,..0..,:cpreeserecsessereesecsseeesene p¥iiaiddovepbon's Rey. W. Ricuarps on the Natives of the Hawaiian Islands cree bck F dette ¥00 General MiLxer on the Sandwich Islanders ..........ceeeeeeeees acoaul due ceaheh of Shs CONTENTS. Mr. H. R. Scuoorcrart on the Languages of America.........++ gith sivas gicseaee Chevalier Scoompures on the Natives of Guiana ..........., A dapgeu del gaseteatenoass Dr. Kye on the supposed extinct Inhabitants of Newfoundland ,,............++ . “Mr. Krncarp on the Shyens and Karens of India .,5..-.....,seeeseeeeees patents only Rev. T, Myers on Ethno-epo-graphy .,......, parses oa ote vece Ra phdep Aang Stpcovesees ‘Dr. Komsst on the Mode of Constructing Ethnographical Maps . Waaaepua cbaieay A } MEDICAL SCIENCE, Dr. Hemine on a Disease of the Tongue,......:yreseressonrseensesvecs hoadiigeauesss oes Professor Peretti on the Bitter Principles of some Vegetables........ petietia sds Dr. S, W. J, Mzzeiman on the Comparative Frequency of Uterine Conception Dr. Hopexin on the Tape-Worm as prevalent in Abyssinia........s+esesers eastate Dr. Laycocx on the Reflex Function of the Brain ........... Ree seg ds Ss Dr. Kemp on the Functions of the Bile..,,..... POA S rey ee a sao cavecceesdaneay ‘Dr. THurwam on the Scientific Cranioscopy of Professor Carus... creenpes Dr. A. T. Toomson on the Influence of the Endermic Application of the Salts _ of Morphia in painful permanent Swelling of the Joints, causing contractions STATISTICS. Mr. G, R. Porter on the Mining Industry of France...,........+.0+5 App nngner ane B On Agricultural Schools near East Bourne ............:01seseeeees piso aon mawaenss Lieut.-Col. Syxzs on the Mortality of Calcutta ...... Baas Neiuaitia upiia ekieleger wasinsschite —_—_——— on the Statistics of Frankfort on the Maine.........s00:000 on the Statistics of Hospitals for the Insane in Bengal ...... Mr. W. CuARLES CoPpPpERTHWAITE on the Statistics of Old and New Malton.,. ey. THEODORE Drury’s Hints on the Improvement of Agricultural Labourers Dr Laycocx on the Sanatory Condition of York during the years 1839-1843.. on the Addition to Vital Statistics contained in the First Report + of the Commissioners of Inquiry into the Circumstances affecting the Health MMMMPRCHISH 3 Chto con ceder cenertivatesep eases: cacccan snes sa: opuasaacdnassa+sssnguaadangatatadp r. JOSEPH FLETCHER’S Statistical Notices of the State of Education i in York.. r. WILLIAM FELKIN on the Statistics of the Machine-wrought Hosiery Trade Dr. Jonn Tuurnam on the relative Liability of the two Sexes to Insanity .. Mr. J. W. Woottear on the Financial Giconomy of Savings’ Banks ......+. Mr. C. H. BracesripceE on Rural Statistics, illustrated by those of the Ather- MMNEMU) AHO cgcan si, 2c voces phcraatestuscs fae scd}edneacaccssaesasse sss scasssanwaeGas copannseeon Captain Maconocutz on the Statistics of the Criminal Population of Norfolk MCs fee cia ech Oh osm ckictnssites tence cede sasice sc yloe cen sn aed acta tememelsias vie gpl rise Mr. W. P. Artson’s Notes on the Reports of the Poor Law Commissioners on emetnterof the Poor in Scotland \io)i.c0c)eccereosccsccancenannenonasnenernomnceano tina D . CLENDINNING on the Statistics of Health, elucidated by the Records of the on TATE AT ies ces cc unenamann anerepiss selmasteat Sach pase mnambenan lanai anddiivel Ane - ee ? on MECHANICAL SCIENCE. - Mr. J. Scorr Russext on the Resistance of Railway Trains.......... Papcinclesistiniges Mr. W. Bripces on Wooden Railways ............scssceeseeseecuceceeeeeceseeeeseces Mr. T. Birminenam on the Advantages to be obtained by turning Canals, in certain situations and of certain forms, into Railways, especially as applicable ‘to the circumstances of the Royal Canal lying between the City of Dublin and IPMEMIVEHE SHIAUINIOIS. ecllsaue. casa cctsteveveesscesssevtovcdscncctecsctescvencarspenssnee Mr. J. Gray on the Causes of the great Versailles Railway Accident Rey. Dr. Scoresspy on Steam Navigation in America............cececsececcececeeeers Mr. J. G. Boomer on the New Double Piston Steam-Engine, with a Model.. ae W. Farrsairn on the Cconomy of the Expansive Action of Steam in “Steam-Engines......seseceee reacdqgsudese shioNe Mean cerhct stuetes tee ae Mee “enue eee eeeenese 98 vu CONTENTS. ’ Mr. Smiru on Propelling Boats..........000.00 Peal Tes 0s. cusses eke > Mr. E. Bowness on a Plan for drawing Coals from Pits without Ropes orChains 98 | Mr. J. G. Bopmer on a New Apparatus for Starting Heavy Machinery ......... 98 — Dr. Grezn on Nasmyth’s Steam Pile Driver ............000008 voccbvcsdUvbaeeeenvemaet 98 Mr. J. G. Bopmer on a New Furnace Grate ...........4. vo bevbstuvecetemveeebwabet ee §=6©98 Mr. James WyLSon on the Scantlometer............cssccscessecscceecseecscteseasenes 99 Rev. W. Taytor’s Explanation of an Apparatus, invented by Mr. Littledale of York, by which the Blind can write and read .........esscssceseeereecesecaeceeeees 99 Mr. O. Byrne on the Improved Compasses of M. De Sire Lebrun, and the Cold. drawn Pipes Ofc Sie Dirtieeccivsnceweecsabsoeecssoaccssssessnecestermeuereseeneeee ne eae 99 ’s Explanations of the Barege Mobile, or Canalization of Rivers, and of the Grenier Mobile, or moveable Granary for preserving Corn ......... 99 Sir T. Dean on the Construction of Buildings for the Accommodation of Audiences.........++: Bast yenaddentevenarcavasrecats cases cievecece ss sa¢aenteuuenateeenanaaaeeae 99 | Mr. Joun Bareman on the Collection of Water for the Supply of Towns . eee 100 Mr. I. Hawxrns on the Giconomy of Artificial Light for Preserving Sight... penne 100 | Dr. W. ScorEsBy on a new Process of Magnetic Manipulation, with its Effects fom Eland Steel ‘AMG SAStelPOM ercataeswcscecss++s-ceecesesia seecoscachenssdectnpetennios - 100 _ Mr. Paxton on the Great Fountain at Chatsworth, erected by the Duke of Mevonshire) 5 .c.cececccscevensessondecanscs sass cas cead'ecesscieaccceaamereesames ccsscseeee 102 Mr. B. G. Storer on the Filtration of Water for the Supply of Towns .......... 102 Rev. F. O. Morris on a Plan for Preventing the Stealing of Letters by Letter CWAITICTS? cde. n ansivoaVenstncscacdoewabe tectum ubiyoesh snk sedeen cave ehUbtean ata aeeese dine ee 103 Mr, Henry Perteat on the probable Mode of Constructing the Pyramids...... 103 ADDENDUM. Bie HN. PALEGT ON NOLO TAp Nc sctic. s+. ac -c0sc0ssenessecessacensvenphtyantenens soos 105 Mr. Wiiiiam West on Mineral Springs and other Waters of Yorkshire ...... 105 Mr. Henry Brees on Industrial Education............se0sc0e0 i tdeSn cations eee mee aa 112 WWGCKH cs cstascccsskscacssusssers doeccceceecesercccseces pasombans dans oseesees Sacmatenalenente maa 113 List of Members. : eT“ATvoo - $ : NOTICES AND ABSTRACTS OF ~ MISCELLANEOUS COMMUNICATIONS TO THE SECTIONS. > MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS. On Diverging Infinite Series. By Professor Younc. Tue doctrine of diverging infinite series is a subject upon which very conflicting _ views are at present entertained. Cauchy, Poisson, andthe modern French analysts ‘generally, characterize such series as false developments, and reject them accordingly ; _ whilst some of the most distinguished writers of our own country not only advocate _ the claims of these series to a place in analysis, but even attribute to them, after the example of Euler, finite numerical values. © For instance, it is affirmed that i 1—3+5—7+9—11+ &c. =0, that 1—1.2+41.2.3—1.2.3.44 &c. =°4036.... and still more strange that 14+24+4+8+16432+4 &. =—1. _ Ina paper about to be submitted to the Royal Irish Academy, and of which the _ present communication is a brief abstract, I have examined all the reasonings by which these singular conclusions seem to be established; and I have, I think, shown that such conclusions are in fact at variance with the analytical principles which have hitherto been appealed to in justification of them, viz. common algebraic deve- “lopment, the differential theorem, definite integrals, &c. The following are two of _ the general principles established in the paper of which this is an abstract :— 1. Whenever an infinite series becomes divergent for particular arithmetical values, what has generally been called the generating function of the series requires a cor- rection, which cannot be disregarded without committing an error infinite in amount. 2. And that so far from such series being, as usually affirmed, always algebrai- cally true, though sometimes arithmetically false—considered in reference to the generating function—on the contrary, they are always algebraically false, though sometimes arithmetically true; true, namely, in those cases, and those only, for which the algebraic function omitted becomes evanescent. Ona Principle in the Theory of Probahiliies By Professor Younc. Let p,, po, P3--- Pn be the respective probabilities of happening of n independent events; then the following general principle will have place, viz.— PitPotps+ ...-+pn= the prob. of one of the events at least happening. + the prob. of two at least happening in conjunction. + the prob. of three at least. +. the prob. of all happening together. This general principle, Mr. Young observed, has not hitherto been noticed. It affords an intelligible interpretation of the sum of the probabilities of any number of independent events, and it is, moreover, useful in enabling us very readily to deter- mine certain compound probabilities, when others are already known; thus, let there be but two events ; then by the above principle Pi+-p2= prob. of one at least happening, + prob. of both happening. But the pro- bability of both happening is known to be py, po, -". Pit+Pe—pi po= prob. of one at least happening. 1844. B 2 -REPORT—1844. Again, let there be three events; then replacing p,, p., p3, by the combinations P) Ps» P; P3» Po Ps, We have, by the same principle, Pi Po+P1P3t+PoP3= prob. of one of these compound events at least. + prob. of two at least. + prob. of all three. But the combination of two of the compound events, at least, is obviously the same as the combination of all the simple events ; so is the combination of all the com- pound events, and the probability of all the simple events happening is known to be Pi Pz P33 hence P; Po +P P3 +P2Ps= prob. of two of the events at least happening together, + 2p) Po Ps; Py Pot Pi Pst Po P3—2P1 P2P3= prob. of two of the events, at least, happening together. Moreover, the probability of one of the events, at least, happening is, by the prin- ciple, equal to the sum of the individual probabilities diminished by the expression just deduced, and by p; py p3; that is, Pit P2tP3—P1 P2—Pi P3—P2 PstPi P2 Ps= prob. of one, at least, of the three events happening. And so on. On the Summation of Infinite Series. By Mr. Rawson. This was a mode of combining the theorems of Laplace and Taylor in such a manner as to render series very rapidly convergent, so as greatly to facilitate the cal- culation of tables, and to render other arithmetical processes more convenient than at present. Mr. Hodgkinson, who communicated the paper, pointed out its impor- tant relations to some of the more general processes of integration. On the Double Square Representation of Prime and Composite Numbers. By J. J. Syivester, M.A. He first alluded to what had been done by the French mathematicians ; and then pointed out the manner in which he thought numbers might be conceived to be com- posed of squares; and concluded by mentioning some of the advantages which might be expected from this mode of considering them. On a Theory of Quaternions. By Sir Witi1aM R. Haminton, MRA. It has been shown, by Mr. Warren and others, that the results obtained by the ordinary processes of algebra, involving the imaginary symbol /—1, admit of real interpretations, such as those which relate to compositions of linear motions and ro- tations in one plane. Sir W. Hamilton has adopted a system of three such imagi- nary symbols, 7, 7, k, and assumes or defines that they satisfy the nine equations f= fpar=—1, 27 S=h—— 7. Ghat — ky, ki = j = which however are not purely arbitrary, and for the adoption of which the paper assigns reasons. He then combines these symbols in a quaternion, or imaginary quadrinomial, of the form Q=w +ia+jyt+ kz, in which w, x, y, 2 are four real quantities ; and states that he has established rules for algebraical operations on such expressions, and has assigned geometrical inter- pretations corresponding; so as to form a sort of Calculus of Quaternions, which serves as an instrument to prove old theorems, and to discover new ones, in the geo- metry of three dimensions, and especially respecting the composition of motions of translation and rotation in space. An Account of the State of the Reductions of the Planetary and Lunar Ob- servations made at Greenwich. By the ASTRONOMER RoyAL. He announced that the planetary observations from 1750 to 1830 had been reduced by the aid of Bessel’s tables, and their places deduced and compared with those given by the best tables for each planet; andthis portion wascomplete. The print- ing also was nearly finished, The reduction and comparison of the lunar observa- = * ae TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 3 al! i tions, the superintendence of which had also fallen on himself, had been commenced more lately: and this he characterized as by far the most important astronomical work which had been for many years undertaken. The observations were reduced by means of Bessel’s tables. The places of the moon deduced from the observa- tions were compared with places computed from Plana’s theory, modified by certain corrections introduced by Sir J. W. Lubbock and M. de Pontécoulant. For this theoretical computation, Damoiseau’s tables had been used as basis, and small supplementary tables had been computed for the difference between Damoiseau’s theory and Plana’s corrected theory. ‘Thus the observations, reduced by a uniform system of sidereal tables, would be compared with the best lunar theory in existence. In Damoiseau’s tables (edition 1824) the centesimal division of the circle is intro- duced, which affords much facility in the calculations. A few months would now complete the calculations; but the printing had not yet commenced. Fourteen com- puters were usually engaged upon them; and by certain improvements which he had introduced into the methods of computing, such as discarding the use of the negative sign altogether, by increasing the quantities from which they could result by a con- stant number, he had been able, in many instances, to avail himself of the assistance of boys as computers, and thus saved the heavy expense of the more experienced persons. The lunar observations reduced amounted to about 9000; and the compu- tations were made in duplicate, for the purpose of detecting errors. On the Geodetical Operations of India. By Lieut.-Col. Everest, /.R.S., §e., late Surveyor- General of India. A series of triangulations on the most magnificent scale has for many years been conducted in India, by Colonel Lambton up to the year 1823, and after his death by Colonel Everest (who had for some years previous been his chief assistant) up to the close of 1843, when this officer resigned the charge to Captain Waugh of the Bengal Engineers, who had been trained by him in the habits of exact observation. As the Court of Directors of the East India Company have, with their characteristic libera- lity, directed the publication of Colonel Everest’s labours, it is unnecessary to enter into the details of the account of them which he laid before the Section, further than to notice a few fac hich may give some notion of their probable accuracy, and the immense exertion required to obtain it in such a climate. Colonel Everest published in.1830 an account of his work from Damargida, the northern extremity of Lambton’s»arc, lat. 18° 3’ 16”, to Kalianpur, lat. 24° 7’ 12"; but as he then was furnished with new instruments by Troughton and Simms, supe- rior to those which he previously possessed, he repeated all this, and extended it as far as Kaliana, lat. 29° 30’ 49”, where his celestial arc terminates. The terrestrial is carried further to Banog, lat. 30° 28’ 30") but as this station is in the Himalaya, the attraction of this mighty mountain chain requires to have the zenith distances of stars observed there. The lengths of these arcs depend on three bases, which were measured with com- pensation bars similar to those used by Colonel Colby in the triangulation of Ireland ; but, on account of the extreme heat of India, applied with even more minute atten- tion than in that instance. The whole operation was conducted under tents, and every thermometer used in the survey was verified by comparison with two standards. The scales employed, two iron of ten feet, and two brass of six inches, have been com- pared by 101 comparisons, and one of gach has been left in India, while the others are deposited in the military store of the Hon. East India Company in Leadenhall Street. The most northern of these bases is near i) feet. Dehra Din, in lat. ..../s++.0s... 30 18 18 of 39183°873 The next at Serony ...}..... sath 24 6 50 of 38413°367 The third near Beder },.......... .17 54 32 of 41578°536 This last replaces Lambton’s base of 1815, the marks of which have been irrecover- ably lost. Remeasuring the Dehra base there was found a difference of 2°40 inches, or 0°3 per mile, an extraordinary eis considering the wide range of tempe- rature during the process; but it is ¢onfirmed by the agreement between the mea- sured and triangulated lengths of two parts of it deduced from the third, When \B2 \ 4 REPORT—1844. deduced from the second base, the difference is only 7'2 inches. The difference for the third is still less, being only 4°3. The instruments used in the triangulation were a three-feet theodolite, considered Troughton’s Capo d’opera, and two three-feet vertical and azimuth circles, which also served for the celestial observations. These were divided on both sides, and had four microscopes, of which two were moveable to any angle. The theodolite and azimuth circles had five microscopes. The referring marks for azimuthal observations and alinements of bases were heliotropes seen through apertures of a quarter of an inch. Eachangie of the primary triangles is observed twenty-four times, changing the zero four times, and reversing alternately. What- ever error may remain is distributed among the system according to a theorem of simple application. Azimuthal observations for determining the position of the tri- angles with respect to meridian, were made at fifteen different stations with the three- feet circles. By careful levelling, reversing between observations and taking both extreme azimuths of circumpolar stars on the same days, an unusual harmony of the results has been obtained. To obtain the amplitudes of the celestial arcs, thirty-six stars were selected for the northern portion of the arc; thirty-two for the southern, in each instance half being north, the rest south of the zenith. Collimated observa- tions were always taken by reversing for each star, and besides, the error of collima- tion was determined by acollimating telescope. Forty-eight observations were taken of each star, and the moveable pairs of microscopes were shifted into three different positions. The resuit is that the arc it From Damargida to Kalianpur is ...... 6 (3 55°97 From Kalianpur to Kalianais ......... 5 23 37:06 The length of these arcs in feet .........1961157°117. It is, however, to be regretted that this series of triangles, and several others which are described in Colonel Everest’s paper, have not been filled up by any secondary triangulation, or made available to any of those social purposes for which accurate district maps are so important. The fault is certainly not with the Court of Direc- tors, who appear from this statement to have been actuated by the most liberal and enlightened views; but wherever it may lie, in Colonel Everest’s concluding words, “Tt is to be hoped that the powers who govern India will see the necessity of taking early measures to cause all these series to be filled up with topographical details in keeping as to accuracy with the material now on record. At present the principal triangles are in many places mere skeletons, instruments of mighty power lying useless. But it seems very clear that without accurate and specific detail, whether as relates to topographical or statistical knowledge, no state can be well governed ; and the maps in the possession of the governing power ought for this purpose to be within certain and decided limits of error.” An Account of the Results of the Tide Observations on the Coast of Ireland. By the ASTRONOMER RoyAt. He introduced the subject by stating, that during the Ordnance Survey it had been desired to fix upon a plane of reference for elevation, and that Colonel Colby had been desirous of ascertaining whether one invariable plane could be obtained from the observation of tides. For the determination of this, Ireland seemed to present peculiar facilities ; for, during the Ordnance Survey, it had been levelled from shore to shore, not only longitudinally, but also across ; the result of which was, that round the entire coast many points were marked where the levels relative to one common point, the sill of one of the dock gates in Dublin, were known certainly, to within a very few inches. It was therefore resolved to observe, simultaneously, and for a con- siderable period, the tides round the entire coast, in order to ascertain whether, from their phenomena, such a certain and readily determined plane could be deduced. In these observations, besides having all the measures of height reduced to this one common standard, it was also determined that all the observers should be fur- nished with chronometers set to one common time, viz. mean time at the Greenwich Observatory. The first peculiarity observable in the form of the coast was, that while the south-western and western coast was quite open and exposed to the Atlantic, the north-eastern and eastern coasts were, on the contrary, quite embayed, and in TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 5 particular the channel became very narrow between Donaghadee and Portpatrick, and indeed the entire Scotch coast to the Mull of Kintyre, and the island of Ilay. Stations were carefully selected on all these different seas. Besides this, stations were selected at different points of some of the estuaries, for investigation of the change in the nature of the tide as it proceeds up the estuaries: thus four stations were selected on the estuary of the Shannon. He did not then particularize all the motives which swayed them, but stated generally that twenty-two stations round the coast were fixed upon. On the 22nd of June 1842, they had all their observers at the several stations, and the observations were continued for full two months, viz. until the 26th of August. He need scarcely say, that there were four critical phe- nomena or periods, in each twenty-four hours, to be noted carefully, viz. the instants of each of the two high waters, and the instants of each of the intervening low waters, and although the season was chosen so that the nights should be short, yet one at least of these four critical phenomena must occur in the night: as it would therefore be too laborious to record at sufficiently close intervals during the entire twenty-four hours, the orders given to the observers were to be at their posts at least half an hour before by any possibility each of these four states of the tide could occur, and then to record every five minutes the actual height. In the night, the registrations were continued only till the tide had taken a decided turn; but in the day, the observations were continued incessantly from the time of beginring before the first critical phenomenon till the tide had taken a decided turn after the third critical phenomenon. Atsome ofthe stations, however, the observations were made continuously during the twenty-four hours ; to one of them, Courtown, he should have to direct particular attention. The researches of Professor Whewell and of Sir John Lubbock had rendered a close attention to the diurnal and semi-diurnal inequalities of the tides a matter of interest. One of the earliest and most immediate results of these systematized observations was, that the high tide was found to be simultaneous along the entire western and south-western coasts, apparently coming from the west. It was also simultaneous along the eastern coast, but strange to say, with a jump of no less than six hours between these two clearly defined times of high water: so that they were met in the first stage of their speculations by the fact, that there was a difference of no less than six hours between the time of high water at Dunmore (mouth of the Waterford harbour) and at Dublin. This was for atime apuzzle; but from it might be inferred what they afterwards found verified by the observations at Courtown, that a node, or place of no tide, must occur at some intervening place. Another result was, that the diurnal tide came apparently not from the west, but from the south-west. The observations have been grouped and discussed by the new mode pointed out by him in the Philosophical Transactions for 1842, im which the heights were expressed as a function of the times by the following formula: L=A+B.sing+C.sin (26+c)+D. sin (34+d)+ &c. By this method, about 1400 individual tides, observed at all the stations, had been discussed. From this discussion, it appeared that the great tide wave was two days old when it reached Ireland, and that the solar effect exerted in raising the water was about one-third of that of the moon, if the deductions were made from the tides of the more open western and south-western parts of the coast; while the inferences deduced from those of the north-eastern coast, would make it in some places only one-sixth, and inother places about one-half. At some of the stations of the north- eastern coast, an enormous amount of semi-diurnal inequality manifested itself: the semi-menstrual inequality was also found to be considerable there. Another remarkable and unexpected irregularity also resulted from these discussions ; which was a difference of no less than one foot between the mean heights of the tides of the western and southern, and the north-eastern coasts; the mean heights of the tides, or values of A, in the preceding formula, being one foot greater for the north-eastern than for the south-western stations. It was also found that the irregularities in the values of A, from day to day, agreed very closely on a long line of coast: and this fact afforded the most demonstrative proof of the accuracy of the observers, for while it manifested itself most distinctly at each of the stations in going round the coast, its amount and its variations were so consistent, as to render it absolutely impossible that it could have resulted from careless observations. He then directed attention to the Courtown station, stating that at the commencement of their labours here the 6 REPORT—1844, observers had found it impossible to comply with the instructions which had been furnished to them, for it was found impossible to fix upon any of the apparently lawless elevations and depressions of the water as representing the usual semi-diurnal high water or low water. The result was, that of themselves they adopted the prudent course of giving up any attempt at such selection, and observed the height of the tide every five minutes throughout the twenty-four hours. This was a fortu- nate circumstance, for in conseqnence of being in possession of these almost con- tinuous observations for such a period, he had been able to make out thelaw; which under other circumstances might have long continued to perplex. It was found that semi-diurnal tides very small in their actual amount, sometimes not more than a few inches, succeeded each other at irregular intervals; and this was very clearly traced to the influence of the relatively large amount of the solar tide, which, upon examination, was found to be distinctly larger than the lunar tide. With this was mingled a di- urnal tide, as large as the diurnal tide at the neighbouring parts of the coast; and also a quarto-diurnal tide, which is found to exist on nearly every part of the coast, and which has its largest value at or near Courtown. The Astronomer Royal said that he was preparing a detailed account of these observations ; and he closed by saying, that in reference to the object for which they had been chiefly undertaken, it was now obvious that no fixed plane sufficiently determinate for engineering purposes could be deduced from the phenomena of the tides; at least those observed on the coast of our island or of continental seas. —_— On the Tides of the Hast Coast of Scotland. By J. Scott Russet, F.RS.E. The discussion of the* observations was now complete, and they were ready for publication. The chief part of the results had been reported last year, but there re- mained a few interesting points which had been brought out by the recent discus- sions. The chief of these was the determination of the diurnal inequality in the time of high water, a phenomenon which, as stated by Sir J. Lubbock, has not been dis- covered onour coasts. This inequality had been manifested in a very prominent form in these observations on the east coast of Scotland; and diagrams were exhibited, in which not only its existence was marked, but its magnitude was measured, and was so great, that the time of high water of successive tides varied, with 25° of declina- tion, as much as from 30 to 80 minutes from this cause. Tables were also given, showing its amount in various ports along the coast. He attributed the detection of this inequality, which had hitherto escaped notice, to the methods of observation which had been employed. His system was to employ, instead of the mere obser- vation of the height and time of still water, or the cessation of rise and the commence- ment of fall, a continuous series of observations every five minutes on time and height. This series was registered continuously night and day, and the observations were all laid down on ruled paper in a wave curve, from which the observations of time and height were deduced. It was the accuracy of the system of discussing in- dividual wave curves, instead of mere observations of height and time, which had enabled him to detect phenomena that had formerly escaped observation; and he was glad to find that Professor Airy had recommended and adopted that method in his recent observations on the tides of Ireland. Another advantage which the method of observation and discussion of individual wave curves produced, was that tolerably correct tables, for the prediction of tides, might be formed from a very short series of observations. He had found Sir J. Lubbock’s tables of the tides of Leith, deduced from many thousand observations, to be very accurate; and from them the tides of Leith were predicted so as to coincide exactly with the phenomena. But, by the method of observation now mentioned, he had formed tables from a few weeks’ ob- servation, which coincided quite as accurately with Sir J. Lubbock’s tables as those with observation. He concluded by noticing an ingenious Self-Registering Tide-Gauge, invented by Mr. Wood of Port Glasgow, which was so simple as to be constructed to register heights at a cost of two or three pounds, and to register time at a cost of ten pounds. He was happy to add, that tide-gauges of this kind were now being erected at Cork, TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 7 On an attempt lately made by M. Laurent, to explain on mechanical principles the Phenomenon of Circular Polarization in Liquids. By Professor MacCuLLaGcu. The author showed that this attempt had not succeeded. M. Laurent supposes the particles of the luminiferous ther not to be simply material points, but to have dimensions which are not insensible when compared with their distances ; and on this hypothesis he deduces a system of differential equations, the integrals of which he conceives to represent the phenomenon in question. The integrals given by M. Lau- rent are, however, altogether erroneous, though this circumstance was not noticed by M. Cauchy in the remarks and comments which he made on M. Laurent’s me- moir. The true integrals of these equations (supposing the equations to be correctly deduced) were shown by Professor MacCullagh to indicate motions of the ether which do not correspond to the observed phenomena. The account of M. Laurent’s theory, with M. Cauchy’s remarks upon it, will be found in the eighteenth volume of the ‘Comptes Rendus’ of the Academy of Sciences of Paris. On certain points connected with Elliptic Polarization of Light. By the Rev. Professor Powe, M.A., F.RS. The peculiar property impressed upon light reflected from metal, and previously polarized at 45° to the plane of reflexion, discovered by Sir David Brewster in 1830, and named by him elliptic polarization, was examined by him chiefly with regard to the effects produced by a second reflexion from the same metal,—when the plane polarization is restored, but with its plane changed by a certain angle, which at the maximum characterizes each metal. From this, however, we cannot infer what pre- cise effect is produced by the first reflexion alone. It also appears that the ellipticity is small or insensible at small incidences,—arrives at a maximum for most metals at between 70° and 80°, and then decreases again, up to 90°. The author of this communication has examined some properties of light of this kind by means of the changes in the polarized rings, after one reflexion at different incidences. In all degrees of ellipticity the rings have branches more or less faint correspond- ing to the degree of dislocation, in all relative positions of the planes of polarization and analysation. At small incidences they are dark and bright in the rectangular positions. The position of the darkest branches, with respect to the plane of reflexion, changes at different incidences, in a manner somewhat analogous to what takes place in the reflexion from glass, though it is not at all expressed by Fresnel’s law. At the smallest incidences the position is always different from 45°; being deter- mined by an arc considerably greater than 45°, as measured from the plane of reflexion. At greater incidences the arc diminishes ; and at the maximum the position coin- cides with the plane of reflexion. The first-named arc varies with different metals ; but the last result is common to all. The intermediate change is more or less gra- dual in different cases. The author is engaged in measuring these arcs for a series of metals, but he is not able at present to trace any relation between them and those determined by Sir David Brewster after éwo reflexions. In the author’s paper in the Phil. Trans., 1842, a formula is given for elliptically polarized rings with different retardations : this formula being somewhat generalized, includes an expression for a change of plane; and explains some portion of the phz- nomena which has not been precisely discussed, especially the peculiar appearance of the rings when the plane of analysation is at 45° to that of polarization. It does not appear that any theoretical connexion has been yet made out between this virtual change of plane and the retardation which changes with the incidence. The author is anxious to call attention to this subject in the hope of eliciting from those members who have examined it some results which may enable us to compare theory and observation. 8 REPORT—1844, On the Propagation of Waves in a Resisted Medium, with a new Explana- tion of the Dispersion and Absorption of Light, and other Optical Pheno- mena. By the Rev. M. O’Brien. The author notices two different hypotheses which may be made respecting the mode of action of the particles of a transparent medium on the vibrations of the ethereal fluid within it:—the first, ‘‘ that the transparent substance exerts upon each element of the ethereal fluid forces which depend simply upon the displacements of that element relatively to the contiguous particles of matter :”’ this will be so, when the amplitudes of the vibrations or maximum excursions of the elements from their positions of equilibrium are extremely small relative to the intervals between the particles of the transparent substance:—the second, “that the forces exerted by the transparent substance upon any element of the ethereal fluid are of the same nature as the resistances experienced by a set of particles moving through a resisting medium, depending not upon the relative displacements, but upon the state of motion of the element ;’’ this will be the case when the amplitudes of the vibrations are large, com- pared with the intervals between the particles of the transparent substance. The author then proceeds to show that M. Cauchy’s equations are founded upon assump- tions equivalent to the first of these hypotheses ; and gives reasons for not admitting it, stating that though the explanation that author derives of dispersion is satis- factory, the explanation of absorption is really fallacious. He then proceeds to exa- mine, mathematically, the consequences of the second hypothesis, which he conceives has not yet been taken up by any writer upon physical optics, and proceeds to show the probability that it may be of much service in advancing the undulatory theory of light. Account of a new Proportional Compass. By Ovtver Byrne. By a vernier at the centre, and a means of adjusting a series of points, this instru- ment enables an observer, by the aid of tables, to multiply, divide, and compare lines, surfaces, solids and angles, with considerable precision. On the Shape of the Teeth of the Wheels of the Clock in the New Royal Ex- change. By E. J. Dent, F.RAS. A Notice explaining the Cause of an Optical Phenomenon observed by the Rev. W. Selwyn. By Sir Davin Brewsten, F.R.S. L.§ £., Hon. MRA. When a number of parallel black lines are intersected at right angles by other black lines, so as to inclose a number of squares or rectangles, a white spot appears at the intersections of all the lines. In order to discover the cause of this pheno- menon, Sir David Brewster made the experiment with the broad opake bars of an old-fashioned window opposed to the light of the sky. Along all the bars he saw a whitish nebulous light, which was the complementary or accidental colour of the black bars seen simultaneously with the bars. The same luminosity was of course seen of equal intensity along all the bars, but at the crossings the intensity of its light was greatest, so as to produce the white spot already mentioned. Now this spot did not arise from any increased effect at the intersections, but from a diminu- tion of the complementary luminosity at all other parts of the intersecting lines. This diminution of intensity arises from the action of the white squares or rectangles upon the retina tending to diminish the sensibility of that membrane along the parts corresponding to the black lines, and is always greatest by oblique vision. Itis an action analogous to that which takes place when a strip of paper laid upon a green or any other coloured glass disappears when the eye is fixed upon a point an inch or two distant from the paper. Hence the luminous spots are brightest when not seen directly. [The phenomenon thus explained was communicated to Sir David Brewster by the Rev. W. Selwyn.] TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 9 An Account of the Cause of the Colours in precious Opal. By Sir Davip Brewster, F.R.S. L.§ E., Hon. MRA. This gem is intersected in all directions with colorific planes, exhibiting the most brilliant colours of all kinds. The cause of these colours has never, we believe, been carefully studied. Mineralogists, indeed, have said that they are the colours of thin plates of air occupying fissures or cracks in the stone; but this is a mere assump- tion, disproved by the fact that no such fissures have ever been found during the processes of cutting, grinding and polishing, which the opal undergoes in the hands of the lapidary. In submitting to a powerful microscope specimens of precious opal, and comparing the phenomena with those of hydrophanous opal, Sir David Brewster found that the colorific planes or patches consist of minute pores or vacui- ties arranged in parallel lines, and that various such planes are placed close to each other, so as to occupy a space with three dimensions. These pores sometimes exhibit a crystalline arrangement, like the lines in sapphire, calcareous spar, and other bodies, and have doubtless been produced during the conversion of the quartz into opal by heat under the peculiar circumstances of its formation. In some speci- mens of common opal the structure is such as would be produced by kneading cry- stallized quartz when in a state of paste. The different colours produced by these pores arise from their different magnitudes or thicknesses, and the colours are gene- rally arranged in parallel bands, and vary with the varying obliquities at which they are seen. A notice respecting the Cause of the beautiful White Rings which are seen round a luminous body when looked at through certain specimens of Cal- careous Spar. By Sir Davin Brewster, F.R.S. L.3 E., Hon. MRA. By varying the inclination of the spar, the rings increase and diminish, each of them in succession contracting into a luminous spot and disappearing, and then ex- panding into rings as before. The two rings are produced from the two images formed by double refraction, and hence the light of one ring is oppositely polarized to that of the other. When the ordinary and the extraordinary ray are refracted in lines parallel to the edge of the rhomb, which they are at different incidences, their respective rings disappear. At oblique incidences the rings are highly coloured, and when the dispersive action is small they have a bright silvery whiteness. Sir David Brewster stated that they were produced by minute tubes in the mineral, of which there were many thousands in an inch, and that these tubes were parallel to one of the edges of the rhomb, viz. to that edge to which the refracted ray was parallel when each ring became a luminous spot. On Crystals in the Cavities of Topaz, which are dissolved by Heat and re-erystallize on Cooling. By Sir Davin Brewster, F.R.S. L. & £., Hon. MRLA, Sir David gave a brief notice of the discovery which he had made, about twenty years ago, of two new fluids in the crystallized cavities of topaz and other minerals. One of these fluids is very volatile, and so expansible, that it expands twenty times as much as water with the same increase of temperature. When the vacuities in the cavity which it occupies are large, it passes into vapour, and in these different states he had succeeded in determining its refractive power, by measuring the angles at which total reflexion takes place at the common surface of the fluid of the topaz. The other fluid is of a denser kind, and occupies the angles and narrow necks of cavities. The cavities, however, in which the soluble crystals were contained are of a different kind. They (viz. the cavities) were imperfectly crystallized, and thus they exist in specimens cf topaz which contain the cavities with the two new fluids ; they sometimes contain none of the volatile and expansible fluid, which is doubtless a condensed gas. The crystals which occupy them are flat and finely crystallized rhomboids. When heat is applied, they become rounded at their angles and edges, and soon disappear. After the topaz has cooled, they again appear, at first like a speck, and then recry- stallize gradually, sometimes in their original place, but often in other parts of the cavity, their place being determined by the mode in which the cooling is applied. 10 REPORT—1844, We understand that Professor Liebig, who regards these fluids and crystals as pecu- liarly interesting, has made arrangements to investigate their nature, when taken out of their cavities by Sir David Brewster,—an operation of extreme difficulty, owing to ° the small size of the cavities which contain them, and the rapid disappearance of the volatile fluid, which rises into a drop and contracts into a flat disc, as if it were endued with vitality, finally vanishing and leaving a sediment behind it, which, when breathed upon, again becomes fluid. On a singular Effect of the Juxtaposition of certain Colours under particular circumstances. By Professor WHEATSTONE, F.R.S. Having had his attention drawn to the fact, that a carpet worked with a small pattern in green and red, when illuminated with gas-light, if viewed carelessly, pro- duced an effect upon the eye as if all the parts of the pattern were in motion, he was led to have several patterns worked in various contrasted pairs of colours; and he found that in many of them the motion was perceptible, but in none so remarkably as those in red and green; it appeared also to be necessary that the illumination should be gas-light, as the effect did not appear to manifest itself in daylight, at least in diffused daylight. He accounted for it by the eye retaining its sensibility for various colours during various lengths of time. On the same Subject. By Sir Davip Brewster, F.R.S. L.§ £., Hon. MRA. ' Sir David Brewster stated that he and Prof. Wheatstone had brought to York separate communications on this experiment, with specimens of the rug-work in which it is best exhibited. Having seen Prof. Wheatstone’s specimens, he had been induced to limit his communication to a few observations on Prof. Wheatstone’s paper. When Sir D. Brewster came to York, he was not aware of the phenomena taking place with any other colour but red and green. Prof. Wheatstone had, how- ever, Shown him that red and blue answered equally well ; and he had received letters from two ladies in Scotland, who had not only found that red and blue exhibited the phenomenon, but had both given the probable explanation of their doing so, by ascribing it to the blue becoming green in the yellow light of the candle. In order to give an explanation of what has been called by some the fluttering hearts, from one of the colours having the shape of hearts, Sir David Brewster men- tioned an experiment for the purpose of showing that any fixed object will appear to move on the ground upon which it is fixed, when the light which illuminates it is constantly changing its position and intensity. This experiment consists in moving a candle rapidly in all directions, in front of a statue. The varying lights and sha- dows produce varying expressions, which give the appearance of life and motion to the features of the statue. Now, in the case of the vibrating hearts, the mixture of the red and green, whether seen as direct or as accidental impressions, produces suc- cessions of light and shadow which give the appearance of motion to the figure upon the red or green ground. ‘This effect is greatly increased by that remarkable pro- perty of oblique vision, in which the retina increases in sensibility as the point im- pressed is removed from the foramen centrale. Hence when we look fixedly at one of the vibrating hearts, it nearly ceases to vibrate, while the others, which are seen obliquely, vibrate with greater distinctness. The phenomenon has been stated to be invisible in daylight ; but Sir David Brewster mentioned that he had, that morn- ing, found that it took place in daylight, provided the coloured surface was illumi- nated from a small hole in the shutter of a dark room. The experiment, indeed, he found to fail even in candlelight, if the illumination proceeded from a great number of lights, or from a mass of light producing a guaquaversus illumination like that of the sky. He referred also to the effects produced by coloured glasses, and mentioned some facts regarding the unequal absorption of the two colours, which, in drawing conclusions from such experiments, required to be attended to. On the Accommodation of the Eye to Various Distances. By Sir Davin Brewster, F.R.S. L. § E., Hon. MRA. He commenced by giving a sketch of the opinions of several philosophers as to TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 11 the mode in which the eye acquires its well-known power of accommodating itself to distinct vision at various distances, and the experiments of Troughton and others with a view to determine the question. He then stated that he had ascertained a fact, which he considered to be one distinct step towards the desired explanation, although he must admit that he could not as yet satisfy his own mind with any of the explanations which he had given, nor as yet fully point out how the fact he was about to mention would aid in that explanation. This fact is, that if an object be so placed relatively to the eye as that it is not seen distinctly, distinct vision will be instantly acquired by directing attention to some intermediate object. Account of a Series of Experiments on the Polarization of Light by rough surfaces, and white dispersing surfaces. By Sir Daviv Brewster, F.RS. L. § E., Hon. MRA. These experiments were made with one or more surfaces of ground glass having different degrees of roughness, and upon paper, snow, and white painted bodies. The state of polarization was ascertained by the polariscope with parallel bands, and its amount measured with the polarimeter which he had invented for this purpose. In polarizing light, the atmosphere acts like a rough surface, and hence these experi- ments had an application to that new branch of optical meteorology. The degree of roughness in transparent bodies was ascertained by observing the angle of re- flexion at which a small circular luminous disc of a given intensity either disappeared or began to lose its distinctness of outline. The general effect of roughness of sur- face is to diminish the degree of polarization which would have been produced at the same angle by the surface whensmooth. In the case of white dispersing bodies, the intromitted pencil, polarized by refraction, is again reflected, and more or less neu- tralizes the pencil oppositely polarized by reflection. On the Nature of the Sound Wave. By J. Scort Russet, F.R.S.E. He had determined the existence of certain’orders of water-waves governed by dif- ferent laws, and it was necessary, for the explanation of the phenomena of sound, to determine to which of these orders it was analogous. It was generally supposed that the sound wave was analogous to the waves formed by dropping a stone into the waters of a quiet pool. These were waves of the second order. But his experi- ments had led him to suppose that the sound wave was a wave of the first order, analogous to the wave of translation in water. This determination would effect a considerable change in our conception and explanation of the phenomena of sound, at present ill understood. For example, the theory of the speaking-trumpet had been given in many forms by different mathematicians; but it was found that the forms assigned by them were nearly opposite, while their effects were nearly identical. This was just what would result from the theory of the wave of the first order. But the whispering gallery was still more inexplicable on the old theory ; the dome of St. Pauls was an instance—quite inexplicable on the old hypothesis, but his experiments upon it had proved that the wave of sound did in that case obey implicitly the laws of a wave of the first order, and on that theory its pheno- mena were completely explained. By considering the sound wave as a wave of the first order, it was now easy to determine the principles on which buildings for speaking and hearing should be formed. On the Analogy of the Existences or Forces, Light, Heat, Voltaic and ordinary Electricities. By Joun Goopman, Esq. 2 The author enumerates many general properties in which these ewistences (which term is employed in contradistinction to the opinion frequently received, that caloric, light, &c. are only effects resulting from the motion of material bodies) agree. In reference to the “‘ expansion of metals,” in which caloric and the voltaic fluid agree, Mr. Goodman describes apparatus by which he has succeeded in showing expansion of acolumn of mercury, by the passage of an electric current through it, while an ordinary thermometer, whose bulb was plunged in the same mercury for an hour, m_ re REPORT—1844. showed no expansion, and consequently received no accession of caloric. By in- creasing the force of the battery beyond a certain point, the thermometer does acquire heat and show expansion of its included mercury, but still the expansion of the mercury in which it is plunged proceeds in a greater degree, and remains five or six degrees in advance. Various other considerations are presented, from which the author concludes, that the existences already named are but varied forms of one fluid, and that caloric in a state of repose is the universal, latent, and primitive fluid of all undisturbed matter. On a new Process of Magnetic Manipulation, and its Action on Cast Iron and Steel Bars. By the Rev. William Scoressy, D.D., F.RS. L.3 E. Dr. Scoresby found that it was impossible, by the ordinary process, to communicate the full charge of magnetic influence to hard thin bars of steel of the horse-shoe form. Nor was it practicable to magnetize fully thin plates or bars of a straight or ruler form, with a horse-shoe magnet, by the usual processes of manipulation, pro- vided the bars were very hard, or such as were best suited for retaining the magnetic energy, and therefore best for the manufacture of magnets. But he was led, by the theoretic views he holds, to try the effect of interposing thin bars of soft iron between the charging poles of the magnet and the steel bar to be magnetized; this answered effectually, and Dr. Scoresby exhibited to the Section several experiments, whereby, with the old process, the magnetism imparted to the steel bars was very trivial, but by the adoption of the new process, a remarkably strong charge was communicated by one single stroke of the poles of the magnet over the bar, whether of steel or cast iron. And it was stated that such was the efficacy of the process on bars of cast iron, either with an interposed malleable or cast iron bar, that one such cast iron bar received a power of sustaining about twelve pounds. On a new Steering and Azimuth Compass. By E. J. Dent, F.R.A.S. Contributions to Actino- Chemistry. On the Amphitype, anew Photographic Process. By Sir John F. W. Herscuet, Bart. F.RS. L.§ E., Hon. MRA. At the end of my paper ‘On the Action of the Solar Spectrum on Vegetable Colours,’ communicated to the Royal Society in 1842, a process is alluded to (in Art. 230), by which positive pictures are obtained, having a perfect resemblance to impressions of engravings taken with common printers’ ink. I had hoped speedily to have perfected this process so far as to have reduced it to a definite statement of manipulations which would ensure success. But, capricious as photographic pro- cesses notoriously are, this has proved so beyond even the ordinary measure of such caprice ; and, having of late been able to give little or no time to this pursuit, I have thought it preferable to describe the process in a general way, and ina form in which I have found it frequently, and sometimes eminently successful; not so much for the sake of its results, which yet are not wanting in interest or beauty, as for the curious and very complicated photographic habitudes of iron, mercury, and lead which are concerned in their production,—rather, in short, as a contribution to the newly-created science of actino-chemistry, than to the photographic art. Paper proper for producing an amphitype picture may be prepared either with the ferro- tartrate or the ferro-citrate of the protoxide or the peroxide of mercury, or of the protoxide of lead, by using creams of these salts, or by successive applications of the nitrates of the respective oxides, singly or in mixture, to the paper, alternating with solutions of the ammonio-tartrate or ammonio-citrate of iron*, the latter solu- tions being last applied, and in more or less excess. I purposely avoid stating pro- portions, as I have not yet been able to fix upon any which certainly succeed. Paper so prepared and dried takes a negative picture, in a time varying from half an hour to five or six hours, according to the intensity of the light; and the impression produced varies in apparent force from a faint and hardly perceptible picture, to one * So commonly called, and sold as such; but as I am disposed to regard their composition, their chemical names would be ferro-tartrate and ferro-citrate of ammonia. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 13 - of the highest conceivable fullness and richness both of tint and detail, the colour in this case being a superb velvety brown. This extreme richness of effect is not pro- duced except lead be present, either in the ingredients used, or in the paper itself. It is not, as I originally supposed, due to the presence of free tartaric acid. The pictures in this state are not permanent. They fade in the dark, though with very different degrees of rapidity, some (especially if free tartaric or citric acid be present) in a few days, while others remain for weeks unimpaired, and require whole years for their total obliteration. But though entirely faded out in appearance, the pic- ture is only rendered dormant, and may be restored, changing its character from negative to positive, and its colour from brown to black (in the shadows) by the fol- lowing process :—A bath being prepared by pouringa small quantity of solution of pernitrate of mercury into a large quantity of water, and letting the sub-nitrated precipitate subside, the picture must be immersed in it (carefully and repeatedly clearing off all air bubbles), and allowed to remain till the picture (if anywhere visi- ble) is entirely destroyed, or if faded, till it is judged sufficient from previous expe- rience ; a term which is often marked by the appearance of a feeble positive picture, of a bright yellow hue, on the pale yellow ground of the paper. A long time (seve- ral weeks) is often required for this, but heat accelerates the action, and it is often complete in afew hours. In this state the picture is to be very thoroughly rinsed and soaked in pure warm water, and then dried. It is then to be well-ironed with a smooth iron, heated so as barely not to injure the paper, placing it, for better security against scorching, between smooth clean papers. If then the process have been suc- cessful, a perfectly black, positive picture is at once developed. At first it most commonly happens that the whole picture is sooty or dingy to such a degree that it is condemned as spoiled, but on keeping it between the leaves of a book, especially in a moist atmosphere, by extremely slow degrees this dinginess disappears, and the picture disengages itself with continually increasing sharpness and clearness, and ac- quires the exact effect of a copper-plate engraving on a paper more or less tinted with pale yellow. I ought to observe, that the best and most uniform specimens which I have procured have been on paper previously washed with certain prepara- tions of uric acid, which is a very remarkable and powerful photographic element. The intensity of the original negative picture is no criterion of what may be ex- pected in the positive. It is from the production, by one and the same action of the light, of either a positive or a negative picture according to the subsequent manipu- lations, that I have designated the process, thus generally sketched out, by the term amphitype,—a name suggested by Mr. Talbot, to whom I communicated this singu- lar result; and to this process or class of processes (which I cannot doubt when pursued will lead to some very beautiful results) I propose to restrict the name in question, though it applies even more appropriately to the following exceedingly curious and remarkable one, in which silver is concerned. At the last meeting I announced a mode of producing, by means of a solution of silver, in conjunction With ferro-tartaric acid, a dormant picture brought out into a forcible negative im- pression by the breath or moist air. The solution then described, and which had, at that time, been prepared some weeks, I may here incidentally remark, has re- tained its limpidity and photographic properties quite unimpaired during the whole year since elapsed, and is now as sensitive as ever,—a property of no small value. Now, when a picture (for example an impression from an engraving) is taken on paper washed with this solution, it shows no sign of a picture on its back, whether that on its face be developed or not; but if, while the actinic influence is still fresh upon the face (7. e. as soon as it is removed from the light), the back be exposed for avery few seconds to the sunshine, and then removed to a gloomy place, a positive picture, the exact complement of the negative one on the other side, though wanting of course in sharpness if the paper be thick, slowly and gradually makes its appearance there, and in half an hour or an hour acquires a considerable intensity. I ought to mention that the “ferro-tartaric acid” in question is prepared by precipitating the ferro-tartrate of ammonia (ammonio-tartrate of iron) by acetate of lead and decom- posing the precipitate by dilute sulphuric acid. P.S. When lead is used in the preparation of amphitype paper, the parts on which the light has acted are found to be ia a very high degree rendered water-proof. 14 REPORT—1844. A Comparison of the Rain which fell at Florence Court, the seat of the Earl of Enniskillen, from July 6th, 1843, to July 6th, 1844, with that which fell at Belfast during the same period. By W.Tuomeson, Esq. Belfast and Enniskillen are seventy-two miles apart; one towards the east, the other towards the west, of the north of Ireland. ; The total depth of rain which fell, was inches. DESH OVEN GeO OUR Gy aaappaeascnG tc dae care dace5\s esa a55 00 cones sean «- 40°6 IC MB GLABE ss ectaatens ee eeneccr ener cacencrescscacectesscoscesesacee 30°34 Monthly average at Florence Court ...........seesesseseeees 3°38 Monthly average aG elfast: <0. ....ccsscsevccssescecenadcuncuse 2°53 The greatest monthly fall, was At Florence Court, in November ......... ig slic v o's pees eames 6°051 At Belfast, in October ©....0.f..0c00cs0e eeiicecadeseaiaa acesnaes 5'046 The fall at Florence Court during October .........sseeseeeseeeeeeees 5°943 The fall at Belfast during November .........cccsssseseceeceeescasees 3°943 The least fall happened in May 1844, at both places, At Plorence | COnt ys stnvnsessccceaeccavs-sadnccsascesssesccscncasas 0°041 tS Gy GUTS [aig oe, sober er dete aca y s aaaeasars'-asesiacosncnhaadeGa 0°273 The only singular discrepancy which occurred was, that in the month of September 1843, only 0°51 inch fell at Belfast, while at Florence Court, in the same month, 2°759 fell. This, when explained by Lord Enniskillen’s steward, who keeps the register, was found to arise from a very heavy fall which took place in one day. The month was generally very dry at both places. On the Orthochronograph, invented by the late Mr. Lowman. This is a portable instrument for ascertaining the time at any place, by one or more observations, previous and subsequent to the sun’s passing the meridian; the circle or circles on the silvered plane being correspondent with the are described by the sun in its apparent diurnal passage through the heavens. In taking an observa- tion, the upper plate is adjusted so that the reflexion of the sun’s rays through the circular aperture cuts at its edge one of the circles on the silvered plate; the time indicated by the watch or clock is then noted, and the instrument left stationary, until the sun’s image, after traversing the plate, has returned to the same circle, and again the time marked as accurately as possible. The interval between the two observations will depend on the time when the first is made, and should not be less than three hours: the results thus obtained are added together, and divided by two, a correction made for the alteration of the sun’s declination during the interval, and the difference between this result and twelve hours will show the clock’s error as compared with solar time ; lastly, the equation of time will give the error from mean time. The Mean Year, or Solar Variation through the Seasons of the Barometer in the Climate of London. By Luxe Howarp, F.R.S. [Plate XLI.] The variation of the barometer through successive months in any given year has been sufficiently shown to be connected with the lunar influence, by which the tides of the ocean are governed; and this influence, until more fully investigated, will continue to present difficulties in the use of the barometer as a weather-glass—the atmospheric tides requiring for this purpose to be set aside while we attempt to pro- gnosticate results from currents of anothernature. It may be useful for this purpose to have tables of the variation of the barometer (in connexion with the prevailing winds) in which the lunar influence is set aside by proper averages. Such a set of tables are here presented; the calculations being made upon data to be found in the author’s long-published work, ‘The Climate of London,’ and the years chosen, as most convenient for the purpose, extending from 1813 to 1830. A near approach is thus made to the cycle of 183 years, in the course of which it is presumed that the effect on our atmosphere of the various positions of the earth and AM ; TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 15 _ its attendant planet, in relation to each other and to the sun, may balance and neu- tralize each other. The barometer is thus placed in immediate connexion with the winds proper to our climate; and with the swn’s place, by which these are mainly governed. The artificial year, computed thus, is divided into four seasons, on the principle of the daily mean temperature, and its balance between summer and winter, spring and autumn, as shown in the before-mentioned work. The mean line for the year is placed at 29°831 in., the average of the whole of the observations. Winter, as here set out (from Dec. 7 to March 5), has a mean of 29°828 in.; spring (March 6 to June 6), a mean of 29°833 in. ; summer (June 7 to Sept. 7), a mean of 29°879 in. ; autumn (Sept. 8 to Dec. 6), a mean of 29°782 in. ; the whole progressive increase of weight in the previous seasons being now lost by the prevalence of southerly winds, _ and the decomposition of a portion of the aqueous atmosphere. The months are treated in the paper in succession :—1l, as to the barometrical mean of the month; 2, as to the range; 3, as to the average rain; 4, as to the prevailing winds in connexion with these; nearly the whole of the results cited being to be found in the Tables. There are six of these; two presenting the daily observations of the direction of the wind during eighteen years, divided into classes and assigned to the several months and years of the cycle, &c.; and four com- prising the daily mean of pressure, and notations of the wind for each day of the artificial year in detail. This paper is accompanied (beside the Tables) with two diagrams; one formed of the monthly mean results of the pressure and rain, the mean range of the baro- meter in each being added; the other from the daily results above-mentioned. The former presents a remarkable symmetry in the mean pressure and mean rain, pro- ceeding in opposite directions through their respective curves; of the latter the author considers that the elevations and depressions of the daily mean of the baro- meter are here exhibited (on an enlarged scale), independently of the effect of lunar in= fluence, in a curve which runs through the year by a regular movement of daily in- crease or decrease upon the climatic mean; the elevations, coloured red, being found where we commonly experience our fair weather, and the depressions, coloured gray, in those parts of the year most subject, in our latitudes, to rain and storms of -wind*. The equinoxes, it may be observed, are here both marked by the passing of the curve below the mean; the solstices, in winfer by large depression, going off gradually into the elevation connected with our fair-weather frost; in summer by continued elevation, though checked at this precise time by an approach to the mean connected with tropical electrical disturbance and rain. The whole chart may be _ perused in connexion with the Tables of the Winds (in which are found many beau- tiful gradations indicative of system), to the improvement of our knowledge of this important and hitherto little-explored branch of the subject. Table of Results to accompany the Monthly Diagram. Proportions of the four classes Maximum | Minimum | Range} Me: i 1813 to 1830, |, Mean of | ofthe | ofthe | of the depth of LOPS 6. kee ON curve, curve. |curve.| rain. |p. E-8.|s—w.|w—n. Wal ae 7 do bing) tae. ov |taipa.”|-daye..| days: ae January ...... 29855 | 29-933 |" -800 | 133) 1:84 | 109 | 102 | 130 | 180 |°35° February...... 29-882 “990 772 | -218|} 1:51 | 77} 90} 142 | 172 | 99 March ....... 29°832 |[30]:037 “636 | -401| 1:59 | 106 | 89 | 152 | 191 | 90 BEDEI oc aiss'va. 29-788 | ‘911 597 | -314| 2°04 | 118 | 119 | 116 | 168 | 39 UY ee 29-843 933 740 | -193| 2:24 | 144 | 124 | 123 | 145 | 93 BENG. -ccac ss. 29-910 “990 *828 | -162| 2°15 | 132 | 78 | 122 | 190 | 18 PRD as03 ois 29°853 ‘981 752 | -229| 244 | 79 | 66 | 160 | 230 | 93 August ...... 29872 | -978| +762 | -216| 2:17| 95| 63 | 156 | 237 | 7 September ...| 29-860 “991 731 | -260| 2-40 | 114 | 100 | 161 | 151 | 14 October ...... 29°774 867 607 | -260| 2-49 | $9 | 120 | 153 | 172 | 14 November ...| 29-767 924 550 | 374) 2:38 | 82 | 79 | 170] 194 | 15 December ...| 29°741 “916 “600 | -316| 2°39 | 98 | 100 | 173 | 169 | 18 For the year..| 29°831 | 30-037 | 29-550 | -487 | 25-64 |1252 |1130 |1758 |2199 237 * These are distinguished in the Plate by the shadings, in 26/22 | OF |IPFI] 89 | ZZ | 69 |SFT| 86 | 69 | OF |9ETIFOT| F9 | GS [SET] 62) 82 | eZ eel) VO) LI UL PEL) cb | OV | Vs |UeL su " k crlr ie ip iy le |e |eriorleriz |i ler ir lr |x jet ]¢ 6 |e jst |s [9 |e jot jetjo je jst jet |e jt ie 9 |e jery Sood ‘ iLletl9 \t ler ly lo |Z lorie je je jor |e |g le |r {9 |i [6 jet je jo jo |Zt jorjs jt |6 jer }9 |e je Bt jo |e fv eahelON ailé jo |r leelo je |t \erle |r le ls lo jerly (8 |tt|trJo let je fg |r fer fz js je |Z js j6 |9 fo tL |IL|T pr euro erlsrit te ler iirie {1 tr is latlo le erie fe lz le jorlr fot jex|> je flor |s |e jz rt le |e [2 lis |e |e [auf weqmedes erlirie le let lz ir le lor ig ly | ler 9 [¢ (2 lorie jo |o |r ie |z |r itr ]s |e |e jet or lt [& fos fe fe je [777 aenzev tl6 |9 > let litle |® |ler jerle |r list is |¢ |e jor jirie |Z je |e |it/6 jor)4 je 8 [Ft er |S jC IAT jer |e |e riz l9 le let is |9 l|e@ Wat le [9 le let lot |e |9 jer ]s [g jie jtrje |Z je (8 |g jerj6 9 JO ;erye 9 6 | It See oe rio letie lerig le |z is je le js ls lois |e le -\t lo erie jorlz jorjs js |r jrtlp lor iz |r fis fe [2 jatp few erie lo (o lor tri (2 ltr lie (¢ jorls [Z |e lite le |e |t is jo |s |g lor |e |g js jot fe |Z [8 Ie [6 9 jorpe” tdy otle jotio ir \t latittiet ie |e@ |e ler jor {t | fe |Z 4 {8 lg |e |tejor|et |9 |t jor|rt fe |Z js et ist |e fe pe mt l9 ie 9 lirle latiz lntl¢ (9 |r jo fe (9 Jecle |rile |e ler |9 |e |e |Z |¢ lori jat jo je j9 fs for je ju fc Awensaod trlo lo larle \1 lo leris jarlorit zr es le l¢ far le jatis jet jo jo [6 jor {trio je |r |e |urirrfos is jt jg jo Aveuner = el ll cin |< oO cai Oc al¢elm[2zial¥leiziagie? l(a 2ziai¢ Ss 241") 8) 4 Pel | pull | | | vel fatal Dee CHEE EEN laff e Elale el aale oy elsle lat elale[eielaleledelsiels “OS8I ‘681 828 “LE81 "9281 “e281 "ast is BES “Bes I oh oe ng EE oe ot te PES ee ee ee ee Zetlcor\ 09 | 19 lattl6s| se] re lzetl col ¢| 82 || 2s sor} gz |¥9|| 66 lett! zr | 22 || 66 [6or| £9| ¥9 |Zorler1| ¢e| 89 || 96] 16 | 99 | 96 ret] 26 | BF | 94 | “t¥24 Out TOM atleriz |o lie lz lotls Ie |stle |z Is lo |¢ |e |r [6 |g |8 lle jotly |¥ 6 jotit |g fs jarjs [9 9 js |F JOT)’ amewea 6 lerie It ir le latis ligtis {t [4 le jirlitle 6 jerj9 |t |e js |¥ |g 16 {8 Jo lorlé jorjo J6 jt 16 |e |S {) 2deeeON 6 lerio |r 6 lorir ie lieriz je |e lo |tlotle |e |9 |m jstiis js jerjt je jetis |Z 4 jorje jorye [4 jo js jr eo rtlele le lerle | is ls iz (¢ le is is (6 iF |r le (2 lariie jer(s jo |e jeri [a lle |Z |e |rr\é [8 |g jor): amoxdes otloriz (© le lero le lletie te leriirie le ljatie jerje je aris je |g \arlet|s je |ztierjo | fri js js |s [-" amgey etig9 |¢ [+ lori IF le lett (ec lets |Z 19 [9 | etjzZtle (o jjorjarit jt |4tijo |r jZ PPtjatjy [TL jos (8 je | * Ame 9 lz \1 leriecle |e le |etieris jo le jorjé |i jotie jo |F |itig jt |g 6 jorje |Z | rts |Z |Z is jy je jar t Saet eile le le le lerie le 2 le lerig is is (¢ lailz (9 | |ilotis |g |g jorjatis |F |9 je [8 jariitt jo je |e fer AoW e1i9 le |¢ lorlz 9 lz 9 |g lori liz is jotio |Z |t |F orig je jarjs 9 |S je | IL} 4 jorjor|y [6 |s /8 |8 * dy 6 lerie 1+ le lo |e jorlitis {2 |e lorlsris je |tls Im je |i |tris {4 |etjetit jo fe 9 19 | PTFE orje je porn ON iF |¢ |9 |9 19 {¢ jorjetis |r |r |e |4 |9 |s | 9Tjorjo jo |Z jarje [9 |/9 |6 9 JO TF |4 [4 [6 |L J6TIO 0 eee Aen agt r [6 jatls |8 |i/F |9 [6 |tt}e |t |e |Ftjs jo | jotje |e |Z lero js |9 |e |F jery4 |e |F | Ur jor @ |g |Z [ct Arenuer a\/aH)| Ai a] e] & ai/ealel| aia] ?| i 242i 4) ")8/ 24 wm) e| a alm | Ala) e|] w| 4 oI <> il 4 eee let eC VELA ELE EPEIL EER LIE ET ec ere ec area carey aici biglei(a|blalei(elels(eleiz/slei/s]2)s|27 2] si 2{e i 2isi ei eis) ele | 21S] le "181 “S181 ‘apokQ B JO YIWOJ Yous UI ‘SpUTAA JO Sosse[ MOT OY} Jo suOT}eATOSGO Are a ee N ‘skep 1g ‘07 ‘orqeie, “Ul 6¢-T ‘skep ¢g ‘079 ‘o[qelivA == “UL 1G. ‘skep pe ‘029 ‘oqere A. 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PH 6D OD CO BN Ga EN DN OD HOOD Ds eH 6S 99 319 ON SH OD BR A 9 A A HO ID NIH 1 C1 OO arp arp eH SH OD Ie De HOS Oe SH OD De HO 6 09 OD ES HSH OED IQ DOSES ist | 191 | 001 HOD OS HD OG rt OD rt OY 6 AD HO 0D 09 BD 9 09 OD OD SH Et NOD OI ‘skep pL ‘ow ‘o[quLw A FIT OD SH ACS A CFD et OD OD OD SH ET OT OD tt tt eH CS OU AD AD AD CO GI OD OD GY OD 1 ‘d—-N WE OF-B 098-62 1&L-62 9LL-66 TP8-66 088-66 918-66 L8L-66 8£L-66 PSL-66 £9L-66 GPL-66 818-66 006-66 &L8-62 996-62 986-62 686-66 FE6-66 [06-66 088-66 918-6 £88-62 098-62 648-66 GE8-66 6Z8-66 -zaquiaydag LE6 DOB HB DHODMBDHHODHAINS tH lena! =x = ROMNMODMAMR COMO P= | ‘Na ‘shep f£ ‘orp ‘ayqrueA “UL £E- CO ewer eer cere ee eee areseeeee CL8-62 9¢T ¢6 €9 096-66 GE6-66 €86-66 668-66 9£8-66 606-62 906-66 €16-66 L16:66 126-66 T&6-66 L¥6-66 ¥E6-66 916-66 668-66 FI8-66 062-66 69L-66 962-63 €68-66 LE8-66 ¥G8-66 882-66 682-62 FL8-66 $98-66 008-66 281-66 18-66 816-66 GV6-66 "ut RH HS HD OD BRD DH AG HOD ON 9D OD OI GN OD ERG 1D SH OD SH OD AD BANNAN BA ANNAN SBP SB AMAO ROM HQ HIS CVU rt OD HN SOD et et ON VOD ON OD 83 DD SHH 6 1 1 © 0 OD SH HH ‘M—S|‘'S—A | 'I—-N}| ‘gsnany ‘II TIGVL ee = “sdup 9g ‘orp ‘o[qerre,, seteeeeieeneereasierteeasesiensenren — Gage 0€&@ | O9T 9 ¥ 9 € ¥ ¢ 9 Vv 6 I L g gS L 9 g 9 8 8 9 Il ¢g L 4 8 £ 4 L 8 € 8 & ¥ 6 £ 9 a 6 I ¥ a ¢ Ol 9 OL 9 Ol v 8 L 9 q Il T L € ol € g 6 9 4 “N—A\| ‘M—S | ‘S—H | ‘a—N | UL PHS UY Uva 99 | 6L é | ¢ 1¥6-63 | ‘Ie e | ¢ [18-66 | ‘08 kL | G06-6 | “62 ¢ |. 1866 | ‘83 rots 296-66 | “23 f/f L26-62 | ‘9% b | @ 048-6 | “93 3. | F G18-66 | “TS | & £F8-65 | 8% g | @ G8L-66 | "2% ee Be 008-63 | “Is $ it ZaL-6e | ‘06 gio eLL-65 | “él ae V6L66 | “SI re e68-66 | “LT cs 898-63 | ‘IL a | 8 18:63 | “St ¢ | & | G6Is6s | “FI t | @ | g9es6s | ‘et a g18-66 | ‘8I I | 1 868-68 | “TT & | o | 49868 | ‘or aj;t £9863 | 6 ee: 28-66 | '8 I | & | 99863 | ‘Z & | ¢ | te6 | ‘9 o | ¢ e666 | “¢ an 888-66 | ‘F tie 698-65 | “e I | & 798-66 | bi F BE8-66 | ‘IL ‘skep gy ‘orp ‘apqeriep, 691 | REPORT—1844. So De HO IN HO CO 1G 1 DD eH PR ON OD RO HOD IS Hin ef ee ACD ACS De eH OU eH OO 19 OD SH HOD SH 60 1 ER IN SS et BN OD OO HE 1D 19 1 1 © 1 1 oor THO AD SD UD AD OD OD NG OD HD SH EON SH et SOD tO ON et DN OOD 86 DS DS BV GD AH aS OD OD SO ED CD re ret OD ON OD SH OD LD AD OD OD AD 8D ON HD st eH ‘ad—-N C ee “Ul 68:6 ‘skup gy ‘ory ‘opqerte A, “UL 8E- LrL6S |p| 294-68 F6l OLT 6L 68 916-66 668-66 é or € € 499-66 998-66 ¥ 8 € é 004-66 008-66 6 Il € 0 £91-66 $LL-66 £ v € € OF8-66 OFL-66 8 4 € € OF8-66 L9L-66 9 9 g v 128-66 F3L-66 8 £ I I 9G2-66 902-66 LZ i rd & FLL-66 G1L-66 v4 9 € é 092-62 00£-66 9 ¥ € ¢ F9L-66 ¥L9-66 € 8 € € 1€8-66 002-66 g ¢ ¥ € ¥26-66 £69-66 v ZL I 9 €66:66 009-66 9 8 ¥ 0 9ER-66 OIL-66 L g 6 ¥ £99-66 062-66 6 ¢ I G 182-66 FE8-66 L g ¥ é 0SS-66 C¢8-66 9 ¢ i é 0L9:66 GZ8-66 6 9 é I LEL-66 098-66 ¢ 9 € € 69L-66 008-66 9 th G ¢ £8L-66 €08-66 8 € € ¥ 8ZL-66 LEL-66 L ¢ 4 G L¥L-6 OFL-66 8 c € & LVL-6E CEL-66 4 ¢ ¥ I CGL-66 9€9-66 9 g y € 1€8-66 919-66 L € € ¢ OF8-66 €29-66 L 9 I € PLL-6E PE9-66 6 9 0 € ¥Z8-66 FE9-66 It 6 0 € LE8-66 “ur “ul ‘zaquie.aq || “N—AA | ‘AA\—-S | ‘S—a | °A—N | ‘zequiaaon "sep PL “O7 ‘o[qerier sewtereaeleeeeereeeleseteeeerleeteesene GLI | esl WORAIOGMHHROMD MK HISD iHPOSOOOSSE HMO MNwWOOCOIOMm OD OD IN De SHO 6 2 0 HD TON NO OO Ht OO ON ei 09 1 SHH DH “N—MA | ‘M—S OZ | 66 GV ACD OD GU SH CD et st GD OR HOO NEY 8D eH eH a 1 8 0 OD ON BS VOD OD AD GHD me ett CHD eH AS OD CN mt OND SD et NT OD et a OT OD DHHS ‘SH | ‘G—N “UL GP-G ULEY FLL-66 | WOW 9LL-6 ‘le GOL-6 ‘0€ 962-66 “6S L68-66 "86 608-66 LG 962-6 ‘9% PSL-6 “GS FIL-66 ‘VG G0L-66 "86 069-66 ‘GS £F9-66 ‘16 L09-66 ‘06 19-66 “61 81-66 SI 041-66 “£1 LVL-66 ‘Or £68-66 “GI 198-66 mal 9€8-62 “eT L08-66 “SL ELL-66 ‘I 818-66 ‘Or 098-66 6 £9866 ‘8 184-66 ‘L VI8-66 ‘9 198-66 g €68-66 v €F8-66 ‘¢ 608-66 S 0GL-66 Tl “ul *199}90 a “AI UTAVL TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 21 _ On the Quantities of Rain received in Gauges at unequal Elevations upon the Ground. By Professor Pu1tities, F.R.S. The author, referring to three reports which he had already presented, observed that the results arrived at, on York Minster, on the Yorkshire Museum, and on the ground at York, for three years, appeared to require no repetition, and that the rea- soning on the results having been generally accepted, he should have thought it un- necessary to recal attention to the subject, unless he had some new facts to com- municate. On duly estimating the force of the objections which had been, or might have been, urged against the former experiments, such as the influence of local eddies and currents of wind about the Minster and Museum, and such buildings generally, Professor Phillips resolved to establish a registration of gauges raised into the open air, to various heights, independent of buildings. He had carried on trials of this kind at intervals for more than five years, and after using globular gauges, and various modes of measuring the rain collected, he had finally employed for the last two years, funnel gauges, emptying themselves into reservoirs placed in the ground. Thus some particular difficulties were obviated, and a consistent tally of results ob- tained. In 1843, from January 9 to October 14, he had obtained registrations of the gauges almost continuously, and in 1844, a similar series from January 1 to September 2, was recorded for him by Mr. Cooke. The gauges are five in number, at 14, 3, 6, 12, and 24 French feet above the ground. The registrations for the two periods are as under :-— ‘ 1843. 1844. Sum. Inches. Inches. Inches. 24 14°618 9°540 24°158 12 15°419 10°620 26'039 6 15°549 10°640 26°189 3 15°608 10°690 26°298 li 15°619 10°940 26°559 4 On these facts the author forbore to comment, having the intention to vary the experiments. On Simultaneous Barometrical Registration in the North of England. By Professor Puiruies, F.R.S. Following out in a limited district the plans of contemporaneous hourly registra- tion, which had been prosecuted by Sir J. Herschel and M. Quetelet for larger areas, the author found the means to combine observations on the barometer, at- tached thermometer and direction of wind, for twenty-four hours in each month, at nine stations in the north of England, viz. Kendal, Shields, Whitby, Scarborough, Hull, York, Sheffield, Birmingham, Manchester. The observations of five of these stations for six months had been approximately discussed, viz. those of Shields, Hull, York, Sheffield and Birmingham, and the results projected in diagrams. They showed,—1, the remarkable general accordance in the forms of the contempora- neous curves at all the stations; 2, the various limits of the deviations from uni- formity, never amounting at any two stations to above one-twentieth of an inch ; 3, the passage of waves of greater or less pressure in directions nearly correspond- ing to the path of the wind at the time, and with velocities which appear propor- tioned to the general movement of the atmosphere at the time, viz. twenty to forty miles an hour. On the Curves of Annual Temperature at York. By Prof. Puruiirs, F.R.S. The author stated that the data which he had collected extended over long periods, one series including twenty-five years’ registration of the barometer, thermometer, and ancient hygrometer, and that they had been so far discussed as to give interesting results, and that on a future occasion he hoped to present the complete analysis and inferences. On the Irregular Movements of the Barometer. By T. Hopxins. Mr. Hopkins maintained that the irregular movements of the barometer arise, not 22 REPORT—1844, from alterations of surface temperature, but from the condensation of aqueous vapour, and the consequent formation of rain. This, he said, caused local heatings of the atmosphere and considerable reductions of its pressure in the locality, particularly in the colder latitudes. Within the tropics, the barometer does not ordinarily fall as much as in colder latitudes, notwithstanding the abundant rains which take place there, because the condensation occurs, and the temperature is increased at a greater height in the atmosphere, and the reduction of the incumbent pressure in the part is spread over a wider area. The condensation takes place too at an elevation, where the air, from being subjected to inferior pressure, is more attenuated, and the heating is consequently more diffused. Rain is formed in certain latitudes, say at an average height of 3000 feet, where the air has a density proportioned to that height, and where the whole effects of the local heating are confined to an area of moderate ex- tent, thus reducing the pressure of the atmosphere on the barometer in every part of that area in a considerable degree ; whilst, in other parts nearer the equator, the condensation which produces rain takes place at an average height of, say 6000 or 9000 feet, where the air is rare in proportion to the height ; the heating effects are, therefore, diffused to a corresponding extent, whilst the reduction of pressure at the surface is spread over a wider area. It follows, that with equal amounts of rain the fall of the barometer will be the greatest, and confined to the smallest area in the coldest climates. On the Diurnal Variations of the Barometer. By T. Horxtns. Mr. Hopkins represented that the diurnal oscillations of the barometer arise from, first, the condensation of aqueous vapour into cloud, and then from the evaporation of the particles of water that constitute that cloud. He stated, that the morning sun warmed the lower air, and caused it to rise until condensation formed cloud, and liberated heat sufficient to warm a mass of the atmosphere, and thus to cause the barometer in the locality to begin to fall at, say about ten o’clock in the morning, which fall continued until about four o’clock in the afternoon, when condensation ceased. From this time, evaporation of the cloud commenced which cooled the air in the part—made it heavier—and caused the barometer to rise until about ten o’clock p.M., by which time the cloud was evaporated. The cooled and heavier air now de- scended to the surface, from which it absorbed a portion of heat, and became some- what warmer. From this second warming of the air, and from a reduction of the quantity of aqueous vapour in the atmosphere, as is evidenced by the fall of the dew- point, the barometer again fell, and from the operation of these two causes, continued to fall until four in the morning ; from which time, those general cooling influences _ that operate in the absence of the sun, caused the barometer again to rise till ten in the morning, thus completing the two risings and two fallings in the twenty-four hours. This was shown to be in general accordance with the tables of the Plymouth observations for three years, and with those made at Madras and Poona. The fact, also found in the Plymouth observations, that the dew-point rose with the tempera- ture until eleven o’clock a.m., when, although the temperature continued rising, the dew-point did not rise higher, showed that the vapour formed during the hottest part of the day was expended in supplying that which was condensed in forming the daily cloud. According to these tables, also, the dew-point at the surface continued sta- tionary until four o’clock p.m., when it began to fall, and continued falling with the declining temperature until the great cold resulting from evaporation ceased. The diurnal fluctuations were also shown to he the least, when the irregular were the greatest (as observed by Mr. Birt), because rain was then produced, and evaporation prevented from cooling the air at the regular diurnal period, and in that way rain pre- yented the rise of the barometer at that recurring period. A Year's Meteorological Observations made at Aden. By Sergeant Maver. On the Temperature of the Air at various Soundings of Huggate Well, upon the Wolds of the East Riding, Yorkshire. By the Rev. 'T. RANKIN. This well is 116 yards, or 348 feet deep. On Saturday, September 21, 1844, at probs te a ’ 7 TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 23 a five o’clock p.m., wind N.E.; barometer, 29°750; Fahr. thermometer at the mouth of the well, 51°. Sounded the well with a cord, to which was suspended a self- registering thermometer. At 100 feet deep, 57°; at 200, the same. On Tuesday, September 24, five o’clock p.m., wind N.E. ; barometer, 29°550; Fahr. thermometer at the mouth of the well, 56° in the shade; at 100 feet deep, 57°; at 200 feet, the same. The water at the bottom of the well, about 3281 feet from the top, 50°. On Wednesday, September 25, at half-past two p.m., wind N.E., but very gentle ; barometer, 29°710; Fahr. thermometer at the mouth of the well, 58°; at 150 feet deep, S. R. therm., 56°; at 200 feet, the same ; just above the surface of the water, about 327 feet, 50°; water, 49°. Atthe same time the water in a wide shallow pond near the well, 57°; in a pump drawn from a cistern filled with rain-water, fourteen feet deep, 51°. It appears from the last sounding, that the temperature in the shaft of the well is regulated by that of the water. Shaft, 57°; water, 50°; shaft, 56°; water, 49°; being 1° minus in both; difference, 7°. If the reported depth of the well be 348 feet deep, the water must be 19} feet. By the cord it was found to be 329+ feet from the top; and from the wet end of the cord, which was supposed to have been at the bottom, having measured 19 feet + 3281 = 348 feet. Singular Appearance of a Thunder Storm on Yorkshire Wolds, July 5, 1843. By the Rev. T. Rankin. On July 5, 1843, about two o’clock p.m., the barometer fell from 29°270 to 29°240. Thermometer Fahr. stood at 71°, the highest point for that month. Between four and five o’clock the horizon in the S.W. began to darken ; about six distant thunder was heard; betwen six and seven the dark clouds approached the Wolds, the thun- der was heard in a continued rolling and growling noise, and the sportive lightning variegated the scene. About eight o’clock the spectacle was sublime and terrific. Volumes of gaseous matter, like the smoke from a park of artillery, rolled along the higher grounds to the N.E. Behind this was a lengthened black cloud rising in an inclined manner, forming an angle of above 45° with the horizon. As the thunder became louder the lightning became more vivid. About nine it reached the summit of the Wolds, preceded by a violent rush of wind; then the broad sheet lightning, followed by loud peals of thunder. Torrents of rain descended in consequence, which terminated in hail and large pieces of ice. About ten o’clock the lightning struck a cottage chimney at North Dalton, and descending, shivered a large splinter from the beam upon which it rests, about a quarter of an hour after the family had retired. Description of an improved Anemometer. By James Tuomas GopDaARD. Having after the labour and study of several months succeeded in the construction of a meteorological instrument, designed for keeping an accurate register of the total force of the wind which passes over any station in a given time, such as twenty-four hours, as well as noting the direction, the author offers a slight description of its object and nature. The object sought in the valuable and ingenious anemometer of Mr. Osler of Birmingham, as is well known, is a complete picture of the force and direction of the wind for each day, noting the time to a minute or two of every change in the force and direction of the aérial currents; and for this purpose it is the most perfect and elegant instrument ever placed in the hands of the meteoro- logist. The instrument of mine is however intended to show the collective velocity of the wind, or rather the number of miles of air which pass the vane during the twenty- four hours, as well as the respective directions. By this means, by simply reading off the daily results (without calculation) and laying them down on a map of the country, we are informed of the distance and extent to which a wind penetrates into the interior of a large country, thereby giving strictly predictive results; at the same time giving every facility to the investigation of the causes which stop the progress of a wind, or change its direction in the interior of the country, as well as finding 24 REPORT—1844. numerically the effect of a given surface of air expanded by the rays of the sun. It is easy to perceive, that to procure similar data from the daily sheets of Mr. Osler’s anemometer would require a very laborious as well as approximative calculation. The vane is double, similar to that of Mr. Osler. It is fixed to, and therefore turns with, the perpendicular rod which pierces the ceiling, reaching within a few feet of the ground, resting on the top of a cylinder of wood, round the circumference of which are placed, level with the top, a series of thirty-two glass cylindrical tubes of equal bore, the interstices being neatly filled up with putty or cement. Each tube represents a point of the compass, and they are intended to hold a co- Joured fluid, and are therefore sealed over at bottom, similar in fact to test tubes, only considerably larger; they are graduated so as to indicate the height of the liquid within them, which height depends directly on the number of miles of wind which has passed the vane in the twenty-four hours. Above the circle of tubes is an appa- ratus which deposits the liquid into them ; there is also a contrivance, which is affixed to the pressure plate, by means of which the fluid is deposited at a variable rate, but always depending on the’ force on the pressure plate at the time. Thus, if for in- stance a drop per minute answered to a wind of one mile per hour, two drops per minute would show a velocity of two miles per hour, fifty drops a minute a velocity of fifty miles an hour, and so on; and as the tubes collect the daily deposit, by simply reading off the daily deposit or elevation of the fluid, and noting the respec- tive tube or tubes in which it is found, we have at once the number of miles of air which has passed the station as well as the direction. To describe the apparatus by which the quantity of fluid is regulated, so as to flow in proportion to the wind’s velocity, would require a diagram; but the general cha- racter is sufficiently obvious to give the meteorologist a good idea of it. Mr. Osler’s clock is superseded by clepsydral arrangements, and the spiral spring for the pressure plate is replaced by the natural spring of water, which is far superior to any artificial spring. In concluding, the author urges on the Members of the Association the im- portance of instituting experiments, to be made with a view of correcting our constants relating to the velocity of wind appertaining to a given force, as the errors of the tables will much interfere with extensive computations. On an Instrument called a Barometer Pump, for filling Barometer Tubes in vacuo. By Lieut.-Col. Everest, F.R.S. This was a single acting air-pump, so arranged as to exhaust the air from the tube to be filled, while a capillary tube, dipping into a reservoir of mercury, and curved at the end next the tube, dropped the mercury into the tube as it rose above the bend (after the exhaustion had been carried as far as possible), by dipping a glass rod into the reservoir. The mercury as it comes into the tube is heated to a temperature sufficient to boil it, and it is desiccated by a bottle of strong sulphuric acid, which is made to communicate with the canal into which the tube to be filled and the capillary filling tube are luted. Col. Everest mentioned, that the best material for the valves of an air-pump was the swimming bladder of a fish. Account of an Attempt to establish the Plastic Nature of Glacier Ice by direct Experiment. By Professor J. D. Forses, F.R.S. L.§ E. These experiments were made in the month of August last upon the Mer de Glace of Chamouni, with the view of establishing that the increasing velocity of a glacier, from the side towards the centre, takes place (when the declivity is not very great) by the insensible yielding of one portion of the ice past another, without great rents at measurable distances producing discontinuity in the motion. The only permanent marks left by such differential motion are the veins, or blue-bands, to which the author has, in his published writings, attributed such an origin. A transverse line was drawn partly across the glacier in the most compact part which could be found, which was quite devoid of open crevices for a considerable space. The theodolite was planted over a fixed mark in the ice at the extremity of this line nearest to the lateral moraine of the glacier; and the relative, or differential velocities of the parts towards the centre were determined at short intervals, and have TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 25 been projected ina curve. This curve was shown to the meeting. It is evidently a continuous curve, convex towards the valley, and not.a zigzag motion, such as must have resulted from distinct rents parallel to the length of the glacier. The length of the line, originally straight, whose deformation was observed, was 90 feet, and the ordinates of the curve were determined by accurate measurements at forty-five stations two feet apart. The experiments on the continuous flexure of the transverse line were extended over a longer period, at points 30, 60, 90, 120, and 180 feet from the theodolite, with similar results. ; The author concludes,—1st, that the sliding of the mass of the glacier over itself by insensible gradations cannot be denied, and that it is sufficient to account for the observed excess of progress of the centre above the sides of the glacier; 2nd, that this differential motion takes place in the direction in which the veined structure exists, and that it is impossible not to consider the one phenomenon as dependent on the other. Experimental Inquiries into the Falling-off from perfect Elasticity in Solid Bodies. By Eaton Hopexinsoyn, £.R.S. At the Cork Meeting of the British Association, Mr. Hodgkinson laid before the Sec- tion the results of some experiments, the object of which was to show that no rigid body is perfectly elastic ; the slightest change of form in a body producing a perma- nent alteration in it, however small. He endeavoured to show, too, that in experi- ments on the deflexion of rectangular bars of cast iron, and some other materials, the defect of elasticity, denominated the set, varied as the square of the weight laid on, nearly. It might, he stated, be inferred, too, that the set varies as the square of the deflexion, since the deflexion is as the weight nearly, though it varies in a ratio somewhat higher than that. Tn rectangular bars bent so as to strain them in a small degree only, the particles are equally extended and compressed on the opposite sides of the bar; but in bars whose section is of the form A-—-B, the deflexion arising from the flexure of the plate AB and the extension or compression of the part C, varies in a higher degree than as the square of the weight, and in these the set varies nearly as the square of the de- flexion. Mr. Hodgkinson stated that, soon after the Cork Meeting, he had received, from avery intelligent writer, a letter on the subject of the communication here described. In this letter considerable doubt as to the correctness of his conclusions was expressed, and it was suggested that the facts might probably be accounted for by attributing them to friction between the ends of the beam and the supports on which it rested, a matter which had been investigated by the Rev. Professor Moseley, in his able work on the Mechanical Principles of Engineering and Architecture (Art. 389). Mr. Hodgkinson felt convinced that the causes mentioned in the letter were not the right ones, but thought it incumbent on him to obviate, as far as possible, all objections, and to show that friction was not the cause of the results observed. In his former experiments the weight of the bar was neglected, as it was very small compared with the weight laid upon it; and the deflexions and sets were measured from that position which the middle of the bar had taken in consequence of its own weight. The friction upon the ends of the bar, from the supports on which they rested, had likewise been neglected ; and the quantities of the sets, usually very small, had been measured by an instrument (a long wedge graduated along the side) ; and although this was good comparatively with some previously used, it did not admit of all the accuracy which was required. He had, therefore, an apparatus constructed. to remove these defects. In this ap- paratus, the bar or body bent is laid upon its edge or smallest side, and the force to bend it acts horizontally. The ends of the bar are supported horizontally and ver- tically by friction rollers, and the deflexions and sets are measured from the centre of the “‘ straight edge,” in which screws resting on the ends of the bars opposite the rollers are inserted. The sets, and the smaller deflexions, are measured by a micro- meter screw, in the centre of the straight edge, capable of measuring distances as smallaszg3o5thof aninch. In this apparatus the flexure of the bar, being horizontal, 26 REPORT—1844. arises wholly from the weight laid on, and the friction must be almost insensible. The admeasurements of the sets, Mr. Hodgkinson stated, were as accurate as the light of a candle, in addition to bright day-light, would enable the observer, using the ut- most care, to judge. Great care was taken to have the ends of the bars well-supported during the experiments, and when a bar in its natural state was not perfectly uniform, but in some degree twisted, iron wedges filed to the exact form were made and fast- ened to the ends of the bar, that it might rest firmly against the rollers. The length of the bar between the rollers supporting the ends was six feet six inches; and its depth in different materials varied from ;%ths of an inch to one inch, ora little more, in the direction in which the bar was bent. The utmost attention was paid to en= sure accuracy, and the time taken up by an experiment was usually from three to five hours, but in some cases a whole day. The principal source of error arose, apparently, from the difficulty and almost im- possibility of keeping the long flexible bars operated upon perfectly free from vibra- tion, in the neighbourhood of a large manufactory. Another source of small error might arise from the pressure of the screws at the ends of the straight edge against the ends of the bar, these being held by light springs to keep them always in contact ; but this was avoided by removing them in the experiments on some of the most flexible bars, as those of steel and wrought iron. With this apparatus many experiments on bars of different materials have been made, and the deflexion and set from different weights obtained, the leading results from which are below. In ribs of soft stone, each sawn seven feet long, four inches broad, and about one inch thick, bent in the direction of their least dimension, the mean deflexion was ob- tained from the same weight laid gently on about four times, for three minutes each time; and after the bar had been unloaded each time for five minutes, the set was observed. The mean results in different experiments are as follow :— Weights laid on. Sets produced. Ibs. inch. 1, ABBA ee RoR “006 : DO eRe PaRe enna chap esy sce esse °170 Ee penimeDh ay aay PN. 00.2, 026 Oe eetaemaaeevemabnrcecsicsea cess “170 ‘ Ue GPC UNE RIne eas adinseieceteess% “0099 Experiment 2. { SR en eee, “149 5 NP einteiarwanseiwnanecsneccccee ‘0369 Experiment as { 98 ee: pune oth ns = +1298 ; Misepebunearassveurarienecsseses ‘0099 Experiment 4.{ GREER Pen NRE 1971 SE .cccece ee oreavucded Paes ecnbls *0087 . Lac ietpeccsoredVecsbecnesseenes ‘0879 Experiment 509 7 oo cisssessesscseessesees 0280 La cevettoxeeareccernee cess s. (0879 Seeking from above for the power , of the number expressing the weights to which the sets are proportional, we have (in Experiment 1), 7” : 42” ;: 006: "1703 whence we obtain n=1°866 ; and from the other experiments we have n successively equal to 1°957, 1°810, 1°840, 1°709, 1°668, 1°650; the mean from the whole giving m=1°786. Whence it appears, Mr. Hodgkinson observes, that stone differs in this respect but little from cast iron, the sets varying nearly as the squares of the weights laid on. In wrought iron and steel the sets seem to follow a different law, but the exami- nation of these metals has not been completed. In these, as in materials of every description tried, the weights, however small, seemed to produce a permanent set ; no body recovering of itself its original form after a change of figure had been produced in it. If a small weight was laid, without any acceleration, upon a bar of any material a number of times successively, the set was found to be increased each time. Mr. Hodgkinson read to the Association results of this kind from stone, cast iron, hard and softened steel. He had sought for the longitudinal extension and set in long TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. o7 bars of cast iron, as well as of wrought iron; but he was not prepared to give the final results. Tt was found that in all cases where a strain had been applied to a body, it showed for some time afterwards a tendency to return towards its original form, though it never would be able to arrive at it. This was particularly evident for a few minutes at first, and on that account the sets were usually taken twice or more, as at the ex- piration of one minute and five minutes, and sometimes half an hour after unloading ; but after five minutes they seldom altered much. Tn all materials, the sets produced by the smallest weights tried, seemed to be nearly in the ratio of the weights; but as the small friction of the apparatus would make a sensible addition to the set due to the material from such small strains, he drew no conclusions from the fact. Mr. Whitworth exhibited an instrument for measuring bodies to a very minute de- gree of accuracy. It consisted of a strong frame of cast iron, at the opposite extre- mities of which were two highly finished steel cylinders, which traversed longitudi- nally by the action of screws one-twentieth of an inch in the thread; these screws were worked by two wheels, placed at opposite extremities of the frame, the larger of which had its circumference divided into five hundred equal parts; the ends of the cylinders, at the places were they approached each other, were reduced to abouta quarter of an inch, and their hemispherical ends were highly polished. To measure with this instrument, the large circle was brought to its zero, and the body to be measured, being placed between the cylinders, the small circle was turned until the two cylinders touched the opposite sides of the body, which being removed, and the large circle turned until the ends of the two cylinders were brought to touch the turns and parts of a turn required for this, it gave the breadth of the body which had been interposed to the ten-thousandth part of an inch, and since the one-tenth of one of the divisions could be readily estimated, the size of the body could be thus estimated easily to the aaasth part of an inch. Mr. Whitworth stated, that in the accuracy required in modern workshops, in fitting the parts of tools and machines, _ the two-foot rule heretofore in use is not by any means accurate enough; his object was to furnish ordinary mechanics with an instrument which, while it afforded very accurate indications, was yet not very liable to be deranged by the rough handling of the workshop ; and he conceived this instrument secured those advantages. It _ surprised himself to find how very minute a portion of space could be by it, as it _ were, felt. By it the difference of the diameters of two hairs could be rendered quite palpable. Communications from Norway, presented by Joun Let, LL.D., F.R.A.S. A paper by J. R. Crowe, Esq., Consul-General of Her Britannic Majesty for Nor- way, dated Christiana, 29th May 1844, entitled, ‘General Observations on the Cli- “mate of N orway and Finmark, with some remarks on the Geography, Geology and Agriculture.’ Also, a table of meteorological observations, taken at Christiana, north Jatitude 59° 54’ 1”, east longitude 10° 45’, during the year 1843, and the barometrical and thermometrical means for each month. A letter, dated Alten Observatory, 20th April 1844, from J. H. Grewe, Esq., de- tailing the difficulties which he had to encounter on ascending the mountain called Storvandofjeld, on the 1st December 1843, to fix a minimum thermometer on its apex, and of his second expedition on the 17th of April 1844 to examine it, and bring it down to Alten; the lowest degree of cold on the top of the mountain during the winter having been 35° longitude, and the lowest degree at Alten 27°, a difference of 8° between the two places. _ Also an account of a fine parhelion which he beheld at 55 50™ a.m. at a height of about 1500 feet, with a drawing. A paper by John Francis Cole, Esq., Member of the Literary and Astronomical Society of Alten, on the Aurora Borealis, as seen at that place, and which has been drawn up from a series of observations. 28 REPORT—1844, : A paper by John Francis Cole, Esq., of Alten, on a remarkable and sudden fall of rain which took place with a clear sky on the 6th of May 1844, and which, in his opinion, has much analogy with a fall of rain from aclear sky observed by Professor Wartmann at Geneva, on the 31st of May 1838. Also an observation on the evapo- ration of the ice on the 3rd of May 1844, at Alten. Meteorological tables :— 1. Results of the meteorological observations made at Alten observatory, by Messrs. J. H. Grewe and J. F. Cole, during the year 1843. 2. A table showing the approximate forces of the winds for each month and for the year, with the means of each month and the year, the latter including calms. 3. A table showing the number of days in each month and in the year on which it was calm, windy, and from what quarter. 4. A table showing the number of days the different clouds were visible in each month and in the year. 5. A table showing the approximate forces of the driving of the clouds for each month and for the year, with the means of each month and the year, the latter in- cluding imperceptibles. 6. A table showing the number of days in each month and in the year on which the clouds were not observed to drive, as well as on which they were observed to drive, and from what quarter, and the number of times the aurora was visible (61). CHEMISTRY. On the Mineral Springs and other Waters of Yorkshire. By W. West. Tue results of analysis of the waters of Harrogate and many other places were de- tailed with great minuteness, and the districts from which the waters were collected described. Account of the Phosphorite Rock in Spanish Estremadura. By Professor Dauseny, F'.R.S. In conjunction with Captain Widdrington, R.N., he had last summer undertaken to explore this rock. He stated its occurrence in one solitary mass, penetrating clay- slate, the dimensions being at most sixteen feet in width, its length along the surface of the ground extending to about two miles, whilst its depth is unexplored, but cer- tainly considerable. He stated its composition to be, about 80 per cent. triphosphate of lime, and about 14 fluoride of calcium, and pointed out the final cause of the se- cretion of so large a mass of both these substances in the older rocks, as being intended to supply two necessary ingredients for bones and other animal matters. He stated his having detected fluorine in all the bones and teeth of recent as well as of older date which he had examined, and suggested, that as a rock of such a composition could hardly fail to be useful as a manure, if it were found in an easily accessible locality, it would be worth the while of geologists to search for veins of this mineral in the older formations of this and other countries, where there might be a greater facility of transport. On the Theory and Practice of Amalgamation of Silver Ores in Mexico and Peru. By J.C. Bownine. After noticing and refuting the hypotheses by which the operations for the amalga- mation of silver ores in the countries mentioned have been conducted, the author pro- poses the following explanation. } The presence of mercury being necessary, not merely as a means of collecting the particles of silver disseminated through the ore, but also as a chemical agent, the ac- tion of bichloride of copper upon it must be considered. By this action, which takes place instantaneously, a protochloride of both metals is formed, and that of the copper, by absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere, becomes TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 29 ‘converted into an oxychloride, which by giving up its oxygen to the sulphur combined with the silver, leaves this in a metallic state and free to amalgamate with the mercury. This is proved by boiling native sulphuret of silver with oxychloride of copper* in a solution of common salt, when metallic silver will be obtained; or as a more practical experiment, by mixing some rich ore with these materials and mercury at the ordinary temperature ; in about an hour the whole of the silver will have become amalgamated, when on separating all the soluble salts by filtration, and the addition of chloride of barium, sulphate of barytes will be precipitated, equivalent in quantity to that of the sulphur which has been acidified; it will thus be made evident that the sulphuric acid ean only have been formed by the decomposition of the sulphuret of silver, and could not have existed if this metal had become combined with chlorine, according to the theory hitherto received. The action of oxychloride of copper in the reduction of silver ores seems to be con- tinuous, and its theory thus offers some analogy to that of the manufacture of sulphuric acid: by giving up its oxygen to the sulphur previously combined with the silver, the oxychloride of copper is converted into a protochloride; and this into a bichloride, by the action of the chlorine, which is evolved by the decomposition of the salt when at- tacked by the sulphuric acid that has been formed. This bichloride is again decom- posed by the mercury, and first a proto- and then an oxychloride of copper are formed: the sulphur of the silver becomes acidified, and the action is continued in the same manner until the whole of the metal is amalgamated. By the direct use of oxychloride of copper, instead of forming it in the “tortas” by means of the sulphate, as in the usual method, the author has obtained very advanta- geous results, not only as far as regards a great saving of time, labour and materials, but also by the extraction of a much larger quantity of silver than could possibly be got out by the old process. The loss of mercury, although greatly diminished by its means, cannot indeed be entirely avoided, as is evident from the theory of the operation; but the principal ad- vantage derived from this method consists in the larger amount of silver produced; and this is a very important point to be considered, when on a moderate calculation at least the value of half a million sterling per annum is left in the ore, and thus irretrie- vably lost, in Mexico alone, through the imperfections of the usual process of amaigama- tion. In order to protect entirely the mercury from being attacked, it would be ne- cessary to have in contact with it some metal more readily oxidizable, as zinc, tin, or lead; but any of these bodies would decompose the oxychloride of copper, and thus destroy its action on sulphuret of silver; perhaps a very weak solution of carbonate of soda or potash would not have this effect, and would serve to neutralize the acid that is disengaged. The author then treats of the proper mode of forming the oxychloride of copper to be employed in the reduction of silver ores; points out the practical good effects which have resulted by application of his theoretical views, and shows the importance of a full consideration of the subject by statements of the great loss of silver which is ex- perienced by following the old routine, unaided by science. At Guenaxato this loss is estimated at 10 per cent.; Fresmetto, 28; Zacatecas, 35 to 40; nor is this the extreme case. On Mr. Phillips’s Method of discovering Adulteration in Tobacco. By Josrrvu Bateman, LL.D., F.R.AS. The basis of this plan is the ascertainment and comparison of the relative propor- tions of soluble and insoluble matter in tobacco; water being the solvent. Numerous experiments have proved that every kind of vegetable matter has a determinate por-~ tion, which is soluble in water; thus rhubarb-leaves range from 18 to 26 per cent., and horse-radish, lettuce, oak, elm, and many others, have their definite limits. This amount, with reference to tobacco, in no case exceeds 55 per cent. of the tobacco : and thus if tobacco be adulterated with matter soluble in water, the extractive or soluble part is increased, whilst the ligneous and insoluble matter are correspondingly de- i *This oxychloride of copper must be partially soluble in a solution of salt, as that prepared in the common way would haye no effect. 30 REPORT—1844. creased. A sample of genuine tobacco, by careful manipulation, affords 50 per cent. of soluble matter, and when another portion of the same tobacco has been mixed with — 15 per cent. of soluble matter, the sophisticated article can contain only 85 per cent, of tobacco; and it would be found by experiment to afford to water 57:5 of soluble, and 42:5 of insoluble matter, thus affording proportions for calculating the actual amount of adulteration introduced. On the Limestones of Yorkshire. By W. Lucas. The limestones may be comprised under the four following classes, viz.— 1. The Mountain Limestone. 2. The Magnesian Limestone, including both the upper and lower beds. 3. The Oolitic Limestone. 4, The Chalk. 1. The Mountain Limestone is developed to a great extent in the district of Craven and in other parts of the north and north-west portions of the county. It is of a dark gray colour, and hard, breaking with a species of conchoidal fracture. Its specific gravity is about 1°70. According to analysis, the following are its principal consti- tuents, viz.— Lime.......... Regehainy Eopacweapenctp aisha’ ails dab wa baited roe a)! WOrelgM MMA thetigs ac vennsava-cuabaavaebessav coevancesosdoctsansepeaset Meal 100-00 It thus appears to contain about 98°50 per cent. of carbonate of lime, and conse- quently would appear to be an excellent limestone for the purposes of agriculture. 2. The Magnesian Limestone,—The lower portion of this formation is found in im- mediate succession to the coal measures. It is of a yellowish-white colour, and breaks with a dull earthy fracture. Its specific gravity is about 2°64. A specimen from Conisbrough, near Doncaster, gave the following as its chief con- stituent ingredients, viz.— Carbonic acid ............ OT EOT TCT ED cates svi vwes s7eecngqan ee MED Lime........ existe anise are Praudationays weaieawadeed ecaas dévepmabee 35°00 Magnieniansg Gxspessivaaees Bae Monies ceghs's eer ee saves koansee 17°75 Kled Oxide Of IroMaccensderaeknasmeceans cures bastse*aeanzee oitap owas eon Insoluble: matter sin espcencwarseastecaussencs! MOSIZ 100°00 As this limestone appears to contain about 93°96 per cent. carbonate of lime, it would seem to be tolerably well adapted for the purposes of agriculture, as the very small proportion of magnesia that it appears to contain can scarcely be supposed to exert much deleterious influence. 3. The Oolitic Limestone is the next in order to the magnesian, and is found in considerable abundance in the neighbourhood of Malton. it is of a yellowish-white colour, and appears to be composed of innumerable small round particles. The spe- cific gravity is about 2°59. According to analysis, its principal constituents are— Warbonic 'ACiOl sisscacveceansssleas save cteucveaseckouse seepartnce® seveee 44°35 Lime ..... Delete lance sikewas ian thse saee ta as ae wants aie oa tale scaoied err erY Mets 1s to 34 Red oxide of iron..........eeeeee0e Seacvowseeeenate Bech e eanraae cocase ¢ y O69 Insoluble matter ...,.........00006 a ernie Oe sd San cosatae GOSS) ss ahinc ue crcastarie. tals < goss wae dea: iceacealaaca' vaprewewaeeecs gueitc 0°17 100-00 From the large proportion of carbonate of lime contained in this limestone, it appears to be well calculated for agricultural purposes, and is used to a considerable extent. 4, The Chalk formation occupies a considerable extent in the eastern part of the county, forming that peculiar feature in it known as the Wolds. This substance scarcely requires any description. It is, as is well known, of a white colour, and easily scraped with a knife, and readily soils the fingers. Its specific gravity is about 2°55. According to analysis, its chief ingredients are— Carbonic acid’ iii .tccctescecseecedes SS EERE: Diapeareesoh «.. 483°:00 WGENC Ss os cial Sues Reinidclganecie save sccent Tate cdhscdeckucmene a eres 55:42 Insoluble matter ......... ab eneas Pedteacceteteoneass Uheeiashenson eee. MAGHS shee cbetas des weae Hamatces descend sebecsaseacedaaedeecciotstuanes >), 048 100°00 This, like the preceding variety, appears to contain a large proportion of carbonate of lime, and consequently affords, by burning, a similarly large proportion of lime, and hence is particularly adapted for agricultural purposes, although it is said not to produce so strong a lime as the oolitic limestone. On some Products of the Decomposition of Erythrin. By Epwarp Scuuncx. Erythrin is a white substance which forms the basis of the colouring matters produced from the Roccella tinctoria. It was discovered by Heeron, and afterwards examined by Kane. I have obtained very different results from the latter. The composition of erythrin is expressed by the formula Cog yy Oyo, or Cyy Hog Ono. By treating with caustic alkalies it is decomposed into carbonic acid, which unites with the al- kali and orcin, which remains dissolved. Now, if we subtract from Cy Hog Ong two atoms of anhydrous orcin Cs. Hy: O4, two atoms of carbonic acid C4 Os, and seven atoms of water H, O,, there remains C, H; O, which is the composition of one atom of wether. It was therefore probable that during this decomposition alcohol would be given off, but no decided manifestations of alcohol could be discovered on de» composing with caustic potash, It is therefore probable that the elements of C, H; O arrange themselves in a different way. On being boiled with water erythrin is con- 32 REPORT—1844. verted into a soluble viscid substance, which after some time crystallizes; ithasa — very bitter taste. On being boiled with alcohol erythrin is converted partly into this — bitter substance and partly into pseuderythrin. Now pseuderythrin, Cy. H,3 Og, is the zther compound of lecanorin Cs Hg Og, so that it is probable that erythrin either contains lecavorin, as such, or that it easily gives rise to the formation of that sub- stance; the bitter substance before mentioned is also decomposed by alkalies into carbonic acid and orcin. According to its constitution it ought also to give off alcohol or ether during this decomposition, but nothing of the kind could be discovered. Note on the Solvent Power of Solutions of Acetates. By Joun Mercer, Jun. In the course of some experiments on the crude acetate (pyrolignite) of lime, in which the author had occasion to bring the solution of this substance into contact with sulphate of lead (applied in the dry state), he was surprised to observe the solution experience a considerable increase in density, which proved to be owing to the solu- tion of a large quantity of sulphate of lead. A portion of the liquid gave an abundant precipitate of chrome yellow, with a few drops of a solution of the bichromate of potash ; but the original solution did not contain a trace of lead, nor did the sulphate employed in these experiments contain any soluble salt of lead. The solution of the sulphate of lead is not affected by the impurities present in the crude acetate, as pure acetate of lime was found to possess an equal solvent power on the sulphate of lead. As might have been expected after such a result, unequivocal evidences were ob- tained of the presence of lead in acetates prepared by double decomposition of the acetate of lead and a soluble sulphate, as acetates of soda, alumina and potash. The acetate of soda of commerce prepared in this manner, contained a notable quantity of lead, evidenced by’ bichromate of potash, sulphuric acid, and other reagents, though the acetate was in the state of large and perfectly transparent crystals. A solution of acetate of soda prepared in the same way by the author, also con- tained lead, although the acetate of lead was not present in excess, for the addition of sulphate of soda to the liquid caused no precipitate. Moreover a solution of pure acetate of soda, prepared by carefully neutralizing acetic acid with caustic soda (both free from lead), was found to be capable of dissolving a large quantity of sulphate of lead, especially with the application of heat. All the acetates the author has had an opportunity of examining, namely, those of lime, soda, alumina, potash, ammonia, and magnesia, possess this solvent power. The sulphate of lead is not the only lead compound insoluble in water which is ca- pable of being dissolved by solutions of acetates, for tlie oxide, carbonate and subsul- phate also partake of the property. The author has not yet been enabled to determine with certainty the exact state in which the lead exists in solution; the compound formed, however, would seem to be very stable, as the liquid may be boiled, diluted and evaporated until transparent crystals are obtained (where the acetate used is capable of crystallizing) without the separation of the lead. It is perhaps worthy of observation, that the solutions of lead in acetates afford a precipitate of sulphate of lead with sulphuric acid, but not with sulphate of soda. Caustic soda also produces a precipitate. The solvent power of acetates extends to many bodies insoluble in water besides the lead compounds above mentioned: for instance, a solution of neutral acetate of soda dissolves hydrated oxide of copper and lime in very large proportion; and alumina, protoxide of iron, and protoxide of tin, in small quantity ; but hitherto the author has net had an opportunity of pursuing the investigation of this subject to the extent it eserves. On Guano. By Rozert Warincton. This was a notice intended particularly to draw attention to the importance of the estimation of the nitrogen in the analysis of guano as given to the agriculturist, as on the quantity of this element depended, in a great degree, the value of a given sample, whereas in general the per-centage of ammoniacal salts was only given. It appears, from Mr. Warington’s experiments, and the use of guano in the production of the prussiate of potash, that the proportion of this element is very considerable. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 33 . On the Action of Nitric Acid on Naphtha. By Drs. Smrtu and Lricn. This was an account of experiments which are still in progress, showing that by the action of nitric acid on naphtha, a variety of bodies isomeric with turpentine might be produced. On the supposed Formation of Valerianic Acid from Indigo, and on the Acid which is formed by the Action of Hydrate of Potash upon Lycopodium. By J. 8. Musprart, Ph.D. The author presented an examination of the very remarkable series of metamor- phoses to which indigo is subjected in the processes described by Gerhardt. It is con- tended that the valerianic acid produced in these experiments is nct due to the indigo, but to foreign matters mixed up with it. A peculiar oleaginous matter had been ob- tained from lycopodium having a peculiarly acid character. Experiments on the Formation or Secretion of Carbon by Animals, the Disap- pearance of Hydrogen and Oxygen, and the Generation of Animal Heat during the process. By Rozerr Rice, F.R.S. The experiments described in this paper were made with two young mice, confined in a wire trap; the one weighed 210 and the other 218 grains. They were fed with bread and water only; and at periods of half an hour, an hour, and sometimes for two hours, the animals when in the trap were placed several times in the day under a glass jar, atmospheric communication being cut off by mercury. Portions of the air within this jar were removed and examined for carbonic acid over mercury. One of the mice was under experiment nearly eight and the other nine weeks; during which time they were sometimes supplied with an abundant quantity, at other times a mode- rate, and at other times a very sparing quantity of food. With whatever quantity they were supplied, the carbon in the respired air exceeded that in the food; the former _ comprising during the whole period 2016, and the latter 1491 grains of carbon. One of the animals was killed when in its fattest condition, and when its weight was 276 "grains, and the other when its weight was reduced, by being fed for several days with a very sparing quantity of food, to 169 grains. ‘The animals weve dried in their whole state, and average samples analysed with oxide of copper; the weight of carbon _ comprised in the former was 45:91 grains, and that in the latter 22°5 grains. _ From these and similar results obtained by experiments made with other animals and birds, the author is led to conclude that animals secrete carbon ; and on a recapi- _ tulation of the elements comprised in the animals, in the bread, and in the water, he is led to infer that hydrogen and oxygen undergo some process of natural chemistry, _ having this secreted carbon as a result : and by calculating for the specific heats of these - bodies, he finds that these animals generate from three to six times the heat by the for- mation of the carbon they secrete, as by the formation of the carbonic acid they re- Spire; and that this secretion of carbon, and consequently generation of heat, is influ- _ enced by the quality and quantity of food, exertion, and quiet or active habits of the animal. Li On increasing the Intensity of the Oxyhydrogen Flame. By C. J. Jonpan. The author in this paper examines various processes of gaseous combustion, as the ordinary flame where heat is generated only at the coincident surfaces of oxygen and the combustible, and the flame of oxygen and hydrogen previously mixed, where at every point of the jet heat is generated. In this last case enlarged bulk of flame is advan- tageous, but not generally practicable with ceconomy and convenience. Instead of augmenting the bulk, the author suggests concentration of the mixed gases by pressure, so as to accumulate more burning points within a given area, and thus raise the in- tensity of the flame, and supports this view by various facts and reasonings, chiefly derived from the effects which accompany gaseous combustion under reduced pressure or diluting aériform admixtures. To accomplish the production of the mixed oxyhydrogen flame, under pressure, the author proposes a strong vessel charged with compressed air, or some appropriate gas, 1844, D 34 REPORT— 1844. and furnished with glass sight-holes (or composed of glass). Into this vessel the gases are to be forced under a somewhat greater pressure than that sustained by the vessel (ignited previously, or by an electric spark). On Specific Heat. By J. P. Jour. After examining the law of Dulong and Petit, that the specific heat of simple bodies is inversely proportional to their atomic weights, the author proceeded to detail the attempts made by Haycraft, De la Rive, and Marcet, to discover the specific heats of gases and liquids. ‘The observations of Neumann and Regnault on the specific heats of simple and compound bodies were next examined. Mr. Joule then exhibited to the Section a table, in which the theoretical specific heats of a variety of bodies impartially selected were calculated on the hypothesis that the capacity for heat of a simple atom remains the same into whatever chemical combination it enters. On the whole, the coincidence between the theoretical and experimental results was such as would induce a belief that the law of Dulong and Petit, with regard to simple atoms, is ca- pable of a greater degree of generalization than chemists have hitherto been inclined to admit. TABLE. Bei] 3s] _s Name of substance. Formula adopted. oae 2 E EB a Experimenter. WVATOT sa saccascueeeadas H,O 3 |1000 |1000 Hydrogen ...........0+08 He = 6000 3294 | Delaroche and Berard. ORV ZEN. soces ceceeesere O 2 | 875 | 236 do. MGGING® j.c200asrcaseeaene I, tie | 48 | 54 | V. Regnault. Garbon..kscssemaseecwas. C zz | 250 | 241 do. SG phurhsscsaccadevevete cs S zs | 188 | 188 | Dulong and Petit. Wied (hash ee sane Pb et) 29) | 29 do. IRGC. ipsa edsnoat ctdeaatan Zn ey jab ee: do. oppery siccasssceseeeens Cu gz | 94] 95 do. Metcury iiscwstccecs Riese Hg aiz | 38 33 do. Oxide of lead............ PbO tix | 54] 51] V. Regnault. Oxide of copper......... CuO #, | 150 | 142 do Magnesia ........2ce0e0s MgO sr | 286 | 244 do Peroxide of iron ...... Fe, O3 as | 192 | 167 do Sulphuret of copper ... Cu,S ete | 2) do Sulphuret of lead ...... PbS ziz | 50] 50 do Sulphuret of iron ...... FeS #; | 140 | 136 do, Chloride of lead ...... PbCl, +35 | 65 | 66 do Chloride of copper ... Cu, Cl, rao | 120 | 138 do Todide of lead ......... PbI, Se este a fet 3 do Iodide of silver......... Ag, [, rer ol} (62 do Sulphate of potash ... KOSO; gs | 204 | 190 do. Carbonate of potash...| 2KOCO, | 73,5 | 194 | 216 do. Chlorate of potash...... KO Cl,O, | +35 | 220 | 210 do Nitrate of potash ...... KON,O, | +25 | 265 | 238 do. Sulphuric acid ......... SO; H,O gs | 429 | 350 | Dalton. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 35 Account of Experiments on Heating by Steam. By W. West. These experiments were instituted for the purpose of ascertaining if water heated by steam reached the true boiling temperature. In several experiments it was found that although the water was violently agitated, and steam escaped in abundance, that the thermometer indicated 190°, 205°, and 207°, and could not be raised to the true boiling-point. A false bottom being added to the receiving vessel pierced with nu- merous small holes, it was found easy, with even a smaller quantity of steam, to main- tain the temperature at 2129. On a peculiar Condition of Zinc, produced by a long-continued High Temperature. By Tuomas Trtrey, Ph.D. Dr. Tilley presented a specimen of zinc, which had undergone a remarkable change in its arrangement, from being kept at a heat above that of fusion for a considerable time. This change was thought to bear some analogy to the alierations which sulphur and some other bodies are known to undergo at different temperatures. The condi- tion of the zine was singularly crystalline. The zinc in this state was found to have the same chemical condition as the ordinary zinc of commerce, and, although its oxides and salts have not been examined, it was found that, when distilled, the zinc was re- stored to its original texture. It was suggested, that many interesting examples of similar molecular changes in other metals might be detected by subjecting them to similar conditions to those in which this sample of zine was placed. Description of an Air-Duct to be used in Glass Furnaces for the Prevention of Smoke, with Models. By 'T. M. Greennow. The nuisance of smoke it is assumed must be prevented by the supply, under proper conditions, of additional quantities of oxygen gas to the burning matter, so as to ren- der its combustion complete. Though this intention has been successfully carried out in steam-engine and other furnaces, no attempt has been successful to prevent the annoyance occasioned by glass furnaces. One of Mr. Greenhow’s models represented the reverberatory furnace used in the manufacture of crown glass, In this kind of fur- nace the smoke and products of combustion escape through the openings in the sides which give the workmen access to the pots of glass, and are unprovided with flues. To provide the necessary supply of fresh air, Mr. Greenhow proposes a perpendicular air- duct (made of the same refractory clay of which the glass pots are constructed) rising through the middle of the fire, and supported by the stone arch on which the bars rest. This air-duct rises to the height of five feet within the furnace, is one foot in diameter, and distributes, through numerous apertures, any quantity of air that may be required for the completion of the combustion of the fuel ; and from its situation in the centre of the furnace it must soon acquire and communicate a high degree of temperature to the air it transmits. Mr. Greenhow showed a second model of a steam-engine fur- nace with a horizontal air-duct placed anterior to the bridge, which it crowns and overlaps. At this situation heated air is distributed through small apertures, so as to mingle with the burning gases and ensure their more complete combustion. On the Influence of Light on Chemical Compounds, and Electro-Chemical Action. By Rosert Hunt. After alluding to Sir John Herschel’s experiments on the chloride of platinum, neu- tralized by lime water, from which a platinate of lime was precipitated by the influence of the solar rays, and to Dr. Draper’s observations on the power which the solar beams had of imparting a property to chlorine of uniting with hydrogen under circumstances in which the same clements kept in the dark would not unite, Mr. Hunt called atten- tion to some experiments in which still more remarkable results had been obtained. If a solution of mineral chameleon be made in the dark it does not undergo any change for many hours, whilst a similar solution will, if exposed to sunshine, precipitate heavily almost immediately. Sulphate of iron dissolved in common water, will, even in the dark, after some hours, give a precipitate of carbonate of iron; but if exposed D2 36 REPORT—1844. to sunshine, this takes place instantly, and the weight of the precipitate, up to a cer- tain point, is in both these cases a measure of the quantity of light to which the solu- tions have been exposed. A coutrary effect to this has also been observed: if a solu- tion of the bichromate of potash be mixed with one of sulphate of copper, and the mixture be set aside in the dark for twelve hours, the glass will become thickly coated with a chromate of copper, but a similar mixture exposed to the sunshine 1 seat no such effect. Several solutions of the salts of silver were exposed to sunshine, whilst portions of the same solutions were kept in the dark. When small quantities of the sulphate of iron were added to these solutions, it was found that those which had been exposed to sunshine gave a precipitate immediately, whereas those which had been preserved in the dark did not precipitate for some time. It has also been noticed, that bichromate of potash, exposed to bright sunshine, precipitated chromate of silver of a much more beautiful colour than a similar solution which had been kept in darkness. A similar effect was seen in precipitating prussian blue by a solution of the ferro-prussiate of potash which had been exposed to the sun, the colour being in- finitely more beautiful than that thrown down by a solution which had not been so exposed. A solution of the iodide of potassium was put into a glass tube, the lower end being closed by a diaphragm ; this was put into another vessel containing a solu- tion of nitrate of silver, and a platina wire passed from one solution into the other. Such an arrangement being placed in the dark, a beautiful crystallization of metallic silver took place about the wire, but if placed in the sunshine this crystallization was entirely prevented. The attention of chemists was called to these results, which cer- tainly show that the agency of the chemical rays must in future form an important subject of investigation, particularly when any delicate analysis is desirable. These, and similar experiments, belong to an important branch of chemical science, for which the epithet of Actino-Chemistry has been proposed by Sir John Herschel. On the Ferrotype, and the Property of Sulphate of Iron in developing Photographic Images. By Rosert Hunt. The new photographic process, to which the above name is given, consists essentially in the development of a dormant photographic image, formed on a paper prepared with succinic acid and nitrate of silver, by the deoxidizing power of sulphate of iron. Numerous failures have been communicated to the author, which appeared to arise from the varying rates of solubility possessed by succinic acid obtained from different manufacturers. It was now recommended, that five grains of succinic acid should be put into a fluid ounce of distilled water, and allowed entirely to dissolve ; the salt and gum is then to be added to this solution, and the author believes that, with care, the effects will be certain. Recent researches have, however, proved that this property of the sulphate of iron may be made available on any photographic paper. On paper merely washed with the nitrate of silver, good camera pictures have been thus ob- tained in a few minutes, and on papers prepared with the chloride of sodium, bromide of potassium, and particularly the iodide of potassium, camera views are procured in less than a minute. Mr. Hunt exhibited a great number of specimens procured on the above and many other salts of silver—the most beautiful being on papers covered with the acetate, the benzoate, the citrate, and other organic salts of silver. ‘These drawings were all fixed by washing with moderately strong ammonia. On the Electrolysotype ; a nem Photographic Process. By Tuomas Woops, M.D. [The following are extracts from this paper].—While investigating the property that sugar possesses in some cases of preventing precipitation, | noticed, that when syrup of ioduret of iron was mixed with solution of nitrate of silver in certain pro- portions, the precipitate was very quickly darkened when exposed to the light, and I thought that if properly used it might be employed with advantage as a photographic agent. ae well-glazed paper be steeped in water to which hydrochloric acid has been added, in the proportion of two drops to three ounces; when well-soaked, let it be washed over with the following mixture ;—take of syrup of ioduret of iron half a ey a ; TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 37 drachm, of water two and a half drachms, and of iodine one or two drops; mix. When it has remained wet for a little time let it be dried lightly with bibulous paper, and brushed over again with the same mixture; let it be again dried with the bibulous paper, and being removed to a dark room, let it be washed evenly over with a solution of nitrate of silver—twelve grains to the ounce of water. The iodide of silver which is formed should be disturbed as little as possible by the camel’s hair pencil with which the nitrate of silver is laid on. The paper is now ready for use; the sooner it is used the better, as when the ingredients are not rightly proportioned it is liable to be spoiled by keeping. I have obtained pictures with it when prepared for twelve hours, but I have not tried it after having kept it for a longer period. The time I generally allow the paper to be exposed, when used in the camera, varies from one second to half a minute in clear weather. With a bright light the picture obtained is of a rich brown colour ; with a faint light, or a bright light for a short time continued, it is black. Ifthe paper be left exposed for too long a time the minute parts of the picture are confused. For taking portraits in the shade out of doors on a clear day, fifteen seconds will be the time for sitting. When the paper is removed from the camera, no picture is visible; however, when left in the dark for some time, the duration of which will vary with the time it was exposed to light, it gradually developes itself, until it arrives at a state of perfection, which is not, I think, attained by photographs produced by any other process. The action set up by the light is continued in the dark, an electro- lysis taking place by which the picture is brought out; and for this reason I have ventured to name the process, for want of a better word, the Electrolysotype. Sir J. Herschel observed long ago this fact of the action of light continuing after its influence is apparently removed, especially in the salts of iron; but I do not know of any pro- cess being employed for photographic purposes which depends on this action for its development except my own. The pictures are fixed by first steeping them well in water, then in a solution of bromide of potassium, twenty grains to the ounce; and then again in water, to remove the bromide from the paper. If the acid solution is too strong, it impairs the sensibility of the paper. If the ni- trate of silver solution is too strong, the paper blackens in the dark after having been for some time kept; if too weak, it remains yellow, even though exposed to the light. If the ioduret of iron is in too great quantity, the picture becomes dotted over with black spots in the dark, which are rapidly bleached by the light. Of the specimens exhibited, No. 1 was a paper darkened by the moonlight in fifteen minutes. Ri On Photography. By Professor Grove. Mr. Grove communicated experiments he had made with some success in obtaining a paper capable of giving positive photographs by one process, and avoiding the necessity of transfer, by which the imperfections of the paper are shown. As light favours many chemical actions, Mr. Grove thought that a paper darkened by the sun (which dark- ening is supposed to result from the precipitation of silver), might be bleached by using a solvent which would not attack the silver in the dark, but would do so in the light. Among other acids tried, nitric acid succeeded best. Thus a darkened calotype paper is re-iodized by iodide of potassium, and then drawn over dilute nitric acid, one part acid to two and a half water; when so prepared it is rapidly bleached by exposure to light, and perfectly fixed by washing in water and dipping in hyposulphite of soda, or bromide of potassium. If the acid be strong, say one-half water, the paper will be bleached in ten seconds by the sun, but then it partially bleaches in the dark. Mr. Grove showed some lithographs copied by this process; but stated, that in the very few trials he had made with the camera the images had not been clear; that he had then tried the following method :—Let an ordinary calotype image or portrait be taken in a camera and developed by gallic acid, then drawn over iodide of potas- sium and nitric acid, and exposed to full sunshine ; while bleaching the dark parts, the light is re-darkening the newly precipitated iodide in the lighter portions, and thus the negative picture is converted into a positive one. It is, however, faint, and gallic acid will not develope it; possibly some other solutions, such as those of iron, may; but Mr. Grove had not had time to try them. He believed from what he had ob- served, that a great many cases would be found in which a negative picture might be changed to a positive one, and that in some of these very good positive effects would probably be obtained. f= ae 38) REPORT—1844. Some impressions, sent by Dr. Hamel, from Daguerréotype plates, which had been etched in Paris by the agency of an acid, were exhibited. Mr. Matteucci communicated to the Section the results of some experiments made by him with the view of establishing the relation which the amount of mechanical work realized by the consumption of a given quantity of zinc acting as a voltaic combina- tion upon the limbs of a frog, bears to the amount of work realized by the same quantity of zinc employed as a generator of mechanical force in other inorganic applications. A given weight is attached to the feet of a recently-prepared frog, this and the weight are suspended from a platina wire by the portion of the spine, and another platina wire passes through the lower part of the sciatic nerves; these wires are connected with the terminals uf a voltaic battery, a voltameter being interposed in the circuit. By making and breaking voltaic contact, the muscles contract, the weight is raised. By connecting a contact breaker with the moving limbs, these are enabled to inter- rupt and complete the voltaic circuit by their own contractions, and a register attached shows the number of interruptions in a given time. An index is also attached to the weight, which bearing upon a revolving sooted disc registers the distance and velocity of the motion of the weight. Thus we get the elements of time, space, and weight. From experiments performed in this manner M. Mat- teucci finds that 3 milligrams of zinc consumed in twenty-four hours give 5*-5419 of weight raised through a given space, while the same quantity of zinc, or its equivalent of carbon, employed to generate motion by combination in a steam-engine gives 0¥'834; or employed to work an electro-magnetic machine, gives 0*96. Several reductions must be made to eliminate extraneous actions which do not con- tribute to the resulting effect; thus a voltaic battery of sufficient intensity to decom- pose water must be much more powerful than is requisite to convulse the limbs of the frog. The conducting power of the pelvic muscles, which if cutoff weaken toomuchthe general effect, must also be deducted, as well as the antagonist force of the extensor muscles. ‘The necessity for all these reductions makes the problem a very complex one. M. Matteucci believes, however, that he has done sufficient to establish the general re- sult that a far greater amount of work can be realized from the consumption of a given quantity of zinc acting on the limbs of a recently-killed animal, than when the same quantity is employed to work an inorganic machine*. * On the 30th September, M. Matteucci showed at his lodgings to several Members of the Association, some of the most important of the experiments detailed in his re- cently published work on Electro-Physiology. Ist. Zhe Muscular Current.—lIf the sciatic nerve of the limb of a prepared frog be made to touch at the same time the external and internal muscle of a living or re- cently-killed animal, the limb is convulsed. By forming a series of external and in- ternal muscles, for instance, severing the lower halves of the thighs of a certain number of frogs, and inserting the knee of the one into the central muscle of the second, and so on, a voltaic pile will be formed, six or eight elements of which M. Matteucci showed were capable of deflecting a galvanometer, or producing convulsions in an electroscopic frog. The direction of the voltaic current is from the interior to the exterior of the muscle, and the current is more feeble in proportion as the animal is higher in the scale of creation. 2nd. M. Matteucci explained the specific voltaic current (courant propre) of the frog as being a current which is detected only in the frog, and which is directed from the feet to the head of the animal. 3rd. M. Matteucci showed an experiment by which it appeared that a muscle whilst undergoing contraction is capable of exciting the nerve of another recently-killed animal, so as to produce muscular contraction in the latter. He laid the sciatic nerve of one leg of a prepared frog on the thigh of another, and by touching the nerve of the latter with an are of zine and copper this was convulsed, and at the same time the first leg, the nerve of which formed no part of the voltaic circuit, was simultane- ously eonvulsed, the legs all moving as though they formed part of the same animal. 4th. M. Matteucci explained some joint researehes of himself and M. Longet, by TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 39 i> °° . . Prof. Grove communicated a notice by M. Gassiot, of a repetition of his experiment on the production of electricity without contact. On a Method of Electrotype, by which the Deposition on Minute Objects is easily accomplished. By L. L. B. Issetson, F.G.S. From the difficulties which arose from the application of plumbago, in the ordinary manner, a portion of the plumbago was united with a solution of phosphorus in naph- tha, and the article to be electrotyped immersed in it. It thus became covered with a coating, on which the metal was deposited in a beautiful and uniform manner. Some specimens of cactuses thus covered with metal were exhibited. On the Alternate Spheres of Attraction and Repulsion, noticed by Newton, Boscovich and others ; and on Chemical Affinity. By Tuomas Exrey, 4.M. These phenomena have not been explained by means of fixed general principles, but may be explained by the two principles of a new theory, which are these :— Ist. That every atom of matter consists of an indefinitely great sphere of force, varying inversely as the square of the distance from the centre: in a very small concen- tric sphere the direction is from the centre, and is called repulsion; at all other dis- tances it acts towards the centre, and is called attraction. 2nd. Atoms are of different sorts when their absolute forces, or their spheres of re- pulsion, are unequal. These simple principles, duly carried out and rightly applied, are sufficient to ex- plain all the phenomena of the universe, a proper number of sorts and quantity of each sort being admitted. From phenomena it appears that there are four distinct classes of atoms. Class Ist are denominated tenacious atoms, because they adhere with great force or tena- city: there are fifty-six sorts of tenacious atoms, as oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, &c. Class 2nd embraces the electric atoms, having a much less force, but greater sphere of repulsion than tenacious atoms; of these there seems to be but one sort. Class 3rd are zthereal atoms, constituting ethereal fluids; of these there appear to be several sorts; their absolute forces are very much less than even those of electric atoms, and their spheres of repulsion much greater. Class 4th, not concerned in this paper, com- prises atoms which have an exceedingly small absolute force, and also an exceedingly small sphere of repulsion ; its atoms may be called microgenal atoms. ; Newton, Boscovich and others, conclude from observation, that near the centres of _ atoms there are several alternations of attraction and repulsion; Dr. Priestley says that the phenomena of nature cannot be explained without them; hence the true theory of physics ought to show that such alternations exist. The author proceeds to prove that they result from his principles. In the earth’s atmosphere we recognize very distinctly the tenacious, the electric, and the zethereal atoms; the tenacious atoms extend to about the altitude of forty-five iniles, as is known by the refraction and reflexion of light; the electric atoms must extend much higher, and the ztherea] class to a very great altitude, perhaps some hundreds of miles. The upper parts pressing on the lower give a considerable density to the three classes near the earth’s surface. The space occupied by a given portion of tenacious atoms is diminished by pressure, and increased by an elevated temperature, that is, by an accession of ethereal matter. oy eee which it was proved that a different galvanic result is produced upon the nerves of an animal at a certain period after death, if the current acts upon the nerve of motion, or centrifugal nerve only, from that which ensues if the mixed nerve, centrifugal and cen- tripetal, be subjected to the current ; in the former case the muscular contraction takes place at the interruption of the direct current, or that which passes from the nervous centre to the extremities, and the commencement of the inverse current, or that which passes in the opposite direction ; while in the latter case the reverse effect obtains, the contraction taking place at the commencement of the direct and at the interruption of the inverse current. 40 REPORT—1844. Mr. Exley showed by reasoning and the aid of diagrams, that there are several distinct collections of zethereal atoms, and one of electric atoms in concentric spheres about every tenacious atom: these he named and stated as follows :—Ist, the sphere of repulsion of the tenacious atom ; 2nd, the attached atmosphere ; 3rd, the neutral shell; 4th, the electric surface; 5th, the electric shell; 6th, the diametrical shell; and 7th, the secondary attached atmosphere; and these produce the following alterna- tions of force, viz.— Ist. The sphere of repulsion of the tenacious atom unaltered. 2nd. The concave side of the attached atmosphere accelerating the motion of atoms which have just passed, and thus having the effect of attraction. 3rd. The convex side of that surface resisting the passage of atoms, and thus having the effect of repulsion. 4th. The neutral shell. 5th. The concave side of the electric surface attracting. 6th. The convex side of the same repelling. 7th. The electric shell attractive. . 8th. The diametrical shell attractive with increasing force from its concave to its convex side. 9th. The concave side of the secondary attached atmosphere attracting. 10th. The convex side of the same repelling. It is to be understood that these are distinct from the ethereal matter present in consequence of pressure, which is everywhere uniform. Also there will be a different set of the last three for each sort of ethereal atoms which have a different sphere of repulsion: the others will remain the same. These deductions prove, independently of experiment, that many alternations of attraction and repulsion exist as a legitimate inference from the principles above stated, and they correspond with what Newton, Boscovich and others have stated concerning them, which establishes this part of the subject. Hence the new theory possesses all the advantages, both of that of Newton and that of Boscovich, with in- numerable other advantages. For explaining chemical affinity the author deduces from his theory the following laws :-— Law I. Two tenacious atoms unite without the mediation of a third, and the volume is the same as that of the two constituents when the electric fluid collects between them, but the volume is reduced exactly one-half when the electric fluid collects on the outside. Law II. Two atoms combine by the mediation of a third, and the volume is the same as that of the two extremes when the electric fluid collects along with the inter- mediate atom between them; but when it collects on the exterior, the volume is re- duced to exactly one volume, that is, one-half the extremes. Law III. In all cases where chemical union is effected, it is one atom with one, or two with one. ‘These laws he illustrated by selected examples. In the original paper, the above statements, with other particulars, were illustrated by diagrams, and the following symbols represent the arrangements of combined atoms. ‘The three dots in the parenthesis are to denote the interposition of electric fluid. Law I.—TZwo volumes. Muriatic acid ......... 5 jana AAO ony LC.) EL Carbonic oxide............ Sern aoea AEE - O(:.)C Nitric OX1de)..se.c.:saeseemeaes Nraewei « ae UE Mh Hydrobromic acid ......sssscseeeeseeeeeee Br(.’.)H. &e. One volume. Cyanogen ..sssscenssesesneeeerecerenevgseeeee (CN) E. Davy’s carburetted hydrogen ...... (CH) Chloruret of sulphur ....ssssseeeeeeereeee (C1,S) Chloride of mercury ssssssaeererseerveee (Cl, Hg). : &e. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 41 Law II.—Two volumes, viz. that of the extremes. Carbonic acid .....ccsceceseeeesseeeesensess O(C)O Water vapour .......0-..0.0 datheeweane seach eal (O)) kd Methylene or methyle......... satveddtees tel (O)EL Deutoxide of chlorine ............0000268. O(CHO PMICONGI. Fo: sseeaotpa nindnedeceenenac sacs eres = H,C(H,0)CH, FELDEL oe. scorcncsaccectvsceavecesansceseseses, f140,(H,0)CH , CEnanthic ether ...cccceccesecseeeseeeeeers H4Co(HogC,402H20)C,H,. &e. One volume. Nitrous acid ......c.scsccsesssescesseressosee (NOQ) Olefiant gas ....00....csccccsesnecesersares .» (CHe) Benzin ......e00s..00. Minwsasdevesvedase ese... (CH),CH=(C,H;) lei ccs hadssonscasaddeckvaseroeacceecescasen) CO LTa 4 cibtg==( Calle). &ec. On the Constitution of Matter. By Sir G. Giszes, M.D. The principal point in the paper was the attempt to establish the formation of heat by the union of the two fluids of electricity. On the Alteration that takes place in Iron by being exposed to long-continued Vibration. By W. Lucas. At the last meeting of the British Association, held at Cork, this subject was again brought forward, and certain specimens of iron exhibited, in order to show the effects produced upon the iron by being exposed to a certain degree of concussion or vibra- tion during the process of swaging, and again restored to its original state by being annealed, in accordance with the results detailed by Mr. Nasmyth, at Manchester, in 1842; in addition to these were also exhibited specimens of portions of the same iron that had been exposed to the concussion of a large tilt hammer, working at the rate of about 350 strokes per minute, which occasioned the bars of iron to break short off at the point of bearing in the course of twenty-four hours; there was also shown a por- tion of one of the hammer shafts, the texture of which had evidently been altered, _ probably by the long-continued and repeated concussions to which it had been exposed ; for instead of breaking with the splintery fracture common to wood, it broke with a peculiar short fracture, and this, Mr. Lucas is informed, is a very common occurrence. In continuance of these experiments upon the effects of concussion or vibration, Mr. Lucas laid before the Section the results of some further experiments. The specimens now exhibited were portions of the iron already alluded to which had been fastened upon the top of a tilt hammer working at the speed previously mentioned, and allowed to remain in that position for a period of from six to seven months; it may be proper here to remark, that they were so placed that no tensile force was exerted, but only a vibratory action, and that was communicated to them through the body of the hammer itself; and a mere inspection of these specimens will ~ convince almost any individual that an alteration has been produced in the mole- cular constitution of the metal in comparison with the original specimens, as in the specimens Nos. 1 and 3 the original fibrous texture has in a great measure disap- peared and been replaced by a crystalline one, whilst in No. 2 (which has been pre- viously swaged) it has entirely disappeared, and the iron has become perfectly crystal- line; and it is probable that by further exposure to this action the crystals may increase in size, and assume a more definite form. * These elements also unite in two volumes, as in Dr. Faraday’s oil-gas. 42 REPORT—1844, GEOLOGY AND PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. On a newly-discovered Species of Unio, from the Wealden Strata of the Isle of Wight. By G. A. Mantett, LL.D, F.RS. Tuts species, believed by the author to be newly discovered, and named by him U, valdensis, was obtained from the Wealden strata near Brook, associated with bones of the Iguanodon and other reptiles, on the southern coast of the Isle of Wight; several specimens were found, all of them more nearly resembling the massive and pearly shells of the same genus occurring in the Ohio and Mississippi rivers than any hitherto observed in a fossil state; and this resemblance is so close that it is considered an ad- ditional corroboration of an opinion formerly expressed by the author, namely, that a large proportion of the Wealden deposits must be considered as entirely of fluviatile origin, and not as the accumulated debris of an estuary. Dr. Mantell states that the shells of the genus Unio, hitherto known as Wealden, are few and of small size, the largest not being more than two inches in length, and delicate, while the species now described is from five to six inches long, and so thick and massive, that a pair of valves cleared from all extraneous matter weighs above eleven ounces. These shells are in a fine state of preservation, the ligament, and even a portion of the original colour remaining. ‘Ihe author added a full description, refer- ring to finished drawings of the shells. On Mining Records, and the Means by which their Preservation may be best ensured. By Professor Anstep, M.A., P.R.S. The author first alluded to a previous communication on this subject made by Mr. Sopwith in 1838, and the subsequent establishment of the Mining Records Office, but stated that such means were insufficient, and that regulations required to be made and enforced by the authority of parliament. The object of the paper was, first, to direct attention to the extent to which the mining interests of England would be pro- moted by the establishment of a system of mining records; secondly, to show that parliamentary interference is imperatively called for, if any satisfactory result is to be attained; and thirdly, that the efforts of the British Association would probably be successful if proper means are taken, whether by suggestions to government, or by pressing on public attention the importance of the subject, and inducing the govern- ment to set on foot the necessary inquiries. In reference to the first object, the author adverted to the benefits to be expected from the possession of a system of mining records, both with reference to the miner directly, enabling him to avoid danger and certain disappointment, and still more in the application of pure geology to mining. ‘This latter is indeed chiefly difficult and doubttul, because the observations recorded are, compared with what they should be, so few, imperfect and unsatisfactory, since the phenomena relative to the appearance, direction and condition of mineral veins have been till lately almost entirely neglected in England. With regard to the extent to which these records are required, they are simply the accounts of observations which everyone entrusted with the management of mining property ought to be familiar with, in order that the proprietor may know how much mineral produce is abstracted from the bowels of the earth, and the position of that which is left. They are therefore necessarily made, and only require to be recorded. The author then mentioned the different ways in which such records would be useful; among which he particularized the drainage of mines, and the being able to avoid occasional dishonesty, effected by wilfully causing the drainage of the mines of one proprietor to flow into those of another at a greater depth. Other kinds of dis- honesty, more direct than this, are also sometimes perpetrated, owing to the impos- sibility of watching the under-ground progress of a miner suspected of dishonesty, at least without the expenditure of so much time and money as to render it unadvisable. But besides these acts of dishonesty, many serious encroachments of property have — been made, and expensive litigation has arisen, from the ignorance of the persons — employed in under-ground works; and with respect to these, and also to future ie) ed TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 43 Pvorkings, we may form an idea of the use of records by the extent to which they are now needed. Numerous accidents have happened from the want of accurate plans of extinct workings; and yet not less than thirteen mines have been relinquished within the last half-century, all of them in the immediate neighbourhood of Newcastle, and of none of these are such records remaining as to render it possible to discover the exact direction of the old workings. It was urged that there is not only this danger arising from the old workings, but that very often vaiuable property is lost, when by an improvement in mining processes it might be desirable to re-open some of these deserted mines. ‘The registration of all circumstances attending the relinquishment of mines, will, however, never be undertaken by the owners of the property, who can hardly be expected to put themselves to expense for what they of course suppose to be valueless ; and it is only by some legislative enactment that the result, so desirable and so necessary, can be attained. The author then described the regulations enforced in Saxony with regard to this subject, and proceeded to show that the indifference and mutual jealousy, as well as the ignorance, of small mining proprietors, rendered it certain that in most cases nothing short of an act of parliament would be effectual, and that any system that might be devised, must be as a whole imperfect and unsatisfactory, unless compulsory upon all. In conclusion, Professor Ansted dwelt upon the advantage possessed by the British Association, and the weight of the recommendations made at its instance ; and stated, that as in this way scientific men in England can most powerfully assist the government, it was a duty incumbent on them to make some effort with regard to this subject, which was of greater practical importance than any that had come before the notice of the Geological Section. On the Tertiary and Cretaceous Formations of the Isle of Wight. By Prof. E. Forzes, F.L.S., and L. L. Boscawen Ipsetson, F.G.S. Ac- companied by Models of part of the Coast of the Back of the Isle of Wight. The models to which this paper related were constructed by Capt. Ibbetson, from trigonometrical survey, in order to illustrate the sections of the cretaceous and tertiary systems on the S.E. coast of the Isle of Wight. ‘hey are three; the first exhibiting the section of the lower greensand between Blackgang chine and Atherfield point, in which that formation is grouped into three divisions, depending on mineral character and the consequent modifications of the distribution of their organic contents. The details of these had been previously Jaid before the Geological Society, in a paper written with a view to inquire into the Neocomian question, the result of which was _ to bear testimony to the correctness and prior claim of the important researches of Dr. Fitton. On the first of the models are also displayed the sections of the gault __and of the upper greensand at St. Catherine’s Down. The second model exhibited the corresponding section of the lower greensand, gault, and upper greensand between _ Luccomb and Sandown. In this section the beds correspond throughout the lower and middle divisions of the lower greensand, but the uppermost exhibits towards its base zones of Gryphe and Terebratule, which are absent at the former locality. _ Generally speaking, the upper portion of the lower greensand in this section is much more fossiliferous. The third of the models displays the whole of the strata of the cretaceous system, as seen in the Isle of Wight, between Sandown and Whitecliff bay, and the whole of the eocene tertiary at the last-named locality. The strata of the lower greensand in this section correspond to those at Atherfield, but are much thinner, especially the clays of the lower part, and with the exception of the Perna mulleti bed, much less fossiliferous. The gault is free from fossils. The upper greensand corresponds nearly with the section at St. Catherine’s Down, presenting successively sands and clays, under the names of chloritic marl, siliceous bands, firestone and free- stone, malm and rag, the malm in a 3-feet bed, highly fossiliferous, surmounted by 26 feet of malm and rag passing into chalk marl. The thickness of the gault in this section is about 50 feet, of the upper greensand 100 feet, of the chalk marl and hard chalk 200 feet, and of the chalk with flints, the uppermost portion of which is absent, 200 feet. Resting on the denuded surface of the chalk, and heaved up almost per- _ pendicularly, at Whitecliff bay are seen the strata of the London clay, consisting, at first, of a succession of marine clays and sands, succeeded by clays and sands appa- rently deposited in brackish water, which are divided from the marine by a bed of i », 44 REPORT—1844, freshwater origin, and which are succeeded by a series of freshwater beds of various — mineral characters, in the midst of which a thin stratum of marine or brackish origin suddenly appears. The measurements of all the strata, both tertiary and cretaceous, and tables of their fossil contents, were laid before the meeting. Reviewing the strata deposited from the cessation of the Wealden to the prevalence of a freshwater eocene formation in this locality, the authors laid stress on the follow- ing facts in the local history of organised nature during that long period :—1. That the seas in which the lower greensand was deposited, and which occupied the area described, in consequence of the sudden subsidence of the great Wealden lakes, pre- sented from the very commencement a fauna truly marine, and most of the members of which began their existence with the commencement of the cretaceous zra in England. Almost all the animals which appeared were such as were new to the oceanic fauna ; and among them were many forms representative of other species which had existed in the oolitic ocean. 2. That this fauna continued, though apparently diminishing in consequence of extinction of species from physical causes, until the commencement of the deposition of the gault, when a new series of animals commenced, among which a few species which had previously existed lived on, but the greater part of which were either representative or peculiar forms. The same system of animal life appears to have continued throughout the remainder of the cretaceous zra in this locality, al- though great differences in the distribution of species and many species local in time occur, depending on the very great change in the mineral conditions of the sea-bottom during this epoch. The chalks proper present especially many peculiar species, but these appear rather to owe their presence to the zone of depth in which they lived, than to being members of a new zoological representation in time. The authors called attention to the assemblage of minute corals, sea-urchins, Terebratule, and Spondylus spinosus, in that part of the Culver section at which is seen the junction of the chalk with flints and the hard chalk, as especially indicative of a very deep sea, and as corresponding to the characters which mark a very deep sea fauna at the present period. 3. That in the tertiary formations which succeed there is an entirely new fauna, distinct as to every species in this locality, though elsewhere linked with the cretaceous strata last alluded to by the presence of that remarkable mollusk, the Tere- bratula caput-serpentis, which lives even at the present day. Of this fauna, which did not appear until after a considerable bed of mottled clays, without traces of animal life, had been deposited, the commencement is similar to the commencement of the faunas of the two cretaceous periods already described; viz. by a series of clays con- taining numerous peculiar Mya-form shells, Pectunculi, Ostree, and their associates. The earliest fossiliferous bed at Whitecliff bay is a most remarkable one, consisting of a thin stratum almost entirely composed of a species of shell-bearing annelid, the Ditrupa (Dentalium planum of Min. Conch.), which appears to have lived but a short specific life in time, and to have suddenly disappeared. In the midst of these beds, strata charged with myriads of foraminifera, probably indicating some change in the sea’s depth, appear and cease. The sudden conversion of the sea into a freshwater lake, indicated by a stratum of paludina clay, its return into a brackish state, and the consequent re-appearance of certain marine animals, its re-conversion into a fresh- water lake thronged with myriads of fluviatile mollusca, and the almost momentary influx of salt water during that period, which lasted only long enough for a race of oysters to live and die away,—all render the tertiary strata in this locality highly interesting. From the great zoological break between the eocene and the chalk, the authors conclude that a third or uppermost cretaceous formation, characterised by a fauna which would link the middle term of the system with the lowest term of the tertiary, has disappeared in this locality; whilst they regard the portion of the cretaceous system there present as composed of two divisions, equivalent in time; the older con- sisting of the lower greensand, and the upper, or later, forming one system, composed of the gault, upper greensand, and chalks. The zoological epochs exhibited in the section, commented on and modelled, are there~ fore three, viz.—1, the lower cretaceous system ; 2, the middle cretaceous system; and, 8, the lower or eocene tertiary system. Critical Remarks on certain Passages in Dr. Buckland’s Bridgewater Treatise. By the Very Rev. the Dean oF York. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 45 _ On the Excavation of the Rocky Channels of Rivers by the Recession of their ® Cataracts. By G. W. Fearuerstonuauen, F.RS., BGS. _ The author of this communication (now Her Majesty’s Consul at Havre de Grace), in travelling through North America, had noticed that at some points of the course of all the great rivers there was either a cataract, or evidence of the former existence of one, in rapids now obstructing navigation; and on comparing the quantity of water in the rivers now, with certain marks which appeared to indicate the quantity which formerly flowed in their channels, he came to the conclusion that the volume of water was formerly much greater than at present, and that such a state of things was neces- sary for the excavation of their rocky channels, which he considers to have been effected by the recession of their cataracts. In the case of the St. Lawrence and its tributaries, evidence to this effect is said by Mr. Featherstonhaugh to be very complete. The isthmus separating lakes Huron and Erie is a lacustrine deposit, containing everywhere decayed freshwater shells, and the land which separates the Wisconsin (a tributary of the Mississippi) from Upper Fox River, a tributary of Green Bay, which is an elbow of Lake Huron, is so little above the general level of the country, that itis now passed over in boats in the flood season. It is therefore inferred that when these alluvial plains and lacustrine deposits were under water, there was free freshwater communication between the St. Lawrence and the _ Mississippi. The author then proceeded to quote the Mississippi as another example illustrating his views; and stated that that river for several hnndred miles of its course south of the Falls of St. Anthony, runs through a valley, from one to two and a half miles in breadth, bounded by escarpments from 200 to 450 feet high. On looking down upon this valley from the heights, it appears as if the whole had been originally the bed of the river. It is however evident that the river channel could nut have been eroded to its pre- sent extent by the water that now runs through it; and Mr. Featherstonhaugh there- fore suggests, that the volume of the Mississippi, which accomplished the work, was _ much greater formerly than at present. The author then illustrates two methods by which he considers that the rocky chan- nels of rivers may have been excavated by the recession of their cataracts; one he _ denominates the molar, or grinding, and the other the subtracting, or undermining process. In describing the effects produced by the first, he referred to a cataract near 600 feet in height, called Oonaykay-amah, or the white-water, situated in the Che- _ rokee country, on the east flank of the Alleghanies, and not hitherto described by travellers. ‘The rock here is compact gneiss, and it appears that the rush of water eddying in the accidental hollows of the surface excavates cavities or pot-holes, some _ of them of very large size, one of which measured four feet in diameter and six feet deep. _ In many instances the rock was observed to be almost filled with these hollows, which at last coalesce, and become larger, several uniting in one, until at the season of floods considerable masses are detached, and precipitated below by the cataract. Immense masses of rock perforated and detached in this way were found at the bottom, It appeared to the author, that the gorge into which this cataract fell (a gorge se- veral miles long, and near 600 feet deep) had been ground out of the solid rock in this way; and it was considered to add to the interest of the case that at one spot there were indications ia a circular ledge of gneiss adjacent to the cataract, and worn _ bare for a great distance from the top, that it had at one time plunged over this semi- cirenlar ledge, at a period when the volume of the water was immensely greater than it is at present. OF the other process, that of undermining, the cataract of Niagara was adduced as an instance. The Niagara river flows upon a bed of compact limestone, overlying a friable shale upwards of seventy feet thick, and the sheet of water having fallen over the edge of limestone, forms a sort of screen before the shale; while behind this screen, the constant moisture, the violent concussion, and the strong current of air loosen and disintegrate the shale, which falls down and is washed away, leaving the limestone without support. ‘This process continues incessantly ; and the author, in a paper published in 1831, showed that the gorge beyond the fall had been cut from the heights of Queenstown to the point where it now is (a distance of seven miles), by a recession, depending upon this alternation of hard and soft strata, The excavation, i tn 46 REPORT—1844, however, goes on more slowly now, partly from the much wider extent of the falls — weakening the force of the water at any one point, and partly, the author imagines, from the volume of water having diminished. In conclusion, the author thinks it possible that even in our own island we are not precluded from supposing that the same causes may have excavated river channels, since it may be considered that England was at one time a portion of a great con- tinent. On the Midland Coal Formations of England. By Exvias Hatt. An Account of that Portion of the Ordnance Geological Map of England now completely coloured, and Notes concerning a Section through the Silurian Rocks in the vicinity of Builth. By Sir H. T. De va Becue, F.R.S., Se. The author gave an account of the method adopted in pursuing the geological survey of England, and the nature and degree of accuracy of the maps and accom- panying sections. He then stated that the vicinity of Builth is one of much geological interest, as showing the connexion between the Silurian rocks at Ludlow, Wenlock, and other localities on the N.E., with the same deposits in Brecon, Carmarthen, &c., and as affording considerable instruction relative to the intermixture of sedimentary and igneous rock at this early period. The section described was part of one now making by the Geological Survey between the old red sandstone of the Black Moun- tains in Brecon and the sea north of Aberystwith. Sir H. De la Beche then com- ared this development of the Silurian rocks with that in Siluria, and observed, that although there is but a trace of the Wenlock and Aymestry limestones near Builth, still there is a general resemblance to the sequence described by Mr. Murchison at Malvern, Woolhope, &c. It is at the base of the Wenlock shales that the greatest modification is found ; instead of the Caradoc limestone and sandstone are the shales and slates with Asaphus Buchii, and beneath these a mixture of conglomerates, sand- stones, &c., with similar fossils ; so that either the sandstones representing the Caradoc are included in the Llandeilo flags, and one appellation must be applied to both, or the Caradoc sandstone must be supposed to have thinned off, so as not to occur in the Builth and western sections. On certain Silurian Districts of Ireland. By Ricuarp Grirritru, £.G.S. In this communication, Mr. Griffith first noticed the occurrence of Silurian fossils in two extensive districts in Ireland, which have been examined by him during the period which has intervened since the Meeting at Cork. One of those districts is situated on the west, and the other on the east coast. That on the west was stated to occupy a considerable portion of the counties of Mayo and Galway, to the north and south of the remarkable estuary called Killery Harbour. This district is bounded on the north by the mountain range of Croagh Patrick in Mayo (which is chiefly composed of mica slate), and on the south by the primary mountain group, called the Twelve Pins of Connemara, in the county of Galway. Mr. Griffith exhibited a detailed section of the strata extending from south to north from Galway Bay, across the western portion of the group of the Twelve Pins, and thence by Killery Harbour towards Croagh Patrick. The district immediately to the north of Galway Bay consists of sienitic granite, and occupies a tract of country ten miles in breadth. It is succeeded on the north by a metamorphic district, (consisting of imperfectly stratified rocks, presenting the characters of imperfect gneiss, horn- blende slate, and semi-porphyry, having sometimes a siliceous, and sometimes a horn- blendic base,) which occupies a stripe of country varying from two to six miles in breadth. Beyond is the central group of the Twelve Pins, which is composed of alter- nations of mica-slate, white quartzite, and primary limestone, the mica-slate predomi- nating. On the summit of Benbawn, quartzite reaches an elevation of 2395 feet. The limestone beds which alternate with the mica-slate, frequently present a cry- stalline structure, and pass into granular marble; and in several localities, but parti- cularly in the valley of Barnanoraun, north of Ballinahinch, there are thick beds of yellowish-green steatitic marble, alternating irregularly with bands of limestone of various shades of colour (Connemara marble). : ie 4 y TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 47 The mica-slate district extends northward for a distance of eight miles to Black- water bridge, where it terminates, and is succeeded, in an unconformable position, by a remarkable suite of Silurian rocks. - The first member of this series consists of a breccia composed of angular fragments of reddish-brown mica-slate, enveloped in a paste consisting of very small fragments of mica-slate. This breccia is stratified, and its thickness is unequal, varying from 50 to 150 feet. It is usually succeeded by brownish-red compact quartzose sandstone, which is stratified conformably with the micaceous breccia; its average thickness may be about 250 feet; this sandstone is followed by strata composed of gray compact quartzite about 300 feet in thickness, which, when slightly disintegrated, presents the character of quartzose sandstone. These strata are arranged in rather thick beds, some of which are very fossiliferous. In the line of section the characteristic fossils con- sist of— Amphion brongniarti, n. s. Atrypa lacunosa. Asaphus latifrons. », hemispherica. Bellerophon trilobatus? (cast Orthis canalis. Orthoceras gregarium. », orbicularis. . tenuicinctum. Modiola semisuleata. = virgatum. Favosites polymorpha. Turritella gregaria. ? Turbinolopsis bina. », obsoleta.? Tentaculites ornatus. But in other localities near the eastern boundary of the Silurian district at Thon- legee, on the northern declivity of Benleva mountain, and at Bohaun, south of Cor- reen mountain, the characteristic fossils-are,— Amphion brongniarti, n. s. Orthis orbicularis. Agnostus tuberculatus. Turritella gregaria. Bellerophon trilobatus. Trochus lenticularis. Orthoceras gregarium. Atrypa affinis. Atrypa hemispherica. Leptzena depressa. »» lacunosa, var. ? Modiola semisulcata. » pulchra. Tentaculites ornatus. and several others, with many new species. In the line of section the fossiliferous quartzite is succeeded by thick beds of coarse conglomerate, having a base of gray compact quartz, with pebbles varying in size from one inch to one foot or more in diameter, the pebbles being composed of compact quartz, varying in colour from white to dark reddish gray. This conglomerate, which is not fossiliferous, alternates with a compact quartzose slate; the whole may be about 150 feet thickness near Blackwater bridge ; but in other localities it is very thin, and towards the eastern extremity of the district it is altogether wanting. The conglome- rate beds are succeeded by a series of strata of about 2000 feet in thickness, consisting of greenish-gray compact quartzite, and greenish-gray flaggy slate. At Tullyconnor bridge they are followed by a series of beds composed of dark gray clay-slate, alter- nating with gray quartzite, the slate predominating. ‘This series may be about 700 feet thick ; it contains numerous fossils, the most important of which are— Calymene pulchella. Orthis lunata. ? Amphion brongniarti, n. s. », orbicularis. Orthoceras filosum. » Pplicata.? 5 tenuicinctum. 9» SeYicea, ty virgatum. Leptzena depressa. Euomphalus Iloydi, n. s. i euglypha. re perturbatus. Psammobia rigida. i sculptus. Favosites fibrosa. Atrypa navicula. ? Tentaculites scalaris. Orthis canalis. In the eastern part of the district at Benleva mountain already mentioned, at Kil- bride on Lough Mask, and at Ardaun, north of Lough Corrib, numerous fossils have been discovered in the schistose rock, and nearly in the same position as those which occur in the dark gray slate near Tullyconnor bridge, the most characteristic of which are— 48 REPORT—1844. Amphion brongniarti, n. s. Leptzena depressa. Turritella gregaria. yunedata: Euomphalus lloydi, n. s. » tenuistriata. Lingula attenuata (var. ?) Catenipora escharoides, » lata (var. ?) Favosites alveolaris. Atrypa affinis. », fibrosa. » aspera. ? » gothlandica, », hemispheerica. » multipora. Orthis canalis. », polymorpha. »» costata. Porites pyriformis. », flabellulum. », tubulata. », orbicularis. Cyathophyllum turbinatum. » Plicata, ? Turbinolopsis bina. » pecten? (var.). Tentaculites ornatus. ») sericea. 5 scalaris. In the line of section the fossiliferous slates are followed by a series of beds, con- sisting of alternations of red clay-slate, greenish-gray clay-slate, and quartzite, alto- gether about 1600 feet in thickness without fossils. ‘They are followed by a series of beds about 1000 feet:in thickness, consisting of alternations of compact gray quartzite, alternating with a greenish-gray brecciated rock; near the top are two bands of gray subcrystalline limestone, one of which is 12 feet in thickness. This limestone is rarely fossiliferous, but in some localities it contains stems of encrinites, imperfect zoophytes, and rarely casts of Orthis sericea. The limestone bands are succeeded by a very re- markable coarse-grained conglomerate, composed of a base of rounded particles of quartz, very closely aggregated together, enclosing rolled masses of granite and com- pact quartz, varying in colour from light gray to reddish brown: some of the rolled masses exceed one foot in diameter, but the average range from four to ten inches in diameter. The granite is composed of red felspar, white quartz, and some hornblende, and is similar in composition and external character to the granite of Connemara, north of Galway Bay. Ascending in the series, the pebbles become smaller, and then the rock alternates with greenish gray, and occasionally purple slaty flags. The granitic conglomerate series is of great thickness, probably upwards of 2000 feet ; it occurs both on the south and north sides of Killery Harbour. The general dip is to the north, but at Tonatlew, north of the harbour, there is a synclinal axis, which axis forms the highest part of the Silurian series of the district; as, to the north of it, the conglomerate strata which occur to the south on the borders of Killery Harbour, appear at the surface forming the steep acclivity of Tievaree mountain. Hence it would appear that the entire thickness of the Silurian series in the Killery district amounts to about 9000 feet. But from the fossils discovered, it would appear to be doubtful whether it should be classed with the upper or lower Silurian group, as the Orthis flabellulum and Orthis sericea of the lower occur abundantly among fossils which are usually considered to be characteristic of the upper Silurian series. Mr. Griffith next directed the attention of the Section io the Silurian district on the east coast lately examined, extending through the counties of Waterford, Wexford, and Wicklow, the greater part of which had previously been considered by him to belong to the older slate series. He observed, that Mr. Weaver in his paper on the east coast of Ireland, published in the Geological Transactions, mentioned that certain fossils had been discovered at Knockmahon on the-coast of Waterford; subsequently fossils had been discovered by Mr. Griffith, and also by Captain James, R.E., at Tramore Bay, Knockmahon and other localities on the same coast. But the positions in which fossils had been discovered being confined to the coast, Mr. Griffith had, on his Geological Map of [reland, limited the extent of the Silurian series of Waterford to the sea coast. At the meeting of the Association at Cork, Mr. Oldham mentioned that he thought the Silurian series occurred on the coast of Waterford Harbour, both in Waterford and Wexford; in consequence Mr. Griffith was induced to commence an examination of the slate series, not only on the shores of Waterford Harbour, but extended the investigation throughout the schistose strata of the counties of Wexford and Wicklow; and in consequence Silurian fossils were discovered in several localities in both of those counties. In illustration of the succession of the strata, Mr. Griffith exhibited a section extending in a north-western direction from the sienitic granite at re Lee Aes Serene « TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 49 Carnsore point on the coast of Wexford, crossing the quartz rock mountain of Forth, _and afterwards the entire suite of the fossiliferous clay-slate which terminates on the eastern boundary of the great granite district of Wicklow and Wexford. ‘The strata which form the lowest part of the series, and which rest on the granite of Carnsore point, consist of gray micaceous, or shining slate (probably metamorphic), alternating with beds of gray slaty quartzite. These strata are succeeded by the quartz rock of Forth mountain, situated close to the town of Wexford. This quartz rock is arranged in thick beds, alternating occasionally with shining slate ; it is followed in an ascending order by alternations of red and greenish-gray clay-slate, with occasional beds of gray quartzite, and also with beds of greenish-gray brecciated quartzite, above which are strata consisting of dark gray clay-slate, with occasional beds of gray quartzose flags. These dark gray slates may be considered as the commencement of the fossiliferous strata; for, ascending in the series, the dark gray slate is found to contain in abun- dance Graptolites, apparently a new variety of the Graptolites foliaceus, which fossil has been discovered in several localities in the counties of Wexford, Wicklow, and also in Meath and Tyrone. Still proceeding north-westward in the line of the section, and apparently ascending in the series, the same.dark gray slate continues, and in several localities in the same strike it was found to contain fossils belonging to the lower Silurian series, particularly the following :— Trinucleus caractaci. Orthis canalis. os fimbriatus. 3) protensa. 3 radiatus. » Yadians. 5 seticornis. » rugifera, Calymene blumenbachii. »» sericea. Asaphus corndensis. » testudinaria. » latifrons. », triangularis. » Marginatus. Fenestella milleri. Isotelus powisii. Favosites fibrosa. Orthis actoniz. Tentaculites annulatus. The dark gray slate continues above these fossiliferous beds, when it is succeeded by a series of strata consisting of greenish-gray and red slates, with occasional beds of quartzite ; these strata are frequently calcareous, and in such localities encrinite stems are abundant, and occasionally we find obscure casts of Orthides and Trilobites, with traces of Zoophyta, the specific characters of none of which were sufficiently perfect to be recognized. On the north shore of Waterford Harbour, these greenish-gray and red slates form a trough nearly in the centre of the district, to the west of which the dark gray clay-slates rise up from beneath, and extend to the eastern boundary of the great granite district of Wicklow already mentioned. The strata throughout the whole of the slate district of Waterford, Wexford, and Wicklow, are very much disturbed and contorted; consequently it will be difficult to trace with certainty the same beds by following the strike; but judging from the similarity of the fossils found in Wicklow, Mr. Griffith was inclined to think that the same system of fossils occurs there. Mr. Griffith further observed, that there was still a very extensive schistose district extending through the counties of Down, Armagh, Monaghan, Cavan, Louth, and Meath, in which no fossils had been hitherto discovered, excepting on the southern border, near Slane in the county of Meath, where Graptolites, similar to those of Wicklow and Wexford, had been discovered by him, and also Orthides. He thought it probable that the whole district was fossiliferous, and probably belonged to the same portion of the lower Silurian series to which we must attach the schistose district of Wicklow, Wexford, &c. RsidPd Gil oy Notice of the Discovery of a large Specimen of Plesiosaurus found at Kettle- ness, on the Yorkshire Coast. By Epwarp CHARLESWORTH, F.G.S. The subject of this notice had been found a short time previously in the lias shale, quarried for the manufacture of alum, in the Kettleness Cliff, a few miles north of Whitby ; and the lessees of the works, Messrs. Liddell and Gordon, had permitted the author to remove it, for the purpose of examination, to the museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. Its total length was fifteen feet; that of the head above two ae . t neck, double that of the head; length of the humerus, thirteen inches ; length e E 50 _ REPORT—1844, of femur, fourteen inches. The author observes, that the only published species ex- hibiting the above relative proportions of head and neck, is the Plesiosaurus macroce- phalus of Conybeare, to which he supposes the present fossil must be referred. To agree however fully with the characters assigned to this species by Prof. Owen, the respective lengths of the femur and humerus should have been twelve and fourteen inches, He also finds the tail more depressed than it appears to have been in the celebrated specimen of P. macrocephalus belonging to the Earl of Enniskillen. The author in conclusion, regretted not having had time to make a more rigid examination of the Kettleness fossil, and stated his intention to publish a detailed account on some future occasion. On the Discovery, by Mr. Searles Wood, of an Alligator in the Freshwater Cliff at Hordwell, associated with extinct Mammalia. Communicated by Mr. CHARLESWORTH. A considerable portion of the skeleton of an alligator, to which Mr, Wood gives the specific name Hantoniensis, was discovered by this gentleman at Hordwell, in the summer of 1843. He found at the same time the teeth and jaws of a Pachyderma- tous Mammal, closely related to Hyracotherium, but not Jarger than a Hedgehog. Regarding these remains as indicating a new genus, Mr. Wood proposes the name Microcherus, with the specific term erinaceus. Associated with the above fossils there were also discovered some portions of the jaws of a very small insectivorous ani- ap aud two very remarkable teeth, referred by Mr. Charlesworth to an extinct genus of Seals. Remains of various other extinct vertebrata were discovered on this occasion by Mr. Wood at Hordwell, including Palgotherium (teeth and bones), Lepidosteus (scales, jaws and vertebra), the bone of a bird, with vertebre referable probably to Ophi- dians and small Saurians, and incisor teeth of Rodents. Mr. Charlesworth suggested the generic name Spalacodon for a small insectivorous animal, indicated by a portion of a jaw which Mr. Flower of Croydon obtained from Hordwell, and entrusted to Mr. Charlesworth for publication with Mr. Wood's fossils. On the Bathymetrical Distribution of Submarine Life on the Northern Shores of Scandinavia. By Professor Loven of Stockholm. Communicated by Mr. Murcuison, P.R.Geogr.S. By an examination of the sea-bottoms along the coasts of Norway, the author had arrived at the same conclusions as those established by Professor Forbes from researches in the Aigean Sea. After remarking on this, he says, ‘‘ As to the regions, the littoral and laminarian are very well defined everywhere, and their characteristic species do not spread very far out of them. The same is the case with the region of florideous Algze, which is most developed nearer to the open sea. But it isnot so with the regions from fifteen to one hundred fathoms. Here there is at the same time the greatest num- ber of species and the greatest variety of their local assemblages; and it appears to me that their distribution is regulated, not only by depths, currents, &c., but by the nature of the bottom itself, the mixture of clay, mud, pebbles, &c. Thus, for instance, the same species of Amphidesma, Nucula, Natica, Eulima, Dentalinm, &c., which are cha- racteristic of a certain muddy ground at fifteen to twenty fathoms, are found together at eighty to one hundred fathoms. Hence it appears, that the species in this region have generally a wider vertical range than the littoral, Jaminarian, and perhaps as great as the deep-sea coral. The last-named region is with us characterized, in the south by Oculina ramea and Terebratula, and in the north by Astrophyton, Cidaris, Spatangus purpureus of an immense size, all living, besides Gorgonie and the gigantic Alcyonium arboreum, which continues as far down as any fisherman’s line can be sunk. As to the point where animal life ceases, it must be somewhere, but with us it is un- known. As the vegetation ceases at a line far above the deepest regions of animal life, of course the zoophagous mollusca are altogether predominant in these parts, while the phytophagous are more peculiar to the upper regions. The observation of Professor E. Forbes, that British species are found in the Mediterranean, but only at greater depths, corresponds exactly with what has occurred to me. In Bogoslan (between TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 51 _ Gottenburg and Norway), we find at eighty fathoms, species which, in Finmark (on the north), may be readily collected at twenty, and on the last-named coast, some spe~ cies even ascend into the littoral region, which, with us here in the south, keep within ten to eleven fathoms.” _ These researches were undertaken simultaneously with those of Professor Forbes, and these authors arrived at similar results quite independent of each other, On an Anomalous Structure in the Paddle of a Species of Ichthyosaurus. By H. E. Srricxianp, M.A., F.G.S. The anomaly of structure described in this communication, consisted of an additional bone between the radius and ulna of the anterior extremity of an Ichthyosaurus. Two specimens had been found having this peculiarity, and it was suggested that it might indicate a specific peculiarity. In both the specimens the humerus was succeeded by three nearly equal-sized bones, and these by the usual irregular paddle-bones repre- senting the metacarpals, the carpals, and the phalanges. Queries and Statements concerning a Nail found imbedded in a Block of Sand- stone obtained from Kingoodie (Mylnfield) Quarry, North Britain. Com- municated by Sir DAvip BREewsTER. This communication, drawn up by Mr. Buist, consisted of a series of queries, with the answers that had been returned by different persons connected with the quarry, the inquiry being set on foot by persons present on the discovery of the nail or imme- diately afterwards. The following is the substance of the investigation. 1. The circumstance of the discovery of the nail in the block of stone. The stone in Kingoodie quarry consists of alternate layers of hard stone and a soft clayey substance called “ éi//;” the courses of stone varying from six inches to upwards of six feet in thickness. The particular block in which the nail was found, was nine inches thick, and in proceeding to clear the rough block for dressing, the point of the nail was found projecting about half an inch (quite eaten with rust)-into the “ ¢2/l,” the rest of the nail laying along the surface of the stone to within an inch of the head, which went right down into the body of the stone. The nail was not discovered while the stone remained in the quarry, but when the rough block (measuring two feet in length, one in breadth, and nine inches in thickness) was being cleared of the super- ficial “ti//,” There is no evidence beyond the condition of the stone to prove what part of the quarry this block may have come from. 2. The condition of the quarry from which the block of stone was obtained. The quarry itself (called the east quarry) has only been worked for about twenty years, but an adjoining one (the west quarry) has been formerly very much worked, _ and has given employment at one time to as many as 500 men. Very large blocks of stone have at intervals been obtained from both. It is observed that the rough block in which the nail was found must have been turned over and handled at least four _ or five times in its journey to Inchyra, at which place it was put before masons for _ working, and where the nail was discovered. On the Relative Age and True Position of the Millstone Grit and Shale, in reference to the Carboniferous System of Stratified Rocks in the British Pennine Chain of Hills. By J. Rooxe. The object of this communication was to point out a supposed error in the order of the strata as laid down by geologists, and to show that the error originated in the neg- lect of a due consideration of what are called by the author the laws of a drifting process. — On the Toadsiones of Derbyshire. By Joun Ausop. In this communication, which was intended to illustrate and explain certain sections prepared by the author, allusion was made to recent mining speculations in Derbyshire, in which the object has been to find a continuation of the mineral veins underneath EQ 52 REPORT—1844., the toadstone beds, and it is mentioned as not surprising that beds so uncertain not only in thickness, but in locality, should daunt the enterprise of the miner, since a mere bed of clay varying from a few inches to a foot in thickness in one mine, becomes in the next mine twelve or fourteen fathoms thick, and in another a hard compact rock. The object of the paper was to prove this uncertainty, and to show that there are at least two if not three distinct beds of the singular rock called toadstone. The author, alluding to the opinion of Mr. Hopkins, that when two beds of toad- stone have been thought to exist, a fault has re-introduced the one, and thereby occa- sioned the mistake (an opinion since somewhat modified), states that in a section of Crick Cliff, what is at one shaft a thin bed of clay a foot thick, becomes within a short distance fourteen feet thick, and contains large nodules of compact toadstone, while the thick bed of toadstone actually sunk through at one shaft diminishes to a thin bed at the other mine, and this is clearly discernible, since the workings are con- nected and the trace of each bed is never lost sight of. The author then proceeds to allude to different clayey beds uncertain in thickness, and when thickest, containing blocks of hard toadstone. One of these, the ‘ great clay” of the Wirksworth district, is identified with another at Crick, by the situation of three beds of clay beneath. These clays are said to be well-known to the working miner and to be easily recognizable when they have been once seen. They are called (1) the “twenty-fathom clay,” (2) the ‘bearing clay,” occurring about seventeen fathoms below the former, and (3) the ‘‘ tumbling clay,” about five fathoms below the bearing clay, and remarkable for its undulating character. It is stated that at Smitterton a thick bed of toadstone of twelve fathoms replaces a thin bed of clay at Crick and Wirksworth, there being at this place (Smitterton) a second toadstone similar to those at Crick and Wirksworth with a limestone resting upon it, also similar in character and containing similar fossils. There is also another bed, to all appearance another toadstone, but this was not made out distinctly ; it is at the same distance from the toadstone as the twenty-fathom clay at the other places. Account of the Grassington Lead Mines, illustrating a Model of the Mine. By S. Evpy. The model which this communication was intended to illustrate represented a portion of the Grassington Lead Mines near Skipton in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the property of the Duke of Devonshire, at whose request the model was exhibited. The mines are in the carboniferous series of strata, from which two-thirds of the whole quantity of lead raised annually in England is obtained. It is well known that most of the lead veins in this formation in England are prin- cipally valuable when passing through the limestone bed, but to this general rule the Grassington mines form an exception, nearly the whole produce being obtained in the gritty beds, alternating with the limestone and shale. It is to be observed, however, that the veins, although numerous and extending over a large tract of moorland, are for the most part small and not very productive. It was considered that as a thick bed of limestone (thirty-six fathoms) succeeds the shale and gritstone in which the veins are worked, and is succeeded by a bed of shale, the produce would increase on reaching the limestone, but this has not proved to be the case. A trial is now going on for the purpose of exploring some of the principal veins below the shale. Nearly all the veins in the Grassington district are what are termed “ Fault veins,” that is, a vertical displacement of the strata has taken place, so that the same beds are found at different levels on the two sides of the vein, and the subsidence of the strata is generally on that side to which the veins incline, the amount of inclination or under- lay of the vein being invariably much greater in the argillaceous beds than in the grit or limestone. A depression of a few feet or two or three fathoms is considered most favourable for lead ore, but the displacement is sometimes much greater, causing grit or limestone on one side of the vein to be opposite to argillaceous beds on the other. In such cases the veins are rarely productive, although the principal vein shown in the model is an exception to this rule. The general matrix of the ore (the veinstone) is calcareous spar, fluor spar, barytes, and occasionally calamine, and when the amount of the fault is so considerable as to TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 53 _ ‘bring beds of different mineral character in contact, fragments of the containing rocks form a great portion of the contents of the vein. The portion of the mine modelled represents the richest piece of ground as yet opened in these mines, and includes two extensive fault veins, together with a piece of ground from which some very rich slickensides have been obtained. All the ore found near the slickensides is much more refractory in the furnace, and of less produce than that raised at a distance from it. The gritstone between the two veins from the points where the slickensides commenced is also quite altered in its character and appearance. The model was on a scale of one inch to five fathoms, but the veins and a bed of coal represented were on a larger scale. There was exhibited a transverse section of the mining ground for 138 fathoms, a longitudinal section of eighty fathoms, and a depth of seventy fathoms. ‘On the Paleozoic Rocks of Scandinavia and Russia, particularly as to the Lower Silurian Rocks which form their true Base. By R. 1. Murcuison, F.RS., P.R.Geog.S., 5c. The author commenced by giving a general sketch of the Paleozoic succession in Russia, showing that however perfect in exhibiting a series of Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous and Permian rocks, it was defective at its base, since between the Silu- rian rocks of the governments of St. Petersburg and Reval, and the crystalline rocks of Finland, there occurs a wide and deep bay of the sea; and in tracing the lower edge of the Silurian rocks from St. Petersburg to Archangel on the N.E., their junc- tion with the underlying series is equally hidden by large accumulations of detritus. ‘There is also another reason why this passage cannot be made out, arising from the condition of the Silurian rocks, which soft, unaltered, and, in truth, unfathomed along the northern edge of the Baltic provinces, come in contact towards the N.E. with erup- tive trap rocks, and have thereby undergone metamorphosis over an extensive tract of country, so that on the whole the exact manner in which these ancient deposits repose on the pre-existing rocks cannot there be distinctly observed. Scandinavia, on the other hand, presents a very clearly defined base-line, which is ex- posed in different sections, both in Sweden and Norway. In illustration, the author first mentioned several instances in Sweden, where the very lowest Silurian beds con- taining no other fossils than fucoids, repose horizontally upon the crystalline rocks of a more ancient period; and he also cited localities where the lowest Silurian rocks are to a great extent formed out of the detritus of those more ancient rocks. __ In the first-formed or gneissose slates of Scandinavia no organic remains have been discovered. Taking into account this fact, and adopting the prevailing theory, that the first solid envelope of the globe was formed under a heat so intense as to preclude the possibility of the existence of animal life, Mr. Murchison proposes the term ““Azoic*” for this group of deposits, as expressing the fact that no organic remains have yet been discovered in them. The Azoic group is immediately followed by the great palzozoic series, commencing with the lower Silurian, and terminated in the ascending order with the rocks of the Permian system. Believing however, that metamorphism has frequently imparted a crystalline character to sedimentary strata, containing organic remains, in illustration of which view he re- ferred to observations he made in company with Dr. Forchhammer (see memoir in this volume), Mr. Murchison alluded next to the importance of drawing a marked distinc- tion between this more modern class of crystalline rocks and that which he terms Azoic. He mentioned as an instance, that in Norway there are extensive transition districts replete with granite, porphyry, and greenstone, all erupted subsequent to the deposi- tion of the Silurian strata, which they have altered, and which are always distinguish- able from the ancient gneiss and granitic gneiss, upon which they repose. Referring for the further illustration of his views to a section across Sweden and the Baltic Sea, to the tract of Russia east and south of St. Petersburg, Mr. Mur~ chison proceeded to state, that the lower Silurian rocks of both countries contain a similar group of organic remains, including many species occurring in deposits of the same age in the British Isles. He also mentioned that in Sweden, at least throughout the central and southern provinces, as well as in the Baltic provinces of Russia, no * Hypozoic of Phillips. 54 REPORT—1844, true upper Silurian rocks are found; so that the whole of these highly fossiliferous regions belong to that period of animal life at which vertebrated animals did not exist. This absence of even the lowest of the vertebrata in the inferior Silurian rocks, an absence which is total, so far as can be inferred from the researches of geologists in all parts of the world, gives them a true “ Protoxoic” character; and this condition of things was mentioned by the author as a strong reason for concluding, that the epoch in ques- tion was the earliest in which animal life was developed. It was also shown that the Swedish and Norwegian sections afford ample illustration of the fact, that if fucoids or marine vegetables did not precede the first-formed animals, they were certainly con- temporaneous with them ; thus confirming the view, that the animals found in a fossil state in these protozoic rocks must have been provided with vegetable sustenance. The almost total absence of upper Silurian rocks in Southern and Central Sweden, and in the mainland of the Baltic governments of Russia, was explained by Mr. Mur- chison on the hypothesis of such tracts having undergone extensive elevatory move- ments, which placed them beyond the influence of depository action during the suc- ceeding period ; and he mentioned that this view is rendered highly probable by the discovery of true upper Silurian rocks in the Baltic islands of Gothland, Osel, and Dago, which are made up of corals and molluscous remains, similar to those of the Wenlock and Ludlow rocks of the British Islands; the whole reposing on a band of limestone, which occupies exactly the same place in the geological sequence, and con- tains the same fossils (Pentamerus oblongus), as the Woolhope and Horderly limestone of Siluria. This calcareous band appears therefore to be the connecting link between the lower and upper Silurian rocks in Scandinavia, just asin the typical districts of our own country. Beneath it appear black flags, limestones, schists and sandstones, with such fossils as Zrinucleus Caractaci, Asaphus Buchii, A. tyrannus, Agnostus, Sphzro- nites, Orthis, and certain chambered shells, greatly resembling as a group, and often specifically identical with the fossils of the same age in the British Isles; while above are many concretionary coralline limestones and calcareous flagstones and shales, charged with the common upper Silurian species. In the district around Christiania and in the islands of its bay or fiord, these two divi- sions of the Silurian system are beautifully exposed in numerous undulations and dislo- cations of the strata, and they are there so bound together by zoological and mineral transitions, that they constitute a very distinct natural group, in which the coralline masses of the upper division are singularly analogous to the best-developed types in England (the Dudley and Wenlock), and like them, are overlaid by flag-like strata. The author next alluded to his discovery at Christiania of an ascending succession, in which the upper Silurian strata are seen to pass under great escarpments of red flag- stone, sandstone, and conglomerate, which, covered by porphyry, occupy a consider- able breadth of high land, and repose, as in a great basin, upon the upper Silurian rocks; and this group of rocks in Scandinavia has exactly the appearance of the old red sandstone of the North of England and Scotland. ‘The details of this succession of Norwegian palozoic rocks will be subsequently presented to the Geological Society of London, and a brief abstract of the principal facts, as explained by Mr. Murchison to the last meeting of the Society of Scandinavian Naturalists, will be published in the volume of the Transactions of that body. Mr. Murchison then proceeded to give a rapid sketch of some of the leading features of Russian Palzeozoic Geology, showing in the first place, that the Devonian rocks there occupied a space larger than the whole area of Great Britain, and exhibit at the same time the most instructive development of the system yet discovered. Re- posing upon Silurian rocks, and overlaid by true carboniferous limestones, they contain the same fossil fishes as are found in Scotland, and the same molluscous remains and corals as the contemporaneous strata of Devonshire, the Boulonnais, and the Rhenish provinces. The Devonian system Mr. Murchison considers as the earliest great store- house of fishes, a few species only having been discovered in the uppermost Silurian rocks. The surprising coincidences between the organic remains of the carboniferous lime- stone of Russia and of the British Islands, and the perfect agreement between nume- rous species of shells found in the Westmoreland and Yorkshire dales on the one hand, and the tracts of Siberia on the other, was next adverted to as a strong proof, in addi- tion to that derived from the wide spread of the species of coal-plants, that the earlier epochs of the earth’s history were marked by much more equable and widely diffuse 1 TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. f 55 climatal conditions than now obtain. Mr. Murchison then concluded by summing up the views arrived at by his coadjutors (M. de Verneuil and Count Keyserling) and himself concerning the newer paleozoic rocks, explaining that the Permian strata* (so named from their great development in the ancient kingdom of Permia) were connected with the lower palzozoic deposits (the Carboniferous, Devonian and Silurian), not only by the generic facies of the fauna, but also by species of Producti, Terebratule, &c., which lived in earlier periods. ‘The land plants found in these strata approach also very nearly to those of the carboniferous rocks, and according to M. Adolphe Brongniart, are in some instances identical with them. The termination of the Permian system, on the contrary, is marked by an entire change in animal life, and so far as we yet know, in vegetable life also, the fossils of the red marls, the muschelkalk, and the keuper (the trias of foreigners and the upper new red sandstone of English geologists) being wholly distinct from those of the pa- leozoic series Copies of a tabular list of the organic remains of the Permian system, as prepared by Mr. Murchison and M. de Verneuil, and intended to form part of a work to be published on the geology of Russia, were then laid before the Section. New Swedish and Norwegian Maps.—Mr. Murchison next called attention to a lithological map of Sweden, now in preparation, in which a great number of the ancient crystalline rocks are distinguished from each other by different colours, and their flexures marked. A portion of this map had been shown to Mr. Murchison by the Baron Berzelius, under whose superintendence it will be published. Allusion was made also to a geological map of the Christiania district, by Professor Keilhau, and to a new geological map of the northern part of Norway by the same author. A Geological Map of the British Isles and part of France was exhibited by My. J. Knipe. This map, the author states, was intended to supply a want that existed at the time he undertook the work, when the separately published Geological Maps of England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland were imperfect and not constructed to any uniform scale, or according to any uniform method of colouring. On the Exeter Amygdaloid. By the Rev. Davip WiLLiams. The author remarked that so long as twenty-five years ago, Mr. Greenough had pointed out the difficulty of distinguishing between the red marl and the toadstone of Heavitree, and stated, that judging from the specimens he exhibited to the meeting, and from the sections represented by his diagrams, the trappean matter did not appear to him to have been injected into the variegated marl and sandstone. Mr. Williams con- sidered that these specimens and sections exhibited every gradation, from a perfectly fused sandstone, to a partially freckled surface caused by the incipient process of con- version, and that in this respect they presented the appearances seen at the boundary walls of granite veins, indicating the process of reduction always in advance of the lava sea within, while its efforts at reducing the bounding rocks contained in itself the ele- ments of compensation and correction in thus working out safety valves and channels of communication with the surface of the globe over the several volcanic areas. The author remarked with reference to these changes, that the greater or less amount of alteration and the presence or absence of granite vein-like processes or cavities eroded in the adjacent rocks, would enable an observer to distinguish whether any igneous rock had been generated and crystallized in situ, or was a contemporaneous and erupted product, and in illustration quoted the section of the Raddon quarry, where the presence of three thin seams of unfused grit, ten and twelve feet long, give the trap to that extent only the appearance of bedding. He argued that the presence of these lines of sandstone perfectly insulated in the amygdaloid was inexplicable on the hypothesis of injection, but was a natural result of fusion, certain portions of * The Permian system comprehends the formation of the lower new red sandstone (Rothe- todte-liegende), Magnesian limestone (kupfer-schiefer and zechstein), and also a portion of the overlying red sandstone, which has been hitherto inaccurately grouped with the trias. 56 REPORT—1844. the rock escaping conversion on the diminution of the temperature. On three sides of the quarry the variegated sandstone was observed resting on the trap without having been dislocated or deranged by it, and this also appeared to Mr. Williams only to be explained by supposing tranquil fusion and conversion. ‘Ifthe amygdaloid,” he said, ‘‘had in either case been forcibly protruded, it must have displaced very many inillions of cubie yards of sandstone and caused great derangement; yet there was not a particle of evidence of anything of the kind having taken place.” ‘The author concluded by stating that he had discovered instances of the process of fusion and conversion in all the slates, sandstones and limestones of South Devon and Cornwall, in the mountain limestone of the Mendips, and the variegated sandstones about Exeter, all of them ex- plicitly and emphatically negativing the hypothesis of injection. ‘ Notice respecting the Discovery of Gold Ores in Merionethshire, North Wales. By Artuur Deay, C.£. The author stated, that in 1843 he discovered some rich gold ores at the Cwmhei- sian mines near Dolgelly. Further researches proved that a complete system of auriferous veins exists throughout the whole of the Snowdonian or lower Silurian formations of North Wales. The structure of this district is very singular, consisting of an immense number of alternate and parallel beds of igneous and sedimentary rocks, traversed by vast num- bers of mineral veins and trap dykes. These mineral veins are of three periods of formation ; those of the first period have an average bearing from $.E. to N.W., with a dip to the north ; they contain quartz impregnated with ores of argentiferous galena, copper, iron, and blende, &c. The veins of the second period have a general bearing N.E. and S.W., with a northern dip, and contain carbonates and sulphates of barytes and lime, galena, blende, &c. The third set, comprising the auriferous veins, traverse both the other two, and have an average bearing of N.N.E. and S.S.W.., and like the others, with a north dip. These veins are very numerous, and are filled with argillaceous substances, iron pyrites, and iron and blende ores. In width they vary from ith of an inch to 6 or 8 inches, but sometimes expand to 2 or 3 yards. In many cases they split into a great number of minute branches. Where the auriferous veins traverse quartzose veins of the first series they are generally very productive of gold, the quartzose veins, if metalliferous, becoming enriched on the south side of the intersection. The sides of the auriferous veins, where they pass through quartzose veins, are generally ce!lular, and in these cells the gold, in a fibrous form, is for the most part deposited, accompanied by various ores of iron, blende, galena, &c. In almost all cases in this district, where the mineral veins intersect each other, the intersected vein, if enriched at the junction, is productive only on the south side of the intersection, while it dips towards the north; and the intersecting vein, if also en- riched, carries its ore from the point of intersection towards the north. Veins dipping south are almost always poor. If a vein runs east and west, and the strike of the strata be north and south, the courses of ore follow the dip of the strata most favourable to their production. Some of the gold ores discovered produce from 3 dwts. to 60 ounces of gold per ton of ore as broken ; and some of the washed sulphurets of lead contain lead, 75 per cent; silver, 40 ounces; gold, from 2 to 20 ounces per ton. ‘Observations on the Stratification of Igneous and Sedimentary Rocks of the Lower Silurian Formation in North Wales. By Arntuur Dean, C.B. In this communication the author stated his opinion that the igneous and sedimen- tary rocks of North Wales were for the most part of contemporaneous origin, the ig- neous rocks being regularly interstratified with the others, and not presenting any appearance of having been subsequently injected between the strata. Sometimes at least fifty alternations of parallel beds of igneous and sedimentary rocks may be found within the distance of a mile, varying respectively from one foot to sixty yards in thickness. In many cases also several beds of igneous rocks rest upon one another without the intervention of sedimentary rocks, such beds occasionally thinning out and disappearing. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 57 _ These masses of igneous and sedimentary rock are traversed by numerous trap _ dykes or veins, often accompanied (always on the north side) by mineral veins, to _ which they serve as the under walls. The trap dykes generally dip northward. _ Channels of slate several yards wide inclosing mineral veins are also frequently - found ; the slate is highly laminated, and the laminz are parallel to the dip of the vein. On the Explanation of certain Geological Phenomena by the Agency of Glaciers. By Epmunp Batten, M.A. The object of the author in this communication was chiefly to excite discussion concerning the transport of large boulders and erratic blocks observed in different parts of Europe. His account was restricted to the gigantic boulders of Switzerland and the shores of the Baltic, and the erratic blocks traceable to the Grampian chain of Scotland. The former have been frequently described, and are considered by the Swiss geologists to have been conveyed by immense glaciers extending across the * great valley of Switzerland; and near Edinburgh, appearances are observable which seem to indicate something like a similar cause having acted. It is a question, how- ever, whether any theory of glacier motion will account for the passage of glaciers over these districts, and the improbability of a great extent of glaciers moving like a _Tiver across a country was pointed out. Allusion was then made to the iceberg _ theory, and its greater probability as a means of transporting heavy blocks; and the author concluded by enforcing the necessity of numerous observations, with a view to the solution of the problem. On the Occurrence of Marine Shelis in the Gravels of Ireland. By Tuomas Otpuan, MRA. F.G.S. The author commenced by noticing the prevalence of gravel and diluvial deposits in Ireland, where they occur in long, Jow rounded ridges called Eskars, which stretch for many miles in nearly a right line ; or in detached rounded hills, or forming undu- lating grassy plains. These gravels have hitherto been considered not to contain any "organic remains, and have been carefully distinguished from some deposits of clay ‘containing marine shells which have been noticed in several places along the coasts, at elevations varying from 50 to 300 feet above the present level of the sea. Mr. Oldham _ did not consider this distinction well-founded, There were with the gravel deposits, _ patches of clay identical, in general mineral character and in the pebbles of the trans- _ ported blocks which they contained, with those known to contain marine shells; and _ similarly, with the clay deposits, were layers of gravel, consisting of the same ingre- _ dients, and similarly arranged with the gravels of the undoubted eskars. Tracing further, he had extended the range of these fossiliferous clays, finding them in very “Many places, and in the centre of the island as well as along the coast; and at eleva- _ tions above the present sea level of 200 to 600 feet ; in several cases also in distinct eskars. Taking these facts as proof of a general alteration of level, he showed two _ maps, on which were represented the amount of land which would be visible were this _ alteration to have taken place to the extent of 1000 feet and 500 feet. In the former _ ease what is now Ireland would only have existed as a few small scattered islands in the north and south ; and the same would have been, in a general view, the case, if the alteration were only to the extent of 5U0 feet elevation or depression. __ These deposits the author referred to the era of the Newer Pliocene or Pleistocene, from the occurrence of the characteristic shell, the Nucula oblonga (Brown) ; with this was found the Astarte gairensis, and about twenty species now existing in the adjoining seas. _, Under these so-called diluvial deposits the rocks were almost invariably found polished, furrowed and scratched; the edges of the projecting beds rounded off and smoothed, and the whole ploughed up in parallel lines. These scratches were to be found nearly at the present level of the sea, and also at very considerable elevations above it. —_—~-— On the Physical Character and Geology of Norfolk Island. By Capt. Maconocuir, R.N., K.H. _ The group of which Norfolk Island is the principal is situate in lat. 29° 2! S. and 168° 2' east long., 900 miles E.N.E. of Sydney, and 1350 N.E. from Cape Pillar in 58 REPORT—1844. Van Diemen’s Land. Norfolk and Philip Islands, the largest of the group, are about six miles distant from each other, and about a dozen others, the Nepean and Bird Islands, are little more than dry rocks distributed among them. Norfolk Island is not quite — 5 miles long with a medium breadth of about 23 miles, and its superficies is said to be 8960 acres; its greatest elevation is the double summit of Mount Pitt, 1050 feet high; its sea front is high and precipitous, presenting cliffs of 200 and 250 feet in height, and the small streams which occupy the ravines in winter fall in cascades 30 or 50 feet — high into the sea. Philip Island is about 1} mile long, with an average breadth of 3; — its most elevated point is probably 200 or 300 feet less than that of Norfolk Island. — It is everywhere precipitous, furrowed by deep channels and densely wooded, though the timber is small and of little value. Both these islands are masses of porphyry — much decomposed on the surface ; and boulders of compact greenstone are abundant — in both, especially in the fields and water-courses of Norfolk Island, where they are employed as building materials; they are also found imbedded in the porphyry at the greatest depths to which the rock has been penetrated by wells or exposed in ravines. Near the south-east extremity of Norfolk Island are extensive beds of sand and lime- stone resting on the porphyry; the limestone, which is the lowest formation, is from 12 to 20 feet thick, and occupies about 20 acres of comparatively flat land; in two places it has been fractured and upheaved from an angle of 10° to an absolute verti- cality. It is thin-bedded, the laminz being usually 1 to 3 inches thick, of fine quality, slightly mixed with sand, but yielding 90 per cent. of lime; the sandstone appears to be entirely a modern formation, lying upon and against the dislocated limestone; the bar and projecting rocks along the whole of the south-east front are composed of it, but it is nowhere above 6 feet thick; below it is found an unctuous black clay full of vegetable remains, especially the leaves and seeds of pines and other island trees. The sandstone is only compact on the coasts where it is still forming; it contains marine shells and incrusts the boulders of greenstone on the coast. Being porous and filled with saline particles, it forms a bad building stone, the houses built of it requiring to be rough cast with lime. Opposite the settlement which is placed on these beds, and about 600 yards from the beach, Nepean Island rises to the height of 50 feet; it is about a quarter of a mile long, and of a horse-shoe shape open to the east. The limestone of which this island is composed is used for the shafts of chimneys, its east and south- east beach is formed of sandstone. No water has been found in it, and its vegetation has within the last few years almost disappeared, owing to a colony of rabbits, which having destroyed everything edible, have now themselves perished. It is reported that in 1793 this island was only a boat’s length from Norfolk Island, but that in 1797 two severe earthquake shocks were experienced, by the second of which the nearer point of Nepean was submerged, and the channel altered to its present form. The rocks which pave the channel between these two islands are almost all limestones, whilst elsewhere they are porphyritic. The Bird Islands are rocks of porphyry distributed along the north shore of Norfolk Island ; they are of no ceconomic value, and are tenanted only by sea birds. On the Communication between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. By Signor GAETANO Moro. Communicated by Mr. Murcuison, P.R. Geogr.S. It is considered by Signor Moro, who has carefully surveyed the district, that the communication between ‘the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans might be accomplished in severa) ways, by taking advantage of the rivers on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, which flow on one side into the Pacific, and on the other into the Gulf of Mexico, and in a manner far more advantageous than by either of the proposed routes by Ni- caragua or Panama. This new line is considerably to the north of the others, and the country is said to be rich in the most valuable kinds of wood. This work being published, can be consulted by all geographers. On the Fish River of the North Polar Sea. By Ricuarp Kine, M.D. The author stated that the source of the Fish River was discovered by Hearn, during his memorable journey to the Polar Sea, and that Captain Sir John Franklin, having learnt from an Indian named Blackmeat that the outlet of this river was im i M TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 59 Regent's Inlet, it was selected in 1833 as the route to be followed in seeking Captain Sir John Ross and his party. Ultimately, however, another river, now known as the “ Great Fish ” River, was preferred, so that the “Fish” River was not explored. In 1836, the anthor proposed to Government that a small expedition should be sent out to survey the portion of North-eastern America yet unknown, and that the Fish River should be the line of route, but Captain Sir John Franklin, then, for the first time, expressed a doubt with regard to the outlet of the river, which he thought to be in the Atlantic Ocean, and not the Polar Sea, He also suggested that the features of the river at its source were by no means the same as had been mentioned by the Indian above alluded to. The author endeavoured to show, by adducing the evidence of the Chippewyan and Copper Indians and the Fur Traders in support of Blackmeat, that sooner or later this river will form a prominent feature in the survey of the unexplored Polar lands, as affording the means of connecting the discoveries of Messrs. Dease and Simpson on the one side, with those of Captain Sir E. Parry on the other. He considered that the sea of Regent's Inlet could thus be traced upwards, and its boundaries on either side explored, while a knowledge of Melville Peninsula, and the actual character of North Somerset (whether insular or peninsular) would also be determined. The author urged in conclusion, that being thus so near the crowning-work of the labour of three centuries, it would be unreasonable to stop, since one short summer would complete the survey. ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY. A Catalogue of Birds observed in South-Eastern Durham and in North- Western Cleveland. By Joun Hoee, M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S., §e. Mr. Joun Hoee, in this catalogue, made some physiological observations on the organization, and many remarks on the habits and geographical range of the birds which have been noticed in the parts of Durham and of Yorkshire, to which he limited himself. This district, comprising about 320 square miles, is so varied in the ature of the soil and water, that no less than 210 species (namely, 109 land-birds and 101 water-birds) are recorded as frequenting it,—a number indeed which is found to amount to only seven species fewer than two-thirds of the entire number of the British birds. _ The author has been induced to make a few changes in the nomenclature of cer- tain birds where the names have either been erroneously given or misapplied. And im respect to the arrangement adopted, he stated, that ‘‘it appeared to him to be More advisable to incorporate Cuvier’s system in his present memoir, with that clas- Sification subsequently instituted by some of our English ornithologists, making at - the same time certain modifications in both, than to use the latter alone as Mr. ‘Yarrell has done.” Also the author introduced ¢hree families, viz. Upupide, Re- curvirostride and Procellariade, from the Prince of Musignano’s “‘ New Systematic Arrangement of Vertebrated Animals,”’ in the Linnzan Transactions, vol. xviii. And the new tribes, Planicerirostres, Tecticerirostres, Cutinarirostres, Spathulirostres, Di- versirostres, Cuspidirostres, Sulcirostres, Tubinarirostres, Medionarirostres, Subuli- rostres, &c. that he himself has added, are characterized, according to the views of Linneus, from variations in the bill; and thus they tend to complete a Rostral clas- sification. _ The following is a sketch of the classification which is necessarily here abstracted, for the purpose of showing the modifications in the author’s arrangement. Division I—AVES TERRESTRES. Order I. Raprorezs. Tribe 1. Planicerirostres. Subtribe 1. Diurni. Families.—1, Falconide ; 2, Buteonide? Tribe 2. Tecticerirostres. Subtribe 2. Nocturni. Family Strigide. 60 REPORT—1844. Order II. InsEssorgEs. Tribe 1. Dentirostres. : ; Families.—1, Laniade; 2, Muscicapide ; 3, Merulide ; 4, Ampelide ; 5, Aedonide ; 6, Paride; 7, Motacillide; 8, Anthide. Tribe 2. Conirostres. , Families.—1, Alaudide ; 2, Emberizide ; 3, Fringillide ; 4, Loxiade ; 5, Sturnide ; 6, Corvide. it Tribe 3. Cuneirostres. “4 Subtribe 1. Scansores. Families.—1, Picide ; 2, Sittide. Tribe 4. Curvirostres. Family Cuculide. Tribe 5. Tenuirostres. Subtribe 2. Anisodactyli. Families.—1, Certhiade ; 2, Upupide. Tribe 6. Fissirostres. Families.—1, Halcyonide ; 2, Hirundinide ; 3, Caprimulgide. Order III. Rasonrzs. Tribe 1. Cutinarirostres. Family Columbide. Tribe 2. Convewirostres. Families.—1, Phasianide ; 2, Tetraonide. Division II.—AVES AQUATICA. Order IV. GRALLATORES. Tribe 1. Pressirostres. Families.—1, Charadriade ; 2, Hematopodide. Tribe 2. Cultrirostres. Family Ardeide. Tribe 3. Spathulirostres. Family Plataleide. Tribe 4. Longirostres. Families.—1, Recurvirostride ; 2, Scolopacide. Tribe.5. Diversirostres. Subtribe Macrodactyli. Families.—1, Rallide ; 2, Lobipedide. Order V. NataTorREs. Tribe 1, Lamellirostres. Families.—1, Anseride ; 2, Anatide; 3, Fuligulide. Tribe 2. Serrirostres. Families.—1, Mergide ; 2, Carbonide. Tribe 3. Cuspidirostres. Subtribe Brachyptera. Family Colymbide. Tribe 4. Sulcirostres. Family Alcide. Tribe 5. Tubinarirostres. Family Procellariade. Tribe 6. Medionarirostres. Family Laride. Tribe 7. Subulirostres. Subtribe Longipennes. Family Sternide. Report on the Birds of Yorkshire, prepared at the request of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society. By T. Autts. This communication added the following to the before-recorded birds of Yorkshire. The Golden Oriole, a fine female specimen, shot near the Spurn Lighthouse in 1834; Fire-crested Wren, shot at Wood End, near Thirsk ; Bearded Titmouse, from the TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 61 Biibourhood of Huddersfield ; Reed Warbler, Black Redstart, several specimens of which were taken by a bird-catcher near Leeds; the Stock Dove, killed near York, and occurring not unfrequently near Sheffield; it has also been seen In Feversham Park; Little Bittern, shot at Birdsall, near Malton; Polish Swan, killed near Brid- lington; Gullbilled Tern, taken alive near Leeds; and the Ivory Gull, shot some years ago off Scarborough by a gentleman resident in York. The report was remark- able for the number and variety of marine birds reported to occur about Huddersfield and Barnsley, apparently in a state of transition from the east to the west seas; as also for recording the last instances of the occurrence of that noble bird the Great Bustard, which has now been extinct about twenty years in the county of York; it also notices the great diminution in number, of many species formerly plentiful, and which, in the course of a few more years, will also probably be numbered with the extinct ; and has added numerous individuals to those already recorded of many of the rarer species; also a notice of the time of arrival of many of our summer visitants, from the pen of John Heppenstall of Sheffield, and a register of the arrival and depar- ture of the swallow tribe, from the pen of W. Gott, Esq. of Leeds: the number of Yorkshire species appears to be 252. Periodical Birds observed in the Years 1843 and 1844 near Llanrwst, Denbighshire, North Wales. By Joun Buackwatt, F.L.S. Birds. Appeared. Disappeared. 1843. 1843. Sand Martin, Hirundo riparia .......... Pitaducsae tes Meal Steer ha eer Sept. 25 House Martin, Hirundo urbica ......cscccsccseceeccces | ceevenvscevenss Oct. 12 Swallow, Hirundo rustica ..........s000+ Siaaeeatis inks ssscccasonse | ise 16 1844. Woodcock, Scolopar rusticola .........0+00+ pecans tee Oct. 6 | April 5 Redwing, Turdus iliacus......cccccsssesees Bear Ra in 12 March 27 Fieldfare, Turdus pilaris.........ccssscccoeesscoeesccones a 30 | April 1 Siskin, Fringilla spimus .1o.s.scscccscseceeenseceesesees Nov. 3 q 1844. Pied Wagtail, Motacilla alba........cs.cscccecesssreeee March 14 Tree Pipit, Anthus arboreus ... ..scecesscsesececceeecs April 7 Yellow Wren, Sylvia trochilus ..........cseeeseeees te ni 8 Black-cap, Sylvia atricapilla...... cbeinetboo cnc secahee = 1b Sand Martin, Hirwndo riparia ..... SRE ESR eEe 3 16 | Sept. 10 Wheat-ear, Saxicola enanthe....... Aélabee OEE aones 5 17 Swallow, Hirundo rustica ......cccceccecscceceese Soo op 17 Common Sandpiper, Totanus hypoleucos ............ ” 20 Wood Wren, Sylvia sibilatriz ......... eae a 20 | Redstart, Sylvia pheenicurus ,....0...00 Naeccorscnsccs + 22 House Martin, Hirundo urbica ...cccccsocescesseeees : oe 23 Cuckoo,-Cuculus Canorus .....cccccccceeccecceccecceccs os 23 | July 1 Pied Flycatcher, Muscicapa luctwosd...........+..0006 + 25 White-throat, Sylvia cinerea ......sccssecscseseeeeeeens He 27 Winchat, Sazicola rubetra ......... pa or I a cae rr) 29 - Land Rail, Gallinula crew ...... NP citeemeeee cask seewones nh 30 Pettychaps, Sylvia hortensis ......... odo kcothneciiods May 1 Swift, Cypselus murarius .......csseeeeseees Seceesecene if 10 | August 25 Sedge Warbler, Sylvia phragmitis...........se0e0s-+++ of 12 Red-backed Shrike, Lanius collurio ............ eh iS 12 Goatsucker, Caprimulgus ewropa@us .......0.00 sfidemeinl be eS ud Spotted Flycatcher, Muscicapa grisola........ ABS Py 18 | Sept. 17 A Monograph of the Sub-family Odontophorine, or Partridges of America. By J. Gourn, F.R.S., Se. ' The subjects of the present monograph are interesting from their probable utility to man whenever the countries of which they are denizens shall come under the do- 62 REPORT—1844. minion of civilization, as well as from their being expressly adapted for naturalization in Europe; many of the species are sufficiently hardy to brave the severity of our winters, and are, therefore, likely to thrive in situations suitable to the partridge and quail. All the members of the group are strictly American, and by far the greater number of the species natives of that portion of the country lying between the 30th degree of north latitude and the equator. Four species are included in the Fauna of North America, and it is these in particular that Mr. Gould considers most likely to thrive in Europe. Thirty species of this group are now known to Mr. Gould, two only of which were included in the works of Linnzus, and nine in the ‘ General Hi- story of Birds,’ published by Latham in 1823. And even in the late revision of the subject by Messrs. Jardine and Selby in their ‘Illustrations of Ornithology,’ the number of species was only increased to eleven. Vieillot was the first who conceived the propriety of separating one of the members of the present group from the old genera Yetrao and Perdix, proposing the term Odontophorus for the Tetrao Guian- ensis of Gmelin; subsequently Stephens and Wagler proposed a further subdivision of the group, the former proposing the term Ortyx for the well-known Virginian par- tridge, Perdix Virginianus, and the latter that of Callipepla, the type of which is the Ortyx squamata of Vigors. If it be admitted that the American partridges constitute more than one genus, the genera must not be confined to three or four, but must extend at least to six. Mr. Gould further remarks that the partridges of America form a well-defined family, distinguishable from the grouse and partridges of the Old World in many particulars, among which may be intimated the total absence of any spur or spur-like appendage on the tarsi, and by the possession of teeth-like pro- cesses on the edges of the under mandible. The subject was fully illustrated with drawings of most of the species. On the Fishes of Yorkshire. By T. Mrynett, F.L.S. The total number of species which have been detected as inhabiting the shores, or frequenting the freshwaters of Great Britain, is stated by Mr. Yarrel]l to be about 250, of which number Mr. Meynell mentioned 140 species as frequenting the waters of Yorkshire. Amongst these 140 species, the following appear to be most worthy of note:—The Greater Weever (Zrachinus Draco), the Sapphirine Gurnard (Trigla hirundo), the Piper (Trigla Lyra), the Norway Haddock (Sebastes Norvegicus), the Sea Bream (Pagellus centrodontus), and the four-toothed Sparus (Denter vulgaris), are all rare upon our coast. Ray’s Bream (Brama Raii) is found plentifully in some years at Redcar, generally left upon the shore by the receding tide, as many as twelve having been found in a morning: it only, however, occurs between October and December. One specimen only was found last year, and none the year before. A specimen of the Sword Fish (Xtphias gladius) was caught in Filey Bay in 1808, measuring eleven feet in length and weighing twenty-three stones. It pierced the bottom of the boat before it was secured. It has likewise occurred I believe at Scarborough and Whitby. A speci- men of the Tunny (Zhynnus vulgaris), seven or eight feet long, was stranded at Bur- lington a few years ago. Two examples of the Dory (Zeus Faber) were found on the beach at Redcar in 1839. The Opah (Lampris guttatus) is occasionally taken on the coast. One taken at Burlington two years since weighed four stones one pound, and was two feet ten inches long and one foot seven inches broad. ‘The beautiful red scales of this species are extremely delicate and easily rubbed off, leaving the surface of a dull bluish slate colour. The two species of gray Mullet (Mugil Capito and Chelo) are occasionally taken, as are most of the Gobioide. Of these, the One-spotted Goby (G. wnipunctatus of Yarrell’s Supplement) is abundant in the salt marshes at Redcar. The Ballan Wrasse (Labrus maculatus) appears occasionally in immense shoals off Filey, the largest weighing about five pounds. Four specimens only of Jago’s Goldsinny (Crenilabrus rupestris) have been taken at Redcar. The Crucian Carp (Cyprinus gibelio) and the Gold Carp (C. auratus) are both plentiful in the reservoirs of some of our manufac- tories, the water being slightly heated by the admission of the waste steam from the engines. The former species is likewise common in some other ponds in the county. The Smelt (Osmerus eperlanus) is taken in various rivers, and was so abundant at Cawood on the Ouse in December 1834 as to be sold in the Leeds market at two TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 63 ‘pence the pound. The Atherine (Atherina presbyter) is taken at Burlington quay by _ persons when fishing with a worm ; and the Argentine (Scopelus Humboldtii) was met with at Redcar in 1841, 1843 and 1844, from the 23rd of January to May, but never later. When first taken they have the smell of cucumbers. One specimen of Leach’s Herring (Clupea Leachii) was found on the beach at Redcar in April 1843. The Common and Speckled Cod (Morrhua vulgaris and punctata) are common, and appear to be the same species, varying only according to the ground on which they feed. The Hake (Merlucius vulgaris) is a rare species with us. The Five-bearded Rockling (Motella quinque-cirrata) and the Lesser forked-beard (Raniceps trifurcatus) are both taken at Redcar. Several specimens of Muller’s Top-knot (Rhombus hirtus) were found on the beach at Redcar in 1836, but none have occurred there since. The Smooth Sole (R. arnoglossus) and the Lemon Sole (Solea pegusa) are both taken, but rare. Several specimens of the Short Sun-fish (Orthagoriscus Mola) have been taken, one at Redcar, and two or three at Burlington. Thé Sharp-nosed Sturgeon (Aci- penser Sturio) is occasionally taken off Redcar and in the Tees ; and the Broad-nosed Sturgeon (4. latirostris) appears to be the species peculiar to the Ouse, the former not being taken in that river. . Of the Squalide: or Shark family, the following appear the most remarkable species : the small and the large-spotted Dog (Scylliwm canicula and catulus), the Blue Shark (Carcharias glaucus), taken off Scarborough ; the Porbeagle (Lamna Cornubica), and the Beaumaris Shark (L. Monensis) ; the Common Tope (Galeus vulgaris) ; Smooth Hound (Mustelus levis) ; the Basking Shark (Selachus maximus), and the Angel Fish (Squatina Angelus). A specimen of the Spinous Shark (Echinorhinus spinosus) was taken off Burlington in 1838, and an account of it was read at the Newcastle Meeting of the British Association by Arthur Strickland, Esq. - Of the Raiide, the most uncommon are the Shagreen Ray (Raia chagrinea), the Starry Ray (Raia radiata), the Sting Ray (Trygon pastinaca), and the Eagle Ray (Mylhiobatis aquila). Of the Petromyzide, the Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) 1s taken at Redcar and in the Tees ; the Lampern (Pet. fluviatilis) in the Ure; the Fringed Lipped Lampern (Pet. Planeri) twice taken in twenty fathoms water off Redcar, and the Pride (Ammo- cetes branchialis) in a small brook near Richmond. The extreme abundance of the Myxine or Hag (Gastrobranchus cecus) may be imagined from the fact, that 123 specimens were taken out of one codfish at Redcar last winter. Mr. T. West read a paper on the occurrence of Sclerotic Plates in Fishes. These plates had been noticed in birds, but not, that the author was aware, in fishes. They did not occur in all fishes, but the author suggested that they might be a provision to enable fishes to swim in rapid water. Prof. Owen exhibited a human skull from South Australia, which had been used for the purpose of carrying water, in fact, as a widow’s cruise. The absence of the art of pottery was the inducement for thus using this part of the human skeleton.) The ancients, at their feasts, were said to quaff their wine from the skulls of their enemies, but he believed this was the first case in which it had been ascertained that any part of the human skeleton had been used as a domestic utensil. " Mr. Ball noticed the peculiar structure of the hoof of the Giraffe, which pre-emi- nently fits it for passing along mountain ravines with velocity. This structure con- sists in a brush-like structure of the sole of the foot. Report of the Dredging Committee for 1844. This report consisted of two parts: first, of the records of a series of dredging operations conducted round the coasts of Anglesea, in September 1844, by Mr. M‘Andrew and Prof. E. Forbes, exhibiting the distribution of the marine animals procured in various depths down to thirty fathoms, and the state of the sea-bed —" ; Per’ a . > 64 REPORT—1844., in the localities explored. Among the more interesting facts recorded in these papers were the following :—rolled specimens of Purpura lapillus, a shell which lives ‘ only above low-water mark, were found in twenty-eight to thirty fathoms water on the gravelly bed of a line of current, at the distance of eight miles from the nearest shore. In the same line of current it was found that the few mollusca which lived there, such as Modiole and Limz, had constructed nests, or protecting cases of pebbles, bound together by threads of byssus ; and one species, the Modiola discre- pans, had made its nest of the leaf-like expansions of Flustra foliacea cemented to- gether. The attention of the dredgers was directed, among other subjects, to the distribution of Serpulz, and the results of their researches were confirmatory of the © statements recently advanced by Dr. Phillippi of Cassel, namely, that no dependence could be placed, even as to the genus, on the shell of a Serpula, perféctly similar shells being constructed by animals of different genera. Thus they found all the Ser- pule of a particular form in twelve fathoms water to be a species of Eupomatus, ~ whilst exactly similar shells in twenty fathoms proved to be the habitations of a species of the genus wanting opercula, of which S. tubularia is the type. All the triangular Serpule they met with were Pomatoceros tricuspis. In twelve fathoms, at the entrance of the Menai Straits, they dredged the shell of Helix aspersa, the com- mon snail, covered with barnacles and Serpule, and inhabited by a hermit crab. Second, of a series of records of dredging operations conducted by Mr. Hyndman on the north coast of Ireland. On some Animals nem to the British Seas, discovered by Mr. M‘Andrew. By Prof. E. Forsss. The additions to the British Fauna now brought forward were taken by Mr. M‘Andrew on the western coast of Scotland. They are,—ist, a remarkable new zoophyte allied to Virgularia. This sea-pen is no less than two feet six inches in © length, thus far exceeding in dimensions any British zoophytes of that genus, and differs also from all in having a perfectly quadrangular skeleton ; it is the Funicu- laria quadrangularis. It was taken near Kerrera, in twenty fathoms water, on muddy ground, and is probably abundant there. 2nd. Pleurotoma teres, a shell of which only two specimens have hitherto been found, and those on the coast of Asia Minor. The British specimen is much larger than either of those taken in the Aigean by Prof. E. Forbes, and was dredged in forty fathoms water on mud. 3rd. Eulima Macandrei, a small but beautiful new species, differing from its British allies in the narrowness, flatness, and number (11) of the whorls, and in the angularity of its aperture. 4th. The Emarginula crassa of Sowerby, hitherto only known as a fossil, in which state it is found in the various crag deposits, and by Mr. Lyell in the Pleistocene of Norway. It is a most beautiful species, and the largest European member of the genus. Mr. M‘Andrew dredged it alive in twenty-five fathoms in Loch Fine. It appears to have been also taken within the last year by Mr. Jeffreys and Mr. Alder. 5th. The singular radiate animal, which Miller figured in the ‘ Zoologia Danica’ under the name of Holothuria squamata. Several other Mollusca and Radiata, probably new to the British Fauna, but as yet not suffi- ciently investigated, were also laid before the meeting by Mr. M‘Andrew. On Marine Zoology. By Cuartes WittiaM Peacu. The interesting annelid, the Nereis tubicola of Miiller, was minutely described from specimens he had obtained alive from off the Cornish coast. He also noticed an annelid which is invariably found in the same shell with the Pagurus bernhardus, or Hermit Crab. This annelid varies in length from one inch to ten in length. The nidus of a Doris had been met with in great numbers, and also the animal, in the spring of the present year; some he kept in sea-water in his house, which de- posited their ova, and from which he succeeded in rearing the young. He minutely described them, showing that although in the adult state they are naked, they are clothed when young with a nautiloidal shelly covering. He also noticed that the young of the Buccinum reticulatum is found in a similar nautiloidal shell, with simi- lar appendages and habits. ‘pair Le — Me Po TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 65 ~ Heintroduced to notice a Holothuria with twenty tentacula, a link which had been long wanted in the history of this singular race. He described it as being not un- common in deep water and rocky ground, and is sometimes a foot in length; it is called by the fishermen a “‘ Nigger,” and ‘‘ Cotton Spinner,” the former from its dark appearance, the latter from its thread-like bunches, which it ejects, and which become elongated into long and very fine tenacious threads, no doubt intended to annoy any enemy which might attack them, as they adhere firmly to anything they come into contact with. It is furnished with four rows of suckers, and covered with spine-like processes, and when the tentacula are withdrawn it has very much the ap- pearance of a small cucumber. He minutely described the habits and peculiarities, proving satisfactorily that it is new to the British fauna. He mentioned that Mr. Couch, Surgeon of Penzance, had found the Boar Fish in abundance, and the Plain Bonito not uncommon off the Land’s End; also that a fine specimen of the Muaigre had been lately captured off the Cornish coast, making the second within a short time. He produced two new calcareous corallines, Lepralia catenata and Lepralia pecti- nata, which Dr. Johnston of Berwick-on-Tweed and Mr. Couch of Penzance have pronounced new and good species. He exhibited a specimen of the Cypre@a moneta, or Money Cowry, which had been trawled up off the Land’s End with the animal in it. Mr, Peach made a short communication on the Natural History of Goran in Corn- wall, On a New Genus of Nudibranchiate Mollusca. By Professor Ariman, M.R.1.4. Professor Allman noticed a new genus of Nudibranchiate Mollusca. The little animal upon which the new genus was founded, was obtained by Professor Allman in a salt-marsh on the south coast of Ireland, where it presented a singularly am- phibious habit, several specimens being discovered creeping upon the leaves of Ente- “romorpha intestinalis and other plants quite beyond the reach of the water. The peculiarities of its structure are such as to approximate it to the genus Venillia of Messrs Alder and Hancock, with which it agrees in the median and dorsal termina- tion of the intestine. The dorsal surface is furnished at each side with oval, rather irregularly disposed branchial papilla. An examination of the mollusk in its living ‘state was unfortunately neglected, and in the specimens preserved in spirits, Professor Allman, as well as Messrs Alder and Hancock,-by whom they were examined, failed to detect any trace of tentacula. To the new genus the name ALDERIA was assigned, in honour of the distinguished naturalist to whom we are already so deeply indebted for our knowledge of the British Nudibranchiate Mollusca. Ona New Genus of Parasitic Arachnideans. By Professor ALLMAN, On the Anatomy of Acteon viridis. By Professor ALLMAN. The author controverted the assertions of M. de Quatrefages relative to numerous points in the anatomy of this little mollusk, and to the position assigned to it by the French naturalist in his new order Phlebenterata. Professor Allman described a di- stinct heart and vascular system, and a lateral termination of the intestine, points at direct variance with the statements of M. de Quatrefages. The philebenteric sy- stem of this naturalist he maintained to be nothing more than a liver, to which organ it is in every respect analogous, and affords not the slightest grounds for considering it a distinct system peculiar to the Gasteropods included by M. de Quatrefages in his order Phiebenterata. The nervous system was described in detail, and shown to be of a highly developed type. Seven ganglia, of which six are in pairs and one azygous, surround the ceso- phagus. The organs of vision and the bodies to which Siebold attributes an auditory ioe. were described. The embryology of Acteon was traced, and it was shown ° F 66 REPORT—1844. that this mollusk underwent a metamorphosis quite similar to what has been observed in the Dorides and Aplysiz, the larva being furnished with locomotive ciliated discs, and enclosed in a delicate nautiloid shell, where an operculum protects it from all ex- ternal intrusion. On a New Genus of Helianthoid Zoophytes. By Professor Autman. Professor Allman brought before the Section a Helianthoid zoophyte which he had just discovered at Cruick Haven, upon the southern coast of the county of Cork, and which, as far as he had as yet been able to determine, must probably constitute a new genus; he refrained, however, from naming it, in consequence of the limited number of works which he had had an opportunity of consulting since its discovery. The zoophyte is one of extreme beauty, and constitutes a connecting link between Actinia and Lucernaria, being distinguished from the former by its capitate tentacula, and from the latter by their arrangement in two uninterrupted series, Its anatomy closely corresponds with Actinia, but in the capitula with which the tentacula terminate, are to be found certain most singular organs. These consist of transparent oval capsules, having coiled up within them a very long fibre, which, under a high power of the microscope, is itself seen to be furnished with a spiral groove, with closely approxi- mated coils, and traceable along its entire length. When the capsules are liberated from the tentacula, a most curious phenomenon is presented. The spiral fibre which they contain is forcibly ejected through one end of the capsule, and, uncoiling itself as it escapes, is rapidly shot across the stage of the microscope. Professor Allman insisted on the analogy between these bodies and the darts described by Corda in the tentacula of Hydra fusca, and was of opinion that they are organs gifted with the property of inflicting envenomed wounds upon the animals which constitute the food of the zoophyte. They are accompanied by other bodies whose structure ap- pears to be that of a fibre rolled into a close spiral, but not furnished with a capsule. On the Structure of the Lucernarie. By Professor ALLMAN. In this communication certain undescribed peculiarities in the anatomy of these zoo- phytes were laid before the Section, and the existence in the tentacula and other super- ficial parts of the animal, of organs analogous to the darts of Hydra, and to the spiral bodies of the Helianthoid zoophyte already described, was demonstrated. The posi- tion of the Lucernarie in the animal kingdom is in close relation with the Acalephe —a group with which they would appear to be more nearly allied than with the proper zoophytes, though they constitute a remarkable and beautiful transition be- tween the Pulmonigrade Acalephz on the one hand, and the Helianthoid zoophytes on the other. Mr. Thompson read a paper entitled ‘ Additions to the Fauna of Ireland,’ com- prising a number of new species of Invertebrata, specimens of which were exhibited to the meeting. He called attention to the desirableness of the additions to the fauna and flora of Ireland and of Great Britain being brought forward regularly at the meetings of the Association, together with an exhibition of specimens of the respective species whenever practicable. Mr. Thompson read ‘ Descriptions of Pzerochilus, a new genus of Nudibranchiate Mollusca, and two new species of Doris,’ by Joshua Alder and Albany Hancock, This communication was illustrated with splendid coloured drawings of the species executed by the authors, who likewise sent for exhibition drawings of the following four species described by them since the last meeting of the British Association, viz. Proctonotus mucroniferus, Eolis alba, E. Farrani, and E. violacea. Dr. Carpenter communicated to the Section some observations on the position which he deemed ought to be given to the compound Ascidians in the zoological scale. In opposition to Milne Edwards, he considered that the compound Ascidians should be placed with the Mollusca, and the Ascidian Polyps with the Radiata. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 67 On the Structure and Development of the Cystic Entozoa. By Harry D. S. Goonsir, M.W.S., and Conservator Mus. R.C.S. Edinburgh. In this very natural order of Entozoa the author places the Acephalocysts, which were looked upon by Rudolphi and other helminthologists as being merely adven- titious. Three very distinct forms of the genus Acephalocystis were described ; the specific characters being derived from the structure of the germinal membrane (the membrane from which the young originate), also from the mode of growth and structure of the young Hydatids. In Acephalocystis simplex the membranes appear to be more or less inseparable, transparent, and the young vesicles are very few in number. A, Monroi.—The germinal membrane of this speciesis divided, by means of a fibrous tissue, into numerous compartments, each of which are occupied by a delicate trans- parent vesicle filled with cellular substance, of which the cells or divisions are very large. Hach of these vesicles contains one or more small dark bodies—-the young Hydatids, A. armatus.—The young arise from the germinal membrane of the parent as very distinct small separate vesicles, which at first are quite transparent, but soon become opake from the addition of young within them. A small transparent vesicle jutting out from the surface of the germinal membrane is the first vestige of a young Hydatid, which speedily becomes opake in consequence of young cells growing within it. This very soon separates, and then becomes what the author terms a secondary Hydatid. The young cells which were seen growing within it before its separation now also increase in size, and soon become parent cells, but do not separate from the germinal membrane of their parent until she escapes from the primitive Hydatid. Thus there are four generations, the primitive Hydatid still containing the three generations to which she had given birth. If the primitive Hydatid is buried so deeply in the tissues of the infested being as 1o prevent the escape of the secondary Hydatids with their two inclosed series of young, decomposition ensues, upon which they speedily disappear. __ The author, after describing the very peculiar process of decomposition which takes place in these animals under such circumstances, proceeded to describe two very peculiar animals hitherto unobserved by naturalists, Astoma acephalocystis and Dis- kostoma acephalocystis. They were considered to be connecting links between the Acephalic and Cephalic Entozoa, and were the means of enabling the author to point out many beautiful analogies which existed between the Entozoa and the other classes of the animal kingdom. The structure and habits of the genera Cenurus and Cysticereus were then de- scribed along with several new species, after which the author mentioned those Entozoa of the higher orders, such as the Nematoid, Cestoid, &c., which inhabit cysts. These species were not considered to belong to the Cystoid order of the class, but were merely brought forward by the author as illustrative of several views which he held relative to some points in the physiology of the Hydatids. He looked upon all these Entozoa, as Trichina, Gymnorhynchus, &c., as still inclosed within one or more of the membranes of the ovum, and that the inclosed animal received its nourishment by means of a peculiar structure in the inclosing membrane. If a small portion of the inclosing cyst of Gymnorhynchus horridus be placed under the microscope it will be found to consist of two membranes. The external consists of condensed cellular texture, and is derived from the tissues of the infested being ; the internal membrane consists entirely of absorbing cells, through which the contained animal procures its nourishment. This is the general structure of all the cystoid Entozoa. Owing to the presence of a foreign body, the tissues of the infested being in the neighbourhood of the Entozoon throw out a quantity of lymph, which is always adding to the thickness of the external membrane of the cyst, until at length it becomes so thickened and hardened as to prevent the internal or absorbing membrane from procuring the re- quisite means of nourishment for the support of the inclosed animal, which, if sta- tionary, very shortly dies, as in Acephalocystis. Gymnorhynchus, however, which has the power of motion, escapes this mode of extirpation, and when the cyst is examined, it presents the following appearances :—The cyst all around the head of the animal FQ my 68 REPORT—1844. q consists apparently of one, the absorbing membrane only, further back the external membrane becomes visible, and as portions are examined under the microscope, it is found to become thicker and thicker as it nears the posterior part of the cyst. The remains of this cyst can be traced for many feet in length in the tissues of the in- fested being, in the form of a delicate cord. SS On the Reproduction of Lost Parts in the Crustacea. By Harry D.S. Goonsir, M.W.S. That all the species of Crustacea are endowed with the power of regenerating parts of their body which have been accidentally lost, is a fact which has been long known. The manner, however, in which these are developed, and the organ also from which the germ of the future leg is derived, has never yet been either properly explained or examined. If one or more of the distal phalanges of the leg of a common crab be torn forcibly off, the animal instantly throws off the remaining parts of the limb. This is effected with little apparent exertion, and always takes place at one spot, which is marked externally by a delicate line covered with an annulus of thinly-scattered hairs. The phalanx on either side of this ring is considerably contracted, and when the shell is taken carefully off so as to expose the interior, it is found to consist of a fibrous, gelatinous, glandular-looking mass—the organ which supplies the germs for future limbs. The microscopic structure of this organ is extremely beautiful. Whena thin trans- verse section is made and placed under the microscope, it is found to present the fol- lowing appearance :—Ist, a foramen near to one edge for the transmission of the ves- sels and nerves; then a semiliquid mass containing small nucleated cells, which is surrounded by a fibrous-looking band ; beyond this band lies a mass of blastema of large nucleated cells ; and lastly, the shell membrane covered by the shell incloses the whole. The fibrous-looking band here mentioned is found from further observations to belong to a very peculiar system of vessels very generally distributed throughout the body, and which all terminate by means of shut sacs, on each of which a dark cir- cular spot is observed, having all the appearance of a germinal disc. The author, from want of time, has not been yet able to make out the relations of these vessels. Some hours after the limb is thrown off, the small foramen becomes gradually filled by a small rounded body (the germ of the future leg), which gradually increases in size so as to push out before it the cicatrix which had been formed on the raw sur- face after the injury, and now forms the external covering of the young limb. As the germ increases in size, the inclosing membranes become thinner and thinner until they burst, when the young limb, which has hitherto been bent upon itself, becomes extended, and has all the appearance of a perfect limb except in size. As far as the observations of the author had gone, it appeared that the germ was derived from one of the cells nearest the foramen. This cell follows the ordinary course of develop- ment, by the nucleus breaking up into nucleoli which in time become parent cells also, each of which undergoes the same process. This goes on for several stages, all the less important cells dissolving and serving as nourishment to the central or more important ones, until the number of centres are reduced to five—the number of joints required, which, by a regular process of a similar nature, assume the form of the future leg. On the Morphology of the Reproductive System of Sertularian Zoophytes, and its Analogy nith that of Flowering Plants. By Prof. E. Forszs. At certain periods in the life of the sertularian zoophytes, which are composite beings of plant-like forms, constituted of numerous nutritive individuals which, be- sides the life of each share in the common life of the whole, there appear on the axis or branches variously formed bodies, in some species urn-shaped, in others pod- shaped, very dissimilar from the other parts of the whole, in which, after a time, the ova are formed. These are the ovigerous vesicles of naturalists, the true nature of which has been often discussed, but hitherto unexplained. These bodies, Prof. E. Forbes maintains, are branches of many individuals which have undergone an ideal k a Pets TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 69 metamorphosis, exactly comparable to that which Linnzus first, and Goethe after- wards, demonstrated in the flowers of vegetables. He states his theory of their nature thus :—The vesicle is formed from a branch or pinna, through an arrest of _ individual development, by a shortening of the spiral axis, and by a transformation of the stomachs (individuals) into egg-producing membranes, the dermato-skeletons (or cells) uniting to form the protecting capsule or germen; which metamorphosis is exactly comparable to that which we find in the reproductive organs of flowering plants in which the floral bud (normally a branch clothed with spirally arranged leaves, an assemblage of respiratory individuals) is constituted through the contrac- tion of the axis and the whorling of the individuals borne on that axis, and by their transformation into the several parts of the flower. In order to prove this theory, the author submits the several forms of ovigerous vesicle in the family of Sertulariade to a searching analysis, taking the pod-like vesicle of most Plumularie, usually re- garded as the most complex, but in reality the simplest, as a type. He shows that all the classes of forms, six in number, may be explained by means of his proposed view of their nature, which is further borne out by certain monstrosities which have occasionally occurred among the zoophytes. Having, as he conceives, proved his position, he proceeds to show its application to systematic zoophytology, urging the dismemberment of the genera Sertularia and Plumularia, the separation of the Sertula- _ rade from the Hydraide and Tubulariadz, as an order equal in value to these families united, and the arrangement of the zoophytes under four orders, of which the above- named families form two, and the Helianthoid and Asteroid polypes the other two, the Bryozoa being transferred to the Mollusca, where they should form a family par- allel and equal to the compound Tunicata. On the Organs of Generation in the Decapodous Crustacea. By Harry D. S. Goonsir, M.W.S. The internal organs are more highly developed in the Brachyura than in any other section of the class, and the genus Hyas was selected from it by the author as most fitted for illustrating the general anatomy of these organs. On the Conservation of Substances. By A. Goavsy. _ Mr. Goadby exhibited a series of preparations of animal bodies preserved in glass cases, according to a method of his own suggestion. Many gentlemen having com- plained that they had not succeeded in preparing animal substances in the way which he had recommended, he was desirous of stating fully the plans which he pursued. The following were the formule for all the solutions he used :-— Al. Corrosive sublimate......... 2 grains. Bay salt ...scscscsecseeevecs 4 07. Water) rcraedssseeacecemetce 1 quart. BIRT a chan cas eviciéssiddewssece Dies BB. Corrosive sublimate......... Sieraanse) Day Balt’). isndevaeteveas sven 2 Ib. DWV AGED succeceseees shothatinaeae 1 quart. Arsenious acid (or white A2. oxide of arsenic) ......... 20 grains. HAN HALG) ne v0n sent daeasincsens 4 02. Boiling water «...........06 1 quart. PUPIL sdsinsis isco ces carsatsesens iss C. Corrosive sublimate......... Berets | Bayi colt. -mcsisenivedvetsices 2 Ib. DOMED eilole cols oo\sn nce ninas taken 2 quarts. | Arsenious acid ..........+.. .- 20 grains. B. Corrosive sublimate.......... 2 grains. Bay salt ....... Meio cana cacics 2 |b. Boiling water ....... gedseiee? 1 quart. The first, A 1, was the ordinary solution he used: A 2, where there was a ten- dency to mouldiness, and the animal texture was tender, as, although salt preserved animal matters, it sometimes destroyed the tissue. B. was used in cases where ani- mals contained carbonate of lime, as, in these cases, alum produced decomposition. For old preparations, arsenic was substituted for corrosive sublimate, as in BB., but where there was a tendency to too much softening, the corrosive sublimate should be added, as in C. 70 REPORT—1844. Suggestions for the Observation of Periodic Changes in Animals. By Tuomas Laycock, M.D. At aprevious Meeting of the Association the author communicated to the Medical Section a paper on a general law governing the recurrence of vital phenomena. In illustration of the subject he traced the connexion between the periods of development in various races of the animal kingdom, and those of man as seen in the paroxysms of nervous affection, and particularly of fevers. In the present paper he directs the special attention of naturalists to those changes in animals the periods of which can be best measured, and concerning which a large amount of important and accurate observations can be obtained. The epochs of development and metamorphosis, and the periods passed in incubation, are specially cited as meriting accurate and exten- sive observation, and the author concludes by quoting the system of registration already established in Belgium as deserving imitation and cooperation. On the Flora of Yorkshire. By O. A. Moors. He commenced by expressing his regret, that owing to the shortness of the time allowed for its completion, the memoirs might appear not quite so perfect in some respects as it otherwise might have been, especially as regards species peculiar to the sea-coast ; all plants, too, were excluded from the list not strictly found on the York- shire side of the Tees in Teesdale. In this list were included 1119 species and 157 varieties (many of which latter are considered species by some botanists), exclusive of a few whose claims to be regarded as Yorkshire plants rest on insufficient grounds. The list might be regarded as an appendix to the work of Mr. Baines which appeared four years previously, and which contains an accurate and extensive list of habitats for all the principal flowering plants and ferns of Yorkshire, as well as the Mosses and Cha- racer. In the present report the subsequent labours of botanists had been noticed, and about 87 species and 81 varieties were mentioned, which had not previously ap- peared in any general list. Additional localities were given for some of the rarer species, when only two or three had been previously recorded; and the names of those botanists were mentioned through whose assistance much valuable information on the flowering plants and ferns of Yorkshire was obtained, to which two families the list was con- fined. They were distributed into the following classes: Eaogens—species 808, va- rieties 101; Lndogens—species 262, varieties 35; Acrogens—species 49, varieties 21. To this was appended an analysis of the species and varieties in natural orders. The list, which was of considerable length, was then gone through in a cursory manner, the time only permitting the leading points to be alluded to; and remarks were made on such species as were either very rare or had some peculiarity in their habit or mode of growth. The following were a few of the principal additions men- tioned in the list: —Anemone apennina, Barbarea stricta; this species was shown to be common in many parts of the county, especially on the banks of the Don at Don- caster, at York, Smeaton, &c. &c.; its claims to be regarded as a distinct species were also pointed out. Camelina dentata, Alyssum calycinum, Lepidium Smithit, Di- anthus plumarius, D. deltoides, var. glaucus, Silene anglica, Hypericum perforatum B, H. maculaium, Vicia orobus, Alchemilla alpina, Rosa involuta, Epilobium virgatum, Callitriche platycarpa, OC. pedunculata B, Sedum rupestre, Saxifraga geum, Asperula arvensis, Valerianella auricula, Solidago virgaurea 8, Artemisia campestris, Crepis suc- cisefolia, Hieracium diaphanum «, H. Lapeyrousii, H. prenanthoides, H. rigidum « B, H., boreale, Cuscuta trifolii, Orobanché rubra. This plant was found at Leyburn Shaw by the Rev. — Pulleine, and is another instance of the species not being confined to the basalt. * Serophularia Ehrharti, Melampyrum pratense 8, Veronica triphyllos, V. Buxbaumii, Mimulus luteus, Mentha aquatica 8, citrata, M. pulegium, Stachys palustris, var. 8 ambigua, Primula farinosa, var. pumila. This curious dwarf variety from Hanxwell Moor was exhibited. Chenopodium olidum, C. ficifolium, C. murale, Atriplex littoralis, A. erecta, A. deltoidea, Halimus portulacoides, Rumew palustris, R. pratensis, R. aquaticus. This plant was shown to be the common roadside dock at Hawes, Wensleydale, and grew on dry stone quarries, &c. Polygonum mite, Salix rugosa, tenuifolia, Weigelliana, Aceras anthropophora, Habenaria chlorantha, Juncus maritimus, cenosus, obfusifolius, Potamogeton oblongus, plantagineus, Carex paradoxa, t % TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 71 _ rigida, Eleocharis aticularis, var. elongata, Calamagrostis pyramidalis, Bromus patulus, commutatus, Cynosurus echinatus, Avena pratensis 6 alpina, Lolium multiflorum, Equi- setum Drummondii, Isoetes lacustris, Onoclea sensibilis. Description of Alexandria Imperatricis, a new Genus of Papilionacee. By the Chevalier ScuomBurex. This tree, in appearance, is one of the most beautiful and gorgeous of the family of Leguminosz, and was discovered by the author at the foot of the northern ridge of sandstone mountains in the pluvial basin of the River Cuyuni, in Guiana, and reaches a height of from 100 to 120 feet. The flowers are developed directly from the trunk and woody branches, in large clusters, and the racemes, pedicles, and calyces are of a rich crimson, the petals bright orange, striped with crimson, the vexillum of a deep purple, and ascending. The pod is from eighteen to twenty inches long, and con- tains several seeds. On a new Species of Barbacenia. By the Chevalier ScoomBurck. This plant grows on the table land from which Mount Roraima rises. It reaches frequently a height of ten or twelve feet, branching in a dichotomous manner, and bears a number of flowers, which in their appearance are liliaceous, and five to six inches long. They are, outside, of a delicately purplish hue, and deliciously fragrant. It differs from the species of hitherto described Barbaceniz, in possessing eighteen fertile stamens. The difference in the number of stamens is not, however, allowed to be generic in allied species of Vellozie, and, therefore, the author has placed this plant with the Barbaceniz. On the Ophiocaryon Paradoxa, the Snake-nut Tree. By the Chevalier ScoomBurck. In aformer communication Mr. Schomburgk had called the attention of naturalists to the peculiar seed of this tree. The seed is covered over with a membrane, which, on being removed, presents the embryo elongated and twisted in a spiral manner, so as to give it the form of asnake. From a recent examination of the flowers of this tree, the author had found that it belonged to the natural order Sapindacee. The em- bryo is twisted in other members of this order. On the Calycophyllum Stanleyanum. By the Chevalier ScoomBurcK. _ There are several genera of the natural family of Rubiacee, as Calycophyllum, Musszehda, Pinkneya, &c., where one of the teeth of the calyx expands into ‘a coloured pétioled leaf, of a membranaceous texture. In this tree it is very remarkable; and as these bractlike organs are of a rose colour, they give a very beautiful aspect to the forest where they grow. This appendage only grows after the flower has dropped off, and developes itself with astonishing rapidity. The tree grows on the banks of the rivers Rupununi and Takutu, in the third parallel of north latitude. Description of Lightia lemniscata, a new Genus of the Family Butineriacea. By the Chevalier Sctompurck. The Buttneriacee are very common in Guiana, and in some districts the author met with whole forests of the chocolate nut tree, a plant belonging to this family. The Lightia belongs to this family. The great peculiarity of the plant is, that the petais have an elongated appendage, which hangs down from the cluster of flowers like ribbons, and hence its specific name. ‘This tree attains a height of twenty or twenty-four feet, and produces its flowers directly from the stem, below the axis of fallen leaves. Only three specimens of this tree were discovered in Guiana by Mr. Schomburgk. 72 REPORT—1844., On two New Species of the Family Laurinee, from the Forests of Guiana. By the Chevalier Scoompurck. The first is a tree which affords timber which is brought to England, and known by the name of Greenheart. This tree was found, by Dr. Bodie, to possess febrifugal properties, and Dr. Maclagan has published an account of two new alkaloids which he had obtained from it by chemical processes. These alkaloids may be used instead of quinine. The second tree has long been known, and yields an aromatic fruit, known by the name of the Accawai nutmeg, and is extensively used in Guiana as a remedy in diarrhcea, dysentery, and other intestinal diseases. The author succeeded in ob- taining flowers and seeds, and had found this tree to be a species of Acrodiclidium, to which he has given the specific name Camara. It appears to be restricted to the sandstone mountains of Roraima, between the fifth and sixth parallel of north latitude. Mr. Schomburgk exhibited dried specimens and drawings of most of the plants he described, as also of the Strychnos toxifera, a plant which produces the true Wouraii poison of Guiana. ‘ . ; j The Chevalier Schomburgk read a paper on the Forest Trees of British Guiana, and their use in civil and naval architecture. This paper was illustrated by a great number of polished specimens, and some of them possessed extraordinary beauty of marking. The author also exhibited a specimen of the trunk of the Aspidosperma eacelsum, which grows in the form of a fluted column; and drew attention to the nest of the Rock Manakin, or Cock of the Rock (Rupicola elegans); and to the head of the largest freshwater fish known, the Sudis gigas of Cuvier, both of which he had brought from Guiana. On some Peculiarities in the Flight of Birds, especially as that is influenced in some Species by the power they possess of decreasing and adjusting their own specific gravity. By Tuomas Aus. Birds require the centre of gravity to be placed immediately over the axis of motion for walking, and beneath it when flying ; when suspended in the air their bodies natu- rally fall into that position which throws the centre of gravity beneath the wings. The axis of motion being situated in a different place in the line of the body when walking from that which is used when flying, the discrepancy requires to be com- pensated by some means in all birds, in order to enable them to perform flight with ease. Raptorial birds take a horizontal position when suspended in the air, and the compensating power consists in their taking a more or less erect position when at rest. Another class, including the woodpeckers, wagtails, &c., take an oblique posi- tion in the air; with these the compensating power consists in their cleaving and passing through the air at an angle coincident with the position of the body, and per- forming flight by a series of curves or saltations. Natatorial birds sometimes need very extended flight; they take a very oblique position in the air; they have the ribs greatly lengthened, the integuments of the abdomen are long and flexible, which enables them greatly to enlarge the abdominal portion of their bodies by inflating it with air; this causes a decrease in the specific gravity of that part and raises it to a horizontal position ; the compensating power consists in the posterior half of the body becoming specifically lighter, while the spe- cific gravity of the anterior half remains unaltered. Mr. Babington exhibited to the Section specimens of three plants which had been added to the list of British plants during the summer of 1844. 1. Alsine stricta, discovered on Widdy-bank Fell in Teesdale, Durham, by Mr. James Backhouse of York and a small party of botanists. It occurred in small quantity, but from the nature of the locality and the plant inhabiting the northern parts of Europe, it must be considered as an aboriginal native of England. 2. Carduus setosus, growing near the shore of the Frith of Forth in the neighbour- hood of Culross. As it is a native of the countries to the north-west of the Black TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 73 _ Sea, there is every reason to believe that it has been introduced from that region to ‘Scotland by accident. It has now taken firm hold at Culross, where it was detected by Dr. Dewar of Dunfermline. 3. Galium Vaillantii. This plant has often, and perhaps justly, been considered as a variety of the common G. Aparine, with which it connects the Linnean G. spu- yium. It has occurred to Mr. G. S. Gibson of Saffron Walden, Essex, in cultivated fields near to that town. On the Cultivation of the Silk Worm. By Mrs. Wurrsy. Extract of a Letter to the Assistant General Secretary. Newlands, Lymington, Hants, August 8, 1844. S1r,—Having observed in those parts of Italy where the finest silk is grown, viz. in Lombardy and Piedmont, that the winter is equally rigorous with that of En- gland (nay, the frosts are more severe and of longer continuance), and having ascer- - tained that the silk worm is ‘‘ educated” in rooms where ventilators are even more requisite than stoves, thus proving to me that climate was no bar, I determined to make the experiment whether the culture of silk could not be made the means of ' giving bread to some of our unemployed poor women and children. 1 was not de- terred by learning that a similar experiment had already been made by a Company conjointly in England and Ireland, because there is a vast difference between a com- pany and the efforts of an individual determined to ascertain by actual personal su- _ perintendence the probability of success. ‘ I have cultivated with great success the white mulberry of the Philippine Isles, or Morus multicaulis, and have a flourishing field which has fed thousands of silk-worms this year and several preceding ones; and I have in proof several pounds weight of well-wound silk, equal to any that can be imported from France or Italy. On the Cultwation of Ferns. By T. Auus. In the cultivation of Ferns I find many that are of constant character; they may _ be more or less vigorous, but the characters remain unaltered, and the eye at once recognises them; others, again, are subject to considerable alteration, as in some of the Adiante. A. affine has usually only three digits, but I have plants in a vigorous state of growth with the number of digits increased, and quite undistinguishable from the allied species 4. pubescens : in Newman’s ‘ British Ferns’ Polypodium Dryopteris and P.calcareum are considered as one; with me they retain their distinct characters under all circumstances of growth: I have grown them in peat beds within a few feet of each other : there P. calcareum retains its peculiar hue from the first appearance of the frond above ground, its greener and more chaffy stem, and its more rigid ap- _ pearance ; and I always find that it sends up fewer fronds than P. Dryopteris, which are almost always fertile: these distinctions have been retained growing in a peat- bed, in common garden soil, in pots in the house, and when raised from seed. Asa general rule, though liable to exceptions, I find that plants which have other means of propagation than from seed, fructify less freely than those which grow by an ex- tension of the rhizoma, or which propagate themselves by sending out young plants ' at the extremity of the frond, as is the case with Asplenium flabellifolium, Danaez and Asplenium Rhizophyllum, which generate a young plant near the under extremity of the frond, as Woodwardia radicans, or which have young plants sprouting from the upper surface of the frond, as is the case with Asplenium viviparum; on the other hand, Aspidium bulbiferum is an exception to this rule: this plant bears an ample crop of little bulbs, which fall off and germinate freely like the little black tubers from the tiger lily, while at the same time the frond is covered on the under side with spo- tules. Asplenium viviparum and Woodwardia radicans have never fructified in my possession. Another instance occurs in Aspidium Thelypteris. We have one locality in this neighbourhood where it grows under wood in an open peaty soil, and where we may find it scattered over acres and scarcely find a single fertile frond ; in another locality, where the rhizoma has not so free a range, it fructifies freely, and in my own 74 REPORT—1844. j garden, in a stiff soil, almost every frond is fertile, while in a peat-bed about three — yards off almost every frond is sterile: I know not whether botanists (a name — to which I have no pretension, though offering a paper in the Botanical Section) would expect to find crosses or new varieties spring up from seed in a class of plants which have no recognisable organs of generation ; but we find it so in practice. I possess a species of Gymnogramma which was obtained from seed by J.S. Henderson, gardener to Earl Fitzwilliam at Milton : itis different from any previously cultivated species. I also have a plant of my own which appears to be (and I have no doubt is) a Pteris, unlike any plant I before possessed, or that I recollect to have seen; from its appearance [ should take it to be a cross between Pieris —— and P. flexuosa, but unfortunately the latter beautiful plant has never fructified with me. I find a great dif- ference in the frequency with which the ferns propagate themselves spontaneously from seed: the genus Pteris is among the most frequent, and springs up of various species in all directions : Blechnum, Doodia and Gymnogramma also spring up freely, as do some species of Diplazium ; Cheilanthes and Dicksonia frequently occur: of Polypodiums I have had very few seedlings; the same may be said of exotic Aspi- | diums, and only a few Aspleniums. I have this year adopted what I believe to be a new method in raising ferns from seed, and, as far as I can at present judge, with complete success: the plan I have adopted is to obtain a block of peat turf, such as is sold in York for the purpose of lighting fires; that I thoroughly soak in water, and then place in a cucumber frame ; then I sow theseed, and keeping them shaded from the sun, I have a good crop of plants; but I am yet unable to determine whether they will prove to be the species sown, three of which have not before been, as I be- lieve, cultivated in England; the species are Polypodium membranifolium, Asplenium variifolium and Alsophila , all from Norfolk Island. The seed of ferns is so volatile and so fills the air, that though I have used a good deal of care to prevent seed from finding its way to my seed-beds, I am as yet unable to assure myself of possessing the new species. In the work on Australia from the pen of my friend and relative James Backhouse, there is a notice of the occurrence of many species of Ferns; and from his observations on the native habits and habitats of several species I have derived great advantage, especially so by planting a consi- derable number on decayed trunks of trees, where they grow with a vigour such as I never before experienced : a particular instance is the beautiful dsplenium Nidus, a plant I have had for years, but which was always in so feeble a state that it was scarcely able to maintain existence ; and I had sent it out to nurse, under the care of our experienced curator, in the orchideous stove in the Museum Gardens; still it never put on a healthy appearance till planted in part of the stump of our old willow, where it now flourishes inthe greatest vigour, and is putting forth its fertile fronds. Further Experiments and Observations on the Argonauta Argo. By Madame JEANETTE Powrer. Communicated by Professor Owen, F.R.S. Prof. Owen communicated two memoirs which he had received from Madame Jeanette Power on the Paper Nautilus (Argonauta Argo). He premised some brief observations on the uncertainty which had prevailed from the time of Aristotle to that of Cuvier, as to the real nature of the molluscous fabricator of the Argonaut shell, and alluded to the opinion entertained by many conchologists to within the last six or eight years, that the Cephalopod usually found in the Argonaut shell was a parasitic occupant. The thin expanded membranes which characterize one pair of the arms of this Cephalopod, had usually been described, up to the same period, as the sails by which the Argonaut was wafted along the surface of the sea, whilst the six long and slender arms were supposed to serve as oars, extending from the sides of the boat; and the little navigator, thus fancifully depicted, had been a favourite subject of imagery in the song of the poet, from Callimachus to Byron. Madame Power, during a residence in Sicily in 1833 and 1834, had made obser- vations on the numerous specimens of the Argonauta Argo, confined in submarine cages at Messina, tending to prove that the Cephalopod inhabiting that shell was its true constructor, and that the supposed sails were the organs concerned in the forma- tion and repair of the shell. These observations were communicated by Madame TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 75 er to the Gizenian Academy of Catania, and are published, with Reports on them by Profs. di Giacomo, Gemellaro and Maravigna; in the Transactions of the Academy, yol. ix., and in the Journal of the Giznian Literary Society for December 1834; in the journal entitled ‘ Passe temps pour les Dames,’ fifth year, No.1; and in the ‘ Effe- merido Scientifico e Letterario per la Sicilia,” No. lxv. The principal results of these observations, with a series of specimens of the young Argonauta, were submitted by Madame Power to the Zoological Society of London in 1837, and gave rise to dis- cussions which are detailed in the Proceedings of the Society for 1837, and are more briefly summed up in the second volume of the Zoological Transactions, pp. 114,115. (See Atheneum, No. 590.) But as the evidence adduced by Madame Power was deemed by some naturalists to be inconclusive against the parasitism of the Cepha- lopod inhabiting the Argonaut, Prof. Owen had suggested to Madame Power the experiment of cutting off one of the membranous arms in a living Argonaut, and pre- ‘serving the mutilated Cephalopod alive as long as possible, to observe the effect of the operation on the growth or repair of the shell. Madame Power revisited Sicily in 1838, and transmitted to Prof. Owen, in 1840, a letter descriptive of her ‘ Experiments and Observations upon the Argonauta Argo, made during the months of October, November and December, 1839 ;’ and Prof. Owen, having recently received from Madame Power the specimens of the Argonaut experi- ‘mented on, which satisfactorily confirm the accuracy of the account of the experi- ments and conclusions in that letter, proceeded to communicate the following trans- - lation of it to the Zoological Section of the Association :— *‘ Honoured Friznp.—In fulfilment of the gratifying charge you imposed upon me, I present you with my slight work. It contains exactly the result of the obser- vations which you, with so much judgement, proposed to me. I am aware that I ought to have withdrawn from the task, not possessing sufficient scientific knowledge for the undertaking, but the hope of kind indulgence encouraged me to proceed. “October 15th.—I placed my cages in the port of Messina, putting into them seve- ral Argonauts, which had plenty of eggs suspended under the apex of the spire of the shell, of which I measured the respective sizes. In ordef to ascertain what was _ their favourite food, I gave them, in small pieces, Venuses, Crustacea, fish, flesh, and ‘a whole calamajo (Loligo sagittata, Lamarck), which is very common in the Messina channel. They no sooner saw this last eatable, than they threw themselves upon it, ‘and it was curious to behold with what avidity they dragged it, now to the right, now to the left, putting all their powers in action, and disputing among themselves for victory and possession. _ October 16th.—Having procured two more Argonaute, I cut from one of them the right membranous arm, and from the other the left; breaking off a piece from the _ side of the shell of each corresponding with the cut arm. I then placed the Argonauts “inacage*. The first died the day after, and the other five days after, and, in this, I observed that the right portion of the shell exceeded, by about a line and a half, that of the left, where the arm had been cut off. [This is shown in specimen No. 1.—R. O.] This convinced me that the animal, not having the left arm entire, could not in “consequence increase the shell on that side, while it proceeded in doing so on the tight side. I made several other trials, but without success, as all the animals died, _ if not immediately, within a few hours after their being cut. _ “In order to succeed in my undertaking, I thought of breaking a piece off the ex- _tremity of the great whorl” (giro), ‘‘and performed this on six shells of the Argonaut, to see whether the Cephalopod, after having repaired them, would proceed in aug- menting them. In four, six and ten days the Cephalopods not only repaired them, but proceeded to enlarge therm, as the specimens Nos. 2to3 show. This is one of the reasons which go to prove that the Cephalopod is the real fabricator of its own shell, and confirms the statement made in my first memoirs. *« October 28th.—I cut from four Cephalopods of the Argonaut about the half of Re membranous arms; in two of them, cutting that on the right side, in the others, hat on the left, and I broke pieces, corresponding with the middle of the arm, out of the shells. Two days afterwards I found them dead ; two only of them had repaired, and but imperfectly, their shell; one on the left side (No. 5) and the other on the * “Tt is necessary to perform this operation in sea water of the same temperature as its ordinary warmth, for if it be cold it kills the Argonauts.” 76 REPORT—1844. right (No. 6). This clearly shows they must have been much hurt. In the inside ~ of the shell No. 5, it may be observed, that the poulp repaired its shell with two — little morsels of the same, which, in cutting it, I left within. The poulp is very clever, but with all its ingenuity could not succeed in properly placing the bits, as this specimen shows. «October 29th.—I broke from a shell a piece of the length of eleven lines, exactly where the dark spots are situated on the keel of the Argonaut, to ascertain whether in repairing it the spots would be reproduced. The shell was no sooner broken than the poulp spread its membranes over it, and in this manner swam about, ate, and did not uncover its shell till the reparation was completed. Three hours after the break- ing I took up the Argonaut with my net, and the keel was mended with a fine skin, on which the rudiments of the spots were visible. (See specimen, No.7.) This experiment proves clearly that the reparation is effected by transudation from the membranous arms of the Cephalopod.” The letter then proceeds to detail observations on the different rate of growth of the young Argonauts which are excluded from the egg whilst within the cavity of the spire of the parent shell, where they are protected for a time, as in a marsupial pouch, and the escape of the young at successive intervals from that nursery. ‘‘ To ascer- tain whether the young Argonauts after exclusion from the egg could live without the aid of the parent, I made the following experiments :—I took a number of them which had been born two days before and put them into a large glass vessel filled with sea-water and covered with muslin, through which the water could have ingress and egress without allowing the young Argonauts to escape; I put the vase into a basket, to which I suspended a piece of iron to make it fall tothe bottom of the cage. The next day they were all dead. I repeated the experiment, detailed in my first memoir*, to ascertain whether the ova could be developed without the aid of the parent ; it was on the same plan as the preceding with regard to the small polypes. In twenty-four hours after removal from the spire of the parent shell the eggs had enlarged to double the size they were when put into the vase, and in eight days no vestige of them remained ; they had evidently decayed and been dissolved. I doubt not, therefore, that the parent Argonaut attends to the preservation and development of the eggs within the spire, and preserves them with some gelatinous or mucilagi- nous matter from the contact of the sea-water.’”” Madame Power then states that having examined at least 600 specimens of the Argonaut in the course of her inquiries, she had not once discovered a male specimen, but that all had eggs adhering in greater or less quantity to the involuted spire of the shell: the accomplished naturalist con- cludes by observing, “‘ From this great quantity of Argonauts, from very young spe- cimens to those of full size, you may see that I have endeavoured to omit nothing that could elucidate those interesting points noted by you. I am sorry that this year, in consequence of the bad weather, I am not able to put before you the young Argonauts developed as far as the beginning of the fabrication of their shells : I hope in future to be more fortunate. I must also add, that having several times wished to repeat my observations on the fate of the Cephalopod of the Argonaut, when taken out of its shell, the result has been that they sometimes, with difficulty, replace them- selves in the shell, but that, if the shell be removed, they do not form another, but die in consequence. And I assure you that the Cephalopod of the Argonaut is the most difficult of marine animals to study from its extreme delicacy, and that out of 100 ex- perimented on, not more than fifteen survived. It now only remains to me to render you most sincere thanks, and to profess myself most grateful for your instructions and for the pleasure you have given me in satisfying in any degree your wishes. (Signed) «‘ JEANETTE Power.” «* Messina, 30th January, 1840.” The second Memoir, entitled ‘ Continuation of Observations on the Polypus of the Argonauta Argo, in 1839,’ contains a more detailed account of the experiments re- counted in the foregoing letter, with additional observations. The relative position of the animal to its shell is always the same: when retracted the visceral sac is lodged in the spire, the membranous arms to the right and left, the other six arms placed beneath the body in the middle ; the mouth in the centre of the large aperture * Trans. Acad. Gienian, vol. ix. 1824, . TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 'e | of the shell, the eyes being visible on the right and left through the sub-transparent shell; the siphon resting upon the open part of the keel about two lines from its ex- _tremity. Wishing to ascertain whether the animal thus situated could see, Madame Power gently pushed towards it a small stick, and although at a distance of four feet from the eye, it at once ceased swimming, and sank to the bottom, The animal swims by the reaction of the respiratory currents forcibly ejected from the siphon, which, by its various movements, guides the progress of the Argonaut, When the animal is in the act of enlarging its shell, it spreads the two membranous arms or mantles over the sides of the shell, fixing the suckers at the margin of the arm upon the points at the sides of the keel. ‘‘ At first the mantle appears like silver; then gently moving in its shell the animal produces a change of scene, and there appears upon the silvery ground beautiful marks like golden rings with black points in the centre of them. When the animal is irritated, the colour changes to a deep red, and then to dark violet, and when in this state it dies. _ “The body of the young Argonaut fills the shell completely, and when swimming, it shows the siphon: as the period of reproduction approaches it enlarges the shell very much, the aperture exceeding the body by one or two inches ; and thus, when swimming, the siphon is not visible: when the cavity of the spire is filled with eggs or young Argonauts, the parent places its body more forward, and its siphon reappears when swimming.” With regard to the locomotion of the Argonaut, Madame Power observes, that ‘‘ It would be difficult to describe the immense variety of the move- ments of the Argonauta Argo in swimming, dragging and floating, and it would re- quire a series of drawings to represent them: these movements vary according to the fancy or caprice of the animal, or to circumstances ; for instance, when at the bot- tom of the water, and wishing to rise or go in any other direction, the only move- ment it makes is to agitate its siphon, and thus it swims with its body and eight arms hidden in the shell; or it swims with its mantles totally or in part extended over the shell; or holding a portion of the body more or less above the shell; or holding its prey with its arms. The Argonaut also drags itself along the sand, gravel or mud at the bottom, or climbs millepores and madrepores in search of molluscs or other nutriment, or when it seeks concealment; it sometimes anchors by its lower arms, hanging from the shell and attached by their suckers.’’ The various movements of the Argonaut are then described as observed during its partial protrusion from and retraction into the shell, whilst putting out or retiring its mantles within the shell ; whilst turning over, or turning to the right or the left; when floating on the water ; when attacking its foes, or defending itself from them; and when throwing water and ink into the faces of any persons who try to take them, or when otherwise irri- tated. Madame Power alludes to her having transmitted, through the Chevalier Alban de Gasquet, Lieutenant de Vaisseau, who was at Messina at the commencement of 1835, and by his request, to his friend M. Sander Rang, Officier Supérieur au Corps Royale de la Marine, an account of her observations and experiments on the Argonuuta Argo, “made in the years 1833 and 1834, and which are noticed by M. Rang in his Memoir ‘on the Argonauta, published in 1837 ; and the memoir concludes by a letter addressed by Mr. G. B. Sowerby to Madame Power, acquainting her that he possessed a speci- “men of the shell of the Argonauta tuberculosa which had been broken and repaired in a manner which proved the correctness of her observations. _ The second memoir was illustrated with three beautiful drawings of the 4rgonauta Argo in different positions, and with the membranous arms expanded upon the shell, in different states of retraction, and wholly retracted. — The skull of an Aboriginal of South Australia, transmitted by Governor Grey as an example of the habit of the tribe to convert that part of the human body into a vessel for holding and carrying water, was exhibited by Professor Owen. He ex- plained the mode in which it had been made applicable to this purpose. After re- moval of the soft parts of the head and the lower jaw, the bones of the face had been broken away, with the partition and roof of the orbits, and the cranial box was then suspended by a neatly plaited net-rope of threads, made of twisted vegetable fibres, passed through the hole made in the roof of the orbits and through the foramen mag- num, this suspender being terminated by an ornamental tassel. Leakage by the K i *% ‘ 78 REPORT—1844. sutures of the cranium, especially the squamous suture, had been prevented by pitch- ing them over with a native bitumen and cementing pieces of the nacreous lining of shells along the course of the sutures. The exterior of this specimen of barbarous art was polished, and the processes and — other protuberances worn smooth by habitual use: the effects of this were most ob- — vious on the external angular processes of the orbits, which seemed to have servedas — the spouts of the vessel. 4 __ The aborigines of the tribe appear to have practised this art from time immemorial: — each Gin or wife possesses and usually fabricates her cranial calabash, with which she fetches the domestic supply of water from the pond or river, and suspends it in © the hut or on the branch of an adjoining tree. They have no arts of pottery, and — nature has not supplied them with vessels from the vegetable kingdom, like those © which the cujete or cocoa-nut furnish to more favoured tribes. { The Scandinavian legends tell of the ancient warriors who quaffed their wine from — the skulls of their enemies, but Professor Owen believed the present to be the first instance of the habitual conversion of part of the human skeleton into a drinking vessel. On Zoological Nomenclature. By the Rev. Francis Orpen Morris, B.A. The author, while approving of the general principles laid down in the Report of a Committee appointed by this Association to consider the above subject (1842), recommends that the Association should carry into effect its own rules, by appointing committees and subcommittees to revise the whole Animal Kingdom, and to deter- mine the names by which each species should finally be denominated. The author further recommends that no two species (even of different genera) should have the same specific name, and that generic names should be inyariably taken from the — Greek, specific from the Latin languages. He also considers that the second portion of the Report, which contains recommendations for the guidance of zoologists, in future should be made retrospective as well as prospective in its operation. On the Southern Limits of the Esquimaux Race in America, By R. G. Laruam, M.D. It is considered that the line of demarcation drawn between the Esquimaux and Indian races of America is far too broad and trenchant. According to the evidence — of language two tribes at least may be added to the former races. 1. The Chipewyan of Mackenzie.—This language is not to be confounded with the Chippeway (Ojibbeway), or with any of the numerous Algonkin tongues. Such affi- nities as it has with these are distant and indirect. Its true affinities are with the Esquimaux languages of Cadiack, Oonalashka, the bay of Kenay, and the Sitca or Norfolk Sound. It is known to us by three vocabularies, yiz. the Chipewyan of Mackenzie, the Nagail of Mackenzie, and the Hudson’s Bay vocabulary of Dobbs. It is spoken across the whole continent. 2. The Ugalyachmuchtsi of Resanoff.—The locality for this language is the neigh- bourhood of Mount St. Elias in Russian America. On a statement of Resanoff’s it has been separated from the neighbouring Esquimaux tongues, so as to cause an appearance of discontinuity in the Esquimaux area. By dealing, however, with the Cadiack, Oonalashka, Kenay and Sitca vocabularies as the representatives of a single language, it may be shown to be Esquimaux. Affinities of a more general kind are to be found even further southward. The vocabularies collected by Mr. Tolmie and published by Dr. Scouler in the ‘Transac~ tions of the Royal Geographical Society,’ as far south as the river Columbia, are akin to each other and to the languages north of them. To these might he added two vo- eabularies furnished by Mackenzie, hitherto unplaced, of the Atnah and the Friendly Village languages. The first of these is closely akin to the Noosdalum, the second to the Billechoola vocabularies of Mr. Tolmie. ‘ TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 79 a On the Ethnography of Africa as determined by its Languages. , By R. G. Laruam, M.D. In the present state of our information all classifications of the African nations are necessarily provisional. The classes of languages equivalent to the divisions called, in general ethnography, Indo-European and Semitic, are, for the native tongues of continental Africa, five in number. [. The Coptic, containing the extinct dialects of Egypt. Il. The Berber, containing the non-arabic languages of Fezzan, Tripoli, Tunis, Al- giers, Morocco, and the Tuarick of the Western Sahara, along with the extinct Guanche language of the Canary islands. III. The Hottentot division. IV. The Caffrarian division, extended as far northward as Melinda and Loango, east and west. None of these divisions, with the probable exception of the Caffrarian, fall into any intermediate or subordinate groups. V. The fifth and last division of the African languages falls into eleven subordi- nate groups, each equivalent to the divisions called Gothic, Classical, Celtic, Slavo- nic, &c. in general ethnography. A. The Nubian group, containing the languages known through the following vocabularies :— 1, The Kensy of Burckhardt ; 13. The Darfour of the Mithridates ; 2. The Noub of Burckhardt ; 14. The Darfour of Salt; 3. The Dungola of the Mithridates; 15. The Darfour of Konig ; 4, The Barabbra of the Mithridates; 16. The Darfour of Riippell ; 5. The Dongolawy of Caillauc ; 17. The Darrunga of the Mithridates ; 6. The Routana of Eusebe de Salle; 18. The Takeli of Riippell ; 7. The Noby of Eusebe de Salle ; 19. The Denka of Riippell ; 8. The Nubian of Costaz ; 20. The Schabun of Rippell; 9. The Koldagi of Riippell ; 21. The Fertit of Riippell; 10. The Jebel-Nuha of Holroyd ; 22. The Darmitchegan-Shangalla of Salt ; 11. The Shilluck of the Mithridates; 23. The Tacazze-Shangalla of Salt ; 12. The Shilluck of Rippell ; 24. The Qamamy] of Caillaud. B. The Galla or Danakil group, containing the Danakil, Shiho, Arkeeko, Hurrur, Adaiel and Somauli languages, as known from the vocabularies of Salt; the Danakil and Galla of Krapf and Isenberg, and the Saho of Abaddie. C. The Borgho languages, containing the Mobba of the Mithridates and the Borgho of Burckhardt. D. The Begharmi vocabularies of the Mithridates and of Denham. EK. The Bornou languages, containing the Affadeh of the Mithridates, the Bornou of Denham, and the Maiha numerals of Bowdich. The Affadeh of the Mithridates is probably the Bedeh of Clapperton. F. The Mandara of Denham. G. The Howssa group, containing, over and above the vocabularies current under the name Howssa, the Afnu and Kashne of the Mithridates, the Quolla-Liffa, Mal- lowa and Kallaghi, numerals of Bowdich; besides the Timbuctoo vocabularies of Adams, Denham, Lyon and Caillié. H. The Mandingo group, containing the Bambarra, Jallonka, Soosoo, Sokke, Bullom, and Timmani languages; these last being related to each other and to the Soosoo. Also the Garangi, Kong, Callana, Fobee and Garman, numerals of Bowdich. I. The Woloff languages. J. The Foulah languages. K. The Ibo-Ashantee group. This large and complex group falls into subdi- visions: these, however, are even more provisional than the previous arrangements, since the vocabularies are in the present case pre-eminently fragmentary. a. The Fantee languages of the kingdom of Ashantee and of Booroom. The Fetu of Muller, the Afootoo of Bowdich, the Inta, the Aowin, the Amanahea and Ahanta numerals of Bowdich are Fantee or Ashantee. 8. The Acra language of Protten and Schonning, Danish missionaries. y- The Dahomey or Foy languages = the Judah of Labat, and the Watje (Whi- dah) Atje, and Popo vocabularies of the Mithridates. 80 REPORT—1844. 6. The Ibo languages. ¢. The Nufee languages. ¢. The Yorruba languages. To some parts of this group belong almost all the fragmentary vocabularies for the coast between the Sherbro and Gaboon rivers, under — the various and often-confused names of Adampi, Tambi, Tembu, Akkim, Akripon, The Gold-coast vocabulary of Artus, The Asianten of the Mithridates (Ashantee), The Crepee of the Mithridates, The Adah of the Mithridates, The Ockwa and Wawu, The Kassenti, The Kanga, Mangree, and Gien, The Dagwhumba, Kumsalahoo, Mosee, Hio, Yngwa, Badagry, Kerrapay, Em- poongwa (Gaboon), Oonjobai, Oongormo, Kaylee and Shekan, numerals of Bowdich, The few Malemba words of Bowdich, The Kakundy or Shabbe of Laird and Oldfield, The Mokko and Karabari, The Calbra and Camancons of the Mithridates. The following languages, along with a few others known through fragmentary voca- bularies, it is considered advisable, for different reasons, to leave at present unplaced :— . The Agow. . The Tibboo (probably Nubian). . The Bisharye, Adareb and Suaken. - The Serawoolli. . The Sereres. - The Akwambu. - The Croo. —_—— On the Eastern Limits of the Australian Race and Language. By R. G. Latuam, M.D. We are in possession of three vocabularies from the neighbourhood of the island of Timor, which differ materially from the Malay tongues around them: upon this account they have hitherto remained unplaced. It is believed that they are Austra- lian, a fact which breaks down the accredited isolation of that race. 1. Ombay.—In Freycinet’s ‘Voyage’ the natives of Ombay are described as having olive-black complexions, flattened noses, thick lips, and long black hair. In Arago we find about fifty words of their language; of these four are more or less Malay, whilst another group coincides with the languages of Australia and Van Diemen’s Land, dealt with as ethnographically one. 2. Tembora.—From the Tembora district in the island Sumbawa we have a short vocabulary by Sir Stamford Rafiles, together with a statement, in a subsequent letter to Marsden, that in the island in question the woolly-haired race was numerous. Without being wholly different from the Malay, it is so distinct that even its nume- rals are peculiar to itself. Out of thirty-four words three or four seem to be Austra- lian. 3. Mangarei.—In a savage part of the island of Ende or Floris we have a short vocabulary of thirty-two words by Marsden. It is more Malay and less Australian than either of the above tongues. On the Ethnographical Position of certain Tribes of the Garrow Hills. By R. G. Latuam, M.D. In the ‘ Asiatic Researches’ an account is given of a tribe inhabiting the Garrow hills to the north of Hindostan, whose colour and physical conformation approach the type of the negro. In the ‘ Asia Polyglotta’ of Klaproth their language stands unplaced. The affinities of the lauguage in question are not with the Negrito tribes of the islands, but with the continental language of Bootan, akin to the Tibetian. Hence, according to the evidence of language, the place of the Garrow tribes is with the Tibetian race. 4 STOOP & toe TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 81 : On the Dog as the Associate of Man. By Dr. Hopexn. , It was the object of this paper to illustrate the principle that the inferior animals, which by accident or design have accompanied man in his diffusion over the globe, may be advantageously studied with the object of obtaining some light on the obscure ‘subject of the affinities of the several families of mankind. The dog was naturally selected, not merely on account of his almost universal pre- sence wherever man is to be found, but also from his tolerance of almost every cli- mate, whilst he is susceptible of many modifications which attest the influences to which he has been exposed, and which are worthy of observation in relation to the ‘changes which man himself may also undergo from various influences. To avoid unnecessary complication, the author excluded from consideration the Dingo and its varieties, as found in Australia and the islands of the Pacific, and also the wild dogs of Mexico, although they appear to have furnished the Indians with ‘some domestic animals. He likewise passed over many artificial varieties and the darge group of mongrels, and proceeded to notice three principal types. The first and most strongly marked, so extensively spread that it may be traced with such modifications of colour and size as do not conceal the family resemblance, from China to Kamtschatka, Siberia, the north of Europe, where it is familiarly known as the Spitz or Pomeranian dog, to Iceland and the regions inhabited or visited. by the Esquimaux. The second, comprising all the true hunting dogs highly endowed with the sense of smell, having the strongest marks of human cultivation, and being to a great de- gree dependent on man. These dogs are the blood-hound, stag, fox and hare-hounds, pointers, and perhaps some of the terriers. They seem to belong to the south-west of Asia, the south of Europe, and to ancient Egypt. _ The third are the strong but active dogs, of which the earliest type is seen in the ancient sculptures of hunts, in which the game was the wild boar, the bull, the stag, &c. Of the correctness of making but one group of these dogs the author is not confident, but some animals, apparently very distinct at first sight, are found to be- long to it and to be very nearly related; such are the greyhound, the bull dog, the Kangaroo dog, the mastiff, Dane, Dalmatian, &c. The clashing of the family tokens of affinity and the technical characteristics of artificial classification was briefly no- ticed, and some generalities regarding the probable production of a few well-known and established varieties were suggested. The particular kind of Newfoundland dog, so justly admired both for its appearance and its qualities, was referred to the union of the Esquimaux dog with the chien dogue of the French, which, if the conjecture be ‘true, is not without interest and plausibility with regard to the ethnology of that island. The origin of the spaniels and sky terriers was pointed out by analogous characteristics. On the Stature of the Guanches, the extinct Inhabitants of the Canary Islands. By Dr. Hopcxin. It is well known that prior to the discovery of the Canary Islands by the Spaniards and their subsequent occupation by the Portuguese, these islands were inhabited by ‘race of men of which not only many curious particulars are recorded, but indi- ‘Vidual remains of the people themselves are preserved in their mummies, which at One period were very numerous. By many of the historians who have written of these people, either from personal Observation, or so soon after the conquest that authentic information must have been readily accessible to them, the Guanches are described as remarkable for their sta- ture, their extraordinary agility and their great strength. Dr. Prichard, in his labo- rious and admirable work, has, in speaking of the Guanches, adopted this description, and Sabin Berthelot, who has written an interesting article on this people, which is published in the ‘Transactions of the Ethnological Society of Paris,’ has mentioned authorities and quoted remarkable passages which describe the ancient inhabitants of the Canaries as possessing the qualities just mentioned. _ The casual observation of Guanche mummies had previously given Dr. Hodgkin so very different an impression regarding the stature of this lost race, that his interest and = were excited by these relations, and he was in consequence induced to . G 82 REPORT—1844. make inquiries by correspondence with his friends in the Canary Islands, and by more accurate investigation of the remains preserved in European collections. The measurements of eight or nine individuals, males and females, of whom the skeletons are wholly or in part preserved, range from 4 feet 6} inches to 4 feet 103 inches for the whole height, which exhibits a diminutive stature even for the tallest. Dr. Hodgkin does not presume to infer from the facts which he has adduced that the statements of the authors alluded to are erroneous, but he conjectures that the Ca- nary Islands, like many other parts of the globe, may at different periods have been inhabited by people of different races, even before the arrival of the Spaniards. The people found by the first Europeans appear to have been of the same family with the Birbirs of Africa, as indicated by language, physical character, &c. They possessed however some characters which distinguished them from the Birbirs, such as the making of mummies and some other customs. The author of the paper suggested the careful investigation of all accessible relics of the ancient inhabitants, the com- parison of the Guanche and Birbir languages, in order to detect in the former words distinct from the latter, and a minute reference to original writers, as affording the possible clews by which this ethnological difficulty may be overcome. On the Stature and relative Proportions of Man at different Epochs and in different Countries. By W. B. Brent. This paper embodied in numerous and elaborate tables the results of the measure- ment of some thousands of individuals, obtained from a great variety of sources, though chiefly by the personal labour and expense of the author. It is rather surprising that human anatomists should hitherto have furnished so few data or conclusions on this subject, and left a void which this paper has contributed much to fill. The author suggests that valuable statistical returns might readily be obtained in connection with the census and on other public occasions. The author rejects the idea that tall men are deficient in mind, as hinted by Lord Bacon, and adduces historical instances of the contrary, and notices the fact that the average of stature of the inmates of hospitals, workhouses and prisons is below the ordinary average. The average height of Englishmen is placed at 5 feet 7} inches: the army returns, which are likely to give a good idea of the peasantry, range from 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 7 inches: the yeomanry, including a higher class, range from 5 feet 1 inch to 6 feet 3 inches. The French conscripts, officially stated, give an average of 5 feet 43 inches, but Mr. Brent, from his own observation, would place the French average considerably higher. The observations made by Prof. Forbes amongst the pupils of his own class in Edinburgh, placed the Irish as the tallest, the Scotch next, and then the English. The Belgians appear to be of still lower stature. A fact was noticed in the paper as having been recently brought to light by the researches made by Dr. Hutchinson, in which Mr. Brent had taken a part. It was discovered that the amount of air which can be expelled from a healthy chest, after full inspiration, bore a certain ratio to the height of the individual, a certain number of cubic inches of air corresponding to every additional inch of stature. It will be obvious that the application of this principle must be of very great importance in the granting of policies of assurance on life, and in the selection of men for various kinds of public service. A curious and interesting portion of the paper related to the relative proportions of the most remarkable antique statues; these the author has reduced to a common measure, and not content with various measurements, he has ascertained what would be their absolute weight, as men, at different statures. These results he has com- pared with the actual measurements and weights of a large number of the most re- markable athletz of the present age, boxers, wrestlers, &c., as well as with those of picked men in the army and aristocracy. On the Natives of the Hawaiian Islands. By the Rev. W. Ricuarps. They have no clear tradition of their origin, but they sometimes speak of their an- cestors having come from Tahiti. The similarity of the Hawaiian language with that TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 83 of all the islands in the Pacific east of the Friendly Islands, including New Zealand on the south and several islands on the west, proves that their inhabitants must have had a common origin. The question therefore presents itself,—In what direction did the tide of population move? If the Sandwich Islands were first settled, then they must have been settled from America on the east, or from Japan on the west. The distance from either quarter offers no insuperable objections ; for several Japanese junks have drifted on the Sandwich Islands, and the same winds which bring drift wood from America might also have brought boats. But the dissimilarity between the language, habits and religion of the Hawaiians and the Japanese or Americans, amounts to almost positive evidence that the inhabitants of Hawaii could not have derived their origin from them ; while, on the other hand, the author knew of no facts whatever which favour the idea of such an origin: there are however many facts which favour the idea of their having come from the south and west. On the Sandwich Islanders. By Gen. MitiER. On the Languages of America. By H. R. ScHoorcrart. It is admitted by philologists, that there are at least three generic languages, differ- ing in their essential character, in that part of North America which lies between the Atlantic coast, the original seat of settlement, and the Mississippi river, extending into British America. Mr. Schoolcraft confined himself to that generic branch of its aboriginal Atlantides to whom the term Algic has been applied. This term em- braces a number of languages, sub-languages and dialects, comprehending the native population of the principal part of the Atlantic coast of the United States, the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, the Valley of the St. Lawrence, the great chain of interior lakes, and extending far into the Canadas and Hudson’s Bay. The Algic language is transpositive, eccretive, and highly compound, the constant tendency on the mind of the speaker being to express, along with the original idea, all its adjuncts and qua- lifications. Hence properties as well as things—the object acted on as well as the actor, position as well as number—are constantly associated in the sentences and words, which are uttered with a sententious formality. The tribes do not under- stand each other after a few removes of dialect. The Algic language is regarded as the most copious and harmonious tongue spoken by the North American tribes. On the Natives of Guiana. By Chevalier ScHomBurckK. This paper was illustrated by a Macusi youth in his native dress, by several casts of natives met with on his late journey, as well as by several skulls, and by a series of drawings by Mr. Goodall. In 1840 Chevalier Schomburgk estimated the tribes who inhabit the British territory at 7000, but they have since been reduced by small- pox to 6000, but a small population for an area of 100,000 square miles. ‘It is scarcely necessary to observe,” said Chevalier Schomburgk, ‘that a subject so re- plete with interest as the present state of the aboriginal inhabitants of Guiana de- serves more attention than Great Britain has hitherto afforded it. The history of this people appears to be the end of a tragical drama, for a whole race of men is fast wasting away.” On the supposed extinct Inhabitants of Newfoundland. By Dr. Kine. Instead of being red men, as has been supposed, Dr. King produced the evidence of Thorsin, the Icelander of the tenth century, Whitbourne, who wrote in 1612, the Abbé Raynal, Lieut. Roger Curtis, and O’Reilly, in support of their being Esqui- maux, and expressed his opinion that Newfoundland was never permanently occu- pied, but merely formed one of their fishing stations. Dr. King observed, that while we have sought for the living inhabitants we have neglected that which remains of the dead; and that future research would, in all probability, disclose that the New- foundlanders were Esquimaux, which was the result, as far as is known, of the opening of the tumuli at the falls of Niagara. GQ 84 REPORT—1844, On the Shyens and Karens of India, By Mr. Kixcatp. There are about eight millions of Shyens; they all speak the same language, and have the same written character. It is monosyllabic, and partakes largely of nasal sounds. Their alphabet is an improvement on the Burman, as it adopts only the useful consonants. They have twelve vowels which are rarely used; certain points or marks are attached to the consonants to make the vowel sounds. Their alphabet, in form, hardly varies from the Burman. The Kakhyens, Thing-bau Kakhyens, Ka- rens and Karen-nees, are only so many different names. They are scattered over a vast extent of country and number about five millions. The account given by Marco Polo agrees with that furnished to Mr, Kincaid by the Shyens. On Ethno-epo-graphy. By the Rev. T. Myers. The author’s object was to furnish travellers among hitherto unknown tribes with a correct method of expressing the sounds which they hear, and forming vocabularies on the intelligible principle of using a distinct character for every sound. He used a modification of the common Roman characters, and showed how his system applied to the Arabic and Hindoo families of languages. He referred to the schemes of other orthoépists. On the Mode of Constructing Ethnographical Maps. By Dr. Komsst. MEDICAL SCIENCE. On a Disease of the Tongue. By Dr. Hemine. Tue author described the disease, the appearances of which, although varied in degree, were uniform in character. In the early symptoms the tongue is cedematous, sulcated, and prone to become ulcerated on the borders of the sulci, or in parts which may be irritated by the contact of a decayed or ragged tooth ; the surface then be- comes morbidly smooth in longitudinal streaks, the papillae being apparently oblite- rated ; the whole organ assumes the same character, becoming dry and hard in its texture, the ulceration becomes more marked, is sometimes superficial, and in some cases forming deep ragged ulcers ; in one case the ulcers had pierced entirely through the organ. The author detailed five well-marked cases; they all occurred in fe- males, and the general constitutional health was much impaired, the patients suffering from sick head-aches, deranged digestion, cedematous ancles, &c.; in some cases the disease was of many years’ continuance. In the treatment, the author deems the restoration of the general health of primary importance : after the ordinary aperients, he gave soda and cicuta, and continued these remedies many weeks. The loeal ap- plication found most useful was nitrate of silver; by perseverance in the treatment every case got well. On the Bitter Principles of some Vegetables. By Prof. Pererti of Rome. The greater part of those vegetables, he observed, which contain a bitter principle not depending on an alkaloid, owe it to an alkaline resin ; they are decomposed by large quantities of water, by acids, and by earthy salts. By the processes he adopted (which he described in detail), the Professor obtained the bitter principle of worm- wood, quassia, coffee, gentian, &c., and also the pure bitter of bile. The bitter principle which attracted his chief attention was that of the Absinthium Romanum, which he stated to have much power in allaying severe irritation of the stomach, and he had successfully used it as a remedy in sea-sickness, half an ounce of the solution being enough to prevent it, or stop it if it had commenced. The Professor detailed several of the chemical properties of these resinates. The so-called resins he stated to be bi-resinated alkalies ; such are the resins of jalap, guaiacum, &c. The gum-resins he stated to be combinations of resinate and bi-resinate of potash with resinates of lime and magnesia. The paper concluded by observations on some other points of — TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS, 85 vegetable chemistry, and the announcement of the discovery of 1 new alkaloid de- rived from a new species of Pereira, the Cryptocaria pretiosa, different from the bark of the true Pereira, examined by M. Pelletier. On the Comparative Frequency of Uterine Conception. By Dr. S. W. J. Merriman. On the Tape-Worm as prevalent in Abyssinia. By Dr. HopvexIn. In addition to observations on this subject, he also gave some particulars of the plant called Kosso in Abyssinia, but known by different names in other regions of ‘Africa, the flowers of which are powerfully purgative, and are used as a specific re- medy for the endemic prevalence of worms. Dr. Williams presented two specimens of Tznia, one of which had been removed by the use of spirit of turpentine, after the male fern root (Aspidium filix mas) had failed, and the other by the latter remedy, after the turpentine had failed. On the Reflex Function of the Brain. By Dr. Laycock. The object was to show that the reflex function, as possessed by the spinal nerves and ganglia, is also manifested by the cerebral ganglia, and the cerebral nerves of sensation, the optic, acoustic, olfactory, &c. ; that, in fact, as the cerebral masses and the cerebral nerves are properly to be considered as a continuation of the spinal, they are furnished with the same endowments and subject to the same laws. He reviewed the doctrine of the reflex function, and the facts on which it was founded, as taught by Dr. Marshall Hall. The excito-motory irritation may be applied either to the periphery or to the central axis in the spinal system, and may produce its effect inde- pendently of sensation or perception or volition. Yet consciousness and perception may, in some cases, be superadded to the organic effects of the irritation ; examples of both those peculiarities of nervous action were alluded to ; and Dr. Laycock con- tended, that if similar phenomena arose from mere cerebral excitement, they must be considered as reflex excited acts, accompanied by sensation and consciousness, these central cerebral irritations producing a series of changes, commencing in the posterior gray matter, and exciting what Dr. Laycock terms ideagenous changes; from thence the series of changes extends to the anterior gray matter, and kinetic changes (x:véo, moveo) result, whence the harmonious muscular movements are produced. The points insisted on by the author were, that the cerebral nerves are incident excitor, and the brain an excitor of movements in all respects analogous to the reflex ; the proof of this he thinks must be sought in pathological observations, as those nerves are not irritable by the ordinary stimuli of heat, mechanical violence, &c., as are the nerves of the spinal axis. The phzenomena of hydrophobia and chorea, he contended, furnished those proofs: in the former, the sound, or sight, or mere idea of water ex- cited the convulsive paroxysm, and certain odours are known to excite convulsions. To show that the brain is the excitor of reflex acts, he referred to the case of chorea in the Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, and analysed its phenomena, which’ were complicated with spasmodic muscular movements of the face, trunk and extremities, and neuralgia of the fifth pair of nerves. Cases of lingual chorea, and partial loss of memory from disease of the brain, confirmed this view of central excito-motory power ; examples were adduced. The reason why mechanical violence to the central ganglia did not exhibit these phenomena (as in the experiments of Flourens) was, because such an irritation was foreign from the true exciting influence of this part of the nervous system. The phenomena of hemiplegia were adduced as proofs of the author’s position ; and the instinctive actions of animals were represented as true re- flex acts, induced by irritable stimuli received through the cerebral nerves. Dr. Bacchetti communicated the particulars of a case of extra-uterine pregnancy. Dr. Fowler communicated some additional facts relative to the case of the blind and deaf mute, which he detailed at former. meetings of the Association. She had 86 REPORT—1844, been visited by Dr. Home of Boston, the instructor of Laura Bridgeman, who found in her intellectual and moral manifestations a strong confirmation of the susceptibility of education possessed by those cases, which some doubted even after the instance of Laura Bridgeman. Several particulars relative to the instruction of the blind were given by the Rev. W. Taylor, and some details of the instruction of a blind and deaf mute, at Bourges, by the Abbé Carton. On the Functions of the Bile. By Dr. Kemp. The author, after alluding to the experiments of Berzelius, by which it was proved that the bile was only in a slight degree excrementitious, concluded that it was not absorbed with the chyle without undergoing change from the nature of the fluid found in the thoracic duct ; the object of the paper was to suggest a theoretical solution of the question of the action of the bile (chemically) on the chyme,in order to produce the chyle suitable for absorption. On the Scientific Cranioscopy of Prof. Carus. By Dr. Tuurnam. On the Influence of the Endermic Application of the Salts of Morphia in painful permanent Smelling of the Joints, causing contractions. By A. T. Tuomson, M.D., F.L.S., F.R.C.Phys. STATISTICS. On the Mining Industry of France. By G. R. Porter, F.R.S. HE observed that at the present time, when the most strenuous exertions were being made for the advancement of the material interests of this country in all their leading branches, and while those exertions were attended by the measure of success which usually accompanies industry directed by intelligence, it must be interesting to know whether other nations are engaged in the same pursuits, and in what degree success may have crowned their efforts. Our mining industry, if not the greatest, was undoubt- edly one of the greatest sources of our wealth. Other countries had attempted to rival us so far as the means of such rivalry had been within their reach, and their govern- ments have shown a disposition to foster and encourage pursuits from which they have expected to draw results commensurate with those which have thus excited their emu- lation. Inno country had greater efforts to this end been made thanin France. Whe- ther the means by which success had been sought had been tne most judicious on the part of the legislature of that country was, however, questionable. The latest returns having reference to mining operations in France relate to the year 1841, being five years in advance of the returns brought forward at the meeting of this Section of the British Association in Newcastle. The system of government inspection of mines was begun in 1832, during which year, as well as in 1836 and 1841, the value of the principal mineral productions were ascertained to be as follows :—In 1832, the value in sterling money was £4,230,040 ; in 1836, it was £6,169,138 ; and in 184] it reached £7,134,243. The per-centage increase in 1836 over 1832 was 45°84, or 11-46 per annum ; in 1841 over 1836, 15°64, or 3:12 per annum ; and for the whole nine years, 1841 over 1832, was 68-65, or 7°63 perannum. The number of coal fields which were open in 1836 was 46; in 1841 they were increased to 62. These coal fields are situ- ated in 4] of the French departments ; two departments, which produced a small quantity of coal in 1836, have ceased to do so ; but, on the other hand, thirteen depart- ments which did not produce coal in 1836 yielded that mineral in 184] to the amount of 160,769 tons. The total quantity of coal raised in 184] in France was 3,410,200 tons; in 1814 the produce of all the coal mines in France was only 665,610 tons. This quantity was aboutdouble in 1826, the produce of that year having been 1,301,045 tons. In the following ten years this increased quantity was nearly doubled, the quantity raised in 1836 having been 2,544,835 tons. The increase during the last five years, to which the statements reach, has, therefore, been 34 per cent.; but, if com- TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 87 pure upon the produce of 1814, the difference between 1836 and 184] amounts to 130 per cent. The increase during the whole period of twenty-seven years has been 412 per cent. The number of coal mines in work during 1841 was 256, showing an average production of 13,321 tons per mine. The average production in 1836 was only 9863 tons. The number of workmen employed in raising various kinds of coal in France in 1841 was 29,320, of whom 22,595 worked in the mines. The average quantity raised to each person employed was 116 tons, being the same quantity as in 1836, when the number of persons employed was 21,913. The value assigned to the produce makes the cost of each ton in 1836 to be I1s. 34d. per ton, and in 1841 to only 7s. 93d. The average value raised by eaeh workman, which in 1836 amounted to 65/7, 9s. 10d., had therefore fallenin 1841 to 45/7. 1s. 5d., or nearly one-third. Whe- ther this reduction arose from ceconomy in the working, or from diminished wages or profits, did not appear. It is, however, singular that a reduction of 30 per cent. should take place in five years without preventing the continued extension of this branch of employment. The quantity of coal raised in this country is believed to be ten times the amount raised in France. The quantity shipped coastwise in Great Britain and Ireland in 1841 was 7,649,899 tons; and the quantity exported to the British colonies and coastwise was 1,848,294tons. The quantity used in our iron works, potteries, glass works, factories, &c., is not included in the above numbers, being produced on the spot. The quantity of coal sent by canals and other modes of inland communica- tion from the coal-fields of Yorkshire, Durham, Notts, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, and Staffordshire, amounted in 1816 to 10,808,046 tons. These quantities amount to more than thirty-four millions of tons, and as the number of persons employed in coal mines in Great Britain in 1841 was 118,233, it follows that the average quantity raised by each person is 253 tons, or about 120 per cent. more than the average quantity raised by the miners of France. After some further comments on the subjectof coal, Mr. Porter proceeded to detail the statistical facts relative to iron, The increase which had taken place in this branch of mining since }836 was not nearly so great as the in- crease that had attended the production of mineral fuel, for which result he accounted by the fact that the iron trade in France had not been subjected to any diminution of fiscal protection, but continues hedged round by high prohibitory duties. In 1836 there were 894 distinct establishments engaged in the manufacture of iron; in 1841 the number of distinct establishments was increased to 1023. The value of the iron and steel made in France amounted in 1836 to £4,975,424, and in 1841 to £5,671,582, showing an increase in 5 years of barely 14 per cent. The number of workmen em- loyed in 1836 was 43,775, and in 1841 there were 47,830. The prices of iron in tance are exorbitantly high—arising partly from theless efficient application of labour, and partly from the high price of fuel. Great Britain makes 4 tons of pig iron to 1 ton made in France, whilst the number of persons employed for the purpose is less in England than in France, Each person employed produces in France 8 tons, in this country more than 35 tons. The cost of fuel is very great in France, being 41 per cent. on the value of the metal made in 1836, and 38} per cent. in 1841. Charcoal, which is very extensively used, costs 57s. 5d. per ton. The expense of conveying coals from the pits to the smelting-houses is also very great, amounting on the average to about 7s. per ton. The quantity of pig iron made in 1836 was 331,679 tons, and in 1841 it was 377,142 tons. Of malleable iron in 1830 the quantity was 224,613 tons, and in 1841 it was 263,747tons. The native production was consequently greatly inadequate to supply the wants of that country ; yet every obstacle was thrown in the way of importation from other countries, by the imposition of high duties. The pro- duction of metals other than iron is inconsiderable, and of no national importance, and does not at all interest us except as it points out that country as qualified to be a good customer for a portion of our superabundance. Of lead, the quantity produced in 1841 was 638 tons; silver, 73,680 0z.; antimony, 112 tons; copper, 100 tons ; manganese, 1978 tons. France imports these articles to supply her wants, her lead being princi- pally drawn from Spain, and her copper from England. The declared value of British metals exported to France in 1842 was £1,048,950, and of coals £173,278. On Agricultural Schools near East Bourne. Self-supporting reading, writing, and agricultural schools succeed beyond the most sanguine expectations, and afford a ready plan for teaching the poor the use of spade 88 REPORT—1844. husbandry and engrafting in them a knowledge of the best mode of employing their hands as well as their minds. The principle adopted in these schools is to unite the present national education with agricultural instruction, by making the labours of the little scholars, while under tuition in the art of husbandry in the afternoon, to compen- sate the master, in the way of salary, for the instruction they receive from him in the usual course of our national education in the morning. As established at East Dean and at Pevensey, they are attended by the happiest results. The usual quantity of land required for the purpose does not exceed five acres, and for this the master pays arent. The scholars pay each one penny per week, which, with their services, are found to be adequate remuneration to the master. He has used liquid manure, from which the best results were derived. The produce of his land in one year real- ised £40 after everything was paid. Some of his pupils had been eagerly engaged by the farmers in his district, and there were many other pleasing results from this new system of education. Captain Kennedy had established industrial schools in the north of Ireland ; at Hardwick, near Gloucester, a similar school was established, the Willingdon school being the model which they followed. Several other in- stances were mentioned of the success of such schools. At one place the master maintained himself and a family of six persons on three acres of land; in another place nine persons were maintained on five acres, both of which families were pre- viously burthens on the poor rates. Instead of being burthens on their neighbours, they are now helping to support the owner of the land by their rent, the church by their tithes, the state by their taxes, and teaching all the boys who go to them at only one penny a week to earn their livings in that state of life unto which it has pleased God to call them; they feed their native land with the surplus they raise from it, and with nerves braced by healthy toil are ready to defend it should it be attacked, and are interested in so doing, having hearths of their own to defend. Wherever fairly tried Mrs. Gilbert was of opinion that the occupation of small portions of land for ma- nual labour has been found to improve the moral character of the occupiers. No fears of over-population ought to exist when land can be shown thus to be able to support such a number of persons. The paper gave instances of the beneficial results of the allotment system. A specimen of wheat, bearing above 100 full ears from a single grain, was sent for the inspection of the meeting by Mrs. Gilbert. On the Mortality of Calcutta. By Lieut.-Col. Syxzs, F.R.S. The paper afforded some interesting facts, showing the rate of mortality of the different classes inthat place. It appeared that the rate of mortality was much greater among the Hindoos than the Mahomedans, and that the Roman Catholics in Calcutta were patticularly subject to disease and death. In one return for a specified period, the number of deaths among the Roman Catholics was 12-44 per cent., of the Hindoos 5:71 percent., and of the Mahomedans 3:47 percent. The average of all classes was 3°98 per cent. Fora period of twenty years the average deaths were 3; per cent. on the population generally. One table read exhibited the proportionate difference, which the deaths in the several classes bear to each other. Thus 1 Mahomedan dies to 23 Hindoos; 1 Protestant to 16 Hindoo; 13 Catholic to 1 Hindoo; and | Armenian to 11 Hindoo. In the military ranks it appeared that the deaths among the single officers were 3°77 per cent., and among married officers only 2°74 per cent. The paper also included tables with regard to the operation of disease upon different classes of the community. On the Statistics of Frankfort on the Maine. By Lieut.-Col. Syxes, F.R.S, The principal object of this elaborate document was to develope the vital statistics of that city ; presenting copious details of the situation, origin and history of Frankfort; the plagues, fires and other disasters to which it had been subject ; the persecution of the Jews resident within its walls; the nature and extent of its buildings ; its de- fective paving, lighting and sewerage ; its ramparts, which have been pulled down and the sites converted into promenades planted with trees; the constitution and govern- ment of the city, political and municipal; the administration of justice ; its various ee a a q TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 89 public offices, its police regulations, its revenue; population, which is about 66,000 ; - its houses, about 4000 in number ; education, &c. The inhabitants and sojourners of i‘ ; this “‘ free city ” appear to be subject to harsh restrictions. A butcher is not allowed to sell above a certain quantity of meat; persons in service have to register them- selves as such to the police, and give notice on leaving their employ ; a stranger seek- ing work must quit the city in three days if unsuccessful; no person can marry until he satisfies the authorities that he possesses sufficient capital. The consequence of this impolitic restriction is that one in every six children born is illegitimate. — State lotteries prevail, some of them displaying more ingenuity than honesty ; but this does not apply to Frankfort. The indigent poor are looked after in their own dwellings, but poor-houses are provided for the houseless operative citizen or the sojourner. On the Statistics of Hospitals for the Insane in Bengal. By Lieut.-Col. Syxes, F.R.S. It appeared from the report that there are four asylums in Bengal which are under the charge of the government authority ; the rate of mortality in them is lower than that of the lunatics in the English asylums, and they appeared to be managed in a very ceconomical manner. The cures and discharges in all the hospitals in 1839 was 31-7 per cent. and the deaths 16:2 per cent. In 1840 the cures and discharges were 31-1 per cent. and the deaths 12:2 per cent. Little restraint is imposed upon the patients, who for the most part are engaged in horticultural and agricultural pursuits. On the Statistics of Old and New Malton. By Witu1am Cuarzes Coprrrtuwaire, F’.S.S.,the Borough Bailiff of Malton. The paper commences with a history of the parish, and then directly proceeds to the local and geographical situation of Malton, its extent, boundary, river, &c., the statis- tics of its streets, number of houses in each, the number of gas-lights, the value of its houses, &c. The second section, division and tenure of property. The third section describes the population and vital statistics, with its increase and decrease at relative periods. The population in 1831 was 5377, whilst in 1841 it had declined to 5317. The registers of births, marriages, and burials were referred to, and a number of tables were produced to show the progress of mortality. It appeared that in 1810 the ille- gitimate children averaged 5:3 per cent. ; in 1820 they were 6:7 per cent.; in 1830 they were 87 per cent. ; and in 1840 they reached 9:4 per cent. The paper proceeded to give details of the occupations of the inhabitants in 1831 and 1841; the rate of wages paid to those employed in agriculture and handicraft ; a full description of the agriculture in the parishes of Old and New Malton; the quantity of acres under the several descriptions of culture; produce of the farms; the rents paid, which were stated tc average J. 15s. an acre including tithe, and, including taxes, &c., 21. Os. 6d.; the rotation of crops ; the produce per acre ; the working power ; live stock ; produce of butter, wool, &c. ; drainage ; description of soil, &c. It was stated that the tenants under Earl Fitzwilliam, the principal landowner, hold at will, but that some farms have been in the occupatiou of the same family for above a century. The average of the holdings is 70 acres. Mr. Copperthwaite’s paper stated that the allotment system had been amply tried in Malton. There were 4] who occupied each a quarter of an acre ; 54 who rented half an acre, and 26 who held an acre. There are 23 public-houses in New Malton and | in Old Malton, also a Temperance Hotel and some beer-shops. The paper then noticed the Temperance Society, which was stated to have had a bene- ficial effect ; the several benefit societies, the secret orders, the savings’ bank, the cha- ritable institutions of the town, the extent of pauperism, the cost of relief under the old and new systems, the income and expenditure of the working classes, entering minutely into their domestic ceconomy, the extent of markets, and the state of educa- tion. It appeared that there were 1407 children between the ages of 3 and 15 years resident in Malton; of this number 1096 were in course of education. The paper next noticed the Mechanics’ Institute, the public libraries, news-room, the religious persuasions of the inhabitants, and their places of worship. 90 REPORT—1844. Hints on the Improvement of Agricultural Labourers. By the Rev. Tazovore Drury, M.A. He lamented that in too many parts the agricultural labourer was depressed by poverty and degraded by ignorance ; his wages were kept down by rivalry and his education was neglected. Thisled to despondency, wretchedness, pilfering, and daring robbery. Religion was the most energetic of all influences, and he thought it highly important that an increased attention to it should be promoted by every practicable means. The plans which he suggested for ameliorating the condition of the agricul- tural poor were, that a clothing club should be established in connexion with each village school; there should be a weekly sale of coals in the winter months from a store provided by the more wealthy inhabitants ; small allotments, not exceeding a rood, should be let to each family ; village and farm libraries and savings’ banks should be promoted ; and farm labourers should have their personal comforts attended to. On the Sanatory Condition of York during the years 1839—1843. By Dr. Laycocx. The author observed that he had instituted an inquiry into the sanatory condition of York in connexion with the commissioners for examining the state of large towns. His inquiries at that time were not brought beyond 1841, but he had since prosecuted his labours, and rendered the investigation more complete, by taking in the years 1842 —1843. He showed from the tables adduced that York was not comparatively an un- healthy town; but that its drains were made on a bad principle, and that the state of health had a marked relation to the altitude of the several parishes within the walls. The parishes above the mean altitude were far more healthy thanthose belowit. The writer illustrated his statements by reference to an excellent map of the city which had been prepared by the Ordnance Office. ‘ On the Addition to Vital Statistics contained in the First Report of the Com- missioners of Inquiry into the Circumstances affecting the Health of Tomns. By Dr. Laycock. The first topic to which he would allude related to the influence of employments upon healths. Dr. Guy, of King’s College, found that the proportion of consumptive cases in the several classes was as follows :—gentry and professional men 16, trades- men 28, and artisans and labouring men 30 percent. This great mortality from con- sumption among tradesmen and working men in London, he attributed mainly to their long confinement in ill-ventilated shops. Dr. Southwood Smith, of the London Fever Hospital, gave some valuable evidence with reference to the mortality occasioned by fever, showing that the comparative risk from that disease was greatest to adults, and that therefore heads of families are most liable to be cut off by it. Dr. Laycock, in his further comments on the report, showed that investigations at Preston, Chorlton-on-Medlock, Sheffield, York and Nottingham, all led to the same result, viz. that the health of the inhabitants of various streets varied with the con- dition of those streets, and that children are particularly subject to the influence of noxious physical agencies. Dr. Laycock next proceeded to notice the important evidence of Mr. Hawksley, C.E., on the supply of water to the town of Nottingham. In that town every house is supplied day and night with a constant supply of water. This advantage dispenses with the necessity of tanks and other expenses. The water-works’ company supply houses at an annual average charge of about 7s. 6d. at any level required, even in the attics of four or five story houses. For a two or three story house of three rooms the charge is one penny per week, and for this sum the tenants take any quantity of water they choose; there are 5000 houses supplied at that rate. The effect produced on the habits of the people by the introduction of water into the houses of the labouring classes has been very marked. There has been a great increase of personal cleanli- ness and much less disease. The public drains have become cleaner, and there is less noisome stench, the refuse being washed down them by the flow of water. Not- tingham is still an unhealthy town, the mean duration of life throughout England TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 91 being 41 years, and in Nottingham only 30 years. This arises almost entirely from _ deficient public and private ventilation, from the ill-construction of the houses of the " poor, many of which have privies under them and warehouses above them, in which _ a heat of 85 degrees is kept up. Statistical Notices of the State of Education in York. By Joseru Fiercuer, Sec. Stat. Soc. of London. On the Statistics of the Machine-wrought Hosiery Trade. By Witt1aM Fetxin, F.L.S. He observed that the stocking trade had from a series of circumstances become almost exclusively located in the three Midland Counties of this kingdom—Leicester- shire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Before the reign of Elizabeth stockings were made of coarse woollen thread, or if they were desired to be cool and elegant, they were cut out of cloth or silk tissue, The stocking-frame was invented by a clergyman, the Rev. William Lee. Finding the lady to whom he was attached pay more atten- tion to her knitting than to his addresses, he determined to supersede her avocation __ by the invention of a machine for weaving stockings. He was long baffled and almost - in despair, but at length succeeded in constructing the stocking-frame. Queen Eliza- beth accepted a pair of stockings manufactured in his frame, and declared them most agreeable in consequence of their elasticity, and it is said she never afterwards wore any other description. After Her Majesty’s death the court of James neglected the invention, and Lee retired from this country, taking with him his invention, and lo- cated himself in France, where he established amanufactory. He was flattered by the patronage of the French king, who being however subsequently murdered, Lee’s prospects were blighted, and he died twenty-two years after an alien and almost broken- hearted. Lee’s brother returned to England and brought his frames to London, where he carried on business for many years. For the protection of the hosiers’ trade a hosiers’ company was subsequently formed in London,—the arms being a frame supported by a clergyman, and a female presenting her useless knitting-skewer. The trade soon extended itself beyond the control of the company. Mr. Felkin traced the progress of the trade in the Midland Counties. In 1641 there were only two frames in Notting- ham and not 100 in the whole country. In ]753, whilst the number of frames in London had decreased, those in Nottinghamshire had increased to 1500, and there were 1000 in Leicestershire. He noticed various improvements, especially one in 1759 by Mr. Strutt of Derby, who obtained a patent for his invention, and was the founder of the wealth which that family now possessed. In ]782 there were about 20,000 frames in the whole kingdom, of which 13,000 were in the Midland Counties. The trade had undergone great reverses, and at the present time the frame-work knit- ters were earning a lower rate of wages than nearly any other department of skilled or unskilled labourers. When they considered that the interests of 42,650 of these people were at stake, besides a like number of persons employed in winding the woollen yarn, seaming the stockings, &c., also the members of families who were de- pendent upon those individuals for maintenance, the statistics of this trade must be considered of grave importance. -He described the labour of the frame-work knitters as very severe—requiring vigorous exertion of the hands and feet, and at the same time the greatest vigilance in watching the progress of the work. At the present time in Nottinghamshire there are 14,879 frames in employ, and 1503 which are out of employ or under repair; total, 16,382. In Leicestershire there are 18,558 at work and 2303 unemployed ; total, 20,861. In Derbyshire there are 6005 at work and 792 unemployed ; total, 6797. The gross number of frames in the three Midland Counties is 44,040, elsewhere in England 1572; in Ireland 275, and in Scotland 2595, making a total of 48,482. About 10 per cent. only of this number is now unemployed, being the smallest proportion ever known. Notwithstanding this apparent prosperity the wages of the operatives are miserably low, and they appear to be charged a most exorbitant rent for their frames, a rent which in some instances which were cited, pay for the frame in 46 weeks, although they are capable of being worked for a num- ber of years. In many instances the wages of these men for a full week’s work are as low as 4s. 6d. or 5s., and the average appeared to be from 5s. to 6s. per week for ordi- 4 92 REPORT—1844, nary hands. The consequence is that after they have paid their rent and other ne- cessary outgoings, they have little left for the purchase of victuals: one family was mentioned, consisting of a man, his wife and seven children, who had to subsist for three days on a half-quarternloaf. They arein great want of clothing, and are rarely. able to buy new apparel. On the relative Liability of the two Sexes to Insanity. By Joun Tuurnam, M.D. The author thought that the opinion which appears to have recently been formed, that insanity is more prevalent amongst women than amongst men, ,had originated in an erroneous method of statistical analysis. Dr. Esquirol, who was inclined to this view, was at great pains in collecting information as to the proportion of ewisting cases of insanity in the two sexes, and it was found that taking the average of different coun- tries the proportion was 37 males to 38 females. It should however be borne in mind, that in all European countries the proportion of adult females in the general population exceeds that of males. According to the census of 1841, in England and Wales there was an excess at all ages of 4 per cent., and at all ages above 15 or 20 years the excess was about 8 per cent. From 20 to 30 years of age the excess is as much as 12 per cent. Assuming only a like liability of the two sexes to in- sanity, it would be expected that there was a much greater number of cases of insanity among women than men. With some exceptions, however, which were accounted for by local circumstances, the author did not find that to be the case. He pointed out another fallacy in the method of investigating this subject, in consequence of the existing cases being made the basis of the calculation instead of the occurring cases. He showed that the mortality amongst insane males in public asylums exceeded that amongst insane females. At the York Asylum the mortality of the males was nearly double that of the females. The consequence is, that out of equal numbers attacked the existing cases of insanity in women accumulate much faster than those in men, and that they necessarily are much more numerous as compared with the occurring cases. In order that the comparison of the occurring cases should be a strictly accu- rate one, the proportions of the two sexes attacked with insanity for the first time at the several ages should be compared with the proportions in which the two sexes at the same ages exist in the community in which those cases occur. On this principle the writer had prepared a table, showing the numbers and proportion of each sex cut of 71,800 cases. It appeared that out of 48,143 cases admitted into thirty-one various asylums, there were 25,601 males and 22,502 females, consequently there was an excess on the part of the males of 13'5 per cent. In nine of the English county asylums the numbers admitted were 7641 males and 6803 females, there being con- sequently an excess of males of 12 per cent. The proportion of men admitted into asylums being thus shown to be higher than that of females, whilst the proportion of men in the general population, particularly at those ages when insanity most usually occurs, is decidedly less than that of women, Dr. Thurnam inferred that men are actually more liable to disorders of the mind than women. From a just consideration of the differences in the physical and moral con- stitution, as well as in the general prevailing external circumstances of the two sexes in civilized communities at the present day, it was, he thought, @ priori, highly pro- bable that men should possess a somewhat greater liability to mental disorders than women. He observed that not only are women less liable to these disorders than men, but when afflicted with them the probability of their recovery is greater, and that of their death yery considerably less. After recovery, however, the probability of a relapse or of a second attack is perhaps somewhat greater in women than in men, The writer introduced a number of statistical facts with reference to the patients in the York Retreat, in illustration of his subject. On the Financial CE conomy of Savings’ Banks. ByJ.W.Woottcar, F.R.A.S. The author observed that this subject had acquired a sudden interest by reason of the scope which the new act gives to the directors of these establishments, to cecono- mise the management for the benefit of depositors. The question now for managers | | TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 93 to decide was, what rate of interest is in future to be allowed to depositors? which in another form is this : by how small a proportion of the interest to be received from _ government can the expenses of management be defrayed? As it is desirable that the rate should be permanent, the question must be answered, not merely with refer- ence to the present moment, but prospectively. The author pointed out the data necessary to be used in determining this question, and then put the solution in an algebraical form*, for the purpose of exhibiting the influence which the data severally have upon the result. He concluded by urging upon all managers who desired to give steadiness to the financial condition of their respective banks, two main points of re- gulation :—1st, that the expenses of management be limited to an amount compounded of a fixed sum, and a per-centage upon the invested capital; and as a necessary con- ‘Sequence of such a rule, that the actuary’s salary be regulated by the same principle ; 2nd, that no sum be allowed to remain in the treasurer’s hands beyond the ma- nagement fund, together with a very small per-centage on the invested capital. These two rules, heconsidered, would accommodate themselves to any variation in the amount of business, and would enable the managers to fix a rate of interest satisfactory to themselves, with justice both to the officers and depositors. On Rural Statistics, illustrated by those of the Atherstone Union. By C. H. Bracesrinee. The author commented upon the absence of statistical facts referring to the agricul- tural districts, and the anti-statistical feeling which existed therein. He thought that the modern establishment of poor-law unions might be rendered highly serviceable in the collection of statistical facts of a certain description. The points on which in- formation might be obtained were,—1, local taxation; 2, highway rates and distances; 3, enumeration of public-houses and beer-houses; 4, population, acreage and value of land; 5, wages and cultivation; 6, sanatory, frem an estimate of deaths ; 7, cot- tages, their average rent and size of gardens; 8, education and schools; 9, notices of the geology, historical remains and families of the district. On all these points he had collected information in the Atherstone union, of which he had been for many years chairman. He had also formed a tabulated statement of the earnings and weekly expenditure of fifty families at Hinckley. On the Statistics of the Criminal Population of Norfolk Island. By Capt. M’Conocuts. Alluding to the nature and produce of the island, the author states that its cultiva- tion is very laborious and its returns from crops uncertain. Nothing can exceed the vigour of vegetation on it, but the returns from its sown crops are uncertain. The average produce per acre in 1842 was, of maize, 12} bushels; wheat, 8 bushels; rye, 262 bushels; barley, 103 bushels ; oats, 40 bushels. The surface soil is described to be very rich, but not sufficiently heavy to carry the vegetation it produces to ma- turity. Stock of all kinds thrive well ontheisland. Nothing can surpass the mutton, pork and poultry reared on it. The island is periodically visited with long droughts, when some difficulty is experienced in providing for the sustenance of the stock. No private person is allowed to keep cows or sheep, and only two persons have horses— one each. The following was the quantity of stock belonging to the government at the end of the year 1843 :—22 horses, 677 horned cattle, 5352 sheep, and 405 swine. The shores of Norfolk Island abound with fish, many of considerable size and good quality. One of the greatest defects of Norfolk Island is the want of a harbour, and the consequent delay and difficulty in maintaining its sea communications, The winds are always high, and there is a remarkable equality of temperature and atmospheric pressure in all seasons of the year. The prevailing winds are from the 8.E. and 8.W. Norfolk Island was first occupied as a dependency on New South Wales in 1787, and was not then meant as a station for the doubly convicted, or in any way as a place of increased punishment, but merely as affording the means of distributing the prisoners. Free settlers were allowed to go with them, and gradually the population amounted * This formula, which in fact contains the Theory of Savings’ Banks, is printed in Mecha- nics’ Magazine, xli. p. 213. 94 ; REPORT—1844. to about 120 souls, besides about 250 convicts. In 1810 it was deemed inexpedient to retain the settlement on these terms; the returns from it were few and uncertain ; it did not feed even its own population; the communication was uncertain and ex- RonF 3 its morals became depraved ; and Van Diemen’s Land just then began to e settled, and not labouring under the same defects, the free settlers were offered land there, which they were compelled to accept. The convicts were removed, and the island was for fifteen years abandoned. It was re-occupied in 1825 as a penal settlement, without free settlers, and with increased severity of discipline and other management. The establishment was at first small, but rapidly increased. The con- vict population in 1825 was 84, in 1838 it had increased to 1447: but a large number was in the subsequent years sent to Sydney on indulgence, which reduced them to 1220: in 1840 they were augmented by fresh arrivals to 1872, but a diminution again took place, and on the 31st of December last the numbers were 1295. Tables had been carefully provided showing the country, religion and original sentences of all the prisoners who had arrived at Norfolk Island from 1825 to 1843 inclusive, The number of English were 2142; Irish, 1287; Scotch, 147; foreign, 10: total, 3592. Of those transported for life 815 were Protestants, 276 Roman Catholics, and 7 Jews. Yorkshire appears to have contributed to this penal settlement 124 convicts. An act of the New South Wales Council in 1839 facilitated the removal of nearly all the well- conducted, who had served over the periods required by it, to Sydney, That act fixed certain periods, (one, three and five years, for men under sentence for seven years, fourteen years and life respectively,) when application might be made to obtain for them the commutations prescribed by it. It in fact altogether changed the prospects of the whole body and greatly improved their condition. The real horrors of Norfolk Island terminated with the passing of this act. Before it men sent there had little or no prospect before them, except what was contingent on a capricious recommen- dation, which they too frequently sought to obtain by treachery, hypocrisy or other unworthy service, or despairing of attaining it they became reckless, violent, muti- nous and insubordinate. This has been much changed. With good conduct on the island every one has been certain of recommendation at the allotted period of his service. Up to September 1843 there had been 120() men thus forwarded to Sydney from the beginning of 1859, Of this number 530 have become free by the expiration of their sentence or by pardons; 670 are prisoners in New South Wales ; and 36 have been reconvicted of crime. The number of reconvictions appears remarkably small, considering the description of the men, their going penniless from this island, the suspi- cion with which they are regarded in Sydney, and the associates to whom they return. The author then proceeded to show that in the years in which he had charge of this convict station, having introduced a more lenient system of treatment to the convicts, the number of reconvictions was far below the average, being only ]2 per cent. in four years, or per cent. per annum. Previously, in 1839, the convicts underwent the great- est severity ; the number of lashes inflicted, by sentence, for offences was 11,420. Ifthe example of severity could deter from crime at all, these men had themselves both witnessed and experienced it in this extreme. Yet in this instance, as in so many others, it signally failed. His (Capt. M’Conochie’s) object was to effect the reformation of the men under his charge. This idea had scarcely ever before been suggested to them, but they all sympathized with it, and carried it as a rule of conduct with them. The paper next treated of those prisoners who had been sent from Norfolk Island to Sydney for trial, charged with serious offences ; the next section treated of men who had absconded, with interesting details regarding each of these successful enterprises, which were attended with great daring, hazard, recklessness, suffering and peril. The author then gave statistical notices of men who have died on the island from natural causes. Those prisoners who had been sent from Sydney, where they had become sea- soned to the climate, and had enjoyed full rations of food, appeared to have been less subject to disease than those who were sent to Norfolk Island direct from England, Of the former, in a population of 8059, there had been 2429 cases of sickness since 1837, or | in 33, with 109 deaths, or 1 in 74; of the latter there were 1622 cases among 2417 arrivals, or | in 11, with 80 deaths, or 1 in 303. The author attributes this excess of sickness and death among those sent direct from England, to their rations of salt meat and maize not being adequate to support the constitution under the change of climate, with labour, after along sea-voyage. The diseases with which they are most i i TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 95 affected are fevers, inflammation of the bowels, dysentery and consumption. In ge- neral the men die very quietly and composedly, resigning themselves with little ap- parent reluctance to their fate, and receiving and applying, even the worst of them, to their own case the consolations of religion with little apparent doubt or hesitation. Thirty men have been killed on the island accidentally ; seven have been murdered ; nineteen have been executed, of whom thirteen were in the mutiny in 1834; seven- teen were killed in resisting lawful authority ; and two committed suicide, On the Ist of September 1843 there were 796 prisoners on the island, of which 447 were Protestants, 344 Roman Catholics, and 5 were Jews: almost two-thirds of these prisoners had been above ten years on the island. The proportion of married men, and conseqnently of suffering families, was above a fifth. The number who could read was 546; could not read, 250; could write, 403; could not write, 393. Capt. M Conochie observed that prisoners are not generally ignorant of the first elements of education, but the degree in which they possess them is low. Among the men who cculd read and write not above a dozen were competent to act as clerks. He remarks, that the young English prisoners who are distinguished on the island for any degree of superior education to their fellows, are not less remarkable for their indifference to their religious duties and careless reception of religious instruction. Notes on the Reports of the Poor Law Commissioners on the State of the Poor in Scotland. By W. P. Atitson, M.D. He had at a previous meeting of the Association laid before the Section a variety of facts relative to the state of the poor in Scotland, and he proposed now to show that the evidence taken before the Poor Law Commissioners fully supported his former statements. In one point he differed from the commissioners. He asserted that one of the results of the present system was that large towns were burthened beyond their fair share with the indigent poor; in general only one-third of those on the poor-roll are natives of the towns in which they are relieved, and two-thirds are immigrants. The commissioners in their report stated that this evil had been exaggerated. He differed from the commissioners in that opinion, and asserted that the number of able- bodied persons who flock into the towns in search of work, and other classes, which he enumerated, of destitute poor not.admitted as paupers, do produce an excessive burden, which under a better system of poor-law management would not prevail. He then proceeded to cite extracts from the evidence taken before the commissioners, which exhibited the great extent of misery consequent on the difficulty of obtaining parish aid in Scotland. Those for whom legal relief is extended are only the aged and the infirm ; to them the amount of relief is inadequate to maintain life, and they have to resort in part,as a means of subsistence, to begging, which leads to lying and stealing. An aged disabled person is allowed only from 9d. to 1s. a week ; widows left with fami- lies are allowed 6d. each child, with nothing for herself,—in one parish in Edinburgh which was mentioned, the usual allowance is only 4d. for each child and nothing for the mother, Consequently the indigent poor are in the greatest misery, and are to a large extent dependent upon the sympathy of their poor neighbours. In some parts of Scot- land the poor are probably in a worse condition than in Ireland. Mendicancy is allowed in many parts, especially on Saturdays. Many families in Edinburgh are existing in rooms without furniture, and instances were given of numbers who were kept from church on the sabbath for want of clothing in which to appear. It was also in evidence that numbers of persons who are suffering these privations are of good character. Scotland has long been afflicted by an epidemic fever, which has been spread through the country by contagion from vagrants and stranger beggars; and of late a new epidemic has appeared, distinct from any other similar malady; its peculiarities are that it reaches the crisis on the seventh day, and those who survive it are subject to a relapse on the fifteenth day; in the worst cases the complexion becomes yellow, and it was first mistaken by the medical profession for jaundice. Dr. Alison has caused inquiry to be made into 1700 cases of this fever, two-thirds of which were found to be among the destitute and unemployed poor. Fifty per cent. of the poor buried at the public expense in Glasgow in 1843 were of fever. Under the present system of poor law the orphan children are deemed capable of maintaining themselves at fourteen years, and are then thrown on the world. Previously they are boarded 96 REPORT—1844. out, in some parishes, with individuals who sometimes send them out to beg and per- haps steal. Such is the extent of poverty, that in one year seventy-nine persons were voluntary inmates of the Glasgow prison, and after remaining there for some time they were turned out, when one half of them returned, having qualified themselves by the commission of some crime. In 1842 there were in the jail at Glasgow 134 males and ]24 females, whose crimes it was well ascertained arose from their inability to findemployment. Dr. Alison drew a comparison between this frightful state of the Scotch poor generally and their state in Berwickshire, where more adequate poor- assessments are regularly levied, and the poor are temperate and industrious ; mendi- cancy does not exist among them, and the evils of which he complained were nearly unknown. On the Statistics of Health, elucidated by the Records of the Marylebone In- jirmory. By Dr. Crenpinnine. This infirmary is for the relief of the sick poor of Marylebone parish. During a period of 63 years 220 patients had been admitted monthly, of which 140 were from the workhouse and 80 from their own homes ; of this number the average was 144 cures, 26 deaths, and the remainder were incurable, discharged themselves, or were dismissed for irregularity. The females admitted were 122 to 98 males. Lieut.-Col. Sykes, on closing the Section, remarked that he considered its labours had not been either useless or unsuccessful. They had been obliged to drop some papers in order to get through the work before them. They had now run a circle of twelve years, and this session equalled, if it had not excelled, its predecessors. MECHANICAL SCIENCE. On the Resistance of Railway Trains. By J. Scott Russet. Tue author detailed a number of experiments on the Sheffield and Manchester Railway. For the purpose of these experiments it was necessary that the railway should present long and very steep gradients. The experiments were as follows :— 1. Trains of carriages, empty, were put in motion at the summit of an inclined plane, at about 30 miles an hour, and were allowed to descend freely. 2. Trains of car- riages, loaded, were tried in the same way. 3. The engine:and tender were treated in the same way, being put to a velocity of between 30 and 40 miles per hour, and allowed to descend freely the whole length of the inclined plane without any train attached. 4. The engine and tender, with a train attached, were propelled to the top of the inclined plane, and then allowed to descend freely by gravity. By these means the following resuits were obtained:—1. The resistance to railway carriages at slow velocities does not exceed 8 lbs. per ton. 2. The resisjance to a light railway train of six carriages, at 23°6 miles an hour, was 19 lbs. per ton, 3. The resistance to a loaded train of six carriages, at 30 miles an hour, was 19 lbs. per ton. 4. The resist- ance to a light train of six carriages, at 28 miles an hour, was 22 lbs. per ton. 5. The resistance to a loaded train of six carriages, at 36 miles an hour, was 22 lbs. per ton. 6. The resistance to a six-wheeled engine and tender, at 23°6 miles an hour, was 191bs. per ton. 7. The resistance to a six-wheeled engine and tender, at 28-3 miles an hour, was 22 lbs. per ton. 8. The resistance to a train composed of six light carriages, with engine and tender, at 32 miles an hous |) 9% lbs. per ton. 9. The resistance to a train composed of nine loaded carriag “ngine and tender, at 36 miles an hour, was 22 lbs. per ton. Mr. Russell observed, cirat the subject wa" considerable importance, inasmuch as the system adopted for laying down tli ‘nts of new lines was of necessity regulated chiefly by the opinion of the engineer Ue question of resistance. How much mechanical force is required to move a given weight of train along a given gradient, at a given speed, was a question of which the solution was essential to sound engineering, but the profession had long felt that they were not in possession of sufficient data to determine this question, B TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 97 oes! On Wooden Railways. By W. Bripces. This was an account of Mr. Prosser’s system, now about to be tried on a branch line from Woking to Guildford. The author explained that Mr. Prosser’s railway differs from the old wooden railway, in having the wood indurated by the injection of an alkaline and metallic salt, and the employment of guide-wheels, fixed at an oblique angle before and behind each carriage. On the Advantages to be obtained by turning Canals, in certain situations and of certain forms, into Railways, especially as applicable to the circumstances of the Royal Canal lying between the City of Dublin and the River Shan- non. By 'T. BiRMINGHAM. Mr. Birmingham suggested, that a cheap, expeditious, safe and easy mode of con- veyance could be formed along these great lines of canals. At the present moment, subsoil draining was fortunately occupying the attention of agriculturists. He, there- fore, proposed so to construct the railways as at the same time to make what was formerly a canal into a drain for the waters of the country, instead of as now, in many places, especially in the case of the canal under consideration, acting as back-water upon the land: the bottom of the canal, he said, should be levelled to a reasonable incline at the various locks; that one of the present proposed systems of railways should be adopted ; and that the waters which found their way into the canal should be made use of as the power, or in aid of the power, by which it should be determined that the trains should be propelled upon the railway. On the Causes of the great Versailles Railway Accident. By J. GRAY. From various facts and circumstances connected with the accident of the 8th of May, 1842, on the Left Bank Paris and Versailles Railway, Mr. Gray became convinced _ that nothing but a failure in the front axle of the Matthew Murray engine could have been the first cause of her right-hand front wheel first slipping within the rail; and having the inquiry thus far concentrated, he proceeded with an examination of that axle, and of the facts and incidents connected with its failure; and he came to the conclu- sion, that with good materials and proportions, and the axles in a state of repose as received from the forge, or, in other words, perfectly free from the effects of cold swaging or hammer-hardening, an axle in such a state, and of ample dimensions for its intended work, will effectually resist fracture for any period the wear of the journals may enable it to run; but if the dimensions be deficient, the iron will be taxed be- yond its permanent cohesive power and elasticity ; and, however slight the excess of exertion and fatigue may be, a gradual and inevitable dissolution of particles must result ; but beyond this he had not met with anything, either in print, in observation, or in the course of experience, that would at all warrant a belief in iron necessarily. changing its quality, or becoming crystallized by forces within the range of its perma- nent cohesive force anc elasticity. Ee ae aa ee On Steam Navigation in America. By the Rev. Dr. Scoressy. Dr. Scoresby observed, that the extent of navigable waters in North America, in- _ cluding the coast lines and the waters of the British possessions, might be roughly esti- mated at 25,000 to 30,000 miles. He then alluded to the introduction of the steam- boat by Mr. Fulton, in 1807, and the rapid progress that had been made, and directed attention to the peculiarities of sc © the boats, the construction of the cabins on _ deck, and the application cf the F vessel entirely to cargo, the working of the rudder at the fn~2part of the vgssel _y ueans of communicating rods, the use of adistinct boiler and n y to each paddle, &c. With regard to speed, he observed that it was much L . °.d that of our steam-boats, from the circumstance of the Americans adopting the high-pressure principle, whereby, the weight of machinery being greatly reduced, the boats could run at a very light draught of water, and because also of the great length of their fast-boats in comparison of the breadth. Whilst our boats were worked at a pressure of perhaps 5 lbs. to the square inch, they thought nothing of yee or 150 lbs. pressure. The most extraordinary performance of American 44. H 98 REPORT—1844, steamers was effected by the J. M. White, in the summer of this year. She made her way against an average current of from 3 to 4 miles an hour, from New Orleans to St. Louis, a distance of 1200 miles, in 3 days and 23 hours, remaining a day and a half at St. Louis, unloading and loading, and reached New Orleans again, having performed a distance of from 2300 to 2400 miles in little more than 9 days. The average speed, taking advantages and disadvantages into consideration, would be 16 miles, or perhaps near 14 knots per hour. On the New Double Piston Steam-Engine, with a Model. By J. G. BopmeEr. The advantages claimed are velocity, ceconomy, peculiar expansion, diminution of strain upon the axle, &c. On the Gconomy of the Expansive Action of Steam in Steam-Engines. By W. FarrBairn. On Propelling Boats. By Mr. Smitu. In this communication the jet plan was advocated. Mr. Gray enumerated a variety of experiments on iron bars, with a view to show that the want of due proportions in the several parts is productive of more or less danger. Mr. J. Buchanan offered some observations on a new locking apparatus for car- riages, which he illustrated by models. The suggested improvement arises from the introduction of the double pivot, which requires less room to turn the front wheels, and consequently gives increased space to the body of the carriage. He also exhibited some carriage springs, the improvement in which was effected by the introduction of leather packing. On a Plan for drawing Coals from Pits without Ropes or Chains. By E. Bownsss. The advantages claimed are ceconomy, durability, expedition, and compactness. The plan has some resemblance to a method which has been adopted in Cornwall for the purpose of raising and lowering the miners. The corves, holding each 10 ewt. of coal, slide in grooved rods fixed on the sides of the shaft, and are alternately seized and released by lifters attached to a rod which moves up and down in the centre of the pit by engine power ; when released from the rod on its downward motion, the corves are supported by a self-adjusting pulley. : On a New Apparatus for Starting Heavy Machinery. By J. G. Bopmer. Upon the driving-shaft a bevel wheel is fixed at one end, and another is put on loose opposite to it, with a pinion between. To the latter is fixed another bevel wheel, and this gears into a pinion which is connected with the shaft driving the ma- chine to be started. By applying the break to the drum to which the centre of the intermediate pinion is fixed, the machine attached will be set in motion. On Nasmyth’s Steam Pile Driver. By Dr. GREEN. Mr. Whitworth exhibited a new machine for ascertaining the diameter of metallic cylinders, On a New Furnace Grate. By J. G. BopmMeEr. The peculiarity of the fire grates is, that the fire bars are made to travel from the fireplace or hopper towards the bridge, and return again to the place whence they 4 4 ry Nt ae ie ts tee tie TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 99 "started in the opposite direction. The object is to admit of the supply and combus- tion of the fuel being perfectly regulated according to circumstances, and to prevent the emission of smoke, by causing the gas generated from the fresh coal, at the time when the heat commences to act upon it, to pass over the whole surface of the ignited fuel before reaching the chimney. Mr. Bodmer exhibited a variety of improved Cutting Tools. Dr. Bevan explained a new Life Boat which he has invented. On the Scantlometer. By JAMES WYLSON. The instrument, thus named, the invention of Mr. Wylson, determines the scantlings of joists and rafters, the former level, the latter sloped to any pitch not exceeding sixty degrees, and both to any bearing not exceeding twenty-five feet. It is calculated for joists of dwelling-house floors, and rafters carrying medium-sized slating; the material fir; the distance asunder twelve inches; the rate of weight sustained sup- posed to be similar in all cases, and diffused uniformly throughout. The principle is stated in the accompanying explanation to be capable of application to the other tim- bers occurring in buildings. Explanation of an Apparatus, invented by Mr. Littledale of York, by which the Blind can write and read. By the Rev. W. Taytor, F.R.S. The following is a description of the instrument :— Into a case, probably a yard long, and three or four inches square, is fitted a slide, something like one section of a letter-rack used in printing-offices for depositing the type when not in use. This Slide is adapted to any alphabet or to arbitrary characters. At one end of the case there is a hammer, under which the paper is placed, and as the letters are brought up successively, by the application of an ingenious contrivance at the opposite end of the case, the hammer is raised, and by its fall they are impressed or rather embossed upon the paper, so that blind persons may distinguish them by the touch. When the first letter of a word is printed the hammer is raised, and that causes the letter to move away, and at the same time a space on the paper for the next letter is produced. The blank between each letter or word may be increased by raising the hammer twice ot thrice instead of once. The successive letters are brought up to the hammer, by the means before alluded to. There is also a prepared paper (black), which may be put over the white paper at discretion, the object of which is to enable persons who have their sight to read the printing better, the force of the hammer causing the black paper to ‘set off.’ At the hammer end of the case a piece of cloth is attached, to place between the hammer and the type, so that the letter may not be bruised. The type in the slide was made of wood, but to metallic letters the instrument would be equally applicable.” On the Improved Compasses of M. De Sire Lebrun, and the Cold-drawn Pipes of M. Le Dru. By O. Byrne. Explanations of the Barege Mobile, or Canalization of Rivers, and of the Grenier Mobile, or moveable Granary for preserving Corn. By O. BYRNE. The latter machine consists of a cylinder, divided into compartments, which will hold 800 quarters of corn. It is made of zinc and galvanized iron, and turns round like a barrel, so that the grain is thus turned over by one man daily. The advantages are, that the corn gets gradually dried, may be preserved for a longer period, bad corn is impreved, grain generally comes out heavier than when it went in, and is not bruised and wasted by being turned over with the shovel. With regard to the increase it was stated at 63 Ibs. in 110 cwt. The cost of the machine is about 1/. a quarter. On the Construction of Buildings for the Accommodation of Audiences. By Sir T. Dean. In this communication the author gave an account of alterations, which in conse- H2 100 REPORT—1844. quence of Mr. Scott Russell’s paper on the subject, he had been enabled to make in the defective arrangement of the Court House at Cork. By adapting Mr. Russell’s general principle to this particular case, he had succeeded in rendering the feeblest voice effectively heard. On the Collection of Water for the Supply of Towns. By Jounx Bateman, CLE. Mr. Bateman isof opinion that one-half or three-fourths of the rain is allowed to waste away, and often to do great damage, and suggests that it should be collected in large reservoirs and conveyed thence to towns in the locality*. On the Gconomy of Artificial Light for Preserving Sight. By I. Hawkins, C.B. Few were aware, he said, of the injury inflicted on the sight by too much or too little light, and by a sudden transition from gloom to light. He had tried several experiments with a view to procure a light of a medium description. He commenced with two common candles of eight to the pound, alternately snuffing and leaving them unsnuffed, and measuring the intensity of the light by the shadows cn the walls. The result of this experiment was, that he found that the candle well-snuffed gave eight times the light of that which was unsnuffed. He then proceeded to a process of weighing, and found that one pound of the snuffed candles gave as much light as nine pounds of the unsnuffed candles. With regard to Palmer’s and the common dip, he found that a pound and a quarter of the latter, costing 5}d., when well-snuffed, was equal to one pound of Palmer’s, costing 63d.; but when the same candle was not snuffed oftener than about every ten minutes, it took four to be equal to Palmer’s; and, when un- snuffed altogether, it required eleven pounds to be equal to one pound. After alluding to further experiments with candles, and also with oils, he concluded by re- commending the self-snuffing candle in preference to oil-lamps. On a new Process of Magnetic Manipulation, with its Effects on Hard Steel and Cast Iron. By W. Scoressy, D.D., F.RS., Lond. § Edin., Member of the Institute of France. During two or three sessions I have had the honour of bringing before the Section, the progressive results obtained in the course of a long series of investigations on the magnetic phznomena exhibited by steel plates and bars of various qualities and degrees of hardness. In a work recently published, entitled ‘ Magnetical Investiga- tions,’ comprising a detailed account of the researches referred to, it has been shown that no general rule could be given for the construction of magnets, as to the best denomination of steel or degree of hardness ; but that the variations in the masses and proportions, as well as in the forms in magnets, require, beyond certain extents of difference, a different rule. A similar difficulty, in practical magnetics, is found in the determination of a rule or process for the magnetising of bars or plates, under varieties of condition as to mass, proportions and hardness. Two processes, indeed, described in Part I. of the ‘ Magnetical Investigations,’ are most extensively applicable (if the developing or induction magnets be sufficiently powerful) for straight-bar magnets of almost all varieties of mass and temper, or hardness. These processes, modified as required by the peculiarity of figure in horse-shoe magnets, are likewise very effective for this description of magnets of the qualities ordinarily constructed. Neither of the processes, however, nor any process that I have seen described, is foung to be constantly effective in the case of thin hard bars of the horses-shoe form. Where the thinness and hardness are extreme, the effectiveness of the usual pro- cesses are most liable to fail. The uncertainty of the result, with these most usual methods, induced me to try other processes, suggested by the principles previously investigated. But none of the known processes, as appeared from the irregular application of the magnetical forces in the course of the manipulations with a horse-shoe magnet, were satisfactory, * On this subject, Mr. Bateman has undertaken to present a Report to the next Meeting. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 101 _ nor, in all cases, successful. The cause of the failure of the general processes, where a horse-shoe magnet was employed, seemed to he the production of consecutive poles. The action of a powerful magnet applied to a hard thin bar'seemed #00 local ; so that in the passage of its two nearly contiguous poles, a kind of magnetic wave is raised, highest under the magnet, which leaves behind it, probably, like the passage of a ship or boat, a series of other waves of diminishing altitude. To remedy this supposed defect in the ordinary processes, I placed two pairs of thin horse-shoe shaped magnets upon each other, each pair arranged in the form, nearly, of the figure of QO, with converse poles in contact. The arrangement was such, that whilst the two bars of each series or stratum, as laid on the table, had their converse, or mutually attracting poles in contact, the two series had correspondent polarities laid on each other. The an- nexed figure represents the arrange- ment and the position of the operating magnet nearly at the commencement of the process. The compound or operating magnet is placed on the upper surface _ of the upper pair of bars at the curve _ with its N. pole towards the S. and the S. towards the N. of the bars to be mag- netized. It is then slid gradually for- ward, S. pole in advance, towards the end designed for the N. pole of the bar beneath, and continued across the junc- tion of the bars, in the course of the dotted line, keeping the axis of the two poles in the central line of the bar, until the magnet comes round to the point at which the process commenced4; it is then slid off in the direction of the small arrow- shaped mark. The upper pair of bars is then removed and the lower pair turned over: the upper pair being also turned over is replaced on the top, and the process of manipulation, changing also the poles of the operating magnet, is repeated. Two complete circuits being thus made on the two surfaces of the upper pair of bars, developes in the highest possible degree (if the operating magnet be sufficiently ener- getic) the magnetic power of the lower pair of bars, whilst the upper pair is found to be comparatively weak. Before separating either pair of bars, those above must be removed ; and then, if the highest capacity be wished to be determined, a separate conductor should be laid across the two poles of each magnet to sustain the power when they are separated.. The effect of this process may be advantageously illustrated by giving the powers of the bars of a small five-bar magnet, weighing altogether 2-86 lbs. as magnetized in a single series in the form above figured, and when magnetized (taking the powers of the lower pair) by the process now described. These bars, it should be noted, were of best shear-steel, annealed in oil (after being made quite hard) at a temperature of about 490°; so that the process in the single series was much more effective than in the case of harder bars of similar thickness. The powers of the bars were determined by a spring balance, and those registered are the powers after the removal, at least once, of the iron conductor, so that these may be considered as the permanent powers. In the employment of the double series process of magnetizing, it will be observed, that there must be two bars left, after the magnetizing of three others, whose highest magnetic energy could not be developed, if no additional or subsidiary bars were used. But in this case I employed two bars of a corresponding kind belonging to another magnet for completing the process, If no additional bars are in possession of the maenetizer, then similar bars of iron can be substituted, or, without a spare bar of any kind, one of the two bars employed as the upper series in the previous manipu- lations can be magnetized by placing the other upon it, and an iron conductor across the poles of each bar whilst the manipulations are in progress. There will then remain only a single bar to be magnetized by another process. The following com- parative experiments show the advantage gained by the new double-series process over that of the single series, or of any other method previously in use, for all the medes heretofore described were tried. v 4 . A. b 102 REPORT—1844, Powers of bars by the single series process, We 7; 7-4; 7-4; 3. Total 37-1. in figure of QO combination ............... Powers obtained by the double series pro-| g.-. 9. q. 19. 1% : ESSA Cagibdcivecls slices baile gitdaceutaemerm aaasaes « }o 5; 9; 9; 10; 10-7. Total 48:2. These powers, it will be noted, are very unusual. The last bar of the series was found to weigh 4050 grains. Its lifting power, therefore, was not less than eighteen times its own weight—a degree of energy, in a magnet of such a weight, as I had never before witnessed. The average power of the set of bars was 9°6 lbs., or nearly seventeen times the average weight. The load sustained when the five bars were ut together as a compcund magnet was of course much reduced proportionally. efore the removal of the conductors, indeed, the small magnet supported a weight of 44:5 lbs. ; after the breaking of the contact, it sustained a Icad, rapidly but progres- sively attached, of 27 lbs., or above nine times the weight of the instrument. The same process of magnetic manipulation, in which the magnetic energy is deve- loped through the medium of an interposed bar or bars, is found to be exceedingly effective in its application to cast iron bars of the horse-shoe form. Through the kindness of my friend Henry W. Wickham, Esq. of the Lowmoor Iron Works at Bradford, I obtained bars of cast iron of the best quality, and made very hard by being cast on a cast iron plate, for a large compound magnet of the horse-shoe form of this species of iron. The bars measured twelve inches from the curved extremity to the poles, and weighed on an average about 5:8 lbs. Their capacities for magnetism, as developed by the new process, proved to be very considerable, Magnetized in the single series form, by a very powerful horse-shoe magnet, is the best mode hitherto described ; the lifting powers of four of these bars were,— First trial, before the separation of the conductor. 14; 95; 7; 12. Mean 10°5 lbs, 12:5; 7; 7; 8. Mean 85 lbs. Magnetized by the new, or double series process, the powers were,— 23°53 17°5; 18°5; 18. Mean 19'5 lbs. 150; 10°5 ; 10°5; 11. Mean 11°8 lbs, Straight bars of thin hard steel were next subjected to trial by the same process, and its efficiency in developing the utmost power of the bars, by the agency of 2 horse-shoe magnet, was again proved. In this case three hard steel plates were placed ina straight line at the end of each other (according to a well-known arrangement), these being magnetized by a single strike of a horse-shoe magnet from end to end, with a similar series of hard plates interposed. Each of the three plates of the ower series was found to be magnetized to saturation. A result, apparently similar, but not yet strictly tested, was obtained by one stroke of the horse-shoe magnet over a single hard cast steel plate, with a plate of iron interposed. Here the iron acted as a con- ductor along the whole magnet, so as to render the formation of a parallelogram of two steel bars with iron conductors across the ends unnecessary. Thus by means of this new process, the principle of which simply consists in the developing of the magnetic energies of a magnetizable substance, not by the direct action of a magnet, but through the medium of a magnetizable substance of like dimensions interposed, the horse-shoe magnet, an instrument so compact and con- venient for practice, becomes available for the magnetizing of almost all kinds of bars or plates capable of being constructed into permanent magnets, Subsequent or permanent power. On the Great Fountain at Chatsworth, erected by the Duke of Devonshire. By Mr. Paxton. This fountain is supplied with water from a reservoir which covers eight acres. The fall is 381 feet, and the height which the water attains from the fountain, (or which it is expected to attain when brought into full operation,) is 280 feet*. On the Filtration of Water for the Supply of Towns. By B. G. Storer. The high-pressure plan, through sand, was recommended. * A report on this subject has been undertaken. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 103 Ona Plan for Preventing the Stealing of Letters by Letter Carriers. By the Rev. F. O. Morris. __ Mr. Morris proposes that a stamp (similar to the one at present in use) be im- _ printed on a slip of paper about half an inch wide and twice the length of a folded letter; the price a penny, as at present. Let this stamped slip be put through the letter, which may be done either before or after itis folded, and then be doubled in- wards, so as for the ends to meet. It will keep in by the mere doubling down, but if additional security be thought desirable, these ends may be fastened together with a wafer, &c. Let this stamped slip be directed, as well as the letter itself, by the writer, and let it be stamped at the office where it is put in, as well as where it arrives, as also the letter itself, as is done with the latter at present. When such letters arrive at their destination, let the slips be pulled out, and filed, or those of each day put by themselves, for any fixed time, for reference if necessary. Detection would thus, on inquiry, immediately follow the detention of any letter. — —_——- On the probable Mode of Constructing the Pyramids. By Henry Pericat, Jun. The author, after quoting from Herodotus the description of the building of the great Pyramid, and commenting on the magnitude of some of the stones employed in it, and of others found in the ruins at Baalbec, gives the following explanation of his views. : There appears to be no evidence to prove that the architects of the Pyramids were acquainted with any contrivances or combinations equivalent to what would be called machines or engines, according to the modern acceptation of the words; on the contrary, it seems much more probable that their gigantic undertakings were accomplished by some very simple means; which simplicity (leading to the notion that the means were self-evident) was perhaps the very reason that no record was kept, or transmitted to posterity, of their mode of operation. With this conviction, on the assumption that the statement of Herodotus might be founded on fact, I en- _ deavoured to discover in what manner such prodigious blocks could have been elevated, _ from step to step, merely by the aid of short pieces of wood, when the idea occurred to me that they might have been so raised by some such system as the following rocess : — , Each block of stone, shaped and prepared for use before it left the quarry, was _ conveyed across the Nile (advantage being taken of the periodical inundations) on _ rafts, or other appropriate vessels, to the causeway described by Herodotus; along _ which it was dragged on rollers, or on sledges if the stone was smoothed or pclished, _ by the labour of men (or of cattle), to a convenient locality adjoining the Pyramid, where it remained till wanted; thence it was conducted to the first step of the Pyra- mid onrollers, To get the rollers underneath wedges were used, if it lay on the hard rock; otherwise the earth was removed from beneath one-half of the stone, the director or superintendent having placed himself upon the further end to prevent it from tilting over too soon, Next, the director having walked on the top to the other end, the stone (over- balanced by the leverage of his weight) tilted into the hollow in the ground, when rollers were placed under the other half of it, The director having walked back again the stone was tilted on to the rollers, and conveyed to its destination at the foot of the Pyramid ; where, perhaps, it was trans- ferred in a similar way to larger rollers. Then commenced the lifting process. All but one roller being removed, that one being as nearly as possible under the centre of gravity, the stone was tilted as before, while flat boards cr planks were placed beneath; and upon these boards another very much narrower to act as a fulcrum: all being about the same length, proportioned to the width of the stone. The director having walked to the other end the stone was tilted on to the boards, and similar planks were piled beneath by the side or parallel to the others, but a degree higher or more in number; and upon them also a narrow fulcrum-slip, upon which the stone was then tilted. a‘ 104 REPORT—1844, The director having repeatedly walked backwards and forwards, tilting each end of the stone alternately, and additional boards having been introduced every time, the stone gradually rose to the required height, rather exceeding that of the next step, when rollers were placed on the boards and the stone was transferred to similar planks placed in readiness on the next step of the Pyramid. The same process was then renewed, and continued from step to step till the stone arrived at its destined locality. Should any of the stones have been short, and consequently have afforded insuffi- cient leverage for one man’s weight to tilt them, he might have carried a load; or planks might have been made fast at the top so as to project beyond the ends of the stone for him to walk along; or two or more men might have been employed in traversing the stone; or various other expedients might, obviously, have been adopted to tilt the stone. The wood probably underwent some preparatory process by which it was condensed and its elasticity destroyed, perhaps by being subjected to very heavy pressure when sodden with boiling water. Thus “ the properties of the lever and of the centre of gravity were brought into co-operation, so that the weight to be lifted was itself the principal element of the lifting power.” Figuratively speaking, THE STONE WAS MADE TO RAISE ITSELF BY MEANS OF ITS OWN WEIGHT. In this manner, with the aid of a few dozen planks, a couple of men (one traversing the stone while the other arranged the planks) might have conducted to the top of the great Pyramid the largest stone used in its construction; thus corroborating the assertion of the Egyptian priests, as stated by Herodotus, that the “‘ stones were raised from step to step by the aid of short pieces of wood; which, being portable and easily managed, might be removed or transferred as often as they deposited a stone ; or different sets might have been employed for every range of steps.’ By this simple process, also, afew men might have raised Stonehenge in a single night, if the requisite stones were provided and placed in readiness near the spot, without any previous or subse- quent indication of the means by which it was effected; affording the Druids a favourable opportunity of practising upon the ignorance and credulity of the multi- tude by ascribing its erection to supernatural agency. oa eS RAISING THE STONES FROM STEP TO STEP IN CONSTRUCTING THE PYRAMID. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 105 ADDENDUM. On Photography. By H. ¥. Tausor, Esq., FBS. [Article omitted in its proper place, p. 37.) Mr, Fox Talbot said that he had made many experiments on sulphate of iron as a photographic agent; attention having been called to the subject by Mr. Hunt. He could not recommend the use of succinic acid. The same iodized paper as was used in the calotype process, gave the best results, With this and sulphate of iron he had obtained portraits in one or two seconds. This process, then, only differed from the calotype process in using sulphate of iron instead of gallic acid to bring out the picture. He therefore objected to the introduc- tion of a new name; for since other substances (such as tea, tannin, &c.) possess this bringing out property, and probably many more will be discovered in future, each of these would require, upon the same principle, to have a separate name, which would be productive of inconvenience rather than advantage. 2. The spontaneous development of pictures in the dark, was a thing of constant occurrence in the calotype process (which indeed was first discovered in that man- ner). Moreover, when the io-gallic paper, formerly described by Mr. Talbot, is em- ployed for calotyping instead of iodized paper, no second wash is required to bring out the pictures, which develope themselves spontaneously after removal from the camera; and therefore the process which Dr. Woods recommended was not new in this respect. ‘The time necessary for the complete development of the pictures varied considerably, according to circumstances, from a few seconds to one or two hours. 8. In reference to Prof. Grove’s communication, Mr. Talbot reminded the Section of the account he had formerly published of the positive variety of the calotype process, in which an iodized paper not really but virtually darkened by light, is again virtually whitened by exposure to light in the camera, the final result being brought out by gallic acid in the usual way. By operating with these virtual papers, the time re- quired for a positive camera picture was greatly shortened. Still however it was ten times longer than for the negative process, and therefore there was room for improve- ment in this branch of photography. The positive camera pictures are very beautiful, having of course all the delicacy of first impression, which is lost in transferring the image to a second sheet of paper. On Mineral Springs and other Waters of Yorkshire. By Witi1am WEsT. Entering the county from the south, we have at Birley Spa, Hackenthorp, four miles from Sheffield, a slightly saline spring, and a saline chalybeate; the former contains per imperial gallon— Sulphate of soda ..... Dee adaniasemee = 7:44 Chloride of calcium .........seeeeee 1-01 Carbonate of lime .............. BEN sac 55 Total... 9 grains. This supplies hot baths, and a remarkably commodious plunge bath. The chalybeate contains— Sulphate of soda ....., ap neaehpieeas 40 Sulphate of lime ...........000 wwe 225 Carbonate of lime .........« “ote 7) Protoxide of iron ....cceesesecseees 4: Total... 67 grains; including The two are within a very few yards of each other. a minute trace of magnesia. On the gritstone moors, to the west of Sheffield, I found springs and streams of the purest natural waters I have ever examined ; the proportion of solid matter was less than two grains per gallon, and some of the substances present required for their de- tection that the water should be much concentrated ; when this was done their nature was found to be as complicated as in ordinary waters, sulphates, muriates, and car- bonates, with lime, soda, magnesia and iron, for bases. The waters of Askern near Doncaster, have long enjoyed some celebrity, and se- a oe. 106 REPORT—1844. veral sets of baths exist there. I analysed several of the springs about five years since. I found in the Old Manor Baths,— Sulphate of magnesia ............0.. 153°18 Sulphate of soda .........64. corners sae 58-06 Chloride of calcium ..... Jpkcnesade 82:83 Carbonate of lime ..........-.0+000 12°05 Carbonate of soda ............sc0e0s 30°19——Total... 236°31 With Sulphuretted Hydrogen ............ 8 Carhonic ACidyy wn iengssascestt.cecbene 52 INUIPOP CT 8 Genes andenaaces eh gets ns deste 8 Total... 214 cubic inches. Three other springs, supplying the baths of various proprietors, were so nearly alike in their results that one statement may be sufficient. Sulphate of magnesia ............ 17°75 Chloride of calcium ............... 3"9 Sulphate of lime ............200068 1038 Carbonate of lime ...... segseeeas 12:2 Carbonate of soda ......s..s..00 26°35 ——Total... 164. With Sulphuretted Hydrogen ........... - 62 Carboni¢ acid: J.gseecsdeconsarensaae ee Es IUCOS OD os ceekeM ec iatnes sates smesiaes 11 ——Total... 261 cubic inches. I satisfied myself by passing the electric spark through portions of the residual ni- trogen, mixed with various proportions of oxygen alone, and of oxygen and hydrogen, that no appreciable quantity of carburetted hydrogen or of oxygen was previously contained in the water. No other Yorkshire water, except Harrowgate, contains nearly so large a quantity of magnesian salts, and there the chloride, not the sulphate, is present. The wells at Askern, however, were at that time so badly secured, and the strata in which they occur are so porous, that the water varied to an unusual degree. I found neither iodine nor bromine by careful search in these waters. At Stanley, two miles north of Wakefield, there was, some years ago, an Artesian or overflowing well, which supplied one of the strongest solutions of carbonate of soda, almost without earthy salts, which I have met with; it contained Carbonate Of SOda cccccccccescecesees. 40°8 Sulphate jofjsodawiecserseeserccesnssas> 5'8 Chloride of sodium .........c02csee0e 8:9 Chloride of calcium ....ce.seseeseeess rl. | otal ames sete At Field Head, in Mirfield, is a strong run of water, powerfully chalybeate, with 4 grains of oxide of iron, 25 of sulphate of lime, and 61 of sulphate of soda. It well illustrates the observation that such a proportion of iron may accompany a large or a very small quantity of alkaline and earthy salts. The water distributed from the present Leeds water-works is supplied by several springs and streams in the neighbourhood of Eccup. I found these to contain from 2°35 to 3°63 Sulphate of lime. 1:33 to 4:27 Carbonate of lime. 1:38 to 5:97 Carbonate of soda. Traces of magnesia, and in some cases of iron. 7:7 to 11-65 total solid contents. At Leeds we have a water of considerable local repute and some scientific interest. It has long been obtained in abundance in the township of Holbeck, and hence such water, wherever met with, cbtains among Leeds people the name of Holbeck Water. The best springs yield Carbonate of S004 -. 6 Total... 43:2. It might serve as a subject for chemical speculation, and as yet we have little be- yond speculation in such matters, that in these waters, where the principal salt is car- bonate of soda, we always find sulphuretted and often carburetted hydrogen. But TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 107 arbonate of soda often forms a secondary impregnation without being accompanied y either of these gases. “It is a little singular, this variety of water being so extensively met with in this county, that it should either be rare, or have excited little attention in other parts of the country. Itis scarcely mentioned in chemical treatises. This water is deservedly in high repute for some domestic purposes; but I think ‘sufficient attention is not paid to the medicinal effects, whether beneficial or other- wise, of a long continuance of even small doses of carbonate of soda, when these effects are increased, like those of other substances, by the state of dilution and the bulk of fluid. Lastly, such is the inaptitude of some persons for judging of the qualities of a water without analysis, that I have met with some who considered every water ‘obtained by boring as “ Holbeck water,” and expected it to answer all the purposes "of that really valuable kind. One spring of this description, passing under the name _ of Holbeck water, yielded Sulphate of lime ..,......ssseeeseneee 35°27 Carbonate of lime ......seseseeeeere ‘1 Carbonate of soda ..scesssseeeeee ... 18°63——Total... 60, including traces _ of chloride of magnesium. Or supposing the interchange between the carbonate of soda and its equivalent of lime, on concentration in the boiler to be complete there would remain Sulphate of lime .........sssseseseseeees 3°16 Carbonate of lime .........seeseeeeeeee 32:00 Sulphate of soda .......sceceseecsseneees 24°84 Total... 60. In fact, instead of the boiler remaining clean, as with carbonate of soda alone, the “fur” was taken from it, in frequent cleansings, by barrow loads. At Calverley near Bradford, is a powerful chalybeate, in which the iron is in the _ state of sulphate, with much sulphate of lime, but I have no account of the exact proportions. Among the flag-stones to the north and west of Bradford are many excellent springs, which I have had occasion to analyse; the following are among them :— Sulphate of lime ......... 2°35 Sulphate of lime ... 2°7 2°35 Sulphate of soda ..,...... 1:37 Carbonate of lime... 2 1°67 Carbonate of soda ...... “28 Carbonate of soda... 2°5 2°48 Total... 4° 54 65 Occasional traces of chlorides in some specimens. The water at Ilkley, lately ushered into fresh notice by the establishment of baths _ and the other adjuncts of the cold water cure of Preissnitz, under the new appellation _ of Ben Rhydding, I have not had occasion to analyse. It has been stated to owe its chemical distinction to extreme purity, but the analysis does not bear out this account. Chloride of sodium .........sseeee0+ Se arikss GOA Sulphate of soda ...... Spaiieisssteieeee-* "366 Sulphate of lime ....0....esseseeeeneeees 2 Carbonate of lime ....... ew baa eh Ae 2°353 Carbonate of magnesia ...........06. ayo sade Silicate of soda ...... e000 slit stains his 1:066 Peroxide of iron (?)..s..sseeesesesseenes -060-———Total... 5742. The proportion of solid matter is small, but greater than in the Sheffield or the Brad- ford waters. At Skipton there are hot and cold baths, supplied by a spring, slightly saline and sulphureous. At Crickhill, between Skipton and Gisburn, is a sulphureous spring; the saline contents are— Chloride of calcium............ Wabvapaae 25°76 Chloride of sodium ........ FEeE UT ope 15°94 Sulphate of soda .........csseeesssseeee 48-4 Carbonate of soda ...... Witieativeds 154 Oxide of Lope eases .cckccasacdce. oles ‘5 ——Total... 106. 108 REPORT—1844, And the gases,—Sulphuretted hydrogen ...,..... 2E CarbOnic'acid. wcscarcsseocesseescee 4 INIHOG EN Ys. Jy. ceavecessees cess veces 42 Carburetted hydrogen.,......... “whi: Total... 15 cubic inches. At Bolton by Bolland, on the extreme western verge of the county, in the grounds of Mrs. Littledale, is a weak sulphureous spring: though unprovided with baths, and indeed too small at present to supply them, it has credit in the neighbourhood as a medicinal water, for both internal and external use. The water of the Aire and the Wharfe, at their sources near Malham, is strongly petrifying ; large masses of calcareous deposit abound among the cliffs of Gordale Scarr; Josh. Spence found 12} grains of solid matter per gallon, of which 12 grains was carbonate of lime. Huddersfield has in its neighbourhood two sets of baths; at Lockwood, one mile . south, the water is sulphureous, containing Sulphuretted hydrogen .............4. 1-836 Carbonic acid ......... Baedtecahececectes 756 Carburetted hydrogen...........s0000.. 3:78 Nitrogen ...... Saeepaeens Raciicbaasbense 4:425 Total... 10°8 cubic inches. The only solid contents are carbonate of lime, 7:8; sulphate of magnesia, ‘8; and a trace of chloride of calcium. Here we have the compounds of hydrogen with carbon and sulphur, without their usual accompaniments of chlorides or carbonate of soda. At Slaithwaite baths the characteristic ingredient is carbonate of soda; the analysis of two springs gave me— Chloride of calcium ......... Pct hewapwen ces oad 75 of / Chloride of magnesium..............:seeeeeee. “4 “4 Chloride of Sodtunti tiers cescessiccesecesccceee 2°65 2:5 Carbonate OP sod deccestedes.cescscecdsicscccves 17°8 20-4 Total... 21:6 24° From the construction of the pumping apparatus, large bubbles of gases continually escape and may be inflamed by a candle; these, from their burning with a blue flame and sulphureous smell, are believed in the neighbourhood to be hydrosulphuric acid, “sulphur” as they term it; they consist, however, of a small quantity of that gas, with much carburetted hydrogen and some nitrogen and carbonic acid. The waters yielded Sulphuretted hydrogen ..........s0+0000 “75 Carbonic iacidsser.,ccssosseeest worcccees se 1:25 Carburetted hydrogen ..........cseeeees 4:75 Nitrogen: is. Nace asteeceebeacesscet: seseee 6°25———Total.., 13 cubic inches. The excellence of a pure sodaic water for steam-engines is well illustrated here; I was assured that the bottom of the boiler which supplies the pumping-engine and hot water for baths remains “bright like silver;” this I suppose an exaggeration, but that it never requires cleaning is a circumstance more credible and sufficiently de- sirable. At this spot I found, in greater abundance than anywhere else in my experience, that remarkable substance, the organic composition and equivocal nature of which has exercised the ingenuity of chemists. Not far from the baths is a chalybeate spring, yielding— Sulphate of soda ...... Rodseteeeeesnave= >= 1-7 Carbonate of lime ...........esee0 Loestad 3 Carbonate of magnesia .........00. penees ek Protoxide of iron......ss+.s000 SoSaduconked 1-8——Total... 8:6. I had an opportunity of examining the ordinary waters of the neighbourhood of Huddersfield on the north side, from analysing many springs about Honley; they gave from 2 to 12 grains of solid matter, generally about 8, of which about half consisted of salts of lime. TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 109 Horley Green, one mile and a quarter north-east of Halifax, is the site of a power- ful chalybeate spring ; I found— x Sulphate of iron ...... Siuatcceteasteccs 40°77 4 Sulphate of lime ........ msreet edeceeese 15:26 é Sulphate of magnesia ...... meneeechcaan) Phas Chloride of calcium.,......sseeseresseeee 32 SHCA eusinciesin dnesc asiscalesenanp'saneackesais 93 PATOUNING) ocacecsasecsascecccvvesttqcthe=re 1-22 Total... 63:5. _ On the south bank of the river Wharfe, at Boston, or Thorp Arch, a strong saline _ spring supplies hot and cold baths; its composition I found to be— Chloride of sodium............2+++ seen O22" Chloride of calcium ..........2....00 59° } Chloride of magnesium..........-.00. 11°5 BYeCAnS a= den deeecece ene ech AReerEoee DS 1:25 Carbonate of iron ..........se.eeeeeeee 1°75 Total... 895°5 grains. It was natural to expect iodine and bromine in water containing so large a propor- tion of chlorides, but J could not in any state of concentration detect either. This _ water has been said to contain hydrosulphuric acid, which, as may be supposed from the composition, is a misrepresentation, arising from the wish to bring the baths into closer competition with those of Harrowgate. The celebrated Harrowgate springs might of themselves furnish along dissertation ; I shall make it as short as their number and importance will permit, analyses by others as well as by myself having been published repeatedly within the last few years. The Old Well, which forms the type and standard of all the sulphureous waters of the place, yielded on the last occasion on which I analysed it,— Chloride of sodium ......... 872°4 Sulphuretted hydrogen ... 15°6 / Chloride of calcium ......... 94:1 Carbonic acid .........s0008+ 2°72 Chloride of magnesium...,.. 45°7 Carburetted hydrogen...... 6°86 Carbonate of soda .........0+ 34:8 Nitrogen toe< sec s2 c+ costes sition of, 31. fy Esquimanx race, southern limits of the, in America, 78. Estremadura, Spanish,'on the phosphorite rock in, 28. Ethno-epo-graphy, on, 84. Ethnographical maps, mode of constructing, 84. Ethnography of Africa as determined by its languages, 79. Everest (Lieut.-Col.) on the geodetical ope- rations of India, 3. —— on an instrument called a barometer- ora for filling barometer tubes in vacuo, INDEX II. 121 ‘Exeter amygdaloid, on the, 55. Exley (Thomas) on the alternate i edie of attraction and repulsion, noticed by New- ton, Boscovich, and others; and on che- mical affinity, 39. Eye, on the accommodation of the, to va- rious distances, 10. Fairbairn (W.) on the ceconomy of the ex- pansive action of steam in steam-engines, 98. Fauna of Ireland, additions to the, 66. Featherstonhaugh (G. W.) on the excavation of the rocky channels of rivers by the re- cession of their cataracts, 45. Felkin (William) on the statistics of the ma- chine-wrought hosiery trade, 91. Ferns, on the cultivation of, 73. Ferrotype, on the, 35. Fishes of Yorkshire, on the, 62. — on the sclerotic plates in, 63. Fish river of the North Polar Sea, 58. Flames, oxyhydrogen, on increasing the in- tensity of the, 33. Fletcher (Joseph), statistical notices of the state of education in York, 91. Flora of Yorkshire, on the, 70. Forbes (Prof. E.) on the tertiary and cre- taceous formations of the Isle of Wight, 43. —— dredging operations on the coast of Anglesea by, 63. —— on some animals new to the British seas, 64. —— on the morphology of the reproductive system of Sertularian zoophytes, and its analogy with that of flowering plants, 68. Forbes (Prof. J. D.), an attempt to establish the plastic nature of glacier ice by direct experiment, 24, Fowler (Dr.), additional facts relative to the case of a blind and deaf mute, 85. France, on a geological map of part of, 55. , on the mining industry of, 86. Frankfort on the Maine, on the statistics of, 88. Freshwater cliff at Hordwell, discovery of an alligator in the, associated with extinct mammalia, 50. Frog, experiments with zinc on the limbs of a, 38. Furnace-grate, on a new, 98. Garrow Hills, on the ethnographical position of certain tribes of the, 80. Galium Vaillantii, 73. Gassiot (M.) on the production of electricity without contact, 39. Geodetical operations of India, on the, 3. Geography, physical, 42. Geological map of England, Ordnance, on that portion now completely coloured, 46. —— phenomena, explanation of certain, by the agency of glaciers, 57. Geology, 42. . —— of Norfolk Island, on the, 57. 122 Gibbes (Sir G., M.D.) on the constitution of matter, 41. Gilbert (Mrs.) on agricultural schools, 87. Giraffe, peculiar structure of the hoof of the, 63. Glacier ice, an attempt to establish the plastic nature of, by direct experiment, 24. Glaciers, explanation of certain geological phenomena by the agency of, 57. Glass furnaces, air-duct to be used in, for the prevention of smoke, 35. Goadby (A.) on the conservation of sub- stances, 69. Goddard (James Thomas) on an improved anemometer, 23. Gold ores, discovery of, in Merionethshire, 56. Goodman (John) on the analogy of the ex- istences or forces, light, heat, voltaic and ordinary electricities, 11. Goodsir (Harry D. 8S.) on the structure and development of the cystic entozoa, 67. on the reproduction of lost parts in the crustacea, 68. on the organs of generation in the de- capodous crustacea, 69. Goran, in Cornwall, on the natural history of, 65. Gould (John), a monograph of the subfamily Odontophorine, or partridges of America, 61. Grallatores, 60. Granary for preserving corn, moveable, on the, 99. Grassington lead mines, on the, 52. Grate, on a new furnace, 98. Gravels of Ireland, occurrence of marine shells in the, 57. Gray (J.) on the causes of the great Versailles railway accident, 97. experiments on iron bars, 98. Green (Dr.) on Nasmyth’s steam pile driver, 98. Greenhow (T. M.) on an air-duct to be used in glass furnaces for the prevention of smoke, 35. Greenwich, state of the reductions of the planetary and lunar observations made at, 2. Grenier mobile, or moveable granary for pre- serving corn, 99. Grewe (J. H.), experiment with the ther- mometer on the mountain Storvandofjeld, 27. Griffith (Richard) on certain Silurian districts of Ireland, 46. Grit, on the relative age and true position of the millstone, 51. Grove (Prof.) on photography, 37. Guanches, the extinct inhabitants of the Ca- nary Islands, on the stature of the, 81. Guano, 32. Guiana, British, on the forest trees of, 72. ——, on two new species of Laurinez from, 72, — , on the natives of, 83. INDEX II. Hall (Elias) on the midland coal formations of England, 46. Hamilton (Sir W. R.) on a theory of quater- nions, 2. Hancock (Albany) on Pterochilus, a new genus of nudibranchiate mollusca, and two new species of Doris, 66. Hawaiian Jslands, on the natives of the, 82. Hawkins (I.) on the ceconomy of artificial light for preserving sight, 100. Health, on the statistics of, 96. Heat, specific, 34. Helianthoid zoophytes, on a new genus of, 66. Heming (Dr.) on a disease of the tongue, 84. Herschel (Sir J. F. W., Bart.), contributions to actino-chemistry; on the amphitype, a new photographic process, 12. Hodgkin (Dr.) on the dog as the associate of man, 81. on the stature of the Guanches, the ex- tinct inhabitants of the Canary Islands, 81. on the tape-worm as prevalent in Abys- sinia, 85. Hodgkinson (Eaton), experimental inquiries into the falling off from perfect elasticity in solid bodies, 25. Hogg (John), catalogue of birds observed in S.-E. Durham, and in N.-W. Cleveland, 59. Hopkins (T.) on the-irregular movements of the barometer, 21. on the diurnal variations of the baro- meter, 22. Hordwell, discovery of an alligator in the freshwater cliff at, 50. Hosiery trade, on the statistics of the ma- chine-wrought, 91. Hospitals for the insane in Bengal, on the statistics of, 89. Howard (Luke), the mean year, or solar va- riation through the seasons of the baro- meter in the climate of London, 14. Huggate well, temperature of the air at va- rious soundings of, 22. Hunt (Robert) on the influence of light on chemical compounds, and electro-chemical action, 35. on the ferrotype, and the property of sulphate of iron in developing photogra- phic images, 36. Hyndman (Mr.), dredging operations on the north coast of Ireland, 64. Ibbetson (L. L. B.) on a method of electro- type, by which the deposition on minute objects is easily accomplished, 39. on the tertiary and cretaceous forma- tions of the Isle of Wight, 43. Ice, glacier, an attempt to establish the pla- stic nature of, by direct experiment, 24. Ichthyosaurus, anomalous structure in the paddle of a species of, 51. India, on the geodetical operations of, 3. , on the Shyens and Karens of, 84. Indigo, on the supposed formation of vale- rianic acid from, 33. ustrial education, on, 112. ane, on the statistics of hospitals for the, in Bengal, 89. 4 Insanity, on the relative liability of the two ~ sexes to, 92. 3 beieares, 60. Treland, results of the tide observations on the coast of, 4. — on certain Silurian districts of, 46. —, occurrence of marine shells in the gravels of, 57. —, dredging operations on the north coast of, 64. _ —, additions to the fauna of, 66. _ Tron, cast, action of a new process of mag- netic manipulation on, 12, 100. ——, property of sulphate of, in developing photographic images, 36. _ ——on the alteration that takes place in, by being exposed to long-continued vibra- tion, 41. _ —— experiments on bars of, 98. Isle of Wight, on a newly-discovered species of Unio, from the wealden strata of the, 42. —,, on the tertiary and cretaceous forma- tions of the, 43. _ Jordan (C. J.) on increasing the intensity of ___ the oxyhydrogen flame, 33. _ Joule (J. P.) on specific heat, 34. _ Kemp (Dr.) on the functions of the bile, 86. Kettleness, on a large specimen of Plesio- ___ saurus found at, 40. _ Kincaid (Mr.) on the Shyens and Karens of India, 84. King (Dr. Richard) on the Fish River of the North Polar Sea, 58. — on the supposed extinct inhabitants of Newfoundland, 83. Kingoodie Quarry, on a nail found imbedded in a block of sandstone from, 51. Knipe (J.) on a geological map of the British Isles and part of France, 55. Kombst (Dr.) on the mode of constructing ___ ethnographical maps, 84. _ Languages of America, on the, 83. _ Latham (Dr. R. G.) on the southern limits of _ the Esquimaux race in America, 78. _ —— on the ethnography of Africa as deter- _ mined by its languages, 79. —— on the eastern limits of the Australian _ race and language, 80. —— on the ethnographical position of cer- ‘tain tribes of the Garrow Hills, 80. Laycock (Dr.), suggestions for the observation of periodic changes in animals, 70. —— on the refiex function of the brain, 85. — on the sanatory condition of York du- ring the years 1839-43, 90. —— on the addition to vital statistics con- tained in the first Report of the Commis- -sioners of Inquiry into’ the circumstances affecting the Health of Towns, 90. a i Karens of India, on the, 84. INDEX II. 123 Laurent (M.), Prof. MacCullagh on an at- tempt lately made by, to explain on me- chanical principles the phenomenon of circular polarization in liquids, 7. Laurinee, two new species of the family, 72. Lead mines, on the Grassington, 52. Le Dru (M.) on the cold-drawn pipes of, 99. Lee (Dr. J.), communications on meteorology from Norway, presented by, 27. Leigh (Dr.) on the action of nitric acid on naphtha, 33. Letter carriers, on a plan for preventing the stealing of letters by, 103. Life-boat, on a new, 99. Lightia lemniscata, description of, 71. Light, on certain points connected with el- liptic polarization of, 7. , on the dispersion and absorption of, 8. , polarization of by rough surfaces, and white dispersing surfaces, 11. , influence of, on chemical compounds,3o. , artificial, on the ceconomy of, for pre- serving sight, 100. Limestones of Yorkshire, on the, 30. Liquids, on an attempt to explain by mecha- nical principles the phenomena of circular polarization in, 7. Littledale (Mr.) on an apparatus invented by, by which the blind can read and write, 99. Llanrwst, periodical birds observed at, in 1843 and 1844, 61. London, solar variations through the seasons of the barometer in the climate of, 14. Loven (Prof.) on the bathymetrical distribu- tion of submarine life on the northern Shores of Scandinavia, 50. Lowman (the late Mr.) on the orthochrono- graph invented by, 14. Lucas (W.) on the limestones of Yorkshire, 30. —on the alteration that takes place in iron by being exposed to long-continued vibra- tion, 41. Lucernariz, on the structure of the, 66. Lunar observations, state of the reductions of the, made at Greenwich, 2. Lycopodium, on the acid formed by the ac- tion of hydrate of potash upon, 33. MacCullagh (Prof.)on an attempt lately made by M. Laurent, to explain on mechanical principles the phenomenon of circular po- larization in liquids, 7. Machinery, new apparatus for starting heavy, 98. Maconochie (Capt.) on the physical charac- ter and geology of Norfolk Island, 57. Magnesian limestone of Yorkshire, 30. Magnetic manipulation, on a new process of, and its action on cast iron and steel bars, 12, 100. Malton, statistics of Old and New, 89. Mammalia, on the discovery of extinct, in the freshwater cliff at Hordwell, 50. Manipulation, on a new process of magnetic, and its action on cast iron and steel bars, 12, 100. 124 Man, on the dog as the associate of, 81. ——, on the stature and relative proportions of, 82. Mantell (G. A.) on a newly-discovered spe- cies of Unio, from the Wealden strata of the Isle of Wight, 42. Map of the British Isles and part of France, on a geological, 55. ——, on new Swedish and Norwegian geolo- gical, 55. ——, ethnographical mode of constructing, 84. Mathematics, 1. Matter, constitution of, 41. Matteucci (M.) experiments with zinc on the limbs of a frog, 38. Mayer (Serjeant) a year’s meteorological ob- servations made at Aden, 22. M‘Andrew (Mr.) dredging operations on the coast of Anglesea, 63. —— on some animals new to the British seas, discovered by, 64. M‘Conochie (Capt.) on the statistics of the criminal population of Norfolk Island, 93. Mechanical science, 96. Medical science, 84. Mercer (John, jun.) on the solvent power of solutions of acetates, 32. Merionethshire, discovery of gold ore in, 56. Merriman (Dr. S. W. J.) on the comparative frequency of uterine conception, 89. Metallic cylinders, on a new machine for as- certaining the diameter of, 98. Meteorological observations made at Aden,22. —— at Christiana in 1843, 27. —— at the Alten observatory, 28. Meteorology, communications from Norway on, 27. Mexico, on the theory and practice of amal- gamation of silver ores in, 28. Meynell (T.) on the fishes of Yorkshire, 62. Miller (Gen.) on the Sandwich islanders, 83. Mineral springs and other waters of York- shire, 28, 105. Mines, on the Grassington lead, 52. Mining industry of France, on the, 86. Mining records, and the means by which their preservation may be best ensured, 42. Mollusca, on a new genus of nudibranchiate, 65, 66. Moore (O. A.) on the flora of Yorkshire, 70. Moro (Signor Gaetano) on the communica- tion between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, through the isthmus of Tehuan- tepec, 58. Morphia, on the influence of the endermic application of the salts of, in swelling of the joints, 86. Morphology of the reproductive system of Sertularian zoophytes, 68. Morris (Rev. Francis Orpen) on a plan for preventing the stealing of letters by letter carriers, 103. on zoological nomenclature, 78. Mortality of Calcutta, on the, 88. Mountain limestone of Yorkshire, 30. INDEX II. | | } Murchison (R. I.) on the Palaozoic rocks of Scandinavia and Russia, particularly as to the Lower Silurian rocks which form their true base, 53. on new Swedish and Norwegian geo- logical maps, 55. Muscular current of the frog, on the, 38. Muspratt (J. S.) on the supposed formation of valerianic acid from indigo, and on the acid which is formed by the action of hy- drate of potash upon Lycopodium, 33. Mute, additional facts relative to the case of a blind and deaf, 85. Myers (the Rey. T.) on ethno-epo-graphy, 84. Naphtha, action of nitric acid on, 33. Nasmyth’ssteam pile-driver, Dr. Green on, 98. Natatores, 60. Newfoundland, supposed extinct inhabitants of, 83. Newton, on the alternate spheres of attrac- tion and repulsion noticed by, 39. Nitric acid, action of, on naphtha, 33. Norfolk Island, physical character and geo- logy of, 57. ——, on the statistics of the criminal popu- lation of, 93. Norway, communications on meteorology from, presented by John Lee, LL.D., 27. Nudibranchiate mollusca, on a new genus of, 65, 66. Numbers, on the double square representation of prime and composite, 2. O’Brien (Rev. M.) on the propagation of waves in a resisted medium, with a new explanation of the dispersion and absorp- tion of light, and other optical phzno- mena, 8. Oceans, on the communication between the Atlantic and Pacific, through the isthmus of Tehuantepec, 58. Odontophorine, a monograph of the sub- family, 61. Oldham (Thomas) on the occurrence of ma- rine shells in the gravels of Ireland, 57. Oolitic limestone of Yorkshire, 31. Opal, cause of the colours in precious, 9. Ophiocaryon paradoxa, on the, 71. Optical phenomenon, on the cause of an, observed by the Rey. W. Selwyn, 8. Ores, on the theory and practice of amalgama- tion of, in Mexico and Pern, 28. , discovery of gold,in Merionethshire,56. Orthochronograph, on the, 14. Owen (Prof.) on a human skull from South Australia, 63. on the conversion of the skull, by the Aboriginals of South Australia, into vessels for holding and carrying water, 77. Oxyhydrogen flame, on increasing the inten- sity of the, 33. Pal#ozoic rocks of Scandinavia and Russia, on the, 53. Papilionacez, new genus of, 71. ridges of America, 61. on (Mr.) on the great fountain at Chats- ; _ worth, erected by the Duke of Devonshire, 102. ‘id Peach (Charles William) on marine zoology, _ —— on the natural history of Goran in Corn- wall, 65. Peretti (Prof.) on the bitter principles of some vegetables, 84. Perigal (Henry, jun.) on the probable mode _ of constructing the Pyramids, 103. Peru, on the theory and practice of amalga- mation of silver ores in, 28. Phznomena, on optical, 8. _ Phillips (Prof.) on the curves of annual tem- perature at York, 21. _ — 0n simultaneous barometrical registra- tion in the north of England, 21. ——-on the quantities of rain received in gauges at unequal elevations upon the ground, 21. Phillips (Mr.), Dr. Bateman on his method of discovering adulteration in tobacco, 29. Phosphorite rock in Spanish Estremadura, on the, 28. : _ Photographic images, property of sulphate of iron in developing, 36. —— process, on a new, 12, 36. - Photography, on, 37, 105. Physical geography, 42. Physics, 1. Pile-driver, on Nasmyth’s steam, 98. Planetary and lunar observations, state of the reductions of the, made at Greenwich, 2. Plesiosaurus, on a large specimen of, found at Kettleness, 49. Polarization in liquids, on an attempt to ex- plain on mechanical principles the phzno- menon of circular, 7. —— of light, on certain points connected with, 7. ——,, by rough surfaces, 11. Poor law commissioners, on the report of the, on the state of the poor in Scotland, 95. ' Porter (G. R.) on the mining industry of France, 86. _ Powell (the Rey. Prof.) on certain points connected with elliptic polarization of light, 7. ' Power (Madame Jeanette), further experi- _ ments and observations on the Argonauta _ Argo, 74. -——, on the polypus of the Argonauta Argo, » 76. ; Pregnancy, on a case of extra-uterine, 85. Probabilities, principle in the theory of, 1. Pterochilus, description of, 66. Pyramids, on the probable mode of construct- “ing the, 103. Quaternions, on a theory of, 2. Railway accident, on the causes. of the great Versailles, 97. ; Railway trains, on the resistance. of, 96; .. i INDEX II. 125 Railways, advantages to be obtained by turn- ing canals into, 97. ——,, on wooden, 97. Rain, comparison of the, which fell at Flo- rence Court with that at Belfast, from July 6, 1843 to July 6, 1844, 14. ———, on the quantities of, received in gauges at unequal elevations upon the ground, 21. Rankin (Rev. T.) on the temperature of the air at various soundings of Huggate Well, upon the Wolds of the East Riding, York- shire, 22. —— onathunder-storm on Yorkshire Wolds, July 5, 1843, 23. Raptores, 59. Rasores, 60. Rawson (Mr.) on the summation of infinite series, 2. Repulsion, on the alternate spheres of at- traction and, 39. Richards (Rev. W.) on the natives of the Hawaiian Islands, 82. Rigg (Robert) on the formation or secretion of carbon by animals, the disappearance of hydrogen and oxygen, and the generation of animal heat during the process, 33. Rivers, on the excavation of rocky channels by, by the recession of their cataracts, 45. —,, on the canalization of, 99. Rock, phosphorite, in Spanish Estremadura, 28. ——, palzozoic, of Scandinavia and Russia, 53 ——, stratification of igneous and sediment- ary, of the Lower Silurian formation in North Wales, 56. Rooke (J.) on the relative age and true po- sition of the millstone grit and shale, in reference to the carboniferous system of stratified rocks in the British Pennine chain of hills, 51. Royal Exchange, on the shape of the teeth of the wheels of the clock in the new, 8: Russell (J. Scott) on the tides of the east coast of Scotland, 6. Q on the nature of the sound wave, 11. on the resistance of railway trains, 961 . Russia, paleozoic rocks of, 53. Sandstone, on a nail found imbedded in 2 block of, 51. Sandwich islanders, on the, 83. Savings banks, on the financial ceconomy of, O2t Scandinavia, on the bathymetrical distribu- tion of submarine life on the northern shores of, 50. ——,, paleozoic rocks of, 53. Scantlometer, on the 99. Schomburgk (Chevalier) on a new species of Barbacenia, 71. —— on the Ophiocaryon paradoxa, the snake nut tree, 71. —— onthe Calycophyllum Stanleyanum, 71. — description of Lightia lemniscata,a new genus of the! family Buttneriacésx, 71, 126 Schomburgk (Chevalier), description of Alex- andria imperatricis, a new genus of Papi- lionacee, 71. —— on the forest trees of British Guiana, 72. on two new species of the family Lau- rinez, from the forests of Guiana, 72. on the natives of Guiana, 83. Schoolcraft (H.R.) on the languages of Ame- rica, 83. Schunck (Edward) on some products of the decomposition of erythrin, 31. Scoresby (Rev. Dr.) on a new process of mag- netic manipulation, and its action on cast iron and steel bars, 12. on steam navigation in America, 97. —— on a new process of magnetic manipu- lation, with its effects on hard steel and cast iron, 100. Scotland, on,the tides of the east coast of, 6. , on the state of the poor in, 95. Sclerotic plates in fishes, on the, 63. Sea, on the Fish River of the North Polar, 58. ——, on some animals new to the British, 64. Selwyn (Rev. W.), Sir David Brewster on the cause of an optical phenomenon ob- served by, 8. Series, on diverging infinite, 1. , summation of infinite, 2. Shale, on the relative age and true position of the, 51. Shells, marine, in the gravels of Ireland, 57. Shyens of India, on the, 84. Sight, on the ceconomy of artificial light for preserving, 100. Silk-worm, on the cultivation of the, 73. _ Silurian rocks in the vicinity of Builth, on a section through the, 46. — districts of Ireland, on certain, 46. Silver ores in Mexico and Peru, on the theory and practice of amalgamation of, 28. Skull, human, from South Australia, 63. ——,, conversion of the, by the Aboriginals of South Australia, into vessels for holding and carrying water, 77. Sloper (B. G.) on the filtration of water for the supply of towns, 102. Smith (Dr.) on the action of nitric acid on naphtha, 33. Smith (Mr.) on propelling boats, 98. Smoke, air-duct to be used in glass furnaces for the prevention of, 35. Snake-nut tree, on the, 71. Spar, on the cause of the white rings seen round a luminous body when looked at through specimens of calcareous, 9. Statistics, 86. — of Frankfort on the Maine, 88. of hospitals for the insane in Bengal, 89. — of Old and New Malton, 89. on the addition to vital, 90. —— of the machine-wrought hosiery trade, 91. of the criminal population of Norfolk Island, 93. on rural, 93. Steam-engine, on the new double, 98. 1 INDEX II. Steam-engines, on the ceconomy of the ex- pansive action of steam in, 98. ‘ Steam navigation in America, 97. Steam, on heating by, 35. Steel bars, action of a new process of mag- netic manipulation on, 12, 100. Storvandofjeld, lowest degree of cold on the top of the mountain, 27. Strickland (H. E.) on an anomalous structure in the paddle of a species of Ichthyosaurus, i Ae Strychnos toxifera, 72. Submarine life, on the bathymetrical distri- bution of, on the northern shores of Scan- dinavia, 50. Substances, on the conservation of, 69. Sykes (Lieut.-Col.) on the statistics of Frank- fort on the Maine, 88. on the mortality of Calcutta, 88. on the statistics of hospitals for the in- sane in Bengal, 89. Sylvester (J. J.) on the double square re- presentation of prime and composite num- bers, 2. Tenia, on the removal of, 85. Talbot (H. F.) on photography, 105. Tape-worm, on the, as prevalent in Abyssi- nia, 85. Taylor (Rev. W.) on the instruction of the blind, 86. — on an apparatus invented by Mr. Lit- tledale, by which the blind can read and write, 99. ; Tehuantepec, on the communication between the Atlantic and Pacifie oceans, through the isthmus of, 58. Temperature, curves of annual, at York, 21. Tertiary formations of the Isle of Wight, on the, 43. Thompson (W.), comparison of the rain which fell at Florence Court, with that at Belfast, from July 6th, 1843, to July 6th, 1844, 14. ——, additions to the fauna of Ireland, 66. Thomson (Dr.) on the influence of the ende- mic application of the salts of morphia in painful permanent swelling of the joints, causing contractions, 86. Thunder storm on Yorkshire Wolds, singular appearance of a, 23. Thurnam (Dr.) on the scientific cranioscopy of Prof. Carus, 86. on the relative liability of the two sexes to insanity, 92. Tide observations, results of the, on the coast of Ireland, 4. Tides of the east coast of Scotland, on the, 6. Tilley (Thomas) on a peculiar condition of zinc, produced by a long-continued high temperature, 35. Toadstones of Derbyshire, on the, 51: Topaz, on crystals in the cavities of, 9. Tongue, on a disease of the, 84. ‘Towns, on circumstances affecting the health of, 90. a y | ms, on the collection of water for the sup- _ ply of, 100. -—, on the filtration of water for the supply of, 102. Unio, on a newly discovered species of, 42. Uterine conception, on the comparative fre- quency of, 85. _ Uterine pregnancy, on a case of extra, 85. _Valerianic acid, on the supposed formation _ of, from indigo, 33. _ Vegetables, on the bitter principles of some, = 84. - Versailles railway accident, on the causes of the great, 97. _ Vibration, on the alteration that takes place ___iniron by being exposed to long-continued, ; Voltaic current of the frog, on the specific, ; 38. _ Warington (Robert) on guano, 32. _ Water, on the collection of, for the supply of ___ towns, 100. _ —, on the filtration of, 102. _ Wave, nature of the sound, 11. _ Waves, propagation of, in a resisted me- dium, 8. _ Wealden strata of the Isle of Wight, on a newly discovered species of Unio from the, 42. _ West (W.) on the mineral springs and other __ waters of Yorkshire, 28, 105. _ —— on heating by steam, 35. _ Wheatstone (Prof.) on a singular effect of the , juxtaposition of certain colours under par- _ ticular circumstances, 10. _ Whitby (Mrs.) on the cultivation of the silk- worm, 73. Whitworth (Mr.) on an instrument for mea- suring bodies to a very minute degree of accuracy, 27. INDEX II. 127 Whitworth (Mr.) on a new machine for as- certaining the diameter of metallic cylin- ders, 98. Williams (Dr.) on the removal of Teenia, 85. Williams (the Rey. David) on the Exeter amygdaloid, 55. Winds, daily observations of the four classes of, in each month of a cycle, 16. Wood (Dr. Thomas) on the electrolysotype, a new photographic process, 36. Wood (S.) on an alligator in the freshwater cliff at Hordwell, associated with extinct mammalia, 50. Woollgar (J. W.) on the financial ceconomy of savings banks, 92. Wylson (James) on the scantlometer, 99. York, curves of annual temperature at, 21. , on the sanatory condition of, during 1839-1843, 90. ——,, statistical notices of the state of edu- cation in, 91. Yorkshire, mineral springs and other waters of, 28, 105. , on the limestones of, 30. — , birds of, 60. ——, on the fishes of, 62. ——,, on the flora of, 70. — Wolds, singular appearance of a thunder storm on, 23. Young (Prof.) on a principle in the theory of probabilities, 1. on diverging infinite series, 1. Zinc, peculiar condition of, 35. , experiments with, on the limbs of a frog, 38. : Zoological nomenclature, on, 78. Zoology, 59. , marine, 64. Zoophytes, on a new genus of helianthoid, 65. , on the morphology of the reproductive system of sertularian, 68. THE END. w & d-on> Ly wih? teh it i +) eis rf be ae | it PRINTED BY RICHARD AND JOHN E. TAYLOR, RED LION uy ble br $9 ee Brit: Afeoe: Report. (844 FL. | aa tite lnele.. e 7 anLich. ¥ Uh i Debin: e& Tith. 10 linear: SAS Ea Ur A 1s Caer best SW. Leonovd, MM.S. Lond. Lrintead by Reeve Eni SW. Lenard MM.S. Lond: Printed ty Keove Brothers Dili: & ith: TR = Brit Afsis: Report 1044 Fl. er reehiGey = bs £ aes a 43 S.WLeonord M, ie Tan ae ge by Reeve pit love Delin: v6 lth: E Hepore thd Po? Birth: Ase. : W Leonard MNES. Loud: renter, ov Aeeve Brewer's. BS GG te fy, Dolin, et Litiv pasion Brit: Afsoc: Report: 44. PL.5. 85 linoww. 0 O of am Inehv ies es i SS 10) Wneon 7 . vn qr q | ne i aie PAu: Pre Hae ae Seen ine @ am Ie es SWeonard MMS. Tend. Toning. “ey Revere: Brothers Delian. Lith. ee ee ee eee ee ee / i” A ee ne ge ee eee ee, See Pee rit: Afsoe: Leport WH £66. Lig: 18. Tg: 49. 200 of an Teh. : siealad s ee a & JS espe ie is Tana Printed by Reeve Brovhers. a J 100 oe of aw Ln. ---------: — fan [nth__..----—->, 200™ o Sorin vt ies: 200 of ga Inch Lig: MG. ) J 273 ------ ------------> A Tees Pe ea i. Frintuh by Reeve Bvothova y LOWY Dobiw:et Lith. SW leonwd M. M.S. \s y i E W we Re $ \ 4 ' 4 ; a t a ‘J ‘ak: Asoc: Mopar. 1044. g Fg: $I. Fir 22 500 of am Inoh. ey = 500” ofam ius... perenne Aone 400, Se Ree Printed ly Frew Brothers. SWileonard Me M.S. Lond Dein 0G Tith. / ANLH / OP? Fp & i} A} whey Me bh rh BR bi 1! ; f WH WY JL eee if Ah LORE io pat } Oh E i H DL! aR } EB DET Le ! 62 A ey ht aa ms ieee WOE AY Kaley f (RS 9ST ai f afore (hy ] Fran) By bY y, he 1) Ab qj Lh {Y 6a Pe a, i Re pho fy} S Wilenard M. M.S. ae Dotuw: et Lith. S a = J. Lond. Lrintod by Leve Lrothers i ok Dory ‘ . ~ i ss a ‘ > ~ ~~ 24% * <- == é =. 4 Sad x . am of an Inedy.. Tvobhors. Frintud by feeve Lond SWleomnard MMS Dein & Lith. j Re BA! Ten RT AR, oe) SS Sh Be ONS TS a aie Lvinteds by Reove Brithors. —S i eo — ‘ Pl 44. 250 by Keene Brothers. Frinted Eiri: Afsee: Report, 164-2. =| ! | ‘ 8 : Se % an . +e S EE Birk. Asoc: Report 1044. Ftd. 33 Teove Brothers Printed: by SW Lenard M. M.S. Lond. Detin. & lth ee — So eee. ee Fig: 36 - She evs 4 et) Da pees Asaf pA Aet fay ey olGl 4g i " Tal etal Ri ee Y = a) ae Atl, Fu Ui Vilas Fi kag, Degen ’ 7 i X } i) 4 v ara alt : d' Yi “ Ts IW kenard MM.S. Lond. Frinted by Keere Brovher's Deine Lith. i a on AS. . ie tooo od eee 7 = ari’ 2 = SS & f § : — -) : 6 ; 7 S J One. 100 ‘of caw Tw Lond. s. MMe, SWleoward Delim ot Lith. \ e ’ i j ’ “J x. S S S 3 ak Gg o he Fag 43 Li 10 ta. Zz” LOG i EP Wemard MMS. Lond: Primtyg tu Reewn Brothers. intl Dihin A Brit: Asoc Report. 1044 Ligh © 50 of an Ine...» ) =r ~ — et 100™ yf an ino fers é - <3 i . . % aN SWI conand, MM. S. Fond: series ado Tih. ciinted by ewe Brothers. Agquecus Vapour. Seale “000 ‘01 “020 Inch Mean Aqueous Vapour -—Mean Temperature +-— Mean Force of Wind al ES) 7) a as | } ta Be: ia (| Tiara an oe eae i FEARS EET Ei Eee EELS SE cea ERSRESESEY EaEE rT Se | Gazeous Pressure. -— Mean Cazeous Pressure : 1030 Inch Standidge é C° Litho London | 2 UL a en (a — The Temperature The Pressure of the Aquecus Vapour Diurnal Variation of 4 Vat: Toronto: ( ~-~~~-~--~-- The Force of the Wind The Pressure of the Gazeouws Atmosphere \ 4 aE British Association, 14 Report. Plate td page 59 2 Midn© 2AM 4 6 a 1 iVoon LPM t 6 é ua Midn® = 3 i i Worn Aqueous Vapour —+—— Wean Aqueous Vapour Mean Tonperature —-b -= Mean Temperature Uean Forer of Wind =| — Mean Force of Wind. Mean Gaze Pressure — }-— Mean Cazeous Pressure Midnt 2AM 10 Mula’ Stanstilge & C4 Litho Lease Gazeous Pressure . Seale 050 400 460 Inch D ort Plate 22 page 59. Standidge & C° Litho. London. Mean Aqueous Vapour. —WMean Cazeous Pressure. —Mean Temperature. Q. Assan] SIIB yee dT], Jo AUN NA weseNy HUXpUadsALI0D Np MINS 7 pr 92 pun “nenyowduaT yy STUISIND AS MOPIY ALY PVIOIP IT ILISSALL PUMUOLOY WY) WIL, wT uaIg SVY snadUA Nj WO, INSP IYI LILO 2Nssaud PONpIsAL Ty) SNTUIP WIND arene nia | priests 300 srinssrid NY) Ys Us IPPIS NY Ja wn Yow 49) xenss%4¢ enodoy J2 % 1 spuodsrsiod sry asp. yo yses yo uInLd prop vnade, Mp) Jo aap InSOTs wip puassddas SII appr y IMkIn np) Guard sun np ‘eng ny hy prrosrp Assay Ny smays asin swoddn ryy sores eT 32 9 Arms inavsaquey 49 ape SS British Association, td" R, ort. Plate 23 page 59 fay ty H i ' ; : SOILD GY IP AD “MEASEALY J QUT WD Jd Mad sit) SHLD sera yroyin dovds H H H ' H 1 a pti fj +s GSSEsena sup ye 41 STOVDY WY I} PUPPVIVANS 81 ANIAIA Ff) JO VISA TNSOYD HP VUIYN ALISSIMA TILTTUILO GY TY] JO URSSAST ON NIP Igy | 2) Typ OUND) POY "| 7 neaydsouny ap yauansod snoa=mg 34) yo pun PLOIIDUAL YT JO SUOTPOULON POULIN HL WIIG PIUIPU I a “ * “the Aqueous Iwo Vears. ‘h Pen ort Plate22 pag e Fd. =| kb +-—Mean Temperature dio FMS 090. a) 0. ILNSSILT 81103: —s Your ovP. Mean Cazeous Pressure +4 | uty Standidge & C2 Litho, London — ed a ine the Pres: Mean of Two Years: sure of the Aqueous Vapour, —...—..—...—...— the Pressure of the Gazeous Atmosphere, at Toronto. Annual Variation of’ —.—.—-—.—.—.— the Temperate British Assoctation 14. Report Plate 22 page 59 January February June b September October November December Tanuary —Mean Temperature Mian Tonperature Mean Aqueous Vapour Mean Aqueras Vapour —+—— Nene AGT II WY Mean Gazcous Pressure — Men Cazeous Pressure November December January January February March April May June September: Vetober rears : 5 $ * nan S Nae y 2s | = 5 2 S Asoc: ior the Advanuecenrent of rl of the Brit. and ace A Tron Tube Platina Te Sindvlong fopper a / LsTow conice-quiral burnee with I? Tots for heating Gucitles S tides wide ( | between the extremes 2B dep | Tn Tube lined: with leadav DY toy yenerating und accumulating Gas : Bb topper Colander tor Line ke © Brafs tulnilated conical Stop D Stopeock with conical core R Copper connecting pipe F Drying and deansing Chamba G Guage Wo Spiral Burner t fan for rotation Watch movement for DY L Atrangenent for securing © shewn tn the Wofs Section: of Stopper & tap S Cavities for Sponge = ee UMReport of the Brit Afsve: tor the Aleaneanare of Sxtence 18S Plate 24 : TW Lowry feuly Ost Fi é = . of Bs 4sso0. tor the i : 06% P is Plate 2 ' = =e OF Qe’ : : — = ws f p . S *s & 7 \ 4 © \ \ MWS \ || lle Ss 18 | 89r = 4 sna ez oe es ee -— —= TE RF a. te 6 CORNISH PUMPING BNGINE _EAST LONDON WATERWORKS COIID) FORD. DIAGRAM OF THE VELOCITY OF THE PISTON AT DIFFERENT POINTS OF THE STROKE. tut door Stoke Tixton ascending) . Tn door Stroke (Peston descending) oH N | 1 | 4 a4 | | ol ; 7 Ny s is & s s “iy Me es < 2 * y S y ‘| “7 i " “y : : | ny = mn ee ome 7 gl» oh oe [SS ———— | wt Feloctti) Leet per Secon. : 5 © S ——————————— PE: ~ fect o. Scade of oe In door Stroke (ston: desanding J Sale of Leet of Stroke Out door Stroke (Piston ascending | = # —f . SN Lowry Sap a ee eS ae eee —-qno0 fo gr 01 saz fo i009 = SUoq09 NGG PaynLodone LepOY ‘wyoULs yon719 Wap v bumnus Arg 7) “panupoO vu LOU auvibour aoqy V2 Ut British Assoctattorn ror 644, Plate XXvi. ft: TASHNOH A British Assocuatvon for 1644, Plate XXIx. E ° a ) 7009 fo snl 01 s0qOH JO og LL - 8UOTDY 9s persodens soy fo Appewng ‘poompoid svn ryouus ou youn qununuodn) mp ur payornbar svn LO Fy xy z E 0OL oe ease. co" aeenc oS RV. eS See e a er ea See a Rich i Saal ho oom T KbaMAO I XXX WVAOVIE 2 ; le: > ANY . na E : * + ‘ ~ 1s Lt" Report of the Brit. Asfoc. tor the advan” of Science 1844. G WILL BHO l 4 Interior F the dectrical observatory. Hew. 14” Report of the Brit. Assoc. for the Advan'™ of Stace 1844 Plate 32 = TW. Towry, fe Apparaas of the Electrical Observatory &e Hew . ‘ ~ - 4 i ~ ~ ~ st ; — “ . . 7 + ‘ . ‘ all j . # 7? > . ered F ’ 4 ‘ ‘ —— ; t ra At Chart showing the general COUNSE of the Wind for the Fears 1841. 1842, 1843, &: Patt of 1844, as tndicated by Whewdls Anemometer Sa es 3. 4 c d b oe , Mate Apri! CoS Januar’ — Decem bits, Phorncon. det SWiowry, fly i? IWLowry Jo. hs Report of the Brit-Afsoc-for he Advancement of Science 1844. Plate 35 . i | 1 | \ | I I Mean O18E OOSE ypbury Lol N vuapznsay apbier Tot N puvpnsey noe P 5h 5 of anInch V Je. J WLewr} Meee Ney | | E bie edhe emg’ , P< Wh Fass senha 2 i : yt sae | 4 / eS 2 Vatey ts ON ap a ae a ouvnwu. Ww WA VoW es eH USTE Arce meee | *¥f; if ~ Fg Figs. Ti 18. & 19. shewing the resul or Oslers Anemometer at Gree See J Bastre, Zimeo: british Association tor 1844, Plate ¥ age Britsh Associalion tor 1844. Pi. XL. J Basire uth or 1844. PL XL Brash Associalion > N S J - ) Aa SoS SES ee < 1 : 5) = Se 5a V2 Va = - s —< —— y OK ZS < < aah <= ]) ! 7 S CS 7 7 “ a J it \\\\\ INE Sx Scranurus Bowerbamkw. (restored) Shenpey ee 2 es ee & | BI ON SO Say eT i Report of the Brit:Assoc: tor the Advancement of Science 1844 Plate Fi. Mear of the whole SWhowry Je. a ey _ SA | EN BSE ARENT) Fou e Scale I'2 in. te the Incl. nad Fourteenth Report of the Brit. Assoc: tor the A Monthly proportions of the Winds in Four Gafses: average depth of Rain: average range and Uean of the Baro; 3 30 ipo DIAGRAM NO. | sam | FER. | maR. | APR. | may | 7 | JULY | ACC 7 If Zi ji Mg 77 105 bo ao oh ie BS Sp & 29.5 In. in. DIAGRAM OR CHART N° 2. Mean Year of the Barometer shewing us daily average height tuo’ the several Seasons &e. from 1613 — 30_Climate of LONDON. The Scale 1' tr. to the Inc. DK. Ves JAN. : wy = : TH tea : Sa. 7 70| 15] 20] 25 30 5] 77 i5) "20 25] 30] (Z ais 7 i “alll Lowest Temperature 2 : > . . 29. 83. inches as 7 7 ; ee ? Mean of the whole 7 zz, 4 6 69 days, M.Tenp. 37. 76° Mean of Baroni” 29. 628 wn. ar APR. i 3B oom ee a aa i 20]. 25 20 || ee) 20) aa 25) 20] 26| 30|z v7 4 2. Mean Temperature 20| Highest Temperature Sumner: duration 93 days, M Temp. 60. 66° Mean af Baron. 29. 879 ww. SEPT. ‘ Pz OocT. aaa 15] 20] 25] Bo |Z 3] Toy ate 25] 30| Mean Temperature Autumn: duration 90 days, M.Tenyp. 49. 37° Mean. of Barom. 29.182 wn. Climate of LONDON. | LW Lhewry fe- he Howard ERS. invenib & det —, a 4 Plat British Association for 184 ’ ee a British Assocation ror 1844 Plate XLT & ors } % Holigoland 29.667 Ny We / ae \ | / \ sy y, ¥ Jj * atk of ye xy ; a, \ % s = : ee ok / \ - = A k z 9 S = S Se bee S a & y a ‘ oe ae \ Ss ee Ne > \ om kLongstone 29.8 25 IS \ \ \ AS \ \ » \ . Ua red ‘ x : ; 30-256 \ \ > \ \ 50 7 ‘ S \ \. a \ Os _ e . \ a aris 29.098 ‘157 “332 Geneva 30. 066 Bl. ior 2 ong vy J Basie, Zinco: Scilly 20. 60m. B42, Vov. 9. 3. m. Minimum bent Hs Voremnber ¥ 1842 =) Vovember 9 9 e2 23 3 5 2 dL Is 6 7 9 2 ti = ——_ Ss dick 29. 501 Long stone i | " ; i i ST aa \ pack a aes a wD Novernber ! ————$____ a ss 3 Sys Se Op pt mos 2 « we i oy oe te 2 oS is \ 23.5 Scully 30.0 | Now B16 Nov? 8. RL. Nort 9.9. A Nov" 9.8 OS Bir 216. 2 en 4 Aosr 9.21 £ | | Longstone 1 —L Bardsay , South Bishop Brussels __.| Marr 70.3.8. Ascending ap WovT 10,9 sy ee ates oe — Descending ROO Bi eters Descending | @ second Lime | | | | | | 28.6 Scaldy Geneva NovT 8. 218 9.9.0 Nove 9.3.0 — 130.0 b.. Nw § » Fig, 3. o/ Birmingham nmiOe Sections of Atmospheric Pressure. Fig.l Selly, South Beshop, Barasay Island, Longstone. Kig.2 Geneva, Brascels. Fig. 3. Brussels, Birmingham, Dablun | Nort 9.35 bd Note Nor IIc ee noe ne | | | Brassels British Assocvatvon tor 1644, Plate XL SECTIONS OF ATMOSPHERIC WAVES. Sheet1. rT es yy 29.500 St Catherines Pt St Cathermes Pt Seclions exhibiting the distribution of Fressure across England and along its Eastern, Western, and Southern Coasts on November 971842 at8LM Lhe observed. ordinates are shewn thus et. | Those terpolated from the intersections of Cross Secltons..._... Wave having vts Posterior slope towards Longstone ie Normal ware (supposed) a ae ' _ =" Tn one Servers Bight Site liiesss SE ; aa > + aa oy = ae ~saqnurpay payvjod.sopuy UNYUT 07 24079 wonsaT #72 YM IAD S22PUrpLg Poatasqg MLE UT G YC Ue warUsg pin “yrninyy uengng 49 popmpria ware 74) 1240 atnssauy fb uownqnus~ 2) Cuxngryawe suomoag PADIS) 208 6G mera “S JOoUS, 4d SeuLTe Ny 49 bee RS are” eo re aaa | { | 2x09 GEdyRa x £OOLE TE ow a WAVES_Urderl. The Great Wave of Translation. British Afeociation Tor 13H. Sr “Pate? . | Fig. 3 P} Lal PU | “=“aeretyee =5 =x A ar eee eae ee ee mat Llate 48 vur B x VII B x British Afsoctation ior 1811. Dritish Afsvetations soy 18fh- Plate 48. ston of Eiupertmants. ~ m mm Vv uM vil Iittects of torn of Channel. Re discufsion of the Inpeaiments Fey. 7. Y aNd Dd : Ke _ \ a : iz: ; Z ifects of torme of Channel I ow Ma N Vtg. . : f sss Re = a nV, a N ee he 2 A | ES | a s \ Mate area : A = T Fig 2 . / x F : lig ; B | a - \ a ees e iy) ig. 6 B 9 a f d t | | x Ws Waves of the Sea Shore Fig 7 r wa Wo . ws ws ws ws ey, d = ZS + ’ —— c= a I =—.x Tor ctation shedfso Ltate Sl , Le ‘ pee ae oe me Ries ae Reta: x : uy re: ~ eh pans | ‘ol ems Sy oy oe Ry x aaa mS E t : ae = a J aah me | ST es Seer ee am x = , —— en M WAVITS TWIT T TANTO OV TTI EST EL British Mievclatien. er 1A Fate SI. British Afsoctation tor I34#. Mate 52, British Afsoctation tor BH. Mate 52. WAVES —— Order T. WAVES. — Order If. Oscillating Waves —Q__ g2 Pig.7 Fig 8. Fig. | Fig.10. } Plate 54. eT AYP eR A Oe YY : SF ee tbs aes Lae Scie ye pine eyes 5 ecw cts spn I pale PUTA | pam, < ax n , ; t oO eer enti ee se np: ene ann eee ttm o cae 25. = aie | ' ' \ \ | * ’ SS SS \ S ‘ SY » \ \ \ a \ \\ . \ \\ \ J \ * x WAVES __ Order IL Standina Waves British Afeociation fer 1814 © Sate $5 Fig Pon Sees tae ahd Ss Pe Bi 8 BIE RN A Me ey so = Ws a ee ee — = William Gray, Jun., Esq. ... Yorkshire Museum. OXFORD ....... soucacntos- Dr. Daubeny ........ caseescdee Ashmolean Museum, Mr. Kirkland. CAMBRIDGE ..... eiemeed C. C. Babington, Esq. ........ House of the Philosophical Society. EDINBURGH .........0 Charles Forbes, Esq. ........- Apartments of the Royal Society. BDOBEIN' oo c..c5.5.ccceeuee Dr. Orpen ........seeeeeeeeeeee13 South Frederick Street. PRPEES UOT oss .acucrcancesns William Sanders, Esq. ....... Philosophical Institution, Park Street. s LIVERPOOL............. ..Samuel Turner, Esq. .....-.++ Bank of England Branch Bank, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE. William Hutton, Esq.......+0. Natural History Society. BIRMINGHAM ....... .....dames Russell, Esq....... ....-Philosophical Institution. GLASGOW .....eeceeesseeeePYOf. RAMSAY ceesececereececees The College. PLYMOUTH ......ccccceese Henry Woollcombe, Esq. ...Athenzeum. . Mr. James Orme, Lit. and Phil. Society, MANCHESTER...........-G. W. Ormerod, Esq....... Chapel Yard, 9 Cheapside, King St. CORK aiecesseeeee sseseeseedames Roche, Esq.........00e Cork. PROCEEDINGS or tue FIRST anp SECOND MEETINGS, at York _and Oxford, 1831 and 1832, 10s. Contents :—Prof. Airy, on the Progress of Astronomy ;—J. W. Lubbock, Esq., on the Tides ;—Prof. Forbes, on the Present State of Meteorology ;—Prof. Powell, on the Present State of the Science of Radiant Heat ;—Prof. Cumming, on Thermo-Electricity ;—Sir David Brewster, on the Progress of Optics ;—Rev. W. Whewell, on the Present State of Mineralogy ; —Rev. W. D. Conybeare, on the Recent Progress and Present State of Geology ;—Dr. Prit- chard’s Review of Philological and Physical Researches.‘ Together with Papers on Mathematics, Optics, Acoustics, Magnetism, Electricity, Chemistry, Meteorology, Geography, Geology, Zoology, Anatomy, Physiology, Botany, and the Arts; and an Exposition of the Object and Plan of the Association, &c. PROCEEDINGS or true THIRD MEETING, at Cambridge, 1833, 8s. ConTENTs :—Proceedings of the Meeting;—Mr. John Taylor, on Mineral Veins ;—Dr. Lindley, on the Philosophy of Botany ;—Dr. Henry, on the Physiology of the Nervous Sy- stem ;—Mr. Peter Barlow, on the Strength of Materials ;—Mr. S. H. Christie, on the Magnet- ism of the Earth;—Rev. J. Challis, on the Analytical Theory of Hydrostatics and Hydro- dynamics ;—Mr. George Rennie, on Hydraulics as a Branch of Engineering, Part I. ;—Rev. G. Peacock, on certain Branches of Analysis. Together with Papers on Mathematics and Physics, Philosophical Instruments and Mecha- nical Arts, Natural History, Anatomy, Physiology, and History of Science. PROCEEDINGS or tue FOURTH MEETING, at Edinburgh, 1834, 10s. ConTENTs :—Mr. H. D. Rogers, on the Geology of North America;—Dr. C. Henry, on the Laws of Contagion ;—Prof. Clark, on Animal Physiology ;—Rev. L. Jenyns, on Zoology ;— Rev. J. Challis, on Capillary Attraction ;—Prof. Lloyd, on Physical Optics;—Mr. G. Rennie, on Hydraulics, Part IJ. Together with the Transactions of the Sections, and Recommendations of the Association and its Committees. Constants ;—Edward Woods, Report on Railway Constants ;—Report of a Committee on the Construction of a Constant Indicator for Steam-Engines. 1p. Together with the Transactions of the Sections, Prof. Whewell’s Address, and Recommen- Pr ~ dations of the Association and its Committees. PROCEEDINGS or tue TWELFTH MEETING, at Manchester, 1842, 7s. ConTENTs :—Report of the Committee appointed to conduct the co-operation of the British Association in the System of Simultaneous Magnetical and Meteorological Observations ;— John Richardson, M.D., Report on the present state of the Ichthyology of New Zealand ;— W. Snow Harris, Report on the Progress of the Meteorological Observations at Plymouth ;— Second Report of a Committee appointed to make Experiments on the Growth and Vitality of Seeds ;—C. Vignolles, Esq., Report of the Committee on Railway Sections;—Report of the Committee for the Preservation of Animal and Vegetable Substances ;—Lyon Playfair, M.D., Abstract of Professor Liebig’s Report on “ Organic Chemistry applied to Physiology and Pa- thology ;”—Richard Owen, Esq., Report on the British Fossil Mammalia, Part I. ;—Robert Hunt, Researches on the Influence of Light on the Germination of Seeds and the Growth of Plants ;—Louis Agassiz, Report on thé Fossil Fishes of the Devonian System or Old Red Sand- stone ;—William Fairbairn, Eisg., Appendix to a Report on the Strength and other Properties of Cast Iron obtained from the Hot and Cold Blast;—David Milne, Esq., Report of the Com- mittee appointed at the Meeting of the British Association held at Plymouth in 1841, for re- gistering Shocks of Earthquakes in Great Britain ;—Report of a Committee appointed at the Tenth Meeting of the Association for the Construction of a Constant Indicator for Steam-En- gines, and for the determination of the Velocity of the Piston of the Self-acting Engine at different periods of the Stroke ;—J. S. Russell, Report of a Committee on the Form: of Ships ; —Report of a Committee appointed “ to consider of the rules by which the Nomenclature of Zoology may be established on a uniform and permanent basis” ;—Report of a Committee on the Vital Statistics of large Towns in Scotland ;—Provisional Reports, and Notices of Progress in Special Researches entrusted to Committees and Individuals. Together with the Transactions of the Sections, Lord Francis Egerton’s Address, and Re- commendations of the Association and its Committees. PROCEEDINGS or tue THIRTEENTH MEETING, at Cork, 1843, Ss. ; ConTENTS :—Robert Mallet, Esq., Third Report upon the Action of Air and Water, whether fresh or salt, clear or foul, and of various Temperatures, upon Cast Iron, Wrought Iron, and Steel ;—Report of the Committee appointed to conduct the co-operation of the British Association in the System of Simultaneous Magnetical and Meteorological Observa- tions ;—Sir J. F. W. Herschel, Bart., Report of the Committee appointed for the Reduction of Meteorological Observations ;—Report of the Committee appointed for Experiments on Steam-engines ;—Report of the Committee appointed to continue their Experiments on the Vitality of Seeds ;—J. S. Russell, Esq., Report of a Series of Observations on the Tides of the Frith of Forth and the East Coast of Scotland ;—J. S. Russell, Esq., Notice of a Report of the Committee on the Form of Ships ;—J. Blake, Esq., Report on the Physiological Action of Me- dicines ;—Report of the Committee appointed to print and circulate a Report on Zoological Nomenclature ;—Report of the Committee appointed in 1842, for registering the Shocks of Earthquakes, and making such Meteorological Observations as may appear to them desirable; —Report of the Committee for conducting Experiments with Captive Balloons ;—Professor Wheatstone, Appendix to the Report ;—Report of the Committee for the Translation and Publication of Foreign Scientific Memoirs ;—C. W. Peach, on the Habits of the Marine Tes- tacea ;—Edward Forbes, Esq., Report on the Mollusca and Radiata of the Augean Sea, and on their distribution, considered as bearing on Geology ;—M. Agassiz, Synoptical Table of British Fossil Fishes, arranged in the order of the Geological Formations ;—Richard Owen, Esq., Report on the British Fossil Mammalia, Part II.;—E. W. Binney, Report on the Ex- cavation made at the junction of the Lower New Red Sandstone with the Coal Measures at Collyhurst, near Manchester ;—W. Thompscn, Esq., Report on the Fauna of Ireland: Div. Invertebrata ;—Provisional Bephriaaged Notices of Progress in Special Researches entrusted to Committees and Individuals. * ¥ Together with the Transactions of the Sections, Earl of Rosse’s Address, and Recommen- dations of the Association and its OSE Ss. CA i By SE ott LITHOGRAPHED SIGNATUREY ‘haw MBHRS who met at Cambridge in 1833, with the Proceedings of the Public \keetirg: i; Bric 4s. (To Members, 35.) isie ly