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PROCEEDINGS 


ROYAL   SOCIETY  OF   LONDON. 


From  December  1,  187S,  to  June  18,  1874. 


LONDON; 
PKINIED  BY  TATLOE  AND  DtANCIS 


112645 


I 


CONTENTS. 

VOL.  XXII. 


Na  148.— Dwentier  1,  1873. 

Annivenei]'  MeetiDg : 

Report  of  Auditora 1 

Idit  of  Fsllowa  daceued,  Ac.  aiiice  last  Annivenuy 1 

elected  2 

AddraBB  of  the  Freaideiit    2 

Fiesentatioii  of  the  Medals 10 

Etection  of  Council  and  Officers 12 

Iluncul  SUtemeot 14  &  16 

Tniat  Fonda 10-18 

Account  of  the  a^ropnAlion  of  the  sum  of  £1000  onuuslly  TOt«d  b  j  Por- 
lisment  to  the  Royal  Society  (the  QovenimeDt  Grant),  to  be  employed 
in  aiding  the  advancement  of  Saenco  10 

Bepoit  of  the  Eew  Committee SO 

December  11,  1873. 

A  Qnantitatire  InTeatigBtion  of  cert^  Belations  between  the  Gaseoua,  tho 
liquid,  and  tho  Solid  States  of  Water-Substance.  By  Professor  James 
Thomson,  LL.D.,  Queen's  College,  Belfast 27 

On  the  Action  of  Heat  on  OraTitating  Uaasee.  Br  William  Crookee, 
FJl.8.  &c    -. 37 

On  the  Hale,  and  the  Stmcture  of  Thaumop»  ptUudda.  By  It.  tod  Wil- 
lemoes-Snhm,  PkD.,  H,M.8. '  Challenger '    42 

On  the  Beudins  of  the  Ribe  in  Forced  Breathing.  By  Arthur  Ransome, 
M.D. 43 


December  18,  1873. 

On  ttie  Period  of  Hemisphetal  Excess  of  Sun-spots,  and  Qia  Sft^y  Period 
of  TcRWtaial  Uagnetiim.    By  3.  A.  Broun,  F JI.S. 43 


On  Ihc  KeiTOus  System  of  XrfiniVt— Part  I,  By  rrdfi-eaor  P.  Mnrtin 
Ihmcau,  M.D.  Lond.,  F.U.S.,  &c. 

On  certain  Discrepancies  in  the  publiahed  numerical  v&lua  of  ir.  P7  Wil- 
liam Shanks    , 45 

On  Double  Refraction  in  a  Viscous  Fluid  in  motion.  By  J.  CleA  Miuwetli 
M.A.,  F.R.8.,  Professor  of  Eiperimental  Phjsica  in  tho  Univuisity  uf 
Cambridgi; 40 

Liet  of  Presents 48 


No.  Ii9.—Jat>varu  S,  1874. 


On  the  Brom-Iodides.  By  Dr.  Maxwell  Sitapson,  F.E.a,  Profcfaor  of  Cho- 
miatry,  Queen's  College,  Cork 51 

Contributions  to  the  History  of  the  Orcins.— No,  IV,  On  the  lodc.-dorivd- 
tivea  of  the  Oraina.    By  John  Stenhouae,  LL.D.,  F,H,S.,  &c 

A  Memoir  on  the  Transfurmation  of  Elliptic  Functions,  By  Professor 
Cayley,  F.R.S 

On  EicctrotorsioQ.    By  George  Ooro,  F.ltS G7 

i/imwiry  15,  ItiTi. 

FieliminaiT  Account  of  an  Investigation  on  tlio  TnuismisaioD  of  Sound  by 
the  Atmosphere.    By  John  Tyndall,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  F.R.S 

Jaimary  22,  1874. 

On  the  Nature  and  Physiologiciil  Action  of  the  Poison  of  Koja  tiimdiana 
and,  other  Iijdian  Venomous  SnaJtes.— Part  IT.  By  T.  Lauder  llrunton, 
MlD^  ScD.,  M.R.C.P.,  and  J.  Fajrer,  C.S.I.,  Hf.D.,  F.II.C.P.  Lond,, 


and,  other  Iijdiai 

M.D^  Sc.D.,   M.iv.ij.r.,   mill  J.  j'Bjitr, 

F.R.S.E.,  Sui^^eon-Major  Bengal  Ariny  , 


Jamtary  2D,  1874. 

Contributions  to  the  Normal  and  Pathological  Anatomy  of  tho  Lymphatic 
System  of  the  Lungs.  By  £.  Klein,  M.D.,  Assistant  I'rofeseor  at  the 
Laboratory  of  the  Brown  Institution,  London  133 

On  the  Comjiarative  Value  of  certain  Geolc^ical  Ages  (or  mups  of  forma- 
tions) considered  as  itemsof  Geological  Tune.  By  A.  C.  liameay,  LL.U., 
V,P.R.S Hfi 

LiBtofPiwenU 148 


No.  150.— JWn/ory  6, 1874. 

On  the  Anatomy  and  Habits  of  the  genus  Thronima  (Latr.).  Bt  John  Denis 
Macdonald,  M.D,,  F.R.S.,  Slaft'  Sur^on  R.N.,  Assistant  Trofeasor  of 
KaTftl  Hygiene,  Netley  Medical  School    (Plate  I.) 164 


On  &  Self'TMOTtUoff  Metbod  of  Measaiinji;  the  Intentity  of  the  Chemical 
Aetioa  of  Totel  DayligfaL  Bj  H.  £.  Roacoe,  F.R.S.,  Ptakaaor  of  Ohe- 
miatrj  in  Owens  College,  Uuichettet 168 

Contribn&nu  to  the  HistoiT  of  Ezplomre  Agenta. — Second  Uemoir,  By 
F.  A.  Abel,  F.R.a,  TVew.  C.3 ICO 

I^n-ary  13, 1874. 

Note  on  the  SnitheeiB  of  Formic  Aldehyde.  ■  By  3ii  B.  C.  Brodie,  Burt, 
F.RS. ■; 171 

On  the  lafluenca  of  Brandy  on  the  Bodily  Temperatare,  the  Pulse,  and  the 
BMointions  of  Healthy  Men.  Br  R  A.  Parkeaj  U.D.,  F.R.8.,  Professor 
of  Hygiene,  Amy  Uedical  School  172 

Experimental  Demonstrations  of  the  Stoppage  of  Sound  in  partial  Reflec- 
tiona  in  a  noD-homogeneous  Atmosphere.  By  John  Tyndall,.  D.C.L., 
LL.]>.,  F.R.a,  Frofeasoi  ot  Natural  Philosophy  in  the  Boyal  InsUtution  190 

On  the  IMvinon  of  a  Sound- Wave  Ip^  a  Layer  of  flame  or  heated  Qas  into 
a  reflected  and  a  transmitted  Wave.  By  John  Cottrell,  Assistant  in  the 
Phyncal  Laborato^  of  the  Royal  Institution 100 

Hiivary  19, 1874. 

On  the  Absorption  of  Carbonic  Add  by  Saline  Solutions.  By  J.  Y.  Buchii' 
nan,  Chemist  cm  boaid  H.M.S.  <  Challenger ' 10? 

On  an  Lsstrameiit  tot  the  Compoeation  of  tvo  Harmonic  Curves.  By  A.  E. 
Donldn,  U.  A.,  F.R.  A.S.,  Fallow  of  Exeter  CoUege,  Oxford 196 

On  tlie  Knmher  of  Fiiirnrea  in  the  Period  of  tlie  Reciprocal  of  orery  Prime 
Number  below  20,000.    By  William  Shanks 200 

Rbmar]/  26,  1874. 

The  Winds  of  Hnrthem  India,  in  relation  t«  the  Temperature  and  Vapour- 
coDstitaentof  the  Atmow^ere.  By  Henry  F.  Blantord,  F.O.S.,  Meteoro- 
logical Reporter  to  the  Goremment  of  Bengal 210 

Note  on  IKsplacement  of  the  8<Amx  Spectrum.  By  J.  H.  N.  IlenDOssoy, 
F.R.A.8.  .VTT. 210 

On  White  lines  in  the  Solar  Spectrum.    By  J.  n.  N.  Hennessey,  F.R.A.S.  221 

UatofPrawnta 223 

No.  161.~ManA  6, 1674. 
liMrfCan^dates  for  Election  into  the  Sodety  228 

Hie  Loealinlicm  of  Function  in  the  Brun.  By  David  Fwrier,  M.A.,  M.D., 
M.R.C.P.,  Profeaeor  of  Forenric  Medicine,  King's  College,  Ixmdon   229 


Marcit  13, 1874. 

Pi 
Contributions  to  thu  Pevelopmeutal  IliatoiT  of  the  MoUusca.    Sections  !., 
II.,  III.,  IV.    By  E.  Eay  Lantester,  M.A.,  Fellow  of  Exeter  College, 
Oxfoid 3 

Od  a  New  Deep-Ben  Theraionieter.  By  Henry  Nogrotli  and  Josepb  Wwwn 
ZtunLro, 2 

March  18, 1874. 

Frelinucaiy  Notice  of  Experigicnis  concerning  the  CbemicBl  Constitation 
of  Saline  Solutions.  By  Wftlter  Noel  Hartley,  F.C.8,,  Demonstrator  of 
Chemistry,  King'ti  CoUogo,  London 2 

Note  on  the  iDtmcellular  Development  of  Blood-corpuaclea  in  Mammalia. 
By  Edward  Albert  Schafer    2 

On  the  AttroctioDa  of  Magnets  aud  Electric  Conductore.    By  Geonra  Qore,      _,  . 

F.it.s TTr. a«l 

Spectniacopic  Obscn-ationa  of  the  Bnit.  By  J,  Norman  Locbyer,  F.B.S.,  and 
O.  M.  Scabroke,  F.R.A.S 247 

March  2^  1&74, 

On  the  Oimnization  of  the  Fosul  Plants  of  the  Coal-measurea.— Part  VL 
FeniB.  Bv  W.  C.  Williamaon,  F.E.S.,  Frofeaeoi  of  Natural  Hiatoiy  in 
Owens  College,  Ifancheatet 248 

On  the  Motaona  of  gome  of  the  Nebule  towaids  oi  &otn  the  Earth,  Br 
"William  Hugpna,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  F.R.8 261 

Go  the  Annnal  Variation  of  the  Magnetic  Declinatioo.  By  J.  A.  Brotin, 
F.K.8. 264 

Ldat  of  Presents 268 

On  the  NervouB  System  of  Actinia. — Port  I.  By  Professor  P.  Martin  Don- 
can,  M.B.  Lend.,  F.R.8.,  &c.    (Plates  II.  4  III.) 203 

No.  162.— ^prit  16, 1874. 

On  the  Pneumatic  Action  which  accompADiea  the  Aiticulatdon  of  Sotmda 
hy  the  Human  Voice,  as  exhibited  by  a  Recording  InatrumenL  By  W. 
H.  Barlow,  F.R.8.,V.P.Inst.C.E. 277 

Note  on  the  Periodicity  of  EftinM,    By  J.  H.  N.  Henneeaey,  F.RA.S.  . .  280 

Studies  on  Biogenesia.    By  William  Roberts,  M.D.,  Manchester  280 


4"^  23, 1874 

On  Bome  Foint*  connected  with  the  CircuUtion  of  the  Blood,  arrired  at 
from  a  Studj  of  the  SphygmoRTaph'TTace.  By  A.  H.  Gftirod,  B.A., 
Fellow  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge :  Froaector  to  the  Zoological 
Society 201 

Note  on  the  Hiante  Anktmnr  of  the  AUmentaty  CanAl  By  Ileibert 
Watney,  ILA.  Cantab 293 

-  On  the  lU&action  d  Sound  br  the  Atmosphere.  By  Prof.  Oabome  Rey- 
nolds, Owens  Coll^,  Manchester SOS 

April  30, 1674. 

The  Stnctue  of  the  Mncous  Membrane  of  the  Utcms  and  its  Periodical 
Changes.  By  John  Williams,  U.D.  (Lond.)r  Aasistant  Obstetric  Phy- 
sidan  to  Unireraity  College  Hospital 207 

On  Leaf-^Anangement.    By  Hubert  Airy,  MA.,  M.D. 298 

On  tluLiqpiiimaient  of  the  Spectroscope.    By  Thomas  Qrubb,  F.Ra ... .  308 

Jr<9  7, 1874. 

lost  of  Candidates  for  Election  into  the  Society 310 

PreliminaiT  Ezperimenti  on  a  Magnetiied  Copper  Wiio.  By  Professor 
Balfoni  Stewart,  LU).,  F.R.8.,  and  Arthur  Schuater,  I^.D 311 

Note  on  sinne  Winter  Thermometric  Obeerrations  in  the  Alps.  By  Prof. 
E.  Fimilklan^  P.RB f7. 317 

Addition  to  the  Paper,  "  Volcanic  Eneigr  :  an  attempt  to  develop  its  true 
Origin  and  Cosmical  Relations."  By  Ilobert  Mallet,  A.M.,  C  Jl,  F.R.8., 
Mfi-LA.,  *c 828 

listofPrManti 329 

On  the  Comparatire  Value  of  certwnOeolodcal  Ages  (wgroupBof  Forma- 
tions) conridered  as  items  of  Geological  Time.  By  A.  0.  Itemsay, 
LL,D.,  V.P.R.a 334 


No.  163.— afoy  21, 1874. 

On  tbe  Stmctore  and  Develc^ment  of  Piripaiut  et^mtU.  By  H.  K. 
Moaeley,  H.A.,  Naturalist  to  tho  '  Challenger '  Ezpraition 344 

The  [Tnifbnn  Wave  of  Oscillation.    By  John  Imray,  H. A.,  HembJnst.O.E.  360 

On  ComMnations  of  Oolonr  by  means  of  Polariied  Light.  By  W.  Spottis- 
woode,  M.A.,  Treas.  ft  V.P.R.S 864 

Farther  Experiments  on  the  Transmission  of  Sound.  By  John  Tyndall, 
1>.CX.,  LLd.,  FrolMsor  of  Natural  Philosophy  in  the  Royal  Institution  360 

On  Bonie  recent  Experiments  with  a  Fireman's  Itespiralor.  By  John 
TyndaU,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Natural  Philompby  in  the  Royal 
Institution , .  3G0 


Election  of  FflloY 


Jaw  4, 1874. 
June  11,  1874. 


1 


Note  on  the  Abwrption-Speetw  of  PaHtitim  mi  SoCiMt  <*  Imt  Vina** ' '  -^ 
nturw.  ByH.E.RDeaoe,F.Ra,cBdAitlHffSdiBrt«r,nJD.'(PHit»Iv;)'IBI 

Note  on  the  idleged  Existence  rf  fiaDuIu  of  ft  L^mnlBff  ia  On»4apoittl       ' 
ofEngWd.    B7Profbs»orOimjOJB^'KB.B..^ 8B4. 

On  the  alleged  Expanmon  in  Volgnu  of  nriooi  SUMineoi  In  PMdna  1^ 
Befiigeration  from  the  state  erf  li^dd  ToAm  ta  that  of  BtAdiSeMaB. 
By  Robert  Mallet,  G.£.,  F.R.a •■•■••<  ^ 

Ifote  on  the  Excitation  of  tli«  thalteo  of  tite  Oenlml  Bmb^hoMt  \y 
Induced  Ourrente.  By  J.  Budon  Smdenni,  M.D^  F.B.S.,  Pm&Mor  ct 
Practical PbjnologTinlTDiTan^OoUegartondon ...,.,.,,Mft 

SpectroMX^ic  Notes.— No.  L  On  tl«  AbMntion  of  smat  lUdbaMM  of   ;  >) 
Metallic  and  Metalloidal  Vaponn.    Bj  J.  Noimaa  Locikjer,  FJLS. . . . .  KTl 


Spectroscopic  Notes.— No.  IL  Oa  As  B 
Structuie.    Bj  J.  Norman  Loekyer,  F.fi.8.  S7S 

Spectroscopic  Notes.— No.  ItL  On  the  Molecular  Structure  of  Vi^urs  in 
.  connexion  with  thm  Denudes.    By  J.  Norman  Loclcyer,  F.R.S. 374 

Spectroscopic  Notes.— No.  IV.  On  a  new  Class  of  Absorption  I^enomena. 
By  J.  Norman  Lockyer,  F.R,8 378 

June  18, 1874. 

A  CtnitributJon'to  the  Anatomy  of  Connective  Tissne,  Nerve,' and  Muscle, 
with  special  reference  to  tlieir  couteiioa  with ,  the  Lymphatic  System. 
ByG.Thm,MJ>.  880 

Given  the  Number  of  Figures  (not  exceeding  100)  in  the  Reciprocal  of  * 
Prime  Number,  to  determine  the  Prime  itoelf.    By  William  Sbanks. . . .  S81 

On  the  Number  of  figures  in  the  Recipvcal  of  every  Prime  between  30,000 
nnd  30,000.    By  William  Shanks   ....884 

Resentch  on  the  Smallpox  of  Sheep.  By  E.  Eldn,  M.D.,  Assistant  Pro- 
fessor at  the  Laboratoiy  of  the  Biown  Institution,  London 388 

Researches  in  Spectrum-Analysis  in  connexion  with  the  Spectrum  of  the 
Sun.— No.rV.    By  J,  Norman  Lockyer,  F.R8 891 

An  Account  of  cert^  Organisms  occurriug  in  the  Liquor  Sanguinis.  By 
William  Osier,  M.D,    (PlateV.) 801 

On  Coniferine,  and  its  Converrion  into  the  Aromatic  Principle  of  Vanilla. 
Dy  Ferd.  Tiemann  and  Wilh.  Haarmanu    806 

On  the  Forces  caused  by  Evaporation  &om,  nnd  Condensation  at,  a  Surface. 
By  Prof.  Osborne  Reynolds,  of  Owens  College,  Manchester 401 


Rese^icheB  oa  Exploaives.— Hred  Gunpowder.  Bv  Owt.  Noble,  late  RotoI 
Artiller;,  F.RJB.,  F.R.A^.,  F.C.S.,  and  F.  A.  Abel,  F.R.S.,  Tkm.  C.'S.    408 

On  the  Diuretic  Action  of  DigiUdu.  By  T.  Lauder  Bmnton,  U.D.,  D.Sc, 
»Dd  Hemj  Power,  M.B,  F.R.O.a  420 

Description  of  the  Living  and  Extinct  Racea  of  Gigantic  Land-Tortoisea. — 
FitrtaLaiidlL  Introduction,  and  Ibe  Tortoises  of  the  OalapagoB  IslaDds. 
By  Dr.  Albert  Giinther,  F.R.8 421 


No.  \^.~^m»  18,  1874  (eimtmutd). 

On  Dredginin  and  Deep-aea  Soundings  in  the  Sooth  Atlantic,  in  a  Letter 
to  Admiial  Richards,  C.a,  F.R.S.  By  Prof.  Wyvilla  Thomson,  LL.D., 
F.RS.,  IMreetoT  of  the  Civilian  Staff  on  boaid  H.M.S. '  ChaUeug«r.' ....  423 

On  the  Centre  of  Motion  in  the  Hunuin  Eye.    By  J.  L.  Tupper 430 

Some  ObsArvations  on  Sea-water  Ice.  By  J.  Y.  Buchanan,  Chemist  on 
Board  H.M.S. 'Challenger' 431 

On  the  PhjsiolngicBl  Action  of  the  Chinolino  and  Pyridine  Bases.  By 
John  0.  M'Kendrick  and  James  Dewar,  Edinburgh 432 

On  the  Calculus  of  Factorials.    By  the  Rev.  H.  F,  C.  Logan,  LL.D. 434 

On  the  Employment  of  a  Flsjiimeter  to  obtain  Mean  Values  irom  the  traces 

ofcontinuoDa'''  ""----■'-    *' 1.  ■..n  ..  ..  t...  ^  i...  .. 

Scott,  H.A., 


of  continuoDaly  Self-recordinir  Meteorological  Instruments.  By  Robert  II. 
°—  "i.,F.R.S : : aoo 

Magnetic  Observations  at  Zi-Ka-Wei.  By  M.  Dechevrens,  Directts  t^  the 
Observatory 440 

Experiments  with  Safety-Lamps.  By  William  Galloway,  Inspector  of 
Mhies.    (Plates  VL&  VII.) 441 

.  On  the  AdiabatJcs  end  Isothermala  of  Wal«r.  By  A.  W.  Riicker,  M.A., 
Fellow  of  Brssenose  College,  Oxford 451 

Contributions  to  Terrestrial  Magnetism.— No.  XIV.  By  Oenerol  Sir  Ed- 
ward Sabine,  R.A.,  KC.B.,  Flt.S 461 

Table*  of  Temperatures  of  the  Sea  at  various  Depths  below  the  Surface, 
taken  between  1740  and  1668 ;  collated  and  reduced,  with  Notes  and 
Sections.    By  Joseph  Prestwich,  F.R.8.,  F.G.8 402 

On  the  Sun-epot  Period  and  the  Rainfall.    By  J.  A.  Broun,  F.R.S 460 

On  the  Mechanism  of  StrombolL    By  Robert  Mallet,  M.A.,  F.R.S 473 

List  of  Presents 473 


No.  155. 

On  the  Absorption  of  Carbonic  Add  by  Saline  Solutions.     By  J.  Y. 
Bnehanan,  Chemist  on  Board  H.M.8.'0bBl]enger' 483 

OntheUaclMiuflmofSttomboU.    By  Robert  Unllet,  MA.,  F.B.S. 400 


ERRATA. 

Page    45,  line    8  from  bottom,  6th  group  of  5  decimak, . 

II  II     **  $f  ^»^     f»  »»  . 

„    424,    ,,   18  „         for  long,  80'' 20' 8.  read] 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Plate  I.  illustratitig  Dr.  J.  D.  Maodonald's  Paper  on  the  Anatomy  and  Habita 
of  the  Oenns  Fhnmima  (Latr.). 

PIat«s  n,  &  in.  iUuetniting  Profetsoi  P.  Martin  Dunean'a  Paper  on  the 
Nerroos  Syetem  of  Acttitia, 

Plate  IV.  illoatnting  Messrs,  H,  E.  Rosooe  and  A.  Sehuater'a  Paper  on  the 
Ahsorption^pectn  of  Potasaiam  and  Sodiom  at  low  Temperatures. 

Plate  V.  illaBtrating  Dr.  William  Osler'^  Paper  on  eertain  Organisms  occur- 
ring in  the  laqnor  Sangninis. 

Plal«e  VT.  &  Vn.  iUustraUng  William  Qallowa^'s  Experiments  with  Safetr- 


Flates  Vm-XL  illnstiating  Dr.  Q.  Thin's  Paper  on  tlie  Anatomj  of  Con- 
neetiTe  IWoe,  Nerve,  and  Mnscle. 


PEOCEEDINGS 


THE    ROYAL    SOCIETY. 


Decanber  1,  1873. 

ANNIVEKSAET  MEETING. 

Sir  GEORGE  BIDDELL  AIRY,  K.C.B.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

Mr.  Merrifield,  for  the  Auditors  of  the  Tresflnrer'B  Acconnta  on  the  part 
of  the  Society,  reported  that  the  total  receipts  during  the  past  year, 
including  a  balance  of  ;£447  16s.  lOd.  carried  from  the  preceding  year, 
amoont  to  X4914  19*.  5d. ;  and  that  the  total  expenditure  in  the  same 
period  amonnta  to  X4221  6i.,  leaving  a  balance  at  the  Bankers  of 
.£690  131.  lid.,  and  £2  19>.  6d.  in  the  hands  of  the  Treasurer. 

The  thanks  of  the  Society  were  voted  to  the  Treasurer  and  Auditors. 

The  Secretary  read  the  following  Lista : — 

Fellows  deceased  since  the  last  Anniversary. 
On  the  Home  Litt. 


Thomas  Baring. 

Bichard  Beamish. 

John  Bishop,  F.B.C.S. 

Lord  Chief  Justice  Sir  William 

Bovill. 
Thomas  Shaw  Brandreth. 
Charles  Purton  Cooper,  LL.D. 
Frederic  Crare-CalveH;,  Ph.D. 
Baldvrin  Franris  Duppa,  F.C.S. 
John  Edye,  C.B. 
Eev.  Geoi^  Fisher,  M,A. 
Charles  Philip  Torke,  Earl  of 

Hardwiche,Tice-Admira],D.CX. 
Sir  Henry  Holland,  Bart.,  MJ)., 

D.CX. 
Henry  Pence  Jones,  MJ).,  D.C.L. 
Bobert  MacAndrew,  F.L.S. 

VOL,  xin. 


John  Bobinson  M^Clean,  M.I.C.E. 
Sir  Frederick  Madden,  K.H. 
Edward  Latham  Ormerod,  M.D. 
George  Ormerod,  D.C.L. 
Prof.  Bichard  Partridge. 
William  John  Macqnom  Bankine, 

LL.D. 
Sir  Francis  Bonalds,  Knt. 
Bev.  Canon  Adam  Sedgwick,  M.A. 
Archibald  Smith,  LL.D. 
John  Spencer  Stanhope. 
Paul  Edmund  Count  de  Stnselecki, 

C.B. 
Su-  WiUiam  Tite,  C.B. 
Samuel  Wilberforee,  Lord  Bishop 

of  Winchester. 


SI^HHEUi^H 

J 

>t                                    Anniversari/  Meeting.                         [Dec.  1,      1 

On  ihc  t'hrii.jn  List.                                                         | 

AuguBte  De  U  Bive. 
ChriBtopher  Hansteen. 
Baron  Justus  von  Liebig, 

Gustav  Bose.                                           H 

Philippe  Edouard  PouUetier  de           1 

TemeiiU.                                        ■ 

Hugo  von  Mohl. 

■ 

Change  of  Name  and  Title.                                                ^| 

SirEobertAJeianderShafto  Adair     to     Lord  Waveney.                 H 

The  Hon.  John  William  Strutt            to     Lord  Kayleigh.                  H 

Fellows  elected  since  the  last  Annirereary.                              ^ 

The    Eight    Hon.   Hugh    Culhng 

Eardley  Child^-re. 
William  Aitken,  M.D. 

Li(3ut.-Col.    J.    Augustus    Grant, 

C.B.,  C,S.J. 
Clements  Eobert  Markham,  C.B. 

Sir  AJeiauder  Armstrong,   M.D., 

K.C.B. 
Eobert  Stuwell  Ball,  LL.D. 

George  Edward  Paget,  M.D. 
George  West  Eoyatoa-Pigott,  M.D, 
Osbert  Sal™,  M.A. 

John  Beddoe,  M.D. 

The   Hon.  John   AVilliam   Strutt, 

Frederick  Joseph  Bramwell,  CJB. 
Captain  Edward  Killwick  Calver, 

E.N. 
Eobert  Lewis  John  EUerj-.F.S.  A.8. 

M.A. 
Henry  Woodward,  F.G.3. 
James  Toutig,  F.C.S. 

On  the  Foreign  List. 

Yninz  Gustav  Jakob  Henle. 
Charles  Hermite. 
Otto  Wilbelm  Struve. 


Baron   Jean    Baptiat«    Julien 

D'OmaliuB  d'Halloy. 
Qeorg  Adolph  Erman. 
Asa  Gray. 


The  President  then  addressed  the  Society  as  follows ; — 

Gehtleukr, 
Wx  meet,  at  length,  in  Apartments  to  the  occupation  ot  which  we  have 
long  looked  forward,  and  in  which  we  hope  to  find  scientific,  literary,  and 
social  accommodation  superior  to  that  which  we  have  hitherto  enjoyed. 
And  I  trust  that  we  may  consider  ourselves  established  here  with  a 
degree  of  pennaiiency  at  least  comparable  to  those  which  the  Society  ex- 
perienced in  Crtuie  Court  and  in  Somerset  House.  In  congratulating  the 
Society  on  this  important  step  of  localization,  I  would  express  my  hope 
that  our  continoed  westerly  movement  will  not  be  misinterpreted. 
Much  of  the  practical  vigour  of  the  Society  has  always  depended  on  the 
action  of  Fellows  engaged  in  the  transoctionB  of  busy  life;  and  our 
movement  from  Somerset  House,  and  in  a  eertnin  degree  from  the 
regions  frequented  or  inhabited  by  those  able  men,  will  I  trust  be 
■scribed  to  its  proper  cause — the  difRculty  of  finding  a  suitable  place  in 


1878.]  PraUknfs  Addraa.  3 

those  parte  cS  this  great  atj  m  which  conimerce  or  manufacture  is  moat 
active,  or  in  which  the  demauds  of  the  State  are  most  imperative. 

Our  Foreign  Secretary,  Frofessor  W.  H.  MiUer,  has  intimated  to  the 
Council  hie  wish  to  withdraw  from  the  duties  and  the  labours  of  the 
office  which  he  has  held  for  many  years  with  advantage  to  the  Society, 
and  for  which  he  is  eminently  adapted.  In  offering  to  Professor  Miller 
your  thanks  for  his  long-continued  services,  I  have  to  add  my  confidence 
that  the  office  will  be  well  sustained  by  the  gentleman  whom  the  Council 
submit  for  yonr  election. 

It  has  not  be^i  usual  for  your  Presidents  to  allude  by  name  to  those 
of  your  Ordinary  Members  whose  decease  the  Society  has  had  to  lament 
during  the  year  last  elaped.  But  I  hope  that  an  intimate  friendship  of 
more  than  fifty  years  Vdll  justify  me,  in  your  opinion,  in  alluding  to  one, 
the  only  Copley  Medallist  in  our  British  List  lost  in  the  last  year,  the 
late  Professor  Sedgwick.  I  cannot  sufficiently  express  my  veneration 
for  the  unselfishness,  the  love  of  truth,  the  kindliness  of  heart,  which 
^tinguished  that  extraordinary  man  ;  and  I  cannot  conceal  the  expres- 
sion of  my  admiration  of  his  general  ability,  and  my  strong  ccmfidence  in 
the  soundness  of  his  judgment  on  controverted  points  which  might  come 
before  him.  After  this  notice,  I  am  bound  to  allude  briefly  to  others 
whose  names  will  appear  in  our  ofBcial  Obituary.  Confining  my  re- 
marks to  those  who  have  furnished  papers  to  our  '  Transaotions,'  there 
are : — the  Bev.  G-.  Fisher,  first  known  by  magnetic  observations  in  an  Arctic 
Expedition,  and  afterwards  by  ids  instructions  to  our  Naval  Service ; 
Sir  Henry  Holland,  the  senior  Fellow  of  the  Society,  equally  distin- 
guished by  his  reputation  in  the  Medical  profession,  by  his  fame  as  a 
traveller,  by  his  literary  records  of  political  and  personal  life,  and  by  the 
mixture  of  science  and  sociality  which  endeared  him  to  all  who  knew 
him.  I>r.  H.  Bence  Jones  will  be  remembered  for  his  labours  in 
reference  to  urinary  chemistry, — W.  J.  M.  Bankine  for  his  mathematical 
labours  in  problems  of  engineering  and  in  the  motions  of  fluids, — Sir  F. 
Bonalds  for  his  knowledge  of  electricity,  his  introduction  (collaterally 
with  others)  of  photc^raphic  self-registraticm,  and  his  attempts  at  esta- 
blishing a  telegraph  not  by  galvanism  but  by  electricity, — and  A.  Smith, 
a  Boyal  Medallist,  for  his  general  mathematical  acumen,  and  for  the 
Application  of  it  to  the  theory  of  the  induced  magnetism  of  iron  ships. 

Bat  nothing  prevents  me  from  alluding  to  the  losses  among  our 
Fordgn  Members.  The  Baron  Liebig,  a  Copley  Medallist,  was  the 
founder  of  a  branch  of  chemical  science,  not  entirely  new,  but  carried 
out  by  him  to  an  extent  and  perfection  that  have  given  it  importance 
which  we  could  hardly  have  expected  it  to  attain.  Frofessor  Hansteen 
personally  observed  terrestrial  magnetism  over  a  great  extent  of  country, 
and  was  I  believe  the  first  person  in  modem  times  who  endeavoured  to 
combine  all  the  magnetical  observations  in  different  parts  of  the  earth 
i^  available,  his  own  attempt  to  explain  them  being  founded  on  an 


4  Annivcrsarif  Meetiny.  [Dec.  1 

assumption  as  to  the  action  of  two  great  nutgneta.     Od  llie  merit*  fl 
Von  Mohl,  Ease,  and  Poulletier  de  Verneuil  information  will  be  % 
by  Officers  oE  the  Societj',  who  can  speak  with  greater  accuracy  than  | 
coald  assume  for  my  own  st-atementa. 

The  Council  of  the  Sodety,  and  its  various  Committees  (for  dispoi 
ot  the  Government  Grant,  for  the  Library,  for  management  of  1 
Donation  Fund,  and  of  that  appropriated  to  Scientific  Belief),  have  b 
working  with  their  usual  octinty.     The  principal  grant  recommendc 
by  the  Govemment^Grsnt  Committee,  and  sanctioned  by  the  Coonoi 
was  for  the  construction  ot  a  Siderostat,  an  instrument  freqnently  d 
aired,  but  of  which  the  expense  is  too  great  to  be  borne  by  an  individi 
It  is  believed,  however,  that  the  cost  may  now  be  materially  reduced. 

In  my  Eeport  of  last  year  I  alluded  to  tlie  Catalogue  of  ScieatiGc  Fape 
completed  to  1863,  and  in  progress  to  lS7!t ;  perhaps  the  following  eia- 
gular  instance  of  its  value  may  be  interesting  to  the  Society.  In  settling 
an  international  boundary,  some  years  ago,  reference  was  made  to  certais 
astronomical  determinations.  The  Government  of  the  present  day,  on 
taking  steps  for  aacertiuuing  the  boundary  so  d&Bned,  were  unable  to 
discover  the  official  report  of  the  aslronouiical  observations.  On  the 
application  of  the  Govemmeiit  to  me.  I  Ciircfiilly  exuiiiincd  (he  pripers  of  '^ 
the  Itoyal  Observatory  and  those  of  \\v  lioimJ  t.f  Loiigitudf ;  but  the  M 
Beport  was  not  found.  I  then  requested  our  Assistant  Secretary,  Ur. 
White,  to  examine  the  papers  v&  the  Boyal  Society ;  he  was  eqaaQy  mi- 
successful.  It  occurred,  however,  to  Mr,  White  to  refer  to  the  CKtalogoft  ot 
Scientific  Papers  for  the  published  works  of  the  astronomer  who  vaa  known 
to  have  conducted  the  observatioiis  in  question ;  and  there  he  discorered 
the  desired  Beport,  published  under  circumstances  of  solemn  aathenliiri^ 
in  a  foreign  periodical.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  pecnniai;  valne 
of  this  discovery  may  have  many  times  exceeded  the  whole  e^qmue  <tf 
forming  the  Catalogue. 

The  Council  have  not  been  engaged  during  the  past  year  in  any  coy 
respondence  with  our  own  Government  or  with  Foreign  Bodice ;  thejr 
have,  however,  at  the  request  of  the  President  and  Counol  of  tlie  Boyal 
Geographical  Society,  appointed  a  Committee  to  confer  with  a  Com- 
mittee of  that  Sodety,  on  the  best  methods  of  utilising  for  FhyaLoal 
Sdence  any  future  Arctic  Ezpediticm.  But  the  Council  hare  not  taken 
any  step  in  urging  the  proposal  of  such  an  Expedition  on  the  attention  dt 
Her  Majesty's  Government, 

The  Official  ScientUlc  Commission,  of  which  your  Home  Secntanea 
and  other  Fellows  of  the  Society  are  Members,  have  issued  an  imporfaai 
Bqtort  on  the  means  of  making  our  great  ITniversitieB  more  available  ivt 
the  conduct  of  sdentific  investigation.  Other  proposals  have  been  paV 
lished,  by  independent  Fellows  of  the  Society,  for  universal  inBtmcticnt 
leading  to  physical  investigation,  and  for  the  establishment  of  physiea 
■ervatoriei, 


1878.]  PresidetU'f  Addreu.  5 

In  speaking  of  the  scientiSc  subjects  which  have  occupied  the  Ordinary 
Meetings  of  the  Society,  or  which  hare  been  intended  for  pubKcation  in 
its  '  Transactions'  or  its  '  Proceedings,'  I  may  perhaps  notice  indiriduBUy 
the  following : — 

In  Astronomy,  we  h»Te  commnnicationa  from  Messrs.  Lockyer,  8ea^ 
broke,  and  Hoggins,  on  viewing  the  solar  chromosphere  and  promiuences. 
And  we  have  the  elaborate  paper  of  the  Earl  of  Bosse  on  the  heat 
radiated  from  the  Moou,  with  all  the  modifications  depeading  on  the 
lunar  phases  and  on  the  absorption  produced  by  our  atmosphere  at 
differ^it  elevations  of  the  moon. 

In  Oceanic  Science,  Mr.  Wells  has  communicated  observations  on 
the  temperature  of  tlie  sea  between  Greenland  and  Spitzbergen,  esta- 
blishing the  onezpected  fact  that  the  water  an  the  Spitsbergen  coast  is 
considerably  warmer  than  that  on  the  Greenland  coast ;  and  Commander 
Wharton  has  ascertained  with  certainty  that  the  outwards  current  of 
the  superficial  waters  from  the  Black  Sea  through  the  Bosphorus  and 
the  Dardanelles  is  accompanied  by  an  inwards  current  of  the  deeper 
waters. 

In  Biology,  we  hare  experiments  and  remarks  by  Dr.  Bastian  and 
Messra.  Bay  and  Lankester  on  the  development  of  life  in  organic  infu- 
sions, bearing  partly  on  the  disputed  subject  of  spontaneous  generation ; 
and  wB  have  also  a  paper  by  Dr.  Ward  Bichardaon  "  On  Muscular 
Irritability  after  Systemic  Death,"  with  other  medical  and  physiological 


In  Palnontology,  Professor  W.  C.  Williamson  has  continued  his  exa- 
minations of  the  Btructure  of  fossil  plants  iu  the  Coal-meaeuree ;  and 
Professor  Owen  has  extended  Ma  description  of  the  Fossil  Mammals  of 
Australia  to  those  which  may  properly  be  referred  to  the  same  family  as 
the  Kangaroos, 

In  Botany,  the  more  complex  forms  of  leaf-arrangement  around  the 
parent  stalk  have  been  referred  to  the  primary  form  of  leaves  arranged  in 
two  opposite  ranks,  by  mecfawiical  considerations  of  a  simple  character. 

In  Chemistry  we  have  numerous  analyses  and  experiments,  but,  I 
beliere,  no  establishment  of  new  general  principles. 

In  Optica,  Meears.  Steam  and  Lee  have  described  the  effects  of  pressure 
on  gaaea,  iu  altering  the  character  of  their  spectra. 

In  Magnetism  I  beUere  that  the  only  memoir  ia  one  describing  the 
internal  magnetic  influence  of  the  largest  iron  tubes  in  existence,  namely 
the  great  tubular  bridges  of  Bangor  and  Conway. 

In  Mechanics  there  is  much  information  by  Sir  W.  Fairbaim  on  the 
durability  of  iron  ships,  and  on  the  strength  of  riveted  joints ;  and,  in 
combination  of  meteorological  facts  with  mechanical  invention,  Mr.  F. 
GiCtoD  has  planned  a  machine  for  indicating  the  best  course  for  a  ship. 

I  scarcely  need  to  remark  that  a  limited  list  of  communications,  like 
that  which  time  permits  me  now  to  offer,  must  be  very  incomplete. 


The  present  appears,  howgii,  to  ta  ■  pwp*  off^ai^iaitj  iar  tofUfag    '' 
the  fttteDtkm  of  the  Society  to  ft*  jiiiyuM  ol  SahiMei^  oi  111*  mm»  «bn 
u  those  which  it  apeciaUj  kdo^  lor  tiM  iolijett  of  Hi  own  UwBi,  M 

the  external  world. 

Commendng  with  ABtronoa^ii — Vl  b  -ntj  gaUyli^  to  QmfMlaBil 
Astronomers  to  learn  that  ULLeVwiivlHB  oDKBunkitod  to  tiuTMnA 
Acadjmiedes  Sciences  (I  bebm  jk ««mss) Ua  tbooriM of  Japiterna 
Satinrn.— InCVmetaT^Aatronoii^ithaaoitatrikfaigiMtialienM^setod 
metocH^hower  which  oocnnvd'OB  TfiiiWhlNii  Wt,  187%  FniliOB 
EJinkerfues  telegraphed  the  npoct  dt  ttia  Aomr  mA  Vm  w^j/aimA 
course  to  Mr.  FogBon  at  Madna ;  id  Mr.  Joffnn,  gwolfaiglik  filMimn 
in  that  line,  discovered  a  oomat  iwiadiiig  from  flw  tBth,  iad  (lyf 
rentl^  beyond  doubt)  the  iu|in]amlaliiii  of  tba  mUma  Jaiiwf.  IIW 
course  of  this  comet  is  so  near  to  ttat  of  ttia  lost  Biolah  omat  ••  to 
make  it  probable  that  it  is  itaDf  tta  namti  Tfr  "Baggnt  aone  4faaft  . 
since  found,  from  Bpectrooeopio  obagmtiaoa,  InMss  of  cvboa  1b  tt* 
composition  of  comets;  this  has  been  v«rifad  bf  HcR-Togel  and  Mr. 
Flummer  in  obserrationB  of  ocMMts  in  di6  present  jear.^ — ^Dr.  HaggbM 
has  employed  the  telescope  sap^pSed-lir  flns  Society  in  iiiiliiHiiiwui  avna 
nebnls  for  discovery  of  motion  or  change,  and  in  obeerrations  of  their 
spectra,  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  theb  apparent  motion  to  or  from 
our  system ;  and  facility  has  been  given  to  this  research  by  the  proxi- 
miiy  of  a  spectral  line  of  the  nebolra  to  a  line  in  the  lead-spectrum: 
the  results  have  not  indicated  any  discoTerable  motion. — Father  Secchi 
has  remarked  the  sudden  appearance  of  a  brilliant  pmnt  in  the  son, 
which  gave  reversion  of  spectral  lines,  indicating  ignition,  with  such 
a  distortion  of  a  line  as  appears  to  show  that  the  igneous  matter  ap- 
proached us ;  that  is,  that  there  was  explosion. — On  the  constitution  of 
the  sun  there  baa  been  much  controversy. — The  Transit  of  Venus 
December  8th,  1874,  has  engaged  much  attention.  The  Bnssian  Go- 
vernment is  preparing  to  equip  twenty-seven  stations,  all  on  land; 
The  American  Government  proposes  to  establish  three  stations  in  the 
north  and  four  or  five  in  the  sontb.  The  British  original  scheme  of  five 
stations  has  been  extended,  contingently,  to  eight : — two  being  r^arded 
as  subordinate  to  Honolulu,  for  strengthening  that  important  stetion ; 
and  one,  at  Heard  Island  (if  information  expected  from  ^e  '  Challenger* 
shall  report  it  practicable),  or  at  a  second  point  of  Serguelen's  Island, 
for  strengthening  that  of  Christmas  Harbour.  The  French  Government 
has  proposed  to  establish  five  statums,  and  the  German  Government  four. 
Some  of  our  colonies  and  cobnial  observatories  are  taking  up  the  matter 
with  intereat.  It  is  understood  that  Lord  Lindsay  is  preparing  a  well- 
equipped  private  expedition  to  the  Mauritius.  For  ocular  observation, 
the  largest  telescopes  ore  about  6  inches  aperture ;  with  some  <A  these, 
double-image  measures  of  cusps,  Ac.  are  proposed,  either  by  belio- 
meter,  or  by  an  eyepiece  arranged  by  me  many  years  ago.    For  photo— 


1873.]  PrenderWi  Addrett.  7 

graphic  records,  some  will  employ  Mr.  Do  Ln  Bae's  photoheliognph ; 
some  wiU  endeavoor  to  arm  it  with  M.  Jsnsaen's  arrangement  for  taking 
numerous  pictares  of  Venus  at  small  intervals ;  some  prefer  a  horizontal 
telescope  40  feet  in  length,  into  which  the  sun's  rays  will  be  ^irown  by  ft 
large  plane  mirror  moved  by  a  helioatat,  and  by  which  the  primary 
image  of  the  sun  will  be  photographed.  A  working  model  of  the  Transit 
has  been  established  at  the  Boyal  Obserratory,  by  means  of  vrfiich  the 
wngnlar  optical  phenomena  are  well  seen.  My  own  estimate,  and  that 
of  my  ezperienrod  friends,  on  the  amount  of  uncertunty,  reduces  it 
low ;  but  I  believe  that  my  younger  observers  are  not  so  successful. — 
QennaD  astronomers  have  proposed  to  make  use  of  observations  of  the 
Minor  Planets  (Flora  in  the  present  year)  for  measuring  the  Solar 
Parallax  ;  but  I  conceive  that  Mars  in  1877  will  be  very  far  superior. — 
The  publication  of  the  Eclipses  of  1870  and  1871  is  still  delayed,  mainly 
by  troubles  with  engravers.— -I  am  happy  to  state  that,  at  tha  instance  of 
the  Smithsonian  Institution,  and  by  the  liberality  of  the  Anglo-American 
Company  (who  have  declined  all  commercial  remuneration),  telegraphic 
announcements  of  astronomical  discoveries  are  now  made  direct  from  the 
United  States  to  Europe,  and  vux  vend. 

In  Geodesy  and  related  subjects  an  important  repetition  of  Caven- 
dish's experiment  has  been  made  by  MM.  Comu  and  Bailie,  using,  for 
the  attracting  material,  hoUow  spheres  filled  with  mercury,  which  was 
tnnsfeiTed  &om  one  sphere  to  the  other;  the  mean  density  of  the 
earth  thus  obtained  is  5-66. — It  is  proposed  in  France,  to  repeat  the 
obserrationB  fortbe  great  arc  of  meridian. — Allusion  was  made  in  the 
last  two  Addresses  to  the  interruption  of  the  TnitiaTi  pendulum-observa- 
tions by  the  death  of  Captain  Basevi ;  the  pendulums  (two  the  property 
of  this  Society,  and  two  belonging  to  the  Bussian  Government)  have 
been  brought  to  this  conntry ;  and  observationa  of  them  have  been  made 
at  Eew  Observatory  by  Captain  Heaviside.  It  is  proposed,  I  believe,  to 
combine  with  these  observations  a  re-observation  of  Hater's  double- 
knife-edge  pendulum. 

Ge(^;raphical  research  has  been  very  active. — The  '  Challenger,'  after 
three  times  crossing  the  Atlantic,  was  last  reported  at  Bahia.  One  result 
of  her  operations  is  the  establishment  cS  a  general  uniformity  of  depth, 
averaging  perhaps  2300  fathoms.  A  second  is,  the  ascertaining  of  the 
temperature  at  different  depths ;  in  some  places  in  low  latitudes  the 
deep-sea  temperature  is  lower  than  in  high  latitudes.  A  third  is,  the 
dredging  up  of  Crustacea  of  new  forma.  A  fourth  is,  the  ascertaining 
the  character  of  the  soft  bottom  of  the  Atlantic:  this  will  probably 
require  the  examination  of  the  geologist. — Dredgings  made  unong  the 
banks  of  the  New-England  coast  by  Mr.  TerriU  have  given  results  very 
similar  to  those  of  Dr.  Carpenter. — The  Congo  expedition,  fitted  out,  I 
believe,  by  Mr.  Young,  and  organised  by  the  Boyal  Geographical  Society, 
*aa  last  heard  of  at  some  distance  up  the  counti7,  at  a  point  on  the 


8  Anniversary  Meeting.  [Dec.  1, 

river  which  was  gained,  not  bj  passage  from  its  mouth,  but  by  crossing 
from  another  landing-place. — Of  the  precise  discoveries  by  Sir  Samuisl 
Baker,  and  the  last  year's  movements  of  Dr.  Livingstone,  little  seems  to 
be  known. — Political  circumstances  have  stimulated  much  research  in 
Central  Asia. — But  the  interest  of  all  these  sinks  before  that  of  the 
Arctic  explorers.  In  the  instance  of  the  American  ship  '  Polaris,'  nine- 
teen men,  women,  and  children,  fortunately  furnished  with  provisions, 
lived  upon  an  icefloe  (hopelessly  separated  from  the  ship  in  latitude 
80°  2')  through  the  darkness  of  Arctic  winter,  drifting  down  Smith's 
Sound  and  Baflin's  Bay,  from  October  15,  1872,  to  April  1,  1873, 
then  betook  themselves  to  a  boat,  and  were  rescued  by  the  '  Tigress '  on 
April  30,  in  sight  of  the  coast  of  Labrador.  Subsequently,  eleven  of 
the  crew  who  had  been  left  in  the  ship,  then  beset  in  the  ice,  built  boats 
for  themselves,  and  were  picked  up  by  the  whaler  *  Bavenscraig,'  were 
transferred  to  the  '  Arctic,'  and  were  safely  carried  home.  Some  addi- 
tions were  made  to  our  knowledge  of  the  regions  north  of  Smith's 
Sound. — ^And  another  Swedish  expedition,  in  the  Polheen  and  Oladan, 
under  the  direction  of  Professor  Nordenskiold,  fast  locked  in  a  bay  near 
^  the  northern  extremity  of  Spitzbergen,  was  rescued  by  the  '  Diana.'  I 
must  avow  that  the  fortunate  termination  of  these  two  enterprises  does 
not  in  any  degree  blind  me  to  the  dangers  of  Arctic  exploration  in 
general. 

Li  Geology,  while  the  usual  activity  has  been  shown  in  collecting 
details,  and  the  usual  accuracy  in  discussing  them,  I  am  not  aware  of 
the  introduction  of  any  new  principle,  except  in  the  theory  proposed  by 
Professor  Dana,  explaining  the  elevation  of  mountain-ground  and  con- 
tinents generally  by  the  forced  contraction  which  must  have  taken  place 
in  the  crust  of  the  earth  in  consequence  of  the  cooling  of  the  interior. 

Ldl  the  maritime  part  of  the  publications  of  the  Meteorological  Office, 
an  addition  to  the  ten-degree  square  mentioned  last  year,  applying  to  the 
regions  adjacent  to  that  square,  is  now  in  the  press.  Sir  James  £oss*s 
observations  south  of  the  latitude  60°  S.,  made  in  the  expedition 
1840-1843,  have  been  published  in  an  orderly  form.  As  regards  local 
meteorology,  a  new  and  valuable  station  has  been  established  at  Stor- 
noway ;  the  daily  results  of  all  stations  are  communicated,  and  proper 
warnings  given,  to  129  places  on  the  British  coasts,  and  (at  the  request 
of  the  French  Government)  to  various  ports  from  Dunkirk  to  Nantes. 
In  1872,  eighty  per  cent,  of  these  warnings  were  successful.  The  daily 
charts  (first  introduced  by  M.  Le  Yerrier,  but  now  issued  on  a  highly 
extended  plan  by  the  Meteorological  Office)  are  circulated  among  a  large 
list  of  subscribers.  I  think  that  comparison  of  the  records  of  the  various 
atmospheric  elements  upon  these  charts,  continued  from  day  to  day, 
would  be  more  likely  than  any  thing  yet  published  to  throw  light  upon 
the  difficult  question  of  causes  and  effects  in  Meteorology. — Dr.  Daniel 
Draper  has  traced  the  courses  of  rectilinear  waves  of  cold  and  of  storm 


1878.]  Praidenfs  Address.  0 

■CTOBS  the  United  States.  He  haa  alao  shown  that  wind-atorms  are 
propagated  from  the  shores  of  the  ITnited  States  to  the  shores  of  Britain ; 
and  in  eighty-six  predictiona  of  storms  to  occur  on  the  British  coasts, 
only  three  vere  failures. — At  the  Boyal  Observatory,  Greenwich,  a 
laborious  discussion  of  the  photographic  meteorological  records  1848-1868 
ia  now  far  advanced. 

In  Anatomy,  the  most  strilung  subject  appears  to  be  Profeasor  Femer's 
experimental  discussion  of  the  actions  of  different  parts  of  the  brain, 
explained  at  the  late  Meeting  of  the  British  Association. 

In  Natural  History,  much  has  been  added  to  our  knowledge  of  tnrda 
by  the  works  of  Buller  on  New  Zealand,  Tiscount  Walden  on  Celebes, 
and  the  termination  of  Gould's  labours  on  Great  Britain. — Murie,  Owen, 
and  Newton  have  done  much  on  special  points  in  Comparative  Ana^ 
tomy. — It  seems  probable  that  considerable  knowledge  of  the  habits  of 
fishes  may  be  gained  from  the  large  Aquaria  lately  established. 

Paleontology  has  made  considerable  advances.  The  most  important 
publications  are  the  following; — With  the  assistance  of  the  Imperial 
Academy  of  Bt.  Petersburg,  Professor  Von  Brandt  has  given  the  results 
of  a  long  series  of  researches  on  the  fossil  Cetacea  of  Europe,  a  work 
almost  forming  a  supplement  to  Cuvier's  '  Ossemens  Fossiles.'  Aided 
by  the  Public  Museum  of  Buenos  Ajres,  Dr.  Burmeister  has  almost  com- 
pletely restored  the  extinct  epedes  originally  indicated  by  the  names 
Toxodon,  Qlyptodon,  Maorauchenia.  Professor  Owen,  in  the  '  Zoological 
Transactions,'  has  continued  his  restonttion  of  the  extinct  Birds  of  New 
Zealand,  and  appears  to  have  discovered  evidence  of  the  former  existence 
of  a  wingless  bird  of  great  size.  The  principal  advances  in  fossil  Botany 
are  those  by  Professor  Williamson,  already  mentioned. 

Medidne,  in  ite  practical  character  and  on  the  broad  scale,  has  raised, 
but  has  not  always  solved,  questions  of  great  importance.  We  are  not 
yet  able  to  assert  that  contagious  diseases  can  or  cannot  commence  with- 
ont  antecedent  contagion ;  but  the  oi^anisation  for  tracing  the  course  of 
cont^ion  is  much  improved,  and  may  enable  us  ultimately  to  answer 
this  question. — The  subject  of  "  Nerve  Storms  "  bos  been  well  discussed. 
— The  use  of  self-recording  instruments,  and  the  application  of  the  ther- 
mometer, have  given  information  which  haa  led  to  improved  treatment ; 
the  spectroscope  promises  to  be  useful  in  medical  jurisprudence. — 
Surgery,  as  I  understand,  has  been  made  milder  than  formerly ;  mort^d 
fluids  are  more  easily  extracted ;  large  ulcers  are  healed  hy  placing 
healthy  skin  upon  them ;  medicines  are  sometimes  injected  into  the  skin ; 
and  there  is  general  activity  in  the  examination  of  surgical  methods. 

The  advances  of  sdeutiiic  Botany  have  been  principally  in  the  follow- 
ing directions : — Dr.  Hooker  and  Mr.  Bentham  continue  their  Catalogue 
of  the  Genera  of  all  known  flowering  plants  ;  Mr.  Bentham  has  also  ad- 
vanced with  his  publication  on  the  Australian  Flora.  Discussions  have 
arisen  on  the  question  whether  Lichens  are  or  are  not  parasites  of  a 


simpler  form  of  Alga.  MbA  aMullHB  kw  baa*  gim  ft»  tli«  AhMtm^ 
snd  to  thedr  aappoaed  agemy  fa  jWwhiBtig  jntrAMau.  Th»Atd»«l 
reproduction  of  Fungi  has  bMS  a  Mibjeet  «C  canfaaliaB  md  qpewl^- 

tion.  The  curiouB  fsct  appe«n  tobe  iaowtebsd  ttat  movaBtent  cC  (be 
le^  of  the  Dionaa  muidpuia  pradaoM  doetajfri  j*^  ~TTIH>  ■MJogBBl  ts 
those  in  the  movement  of  musde. 

In  Chemistry,  though  a  gwt  nmatar  «C  wlyaw  Ae.  bftve  been 
made,  I  do  not  learn  that  ai^  alep  ei  lyBtMB  of  fmAnMoM  sdenas  kw 
been  taken,  except  in  the  drakti  aqiiBMui  whttho!  th»  gmtaHee  of  four 
isomeric  lactic  acida,  ftpparen^  demonsteatod  by  TTiiTinniirii,  em  be 
made  conaieteDt  with  the  prenat  liieoiy  o(  otgaaie  dieBditcj. 

In  the  sdence  of  Optica  a  amr  AeA&niaaitiaa  cf  tlw  TCkritf  of  Hg^ 
has  been  made  by  M.  Coma,  nriiig  ttte  meHiod  of  tmmnsaian  of  a  nqr 
of  Hght  first  directly,  and  tlun  bf  itAeetion,  betwoan  A»  tttA  of  • 
rotating  wheel.  The  velocity  thw  taaoA  m  mqmo  is  £98,506  ldl»- 
metrea  per  aeoond  of  mean  solar  tioM. — M.  Qidncke,  in  aqmimenbi  on 
diffraction,  has  shown  that  litere  b  fnquBntlj'  tn  oBtacpmAti  aooont- 
psniment  of  polarisation. 

The  practical  edence  of  QabiBiio  Telsgrapliy  nsdcrgpei  ""^^W  bo- 
prorement,  especially  in  the  power  of  inmsmitting  namerons  words  in  a 
short  time,  and  in  the  arrangement  of  sympathetic  clocka. — But  the 
pdnt  to  which  I  would  more  particularly  call  attention  is,  that  the  prac- 
tacatnlity  of  duplex  telegraphy  by  simultaneous  currents  in  opposite 
directions  appears  to  be  established,  at  least  in  mimy  circum stances.  If 
they  are  accurately  simultaneous,  the  conclusion  (previously  entertained 
by  theorists)  appears  to  be  inevitable  that  the  so-called  correata  are 
waves. 

M.  D'Abbadie'a  Magnetic  Survey  of  Abyaainia  and  Brazil,  made  sever^ 
years  past,  has  lately  been  published. 

I  have  now  to  announce  the  awud  of  the  Medals. 

The  Cf^ley  Medal  has  been  awarded  by  the  Council  to  Frofesaor  Her- 
mann Ludwig  Ferdinand  Helmholtz,  M.D.,  For.  Memh.  B.9.  It  would  be 
difficult  for  me,  within  the  limits  of  this  Address,  to  state  the  number  and 
the  importance  of  the  claims  of  Profeasor  Hetmhottz;  to  our  recognition. 
H's  published  books  on  the  Conservation  of  Energy  and  the  Theory  of 
Music,  and  his  '  Handbook  on  Physiological  Optics,'  have  asdeted  greatly 
in  the  prepress  of  their  respective  sdencea.  Hie  memoirs  have  ranged 
throogh  nervous  phyaiolt^,  hydrodynamical  theory,  instruments  (aa  the 
ophthalmometer  and  the  ophthalmoacope)  for  exact  measurement  and  for 
medical  examination  of  the  eye,  and  other  important  subjects,  and  have 
been  generally  recognized  as  giving  real  additions  to  our  knowlet^. 

PnOTiaSOK  MlLLBB, 

As  representing  the  Council  of  the  Boyal  Society,  I  request  that  you 


1878.]  Pretidenfi  Addren.  11 

will  place  ^t  our  most  honourable  Medal  in  the  band§  of  Profeaior 
Helmholts,  and  assure  him  that  we  appreciate  very  highly  the  serricea 
which  he  haa  rendered  to  Tariou«  branches  of  science. 

A  Bojral  Medal  has  been  awarded  to  Professor  Allman,  F.B.9.,  for  his 
numerous  soological  investigations,  and  more  especially  for  bis  work 
upcm  the  Tubularian  Hydroida.  The  subject  of  these  labours  is  one 
upon  which  few  persons  are  qualified  to  enter;  and  the  Council  are  im- 
presaed  with  the  deUcacy  of  the  work  and  the  value  of  the  scientifie 
reeulta. 

PRonaaos  Alluak, 
In  the  name  of  the  Council  of  the  Hoyal  Society,  I  present  you  with 
this  Medal,  in  token  of  their  appreciation  of  your  valuable  services  to 
Zoology. 

A  Boyal  Medal  has  been  awarded  to  Professor  Henry  Enfield  Boscoe, 
FJE.S.,  for  his  various  Chemical  Besearches,  more  especially  for  his  in- 
veatigationa  of  the  Chemical  Action  of  Light,  and  of  the  Combinations 
of  Vanadium. 

pBonssoE  BosooB, 
I  have  much  pleasure,  as  the  organ  of   the  Council  of  the   Royal 
Society,  in  presenting  you  with  this  Medal,  in  testimony  of  the  value 
which  the  Council  attach  to  your  various  Chemical  researches. 

And  now,  gentlemen,  I  have  to  make  an  announcement  which  I  could 
wish  I  had  been  able  to  defer  for  some  years.  I  must  ask  you  to  accept 
my  resignation  of  the  office  of  President.  I  do  this  with  great  regret,  for 
more  than  one  reason.  I  scarcely  need  to  say  that  I  received  with  great 
pride  your  honourable  call  to  that  office,  and  that  I  should  have  valued  even 
more  highly  a  series  of  repetitions  of  the  expression  of  your  confidence. 
It  is  matter  of  much  grief  to  me,  personally,  that  I  feel  myself  com- 
pelted  to  abandon  this  gratification  ;  but  I  am  more  grieved  because  I 
feel  that  the  Presidential  office  haa  not  been  properly  sustuned,  and  that 
%  continuance  of  tenure  by  me  might  permanently  endanger  ite  efficiency. 
The  primary  causes  of  this  failure  are : — the  severity  of  official  duties, 
which  seem  to  increase,  while  vigour  to  discharge  them  does  not  increase ; 
and  the  distance  of  my  residence.  It  haa  resulted  from  these  causes 
that  I  have  been  unable  to  attend  Ooundl  and  Committee  Meetings  and 
Meetings  of  the  Society,  and  Trust  Meetings  connected  with  the  Presi- 
dency, so  fully  as  I  could  have  wished — that  I  have  been  unable  to  establish 
that  personal  acquaintance  with  my  colleagues  which  1  hold  to  be  almost 
essential  for  the  good  conduct  of  a  Society — and  that  I  could  not  hope  to 
cany  out  any  measure  beyond  the  merest  routine.    The  difficulties  which 


12  Annivertary  Meeting.  [Dec,  1, 

I  hftve  mentioned  m^t  hare  been  met  in  Home  degree  by  properly  arranged 
expenditore,  if  ench  had  been  legitimately  in  my  power  \  but  another 
cause  now  comes  on  wbich  I  fear  cannot  ho  met,  a  difBculty  of  hearing, 
which  iinfita  me  for  effective  action  as  Chairman  of  Council. 

I  reapect  3ie  aentinieiit  which  has  prompted  the  Society  to  seek  for 
its  President  a  maa  lA.  supposed  scientific  character,  and,  perhaps  in  pre- 
Eatence,  a  man  in  offidal  scientific  position ;  aud  I  join  in  the  unanimous 
feeling  of  the  Council  that,  this  principle  being  admitted,  its  application 
could  never  have  been  better  made  than  in  the  selection  of  the  Fellow 
whom  tiiey  recommend  to  you  as  successor  to  myself.  But  I  still  think 
that,  practicaUf  viewed,  the  principle  is  not  the  best  that  con  be  adopted — 
and  that  considerations  on  the  leisure  which  the  President  can  devote 
to  the  concerns  of  the  yocioty,  on  the  proiiinity  which  enables  him  at 
any  moment  to  enter  into  its  bmiiwM,  and  oB  Aa  pvaonal  ngoor  <ridek 
he  may  be  expected  to  bring  into  all  bu  bmiBMtioaa  with  Vt,  ob^  to 
bold  a  very  important  place. 

But,  in  retiring  from  tbe  FnaidBn<7,iiid  •gmttaa^  bam  tteOoonetl, 
I  do  not,  gentlemen,  retire  from  As  Bodotf .  Tben  an  oAer  femHaOM 
iu  which  I  may  hope  to  reodw  tamob,  I  hno  tn^Mrify  been  »- 
quested  by  the  Council  to  repnt  xtpaa  the  chander  of  papers  oonunani- 
cated  to  them ;  and  in  this  capacity  my  power  of  meeting  the  wishes  of 
t&e  governing  body  is  undiminished.  Perhaps  other  occasions  will  arise 
in  which  I  can  continue  to  prove  my  devotion  to  the  intereste  of  the 
Society. 

On  the  motion  of  Sir  Thomas  Watson,  seconded  by  Mr.  J.  M.  Amott,  it 
was  resolved, — "  That  the  thanks  of  the  Society  be  returned  to  the  Presi- 
dent for  his  Address,  and  that  he  be  requested  to  allow  it  to  be  printed." 

The  Statutes  relating  to  the  election  of  the  Coundl  and  Officers  having 
been  read,  and  Mr.  David  Forbes  and  Mr.  Savory  having  been,  with 
the  consent  of  the  Society,  nominated  Scrutators,  the  votes  of  the  Fellows 
present  were  collected,  and  the  following  were  decluvd  duly  elected  as 
Council  and  Officers  for  the  ensuing  year : — 

Prmdmt. — Joseph  Dalton  Hooker,  O.B.,  M.D.,  D.C.L.,  LL.D. 
Treiuurtr. — William  Spottiswoode,  M.A.,  LL.D. 
S*fl«(ari«—  f  ^^*-  <=^«««B  Gabriel  Stokes,  M.A.,  D.C.L.,  LL.D. 

ateraana.      |  ^^^  Thomas  Henry  Huiley,  LL  J). 

Foreign  Secretary. — Prof.  Alexander  William  Williamson,  Ph.D. 

O&er  Men^>ert  of  the  Cbunetl.— Sir  George  Biddell  Airy,  K.C.B.,  M.A. : 
Sir  B.  C.  Brodie,  Bart.,  MA.,  D.C.L. ;  Professor  Arthur  Caylev,  LL.D. ; 
John  Evans,  Sec.  G.8.,  F.8.A. ;  Daniel  Hanbury,  Treas.  L.8. ;  NevU 
Story  Maskelyne,  M.A. ;  Prof.  James  Clerk  Maxwell,  M.A. ;  C.  Wat^ 
kins  Merrifield,  Hon.  Sec.LN.A.;  Joseph  Prestwich.V.P.Q.S.;  Andrew 


1878.]  Number  of  Fellows.  13 

Cromtne  Ttajsuny,  LLJ). ;  Bear-Admiral  Q.  H.  Bichuds,  C.B. ;  Prof. 
Geo^e  Bolleeton,  M.D.,  MA. ;  Prof.  J.  8.  Burdon  Saadersoa,  M  J>. ; 
William  Sbarper,  M.D.,  LL.D.;  I>aiids  Sibson,  MJ).;    Majoi^Oen. 
B.  Strachey,  B  Ji.,  C.S  J. 
The  thanks  of  the  Society  were  given  to  tiie  Scmtators. 

The  following  Table  shows  the  progreaa  and  present  state  of  the  Society 
with  respect  to  the  nomber  of  Fellows : — 


Falran 
and 

Porfjn, 

Ctom- 

X4 

IMaL 

NoTember  30,  1872. 

Since  elected 

Since  decesied  .... 

4 

48 
-  6 

278 
+     4 
-  18 

267 
+    12 
-    11 

687 
+  18 
-  32 

December  1, 1873. 

i 

43 

266 

268 

671 

Financial  Statement. 


[Dec.  1, 


11^- 
l3| 


2|fl 


*o3  i  9  I  Si  -  . 


ilNillfi 

H  ■  ■ 

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Financial  Statement. 


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1873.]  A^^ropnaUoniif  the  Oitveriment  Grant. 


Account  of  the  apjnropriation  of  the  sum  of  £1000  annually  voted 
by  Parliament  to  the  Royal  Society  (the  Govemment  Grant), 
to  be  employed  in  uding  the  advancement  of  Science  (con- 
tinued from  Vol.  XXI.  p.  85) . 

1873. 

1.  Dr.  Steohooae,  for  ccmtinustion  of  BesearcheB  on  the  Orcins 

and  Varietifia  of  Tannins ;C100 

2.  W.  Galloway,  for  Experiments  bearing  on  the  Causes  of 
Colliery  EzplosionB 75 

3.  W.  N.  Hartley,  for  BeeearcheB  on  the  effect  of  Heat  on 
Absorptdon  Spectra 50 

4.  Dr.  Klein,  for  Besearchea  on  the  Lymphatic  System  of  the 
Highw  Anlnnajff  100 

6.  J.  Dewar  and  W.  Dittmar,  for  Experiments  on  Vapoor  Den- 
sities at  High  Tempetatm«fl   50 

6.  A.  Dupr^,  for  investigating  the  Specific  Heat  of  MiitureB 

and  of  Elements  in  the  Xascent  State   50 

7.  'W.LaBBeU(asTrea8ureroftheEclipBe(1870)Committ«e),tor 

a  Spectroscope  for  the  Eclipse  Expedition ^17  10<. 

8.  Bev.  Canon  Selwyn,  for  continuation  of  bis  Series  of  Solar 
Aatographs 50 

9.  Dr.  Frankland,  Beaearches  on  Oigano-Boron  Compounds, 

and  on  tJie  Synthesis  of  Organic  Adds 100 

10.  3.  N.  Lockyer,  for  procuring  a  Siderostat,  to  be  employed 
in  photographing  in  detul  the  Spectroscopic  Phenomena  observed 

m  ae  Solajr  Disk 300 

11.  Sogers  Field,  for  continuation  of  Experiments  to  determine 

tite  Amount  of  Evaporation  from  a  Water-eurface 100 

12.  Prof.  B.  Stewart,  for  investigatiiig  a  possible  connexioQ  be- 
tween t^e  Meteorology  of  our  Earth  and  the  Positions  of  the 
nearer  Planetary  Bodies 100 

13.  P.  Galton,  for  the  construction  of  an  Instrument  for  com- 
puting the  mean  Distance  which  a  ship  could  sail  in  one  day,  &c . .        25 

14.  W.  C.  WiUiamson,  for  continuation  of  Besearchea  int«  the 
Orgamcation  of  the  Fossil  Plants  of  the  Coal-measures   25 

15.  Prof.  P.  Q.  Tait,  for  a  research  on  the  Thermoelectric  Pn>- 
peitiM  of  Metals  and  Alloys 75 

Cheque  Book 0  10». 

^1218 


Report  of  the  Kttv  Commitiee. 


Dr. 

£       ».    d. 

To  balance  on  hand, 
Nov.23,1872....    1140     0     1 

To  Grant  from  Trea- 
sury (1873) 1000     0     0 

BepaymentB  : — 

Capt.  M.  HaU 50     0     0 

Sale  of  surplus  copies 

of  "Hydnwoa"    ,.       40  10     0 

Interest    35     8     8 


^2265  18     9 


Or, 
£       g.     d. 
By  appropriattoDB  as 

above   1218    0    0 

Balance  on  hand, Nov. 

23,  1873 in47  18     9 


Report  of  the  Kew  Commitfee  for  the  Year  eriding 
October  31, 1873. 


The  ohlj  cluuige  of  cOTueqaence  Meeting  the  management  of  the 
ObBerratoiy  during  the  year  has  been  caused  by  the  resignation  by 
Mr.  Spotliswoode  of  hia  seat  on  the  Committee.  The  vacancy  thus  occa- 
eicaied  has  been  filled  up  by  the  appointment  of  Major-Oen.  Strachey, 
while  the  Earl  of  Boese  has  been  nominated  as  an  additional  member  of 
the  Committee. 

Magmtit  Worh. — The  series  of  automatic  records  of  the  several  Mag- 
netographs,  viz.  Declinometer,  Horizontal-Force,  and  Vertical-Force  instm- 
ments,  have  been  continued,  and  the  independent  absolute  determinations 
have  been,  as  usua],  made  monthly.  This  latter  duty  has  been,  as  hereto- 
fore, performed  by  Mr.  G.  M.  "Wliipple,  B.Sc,  First  Assistant,  who  also 
takes  charge  of  the  General  Magnetic  Work,  In  which  he  has  the  assist- 
ance of  Mr.  Cullum.  The  salaries  of  these  two  gentlemen,  whose  time 
la  chiefly  devoted  to  magnetic  work,  amounted  during  the  period  nnder 
consideration  to  ^249 12«.6d.,  leaving  a  balance  of  about  ^£350  out  of  the 
sum  of  ^608  0(.  7d.  received  &om  the  Boyal  Society  to  meet  ^e  general 
expenses  {X1979  10«.  7d.)  of  the  Observatory.  ^673  4*.  5d.  of  this 
amount  has  been  defrayed  by  the  Meteorological  Office ;  and  ^613  Oi.  Id. 
has  been  obtained  from  other  sources,  such  as  fees  for  verification  of 
instruments,  and  payments  for  new  instruments  for  foreign  observatories, 
'eaving  a  balance  in  hand  of  £522  3s.  lei.  on  the  3Ist  of  October. 


Report  of  the  Ktv>  Committee.  21 

Od  the  2nd  of  December  tbe  suspeiiaioii'thiead  of  the  Declinometer 
gave  vty  and  wbs  replaced  hj  a  new  one. 

Arrangements  have  been  made  to  dismount  the  Magnetograph  uutru- 
mentfl  in  tba  coarse  of  the  enauing  year,  on  the  occasion  of  paintiiig 
the  basement  story,  in  order  to  have  them  thoroughljr  examined  and 
readjusted — a  step  which  has  become  necessary,  as  their  condnuous  action 
has  not  been  interrupted  for  15  years. 

As  r^ards  the  Magnetic  Beductions,  the  TabulationB  of  Declination 
have  been  continued  to  the  ^id  of  1872 ;  and  copies  of  the  results  have 
been  Latrusted,  for  discussion,  to  the  two  Sei^eants  of  the  Boyal  Artillery 
who  are  located  at  Kew,  as  explained  in  the  lastBeport.  Msignetic  daU 
have  been  supplied  to  Prof.  Balfour  Stewart,  FJE.S.,  Owens  Coll., 
Manchester,  Prof.  Atkinson,  B.  Mil.  CoU.,  Sandhurst,  Mr.  W.  Gee, 
Gheetham  Hill,  Manchester,  Mr.  H.  Proctor,  N.  Shields,  Mr.  Beid,  and 
to  Dr.  Stein  of  Frankfort. 

The  stock  of  forms  having  become  exhausted,  care  has  been  taken  in 
ordering  a  fresh  supply  to  procure  a  quantity  sufficient  to  meet  possible 
requisitionB  from  other  observatories. 

A  Unifilar  and  Dip-circle,  formerly  in  store  at  the  Observatory,  have  been 
repaired  and  set  to  rights,  preparatory  to  their  being  lent  to  the  Vev. 
8.  J.  Perry  for  use  on  the  expedition  to  observe  the  Transit  of  Venus. 

MeltorologiaU  Work, — The  several  self-recording  instruments,  roister- 
ing respectively  the  Pressure,  Temperature,  Vapour-teDsion,  Bainfall,  and 
Wind,  have  been  nuuntained  in  constant  action  ondOT  the  superintendence 
t^  Mr.  T.  W.  Baker,  Second  Assistant,  aided  by  Mr.  Tig^ ;  and  the  daily 
standard  eye-observations  for  control  of  the  photographic  records  have 
been  made  regularly. 

The  instmment^  txaces  with  hourly  tabulated  values  are  sent  monthly 
tothe  Meteorological  Office  as  in  former  years.  TheBarograms  and  Ther- 
mograms are  printed  off  in  duplicate,  and  one  copy  is  preserved  at  Kew. 
As  regards  the  Anemogntms  and  Bain-records,  the  copy  has  been  ob- 
tained by  the  method  of  tracing. 

In  addition  to  the  r^ular  work  of  Kew  as  a  Magnetical  sod  Meteoro- 
logical Observatory,  the  duty  of  examining  and  checking  the  work  of  all 
the  seven  Self-recording  Observatories  in  connexion  with  the  Met«oro- 
logical  Office  has  been  carried  on,  in  accordance  wit^  the  method  described 
in  the  Beport  of  the  British  Association  for  1869.  This  portion  of  the 
work  has  been  performed  by  Messrs.  Bigby  and  Foster. 

A  series  of  experiments  are  being  carried  on  at  the  expense  of  the 
Meteorological  Committee,  at  the  Pagoda  in  Kew  Gardens,  to  teat  the 
influence  of  height  above  the  ground  on  temperature.  The  thermometers 
are  placed  at  three  different  levels,  viz.  22  feet  6  inches,  69  feet,  and 
128  feet  10  inches  above  the  ground. 

Copies  of  Meteorological  data  have  been  supplied  to  Mr.  Q.  J.  Syinons 
and  the  Beraretary  of  the  Institute  of  Wining  Engineers. 


is  Report  of  the  Keto  Committee. 

Pholofi^iogrt^h, — As  soon  oa  the  experiineiita  with  this  instrmnent 
mentioned  in  livst  Rpport  were  completed  it  was  taken  down,  and,  on 
application  from  the  ABtronomer  Bojal,  intmsted  tc  h\ja  for  nee  at 
Greenwich,  in  taking  sun-pictures  pending  tlie  return  of  the  new  instru- 
ments to  be  used  in  observing  the  Traneit  of  Venus,  The  scale  of  equal 
part*,  erected  on  tho  Pagoda  in  Kew  Gardens,  in  order  to  teat  the  optical 
distortion  (if  any)  of  the  Kew  Photoheliograph,  has  been  taken  down 
by  the  direction  of  M!r.  De  La  Bne,  and  any  elight  damage  done  to  the 
building  has  been  made  good  at  the  expense  of  that  gentleman,  and  io 
the  satiafactioDi  of  the  Oerk  o£  the  Works  at  Kew.  The  eoale  itself  has 
been  made  oi'or  to  the  Astronomer  Boyal  by  Mr.  De  La  Rue. 

The  thanks  of  tho  Committee  have  been  conveyed  to  II.M.'e  Office  o£ 
Works  for  the  facilities  kindly  afforded  for  the  above  esperiments. 

The  eye-observBtious  of  the  Bun,  after  the  method  of  Hofralh  Schwabe, 
have  been  made  daily  by  Mr,  Foster,  when  possible,  as  described  in  the 
last  Eeport,  in  order,  for  the  present,  to  maintain  the  continuity  of  the 
Kew  recOTd  of  BOn-epotB. 

An  additiimal  series  o(  posUivMb  ftam  A*  K«ir  ofl^tim  pktolM^ 
is  now  bdng  printed  by  •  fAotognplMr,  ai  ti»  enpsoM  d  Hr.  S0 
La  Bus. 

A  statement,  embodying  the  nso^  data  respecting  the  spots  Ac.  on  tlie 
Bun'a  disk,  has  been,  ss  nsn&l,  published  in  the  'UtmtUy  Notices  ci. 
the  Boyal  ABtronomical  Socdety.' 

Prof.  Spoerer,  of  Anclam,  hu  applied  tot  the  measmemrats  f£  eaa- 
Bpots  for  the  months  of  January  and  Febmsry  1873,  during  the  period 
vX.  his  ovn  illness ;  and  Mr.  Se  La  Bue  bas  kindly  promised  to  fumirii 
them  as  soon  as  their  reduction  has  been  effected. 

Eleetnmteter. — This  instrument,  tbe  property  of  the  Meteorolo^col 
Committee,  which  was  returned  for  readjustment  to  the  maker,  Mr. 
White,  of  Glasgow,  in  September  1872  (Beport,  1872),  is  stall  in  Ms 
bands.  Tbe  instrument,  a  self-recording  one,  has  never  yet  been  in 
working  order. 

Verifieationa, — This  department  of  tbe  Observatory  bas  been  in  fall 
activity ;  and  tbe  work  has  increased  largely  as  regards  barometers  and 
clinical  thermometers,  so  that  almost  tbe  entire  time  of  Mr.  Baker  and 
a  junior  assistant  is  occupied  therewith. 

Tbe  following  magnetic  instruments  have  been  veiified  and  constants 
determined ; — 

A  TJnifilar  for  the  Observatory  at  Manila. 

„     Prof.  Clifton,  'SS.S.,  Oxford. 
„  „    Dr.  E.  von  Bijckevorsel,  of  Botterdam. 

And  in  addition : — 

A  Dip-drcle  for  the  Observatory  at  Manila, 
„  „    Dr.  E.  von  Bijc^vorael. 


1 


R^mri  qf  the  Km  Committee.  2S 

3  Dip-drcles  for  Mr.  L.  F.  C^selhi,  London. 
2  Kpping-iieedlea  for  H.H.S. '  ChftUenger.' 
An  Azimuth  Compaes  for  Mr.  Ney  BliAS,  RB.0.8. 

Detenmnatiam  at  the  Moments  of  Inertia  have  been  made  of  two 
magnets  uaed  by  Capt.  F.  J.  Brans,  C3.,  F.B.S.,  wben  swinging  iron 
fihipa. 

Several  instroments  are  on  hand  awaiting  verification.  Among  them 
may  be  mentioned  a  Unifilaraod  IHp-circle  received  from  Frof.  Stewart, 
for  use  abroad,  and  a  set  of  Magnets,  for  determination  of  their  con- 
BtantB,  destined  for  the  obserratoiy  of  Bon  Iaoz  at  Lisbon. 

At  the  request  of  the  Bev.  B.  J.  Perry,  a  complete  set  of  Magneto- 
graphs  have  been  ordered  for  transmission  to  Zi-ka-wei,  near  Shanghai, 
to  the  £ev.  A.  M.  Colombel,  who  received  instruction  at  Kew  in  the  year 
1868. 

The  meteorological  iuBtrument«  which  have  been  verified  are  as  fol- 
lows : — 

BarometcTB,  Standards 49 

„  Marine  and  Station 110 


Aneroids    20 

Thermometers,  ordinary  Meteorological 782 

„            Boiling-point  Standards 20 

„            Mountain 52 

Oinioal 1233 


In  addition,  nine  Kew  Standard  Thermometers  have  been  calibrated 
and  divided  at  Kew,  and  two  glass  tubes  have  been  graduated  to  milli- 
metres. 

The  following  tniBcellaneouH  instruments  have  also  been  verified  : — 
Bain-gauge,  1,  with  graduated  glass, 
Bobinson's  Dial-anemometer,  I. 

AUusion  was  made  in  the  last  Beport  to  the  difficulty  of  testing  ane- 
mometers, owing  to  the  limitation  of  space  at  disposal  for  the  purpose. 
In  the  course  of  the  year  a  grant  n-as  obtained  from  the  Govemment- 
Onnt  Committee  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  a  series  of  such  experi- 
mente ;  and  a  piece  of  ground  in  the  Park  has  been  rented.  Several 
anemometers,  of  tbHous  constnictions,  have  been  erected  therein,  and 
experiments  are  still  in  progress. 

A  Freesure-plate  Anemometer,  by  Mr.  Oxiey,  of  Manchester,  has  been 
tested,  but  not  with  satisfactory  results. 


24  Report  of  the  Kew  Committee. 

Experiments  were  made  with  a  spare  Barograph  belonging  to  the 
Meteorologicid  Gommitteey  in  order  to  ascertain  ike  amount  of  optical 
distortdon,  if  any,  produced  by  the  lenses. 

Waxed  paper  for  photographic  purposes  has  been  supplied  to  the 
Meteorologiod  Office  (3  reams),  to  the  India  Office  (1  ream),  and  to  the 
Baddiffe  Observatory  (i  ream). 

InstrueHon  in  the  use  of  magnetictd  or  meteorological  instruments  has 
been  given  to  the  following  gentlemen : — 

Dr.  E.  van  Bijckevorsel  in  magnetical  work. 

Nav.  lieut.  IMxon,  B.N.,  H.M.S.  <  Nassau,'  in  magnetictd  work. 

Staff  Gomr.  Creak,  B.N.,  made  observations  with  a  Eox's  Circle  for 
II.M.S.  <  Challenger,'  and  with  a  Fox's  Circle  for  H.M.S.  <  Nassau.' 

G^t.  Evans,  C.B.,  E  Jt.S.,  made  some  observations  with  a  magneto- 
meter constructed  after  his  own  design. 

Photographs  of  the  portable  magnetic  instruments,  of  the  most  ap- 
proved patterns,  have  been  taken  for  the  use  of  persons  seeking  in- 
formation. 

In  the  month  of  May  a  request  was  received  from  Col.  J.  T.  Walker, 
F  Jt.S.,  Superintendent  of  the  Great  Trigonometrical  Survey  of  India, 
through  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee,  for  provision  to  be  made  at  the 
Observatory  for  vibrating  pendulums. 

In  the  year  1865  two  pendulums  lent  by  the  Eoyal  Society  for  use  in 
India  had  been  vibrated  at  Eew  by  the  late  Capt.  Basevi ;  and  it  was  neces- 
sary that  these  pendulums  should  be  vibrated  again  on  their  return,  and 
that  at  the  same  time  two  pendulums  obtained  from  the  Imperial  Aca- 
demy of  Sciences  at  St.  Petersburg  should  also  be  vibrated. 

The  Committee  at  once  complied  with  the  request ;  and  at  the  expense 
of  the  Indian  Government  preparation  was  made  for  the  experiments  in 
the  south  hall  on  the  basement  story,  by  removing  for  a  time  the  appa- 
ratus for  testing  sextants,  and  building  up  from  the  foundation-arches 
two  solid  isolated  supports  for  the  Bussian  dock  and  pendulum. 

Capt.  Heaviside,  B.E.,  the  officer  charged  with  the  duty  of  making 
the  pendulum  experiments,  arrived  in  England  in  July,  and,  finding  all 
the  arrangements  satisfactory,  at  once  commenced  his  experiments,  which 
are  still  in  progress. 

Endeavours  were  made,  in  connexion  with  the  arrangements  just 
mentioned,  to  obtain  an  electrical  time  communication  between  Kew 
and  the  Boyal  Observatory  at  Greenwich ;  but  the  proposal  &uled  of 
success. 

InstrumeniB. — The  Kew  Standard  Barometer,  Newman  34,  has  been 
cleaned  by  Messrs.  Negretti  and  Zambra. 

In  January  a  new  Minimum  Thermometer  by  Casella  was  obtained  to 
replace  the  old  instrument,  which  had  been  accidentally  broken. 

The  several  pieces  of  Mechanical  Apparatus,  such  as  the  Whitworth 
Lathe  and  Planing  Machine,  procured  by  Grants  from  either  the  Govern- 


Bepoii  of  the  Kew  Commitiet.  25 

ment  Grant  Fimd  or  tlie  Donataon  Pond,  haye  been  kept  in  thorough 
order ;  and  many  of  tiiein  are  in  constuit  use  at  the  Observatory. 

A  snpply  of  filled  thermometer-tubes,  of  Tarioua  ranges,  has  been  pro- 
cured for  ultimate  gradnatioa  as  required. 

The  Committee  hare,  through  their  Hon.  Secretaiy  Mr.  Bcott,  who 
was  present  at  the  Meteorological  Coagress  at  Tienna  in  the  m<mth  of 
September,  as  one  of  tlie  Delegates  from  this  conntiy,  professed  their 
readiness  to  graduate  standard  thermometers  for  any  c&  the  Continental 
obserratoriea  which  may  require  them,  on  condition  that  the  tubes 
supplied  for  graduation  are  sufficiently  old. 

LUtrarjf. — The  usual  Donations  of  English  and  Foreign  Sdentafic 
Publications  have  been  received,  and  a  few  standard  works  purchased. 

Staff. — The  Staff  employed  at  Kew  is  as  follows : — Mr.  Samuel  Jeffery, 
Superintendent ;  Q.  M.  Whipple,  B.Sc,  First  Assistant ;  T.  W.  Baker, 
Second  Assistant;  A.  J.  Sigby,  J.  E.  Cullum,  J.  Foster,  F.  figg,  E. 
Constable. 

NoU. — Mr.  F.  J,  Page  resigned  his  appointment  in  Januaty,  and 
B.  BenBt«d  was  appcnnted  as  Junior  Assistimt.  This  gentleman  haa  also 
left,  and  his  place  has  been  filled  by  E.  Constable. 

In  accorduice  with  a  precedent  established  by  the  Kew  Committee  of 
the  British  Association,  by  a  Besolution  passed  in  October  1867,  Mr. 
B.  Loewy  was  employed  to  give  instruction  to  the  Assistants.  The 
present  Committee,  in  March  last,  resolved  to  resume  this  practice,  and 
Mr.  G.  M.  Wliipple  was  appointed  to  give  a  course  of  instructioQ  in 
MatbematicB ;  and  he  commenced  his  Lectures  in  April. 

Mr.  Bobert  H.  Scott,  F.B.8.,  continues  to  act  as  Htmorary  Secretary 
to  the  Committee. 

Vinton. — ^The  Observatory  has  been  honoured  during  the  year  by  the 
presence  of  several  scientific  men  of  eminence.  Among  these  may  be 
mentioned : — 

Prof.  E.  B.  Clifton,  F.B.S.,  Oxford. 

B.  F.  Craig,  M.D.,  Army  Medical  Museum,  Washington. 

Prof.  Felix  Klein. 

Dr.  BadcMe. 

B.  Bowie  Walcott,  H.D.,  Inspector  of  Hospitals,  Barbados. 

Baron  von  Wrangel,  Hydrographic  Department  for  the  Black-Sea 
Imperial  Bussian  Navy. 


Report  o/thc  Kew  Committee. 


II  f 


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UP 

111 


35S33 


lllKl 


ills 


31 1 


III  ililill  III 


ISS    £333 


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I 

I 


On  the  Gaaema,  lAqmd,  and  SoUd  State*  </  Water.       87 

Deember  11, 1873. 

JOSEPH  DAI/rON  HOOKER,  C.B.,  President,  in  the  Cluur. 

Notice  was  given  that  at  the  next  Meeting  the  Bight  Hon.  Edward 
Oardweli  would  be  proposed  for  election  and  immediate  ballot. 
The  Preeideiit  announced  that  he  had  appointed  as  Vice-Presidents : — 

The  Troasnrer. 
Sir  George  Biddell  Airy, 
Prof.  A.  C.  Bamsay, 
Dr.  Sharpey, 
Major-Qeneral  Strachey. 

St.  John  Beddoe  was  admitted  into  the  Society. 
The  following  commnnitatioDs  were  read : — 
I.  "  A  Qnantitative  Investigation  of  certain  Relations  between 
the  Gaseous,  the  Liquid,  and  the  Solid  States  of  Water-Snb- 
stance."  B;  Professor  Jahes  Thouson,  LL.D.,  Queen's 
Collf^,  Belfast.  Communicated  by  Sir  William  Thomson, 
LLJ).,  F.B.S.    Received  June  20,  1873. 

In  two  communications  made  by  me  to  the  Britdsh  Assomtion  at  its 
Meetings  at  Edinburgh  in  1871,  and  at  Brighton  in  1872,  and  printed  as 
abstracts  in  the  TransactionB  of  the  Sections  for  those  years,  considera- 
tions  were  adduced  on  relations  between  the  gaseous,  the  liquid,  and  the 
solid  states  of  matter.  The  new  subject  of  the  present  paper  constitutes 
a  further  development  of  some  of  those  previous  considerations ;  and  a 
Inief  sketch  of  these  is  necessary  here  as  an  introduction  for  rendering 
intelligible  what  is  to  follow. 

Taking  into  consideration  any  substance  which  we  can  have  in  ths 
three  states,  gaseous,  liquid,  and  solid,  we  may  observe  that,  when  any 
two  of  these  states  are  present  in  contact  together,  the  pressure  and 
temperatore  are  dependent  each  on  the  otber,  bo  that  when  one  is  given 
the  other  is  fixed.  Thsn,if  we  denote  geometrically  all  possible  pdntsof 
temperature  and  pressure  }(nntly  by  p<ant3  spread  continuously  in  a  plane 
surface,  each  point  in  the  plane  being  referred  to  two  axes  of  rectangu- 
lar coordinates,  so  that  one  of  its  ordinates  sh^  represent  the  tempera^ 
ture  uid  the  other  the  pressure  denoted  by  that  point,  we  may  noface 
that  there  will  be  three  curves — (me  expressing  the  relation  between 
temperature  and  pressure  iot  gas  with  liquid,  another  expressing  that  for 
gsa  with  solid,  and  another  expressing  that  for  liquid  with  so^.  These 
tltree  curves,  it  appears,  must  aU  meet  or  cross  each  other  in  one  point 


28  Prof.  J.  ThoniBon  on  iAe  [Dec.  11, 

of  pressure  and  t«mperature  joiutly,  which  may    be  called    the  triple 
point  •. 

The  cmre  between  gas  and  liquid,  which  may  be  called  the  boUing-Uw, 
will  be  a  eeparatiDg  boundary  between  the  regions  of  the  plane  corre- 
ipondiiig  to  the  ordinary  liquid  and  those  corresponding  to  the  ordinary 
gaaeoua  etat«.  But  by  consideration  of  Dr.  Andrews's  experimental 
resulta  (Phil.  Trans.  1869),  we  may  see  that  this  separating  boundary 
cornea  to  an  end  at  a  point  of  t-emperature  and  pressure  which,  in 
conformity  with  his  language,  may  be  called  the  crilieal  point  of  pressure 
and  temperature  jointly ;  and  we  may  see  that,  from  any  liquid  state 
to  any  gaseous  state,  the  transition  may  be  gradually  e&ect«d  by  an 
iafinite  variety  of  courses  passing  round  the  extreme  end  of  the  boiJing- 
linet. 

The  accompanying  figure  eerrea  to  illustrate  these  considerations  tu 
reference  to  transitions  between  the  thj'ee  states,  the  gaseous,  the  liquid, 
and  the  solid.  The  figure  is  intended  only  as  a  sketch  to  illustrate  prin- 
dples,  and  is  not  drawn  according  to  measurements  for  any  particular 
substance,  though  the  main  features  of  the  curves  shown  in  it  are  meant 
to  relate  in  a  general  way  to  the  substance  of  water,  steam,  and  ice. 
A.  X  and  A  T  are  the  axes  of  coordinates  for  temperatures  and  prea- 
■  In  ""fcing  this  statBinEnt,  that  it  appwi  that  tbe  Uoob  aaxm  moat  all  eron  «aah 
ot^r  in  one  point,  I  would  wish  to  oUbrithere  (aa  I  preriouily  did  in  the  1871  Britiah- 
AaaooiatioD  paper)  anbjeot  to  «ome  reaem  in  respect  of  conditioiia  not  jet  known  with 
peiftet  elsameaa  and  oertaintj.  I  hara  to  suggcat  that  ws  might  not  be  quile  aafe  in 
BHoming  that,  within  a  oaTi^  containing  nothing  but  pnra  wat«r-aubatanoe  partlj 
gaieooa,  the  melting  temperature  and  prewure  of  ice  aolidifled  from  the  gaseooa  state 
wouldbe  the  same  aa  the  meltinglempBratora  and  preaaure  of  ioefroien  from  the  liqiud 
atat«,  and  in  making  other  nippontjons,  anob  m  that  the  nme  quantity  of  heat  would 
beoome  Latent  in  the  melting  of  equal  quantitiea  of  ioe  formed  in  thaw  two  wbjs,  aad  in 
neglooting  oonociTable  but,  I  preeume,  te  jet  imperfectlj  known  diatinotionaofoapillarj 
oonditiom  between  ioe  Bmplj  wet  with  water  and  ioe  only  moisteDed  with  the  laet 
Tcatigci  of  water  before  the  whole  liquid  may  be  either  evaporated  or  thnen.  It  might 
be  a  qoeation  in  like  manner  whrthar  we  eon  be  aom  that  there  can  be  theoretioall;  » 
oonditioti  of  repcae  in  a  oavitf  containing  only  perfeoUj  pure  water-iuhataiioe  in  whidi 
(he  three  state*  ore  preeant  together,  eocb  in  eontaot  with  the  other  two,  ao  that  Ihwe 
would  be  ice  paiil;  wet  with  water,  and  partly  diy  in  oontaot  with  gaaeoua  water-aub- 
irionoe,  or  *l««m  m  itmaybeoalled,  while  the  water  and  (team  were  alao  in  oontaot  with 
each  other.  I  otTer  these  temarki  bj  way  of  caution,  «a  they  force  tbemselTee  into 
notice  when  we  attempt  to  iketoh  out  the  features  of  the  three  curves  under  coniidero- 
tion,  and  because  Ihey  may  serve  to  suggeet  queatjon*  for  experimental  and  theoretical 
investigation  which  may  have  been  generally  overlooked  before.  In  the  present  paper, 
however,  I  proceed  on  aaumptiona.  sooh  oa  are  uaually  tacitly  made,  of  identity  in  the 
thermal  and  dynamio  eonditioni  of  pure  ioe  lolidifled  in  diffbrent  ways,  anumptiona 
whii^  BO  &r  aa  is  known,  may  be,  and  probably  are,  perfectly  true ;  and  I  proceed  on 
the  suppoution  that  there  oan  be  theoretically  the  oonditioa  of  repcae  here  alluded  to, 
of  the  solid,  liquid,  snd  gaseous  state^  prteent  together  each  in  oontaot  with  the  other 
two — and  consequently  that  the  three  ourvea  woold  meet  or  orasi  each  other  in  one  point, 
whitdi  I  have  aaUed  the  tr^/le  point, 

t  Uention  of  this  condition  has  b(«n  already  made  in  a  former  paper  by  me  in  the 
*■— edinga  of  the  Boyal  Society,'  November  16,  1871,  page  2. 


1873.]  GaaeouM,  Liquid,  and  Solid  State*  (^  Water.  29 

snres  respectiTelj' ;  A,  the  origin,  bung  taken  as  the  veto  for  pnasurea 
and  ai  the  zero  for  tompemturefl  on  the  Ceatigrode  scale.    The  curve  L 


represents  the  boiling-line  termmatmg  in  the  critical  point  E.  The  line 
T  M  represents  the  line  between  liquid  and  solid.  It  is  dmwn  showing 
in  an  exaggerated  d^ree  the  lowering  of  Hhe  (reesing  temperature  of 
water  by  pressure,  the  exa^eration  b^ng  necessary  to  allow  small 
changes  of  tempeiatore  to  be  perceptible  in  the  diagram.  The  line  T  N 
represents  the  line  between  the  gaseous  and  the  solid  states  of  water- 
substance.  The  line  L  T  K  appeara  to  have  been  generally  (in  the  dis- 
cussion of  experimental  results  on  tbe  pressure  of  aqueous  vapour  above 
and  below  the  freeEing-point)  r^arded  as  one  continuous  curve ;  but  it 
was  a  part  of  my  object  in  the  two  British-Association  papers  referred 
to,  to  show  that  it  ought  to  be  considered  two  distinct  curves  (L  T  P 
and  N  T  Q)  crossing  each  other  in  the  triple  point  T. 

In  the  second  of  the  two  British-Association  papers  already  referred 
to  (the  one  read  at  the  Brighton  Meeting,  1872),  I  gave  demonstrations 
showing  that  these  two  curves  L  T  and  N  T  should  meet,  oa  shown  in 
the  accompanying  figure,  with  a  re-entrant  angle  at  T,  not  with  a  salient 
angle  such  as  is  exemplified  in  the  vertex  of  a  pconted  arch,  and  offered 
in  conclusion  the  suggestion  that  the  reasoning  which  had  been  adduced 
might  be  followed  up  by  a  quantitative  calculation  founded  on  experi- 
mental data,  by  which  calculation  the  difference  of  the  pressures  of  steam 
with  water  and  steam  with  ice  for  any  given  temperature  very  near  the 
triple  point  may  be  found  with  a  very  close  approximation  to  the  truth. 

In  the  month  of  last  October  (October  1872)  I  explained  to  my 
brother,  Sir  William  Thomson,  the  nature  of  that  contemplated  quanti- 
tative calculation :  I  mentioned  to  him  the  method  which  I  had  prepared 
for  carrying  oat  the  intended  investigation,  and  inquired  of  him  for  some 
of  the  experimental  data,  or  data  already  deduced  l^  theory  from  experi- 


80  Prof.j:.TfcuiMm«i<fc  {Ptibll, 

msatB,  vhidt  I  was  Beekiog  to  obtain.  On  his  attention  bdng  thus 
tuned  to  the  matter,  ho  noticed  that  the  draired  quantitative  relation 
oould  be  obtained  very  direclly  and  easily  from  b  simple  formula  which 
he  had  giroi  in  hia  paper  on  the  Dynamicnl  Theoiy  of  Hpat,  Transoc- 
tiom  of  the  Boyal  Society  of  Edinbui^h,  March  17,  1851,  §  21  (3),  to 
expreu  i]»  second  law  of  thermodynamica  for  a  body  of  uniform  tem- 
perBtore  tlmnighout,  exposed  to  pressure  equal  in  all  directions. 
That  £i»mala  b 


=  CM; 


^i\ 


in  vhichp  denotes  the  amount  of  the  preBsnro,  and  -^  't^  ****  "^  ™" 
creaee  per  unit  Increase  of  temperature,  the  volume  being  kept  constant ; 
0  denotes  QKuot's  function ;  and  M  denotes  the  rate  of  absorption  at 
irtiich  beat  aust  be  supplied  to  the  substance  per  unit  augmcutation 
of  Tolums,  to  let  it  expand  without  varying  in  temperature.  The  body 
may  be  either  homogoneons  throughout,  as  a  continuous  solid,  or  liquid, 
or  gas ;  or  it  may  be  heterogoieous,  as  a  mass  of  water  and  aqueous 
Tapour  (»'.  e.  steam),  or  ice  and  water,  or  ice  and  aqueous  vapour  (i.  e. 
steam). 

Nov  apply  that  formnla,  1st,  to  steam  with  water,  and,  2iid,  to  steam 
with  ice,  the  temperature  of  the  heterogeneous  body  in  each  case  being 
that  of  t^e  triple  point ;  or  we  may,  for  the  present  purpose,  say  0°  Centi- 
grade, iriiich  is  almost  exactly  the  same.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  while 
in  the  general  application  of  the  formula  the  rate  of  increase  of  the  pres- 
sure with  increase  of  temperature,  u>A«n  tht  mlunu  it  kept  eotutant,  has 
been  denoted  by  -^j  yet  in  each  of  the  two  particular  cases  bow 
brought  under  consideration,  it  is  a  matter  of  indifference  whether  the 
volume  be  kept  constant  or  not ;  because  the  preesure  of  steam  in  con- 
tact either  with  water  or  with  ice,  for  any  given  temperature,  is  inde- 
pendent  of  the  volume  of  the  whole  heterogeneous  body ;  so  that  the 
change  of  pressure  for  change  of  temperature  is  independent  of  whether 
there  be  change  of  volume  or  not.  As  C  is  a  function  of  the  tempera- 
ture which  has  the  same  value  for  all  substances  at  the  same  temperature, 
it  haa  the  same  value  for  the  two  cases  now  under  consideration.  Hence, 
retaining  for  the  first  case  (that,  namely,  of  steam  with  water)  the  same 
notation  as  before,  but  modifying  it  by  the  use  of  an  accent  where 
distinction  is  neceeeary  in  the  second  case  (that  of  steam  with  ice),  and 
thus  using  -^  to  denote  the  rate  of  increase  of  the  pressure  per  unit 
increase  of  temperature  for  steam  with  water  at  the  triple  point  (0°  Cen- 
tigrade nearly),  and  M  to  denote  the  rate  of  absorption  at  which  heat 
must  be  supplied  to  a  body  consisting  of  steam  and  water  at  the  triple 
point,  per  unit  augmentation  of  volume  of  that  whole  heterogeneous 
body,  to  let  it  expand  without  varying  in  temperature,  and  using   ^ 


187S.]         GateoHi,  lAqmd,  and  SaUd  Statet  of  Water.  81 

I  rates  for  steun  with  ice  at  the 


and  M*  to  denote  the 

corresptrnding  i 

taiple  point,  we  h»Te 

dp 

TT 

U 

•^^ 

•w 

dt 

The  tfttrat  heftt  of  evapomtion  of  one  pound  of  water  at  the  &eeon^ 
point  (or  triple  point)  into  steam  at  the  same  temperature,  as  det^miued 
by  B^nault,  is  606*5  thermic  units,  the  thermio  unit  being  here  taken 
as  the  heat  which  would  raise  the  temperature  of  one  pound  of  water 
one  degree  Centigrade ;  and  the  latent  heat  of  fusion  of  ice  is  about  78  or 
7fi  of  the  ume  thermic  units.  Hence,  though  M  and  M'  belong  each  to 
a  cobie  foot  of  steam  at  the  triple  point,  not  to  a  pound  mass  of  it,  atill 
^L  ..  M  .  _  606 
the  ratio  g[.  "•  -  79+806- 

Henoe 


dt  606 ]^ 

■^"79+606-  Ms" 

This  shows  that  for  aay  small  descent  in  temperature  from  tiie  triple 
point  (where  the  pressure  of  steam  with  ice  is  the  same  as  that  of  steam 
with  water),  the  pressure  of  steam  with  ice  falls  off  1'13  times  as  much 
as  does  the  pressure  of  steam  with  water. 

In  submitting  the  qnantitative  calculation  now  given,  I  have  preferred 
to  adopt  the  method  proposed  and  developed  \>y  my  brother  rather  than 
that  which  I  had  myself  previously  devised,  because  his  method  is  simpler, 
and  brings  oat  the  results  more  briefly  by  eeteblished  principles  from 
existing  experimental  date.  I  may  say,  however,  that  the  method  devised 
by  myself  was  also  a  true  method,  and  that  I  have  since  worked  it  out  to 
ite  numerical  results,  and  have  found  that  these  are  quite  in  accordance 
with  those  brought  out  by  my  brother.  The  two  indeed  may  be  r^jarded 
as  being  essentially  of  the  same  nature ;  and  I  think  it  unnecessary  to 
occupy  space  by  giving  any  details  of  the  method  I  planned  and  have 
carried  out.  Its  general  character  may  be  sufBciently  gathered  from  the 
concluding  passages  of  the  British-Association  1872  paper,  as  printed 
in  the  TranuctionB  of  the  Sections,  Brighton  Meeting. 

In  order  to  discover  whether  the  feature  now  developed  by  theoretical 
considerataons  is  to  be  found  showing  itself  in  any  decree  in  the  experi- 
ment^ resulte  of  Begnault  on  the  pressures  of  steam  at  different  tem- 
p^atnreB*)  I  have  made  careful  examinations  of  hia  engraved  curve 
(plate  viii.  d  his  memoir),  and  of  his  empirical  formulas  adapted  to 
fit  veiy  closely  to  tJie  resulte  exhibited  in  that  curve,  and  of  his  final 

*  BagDMil^  "  Dm  Foroet  BlattiquM  de  la  Tapeor  d'Ean  tux  diffirmtea  Tempjra- 
tnm,'  HimoiTea  de  I'AcAdf mie  de*  Bdenoec,  1847. 


82  Prof.  J.  Thomson  o»  ^Ae  [Dec.  11, 

l^ables  of  results  at  the  close  of  hie  memoir ;  aud  by  every  mode  of 
■crutany  which  I  htive  brought  to  bear  on  the  eubjwt  (in  fact  by  each 
of  eome  seven  or  eight  varied  modes)  I  have  met  with  clear  indication 
of  the  ezietence  of  the  expected  feature  ;  aod  by  eome  of  them  I  have 
found  that  it  can  readily  be  brought  prominently  into  notice.  The 
engraved  curve  drawn  ou  the  copper  plate  by  Regnault  himself  is  offered 
by  him  aa  the  definitive  expression  of  bia  cxperimente,  as  being  an  expres- 
sion which  aatiafiea  as  wetl  aa  possible  the  aggregate  of  hJH  observations — 
subject,  however,  to  a  very  alight  alteration,  which  he  ha«  pointed  out  as 
»  requiaite  amendment  in  the  part  of  the  curve  immediately  below  the 
Ereeiing-point,  a  part  with  which  the  invoatigntiouB  in  the  present  paper 
are  specially  concerned. 

After  telling  (page  681 )  of  the  great  core  nith  which  he  had  marked 
the  curve  on  the  copper  plate  and  got  it  engraved,  he  Bays  ; — "  Je  n'ai 
pas  pu  intec  cependant  qiielquea  petites  im^ularit-cs  dnus  les  courbes  ; 
mais  une  seule  de  c*!.s  iwf'gnlarites  me  parait  assez  important*  pour 
devoir  fitre  signal^.  Kile  se  prdsente  pour  les  basses  temperatures  com- 
prises entreO°et —16°;  la  courbe  creuBe  trop  vers  1 'axe  des  Jemp^ratures, 
elle  laisse,  notablement  au-dessus  d'elle,  tout«a  lee  determinations  experi- 
mentales  qui  ont  iti  fmtcs  entre  0°  et  — 10°.  Ainsi  les  valeurs,  que  cette 
petite  portion  de  la  courbe  donne  pour  los  forcee  ^lastiquea,  sont  nn  peu 
trop  faibles,  et  j'ai  en  soin  de  les  augmenter,  de  la  qnuitit^  convenable, 
dans  les  nombres  que  je  donneru  plus  loin."  Whether  we  are  now  to 
think  that  dus  bend  downwards*  of  the  curve  towards  the  axis  of  tem- 
peratures, involving  what  Begnault  regarded  as  a  small  faulty  departure 
of  his  drawn  curve  from  his  actual  experiments,  was  introduced  merely 
by  a  casual  want  of  accuracy  in  drawing,  or  whether  we  may  suppose 
(hat  possibly  there  may  have  been  some  experimental  observationB  which 
attracted  the  curve  downwards,  but  were  afterwards  rejected  on  a  suppo- 
sition of  their  being  untrustworthy,  it  appears  that  such  a  bend  is  a 
feature  which  the  curve  really  ought  to  possess,  and  is  one  which  even 
after  being  partially  smooUied  off  by  way  of  correction  is  not  obliterated, 
but  still  reuuuns  clearly  discoverable  in  the  final  numerical  tables  of  results. 

This  is  best  brought  to  light  by  means  of  the  empirical  formulie 
devised  and  employed  by  Bc^^ult  for  the  collating  of  his  results. 
He  proceeded  evidently  under  the  idea  of  the  curve  being  continuous  iu 
its  nature,  so  that  a  single  formula  might  represent  the  pressures  of 
aqueous  vapour  throughout  the  whole  of  his  experiments;  but  before 
seeking  for  snch  a  formula  he  proceeded  to  calculate  several  local  for- 
muhe  of  which  each  should  represent  very  exactly  his  experiments 
between  limits  of  temperatire  not  wide  apart ;  and  afterwards  he  worked 
out  several  general  formuln,  each  adapted  singly  for  the  whole  range  of 
his  experiments. 

*  Jn  H.  BtgnaaU'i  curva  the  temperatures  ue  manured  horiiontally  acroei  the 
iheet,  and  preMarea  «»  mearared  upmirde. 


1873.]         Gaseota,  Liquid,  and  Solid  States  of  Water.  83 

In  regard  to  the  one  of  these  general  fonnulfe  which  he  designates  as 
fonnula  (H)*,  he  sajs  that  it  represents  the  aggregate  of  his  determiuft- 
tions  of  the  pressures  of  the  vapour  of  water,  referred  to  the  air-ther- 
mometer, and  ext^iding  between  the  extreme  temperatures  of  —33°  and 
+232°  vith  su<;h  precision  that  there  could  not  be  any  hope  of  attaining 
to  representing  them  bettor  by  any  other  mode  of  interpolation,  because 
the  differences,  ho  aays,  between  the  calculated  numbers  and  the  numbers 
deduced  from  his  graphic  constructions  toe  always  smaller  than  the  pro- 
bable errors  of  observation.  Still,  for  making  out  his  final  general  l^ble 
of  pressures  of  steam  for  every  degree  of  the  ^-thermometer  from  —30° 
to  +  230°,  he  used  three  local  formulte,  finding  that  by  them  he  could 
get  slightly  closer  agreements  with  his  experimental  determinations  thui 
by  using  the  single  formula  (H)  for  the  whole  range.  Thus  between 
—32°  and  0°  he  used  his  formuhi  designated  as  (K) ;  from  0°  to  100°  he 
used  his  formula  (D) ;  and  between  100°  and  230°  he  used  his  formula 
(H).  He  points  out  (page  623)  that  he  might  have  calculated  this  Table 
throughout  its  entire  extent  by  the  single  formula  (H),  and  that  he  would 
thus  have  got  almost  identically  the  some  values  by  it  from  100°  down 
to  40°  as  those  he  calculated  by  the  formula  (D),  but  that  between  +40° 
and  —20°  the  pressures  given  by  the  formula  (H)  would  be  slightly  too 
small.  This  gives  indication  of  the  existence  of  the  feature  which  it  is 
my  object  at  present  to  bring  into  view ;  and  an  examination  of  the 
column  of  Differences  in  B^nault's  Table  on  his  page  608,  adapted  for 
comparing  the  pressures  got  from  experiments  as  expressed  by  his  graphic 
curve  with  those  got  from  the  fonnula  (H),  shows  distinctly  a  re-entrant 
angle,  or  at  least  a  flattened  place,  in  the  cune  at  or  about  0°.  Several 
other  like  ccanparisons,  by  means  of  his  other  formults,  give  like  indica- 
tions ;  but  most  of  these  may  for  brevity  be  passed  over  without  further 
mention  hene.  The  most  decisive  indication  comes  out  in  the  following 
way.  We  may  observe  that  for  temperatures  adjacent  to  the  freedng- 
point  and  extending  both  ways  from  It,  Begnault  finally  adopted  as  fitting 
best  to  his  experiments  the  formula  (E)  for  temperatures  descending 
from  0°,  and  the  formula  (D)  for  temperatures  ascending  from  0°.  He 
tried  (at  pages  598,  599  of  his  memoir)  the  continuing  of  the  application 
of  his  formula  (D)  beyond  the  inferior  of  the  two  limits  0°  and  100°,  for 
which  he  had  specially  aimed  at  adapting  it  to  his  experimental  deter- 
minations  ;  and  he  found  that  in  calculating  by  it  the  preaaures  which  it 
Tould  give  for  temperatures  below  0°,  these  preaaures  come  out  always 
slightly  in  excess  of  those  which  were  given  by  his  experiments.  I  have 
developed  this  mode  of  comparison  in  a  more  complete  manner,  and  have 
arrived  at  remarkable  results.  The  formula  (D)  may  be  regarded  as  the 
*  This  and  other  formula  in  H.  Begnsult'i  memoir  are  hsra  referred  to  only  by  their 
Ittten  of  rafsrence,  bernue  to  cite  the  formula  tbemwlvee  with  their  aeoimaij  aooom- 
panying  explanation!,  would  extend  tbe  present  paper  to  too  great  a  langUi ;  and  any 
penon  wishing  to  serutiniM  the  formnljc  would  oaturaUy  prsier  to  h«Te  rsooune  to 


34. 


Prof.  J.  Thomson  on  the 


[Dec.  11, 


fonnula  for  giving  the  preasure  p  of  8t«im  with  water,  and  (E)  as  that 
for  giring  the  pressure  ^  for  stcnin  with  iiie.  The  following  two  Tables 
show  the  pressures  x>  and  p  for  tomperatiires,  in  each  case,  both  below  and 
above  tbo  freezing-point,  as  calculated  from  theee  two  fomiulse ;  and  they 
show,  also  in  each  case,  the  consequent  differences  of  pressure  for 
1°  change  of  temperature  at  several  different  temperatures,  or,  what  is 

the  same,  the  values  of  -^  md  -^  for  Beveral  temperatures  slightly 
abore  and  slightly  below  the  freczing-poiut. 

Table  1.    By  Formula  (D) :  Steam  with  Water. 


Differanowforl'. 
wWdiMBTBlueaof^ 

.Tcmperaturea. 

p^,U^_y. 

wltioh  tlie  rnluH  of 

^Wotig. 

tcroiBnitiiret.. 

-3° 

3-703 

■280 

-2i° 

-2° 

3-9S3 

-29S 

-If 

-1° 

4-231 

-31!) 

-   i" 

(1° 

4-6110 

•340 

+  i° 

+1" 

4-040 

■302 

+  ir 

+2° 

5-302 

■385 

+  2f 

+3° 

5-687 

Table  II.   By  Formula  (E) ;  Steam  with  Ice. 


which  BraTdaMof^' 

taofeatana. 

PK«Urt.=p'. 

which  the  Yilqte  of 

temperature* 

-3° 

3-644 

-297 

-2i° 

-2° 

3-941 

-322 

-H' 

-1» 

4-203 

■347 

-  i' 

0" 

4-610 

-376 

+  i° 

+  1" 

4-986 

-406 

-Hi" 

+2° 

5-390 

-437 

■far 

+3' 

5-827 

.]  Ga$€(nu,  lAquid,  and  8oM  8tate$  of  Water.  8S 

^' 

im  them  two  Tables  we  obtain  the  following  raluea  of  gj  ae 

»d  from  Begnault'a  formulas  (D)  and  (E), 

Table  m. 


Tsluea  deduced  foe 

-2i= 
-1J° 
-  i' 
+  i° 
+  1J° 
+2J>' 

is  giroB  for  -r-  at  the  freeoiiig-point  the  value  of  about  1'09  or 
di 

while  its  value  brought  out  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  present 
■  hy  my  brother's  quantitative  calculation  was  1'13  ;  and  bo  the 
re  expected  showe  iteelf  here  in  B^;nault'a  results  almost  in  the 
xtant  in  which  theory  shows  that  it  ought  to  exist, 
gnault  gives  in  the  same  memoir  (page  627  and  following  pages) 
er  Table,  one  intended  chiefly  for  meteorological  purposes,  and  in 
I  iii6  pressures  are  stated  from  —10°  to  +35°  for  every  -,^^  of  iv 
e.  In  this  Table  the  numbers  inserted  as  representing  the  pressures 

the  freering-point  are  slightly  different  from  the  corresponding 
in  his  general  Table  already  referred  to ;  and  he  mentions  that  this 

discrepance  has  resulted  from  the  fact  that  the  two  Tables  were 
d  at  different  periods,  and  were  not  calculated  by  the  same  formula ; 
a  remarks  that  the  differences  are  insignificant,  as  they  scarcely 
at  to  '02  millimetre.  Here,  too,  as  in  the  general  Table,  the  feature 
ted  shows  itself,  though  in  a  diminished  degree.  By  a  careful 
nation  of  its  column  of  Differences  for  -^g  of  a  degree,  and  by 
ig  a  few  small  arithmetical  adjustments  which  may  be  r^arded  aa 

d2 


36     On  the  Gaseoits,  Liquid,  and  Solid  States  of  Water.     [Dec.  1 1, 

amendfflentB  in  the  way  of  interpolation  in  that  coIudid,  I  find  that, 
according  to  the  experimental  reaults  aa  they  are  represented  in  this 


Table,  the  >-alue  of  __  at  the  freezing-point  would  come  out  to  be  about 

'^ 

<U 
1-05  or  1-06.  We  have  seen  by  the  new  calculation,  based  oa  theory,  in 
the  present  paper  that  it  ought  be  1'13 ;  so  here  the  feature  ie  found 
showing  itself  in  about  half  the  degree  in  which,  according  to  the  new 
quantitative  calculation,  it  ought  to  be  met  with.  When  we  consider 
that  Eegnault's  reductions  of  his  experimental  results  in  the  making  out 
of  curves,  formulfc,  and  tflbles  for  representing  them  in  the  aggregate 
were,  as  we  have  sufficient  ground  to  suppose,  carried  out  under  the  idea, 
now  proved  to  be  erroneous,  of  there  being,  for  aqueous  vapour,  con- 
tinuity in  Tariations  of  pressure  with  variations  of  temperature  past  the 
freering-point,  just  as  past  any  other  point  of  temperature,  and  when  we 
further  consider  that  the  quantities  with  which  we  are  here  concerned  are 
indeed  very  small,  it  ia  not  surprising  that  there  should  hai-e  been  a 
tendency  to  smooth  off  this  feature  on  the  supposition  that  any  depar- 
tures of  the  experimental  observations  from  the  course  of  a  continuong 
or  smooth  curve  were  only  slight  irregularities  due  to  experimental 
errors  or  imperfections. 

It  may  now,  in  conclusion,  be  remarked  that  if  from  experiments  inde- 
pendent of  those  which  have  been  made,  or  may  be  made,  directly  on  the 
pressure  of  aqueous  vapour  at  different  temperatures  near  the  freezings 
point,  both  above  and  below  it,  very  correct  determinations  of  the  values 
of  the  quantities  C,  M,  and  M*  can  be  made,  such  determinations  vrill 

lead  to  more  correct  evaluations  of  tt  ^^^  -tt  for  aqueous  vapour  in 
contact  in  the  one  case  with  liquid  water,  and  in  the  other  with  ice,  than 
we  at  present  possess.  Such  determinations,  we  may  presume  further, 
would,  if  very  trustworthily  arrived  at,  conduce  to  the  attainment  of  ft 
more  correct  estimate  of  the  density  of  steam  at  the  freesing-point  (or  st  , 
the  triple  point)  than  we  now  possess.  In  fact,  in  connexion  with  the 
subject  which  has  been  here  under  consideration,  there  are  various  im- 
portant quantities  so  connected  that  improved  determinations  of  one  or 
more  of  them  may  lead  to  more  correct  evaluations  of  others. 


1873.]       Oa  the  Action  o/Heat  on  Gravitating  Masses.  87 

II.  "  On  the  Action  of  Heat  on  Gravitating  Maases."    By  Williau 

Cbookes,  F.II.S.  &c.     Received  August  12,  1873. 

(Abetract.) 

The  experimenta  recorded  in  this  paper  have  arisen  from  observations 
made  when  nsing  the  vacuum- balance,  described  by  the  author  in  bis 
paper  "On  the  Atomic  Weight  of  Thallium"*,  for  weigbiiig  Bubstances 
which  were  of  a  higher  temperature  than  the  surrounding  air  and  the 
weights.  There  appeared  to  be  a  diminution  of  the  force  of  gravitation ; 
and  experiments  were  instituted  to  render  the  action  more  sensible,  and 
to  eliminate  sources  of  error. 

In  aa  historical  rhume  of  the  state  of  our  knowledge  on  the  subject  of 
attraction  or  repulsion  by  heat,  it  is  shown  that  in  1792  the  Bev.  A. 
Bennet  recorded  the  fact  that  a  light  substance  de1icat«ly  suspended  in 
air  was  attracted  by  warm  bodies :  this  he  ascribed  to  air-currents. 
When  light  was  focused,  by  means  of  a  lens,  on  one  end  of  a  delicately 
suspended  arm,  either  in  air  or  in  an  exhausted  receiver,  no  motion 
could  be  percdved  distinguishable  from  the  effects  of  heat. 

Laplace  spoke  of  the  repulsive  force  of  heat.  Libri  attributed  the 
movement  of  a  drop  of  liquid  along  a  wire  heated  at  one  end,  to  the  re- 
pulsive force  of  beat ;  but  Baden  Powell  did  not  succeed  in  obtaining 
evidence  of  repulsion  by  heat  from  this  experiment. 

JBVesnel  described  an  experiment  by  which  concentrated  solar  light  and 
heat  caused  repulsion  between  one  dehcstely  suspended  and  one  fixed 
disk.  The  experiment  was  tried  in  air  of  different  densities ;  but  con- 
tradictory results  were  obtained  under  apparently  similar  circumstances 
at  different  times,  and  the  experiments  were  not  proceeded  with. 

Saigey  described  experiments  which  appeared  to  prove  that  a  marked 
attraction  exist«d  between  bodies  of  different  temperatures. 

Forbes,  in  a  discussion  and  repetition  of  Trevelyau's  experiment, 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  there  was  a  repulsive  action  exercised  in  the 
transmission  of  heat  from  one  body  into  another  which  had  a  less  power 
of  conducting  it. 

Baden  Powell,  repeating  Fresnel's  experiment,  explained  the  results 
otherwise  than  as  due  to  repulsion  by  heat.  By  observing  the  daeent  of 
the  tints  of  Kewton's  Bings  between  glass  plates  when  heat  was  applied, 
Baden  Powell  showed  that  the  interval  between  the  plates  increased,  and 
attributed  this  to  a  repulsive  action  of  heat. 

Faye  introduced  the  hypothesis  of  a  repulsive  force  of  heat  to  account 
for  certun  astronomical  phenomena.  Ue  described  an  experiment  to 
show  that  beat  produced  repulsion  in  the  luminous  ore  given  by  an  induc- 
ticn-coO  in  rarefied  air. 

The  author  describes  numerous  forms  of  apparatus  successively  more 

<■  Fbil.  Tnn*.  16T3,  toI.  cliiij.  p.  277. 


88  Mr,  W.  Crookea  on  Me  [Dec.  11, 

and  more  delicate,  which  enabled  him  to  detect  and  then  to  render  rery 
sensible  an  action  eserted  by  heat  ou  gravitating  bodies,  which  ia  not 
duo  to  lUr-cuiTPnts  or  to  nay  other  knomi  form  of  force. 

The  following  experiment  with  a  balance  made  of  a  straw  beam  with 
pith-ball  masses  at  the  ends  enclosed  in  a  glass  tube  and  Cormected.  with 
a  Sprengel  pump,  may  be  quoted  from  the  paper; — 

"  The  whole  being  fitted  up  as  here  shown,  and  the  apparatus  being 
full  of  air  to  begin  with,  I  passed  a  spirit-flame  across  the  lower  part  of 
the  tube  at  b,  observing  the  movement  by  a  low-power  micrometer ;  the 
pith  ball  (a,  h)  descended  slightly,  and  then  immediately  rose  to  con- 
siderably above  its  original  position.  It  seemed  as  if  the  true  action  of 
the  heat  was  one  of  attraction,  instajttly  overcome  by  ascending  currents 

"  31.  In  order  to  apply  the  heat  in  a  more  regular  manner,  a  thermo- 
meter was  inserted  in  a  glass  tube>  having  at  its  extremity  a  glass  bulb 
about  1  j  inch  in  diameter  ;  it  was  filled  with  n-ater  and  then  sealed  up. .  . 
The  water  was  kept  heated  to  70°  C,  the  temperature  of  the  laboratory 
being  about  15°  C. 

"  32.  The  barometer  being  at  767  millims.  and  the  gauge  at  zero,  the 
hot  bulb  was  placed  beneath  the  pith  ball  at  b.  The  ball  rose  rapidly ; 
OS  sooQ  as  equilibrium  was  restored,  I  placed  the  hot-water  bulb  above 
the  pith  ball  at  a,  when  it  rose  again,  more  slowly,  however,  than  when 
the  heat  was  applied  beneath  it. 

"  33.  The  pump  was  set  to  work ;  and  when  the  gauge  was  147  millima. 
below  the  barometer,  the  experiment  was  tried  again ;  the  same  result, 
CHily  more  feeble,  waa  obtained.  The  exhaustion  was  continned,  stopping 
the  pump  from  time  to  time,  to  observe  the  effect  of  heat,  when  it  was 
seen  that  the  effect  of  the  hot  body  regularly  diminished  as  the  rarefac- 
tion increased,  until  when  the  gauge  was  about  12  millims.  below  the 
barometer  the  action  of  the  hot  body  was  scarcely  noticeable.  At 
.10  millims.  below  it  was  still  less;  whilst  when  there  was  only  a  difference 
eS  7  millims.  between  the  barometer  and  the  gauge,  neither  the  hot- 
water  bulb,  the  hot  rod,  nor  the  spirit-flame  caused  the  ball  to  move  in 
an  appreciable  degree.  The  inference  was  almost  irresistible  that  the 
rising  of  the  pith  was  only  due  to  qurrent«  of  ur,  and  that  at  this  near 
approach  to  a  vacaum  the  residual  air  was  too  highly  rarefied  to  have 
power  in  its  rising  to  overcome  ihe  inertia  of  the  straw  beam  and  the 
pith  balls.  A  more  delicate  instrument  would  doubtless  show  traces  of 
movement  at  a  still  nearer  approach  to  a  vacuum ;  but  it  seemed  evident 
that  when  the  last  trace  of  air  had  been  removed  from  the  tube  surround- 
ing the  balance — when  the  balance  was  suspended  in  empty  space  only — 
the  pith-ball  would  remain  motionless,  wherever  the  hot  body  were 
applied  to  it. 

"  34.  I  continued  exhausting.  On  next  applying  heat,  the  result 
k  showed  that  I  was  far  from  having  discovered  the  law  governing  these 


1873.]  Action  o/Beat  on  Gtavitating  MoMg^t*  39 

phenomena;  the  pith  ball  roae  steadily,  and  without  that  heaitaticm 
which  had  been  observed  at  lower  raref  addons.  With  the  gauge  3  millima. 
below  the  barometer,  the  ascenaion  of  the  pith  when  a  hot  body  was 
placed  beneath  it  was  equal  to  what  it  had  been  in  air  o£  onUnaiy 
density ;  whilst  with  the  gauge  and  barometer  level  its  upward  more- 
ments  were  not  only  sharper  than  they  had  been  in  air,  but  they 
took  place  under  the  influence  of  Far  less  beat ;  the  finger,  for  example, 
instantly  sending  the  ball  up  to  its  fullest  extent." 

A  piece  of  ice  produced  exactly  the  opposite  effect  to  a  hot  body. 

Numerous  experiments  are  next  giten  to  prove  that  the  action  is  not 
due  to  electricity. 

The  presence  of  air  having  so  marked  an  influence  on  the  action  of 
heat,  an  apparatus  was  fitted  up  in  which  the  source  of  heat  (a  platinum 
spiral  rendered  incandescent  by  electricity)  was  inside  the  vacuum-tube 
instead  of  outside  it  as  before ;  and  the  pith  balls  of  the  former  apparatus 
were  replaced  by  brass  balls.  By  careful  management  and  turning  the 
tube  round,  the  author  could  place  the  equipoised  braes  pole  either  over, 
under,  or  at  the  side  of  the  source  of  heat.  With  this  apparatus  it  was 
intended  to  ascertuu  more  about  the  behaviour  of  the  balance  during 
the  progress  of  the  exhaustion,  both  below  and  above  the  point  of  no 
action,  and  also  to  ascertain  the  pressure  correspondiugwith  this  critical 
point. 

After  describing  many  experiments  with  the  ball  in  various  positions 
with  respect  to  the  incandescent  spiral,  and  at  different  pressures,  the 
general  result  is  expressed  by  the  statement  that  the  tendency  in  each 
case  was  to  bring  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the  brass  ball  as  near  as  possible 
to  tbe  source  of  heat,  when  air  of  ordinary  density,  or  even  highly  rar^ 
fied  air,  surrounded  the  balance.    The  author  continues : — 

"  44.  Tbe  pump  was  then  worked  until  the  gauge  had  risen  to  within 
fi  millims.  of  the  barometric  height.  On  arranging  the  ball  above  the  spiral 
(and  making  contact  with  the  battery),  the  attraction  was  still  strong, 
drawing  the  ball  downwards  a  distance  of  2  millims.  The  pump  continuing 
to  work,  the  gauge  rose  until  it  was  within  1  millim.  of  the  barometer.  The 
attraction  of  the  hot  spiral  for  the  boll  was  still  endent,  drawing  it 
down  when  placed  below  it,  and  up  when  placed  above  it.  The  mo^'^ 
ment,  however,  was  much  less  decided  than  before ;  and  in  spite  of  pre- 
vious experience  (33,  34)  the  inference  was  very  strong  that  the  attrac- 
tion would  gradually  diminish  until  the  vacuum  was  absolute,  and  that 
then,  and  not  till  then,  the  neutral  point  would  be  reached.  Within  one 
miiliroetre  of  a  vacuum  there  appeared  to  be  no  room  for  a  change  of 
sign. 

"  46.  Tbe  gauge  rose  until  there  was  only  half  a  millimetre  between 
it  and  the  barometer.  The  metallic  hammering  heard  when  the  rarefac- 
tion is  dose  upon  a  vacuum  commenced,  and  the  falling  mercury  only 
(Kcasiomlly  took  down  a  bubble  of  air.    On  turning  od  the  battery  cur- 


40  Mr.  W.  Crookes  on  the  [Dec.  11, 

rent,  there  wu  the  fiiintest  po§3ible  moremeDt  of  the  brass  ball  (towards 
the  spiial)  in  the  dinvtion  of  attraction. 

"48.  The  workinc  oE  the  pomp  was  continued.  On  next  making 
contact  with  the  batltrv,  no  movement  could  be  detected.  The  red-hot 
spinl  neither  sttncted  uor  repelled.  I  had  arrived  at  the  critical  point. 
On  looking  at  the  gauge  1  »aw  it  was  level  with  the  barometer. 

" 47.  The  pump  mas  now  kept  at  fidl  work  for  an  hour.  The  gauge 
did  not  rise  perceptibly ;  but  the  metallic  hammering  sound  increased  in 
BharpnesB,  and  I  could  sec  t  hat  a  bubble  or  tno  of  tar  had  been  carried  down. 
On  igniting  the  gpira),  I  t^aw  that  the  critical  point  had  been  passed.  The 
flign  had  changed,  and  llie  action  was  faint  but  unmiBtakable  rtpvXtum, 
The  pump  was  still  ki-pt  going,  and  an  observation  was  taken  from  tima 
to  time  during  several  hours.  The  repuJaiou  continued  to  increase. 
The  tubes  of  the  pump  were  now  waahed  out  with  oil  of  vitriol*,  and  the 
working  was  continued  for  an  hour. 

"48,  The  action  of  the  incandescent  spiral  was  now  found  to  be 
energetioatlyrfp^Umr,  whothar  it  was  placed  above  or  below  the  brass 
ball.  The  £ngers  eierted  a  repellent  action,  as  did  also  a  warm  glass  rod, 
s  spirit-flame,  and  a  piece  of  hot  copper." 

In  order  to  decide  once  for  all  whether  these  actions  re^y  were  dua 
to  air-currents,  a  form  of  apparatus  was  fitted  up  which,  whilst  it  would 
settle  the  question  iTjili-putably,  would  at  the  same  time  be  likely  to 
afford  informatdon  of  much  interest. 

By  chemical  means  the  author  obtained  in  an  apparatus  a  vacuum  so 
nearly  perfect  that  It  would  not  carry  a  currant  from  a  BuhmkorfTs  coil 
whoD  connected  with  platinum  wires  sealed  into  the  tube.  In  such  a 
vacuum  the  repulsion  by  heat  was  still  found  to  be  decided  and  ener- 
getic. 

An  experiment  is  next  described,  in  which  the  rays  of  the  sun,  and 
then  the  different  portions  of  the  solar  spectrum,  are  projected  on  to  the 
delicately  suspended  pith-ball  balance,  /n  vacuo  the  repulsion  is  so 
strong  as  to  cause  danger  to  the  apparatus,  and  resembles  that  which 
would  be  produced  by  the  physical  impact  of  a  material  body. 

Experiments  are  next  described  in  which  various  substances  were  used 
as  the  gravitating  masses.  Amongst  these  are  ivory,  brass,  pith,  pla- 
tinum, gilt  pith,  silver,  bismuth,  selenium,  copper,  mica  (horizontal  and 
vertical),  charcoal,  Ac. 

The  behaviour  of  a  glass  beam  with  glass  ends  in  a  chemical  vacuum, 
and  at  lower  exhaustion,  is  next  accurately  examined  when  heat  is  applied 
in  different  ways. 

On  suspending  the  light  index  by  means  of  a  cocoon  fibre  in  a  long 
glass  tube  furnished  with  a  bulb  at  the  end,  and  exhausting  in  various 
ways,  the  author  finds  that  the  attraction  to  a  hot  body  in  air,  and  the 
repulsion  from  a  hot  body  in  vaato  are  rendered  still  more  apparent. 
*  This  nu  be  efloelod  without  intcrferm^  irith  the  eiluiuUoti. 


1873.]  Action  of  Heat  on  Gravitating  Masses.  41 

Speaking  of  Cavendish's  celebrated  ei:periment,  the  author  says  that 
he  has  experimented  for  some  months  on  an  apparatus  of  this  kind,  and 
gives  the  following  outline  of  one  of  the  results  he  has  obtained  v — 

'<  A  heavy  metallic  mass,  when  brought  near  a  delicately  suspended 
light  ball,  attracts  or  repels  it  under  the  following  circumstances : — 

"  I.   WTten  the  baU  is  in  air  of  ordinary  density. 

a.  If  the  mass  is  colder  than  the  ball,  it  repels  the  ball. 
6.  If  the  mass  is  Tiotter  than  the  ball,  it  attracts  the  ball. 

*'  II.  WTien  the  baU  is  in  a  vacuum. 

a.  If  the  mass  is  colder  than  the  ball,  it  attracts  the  ball. 
6.  If  the  mass  is  hotter  than  the  ball,  it  repels  the  ball." 

The  author  continues: — **  The  density  of  the  medium  surrounding  the 
ball,  the  material  of  which  the  ball  is  made,  and  a  very  slight  difference 
between  the  temperatures  of  the  mass  and  the  ball,  exert  so  strong  an 
influence  over  the  attractive  and  repulsive  force,  and  it  has  been  so  diffi- 
cult for  me  to  eliminate  all  interfering  actions  of  temperature,  electricity, 
Ac.,  that  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  get  distinct  evidence  of  an  inde- 
pendent force  (not  being  of  the  nature  of  heat)  urging  the  ball  and  the 
mass  together. 

<<  Experiment  has,  however,  showed  me  that,  whilst  the  action  is  in  one 
direction  in  dense  air,  and  in  the  opposite  direction  in  a  vacuum,  there  is 
an  intermediate  pressure  at  which  differences  of  temperature  appear  to 
exert  little  or  no  interfering  action.  By  experimenting  at  this  critical 
pressure,  it  would  seem  that  such  an  action  as  was  obtained  by  Cavendish, 
Beich,  and  Baily  should  be  rendered  evident." 

After  discussing  the  explanations  which  may  be  given  of  these  actions, 
and  showing  that  they  cannot  be  due  to  air-currents,  the  author  refers  to 
evidences  of  this  repulsive  action  of  heat,  and  attractive  action  of  cold,  in 
nature.  In  that  portion  of  the  sun's  radiation  which  is  called  heat,  we 
have  the  radial  repulsive  force,  possessing  successive  propagation,  re- 
quired to  explain  the  phenomena  of  comets  and  the  shape  and  changes  of 
the  nebulsB.  To  compare  small  things  with  great — to  argue  from  pieces 
of  straw  up  to  heavenly  bodies — it  is  not  improbable  that  the  attraction, 
now  shown  to  exist  between  a  cold  and  a  warm  body,  will  equally  prevail 
when,  for  the  temperature  of  melting  ice  is  substituted  the  cold  of  space, 
for  a  pith  ball  a  celestial  sphere,  and  for  an  artificial  vacuum  a 
stellar  v<ud.  In  the  radiant  molecular  energy  of  cosmical  masses  may 
at  last  be  found  that  '*  agent  acting  constantly  according  to  certain  laws," 
whidi  Newton  held  to  be  the  cause  of  gravity. 


48  Dr.  A.  Ranaorae  on  Forced  Breathing.         [Dec.  18, 

III.  "  On  the  Male,  and  the  Structure,  of  Thaumopa  pelbicida." 
By  E.  TON  Willem5es-Schm,  Ph.D.,  Il.SI.S.  'CUallenger.' 
Commuaicated  by  Prof.  Hdiley,  Sec.  R.S.  Received  October 
24,  1873. 

(Abstract.) 

This  ia  an  addition  to  the  pnper  on  Tkawmnpt  pelladdn  by  the  sanw 
author  (Proceedings  of  Ihe  Eoyal  Socioly,  vol.  xxl.  p.  2U0),  cout^ning  an 
account  of  the  male,  iluJ  sutuq  corrections  oE  the  deHcription  formerly 
gjvea.  The  specien  ajipears  to  be  widely  distributed,  oud  to  live  at  mode- 
rate deptlts,  coming  to  the  surface  at  night. 


IV.  "  On  the  Bending  of  the  Bibs  in  Forced  Breathing."  By 
Arthur  Banbome,  M.D.  Communicated  by  Dr.  Buhdon 
SANDBaaoN,  M.D.,  F.R.S.     Received  May  15, 1873. 

(Abstract.) 
In  a  paper  "On  tho  Mechanical  Conditions  of  the  KeHpiratory  Move- 
menta,"read  before  tho  Eoyal  Society  in  November  1ST2",  the  author 
endeavoured  to  show  that  there  is  a  distinct  differem-e  in  tlm  i-licrd 
lengths  of  a  at«nial  rib  in  the  two  poeitiona  of  fuU  inspiration  and 
forced  expiration,  and  that  a  certain  degree  of  bending  of  the  ribs 
usually  takes  place  in  forced  breathing.  The  measurements  on  which 
these  conclusions  were  based  were  made  with  a  3-plane  stethometer, 
the  performance  of  which  was  not  sufficiently  accurate  to  satisfy  the 
author,  who  has  accordingly  repeated  them  by  the  aid  of  a  new  instru- 
ment, the  construction  and  use  of  which  are  described  at  length  in  the 
present  conununication.  The  author  considers  that  the  new  instrument 
gives  fairly  accurate  results,  which  fully  corroborate  the  conclusions  pre- 
viosly  enunciated. 


December  18,  1873. 
JOSEPH  DALTON  HOOKER,  C.B.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

Pursuant  to  notice  given  at  the  last  Meeting,  the  President  proposed, 
uid  Professor  Henry  iFohn  Stephen  Smith  seconded,  the  Bight  Hon. 
Edward  Cardwell,  M.P.,  Secretary  of  State  for  War,  for  election  and 
immediate  ballot. 

The  ballot  having  been  taken,  Mr.  Cardwell  was  declared  duly  elected. 

The  Presents  received  were  Itud  on  the  Table,  and  thanks  onlerod  for 
them. 
^^'  *  ProceediogE  of  the  Bo;al  Sooiet;,  Nonmber  22,  1872. 


1873.]  iS.t.J.A.'BrounonSm-tpotaandTerrettrialMagnetum.  48 

The  following  cominimicstioiis  were  read : — 

I.  "Od  the  Period  of  Hemispherical  Excess  of  Sun-spots,  and 
the  26-day  Period  of  Terreatrial  Maguetism."  By  J.  A. 
Bboun,  P.E.S.     Iteceived  September  13,  1873. 

It  appears  from  the  interestiiig  commimication  to  the  Sayal  Society, 
Jane  Idth,  by  Messrs.  De  La  Bue,  Stewart,  and  Loewy*,  that  the 
difference  of  the  area  of  spots  on  the  visible  northern  and  Bouthem 
quarter-spheres  of  the  sun  seems,  during  periods  of  considerable  solar 
disturbance,  to  obey  a  law  such  that  the  difference  is  a  maximum  in  the 
same  quarter-sphere  duting  several  successive  rotations  of  the  sun,  the 
difierence  being  a  maximum  alternately  in  the  northern  and  southern 
hemisphere — the  time  &om  mftTimiiin  to  "i^^TiiiFni  for  the  same 
hemisphere,  bdng  variable  between  18  and  32  days,  but  hating  a  mean 
value  of  about  25*2  days. 

It  occurs  at  once  that  if  the  variations  of  the  mean  t«rrestiia]  mag- 
netic force  are  connected  in  any  way  with  the  aolar  spots,  or  the  causes 
which  produce  them,  we  might  here  find  some  explanation  of  the  mag- 
netic period  of  28  days,  the  difference  of  spot-area  in  one  hemisphere 
from  that  in  the  other  being  related  to  a  difference  of  the  solar  magnetic 
action. 

In  order  to  determine  whether  such  a  connexion  existed,  I  projected 
first  the  curves  of  excess  of  spot-area  given  in  the  paper  of  Messrs. 
De  La  Bue,  Stewart,  and  Loewy,  and  below  them  the  daily  mean  hori- 
sontal  force  of  the  earth's  magnetism  during  the  same  periods.  The 
conclusion  from  these  projections  is,  that  there  is  no  rekUion  whatever 
hetween  the  two  ekutet  of  curves.  The  maxima  and  minima  of  the  one 
agree  in  no  way  with  those  of  the  other :  the  greatest  excesses  of  sun- 
spot  area  in  the  one  hemisphere  over  those  in  the  other  occur  when  the 
earth's  magnetic  force  is  the  most  constant ;  the  greatest  variations  of 
the  earth's  magnetic  force  from  the  mean  occur  in  several  instances 
when  the  sun-spot  area  is  equal  in  the  two  visible  quart^r-spheros. 

It  Aould  be  remembered,  in  considering  the  cun-ee  of  sun-spot  excess, 
that  the  minima  and  maxima  are  in  some  cases  only  relative, — sometimes 
Hie  one,  B<mietime8  the  other  being  really  cases  in  which  there  is  neither 
tni|Timnwi  nor  minimum — that  is  to  say,  cases  in  which  the  sun-spot  area 
is  eqna],  or  nearly  so,  in  the  two  visible  quarter-spheres. 

It  would  be  hasty  to  conclude  &om  this  comparison  that  the  variations 
of  the  mean  magnetic  force  are  really  unconnected  nith  the  mode  of 
distribution  of  the  sun-spots.  Other  methods  of  grouping  the  spots 
may  perhaps  be  employed  with  advantage  relatively  to  this  and  other 
questjoos;  for  example,  were  the  position  of  the  centra  of  gravity  of 
the  nm-spota  determined  for  the  visible  quarter-spheres  and  hemisphere, 
■  Froo.  Bti;.  Boc  vol.  ui  p.  S90. 


44        VroL  Dnacaa  OH  Ike  ytnaui  SfMltm  tjf  Actiain.     [Dee.  18^ 

^ring  each  ipot  a  weight  in  proportton  to  its  area,  the  ^-arittiaa  of 
thtaw  potttioiM  in  latitude  anil  tangitudi-,  iumI  their  «-^ht«,  migbt  ^re 
A  more  tatinfactonr  base  (or  tliia  ■.■ompamoti  ai>id  fur  other  d^acdoiw. 

It  «-i]i  be  obrioaa  al»o  tliat  this  invintigalioa  rcfen  onl}'  to  the  ruiUe 
heunepbere  of  the  sun ;  an  approiimatian  to  the  ipot-<Uatributiau  oa 
the  other  hemisphere,  however,  will  be  frequeotlj  pueaiMe. 


II.  "  On  the  Nervous  Sj-stem  of  Jtclinia." — Part  I,  By  Professor 
P.  Martin  Du.nca.v,  M.B.  Lond.,  F.R.S.,  &c.'  Beceived 
October  9,  1873. 

(Abstract.) 

After  noticing  the  investigations  of  previoos  anatomUta  in  the  1 
tolugy  of  the  chromatophorM,  the  work  of  Schneider  and  Kotteken  an  I 
these  supposed  orgaus  of  special  seuse  Is  examined  and  crilicised. 

Agreeing  with  Kottehen  iu  his  description,  some  further  iuformation  1 
is  given  respecting  the  nature  o£  the  bacilloiy  layer  and  the  minultt  J 
auatouj  of  the  elongated  cells  called  "cones"  by  that  author.     Thtt  I 
poBition  and  nature  of  the  pigment-cells  is  pointed  out,  aud  also  the  pent-  1 
liarities  of  the  tissues  tlicv  environ.     It   is  shown  thai  the  large  re- 
fi^'tilo  CL-llw,  which,   a<.-.-or.!fijr;   t,,    I{„ii,-k.-FL,   an-   sihiut^M   k■l^u■.-],   Ihe 
bacilli  and  the  eones,  are  not  invarii^ly  in  that  position,  but  that  badlli, 
cones,  and  cells  are  often  found  separate.    They  are  parta  of  the  ecto- 
thelinm,  and  when  conjoined  enable  light  to  affect  the  nervous  syBt«m  more 
readily  than  when  they  are  separate.    Further   information  is  given 
respecting  the  fusiform  nerve-cells  and  small  fibres  noticed  by  Bottekea 
in  the  tissue  beneath  the  cones ;  and  the  discovery  of  united  ganglion-like 
cells  and  a  diffused  plexiform  arrangement  of  nerve  b  asserted.    The 
probability  of  a  continuous  pleius  round  the  AiUinia  and  beneath  ea^ 
chroroatophore  is  suggested,  and  the  physiological  action  of  the  struc- 
tures in  relation  to  light  is  explained. 

The  minute  structure  of  the  muscular  fibres  and  their  attached  fibrous 
tissue  in  the  base  of  Aeiinia  is  noticed ;  and  the  nen  ous  system  in  that 
region  is  asserted  to  consist  of  a  plexus  beneath  the  endothelium,  in 
which  are  fusiform  cells  and  fibres  like  sympathetic  nene-fibrila.  More- 
over, between  the  muscular  layers  there  is  a  continuation  of  this  plexus, 
whose  ultimate  fibrils  pass  obliquely  over  the  muscular  filn^,  and  either 
dip  between  or  are  lost  on  them. 

The  other  parts  of  the  Actinia  are  under  the  examination  of  the 
author,  but  their  details  are  not  sufficiently  advanced  for  publication. 
The  nervous  system,  so  far  as  it  is  examined,  consists  of  isolated  fusi- 
form cells  with  small  ends  (Biitteken),  and  of  fusiform  and  spherical 
cells  which  commuuicato  with  each  other  and  with  a  diffused  plexus. 
The  plexus  at  the  base  is  areolar;  and  its  ultimate  fibres  are  swollen  hen 
and  there,  the  whole  being  of  a  pale  grey  colour. 


1 


1873.]       Mr.  W.  Shanks  on  Discrepancies  in  the  Value  ofir.      45 

III.  ''  On  certain  Discrepancies  in  the  published  numerical  value 
of  ir/*  By  William  Shanks^  Houghton-le-Spring,  Durham. 
Communicated  by  Prof.  G.  G.  Stokes,  R.S.  Received  October 
13, 1873. 

The  author's  attention  has  been  recently  drawn,  by  Mr.  John  Morgan, 
of  Bishopbriggs,  Glasgow,  to  two  cases  of  discrepancy  in  the  author's 
published  value  of  ir,  and  to  the  misprint  of  a  figure  in  the  value  of 
tan"  ^  ^  (one  of  the  arcs  employed  in  determining  w),  as  given  in  the 
author's  paper  of  April  1873.  These  two  discrepancies  in  the  value  of 
Wy  which  will  be  described  presently,  did  not  appear  in  the  paper  pre- 
sented by  the  late  William  Rutherford  in  1853,  wherein  the  author's 
extension  to  530  decimals  was  correctly  given. 

The  source  of  the  two  cases  of  error  was  easily  discovered,  on  re- 
ferring to  the  author's  manuscript  of  1852 ;  for  it  was  there  found  that 
the  461st  and  462nd  decimals  in  the  value  of  tan~^  ^  were,  in  the  process 
of  carefid  revision  previous  to  publication,  altered  from  88  to  96 ;  and 
this  alteration  required  the  addition  of  128  in  the  corresponding  place  of 
the  value  of  ir.  This  addition  was  rightly  made  in  the  value  sent  to 
Mr.  Rutherford,  and  given,  as  above  stated,  in  his  paper.  It  should 
seem  that  the  author  unfortunately  did  not  take  a  copy  (for  his  own  use) 
of  what  he  forwarded  to  Mr.  Rutherford.  At  all  events,  from  some 
strange  cause  or  accident  (perhaps  from  being  overworked)  the  addition 
of  128  was  very  soon  afterwards  made  at  the  513th,  514th,  and  515thy 
instead  of  at  the  460th,  461st,  and  462nd  decimal  places.  Hence  arose 
the  double  error,  which  remained,  strange  to  say,  undetected  for  upwards 
of  twenty  years !  This  mistake,  however,  from  its  nature^  in  no  taise 
affects  the  accuracy  of  the  other  figures. 

It  is  sufficient  merely  to  state  that  the  75th  decimal,  before  alluded 
to,  in  the  value  of  tan~^  \  should  be  8  and  not  7 ;  but  it  may  be  well  to 
give  the  entire  value  of  x  anew : — 

Value  of  ires 3* 

14159  26535  89793  23846  26433  83*79  50*88  41971  69399  375»o  58*09  74944 
59230  78164  06286  20899  86280  34825  3421 I  70679  82148  08651  32823  06647 
09384  46095  50582  23172  53594  08128  481 I I  74502  84102  70193  8521 I  05559 
64462  29489  54930  38196  44288  10975  66593  34461  28475  64823  37867  83165 
^7120  19091  45648  56692  34603  48610  45432  66482  13393  60726  02491  41273 
72458  70066  06315  58817  48815  30920  96282  92540  91 71 5  36436  78925  90360 
01133  05305  48820  46652  13841  46951  94151  16094  33057  27036  57595  9^953 
09218  61173  81932  61 179  31051  18548  07446  23799  62749  56735  18857  52724 
89122  79381  8301 I  94912  98336  73362  44065  66430  86021  39501  60924  48077 
23094  36285  53096  62027  55693  97986  95022  24749  96206  07497  03041  23668 
86199  SI '00  89202  38377  0213 I  41694  I I 902  98858  25446  81639  79990  46597 
00081  700S9  63123  77387  34208  41307  91451  18398  05709  85  &0. 

The  statement  in  the  author^s  paper  of  April  1873,  touching  Bichter'f 


46  Prof.  S.  Clerk  Maxwell  on  [Dec.  18, 

Talue  of  «■  to  600  decimnls  and  tho  date  of  its  publication,  iraa  correct, 
u  such  value  was  compared  uith  the  author's  giren  in  Mr.  Rutberford'e 
paper  of  1853,  and  of  course  agrees  with  what  is  given  above  in  thia. 


rV.  *'  On  Double  Refraction  iu  a  Viscous  Fluid  in  motion."  By 
J.  Clike  Maxwell,  M.A.,  Professor  of  Experimental  Physics 
in  the  University  of  Cambridge.     Ileccivcd  October  31, 1873- 

According  to  Poisson's  *  theory  of  tho  internal  friction  of  fluids,  n 
viscous  fluid  behavet^  as  an  clastic  solid  would  do  if  it  were  periodically 
liquefied  for  an  instiiut  and  solidified  again,  so  that  at  each  fresh  start  it 
becomes  for  the  motni.'iit  like  iin  elaatio  solid  free  from  strain.  The  state 
of  strain  of  certain  tDinsparcut  bodies  may  be  investigated  by  means  of 
th^  action  on  polarized  light.  This  action  was  obsen'ed  by  Brewster, 
and  was  shown  by  Freanel  to  be  an  instance  of  double  refraction. 

In  1866  I  made  sojue  attempts  to  ascerttun  whether  the  state  of  strain 
in  a  viscous  fluid  in  motion  could  be  detected  by  its  action  on  polariEed 
light.  I  had  a  cylindi-ieul  box  with  a  glass  bottom.  Within  this  box  a 
solid  cylinder  could  be  made  to  rotate.  The  fluid  fo  bi"  esaminetl  was 
placed  in  the  Annnlur  space  between  this  cylinder  and  the  sides  of  the 
box.  Polarined  light  was  thrown  up  through  the  fluid  parallel  to  the 
axis,  and  the  inner  cylinder  was  then  made  to  rotate.  I  was  unable  to 
obtnun  any  result  with  solution  of  gum  or  sirup  of  sugar,  though  I  ob- 
served on  effect  on  polarised  light  when  I  compressed  some  Canada 
balsam  which  had  become  very  thick  and  almost  solid  in  a  bottle. 

It  is  easy,  however,  to  observe  the  effect  in  Cuiada  balsam,  which  is  so 
fluid  that  it  very  rapidly  assumes  a  level  surface  after  being  disturbed. 
Fnt  some  Canada  balsam  in  a  wide-mouthed  square  bottle;  let  light, 
polarized  in  a  vertical  plane,  be  transmitted  through  the  fluid  ;  observe 
the  light  through  a  Nicol's  prism,  and  turn  the  prism  so  as  to  cut  off  the 
light;  insert  a  spatula  in  the  Canada  balsam,  in  a  vertical  plane  passing 
through  the  eye.  Whenever  the  spatula  is  moved  up  or  down  in  the 
fluid,  the  M^t  reappears  on  both  sides  of  the  spatula ;  this  continues  only 
BO  long  as  the  spatula  is  in  motion.  As  soon  as  the  motion  stops,  the 
light  disappears,  and  that  so  quickly  that  I  have  hitherto  been  unable  to 
determine  the  rate  of  relaxation  of  that  state  of  strain  which  the  light 
indicates. 

If  the  motion  of  the  spatula  in  its  own  plane,  instead  of  being  in  the 
plane  of  polarization,  is  inclined  4S°  to  it,  no  effect  is  observed,  showing 
that  the  axes  of  strain  are  inclined  45°  to  the  plane  of  shearing,  as  indi- 
cated by  the  theory. 

I  am  not  aware  that  this  method  of  rendering  visible  the  state  of  strain 
■  Journal  de  I'fioole  FoljtechQique,  tome  li"-  <»^- 1'  (1829). 


1873.]       Double  Refraction  in  a  Visrof/s  Fhi'ul  in  motinn.  17 

of  a  viscous  fluid  has  been  hitherto  employed ;  but  it  appears  capable  of 
famishing  important  information  as  to  the  nature  of  viscosity  in  difEerent 
substances. 

Among  transparent  solids  there  is  considerable  diversity  in  their  action 
on  polarized  light.  If  a  small  portion  is  cut  from  a  piece  of  unannealed 
glass  at  a  place  where  the  strain  is  uniform,  the  effect  on  polarized  light 
Tanishes  as  soon  as  the  glass  is  relieved  from  the  stress  caused  by  the  un- 
equal contraction  of  the  parts  surrounding  it. 

But  if  a  plate  of  gelatine  is  allowed  to  dry  under  longitudinal  tension, 
a  small  piece  cut  out  of  it  exhibits  the  same  effect  on  light  as  it  did 
before,  showing  that  a  state  of  strain  can  exist  without  the  action  of 
stress.  A  film  of  gutta  percha  which  has  been  stretched  in  one  direc- 
tion has  a  similar  action  on  light.  If  a  circular  piece  is  cut  out  of  such 
a  stretched  film  and  warmed,  it  contracts  in  the  direction  in  which  the 
stretching  took  place. 

The  body  of  a  sea-nettle  has  all  the  appearance  of  a  transparent  jelly ; 
and  at  one  time  I  thought  that  the  spontaneous  contractions  of  the  living 
animal  might  be  rendered  visible  by  means  of  polarized  light  transmitted 
through  its  body.  But  I  found  that  even  a  very  considerable  pressure 
^>plied  to  the  sides  of  the  sea-nettle  produced  no  effect  oil  polarized 
light,  and  I  thus  found,  what  I  might  have  learned  by  dissection,  that  the 
sea-nettle  is  not  a  true  jelly,  but  consists  of  cells  filled  with  fluid. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  crystalline  lens  of  the  eye,  as  Brewster  ob- 
served, has  a  strong  action  on  polarized  light  when  strained  either  by 
external  pressure  or  by  the  unequal  contraction  of  its  parts  as  it  becomes 
dry. 

I  have  enumerated  these  instances  of  the  application  of  polarized  light 
to  the  study  of  the  structure  of  solid  bodies  as  suggestions  with  respect 
to  the  application  of  the  same  method  to  liquids  so  as  to  determine 
whether  a  given  liquid  differs  from  a  solid  in  having  a  very  small 
"  rigidity,**  or  in  having  a  small  "  time  of  relaxation"*,  or  in  both  ways. 
Those  which,  like  Canada  balsam,  act  strongly  on  polarized  light,  have 
probably  a  small  '*  rigidity,"  but  a  sensible  ''  time  of  relaxation."  Those 
which  do  not  show  this  action  are  probably  much  more  ''  rigid,"  and  owe 
tiieir  fluidity  to  the  smaUness  of  their  ''  time  of  relaxation." 

The  Society  then  adjourned  over  the  Christmas  Becess  to  Thursday, 
January  8, 1874. 

*  The  "time  of  relaxation  "  of  a  substance  strained  in  a  given  manner  is  the  time 
required  for  the  complete  relaiation  of  the  strain,  suppbsing  the  rate  of  relaxation  to 
remain  the  same  as  ai  the  beginning  of  this  time. 


4S  Presents.  [Dec.  1 1, 

Prestnts  reMive<l  DecnnUr  11,  1873. 

Berlin  : — Koniglicbe  Akademie  der  Wissenschaften.  Abhandlungeii  auA 
dem  Jahre  1872.  4to.  Berlin  1873.  The  Academy. 

London  :^Iiistitution  of  Cii-U  Engineers.  Minutes  of  Proceedings. 
Session  1872-73.  2  vols.  8vo.  London  1873.  The  rnstitution, 

Luxembourg : — Inatitut  Eoyal  Grand-Ducal,  Section  des  Sdences  N»- 
turellea  et  Mathiimatiques.  Publications.  Tome  XUI,  8vo.  Lvm- 
emhourg  1873.  The  InBtitution. 

Milan : — Keale  Ifltituto  Lombardo  di  8cienze  e  Letters.  Beadiconti. 
Serie  H.  To!.  V.  £mc.  8-lC.  8vo.    Milaiiol872.     The  Inatitute.. 

Munich: — K.b,  AkademiederWissenachaften.  Sitzungsberiehte.  Math.r' 
phys.  Classe;  1872,  Heft  3;  1873,  Heft  1.  Philos.-philol.  und 
hist.  Clause :  1872,  Heft  4,  5 ;  1873,  Heft  US.  8vo.  Miintfu^ 
1872-73.  Hede  sur  Vorfeier  des  alierbochsten  Geburtafestes  St. 
Majesttkt  doa  Konigs  Ludwig  U.,  Ton  J.  von  Dolliager.  4tD, 
1873.  Gediichtuissrede  auf  Friedrich  Adolph  Trendelenburg,  ^ 
K,  von  Prantl.  4to.  1873.  Der  Antheil  der  Aiademie  an  d^ 
Entwiokelung  der  Electricitatslehre,  von  W.  Eeetz.  4to.  1873. 

The  Academy. 

Plymouth  : — Devonshire  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science, 
Literature,  and  Art,  Report  and  Transactions.  Vol.  VI.  Part  1. 
8vo.  Plymoulh  1S73.  The  Association. 

Bydney:^ — Eoyal  Society  of  New  South  Wales,  Transitctious  for  1870, 
1871,  1872.  8vo.  Sydnry  1871-73.  The  Sodety. 

Turin : — E.  Accaderoia  delle  SciemK.  Atti.  Vol.  Vm.  disp.  1-fi.  8to. 
Torino  1872-73.  The  Academy. 

Wurzburg  ; — Physikalisch-mediciniscbe  Gesellschaft.  Verliandlungen. 
NeueFolge.  Band  IV.  Heft  2,  3.  8vo.   Wur^urg  1873. 

The  Society, 

Observfttione,  Eeports,  &c. 

Coimbrai — Obsen-atoriodaUniveraidade.    Ephemeridea  Afitronomicas, 

1875.  8vo.  Coimhra  1873.  The  Observatory. 

London: — Army   Medical   Department.    Eeport  for  the  year  1871. 

Vol.  XUI.  8vo.  London  187.3.  The  Department. 

Medical  Department  of  the  Navy.    Statistical  Heport  on  the  Health 

of  the  Navyfor  1871,  8vo.  London  1873.  The  Department, 

Melbourne: — Observatory,      Results   of    Astronomical   Observationa 

made  in  the  years  ISGQ  and  1870,  under  the  direction  of  liobert 

L.  J.  Ellery.  8vo.  ifelbourm  IS73.  The  Observatory. 

San  Fernando  :— Obsorvatorio  de  Marina.   Anales.  Seccion  2*.  Obser- 

vacionea  Meteorologicas,  1870,  1871.  fol.  San  Fernando. 

The  Observatory,  by  the  Foreign  Office. 


1878.]  Pre$enis.  49 

Damon  (3.  W.).  F-B-S.  Beport  on  the  Fossil  FUntB  of  the  Lower 
Carboniferous  and  Millstone-grit  rormations  of  Canada,  tiyo. 
Mtmtreal  1S73.  The  Author. 

Se  GandoUe  (Alph.),  For.  Mem.  B.8.  B^flexioiiB  but  lee  Ouvragea  gen^ 
nux  de  Botanique  DescriptiTe.  8vo.  Geneve  1873.  Prodromi  Sys- 
tematic Naturalis  Tegetabilium  Historia,  Numeri,  Conclusio.  8vo. 
Pantiit  1873.  The  Author. 

Howard  (J.  EUob)  BlustratioTia  of  the  Nueva  Quinologia  of  Pavon, 
with  coloured  phttes  by  W.  Fitch,  fol.  Loridon  1862.     The  Author. 

Kronecker  (L.)  Ober  die  verschiedenen  Sturm'achen  Beihen  und  ihre 
gegenaeitigeD  Beziehuugen.  Svo.  Berlin  1873.  The  Author. 

lATtet  (B.)  and  H.  Chriatj.  Bflliquis  Aquitanica.  J)dit«d  by  T.  Bupert 
Jonea,  FJt.8.  Parts  12,  13.  4to.  London  1873. 

The  Esecutors  of  the  late  Henry  Christy,  Esq. 

Foey  (A.)  Nouvelle  Claeaificatiou  des  Nuagea,  suivie  d'ime  instruction 
poureerrir^robserTatioiides  Nuageset  desCourantaatmoBph^riques. 
Sor  lea  rapports  eutre  les  tacbea  aolaires  et  les  ouragans  des  Antilles, 
de  rAtlantique  nord  et  de  I'oc^an  Indieu  aud.  4to.  Parit  1873. 

The  Author. 

Thirlwall  (Bishop).  Sir  Frederic  Madden,  K.H.  Beprinted  from  the 
Address  of  the  Bishop  of  St.  David's  before  the  Boyal  Society  of 
litOTatope.  1873.  8vo.  London.  F.  W.  Madden,  Esq. 

Decanher  18, 1873. 
Transactions. 

Briinn : — Xaturforschender  Terein.    Teriiaudlungen.  Baud  X.  1871. 
8^0.  1872.  The  Society. 

Christiania : — Kongelige  Norske  Fredeiiks  Universitet.  Aarsberetning 
for  Aaret  1872.  8to.  C&rwftanta  1873.  Om  Nordboemes  For- 
tnndelser  med  Buslaod  og  Tilgrtendsende  Lande,  af  P.  A.  Munch. 
8to.  1873.  Die  .£gyptischen  Denkmaler  in  St.  Petersbui^,  Hel- 
ungfoTB,  TJpsala  und  Copenhagen,  von  J.  Lieblein.  8to.  1873. 
Norsk  Fangst^kipperes  Opd^else  af  Kong  Karl-Land,  af  H, 
Mohn.  8to.  1872.  Aaaland.U.,af  C.A.Holmboe.  8to.  1872.  Bi- 
drag  til  Knndskaben  om  Dyrelivet  paa  vore  Havbanker,  af  G.  O. 
Bars.  8to.  1872.  To  Norske  Oldsagfund,  af  O.  Bygh.  Sto.  1872. 
To  nyfundne  Iforske  Bune-Indskrift«r  fra  den  nldre  Jnmalder,  af 
S.  Bugge.  8ro.  1872.  Analyse  af  Xenotim  fra  Uitero,  af  0.  £. 
SchiotE.  8vo.  1872.  N'ye  Sleegter  og  Arter  af  Saltranda-Cope- 
poder.af  A.Boeck.6T0.1872.  Om Ctaniets Aaymmetri hos Nyctala 
tesgmalmi,  Gm.,  af  B.  Collett.  8to.  1872.  Slsgten  Latmnculns, 
Giinth.  og  dens  nordiske  Arter,  af  B.  Collett.  8vo.  1872.  Bidrag 
til  Theorien  for  IMssodationen,  af  C.  M.  Qnldberg.  870.  1872. 
Bemerkuiuger  om  Formelan  for  Hdidemaaling  med  Barometer,  af 
C.  M.  Guldberg.  8to,  1872.  Sur  la  resolution  des  ^uations  du 
TOL.  xzn.  B 


BO  Premtih.  [Dec.  18, 

'IVatisactione  {cantinue'/i. 

2",  3««  et  4"'  ik'grd  par  la  f  ouction  -  (.r),  par  A.  8.  Guldbei^. 

8so.  1S72.  Bidrag  til  KimilBlo(bi!ii  om  VegetatioHon  paa  Sowaja 
Senilja,  "Waigatsohoan  og  ved  Jugorstrwdot,  af  A,  Hlytt.  Hvo. 
1872.  Priis  AfhandUng  om  den  frio  VUliea  ForboM  til  Sulv- 
bevidstli«ien,  af  51.  J.  Moiirad.  8vo,  1S72.  Iteinarks  on  the 
Ornithology  of  Northern  Norway,  by  H.  CoUptt.  Uvo.  1«72.  The 
Leprous  Diseases  af  the  Eye,  by  O.  B.  Biilj  and  Q.  A.  'Hataea. 
8ro.  1873.  Korek  Ordbog,  af  Ivar  Anaeu.  8vo.  1879.  Om 
Noreke  Kongtrs  Hyldiiig  og  Kroniug  i  wldrc  Tid.  8to,  1873.  i 
Nyt  Magaziu  for  Naturvidonsliabern^.  Bind  XIX.,  XX.  H«ftl, 
2.  8vo.  1572-73.  Fwhwidlingcir  i  Vidonsknlis-K-UbntM't  A«r 
1872.  1S73.  Ileft  1.  8vo.  Tho  Bmim  Mt^daU  «tru.-k  iu  cotn- 
memoraticii]  of  the  mroDatioii  of  King  Osoar  XL  and  QliMD 
Sophia  at  TrondhJHm,  July  1S73.  The  Umversity, 

limsbriick: — Ferdinandeum  fiir  llrol  und  Vorurlborg.  Zeitschrift. 
Dritt*.  Folge.  Heft  17.  8vo.  1872.  The  Insiitntion. 

NaturwisBenscbaftUch-mediziuisclierVi'rfiii.  Bericht*.  Jnbr.S.  Heft 
1-3.  8vo.  IS73.  Tha  Infttitution. 

LislMJu: — Acadeinia  Real  das  Sciencias.  M^morias.  Classe  de  Sirioncias 
Moraea,  Politicas  e  Bellas-Ijeftras.  Nova  Serie.  Totno  I.,  II.  pto 
2,  IU.,  IV.  p(o  1.  4to.  LlsLoa  1S54-72,  Joroal  de  Soieni-ias  Ma- 
thomaticas,  Physicas  15  Natural.  Tomo  III.  8vo.  1871-  SubeidioB 
para  a  Hi'^toria  da  India  Portugiieza.  4to.  18(i8.  Corpn  Diplo- 
uiatico  Portuguez.  Tomo  I.-IV.  4to.  1862-70,  Leiidas  Us  India, 
por  G.  Corrpa.  Tomo  I.-IV.  4tci.  l*«58-66.  Quadro  Elementaf 
das  Bela^oca  Politicas  e  Diplomaticas  de  Portugal.  Tomo  I.-XI. 
XlWXVni.  8vo.  1842-80.  llistoria  dos  Estabelwimentos 
ScieutifiLKis,  Literanos.  e  Artiaticos  de  Portugal,  por  J,  8.  lUbeiro, 
Tomo  1,-111.  Bvo.  1871-73.  Portugalliai  Insmptionea  Bomaoas. 
Vol.  I.  fol.  ie.50.  Flora  Cochiuchinpnsis.  2  rols.  4to.  1790. 
Vest igios  da  Lingua  A rahica  em  Portugal,  4to.  1789.  Ovidio  e 
Caslilho,  Os  Fnst-os,  Poema  com  amplos  Commentarios.  3Jvol9. 
Rvo.  1862.  Teatro  de  Molicre  (O  Medico  &  for^a,  Tartufo,  O 
Avarento,  As  SabiehonasJ,  4  vols.  12mo.  1869-72, 

The  Academy. 

Loudon: — Eutomologii.'al  Society.     Transactiona  for  1873.   Part  3,  4. 

Sto.  The  Society. 

Institution  of  Naval  Architects.     TransaetioM.    Vol,  XIV.  4to. 

1873.  The  Institution. 

Koyal   Agricultural  LSocioty.     Journal,     Second  Series,   Vol.  IX. 

Part  2.  Svo.  1873.  The  Society. 

Society  of  Aiitiquan«8.   Proceedings.   Second  Series.  Vol.  V.  No. 

*  7,8;  Vol,  VI.  No.  1.  8to.  1873.  The  Socisty. 


1878.]  Present!.  51 

Tr»u?action9  («m(i»n«d). 
Shanghai :— North  China  Branch  of  the  Hoyal  Asiatic  Society.   Journal 
for  1871  and  1S72.   New  Series.  No.  7.  Svo.  1S73.    Catalc^e 
of  the  Library.  8vo,  187i*.  The  Society. 


Observations,  Beportx,  &c. 

Calcutta: — Ee port  of  the  Meteorological  Beporter  to  the  Government 

of  Bengal,  by  11.  Y.  Blanford.  fol.  Calcutta  187lf. 

The  ("ovcniinent  of  India. 
Cape  of  Good  Hope ; — IWnl  Obaerratory.    Be^ults  of  ABtronomical 

Obsen-atioiis  inaUw  in  the  year  1857.  8vo.  Ca^ie  Tuu-n  1872. 

The  Observatory. 
Christiauia: — Meteorologisko  Institut.      Norsk  Meteorologijik  Aarbog 

for  1875.  (i"  Aargnng.  4to.  Christiania.  The  Institute. 

Greenwich  : — Eoyal  Observaton.-.     Astronomical  and  Maguetical  and 

Meteorological   Obsen'ationa    made  in   1871.  4to.  Loudon  1873. 

Astronomical    Hesults,    1871.      Slagnetical  and    Meteorological 

Observations,    1?71.       History   and  Description  of  the  Water 

Telescope.  4to.  The  Admiralty. 

Washington  :— Patent  Office.     Eeijorts.  186».  1S70, 1S71.  7  vols.  SfO. 

1S71-71  The  Office. 


I87S.]         Dr.  Maxwell  Simpson  on  the  Brom-Iodidet.  61 

Tmuactioiia  (amtinued). 
Shanghai ; — Korth  China  Branch  of  the  Boyal  Asiatic  Sode4|y.   Journal 
for  1871  and  1872.  Kew  Series.  No.  7.  8to.  1873.    Catalogue 
of  the  library.  8to.  1872.  The  Society. 


Obserrationa,  Beports,  Ac. 
Calcutta : — Beport  of  the  Met«orolc^cal  Beporter  to  the  Gh>Temment 

of  Bengal,  by  H.  F.  Bknford.  fol.  CaleuOa  1873. 

The  GoTemment  of  India. 
Cape  of  Good  Hope  : — Boyal  Observatory.     Besnlts  of  Astronomical 

Obseirations  made  in  the  year  1857.  8to.  Cape  Toum  1872. 

The  Obaervatory. 
Christiania : — Met«oro1ogiebe  Institut.     Norsk  Meteorologisk  Aarbog 

tot  1872.  6**  Aai^ang.  4to.  Chrittiania.  The  InBtitnto. 

Greenwich  : — Boyal  Observatory.     Astronomical  and  Magnetical  and 

Meteorological   Observations   made  in  1871.  4to.  London  1873. 

Astronomical   B«sults,    1871.      Magnetic^   and    Meteorolc^cal 

Obseirationa,    1871.       History  and  Description  of  the  Water 

Telescope.  4to.  The  Adminlty. 

Washington :— Bitent  OfEc«.    Beports,  1869, 1870, 1871.  7  vols.  8vo. 

1871-72.  The  Office. 


January  8,  1874. 
JOSEPH  DALTON  HOOKER,  C.B.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 
The  following  communications  were  read ; — 
I.  "  On  the  BromJodides."      By  Dr.  Maxwkli.  Simpson,  F.R.S., 
Profeasor  of  Chemistry,   Qaeen's  College,  Cork.     Beceived 
November  4, 1873. 
Some  yean  ago  I  ascertained  that  diltoide  of  iodine  comtunes  directly 
vttli  the.  defines  and  the  non-saturated  haloid  ethers  in  the  same  manner 
as  free  chlorine  or  brondne.    I  have  since  ascertained  that  bromide  of 
iodine  also  enters  into  direct  combination  with  these  bodies. 

In  the  following  experiments  I  have  invariably  used  a  solution  of 
bromide  of  iodine  in  water,  which  was  prepared  by  adding  rather  more 
ttiaD  a  molecule  of  iodine  in'fine  powder  to  a  molecule  of  bromine  pre- 
Tioasly  mixed  wiih  about  six  times  Its  weight  of  water.  The  bromine 
waa  repeatedly  agitated  during  the  addition  of  the  iodine,  and  kept  cold 
by  being  surroonded  by  water.  An  almost  black  liquid  was  thus  ob- 
tained, whidi  was  separated  from  the  excess  of  iodine. 

Brwnriodid*  of  ethjflene. — This  body  was  formed  by  passing  a  stream 


53  Dr.  Maxwell  Simpson  an  the  Brom-Iodides.       [Jan.  8, 

of  olefiant  gas  into  the  foregoing  solution,  which  was  kept  cold  during 
the  absorption  of  the  gas.  An  oily  liquid  soon  made  its  appearance, 
which  was  the  body  in  question ;  it  was  then  subjected  to  distillation, 
having  been  pre\'iou8ly  washed  with  dilute  potash,  and  afterwards  with 
distilled  water.  Almost  the  entire  quantity  passed  over  without  decom- 
position bet\^^een  162°  and  167®  Cent.  This  gave  on  analysis  the  follow- 
ing numbers : — 

C 10-21  10-36 

H 1-70  1-79 

At  the  temperature  of  the  air  this  is  a  solid  body,  consisting  of  a  mass 
of  long  white  needles,  which  melt  at  28°  Cent.  At  29°  it  has  a  specific 
gravity =2'516«  It  has  a  sweet  biting  taste;  on  exposure  to  light  it 
becomes  slightly  coloured,  from  the  separation  of  free  iodine.  When 
subjected  to  the  action  of  alcoholic  potash,  it  yields  iodide  of  potassium 
and  a  gas  burning  \^dth  a  green  flame,  which  is  doubtless  bromide  of 
vinyl.  It  is  an  isomer  of  the  brom-iodide  obtained  by  Pfaundler*,  and 
afterwards  by  Eeboult,  by  exposing  bromide  of  vinyl  to  the  action  of 
hydriodic  acid.     Pfaundler's  compound  boils  between  144°  and  147°  Cent. 

Bromriodide  of  propylene, — This  body  was  formed  by  passing  propylene 
gas  derived  from  iodide  of  allyle  into  the  brom-iodiue  solution.  It  was 
washed  with  dilute  potash,  then  with  water,  and  distilled.  The  greater 
part  passed  over  between  160°  and  168°  Cent.,  suffering,  however,  at  the 
same  time  slight  decomposition.  The  distillate  was  then  analyzed,  having 
been  previously  agitated  with  mercury  to  remove  free  iodine.  The  fol- 
lowing are  the  results : — 

^^^j^'      Experiment. 

C 14-46  14-89 

H 2-41  2-77 

Notwithstanding  the  difference  between  the  theoretical  and  experi- 
mental numbers,  I  believe  this  is  a  definite  compound,  and  not  a  mixture 
of  bromide  and  iodide  of  propylene.  The  discrepancy  probably  arises 
from  the  slight  decomposition  which  the  body  suffered  during  distiUation. 

Brom-iodide  of  propylene  is,  when  freshly  prepared,  a  colourless  oily 
liquid  ;  it  has  a  sweet  and  biting  taste.  Treated  with  alcoholic  potash, 
it  yields  iodide  of  potassium  and  brom-propylene  (C,  H,  Br). 

lodo-dibrom^inyl, — When  the  brom-iodine  solution  and  bromide  of 
vinyl  are  brought  into  contact,  direct  combination  takes  place,  and  this 
body  is  formed.  In  order  to  complete  their  union,  it  is  ad\isable  to 
heat  them  gently  in  a  sealed  tube.  A  portion  of  the  oily  product  thus 
obtained  was  washed  with  potash  and  distUled ;  almost  the  entire  quan- 
tity passed  over  bet^ieen  170°  and  180°  Cent.     As,  however,  it  suffered 

*  Jahresbericht,  1865,  p.  483.  t  Ibid.  1870.  p.  439. 


1874.]        Dr.  J.  Stenhoose  on  the  Hiatory  of  the  Orcitu.  68 

coDsidemble  decompoaition  during  distillatioit,  I  aiulTsed,  in  preference, 
a  portion  of  the  remainder,  which  had  not  been  distilled,  h&ring  pre* 
riowAj  dried  it  at  100°,  and  agitated  it  with  metallic  mercury  to  remove  a 
tmoe  of  free  iodine.    The  following  are  the  resulte  of  the  uialTBis : — 

C  7-64  7-67 

H 0-96  Ml 


This  is  a  colourleM  oily  liquid ;  like  the  others  it  has  a  sweet  and 
biting;  taate.  Its  specific  gravity  at  29°C«nt.  is  :!-86.  Heated  to  the 
temperature  of  100°  in  a  sealed  tube  with  moist  oxide  of  silver  it  occa- 
sioned a  violent  explosion.  Heated  in  an  open  retort  vrith  the  same 
body,  it  evcdved  carbonic  add  gas  and  bromide  of  vinyl. 


II.  "  Contribationfl  to  the  Hiatory  of  the  Orcins. — No.  IV.  On 
the  lodo-derivatives  of  the  Orcins."  By  John  Stenhousb, 
LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  &c.     Received  November  10, 1873. 

A  pi^iminary  notice  on  these  compounds  has  already  appeared  in  the 
*  Chemical  News,'  vol.  xxvi.  p.  279  ;  and  the  present  paper  contains  a  more 
detaUed  account  of  my  experiments. 

In  1864*  I  published  an  account  of  a  crystalline  t«riodorcin  obtained 
by  precipitating  an  aqueous  solution  of  orcin  with  a  solution  of  iodine 
monocUoride,  but  I  found  I  was  unable  to  prepare  any  other  iodine 
derivative  of  orcin  by  this  process.  It  seems  probable,  however,  that 
the  method  devised  some  years  ago  by  Prof.  Hlosiwetzt,  and  commu- 
nicated by  him  at  the  meeting  of  the  "  Naturforscher  und  Aerzte  in 
Innsbruck,"  would  yield  the  lower  substitution  compounds.  This  was 
found  to  be  the  case ;  for  on  agitating  an  ethereal  solution  containing 
equal  molecular  weights  of  orcin  and  iodine  with  dry  precipitated  mer- 
curic oxide,  the  colour  rapidly  disappears,  and  manoiodorcin  is  formed ; 
this  may  be  obtained  by  distilling  off  the  ether  and  crvatallizing  the 
residue  from  benzol,  in  order  to  separate  an  uncrystallizable  oily  com- 
ponnd  which  accompanies  it.  It  is,  however,  still  contaminated  with  a 
smaU  quantity  of  mercuric  iodide,  which  obstinately  adheres  to  the  sub- 
stance,  and  can  only  be  removed  by  recrystallization  from  a  dilute  aqueous 
Bolation  of  potassium  iodide  ;  this  difHculty  arises  from  the  circumstance 
that  mercuric  iodide  is  more  or  less  soluble  in  most  of  the  liquids  usually 
employed  as  sdvents.  For  this  reason  I  found  it  advisable  to  substitute 
plumbic  oxide  for  the  corresponding  mercury  compound  originally  pro- 
posed by  Hlasiweti. 

Monoiodorein,  CSjH,I  O^ — One  part  of  pure  dry  ordn  is  dissolved  in 

*  Jonm.  Caiem.  800.  rol.  xvii.  p.  327.  t  Dent.  ohem.  0«a.  Ber.  II.  661. 


54  Dr.  J.  Stenhoase  on  the  [Jan.  8, 

six  parfcs  of  ether ;  then  two  parts  of  iodine  are  added,  and  the  mixture 
agitated  until  the  whole  of  the  iodine  is  dissolved ;  nine  parts  of  very 
finely  powdered  lead  oxide  (litharge)  are  now  introduced  in  small  portions 
at  a  time  with  frequent  agitation.  A  marked  action  takes  place,  ac- 
companied bj  development  of  heat,  and  the  colour  of  the  solution  rapidly 
disappears.  On  distilling  off  the  ether  and  extracting  the  residue  with 
hot  benzol,  the  iodordn  separates  in  the  crystalline  state  on  cooling. 
Two  or  three  alternate  crystallizations  from  benzol  and  from  water 
suffice  to  render  the  compound  pure ;  but  care  must  be  taken  not  to  boO 
the  aqueous  solution  for  any  length  of  time,  as  the  iodorcin  is  thereby 
partially  decomposed. 

Monoiodorcin  in  a  pure  state  crystallizes  in  colourless  prisms,  which 
melt  at  86^*5,  and  decompose  with  evolution  of  violet  vapours  of  iodine 
when  strongly  heated.  Concentrated  sulphuric  acid  has  but  little  action 
on  the  substance  in  the  cold ;  but  when  gently  heated  with  it,  the  iodorcin 
is  decomposed  and  iodine  is  freely  liberated.  Warm  nitric  acid  likewise 
acts  energetically,  evolving  nitrous  fumes  and  liberating  iodine.  Iodordn 
is  only  slightly  soluble  in  cold  water,  but  readily  in  hot  water.  It  is 
very  soluble  in  ether  and  in  hot  alcohol,  moderately  so  in  benzol  and  in 
hot  petroleum  (crystallizing  out  from  the  latter  almost  entirely  on  cooling), 
slightly  soluble  in  carbonic  disulphide.  It  is  quite  destitute  of  the  pe- 
culiar astringent  sweet  taste  so  characteristic  of  pure  orcin. 

Dried  in  vacuo  and  submitted  to  analysis,  it  gave  the  following 
results : — 

I.  *332  gramme  substance  gave  '311  gramme  argentic  iodide. 

ft  

U.  *256  gramme  substance  gave  *314  gramme  carbonic  anhydride  and 
•067  gramme  water. 


Theory. 

I. 

11. 

C,    =     84 

33-00 

•   •    •   • 

33-44 

H,  =      7 

2-80 

•   •    •   • 

2-90 

I     =  127 

60-80 

50-63 

•  •   •  • 

O,    =     32 

12-80 

•   •    •   • 

•   •    •   • 

260  100-00 

These  numbers  correspond  ^nth  those  required  by  the  formula 
C,H,IO,. 

Monoiodresorcin,  C^  H,  1 0,,. — This  compound  is  prepared  in  a  similar 
manner  as  the  corresponding  ordn  compound :  10  parts  of  resordn  and 
24  of  iodine  are  dissolved  in  60  of  ether,  and  about  110  of  lead  oxide  are 
gradually  added.  After  removal  of  the  ether  and  extraction  with  benzol, 
the  iodorcin  is  purified  by  crystallization  from  hot  water,  in  which  it  is 
much  more  soluble  than  ihe  iodorcin.  lodresorcin  crystallizes  in  rhom- 
boidal  prisms,  which  are  very  difficult  to  obtain  colourless ;  they  melt  at 
67**,  and,  like  those  of  the  orcin  derivative,  decompose  when  strongly 


1874.]  Uittory  (fftke  Orcau.  65 

heated.  It  ia  mach  more  soluble  in  water  than  iodordn,  and  la  very 
■duble  in  alcohol  or  ether ;  hot  benzol  dissolves  it  readily ;  but  it  is  only 
slightly  BcJuble  in  cwbonic  disulphide.  When  heated  with  nitric  or  sul^ 
phone  add,  it  behaves  like  iodorcin. 

The  analytical  results  were  obtaiited  from  the  compound  dried  in 
WKUO,  at  the  ordinary  temperature. 

L  -343  gramme  subet&ace  gave  '341  gramme  ai^entic  iodide. 

Q.  '357  gramme  substance  gave  '354  gramme  argentic  iodide. 

m.  -265  gramme  substance  gave  -298  gramme  carbonic  anhydride 
and  -053  gramme  water. 

Theory.  L  U.  ni. 

C,    -     72        30-51  30-67 

H,    =       5  2-12  2'22 

I      -  127        63-81  53-73        63'68 

O,    ■>     32         13-66  

236       100-00 

The  nambers  agree  with  the  formula  C,  II,  1 0,. 

In  preparing  teriodorcin  by  the  action  of  iodine  protochloride  on  ordn, 
it  was  observed  that  a  comparatively  large  amount  of  the  dilute  solution 
of  iodine  chloride  could  be  added  to  the  aqueous  solution  of  orcin  before 
a  permanent  precipitate  of  teriodorcin  was  produced.  It  seemed  possible 
tliat  an  intermediate  iodine  derivative  was  first  formed,  far  more  soluble 
than  the  teriodorcin,  and  which  subsequently  became  converted  into  the 
latter  by  the  further  action  of  the  chloride  of  iodine.  In  order  to  as- 
GertBin  whether  this  was  actually  the  case,  a  dilute  solution  of  iodine 
protodiloride  was  added  to  an  aqueous  solution  of  orcin  containing  one 
part  of  orcin  in  fifty  of  wyter,  as  long  as  the  precipitate  redissolved  in 
the  liquid  on  agitation.  The  addition  of  iodine  was  then  stopped,  and 
the  filtered  solution  agitated  with  ether.  The  ethereal  solution,  on 
evaporation,  left  an  oily  nncrystoUizable  liquid  which  was  readily  soluble 
in  water,  and  which  evolved  iodine  when  heated  with  concentrated  sul- 
phuric add :  this  liquid,  on  standing  some  days,  deposited  a  few  crystals 
of  unaltered  ordn. 

I  cannot  conclude  this  pi^ier  without  acknowledging  the  very  efGdent 
ud  I  have  received  from  my  aesbtant,  Mr.  Charles  Edward  Groves,  in 
oondnding  this  investigation. 


56  On  the  Trafuformation  of  EUipie  Functions.       [Jan.  8^ 

III.  ''  A  Memoir  on  the  Transformation  of  Elliptic  Functions/' 
By  Professor  Caylby,  F.R.S.     Received  November  14,  1878. 

(Abstract.) 

The  theory  of  Transformation  in  Elliptic  Functions  was  established  by 
Jacobi  in  the  '  Fimdamenta  Nova '  (1829) ;  and  he  has  there  developed, 
transcendentally,  with  an  approach  to  completeness,  the  general  case,  n 
an  odd  number,  but  algebraically  only  the  cases  n=3  and  n=5 ;  viz.  in 
the  general  case  the  formulae  are  expressed  in  terms  of  the  elliptic  func- 
tions of  the  nth  part  of  the  complete  integrals,  but  in  the  cases  n=:3  and 
n=:5  they  are  expressed  rationally  in  terms  of  u  and  t;  (the  fourth  roots 
of  the  original  and  the  transformed  moduli  respectively),  these  quantities 
being  connected  by  an  equation  of  the  order  4  or  6,  the  modular  equation. 
The  extension  of  this  algebraical  theory  to  any  value  whatever  of  «  is  a 
problem  of  great  interest  and  difficulty.  The  general  case  should  admit  of 
being  treated  in  a  purely  algebraical  manner;  but  the  difficulties  are  so 
great  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  discuss  it  by  means  of  the  f ormulsB  of 
the  transcendental  theory,  in  particular  by  means  of  the  expressions  in- 

IlK'\ 
volving  Jacobi's  q  (the  exponential  of ^  i,  or,  say,  by  means  of  the 

^•transcendants.  Several  important  contributions  to  the  theory  have 
since  been  made : — Sohnke,  "  Equationes  Modulares  pro  transf  ormatione 
functionum  EUipticarum,"  Crelle,  t.  xvi.  (1836),  pp.  97-130  (where  the 
modular  equations  are  found  for  the  cases  n  =  3,  5,  7,  11,  13,  17,  &  19); 
Joubert,  '*  Sur  divers  equations  analogues  aux  Equations  modulaires  dans  la 
theorie  des  fonctions  elliptiques,'*  Comptes  Eendus,  t.  xlvii.  (1858), 
pp.  337-345  (relating  among  other  things  to  the  multiplier  equation  for 
the  determination  of  Jacobi's  M) ;  and  Konigsberger,  "  Algebraische  TJn- 
tersuchungen  aus  der  Theorie  der  elliptischen  Functionen,"  Crelle,  t.  Ixxii. 
(1870),  pp.  176-275;  together  with  other  papers  by  Joubert  and  by 
Hermite  in  later  volumes  of  the  *  Comptes  Eendus,'  which  need  not  be 
more  particularly  referred  to.  In  the  present  Memoir  I  carry  on  the 
theory,  algebraically  as  far  as  I  am  able ;  and  I  have,  it  appears  to  me, 
put  the  purely  algebraical  question  in  a  clearer  light  than  has  hitherto 
been  done ;  but  I  still  find  it  necessary  to  resort  to  the  transcendental 
theory.  I  remark  that  the  case  n= 7  (next  succeeding  those  of  the  '  Fun- 
damenta  Nova '),  on  account  of  the  peculiarly  simple  form  of  the  modular 
equation  (1— u®Xl— v®)=(l— ut/)",  presents  but  little  difficulty;  and  I 
give  the  complete  formulsB  for  this  case,  obtaining  them  as  well  alge- 
braically as  transcendentally;  I  also  to  a  considerable  extent  discuss 
algebraically  the  case  of  the  next  succeeding  prime  value  n=sll.  For 
the  sake  of  completeness  I  reproduce  Sohnke's  modular  equations,  exhi- 
biting them  for  greater  clearness  in  a  square  form,  and  adding  to  them 
those  for  the  non-prime  cases  n=9  and  n=15;  also  a  valuable  table 
given  by  him  for  the  powers  of  /  (q)  ;  and  I  give  other  tabular  results 
jrlucli  are  oi  asfiisiance  in  the  theorv. 


1874.]  Mr.  0.  Gore  on  Electratortion.  57 

IV,  "  On  Electrotorsion."     By  Geokqe  GorEj  F.R.S.      Received 

November  26,  1873. 

(Abstract.) 

This  conuntmicatioii  contains  an  account  of  a  new  phenomenon  (of  rods 
and  wires  of  iron  becoming  twisted  while  under  the  influence  of  elec- 
tric curreats),  and  a  full  description  of  the  conditioos  under  which  it 
occnrs,  the  necessary  apparatus,  and  the  methods  of  using  it. 

The  phenomenon  of  torsicMi  thus  produced  is  not  a  microscopic  ooe, 
but  may  be  made  to  exceed  in  some  cases  &  twist  of  a  qnarter  of  a  circle, 
the  end  of  a  suitable  index  moving  through  a  space  of  80  centimetres 
(^31  inchefl).     It  is  always  attended  by  emission  of  sound. 

The  torsions  ar©  produced  l^  the  combined  influence  of  helical  and 
axial  electric  currents,  cme  current  passing  through  a  long  copper-wire 
c(m1  surrounding  the  bar  or  wire,  and  the  other,  in  an  axial  direction, 
through  the  inn  itsdf.  The  cause  of  them  is  the  combined  influence  of 
magnetism  in  the  ordinary  longitudinal  direction  induced  in  the  bar  by 
Aie  coil-current,  and  transverse  magnetism  induced  in  it  by  the  axial 
<xie. 

The  t<»«ions  are  remarkably  symmetrical,  and  are  as  definitely  related 
in  direction  to  electric  currents  as  magnetism  itself.  The  chief  law  of 
tbem  is — A,  cMrrmt  fiowing  from  a  north  to  a  soutA  poU  prodvea  Uft' 
handed  tortwn,  and  a  reverse  one  right-hattdtd  tortion  (i.  e.  in  the  direction 
tA  an  ordinary  screw).  Although  each  current  alone  will  produce  its  own 
magnetic  effect,  sound,  and  internal  mtJecular  movement,  neither  alone 
will  twist  the  bar,  unless  the  bar  has  been  previously  magnetized  by  the 
other.  Successive  coil-currents  alcme  in  opposite  directions  will  not 
produce  torsicn,  nmther  will  successive  and  opposite  axial  ones. 

The  torsions  are  influenced  by  previous  mechanical  twist  in  the  iron, 
by  mechanical  tension,  and  by  terrestrial  magnetic  induction.  The  di- 
rection of  them  depends  both  upon  tiiat  of  the  axial  and  of  the  coil-currents, 
but  appears  to  be  determined  most  by  the  former.  A  few  cases  occur  in 
which  the  currents,  instead  of  developing  torsion,  produce  detorsion ;  but 
<Hily  two  instances,  out  of  many  hundreds,  have  been  met  with  in  which 
torsicHi  was  produced  in  a  direction  opposite  to  that  required  by  the  law. 

Single  torsions  vary  in  magnitude  from  0*5  millim.  te  nearly  30  milBms. 
of  movement  of  the  end  of  an  index  47  centimetres  long ;  the  smaller 
ones  occur  when  the  two  currents  are  transmitted  alternately,  and  the 
large  ones  when  they  are  passed  simultaneously ;  the  former  generally 
leave  the  bar  in  a  twisted  state,  the  latter  do  not.  Thoee  produced  by 
axial  cnirents  succeeding  coil  ones  are  nearly  always  much  larger  than 
thoee  yielded  by  coil-currents  succeeding  axial  ones,  because  the  residual 
magnetism  left  by  the  coil-current  is  the  strongest.  The  order  of  suc- 
eesBi<m  of  tlie  currents  aSect«  the  torsions  in  all  coses,  altering  their 
magnitudes,  and  in  srane  few  instances  even  their  directions.     In  steel 


58  Prof.  J.  Tyndall  on  the  [Jan.  16, 

all  the  torsional  effects  are  modified  by  the  mechanical  and  magnetic 
properties  of  that  substance. 

Each  current  leaves  a  residuaiy  magnetic  eff^  in  the  bar,  amounting 
in  iron  to  about  one  tenth  of  its  original  influence.  The  residuary  mag- 
netism of  coil-currents  is  affected  and  sometimes  reversed  by  axial  ones ; 
and  that  of  axial  currents  is  also  removed  by  coil  ones,  and  by  a  red  heat. 
The  condition  left  by  an  axial  current  is  smaller  in  degree  and  less  stable, 
in  a  vertical  iron  wire  or  one  in  the  terrestrial  magnetic  meridian,  than 
that  left  by  a  coil  one,  partly  because  of  the  influence  of  terrestrial  mag- 
netism ;  but  in  a  position  at  right  angles  to  that  the  effect  is  different. 

The  torsion  produced  by  a  coil-current  may  be  used  as  a  test,  and 
partly  as  a  measure,  of  the  residuary  effect  of  an  axial  one ;  and  that 
produced  by  an  axial  current  may  be  employed  to  detect,  and  to  Bome 
extent  measure,  ordinary  magnetism  in  the  bar.  As  an  opposite  coil- 
current  at  once  reverses  the  ordinary  longitudinal  magnetism  of  a  bar  of 
iron,  so  also  an  opposite  axial  one  at  once  reverses  its  transverse  mag* 
netism. 

Many  instances  have  been  met  with  in  which  the  transverse  and  longi- 
tudinal magnetic  states  produced  by  the  two  currents  coexisted  in  the 
same  substance.  The  torsional  influence  of  the  excited  helix  is  distri- 
buted equally  throughout  its  length ;  so  also  is  that  of  the  current  in  the 
bar.  All  the  torsions  are  closely  related  to  the  well-known  electric 
sounds,  and  to  particular  positions  and  internal  movements  of  the  particles 
of  the  iron. 

Signs  of  electrotorsion  were  obtained  with  a  bar  of  nickel,  but  not 
with  wires  of  platinum,  silver,  copper,  lead,  tin,  cadmium,  zinc,  mag- 
nesium, aluminium,  brass,  or  German-silver,  nor  with  a  thick  rod  of 
one,  or  a  cord  of  gutta  percha. 


January  15^  1874. 
JOSEPH  DALTON  HOOKER,  C.B.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

The  following  Paper  was  read : — 

I.  "  Preliminary  Account  of  an  Investigation  on  the  Transmission 
of  Sound  by  the  Atmosphere.''  By  John  Tyndall,  D.C.L., 
LL.D.,  F.B.S.    Received  January  1st,  1874. 

This  notice  embraces  the  scientific  results  of  an  inquiry  on  Fog- 
signals,  undertaken  at  the  instance  of  the  Elder  Brethren  of  the  Trinity 
House,  and  communicated  with  their  friendly  concurrence  to  the  Royal 
Society. 

The  investigation  was  begun  on  the  19th  of  May,  1873,  and  continued 
f/ll  the  4th  oi  July.    It  was  resumed  on  the  8th  of  October,  and  con« 


1874.]  TVofumwion  of  Sound  by  the  Atmosphere.  59 

tmued  to  the  end  of  November.  It  also  includes  observBtiona  made 
durmg  the  dense  fog  wUch  enveloped  London  on  December  9  and  the 
eiicc«ediiig  daya. 

GongB  and  bdls  were  excluded  from  tbiB  inveBtigation,  in  consequence 
f4  their  proved  inferiority  to  other  instruments  of  signalling.  The  experi- 
ments were  made  with  trumpets  blown  by  powerfully  compressed  air, 
with  ateam-wIuBtles,  guns,  and  a  steam  syren,  associated  with  a  trumpet 
16  feet  long. 

Dsboll's  h.{im,  tff  trumpet,  had  been  highly  spoken  of  by  writers  on 
fog-aignals.  A  third-order  apparatus  of  the  kind  had  been  reported  as 
sending  its  sonnd  to  a  distance  of  from  7  to  9  miles  against  the  wind, 
and  to  a  distance  of  12  to  14  miles  with  the  wind.  Holmes  had  improved 
uptm  Dabdl ;  and  with  two  instruments  of  Holmes,  not  of  the  third  but 
of  the  first  order,  our  experiments  were  made.  On  the  19th  of  May  at 
3  milee  distance  they  became  useless  as  a  fog-signal ;  at  a  distance  of  4 
miles,  with  paddles  stopped  and  all  on  board  quiet,  they  were  wholly 
unheard.  At  a  distance  of  2  miles  from  the  Foreland  the  whistles  tested 
on  May  19  became  useless.  The  12  o'clock  gun,  fired  with  a  1  lb.  charge 
at  Drop  Fort  in  Dover,  was  well  heard  on  May  19,  when  the  horns  and 
whistles  were  inaudible.  On  the  20th  of  May  the  permeability  of  the 
atmosphere  had  somewhat  increased,  but  the  steam-whistle  failed  to  pierce 
it  to  a  depth  of  3  miles.  At  4  miles  the  boms,  though  aided  by  quietness 
on  hoard,  were  barely  heard.  By  careful  nursing,  if  I  may  use  the  ex- 
pression, the  horn-sounds  were  carried  to  a  distance  of  6  miles.  The 
superiority  of  the  18-pounder  gun,  already  employed  by  the  Trinity  House 
as  a  fog-signal,  over  boms  and  whistles  was  on  this  day  so  decided  as 
almost  to  warrant  its  recommendation  to  the  exclusion  of  all  the  other 
signals. 

Nothing  occurred  on  the  2nd  of  June  to  exalt  our  hopes  of  the  trumpets 
and  whistles.  The  horns  were  scarcely  beard  at  a  distance  of  3  miles ; 
sometimes  indeed  they  faUed  to  be  heard  at  2  miles.  By  keeping  every 
thing  quiet  on  board,  they  were  afterwards  heard  to  a  distance  of  6 
milee — a  result,  however,  mainly  due  to  the  improved  condition  of  the 
atmosphere.  Considering  the  demands  as  to  sound-range  made  by  writers 
on  this  subject,  the  demonstrated  incompetence  of  horns  and  whistles  of 
great  reputsd  power  to  meet  these  demands  was  not  encouraging.  On 
the  3rd  of  June  the  atmosphere  had  changed  surprisingly.  It  was  loaded 
overhead  with  dark  and  threatening  clouds ;  the  sounds,  nevertheless, 
were  well  heard  beyond  9  miles.  On  June  10th  the  acoustic  transparency 
of  the  air  was  ^so  very  fair,  the  distance  penetrated  being  upwards  of  8| 
miles.  Thb  subsidence  of  the  sound  near  the  boundary  of  the  acoustic 
shadow  on  the  Dover  side  of  the  Foreland,  and  before  entering  tJie 
shadow,  was  to-day  sudden  and  extraordinary,  affecting  equally  both 
horns  and  guns.  We  were  warned  on  June  3  that  the  supremacy  of  the 
gun  on  OBB  occasion  by  no  means  implied  its  supremacy  on  all  occasions. 


...  .M  oujn'  was  aL,^ain  very  ilr 
I'lic  sounds  reached  a  inaxiiuuiu  dislaiuv  of  ()_!  iii 
on    n'turiiiuL,^  from    the  niaximiiin  distaiici\  tliey  \\< 
;iv  liad,  as  it  were,  darkened  acoustically.    On  this  da 
irther  their  preeminence,  and  at  OjJ  miles  were  inferit 
unds  whatever  reached  Dover  Pier  on  the  11th ;  ai 
is  the  close  of  the  day  that  they  succeeded  in  reach 
Thus  by  slow  degrees  the  caprices  of  the  atmospher 
known  to  us,  showing  us  subsequently  that  within 
le  day,  even  within  a  single  minute,  the  air,  as  a  vehi< 
^vent  most  serious  variations.    The  26th  of  June  wac 
lan  its  predecessor,  the  acoustic  range  being  over  9| 
Lon  of  the  wind  was  less  favourable  to  the  sound  on  t 
>  preceding  one,  plainly  proving  that  something  else  th 
play  an  important  part  in  shortening  the  sound-range, 
the  Istof  July  we  experimented  upon  a  rotating  hon 
'ect  or  axial  blast,  which  proved  to  be  the  strongest,  a 
I  miles.     The  soimds  were  also  heard  at  the  Yame 
is  12|  miles  from  the  Foreland.    The  atmosphere  1 
ily  clearer  acoustically,  but  not  so  optically ;  for  on  thi 
)scured  the  white  cliffs  of  the  Foreland.     In  fact,  on 
optical  purity,  the  sound  had  failed  to  reach  one  tl 
3  attained  to-day.     In  the  light  of  such  a  fact,  any 
)tieal  transparency  a  measure  of  acoustic  transparency,  n 
lusive.     On  the  Ist  of  July  a  12-inch  American  whistl 
beard  a  highly  favourable  account,  was  tried  in  place  of 
whistle ;  but,  like  its  predecessor,  the  performance  < 
^nt  fell  behind  that  of  the  horns.  An  interval  of  12  ho 
rt  the  acoustically  clear  atmosphere  of  July  1  into 
on  the  2nd  of  July  even  ^^^^  ^'^ — 


1 874.]  TVantmuHon  of  Sound  by  the  Atmotphere.  6 1 

TiBiUe  on  the  Ist,  while  the  sounds  were  cut  off  at  one  aisth  of  the  dis- 
tsnce.  At  2  tx,  neither  guns  nor  trumpets  were  able  to  pierce  the 
trukspuent  ur  to  a  depth  of  3,  hardly  to  a  depth  of  2  milea.  This  extraor- 
dinary opacity  was  proved  conclusively  to  arise  from  the  irregular  admix- 
ture with  the  air  of  the  aqueous  vapour  raised  by  a  powerful  sun.  This 
vapour,  though  perfectly  invisible,  produced  on  actmttie  cloud  impervious 
to  tiie  sound,  and  from  which  the  sound-waves  were  thrown  back  as  the 
waves  of  light  are  from  on  ordinary  cloud.  The  waves  thus  refused  trans- 
mission produced  by  their  reflection  echoes  of  extraordinary  strength  and 
duration.  This  I  may  remark  is  the  first  time  that  audible  echoes  have 
been  proved  to  be  reflected  from  an  optically  transparent  atmosphere.  By 
the  lowering  of  the  sun  the  production  of  the  vapour  was  checkedi,  and 
the  transmissive  power  of  the  atmosphere  restored  to  such  an  extent  tliat, 
at  a  distance  of  2  miles  from  the  Foreland,  at  7  p.m.,  the  intensity  of  the 
sound  was  at  least  thirty-six  times  its  intensity  at  2  f.u. 

On  October  8  the  observations  were  resumed,  a  steam  syren  and  a 
Canadian  whistle  of  great  power  being  added  to  the  list  d  inatnimenta. 
A  boiler  had  its  steamraisedtoapresBureof  70  lbs.  to  the  square  inch;  on 
<^aing  a  valve  this  steam  would  issue  forcibly  in  a  continuous  stream, 
and  tiie  sole  function  of  the  ayren  was  to  convert  this  stream  into  a 
series  of  separate  strong  pufEs.  This  was  done  by  causing  a  disk  with 
12  radial  slits  to  rotate  behind  a  fixed  disk  with  the  same  number  of  slits. 
When  the  slits  coinddad  a  puff  escaped ;  when  they  did  not  coincide  the 
outilow  of  steam  was  interrupted.  Each  puff  of  steam  at  this  high  pres- 
sure generated  a  sonorous  wave  of  great  intensity ;  the  successive  waves 
linking  themselves  together  to  a  musical  sound  so  intense  as  to  be  best 
described  as  a  continuous  explosion. 

During  the  earlier  part  of  October  8  the  optical  transparency  of  the 
air  was  very  great ;  its  acoustic  transparency,  on  the  other  band,  was  very 
defective.  Clouds  blackened  and  broke  into  a  rain-  and  hail-shower  of 
tropical  violence.  The  sounds,  instead  of  being  deadened  were  improved 
by  this  furious  squall ;  and,  after  it  had  lightened,  thus  lessening  the 
local  noises,  the  sounds  were  heard  at  a  distance  of  7^  milea  distinctly  louder 
than  they  had  been  heard  through  the  preceding  rainless  atmosphere  at  a 
distance  of  5  miles.  At  5  miles  distance,  therefore,  the  intensity  of  the 
sound  had  been  at  least  doubled  by  the  rain — a  result  entirely  opposed  to 
all  previous  assertions,  but  an  obvious  consequence  of  the  removal  by  con- 
densation and  precipitation  of  that  ^-apour  the  mixture  of  which  with  the 
sir  had  been  proved  so  prejudicial  to  the  sound.  On  this  day  a  depen- 
dence vaa  estaUished  between  the  pitch  of  a  note  and  its  penetrative 
power — the  syren  generating  480  waves  being  slightly  inferior  to  the 
horns,  while  generating  400  waves  a  second  it  was  distinctly  superior. 
The  mK-rimnm  TSnge  On  October  8  was  9  miles.  On  October  9  the  trans- 
e  power  had  diminished,  the  Tntnimum  range  being  7j  miles.    On 


62  Prof.  J.  Tyndall  on  the  [Jan.  16, 

both  these  days  the  syren  proved  to  be  superior  to  the  horns,  and  on  some 
occasions  superior  to  the  gun. 

On  the  10th  and  11th,  a  gale  having  caused  our  steamer  to  seek  safely 
in  the  Downs,  we  made  land-observations.  The  duration  of  the  aerial 
echoes  was  for  the  syren  and  the  gun  9  seconds,  for  the  horns  6  seconds. 
The  duration  varies  from  day  to  day.  We  sought  to  estimate  the  influence 
of  the  violent  wind,  and  found  that  the  sound  of  the  gun  failed  to  readi 
us  in  two  cases  at  a  distance  of  550  yards  to  windward,  the  sound  of 
the  syren  at  the  same  time  rising  to  a  piercing  intensity.  To  leeward 
the  gun  was  heard  at  five  times,  and  certainly  might  have  been  heard 
at  fifteen  times  the  distance  attained  to  iidndvi'ard.  The  momentary 
character  of  the  gun-sound  renders  it  liable  to  be  quenched  by  a  single 
puff  of  wind ;  but  sounds  of  low  pitch  generally,  whether  momentary 
or  not,  suffer  more  from  an  opposing  wind  than  high  ones.  We  had  on 
the  13th  another  example  of  the  powerlessness  of  heavy  rain  to  deaden 
BOimd. 

On  the  14th  the  maximum  range  was  10  miles,  but  the  atmosphere 
did  not  maintain  this  power  of  transmission.  It  was  a  day  of  extreme 
optical  clearness ;  but  its  acoustic  clearness  diminished  as  the  day  ad- 
vanced. In  fact  the  sun  was  in  action.  We  proved  to-day  that  by 
lowering  the  pitch  of  the  Canadian  whistle,  its  sound,  which  had  pre- 
viously been  inaudible,  became  suddenly  audible.  The  day  at  first  was 
favourable  to  the  transmission  of  the  longer  sound-waves.  After  a 
lapse  of  three  hours  the  case  was  reversed,  the  high-pitched  syren  being 
then  heard  when  both  gun  and  horns  were  inaudible.  But  even  this 
state  of  things  did  not  continue,  so  rapid  and  surprising  are  the  caprices 
of  the  atmosphere.  At  a  distance  of  5  miles,  at  3.30  p.m.,  the  change 
in  transmissive  power  reduced  the  intensity  of  the  sound  to  at  least 
one  half  of  what  it  possessed  at  11.30  a.m.,  the  wind  throughout  main- 
taining the  same  strength  and  direction.  Through  all  this  complexity 
the  knowledge  obtained  on  July  3  sheds  the  light  of  a  principle  whidi 
reduces  to  order  the  apparent  confusion. 

October  15  was  spent  at  Dungeness  in  examining  the  performance  of 
DabolFs  horn.  It  is  a  fine  instrument,  and  its  application  was  ably 
worked  out  by  its  inventor ;  still  it  would  require  very  favourable  atmo* 
spheric  conditions  to  enable  it  to  warn  a  steamer  before  she  had  come 
dangerously  close  to  the  shore.  The  direction  in  which  the  aerial  echoes 
return  was  finely  illustrated  to-day,  that  direction  being  always  the  one 
in  which  the  axis  of  the  horn  is  pointed. 

The  16th  was  a  day  of  exceeding  optical  transparency,  but  of  great 
acoustic  opacity.  The  maximum  range  was  only  5  miles.  On  this 
day  the  howitzer  and  all  the  whistles  were  clearly  overmastered  by  i^e 
syren.  It  was,  moreover,  heard  at  S^  miles  with  the  paddles  going, 
while  the  gun  was  unheard  at  2^  miles.     With  no  visible  object  thi^; 


1874.]  TVtttumuMon  of  Sound  by  the  Atmotpkere.  63 

eoold  possiblf  yield  on  echo  in  sight,  the  pure  aerial  echoee,  coming 
fimti  the  more  distant  southern  ur,  were  distinct  and  long-continaed  at 
•  distance  of  2  miles  from  the  shore.  Near  the  base  of  the  Foreland 
cliff  we  determined  thdr  duration  and  found  it  to  be  11  aeconda,  while 
that  of  tlie  best  whistle  echoes  was  6  seconds.  On  this  dav  three 
whistles,  sounded  simultaneously,  were  pitted  against  the  syren,  and 
found  clearly  inferior  to  it. 

On  the  17th  four  hmns  were  compared  with  the  syren  and  found 
inf^Hxr  to  it.  This  was  our  day  of  greatest  acoustic  transparency,  the 
•onnd  reaching  a  maijmum  of  15  miles  for  the  syren,  and  of  more  than 
16  for  the  gun.  The  echoes  on  this  day  were  continued  longer  than  on 
any  oUier  occaaion.  They  continued  for  15  seconds,  their  duration 
indicating  the  atmospheric  depth  from  which  they  came. 

On  October  18,  though  the  experiments  were  not  directed  to  deter- 
mine the  transmissive  power  of  the  air,  we  were  not  without  proof  that 
it  continued  to  be  high.  From  10  to  10.30  a.K.,  while  waiting  for  the 
blasts  of  the  syren  at  a  distance  of  3  miles  from  the  Foreland,  the  con- 
tinned  reports  of  what  we  supposed  to  be  the  musketry  of  skirmishing 
parties  <m  land  were  distinctly  heard  by  us  all.  We  afterwards  learned 
that  the  sounds  arose  from  the  rifle-practice  on  Kingsdown  beach, 
fi j  miles  away.  On  July  3,  which,  optically  considered,  was  a  far  more 
perfect  day,  the  I8-pounder,  howitser,  and  mortar  failed  to  make  them- 
aelves'heard  at  half  this  distance.  The  18th  was  mainly  occupied  in 
determining  tiie  influence  of  pitch  and  pressure  on  the  syren-sound. 
Taking  the  fluctuations  of  the  atmosphere  into  account,  I  am  of  opinion 
that  the  syren,  performing  from  2000  to  2400  revolutions  a  second,  or, 
in  otlier  wcffds,  generating  from  400  to  480  waves  per  second,  best  meets 
tiie  atmospheric  conditions.  We  varied  the  pressure  from  40  to  80  lbs. 
on  the  square  inch ;  and  though  the  intensity  did  not  appear  to  rise  in 
proportion  to  the  pressure,  the  higher  pressure  yielded  the  hardest  and 
most  penetrating  sound. 

The  20th  was  a  rainy  day  with  strong  wind.  ITp  to  a  distance  of 
5j  miles  the  syren  continued  to  be  heard  through  the  sea-  and  paddle- 
noises.  In  rough  weather,  indeed,  when  local  noises  interfere,  the  syren- 
■onnd  &r  transcends  all  otiier  sounds.  On  various  occasions  to-d&y  it 
proved  its  mastery  over  both  gun  and  horns.  On  the  2lBt  the  wind 
was  strong  and  the  sea  high.  The  hom-sounds,  with  paddles  going, 
were  lost  at  4  miles,  while  the  syren  continued  serviceable  up  to  6^  miles. 
The  gan  to-day  was  completely  overmastered.  Its  puffs  were  seen  at  the 
Foreland ;  but  its  sonnd  was  nnheard  when  the  syren  was  distinctly  heard. 
Heavy  rain  Euled  to  damp  the  power  of  the  syren.  The  whistles  were 
also  tried  to-day,  bat  were  found  far  inferior  to  the  syren.  On  the  22nd 
it  blew  a  gale,  and  the  'Oalatea'  quitted  us.  We  made  observations 
on  land  tm  the  influence  of  the  wind  and  of  local  noises.  The  shelter 
of  the  Cowtgnard  Station  at  Comhill  enabled  us  to  hear  gun-sounds 


64  Prof.  J.  Tyndall  on  the  [Jan.  15, 

which  were  quite  inaudible  to  an  observer  out  of  shelter ;  in  the  shelter 
also  both  horn  and  syren  rose  distinctly  in  power ;  but  they  were  also  heard 
outside  when  the  gun  was  quite  unheard.  As  usual  the  sound  to  lee- 
ward was  &r  more  powerful  than  those  at  equal  distances  to  windward. 
The  echoes  from  the  cloudless  air  were  to-day  very  fine.  On  the  23rd, 
in  the  absence  of  the  steamer,  the  observations  on  the  influence  of  the 
wind  were  continued.  The  quenching  of  the  gun-sounds,  in  particular,  to 
windward  was  well  illustrated.  All  the  sounds,  however,  gun  included, 
were  carried  much  further  to  leeward  than  to  windward.  The  eff^  of  a 
violent  thunderstorm  and  downpour  of  rain  in  exalting  the  sound  was 
noticed  by  observers  both  to  windward  and  to  leeward  of  the  Foreland. 
In  the  rear  of  the  syren  its  range  to-day  was  about  a  mile.  At  right 
angles  to  the  axis,  and  to  windward,  it  was  about  the  same.  To  lee- 
ward it  reached  a  distance  of  7^  miles. 

On  the  24th,  when  observations  were  made  afloat  in  the  steam-tug 
*  Palmerston,'  the  syren  exhibited  a  clear  mastery  over  gun  and  horns. 
The  maximum  range  was  7|  miles.  The  wind  had  changed  from  W.S.W. 
to  S.E.,  then  to  E.  As  a  consequence  of  this,  the  syren  was  heard  loudly 
in  the  streets  of  Dover.  On  the  27th  the  wind  was  E.N.E. ;  and  ihe 
syren-sound  penetrated  everywhere  through  Dover,  rising  over  the  moan- 
ing of  the  wind  and  all  other  noises.  It  was  heard  at  a  distance  of 
6  miles  from  the  Foreland  on  the  road  to  Folkestone,  and  would  probably 
have  been  heard  all  the  way  to  Folkestone  had  not  the  experimento 
ceased.  Afloat  and  in  the  axis,  with  a  high  wind  and  sea,  the  syren, 
and  it  only,  reached  to  a  distance  of  6  miles ;  at  5  miles  it  was  heard 
through  the  paddle  noises.  On  the  28th  further  experiments  were  made 
on  the  influence  of  pitch,  the  syren  when  generating  480  waves  a 
second  being  found  more  effective  than  when  generating  300  waves  a 
second.     The  maximum  range  in  the  axis  on  this  day  was  7j|  miles. 

The  29th  of  October  was  a  day  of  extraordinary  optical  transparency 
but  by  no  means  transparent  acoustically.  The  gun  was  the  greatest 
sufferer.  At  flrst  it  was  barely  heard  at  5  miles  ;  but  afterwards  it  was 
tried  at  5|,  4^,  and  2|  miles,  and  was  heard  at  none  of  these  distances. 
The  syren  at  the  same  time  was  distinctly  heard.  The  sun  was  shining 
strongly ;  and  to  its  augmenting  power  the  enfeebiement  of  the  gun- 
sound  was  doubtless  due.  At  3|  miles,  subsequently,  dead  to  windward, 
the  syren  was  faintly  heard ;  the  gun  was  unheard  at  2^  miles.  On  land 
the  syren  and  horn-sounds  were  heard  to  windward  at  2  to  2j|  miles,  to 
leeward  at  7  miles ;  while  in  the  rear  of  the  instruments  they  were  heard 
at  a  distance  of  5  miles,  or  five  times  as  far  as  they  had  been  heard 
on  October  23. 

The  30th  of  October  furnished  another  illustration  of  the  fallacy  of 

the  notion  which  considers  optical  and  acoustic  transparency  to  go  hand 

in  hand.    The  day  was  very  hazy,  the  white  cliffs  of  the  Foreland  at  the 

greater  distances  being  quite  hidden ;   still  the  gun-  and  syren-sounds 


1874.]  TVatumuaioa  of  Sound  by  the  Atmosphere.  65 

reached  on  the  bearing  of  the  Vame  light-vesael  to  a  distance  of  11^ 
miles.  The  ayren  was  heard  through  the  paddle-noises  at  9j  miles, 
while  at  8  j  miles  it  became  efficient  as  a  signal  with  the  paddles  going. 
The  homs  were  heard  at  6^  miles.  This  was  during  calm.  Subsequently, 
with  a  wind  from  the  N.N.W.,  no  sounds  were  heard  at  BJ  miles.  On 
land,  the  wind  being  across  the  direction  of  the  sound,  the  sjren  was 
heard  only  to  a  distance  of  3  miles  N.K  of  the  Foreland ;  in  the  other 
direction  it  was  heard  plainly  on  Folkestone  Pier,  8  miles  distant. 
Both  gun  and  homs  fiuled  to  reach  Folkestone. 

Wind,  rain,  a  rough  sea,  and  great  acoustic  opacity  characteiiied 
October  31.  Both  gun  and  homs  were  unheard  3  miles  away,  the 
syren  at  the  same  time  being  clearly  heard.  It  afterwards  forced  its 
sound  with  great  power  through  a  violent  rain-squall.  Wishing  the 
same  individual  judgment  to  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  sounds  ou  both 
sides  of  the  Foreland,  in  the  absence  of  our  steamer,  which  had  quitted 
ufl  for  safety,  I  committed  the  observations  to  Mr.  Douglass.  He  heard 
them  at  2  miles  on  the  Dover  side,  and  on  the  Sandwich  side,  with  the 
same  intensity,  at  6  miles. 

A  gap  (employed  by  the  engineers  in  making  arrangements  for  pointing 
the  syren  in  any  required  direction)  here  occurred  in  our  observations. 
They  were  resumed,  however,  on  November  21,  when  comparative  es- 
peiiments  were  made  upon  the  gun  and  syren.  Both  BOurcea  of  sound, 
when  employed  as  fc^-signals,  will  not  unfrequently  have  to  cover  an  are 
of  180° ;  and  it  was  desirable  to  know  with  greater  precision  how  the 
■ound  is  affected  by  the  direction  in  which  the  gun  or  syren  is  pointed. 

The  gun,  therefore,  was  in  the  first  instance  pointed  on  us  and  fired, 
then  turned  and  fired  along  a  line  perpendicular  to  that  joining  Ua  and  it. 
There  was  a  sensible,  though  small,  difference  between  the  sounds  which 
reached  us  in  the  two  cases.  A  similar  experiment  was  made  with  the 
ayren ;  and  here  the  falling  off  when  the  instrument  was  pointed  perpen- 
dicular to  the  line  joining  us  and  it  was  very  considerable.  This  is  what 
is  to  be  expected ;  for  the  trumpet  associated  with  the  syren  is  expressly 
intended  to  gather  up  the  soimd  and  project  it  in  a  certain  direction,  while 
no  such  object  is  in  view  in  the  construction  of  the  gun.  The  experi- 
ments here  referred  to  were  amply  corroborated  by  others  made  on 
November  22  and  23. 

On  both  of  these  days  the  '  Qalatea'a '  guns  were  fired  to  windward 
and  to  leeward.  The  aerial  echoes  in  the  latter  case  were  distinctly  louder 
and  longer  than  in  the  former.  The  experiment  has  been  repeated  many 
times,  and  alwa^  with  the  same  result. 

In  front  of  the  Comhill  Coastguard  Station,  and  only  1  j  mile  from 
the  Foreland,  the  syren,  on  the  2lBt,  though  pointed  towards  us,  feU 
suddenly  and  considerably  in  power.  Before  reaching  Dover  Pier  it  had 
ceased  to  be  heard.  The  wind  was  here  against  the  sound ;  but  this, 
though  it  contributed  to  the  effert,  could  not  account  for  it,  nor  could  the 


66  Prof.  J.  Tyndall  on  the  [Jan.  16> 

proximity  of  the  shadow  account  for  it.  To  these  two  causes  must  have 
been  added  an  acoustically  flocculent  though  optically  transparent  atmo- 
sphere. The  experiment  demonstrates  conclusively  that  there  are  atmo- 
spheric and  local  conditions  which,  when  combined,  prevent  our  most 
powerful  instruments  from  making  more  than  a  distant  approach  to  the 
performance  which  writers  on  fog-signals  have  demanded  of  them. 

On  November  24  the  sound  of  the  syren  pointed  to  windward  ^i-as  com- 
pared at  equal  distances  in  front  of  and  behind  the  instrument.  It  was 
louder  to  leeward  in  the  rear,  than  at  equal  distances  to  windward  in  front. 
Hence,  in  a  wind,  the  desirability  of  pointing  the  instrument  to  wind- 
ward. The  whistles  were  tested  this  day  in  comparison  with  the  syren 
deprived  of  its  trumpet.  The  Canadian  and  the  8-inch  whistles  proved 
the  most  effective ;  but  the  naked  svren  was  as  well  heard  as  either  of 
them.  As  regards  opacity,  the  25th  of  November  almost  rivalled  the 
drd  of  July.  The  gim  failed  to  be  heard  at  a  distance  of  2*8  miles,  and 
it  yielded  only  a  faint  crack  at  2^  miles. 

Meanwhile  this  investigation  has  given  us  a  knowledge  of  the  atmo- 
sphere in  its  relation  to  sound,  of  which  no  notion  had  been  previously 
entertained.  While  the  velocitij  of  sound  has  been  the  subject  of  refined 
and  repeated  experiments,  I  am  not  aware  that  since  the  publication  of  a 
celebrated  paper  by  Dr.  Derham,  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  for 
1708,  any  systematic  inquiry  has  been  made  into  the  causes  which  affect 
the  inUiisUy  of  sound  in  the  atmosphere.  Derham^s  results,  though 
obtained  at  a  time  when  the  means  of  investigation  were  very  defective, 
have  apparently  been  accepted  with  unquestioning  trust  by  all  subsequent 
writers — a  fact  which  is,  I  think,  in  some  part  to  be  ascribed  to  the  a 
priori  probability  of  his  conclusions. 

Thus  Dr.  Bobinson,  relying  apparently  upon  Derham,  says,  "  Fog  is  a 
powerful  damper  of  sound,''  and  he  gives  us  physical  reason  why  it  must 
be  so.  "  It  is  a  mixture  of  air  and  globules  of  water,  and  at  each  of 
the  innumerable  surfaces  where  these  two  touch,  a  portion  of  the  vibration 
is  reflected  and  lost.**  And  he  adds  further  on,  '^  The  remarkable  power 
of  fogs  to  deaden  the  report  of  guns  has  been  often  noticed." 

Assuming  it,  moreover,  as  probable  that  the  measure  of  "  a  fog's  power 
in  stopping  sound ''  bears  some  simple  relation  to  its  opacity  for  light. 
Dr.  Bobinson,  adopting  a  suggestion  of  Mr.  Alexander  Cimninghamy 
states  that  *'  the  distance  at  which  a  given  object,  say  a  flag  or  pole,  dis- 
appears, may  be  taken  as  a  measure  of  the  fog's  power  "  to  obstruct  the 
sound.  This  is  quite  in  accordance  with  prevalent  notions ;  and  granting 
that  the  sound  is  dissipated,  as  assumed,  by  reflection  from  the  particles 
of  fog,  the  conclusion  follows  that  the  greater  the  number  of  the  reflecting 
particles,  the  greater  will  be  the  waste  of  sound.  But  the  number  of 
particles,  or,  in  other  words,  the  density  of  the  fog,  is  declared  by  its 
action  upon  light ;  hence  the  optical  opacity  will  be  a  measure  of  the 
aroustic  opacity. 


1 874.  ]  TVaiumutuM  of  Souad  by  the  Aimoiphgre.  67 

Thia,  I  »7,  aipreBieB  tho  opinion  generally  entertuned,  "  clear  itill 
air"  being  regarded  as  the  best  vehicle  for  sound.  We  have  not,  u 
stated  above,  experimented  in  really  deiiae  fogs ;  but  tlie  experiments 
actnally^made  entiralj  destroy  the  notion  that  clear  weather  is  necessarily 
bettv  for  the  tnuisnussion  of  sound  than  thick  veather.  Some  of  our 
days  of  densest  acoustic  opacity  have  been  marvellously  clear  optically, 
while  some  of  our  days  of  thick  haze  have  shown  themselves  highly 
favoorable  to  the  transnuBsiou  of  sound.  Were  the  physical  cause  of  the 
aonnd-waat«  that  above  assigned,  did  tiiat  waste  arise  in  any  material 
degree  from  reflection  at  the  limitiug  surfaces  of  the  particles  of  hace, 
this  result  would  be  inexplicable. 

Aguo,  Deriiam,  as  quoted  by  Sir  John  Herschel,  says  that  "  falling 
rain  tend/r  powerfully  to  obstruct  sound."  We  have  had  repeated  reversals 
of  tJiis  ooQclusion.  Some  of  our  observations  have  been  made  on  days 
when  rain  and  hail  descended  with  a  perfectly  tropical  fury ;  and  in  no 
ain^  case  did  the  rain  deaden  the  sound ;  in  every  case,  indeed,  it  had 
predaeiy  l^e  opposite  effect. 

But  falling  snow,  according  to  Derham,  offers  a  more  serious  obstacle 
than  any  other  meteorological  agent  to  the  transmission  of  sound.  We 
have  not  extended  gur  observations  at  the  South  Foreland  into  snowy 
weather ;  but  an  observation  of  my  own  made  on  December  29th,  in  the 
Alps,  during  a  heavy  snow-storm,  distinctly  negatives  the  statement  of 
Derham. 

Beverting  to  the  case  of  fog,  I  am  unable  in  modem  observations  to 
discover  any  thing  conclusive  as  to  its  alleged  power  of  deadening  sound. 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  listening  toa  very  interesting  lecture  ou fog-signals 
delivered  by  Mr,  Beaceley  before  the  United-Service  Institution ;  and  I 
have  carefully  perused  the  printed  report  of  that  lecture,  and  of  a  paper 
previously  communicated  by  Mr.  Beazeley  to  the  Institution  of  Civil 
Kigineers.  But  in  neither  of  these  painstaking  compilations  cau  I  find 
any  adequate  evidence  of  the  alleged  power  of  fogs  to  deaden  sound. 

Indeed  during  the  discussi<m  which  followed  the  reading  of  Mr.  Bea«e- 
le/s  paper,  an  important  observation  in  an  opposite  sense  was  mentioned 
by  Mr.  Douglass,  to  whose  ability  and  accuracy  as  an  observer  I  am  able 
to  bwr  the  strongest  testimony.  Mr.  Douglass  stated  that  he  had  found 
in  his  experience  but  Uttle  difference  in  the  travelling  of  sound  iu  foggy 
ta  in  dear  weather.  He  bad  distinctly  heard  in  a  fog,  at  the  Smalls  rock 
in  dke  Briatot  Channel,  guns  fired  at  Mdford  Uaveu,  25  miles  away.  Mr. 
Beaseley,  moreover,  has  heard  the  Lundy-Island  gun  "  at  Harttand  Point," 
a  diataaoe  of  10  miles,  during  dense  fog.  Mr.  Beazeley'a  conclusion, 
indeed,  accurately  expresses  the  state  of  our  knowledge  when  he  wrote. 
In  winding  up  his  paper,  he  admitted  "that  the  subject  appeared  to  be 
Tery  little  known,  and  that  the  more  it  was  looked  into  the  more 
qipareut  became  the  fact  that  the  evidence  as  to  the  effect  of  fog  upon 
■wind  is  ezlMmely  conflicting.''     When,  therefore,  it  is  alleged,  as  it  is 

TOL.  xxn.  o 


.....^  luiDKUtv  orten  occiii 
optical  tranHpan'Ticv.     Any  systiMn  o\^  nicnsinvs, 
the  assumption  that  theopticaTid  a-'oustic  transpai 
go  liaiul  in  liand  imist  prove  delusive. 

There  is  but  one  solution  of  this  difficulty  :  it  is 
sound  89  powerful  m  to  be  able  to  endure  loss  bj 
still  retain  a  sufficient  residue  for  transmission.     C 
hitherto  examined  bj  us  the  syren  comes  nearest  U. 
condition ;  and  its  establishment  upon  our  coasts 
prove  an  incalculable  boon  to  the  mariner. 

An  account  of  the  observations  made  during  the 
eluded  in  the  paper  shortly  to  be  presented  to  \ 
obseryationB  ^d  the   force  of   demonstration  to 
the  paper,  that  fogs  possess  no  such  power  of  st: 
hitherto  ascribed  to  them.      Indeed  the  melting  a 
cember  13th  was  accompanied  by  an  acoustic  darkc 
sphere,  so  great  that,  at  a  point' midway  between  the 
Serpentine,  where  a  whistle  was  sounded,  and  the  bri( 
sessed  less  than  one  fourth  of  the  intensity  which  it  p 
of  densest  fog. 

Thus,  I  think,  has  been  removed  the  last  of  a  conge 
for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  have  been  associa 
mission  of  sound  by  the  atmosphere. 

January  22, 1874, 

JOSEPH  DALTON  HOOKER,  C.B.,  Preside 
The  following  Paper  was  read : — 
\.  ^'On  the  Nature  anH   T)^- 


•  1 


1874.]  PoiaoH  of  Indian  Venomous  Snaket.  69 

eolubrioe  stukes,  whilst  thai  of  Daboia  RtuuUii  is  aimll&r  to  that  of  E<shi» 
eaniuUa,  and  kIho  of  the  Trvtttertauri,  which  represent  the  Tiperine  snakes 
in  India. 

Jnst  Bs  the  Ntga  may  be  regarded  on  among  the  most  virulent  of  the 
colubrine,  the  Daboia  is  probablj  as  venomous  as  any  of  the  viperine 
snakes,  it  being  very  deadly ;  whilst  the  Crotalidffl  are  but  feebly  repre- 
sented in  India  by  the  Tfimereturi, 

The  venomonB  colubrine  snakes  in  India  are  represented  by  the  Naja 
tripudiani,  OpAiopAcu/iu  tlaps,  Bungarus  ftueiatiu,  B.  emruieiu,  Xenure- 
lop*  bmtffaroida,  and  the  Tarious  spedes  of  Cnllophi*  and  Hydrophids ; 
whilst  among  the  viperine  snakes  the  Viperids,  or  vipers,  are  represented 
in  India  by  only  two  genera,  each  with  a  single  species,  Daboia  RutteUU, 
BMi  earimUa ;  the  CrotaUdie,  or  pit  vipers,  by  the  various  Trimereiuri, 
Pdtopthr,  Saly»,  ffyptude,  though  these  are  much  less  active  than  their 
American  congeners. 

The  Daboia,  however,  may  be  considered  as  virulent  as  the  most  deadly 
form  of  the  Viperids  of  Africa,  or  probably  as  the  Cmtalut  or  Oratpedoct- 
phdlui  of  the  pit-vipers  of  America  and  the  West  Indies. 

In  a  previous  commonication  we  have  described  the  effect  of  the  poison 
of  ilToja  iripudian»  upon  warm-blooded  animals,  and  have  illustrated  it 
by  e^OTiments  on  ttte  dog,  rabbit,  guineapig,  and  fowl. 

We  purpose  in  the  present  paper  to  compao^  its  action  with  that  of  the 
poison  of  the  Daboia  BuaadUi,  a  viperine  snake,  to  describe  its  effects 
npon  cold-blooded  animals  and  invertebrats,  and  to  examine  in  detail  its 
action  upon  the  varioas  organs  of  the  body. 

In  onr  former  paper  we  stated  that  the  general  symptoms  of  pcusoning 
by  cobr»-veDom  are  depression,  funtneas,  hurried  respiration  and  exhaus- 
tion, lethargy,  nnconscionsness,  nausea,  and  vomiting.  In  dogs,  guinea- 
pigs,  and  rabbits  peculiar  twitching  movements  occur,  which  seem  to  re- 
present vomiting  in  them;  occasionally,  in  fact,  dogs  and  guineapigs 
(Experiment  XX.)  do  vomit,  and  dogs  are  profusely  salivated.  As  the 
poisoning  proceeds,  paralysis  appears,  sometimes  affecting  the  hind  1^ 
first  and  seeming  to  creep  up  the  body,  and  sometimes  affecting  the  whole 
animal  nearly  at  the  same  iime.  There  is  loss  of  coordinating  power 
frf  ^  mnsdea  of  locomotion. 

Hsmorriiage,  relaxation  of  the  sphincters,  and  involuntary  evacuatioQa, 
not  nnfrequently  of  a  sanguineous  or  muco-sanguineous  character,  often 
precede  death,  and  are  generally  accompanied  by  convulsions. 

In  fowls  the  appearance  is  one  of  extreme  drowsiness ;  the  head  falls 
forward,  rests  on  tiie  beak ;  and  gradually  the  bird,  no  longer  able  to 
support  itself,  crouches,  then  rolls  over  on  its  side.  There  are  frequent 
startings,  as  if  of  sudden  awaking  from  the  drowsy  state. 

The  following  experiments  upon  pigeons  and  guineapigs  show  that  the 
general  symptoms  produced  by  the  poison  of  the  Daboia  are  nearly  the 
same  ae  by  that  of  tiie  Naja.    The  local  symptoms  are  greator  extravasatioa 


70  Messra.  T,  L.  Bruntoii  and  J.  Fayrer  on  the      [Jan.  22, 

of  blood  and  effusion  iuto  areolar  tissue.  In  Experiment  LU.  it  was  noted 
that  gre-ater  lethargy  and  less  violent  conviUsioos  occurred  in  tlie  pigeon 
poisoned  bv  cobra-veoom  than  in  that  poisoned  by  Dahoia  ;  but  this  might 
readily  be  duo  to  individual  difference  in  the  bird ;  and  an  opposite  result 
is  noted  in  Experiment  VII.  upon  agnineapig.  In  one  pigeon,  killed  by 
BaJioia-venom,  the  blood  remained  permanently  fluid  after  death  ;  but  in 
the  other,  and  also  in  the  guineapigs,  it  coagulated  tirm.ly.  This  is  an  excep- 
tion to  the  rule  which  has  been  noticed  in  experiments  made  in  India, 
that  the  blood  after  fttftdin-poiaoning  remains  fluid — La  marked  contradi- 
stinction to  death  from  cobra-renom,  in  which  the  blood  almost  invariably 
coagulates.  Coagulation,  however,  of  the  blood  of  a  fowl  aft«r  death  from 
the  bite  of  a  Daboia  has  also  been  noticed  by  one  of  us  (Dr.  Fayrer)  in 
India  ;  and  therefore  the  coagulation  in  our  eiperiments  was  not  due  to 
the  lower  temperature  of  the  atmosphere. 

Eaptmnoit  I, 

Aoffiist  27ih,  1873. — Three  milHgrammes  of  dried  flaioin-poison, 
ceived  some  weeks  ago  from  Balasore,  were  injected  into  the  thigh  o£ 
old  and  vigorous  pigeon  at  2.48, 

2.53.  No  apparent  effect,  eic«pt  that  the  bird  is  lame  on  that  leg, 

3.2,  The  bird  Ja  sluggish,  Eespiratious  hurried.  Lameness  con- 
tinues. 

3.18.  Still  sluggish,  bat  it  is  not  deeply  affected. 

3.30.  Disinclined  to  move.  When  placed  on  the  table  it  sunk  on  its 
breast.     No  nodding  ot  the  head. 

3.45,  Sudden  and  liolont  conmlsions. 

3.46.  Dead  in  5S  minutes  from  the  time  of  injection. 

Electrodes  inserted  into  the  spinal  cord  soon  after  death  caused  movo- 
ments  of  the  wings,  hut  not  of  the  legs.  Blood  taken  from  the  bird,  just 
before  death,  partially  coagulated  after  death.  Blood  token  from  it  after 
death,  coagulated  more  firmly— but  less  Knnly  than  some  taken  from 
another  pigeon  poisoned  with  cobra- venom. 

Ej^periment  U, 

A  young  full-grown  pigeon  had  3  milligrammes  of  dried  floio ia-poiaon 
injected  into  the  peritoneum  at  3,5  f.u. 

At  3.13  it  was  observed  to  pass  suddenly  into  \iolent  convulsions,  flap- 
ping its  wings  strongly.  It  continued  in  this  state  for  a  minute  :  and  at 
3.14  it  died,  0  minutes  after  the  injection. 

Electrodes  inserted  into  the  spinal  cortl,  in  the  neck,  caused  violent 
muscular  contractions  all  over  the  wings  and  legs.  The  cord  was  thus 
evidently  not  paralyzed;  but  its  irritability  soon  ceased.  The  blood 
remained  permanently  fluid,  and  become  bright  red  on  exposure  to  air : 
under  the  microscope  (400  diameters)  the  corpuscles  seemed  normal. 
Bigor  mortis  came  on. 


1874.]  Poison  a/ Indian  Venomom  Snakes.  71 

Experiment  III. 
A  fall-^rown  yotutg  pigeon  had  3  milligrammes  of  dried  cobnt-poLflon 
injected  into  the  thigh  at  2.49  f.M. 

2.53.  The  respiratioa  ia  reiy  hurried;  the  bird  presents  a  sluggish 
appearance  and  b^ins  to  droop. 

3.2.  The  eyes  are  now  closed  and  the  bird  ia  crouching ;  legs  extended. 

3.6.  ConTulsions ;  head  and  back  resting  on  the  ground  ;  legs  extended 
wid  paralysed. 

3.10.  Dead  in  21  minutes  from  the  injection. 

Sectrodes  inserted  into  the  cord  soon  after  death  caused  general  coa- 
'bvctions  of  the  extremiti^,  showing  that  the  cwd  was  not  paralyzed. 
Its  irritability  soon  disappeared.  The  symptoms  in  this  bird  are  different 
from  those  in  the  one  poisoned  by  Daboia-viraa ;  there  is  more  lethargy, 
nodding  of  &e  head,  and  apparent  drowsiness  before  the  convulsions, 
which  are  not  so  sudden  or  bo  violent. 

Ej^erimeat  IV. 
A.  fall-grown  pigeon  had  3  milligrammes  of  dried  cobra-poison  injected 
into  the  peritooenm  at  3.6  p.ii. 

3.15.  The  bird  is  sluggish,  nodding  its  head. 

3.17.  Qaping ;  the  head  is  twitching,  and  the  bird  can  hardly  stand. 

3.22.  Coavolsitms.    Several  grains  of  Indian  com  are  vomited. 

3.25.  Quite  paralyzed.    C<mTulsi<ais. 

3.26.  Dead  in  SI  minutes  Eroot  the  injection. 

Electrodes  in  the  cord  bomi  after  death  caused  movements  in  the  limbs. 
The  irritabiKty  rapidly  disappeared,  and  at  3.33  was  entirely  gone. 

The  blood  coagulated  firmly  after  death. 

When  examined  after  death  with  a  magnifying-power  of  400  diameters, 
crenation  of  etune  of  the  red  COTpuscles  was  observed,  but  no  other  change 
Avas  noticed. 

Experiment  T. 

Febrwtrif  11th. — About  j-1  cuMc  c«itimetre  of  a  mixture  of  Dahoia- 
poiaon  with  alcohol  (1  part  poison  with  4  of  alcohol)  was  injected  into 
the  left  thigh  of  a  small  gnineapig  at  1.45fj(. 

Immediately  afterwards  it  becune  very  restless,  and  the  nose  began  to 
be  twit«ihed  inwards  towards  the  breast. 

1.48.  The  left  leg  drags  somewhat. 

1.54.  The  hind  legs  are  jerked  backwards  r^ularly  every  few  seconds. 

1.55.  It  bites  at  its  left  1%. 

1.58.  It  has  drawn  itself  tt^ether  almost  into  a  ball. 
2.2.  The  twitching  still  continues. 

2.23.  Its  hind  quarters  have  become  nearly  paralyzed.  It  lies  ou  its 
side,  and  convulsive  movements  occur  from  time  to  time. 

2.28J.  It  is  apparently  dead.    The  heart  continues  to  beat  strongly. 


72  Messrs.  T.  L.  Brunton  and  J.  Fayrer  on  the     [Jan.  2St, 

On  opening  it  the  lungs  were  slightly  congested.  Feiistaltie  mov&* 
ments  of  intestine  active.  The  blood  from  the  heart  was  allowed  to  nm 
into  a  clean  beaker.  It  was  of  a  dark  colour,  but  became  red  on  expo- 
sure to  air.    It  shortly  afterwards  coagulated  and  formed  a  fiim  dot. 

Experimtnt  VI, 

February  11. — ^About  1  cubic  centimetre  of  Z)a^ui-poison  (1  part  poison 
mixed  with  4  parts  of  alcohol)  was  injected  under  the  skin  of  the  left 
thigh  of  a  guineapig  at  1.13. 

1.17.  Animal  rubbing  its  mouth  >^ith  its  fore  paws.  It  is  restless  and 
moves  about.  There  are  slight  twitchings,  and  it  sits  on  its  hind  legs 
like  a  cat. 

1.22.  Very  restless. 

1.27.  Head  is  drawn  towards  legs  in  a  t>^itching  fashion.     Animal 
bites  at  the  left  leg.   When  it  moves  about,  the  left  leg  drags  somewhat. 
1.45.  Has  been  very  quiet  and  disinclined  to  move  for  some  time. 

1.55.  About  1  cubic  centimetre  more  was  injected  into  the  right  thig^ 

1.56.  Both  hind  legs  drag  slightly. 

1.58.  The  animal  is  very  imsteady  and  tottering  on  its  1^. 

2.2.  Both  hind  legs  completely  paraljrzed,  and,  when  the  animal  draws 
itself  forward  \^dth  its  fore  paws,  the  hind  legs  trail  out  behind  it.  There 
are  twitchings  of  the  fore  part  of  the  body. 

2.17.  Hind  legs  and  loins  quite  paralysed.  The  posterior  part  cxf  tbe 
body  lies  flat  on  the  ground,  the  abdomen  being  flattened  out  upon  it. 
Paralysis  seems  gradually  extending  to  the  fore  limbs.  There  is  general 
twitching.  It  tries  to  crawl,  but  cannot  drag  itself  forward,  though  it  can 
still  move  the  fore  legs.     Gnaws  the  bottom  of  the  box  in  which  it  lies. 

2.20.  Almost  motionless.  Eye  is  still  sensitive.  Fluid  has  issoed 
from  the  mouth.     The  animal  can  still  move  its  head. 

2.23.  Convulsive  movements. 

2.24.  Cornea  insensible.  Weak  twitches  of  the  trunk  still  occasionally 
occtur ;  they  seem  to  be  of  the  nature  of  respiratory  movements.  Heart 
beats  strongly. 

In  a  minute  or  two  afterwards  the  animal  was  opened.  The  heart  was 
irritable  and  contracted  when  touched.  The  ventricle  did  not  contract 
unless  touched.  The  auricles  were  beating.  The  lungs  were  (I  think) 
slightly  congested.  Blood  from  the  large  trunks  in  the  thorax  was  col- 
lected in  a  vessel ;  it  was  of  a  dark  colour ;  on  exposure  to  air  it  became 
bright  red  and  formed  a  firm  coagulum.  Peristaltic  movements  of  the 
intestine  were  observed. 

Ejcpervment  VII. 

February  11/7*. — About  j|  a  cubic  centimetre  of  milky-looking  cobra- 
poison  was  injected  into  the  right  thigh  of  a  guineapig  of  moderate  sise 
at  2*20.    It  became  restless  immediately,  and  the  hind  legs  began  to 


1874.]  PouoH  of  ImSan  Venomoiu  Snaket.  73 

twitch  backwards.  SborUy  afterwards  it  again  became  quiet  and  sat 
quite  BtiU. 

3.12.  The  animal  did  not  seem  to  be  much  afFected  by  the  ptHson. 
Some  more  injected  into  left  thigh. 

4.  Both  hind  legs  became  paralysed,  and  the  animal  lay  with  them 
spread  out  behind  it.  The  hind  part  of  the  body  also  sank  down,  so  that 
the  abdmnen  became  flattened  on  the  floor,  just  as  with  the  AiAoto-poison. 

4.23.  Conrulsive  twitches  occur.  The  animal  lies  on  its  side.  It  is 
more  convulsed  than  the  one  killed  with  2)a6oia-poison. 

Action  of  Cobra-poison  on  Frogs. 
"Wbea  cobra-pmBon  is  injected  under  the  ikin  of  frogs  they  occasionally 
become  very  restless  immediately  after  the  injection.  This,  howmet,  is  by 
no  means  ^waye  the  case ;  and  as  similar  agit&tion  occurs,  often  to  a  much 
greater  extent,  after  the  injection  of  other  aubst«nces,  it  is  to  be  attributed 
rather  to  the  insertion  of  the  needle  than  to  the  action  of  the  venom.  A 
gradually  increasing  torpor  then  comes  over  the  animal,  sometioies  begin- 
ning some  time  after  the  injection,  and  then  proceeding  uninterruptedly,  at 
other  times  being  interrupted  by  occasional  movements.  The  limbs  are 
drawn  dose  up  to  the  body,  and  the  head  gradually  sinks  down  between 
tite  hands  in  most  instances;  but  sometimes,  as  in  Experiment  VIII.,  the 
bead  is  held  at  first  much  more  erect  than  usual.  The  power  of  motion 
IB  lost  before  that  of  sensation ;  for  the  movemente  caused  by  painful 
Btamuli  bectRue  weaker  and  weaker,  although  they  may  still  follow  each 
application  of  the  irritant.  The  progressive  weakness  is  well  shonn  in 
the  movements  erf  the  hind  legs.  After  the  frog  has  sunk  down  and  is 
lying  flat  npon  the  table,  pinching  the  toes  causes  it  to  kick  vigorously ; 
but  by-and-by,  instead  of  kicking,  it  merely  draws  away  the  foot  from 
the  irritant  with  a  slow  wriggling  motion.  If  it  is  then  lifted  up  from 
the  table,  so  as  to  remove  the  resistance  occasioned  by  friction,  the  wrig< 
gUng  cmtiTely  disappears,  and  the  foot  is  promptly  and  easUy  drawn  up 
to  the  body  when  pinched.  This  weakness  seems  to  depend  on  the 
nervous  system  rather  thm  on  the  muscles ;  for,  even  in  this  state  of  ap- 
parent paralysis,  the  animal  occasioni^y  displays  considerable  muscular 
power,  and  is  able  to  spi^ng  to  a  considen^le  height,  as  in  the  following 
experiment.  A  similar  condition  is  sometimes  observed  in  warm-blooded 
animals,  as  in  Experiment  LX,  The  motor  paralysis  increases,  no  motion 
follows  the  application  of  any  irritant,  however  powerful ;  but  even  then 
sensation  exists,  as  is  seen  from  Experiment  LXXVL  The  heart  continues 
to  beat  after  all  motion  in  the  body  has  ceased ;  but  its  pulsatioDS  become 
gradually  slower,  and  at  last  cease  altogether. 

Experivitttt  VIU. 

Septtmhtr  12A,  1873. — Three  frogs  of  nearly  equal  size  were  selected, 

and  a  dose  of  dried  cobra-poison  dissolved  in  wat«r  was  injected  into  the 


74  Messrs.  T.  L.  Bninton  and  J.  Fayrer  on  the      [Jan.  ^%f 

dorsal  lyinph-sac  of  each.  The  quantity  injected  into  No.  1  was  ratunatej 
to  be  equal  to  three  or  four  drops  of  the  fresh  poison,  that  into  No.  T 
about  a  drop,  and  into  No.  3  about  half  a  drop.  These  estimateB,  how^ 
ever,  are  not  to  he  absolutely  depended  on. 

The  injection  was  made  int^i  ail  three  about  3  p.ii. 

3.17.  Nofi,  1  and  2  are  sitting  with  the  head  much  more  erect  than  oioA 
and  the  belly  depressed.  No.  3  has  the  head  depressed  between  the  f<nn 
pawa. 

3.22.  Ko,  3  is  now  sitting  up  in  the  normal  posture. 

4.  No.  1  lies  quite  quiet;  when  moved  ils  limbs  give  a  slight  wriggb, 
Applied  strong  acetic  acid  to  its  legs  :  after  many  seconds  it  gave  a  ftui^ 
wriggle.  No,  2  also  lies  quiet.  "When  its  legs  are  pulled  bock  it  » 
still  wriggle  them  up  towards  its  body.  When  held  up  it  can  kick,  well 
After  being  placed  on  the  table  it  suddenly,  and  without  any  appc 
reason,  sprung  up  to  a  considerable  height.  No.  3  presents  the  a 
appearance  as  No.  2,  but  seems  more  paraljied. 

4,5.  No.  1  does  not  react  at  al!  to  any  painful  stimulus.  Nob,  2 
3  wiigglo  their  legs  when  pinched.  The  observation  was  now  disi 
tinned.     Next  morning  all  three  were  dead. 

Aeiion  on  Lixards. 

The  action  of  cohra-poison  upon  lizards  seems  very  similar  to  that 
which  it  has  upon  frogs  ;  the  animal  becomes  sluggish  and  difficult 
to  rouse ;  and  the  bitten  part  is  affected  by  paralysis,  so  that,  if  a  limb 
has  been  thus  wounded,  it  is  dragged  by  the  animal.  The  paralysis 
aftcniards  extends  to  the  rest  of  the  body,  and  death  ensues.  Experi- 
ments on  this  subject  have  been  recorded  by  one  of  us  (Dr.  Fayrer)  in 
the  '  I'hanatophidia  of  India.' 

Effect  of  Herpeiit-veitom  on  Sna/ca. 

The  bite  of  venomous  serpents,  such  as  the  cobra,  IkAoia,  and  Bun- 
garui,  generally  proves  fatal  to  innocuous  serpents,  but  not  always.  The 
occasional  escape  of  the  latter  is  probably  due  to  the  quantity  of  poison 
absorbed  having  been  small,  either  absolutely,  or  relatively  to  the  sise  of 
the  bitten  snake.  The  effect  of  the  size  of  the  innocuous  snake  upon  the 
time  required  by  the  poison  to  produce  a  fatal  effect  is  illustrated  by 
experiment/,  in  which  a  small  rat-snake  was  killed  by  the  bite  of  a  Bwi^ 
ganu  ertruUxit  (less  poisonous  than  a  cobra)  in  7  hours  17  minutes,  while 
a  large  snake  of  the  same  species  was  not  killed  by  the  bite  of  a  cobrm 
till  ^ter  about  36  hours  (experiment  a);  and  another  still  larger  one 
was  unaffected  by  the  cobra-venom  (experiment  g).  Venomous  snakes 
are  not  generally  affected  either  by  their  own  poison  or  that  of  another 
.  sort  of  snake,  no  lees  than  15  drops  of  venom  having  been  injected  hypo- 
keruiically  into  a  cobra  (Experiment  r)  without  effect;  but  small  ones 


1874.]  Potion  0/ Indian  Venomoui  Snaket.  75 

are  oocaBitmaUf  killed  by  large  iudividuBk  belonging  either  to  the  same 
or  to  a  different  species  *. 

The  Bymptoms  caused  by  the  poison  were  the  Bune  in  both  the  inno- 
cuooB  and  the  Tenomoue  snakes  killed  by  it,  and  cooaistod  chiefly  of  slug- 
gishness  and  indisposition  to  move,  which  probably  signifies  in  the  snake, 
as  it  does  in  the  frc^,  a  progressive  paralysis.  Only  in  experiment  h 
were  convnlsiTe  movements  noticed.  The  movements  of  the  tail  in  ex- 
periment e,  after  motion  had  ceased  in  every  other  part  of  the  body,  are 
remariuble. 

The  poisonons  addon  of  the  venom  of  the  cobra,  Daboia,  and  Bungarua 
upon  iunocuoos  snakes  is  shown  in  the  following  experiments  selected 
from  a  number  recorded  in  the  '  Thanatophidia  of  India : ' — 

Exp.  o,— JtfarcA  lOlh,  1868. — A  rat-anake  (Ptyat  ntueosa),  about  6  feet 
in  length,  was  bitten  by  a  large  cobra  at  12.S4.  Before  closing  the 
snake's  jaws  on  the  part  the  sc^es  were  scraped  off.  Blood  was  freely 
drawn  by  the  snake's  fangs  from  bites  inflicted  in  two  places. 

1.8  pjc.  Appears  sluggish ;  wound  bleeding  freely. 

1.16.  Perfectly  active,  and  moves  about  rapidly  in  the  cagei 

1.36.  No  chai^. 

There  was  no  apparent  change  in  the  snake  all  that  day  or  the  next, 
except  that  it  may  have  been  a  little  more  sluggish.  It  died  in  the 
night  of  the  11th,  being  found  dead  on  the  morning  of  the  12th. 

Exp.  b. — A  small  grass-snake  (Tropidonotva  qaineuneialua)  was  bitten 
by  a  cobra  at  1.12  p.k. 

1.11.  Very  sluggish. 

1.20.  Tosses  its  head  about  in  a  convulsive  manner. 
1.25.  Dead  13  minutes  after  the  bite. 

Exp.  e. — Two  tree-snakes  {Dfndrophis  picta),  one  about  3  feet  4  inches 
long,  and  the  other  somewhat  smaller,  were  bitten  by  a  cobra. 

1.7.  The  larger  snake  bitten. . 

1.8.  The  smaller  one  bitten. 

1.12.  Both  sluggish. 

1.16.  The  sm^ler  snake  dead  7  minutes  after  the  bite. 

1.16.  The  lai^ier  one  dead  9  minutes  after  the  bite. 

They  simply  seemed  to  become  sluggish  and  powerless ;  there  were  no 
convulsians,  no  writhings  or  ccmtortions.  After  they  had  appeared  quite 
dead  for  a  moment  or  two,  the  tail  of  each  moved  slightly. 

Exp.  d. — A  green  whip-snake  {PaaKrila  mi/eteriiarts),  more  than  3  feet 
long,  was  bitten  by  a  cobra  about  10  inches  from  the  head,  at  12.37  p.m. 

12.38.  Sluggish,  moves  less  actively ;  gapes,  keeping  the  mouth  wide 
<^>en. 


76  Messrs.  T.  L.  Bruiitori  and  3.  Fayrer  on  the      [Jan.  39^ 

12.39.  Almoet  paralyzed  ;  mouth  now  eloaed  ;  head  lying  on  the  eide. 
The  body  is  sivoIJen  where  bitten. 

12.43.  Dead  7  minutes  after  the  bite.  This  snake  was  peculiaily 
active  and  vigorous  though  innocuous. 

Exp.  e. — A  green  whip-snake  (/*iM»eri/n  m^Uris'iiu),  somewhat  smaller 
than  the  former  one,  was  bitten  in  the  body  by  n  Dabaia  at  1.40. 

l'4o.  Almost  powerless.  It  gradually  became  more  and  more  ex- 
hausted, gaped  like  the  one  bitten  by  the  cobra,  and  at  2.2  it  was  dead 
22  minutes  after  the  bite.  The  Daloia  had  been  in  cuniiuenieut  for  some 
time  and  was  probably  exhausted. 

Exp,/. — A  small  rat-snake  {Plyas  mucosa),  about  2  feet  Img,  was 
bitten  by  a  Bungani*  arrulait  42|  inches  long  in  the  muscles  of  the  f 
at  1.8  p.m;  blood  dran-n. 

2.31),  Sluggish ;  has  lost  all  its  \ivadtj. 

8.25.  Found  dead  7  hours  and  17  minutes  after  the  bile. 

The  occasional  escape  of  an  innocuous  snake  after  the  bite  of  a  poisou- 
ouB  one  is  illustrated  by  Experiment  g.  Several  others  were  mada 
with  a  like  result. 

Exp.  ff. — A  full-groMTi  rat^snako  (Plya*  mticofa),  about  8  feet  long, 
was  bitten  by  a  fresh  cobra  about  two  thirds  groivu  and  about  half  its 
own  size.  About  13  minutes  after  the  bite  it  seemed  restless  and  un- 
easy, but  remained  perfectly  active,  and  was  perfectly  well  on  the  third 
day  after  the  bite. 

The  power  of  one  venomous  snake  to  kill  another  appears  from  the 
following  eiperiments. 

Exp.  h. — A  Bungarus  fasciatiu,  nearly-full  grown,  was  bitten  by  a 
very  large  and  powerful  cobra  5  feet  8  inches  in  length.  It  was  bitten 
twice,  about  8  inches  from  the  head,  at  12,22  i'.m.  The  cobra  took  firm 
hold  and  implanted  the  fangs  deeply.  It  seemed  to  be  unaffected  ;  and 
22i  hours  after  the  bite  it  still  seemed  well ;  but  it  died  about  the  29th 
hour. 

Exp.  ». — A  Bungarua  earuleii*,  28  inches  long,  was  bitten  by  a  very 
l&rge  and  powerful  ccdira.  It  died  in  40  minutes,  presenting  the  same 
symptoms  as  those  of  an  innocuoue  snake  killed  by  a  cobra-bite. 

Exp.  J, — Ayoung  and  very  small,  though  lively,  cobra,  14  inches  long, 
was  bitten  in  the  muscular  part  o£  the  body  by  n  lai^  krail  {Buiujarua 
cariilfui),  43  inches  long,  at  12.60. 

At  1  P.M.  the  cobra  is  very  sluggish. 

1.8.  Ho  sluggish  that  it  moves  with  difGculty  and  can  be  easily  handled ; 
it  makes  no  effort  at  resistance. 

1.20.  Apparently  dying  :  movements  scarcely  perceptible. 

1.22.  Dead  32  minules  after  the  bite. 


1874.]  PoUon  of  Indian  Venomma  Snake*.  77 

Exp.  i. — July  10th,  1869.  A  young  cobra,  about  10  inches  long,  was 
bittea  at  3.45  r.u.  by  a  fresh  full-grown  cobra  near  the  tail,  so  that  the 
yiacera  might  not  be  injured.  The  fanga  were  seen  to  penetrate ;  and 
no  doubt  could  exist  that  the  poison  was  fairly  inserted.  Being  put  on 
the  ground  it  crawled  away  vigorously,  and  seemed  unaffected  by  the  bite. 
On  the  I3th  it  seemed  well ;  but  on  tbe  17th  it  was  found  dead,  and  had 
apparently  been  so  for  about  12  hours. 

As  this  anake  was  young  it  may  ha>-e  died  partly  from  wont  of  food, 
and  partly  from  the  wound,  as  well  as  &om  the  effects  of  the  poison. 

Though  small  snakes  of  a  venomous  species  may  be  lulled  by  large 
ones,  either  of  the  same  or  of  another  species,  full-grown  individuals  are 
rarely  injured  by  tbe  bite  of  another,  either  of  their  own  or  another 
■pedes.  This  is  illustrated  by  tbe  following  experiments,  which  are 
token  from  numerous  others  of  the  same  sort. 

Sxp.  I. — A  Bungarua  faadatw  was  fairly  and  deeply  bitten  by  a  fresh 
cobra  near  the  tail ;  there  was  no  doubt  of  the  penetration  of  the  fangs 
and  inoculation  of  the  poison.  No  effect  was  produced,  and  the  £un- 
garvt  was  alive  and  well  five  days  after  the  bite. 

Exp,  tn. — A  ^n^ortM/asetattu  was  thoroughly  bittea  in  a  similar  man- 
ner by  a  fresh  Oaboia.  The  bite  produced  no  efEect,  and  fire  days  after- 
words the  snake  was  in  its  normal  condition. 

Exp,  n. — A  Dahoia  was  bittea  by  a  fresh  cobra  near  the  tail,  the  scales 
hoving  been  previously  scraped  off.  The  snake  bit  fiercely  and  repeatedly. 
Two  dayv  afterwards  no  effect  could  be  noticed. 

Exp.  0, — A  large  block  cobra  was  bitten  in  two  places  1  foot  6  inches 
from  the  head,  and  aleo  on  the  head,  by  a  lai^  and  vicious  Daboia. 
Blood  was  slightly  dnwn ;  ond  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  the  fangs  hod 
penetrated  ond  the  poison  been  inoculated.  Six  days  after  the  bite  there 
waa  no  change  in  the  snake. 

Exp.  p. — A  fall-grown  cobra  was  bitten  by  another  full-grown,  fresh, 
and  vigorous  cobra  in  two  places  about  6  inches  from  the  head,  and 
olso  in  the  mouth.  They  both  bit  each  other  freely  in  this  situation,  and 
blood  was  freely  drawn.     They  were  both  well  a  week  afterwards, 

Exp,  q. — A  cobra  had  15  drops  of  his  own  venom  injected  hypodermi- 
colly  abont  8  inches  from  the  head.  A  week  afterwards  it  seemed  sluggish ; 
but  this  might  be  from  obher  conses. 

Exp.  r. — A  cobra  had  15  drops  of  the  venom  from  another  cobra  in- 
jected hypodermically  in  the  same  situation  as  the  last.  A  week  after- 
words he  was  perfectly  well. 

EfeeU  on  Fiih. 

Cobra-poiaon  seems  to  produce  paralysis,  indicated  by  the  fish  turning 
on  its  side  in  the  water — ond  also  great  excitement,  the  fish  struggling 
ond  plunging  vicdently. 


78  Messrs.  T.  L.  Bmuton  and  J.  Fayrer  on  the      [Jan.  22, 

Krperimtiit  IX, 

A  fish  {OjihtoefptMlut  mariUiits),  about  10  inches  in  length,  vi&a  bitten 
by  &  fresh  rabra  at  11.30  a.m.  in  tn-o  pliices  on  the  doiW  and  veatmL 
surfaces. 

11.22.  It  turned  orer  on  its  side  in  the  water. 

11.23.  Stroggling  and  plunging  violently  in  the  water. 
11.25.  Turned  over  on  its  side. 
11. 2C.  On  being  roused  it  plunges  violently. 
11.40.  Dead  in  20  nuuutea  from  the  bibs. 
For  the  purpose  of  compariBou  the  following  experiment  with  cimra  I 

was  made.     It  will  be  seen  that  there  was  n*  plunging.     The  failure  of   I 
muscular  action,  except  when  a  more  than  ordinarily  powerful  atimulus 
from  the  nerre-centrea  called  it  into  piny,  is  very  evident. 
E.Tperinu7il  X. 

November  1873. — Injected  a  solution  of  curare  under  the  akin  of  a 
carp  near  the  toil.     A  great  part  of  the  solution  came  out  on  withdrawing   | 
the  needle  of  the  ayringe. 

11.25.  Injection  made. 

11.26.  The  fish  lies  obliquely  in  the  water,  inclining  to  the  opposite 
aide  from  the  injection.  It  can  move  when  irritiited,  and  can  remain 
perfectly  upright  in  the  water  ;  but  in  a  very  short  time  its  poBition  be- 
comea  oblique  again. 

11.35,  Injected  aomo  more  curare.     A  great  part  of  this  also  returned. 

11.50,  Liea  obliquely,  but  can  move  tolerably  vigoroualy  when  roused. 

11.55,  Movea  more  feebly  when  roused. 

12.10.  tjeemed  dead,  but  did  not  lie  Sat  on  its  side,  and  still  preaerved 
the  oblique  position. 

12.20.  It  suddenly  started  up  without  any  apparent  cauae,  swam  across 
the  vessel,  a  distance  of  several  inches,  and  then  relapsed  into  its  former 

Action  on  Stiails, 
Cobra-venom  aeema  to  destroy  their  irritability.     It  first  causes  them 
to  shrink  within  their  shells,  and  finally  lessens  their  movements  when 
stimulated. 

Effect  of  lieagenls  S;c.  on  the  Action  of  tht  Poison. 
The  actinty  of  the  poiaon  is  not  destroyed,  and  acarc«ly  impaired,  by 
drying.  We  have  made  no  comparative  experiments  with  perfectly  fresh 
poison  and  the  dried  residue  of  a  similar  quantity ;  but  there  are  few,  if 
any,  instances  on  record  of  de-ath  from  the  fresh  poison  in  leas  than  half 
a  minute,  the  time  in  which  the  dried  poison  killed  a  guineapig  in 
Experiment  XXVIII. 

The  local  action  of  the  poison,  however,  seems  to  be  altered  by  drying  ; 
Bfm-  i;xt7:a)'j33atiDji  of  blood  around  tbe  pari  ivhere  a  snake  has  inserted  its 


1874.]  Poiton  of  Indian  Venomoua  Snaiet.  79 

faugB,  or  venom  has  been  injected,  is  one  of  the  most  prominent  effects 
produced  bj  the  freah  poison,  whereas  it  is  very  slight,  or  absent  alto- 
gether, vhen  the  dKed  venom  has  been  employed,  except  in  occaeiooal 
instances,  soch  m  Experiment  LVU. 

Dilution  seems  also  to  have  no  effect  in  lessening  the  activity  of  the 
venom,  except  so  far  as  it  retards  absorpdon ;  for  it  is  evident  that  a 
drop  of  pure  poison,  injected  subcutaneouslf ,  is  likely  to  find  ite  way  into 
the  circulation  more  quickly  than  the  same  quantity  diluted  wifii  a 
hundred  times  its  bulk  of  water. 

Coagulation  of  the  venom  by  alcohol  does  not  destroy  ite  activity,  as 
we  have  shown  in  our  former  communication.  The  coagulum  thrown 
down  by  the  alcohol  ia  innocuous,  or  nearly  so ;  but  the  poisonous  principle 
remains  in  solution,  and  the  alcoholic  extract  posBesses  similar  properties 
to  the  poison  itself.  A  specimen  of  poison  was  received  from  India  in  a 
coagulated  state ;  but  we  are  uncertain  whether  this  occurred  sponta- 
oeously  or  was  produced  by  the  action  of  reagents.  It  is  probable,  how- 
ever, ijiat  it  was  due  to  its  haWug  been  mixed,  in  order  to  preserve  it, 
with  alcohol,  which  had  evaporated  before  we  received  it.  It  was  active, 
as  Experiment  XI.  shows.  Coagulation  by  boiling  does  not  destroy  the 
activity  of  the  poison  (Experiment  XII.) ;  but  a  portion  which  was  boiled 
for  more  than  half  an  hour  under  pressure  corresponding  to  a  tempera- 
ture of  102°  C,  had  no  effect  when  injected  under  the  thigh  of  a  lark. 
The  notes  of  this  experiment  have  unfortunately  been  lost.  Admixture 
with  liquor  ommonin  and  liquor  potasste  does  not  alter  the  effects  of 
the  poison.  This  appears  &om  Experiment  XIII.,  and  from  several 
made  by  Dr.  Eayrer  in  India. . 

Experimtnt  XI, 

Oeto6«r  28tK,  1872. — A  fresh  supply  of  poison  was  received  from 
India.  It  was  of  a  yellowish  colour,  and  was  hard  and  dry,  like  tough 
cheese.  About  J  a  grain  diluted  with  alcohol  (in  which  it  was  only 
imperfectly  soluble),  was  injected  into  the  thigh  of  the  same  guineapig 
at  4"  14'  30". 

4.15,  Twitchings  of  on  emprosthotonic  character.  The  animal  is  appa- 
rently attempting  to  vomit. 

4.20.  The  twitchings  continue.  The  animal  throws  up  hia  head.  It 
seeniB  sluggish,  and  will  not  walk. 

4.22.  A  mixture  of  5  minims  of  liquor  ammoniffi  with  10  of  water 
was  injected  into  the  animal.  Almost  immediately  afterwards  it  became 
convulsed  and  fell  over  on  its  side,  paralyzed, 

4.25.  It  is  dying. 

4.26.  Qdtedead. 

4.27.  The  cardiac  pulsations  and  peristaltic  action  of  the  bowels  still 
continue.  The  blood,  when  collected  in  a  vessel,  formed  a  firm  coa- 
golum. 


i 


80  Messrs.  T.  L.  Bmiiton  anJ  J.  Fayrcr  on  the      [Jan.  22, 

4.32.  Peristaltic  iicfion  ditaiiiiahed.  The  muBclpB  of  the  leg  contract 
when  the  sciatic  nen'e  is  stimulated  by  &n  induced  current.  Electrodes 
were  then  placed  in  the  cord.  The  muscles  of  the  legs  contracted 
readily  when  an  induced  current  was  passed  through  the  cord.  One 
cell  was  employed,  and  the  distance  of  the  secondary  from  the  primary 
coil  was  44  centimetres. 

Experirnenl  XII. 

May  19(7i. — A  full  dose  of  dried  cobra-poison  «-a»  diluted  with  distilled 
water,  and  heated  until  it  was  filled  with  white  llocctdent  coagula. 

The  solution  was  injected  int«  a  guineapig'a  hip  at  3.25.  Twitching 
began  almost  immediately. 

3.30.  liestless.     Hind  leg  paralyzed. 

4.  Twitching  acute  in  hind  leg. 

4.10.  Active  hip-twitching,  but  hind  leg  still  paralyzed, 

4,15,  Making  efforts  to  vomit, 

4,25,  Vomiting  repeatedly. 

4.30,  Distinct  repeated  convulsive  attempts  to  vomit.  Limbs  becoming 
weaker ;  began  to  be  convulsed ;  gradually  becoming  more  and  more 
paraly7ed, 

4,45.  In  convulsions-    Dead. 

May  19rt. — Dried  cobra-poison,  dissolved  in  liquor  ammonia,  injected 
into  a  guineapig's  hip  at  3.42, 

Twitching  at  3.43.     Ecstless, 

4.  Twitching ;  restless ;  weak  in  hind  leg, 

4.8,  A  little  more  injected  with  a  full  quantity  of  ammonia.  The 
guineapig  becomes  immediately  very  restless. 

4.15.  Paralyzed.  Going  into  convulsions.  Pinching  foot  at  onM 
causes  reflex  actiou;  marked  reflex  actions  al!  over  the  bodv. 

4.20.  Nearly  dead.  Heart  disturbed  ;  continued  to  beat  regularly  for 
some  minutes  after  death.     Lungs  much  cong<>stcd. 

/n/fumce  of  Conttitation  on  the  Action  of  iht  Poison.  Supposed  JmntuHiti/ 
of  thi  Mongoose. 

With  cobra-Tenom,  as  with  other  poiijons,  there  is  a  general  corre- 
spondence between  the  size  of  the  animal  and  the  intensity  of  the  effects 
of  a  given  quantity  of  poison,  a  small  animal  being  more  readily  afEected 
by  it  than  a  large  one.  There  are,  however,  some  exceptions  to  this  rule  ; 
for  a  cat  will  resist  the  action  of  wbra-poison  as  much  as,  or  mor«  than,  a 
dog  five  or  six  times  its  size.  (Compare  Experiment  LVII.  with  Experi- 
ment XLIV.) 

The  mongooae(fl«jyM(MyrM«M)ha8longbeen  supposed  to  be  tmafFect#d 
by  the  poison  of  venomous  snakes,  either  on  account  of  some  peculiarity 


1874.]  Poiton  of  Indian  Venomout  Snaket.  81 

in  die  coDstitatdoii  of  the  ainiiDal,  or,  as  the  story  used  to  run,  on  nccount 
ofitBknowledgeof  10106  herb  which  it  used  to  eat  as  an  antidote;  but  such 
is  not  die  case.  If  fairly  bitten,  it  succumbs  like  any  other  creature,  as 
proved  by  experiments  in  India  ('  Thanatophidia,'  pp.  68,  69,  and  134). 
Its  great  activity  and  vigour  enable  it  to  elude  the  snake  ;  and  generally, 
when  it  is  woniuled,  it  is  merely  scratched,  not  pierced  by  the  £angB. 
If  the  ptHson  is  inoculated,  it  dice. 

The  same  is  tme  of  the  pig,  which  escapes  probably  by  receiving  the 

wound  in  the  foot,  where  absorption  is  not  rapid  or  vigorous.     This 

animal,  like  others,  yields  to  the  poison  when  the  fangs  are  embedded 

and  the  vims  thoroughly  inoculated  (vi<U  '  Thanatophidia,'  p.  134). 

Action  on  Oermination. 

In  order  to  see  whether  cobra-poison  had  any  effect  on  the  germination 
of  seeds,  the  following  experiments  were  made.  It  will  be  seen  from 
them  that  the  venom  does  not  prevent  germination,  but  interferes  with 
it,  especially  when  strong.  In  this  it  agrees  with  rattlesnake-poison, 
^eir  MitcJiell '  On  Kattleanake  Venom,'  p.  52.) 

Kxperimmi  ZIV. 

Apiece  of  flannel  was  doubled,  and,  12  cress-seeds  being  laid  between 
the  folds,  it  was  placed  in  a  small  beaker  with  10  cubic  centims.  of 
water.  Another  piece,  treated  in  the  same  way,  was  laid  in  0  cubic 
centimB.  of  wat«r  and  1  of  a  2-peiK«nt.  solution  of  dried  cobrft-poison. 

Some  time  after  the  water  had  evaporated,  bo  as  to  leave  the  flannel 
soaked  with  water  but  not  covered,  nine  of  those  seeds  which  had  been 
treated  with  water  and  poison  had  germinated  and  grown  to  about  half 
an  inch  in  length,  while  seven  of  those  treated  by  water  alone  had  ger- 
minated and  had  grown  somewhat  larger  than  the  others. 

Experiment  XV. 
The  preceding  experiment  was  repeated  with  lettuce-seeds.    Seven  of 
those  treated  with  water  alone  had  germinat«d,  but  only  one  of  those 
treated  with  water  and  poison.  . 

Eaiperiment  XVL 

A  small  piece  of  cotton-wool  was  placed  in  the  bottom  of  each  of  two 
short  test-tubes,  and  ten  lettuce-  and  ten  cress-seeds  were  dropped  into 
each.  Ten  drops  of  a  solution  of  dried  cobra-poison,  containing  -0355 
gramme  in  3  culnc  centims.  of  water,  were  then  used  to  moist«n  those 
in  one  tube,  and  as  nearly  as  possible  the  same  quantity  of  pure  water 
for  those  in  the  other.  The  seeds  were  then  covered  with  a  few  fibres  of 
cotton-wool ;  the  tubes  were  stopped  with  a  plug  of  the  same  substance, 
and  placed  in  a  warm  room. 

Three  days  afterwards,  all  the  cress-seeds  which  had  been  moistened 
witti  water  had  sprouted  and  sent  out  a  rndide,  varying  from  j  to  j  an 


82  Measrs.  T.  L.  Brunton  and  S.  Fayrer  on  the      [Jan.  2SM 

inch  in  teagth.  Eight  out  of  the  ten  lettuce-seeds  had  sprout«d  and  sent 
out  a  radiL-le  more  than  ^  of  bu  inch  loog.  All  the  cress-seeds  moistened 
with  poieoQ  had  alno  sprouted,  but  the  radicles  were  only  about  -j\[  of  an 
inch  long.  Five  lettuce-seoda  had  begun  to  sprout,  but  the  radiclea  were 
barely  visible. 

It  ia  not  improbable  that  the  delay  caused  by  the  poison  in  the  germi- 
nation of  the  seeds,  in  this  experiment,  is  not  to  be  attributed  entirely  to 
its  poisonous  action  ;  and  it  may  bo  due  in  great  measure  to  the  solution 
of  the  poison  having  matted  the  fibres  of  cotton-wool  more  closelv  than 
the  water,  and  thua  reudorcd  the  conditions  of  ur  and  moisture  leaa 
favourable  to  the  seeds  placed  in  it. 

E_ffect  of  tkt  PoUoii  whfn  introduced  thrmiyh  dijfereiit  chanatU. 

The  action  of  the  poison  ia  moat  rapid  when  it  is  introduced  dire 
into  the  circulation,  as  by  injection  into  the  jugular  vein  ;  and  i 
instances  death  may  occur  in  less  than  a  minute.  When  injected  h 
the  thoracic  cavity,  aa  in  Experiment  XXVIU.,  death  occurred  almost  || 
quickly  ;  but  this  may  hare  been  due  to  puncture  of  the  Umg  and  intv 
duction  of  the  poison  directly  iiito  some  of  the  pulmonary  vessels. 

Injection  into  the  peritoneal  cavity  comes  next  in  order  of  rapidity, 
but  a  good  deal  behind  the  last ;  and  it  is  followed  by  subcutaneous 
injeclion. 

"Whatever  may  be  the  effect  of  the  venom  of  the  viper  or  crotalus,  the 
cobra  virus  j>roduceB  its  poiaonoua  effects  tolerably  rapidly  when 
swallowed,  both  in  the  frog  and  in  warm-blooded  animals,  as  is  seen 
from  Experiments  XA'II.  and  XrX, 

It  ia  alflo  abaorbed  from  I  he  conjunctiva,  and  produces  the  eharactep- 
istic  symptoms  of  poisoning.  In  Experiment  XX.  the  animal,  though 
affected  by  the  poison,  recovered  ;  but  in  sefenU  experiments  made  by  ono 
of  us  in  India,  death  rapidly  occurred  after  the  application  of  the  fresh 
poison  to  the  conjunctiva  ('Thanatophidia  of  India,'  pp.  108,  116,  127, 
128,  135). 

Ej^eriment  XVII. 

May  21*(,  1873. — 2.23  p.m.  A  small  bit  of  dried  cobra-poison  put  into 
a  frog's  mouth  and  swallowed. 

3.25.  Yrog  not  much,  if  at  all,  affected. 

4.5.  Frog  not  so  (igoroua.  Appears  to  be  paralyzed  in  fore  lega.  but 
moves  his  hind  legs  freely.  On  irritating  hia  fore  legs  there  are  vigorous 
contractions  in  his  hind  legs,  but  none  in  the  fore  lega. 

4.10,  The  anterior  part  of  tho  body  and  fore  legs  seem  to  be  quito 
paralysred.  No  reaction  is  noticed  in  the  eyelids  when  the  cornea  ia 
irritated,     lliud  legs  are  still  vigorous. 

4.20.  Hind  lega  vigorous.  All  the  fore  part  of  the  body  quite  pant- 
'■^zed.     Mouth  gaping.     Ton^e  swollen. 


1874.]  Fwwn  qf  Indian  Venomoui  SnakeM.  88 

4J35.  Hind  legs  now  becoming  weaker. 

4.30.  The  application  of  add  canies  slight  reflex  movementB  in  the 
hind  le£B. 

4.35.  Add  caases  no  reflex  adjon.  Complete  paralysis  and  death  have 
thus  occorred  in  two  hours  and  a  quarter. 

4.40  ThonuE  opened.  Heart  still  contracting  rhythmicallj  and 
steadily. 

4J>6.  Heart  still  contracting,  but  less  vigorously.  There  ia  no  move- 
ment apparent  in  the  intestines, 

6.5.  Heart  still  contnding  slowly. 

5.25.  Heart  still  contracting.  The  heart  and  liver  were  now  removed 
and  given  to  another  frog. 

Erperimtnt  XVIU, 

The  heart  and  liver  of  the  former  hog  were  given  to  a  large  and 
strong  frog.  It  was  kept  under  observation  for  many  days,  bat  did  not 
seem  in  the  least  affected. 

Experiment  XIX. 

A  small  quantity  of  dried  cobra-poison  dissolved  in  water  was  given  to 
»  young  rabbit  at  2.63  p.if.  It  was  readily  swallowed.  In  7  minutes  aU 
the  symptoms  of  poisoning  were  developed.  The  rabbit  died  in  convul- 
sions in  II  minutes,  just  as  when  the  poison  ia  injected  hypodermically. 
The  thorax  was  opened  a  few  minutes  afterwards.  The  heart  had  ceased 
to  beat,    Bigor  mortis  came  on  very  rapidly. 

Experiment  XX. 

Sovember  28th,  1872. — 1.49.  One  quarter  of  a  drop  of  cobra-poiaon 
put  into  a  guineapig's  eye. 

3.12.  The  eye  Is  much  congested.    The  animal  has  twitchings. 

3.14.  Has  been  making  efforts  to  vomit,  and  now  vomits  frothy  clear 
fluid.    Has  been  poised  also. 

4.6.  Still  retdiing,  but  not  vomiting. 
Novtmber  2Brt. — Found  to  have  recovered. 

Local  Action  of  the  Poinn. 

Cobra-poison  acts  as  a  local  irritant,  and  produces  chemosis  c^  the 
conjonctiva  and  swelling  of  the  eyeEds  when  applied  to  the  eye,  and, 
occasionally,  congestion  of  the  peritoneal  vessels  when  injected  into  the 
abdominal  cavity  (Experiments  XX,  and  XLIV.). 

It  paralyzes  the  ends  of  the  motor  nerves,  and  also  the  musdes  of  the 
part  into  which  it  has  been  injected  (Experiment  XXV.).  The  muscles 
are  not  only  deprived  of  their  irritability,  but  become  prone  to  putrefy 
CBxpwimeat  LVJJ..).  The  fresh  cobra-poison  prodooes  great  exla«va- 
sation  of  blood  around  the  wound  through  which  it  has  been  introduced ; 
bat  tins  ia  not  so  mailed  when  dried  poison  is  used. 

Toib  XXII.  n 


81  MeBsrs.  T.  L.  Bruntoii  and  J.  Fayrer  an  the      [Jan.  22, 

If  death  do  not  rapidly  follow,  great  swelling  from  infiltration  of  the 
areolar  tissue  may  occur,  or,  in  some  cases,  gangrene  of  the  skin  and  sub- 
jacent cellular  tissue  and  subsequent  changes  indicative  of  general  blood- 
poisoning. 

The  local  action  of  viperine  is  probably  more  active  than  that  of 
colubrine  virus. 

Action  of  Cohra-'poison  upon  the  Blood, 

The  blood  of  animals  killed  by  cobra-poison  generally  presents  a  dark 
colour,  as  death  is  due  to  failure  of  the  respiration  and  not  of  the  circa- 
lation ;  but  it  readily  assumes  a  florid  colour  when  exposed  to  air.  The 
same  is  the  case  with  the  blood  of  animals  poisoned  by  Da&oia-Tenom 
(Experiments  II.,  V.,  and  VI.). 

Coagulation  usually  occurs  readily  and  firmly  in  the  blood  of  animals 
killed  by  cobra-poison,  while  it  is  frequently  absent  from  the  blood  of 
those  killed  by  that  of  the  Daboia.  In  experiments  made  in  India,  thia 
occurred  almost  invariably ;  and  it  is  illustrated  by  Experiments  IL  «nd 
IV.  In  Experiments  I.,  V.,  and  VI.,  however,  coagulation  occurred  in 
the  blood  of  a  pigeon  and  guineapig  poisoned  by  Daboia^Yenom ;  and  a 
similar  occurrence  has  been  sometimes  observed  by  one  of  us  (Dr.  Fayrer) 
in  fowls  bitten  by  this  snake  in  India*. 

In  numerous  instances  we  have  been  unable  to  detect  any  alteration  in 
the  blood-corpuscles  after  death  from  cobra-poison  ;  but  in  Experiments 
XXI.  and  XXII.  we  observed  a  most  distinct  crenation  in  the  corpnaclet 
of  rats  poisoned  by  it.  This  was  probably  due  in  some  degree  to  evapora- 
tion, as  in  Experiment  XXI.  it  was  to  a  great  extent  prevented  by  sur- 
rounding the  preparation  with  oil ;  but  it  indicates  a  change  in  the  blood, 
as  the  corpuscles  did  not  present  this  appearance  before  the  injection  of 
the  poison — although  they  were  prepared  for  observation  in  exactly  the 
same  way,  and  were  as  much  exposed  to  evaporation  in  the  one  case  as  in 
the  other. 

Experiment  XXI. 

A  drop  of  blood  from  the  tail  of  a  white  rat  was  examined  micro- 
scopically. The  corpuscles  did  not  form  rouleaux ;  but  no  trace  of  cre- 
nation could  be  observed  in  them. 

12.10  P.M.  '018  gramme  of  dried  cobra-poison,  dissolved  in  1  cubic 
centun.  of  water,  was  injected  into  the  flank.  Almost  immediately  the 
nose  of  the  animal  began  to  twitch  up  every  few  seconds. 

12.15.  Head  has  sunk  down.  The  breathing  was  laboured.  The  animal 
made  a  sudden  start  forwards.  The  hind  legs  dragged  behind.  It  did  not 
move  readily  when  irritated.  The  breathing  was  laboured ;  the  expiration 
convulsive.     General  convulsive  movements  occurred. 

12.18.  The  animal  seemed  dead.  The  heart  was  still  beating.  A  drop  of 
blood  was  taken  from  the  tail ;  and,  the  thorax  bebg  opened,  another  was 

ThumtophidiA  of  India,'  pp.  80,  100,  101,  104     Vids  Mr.  OuniiiiighAin*!  Nmarta 


«  ( 


I874w]  Poiaon  o/  Indian  Venomout  Snaket.  85 

tskeo  from  the  right  ventricle.  On  being  examined  microecopicsllf,  the 
oorpniclea  in  both  were  seen  to  be  very  much  crenat«d.  They  did  not 
fonn  roaleaax.  Another  drop  was  taken  from  the  right  ventricle,  and 
snrronnded  with  oil  to  prevent  evaporation.  Hardly  a  tnce  of  crenatioo 
oould  be  oboerved  in  thii  drop ;  bat  several  branching  crystals  of  a  reddish 
colour  were  observed,  and  soma  of  them  appeared  to  grow  while  ondar 
obaervatioD.  Numeroas  granular  maisea  were  also  seen, 
f^crtnwnt  XXU. 
Auguit  27th. — Injected  1  cubic  centimetre  of  a  2-pei>-cent.  lolation  <A 
oobra-poiaon  nnder  the  akin  of  the  hip  of  a  white  rat. 

1.36.  Injection  made. 

1.37.  Beapiiation  quick.  The  end  of  the  tail  snipped  off,  and  a  drop 
of  blood  examined  bv  Dr.  Klein.  The  red  corpuscles  are  much  crenated, 
and  have  no  tendency  to  form  rouleaux,  but  adhere  together  in  flat  masses. 
The  plasma  contains  numerous  lumps  of  a  granular  material,  probably 
coogula  of  some  sort. 

2.5.  The  animal  lies  tti«tched  out.  Makes  a  curious  squeaking  noise. 
It  does  not  rise  when  the  tail  is  pinched. 

2.13.  Liea  with  noee  on  ground.    Convulsive  movements  of  hind  legs. 
2.1G.  Head  sin^  to  one  side.    Convulsive  movements. 

2.18.  Breathing  slow.  Marked  Interval  between  inspiiation  and 
expiration. 

2.19.  Stopped  breathing.    Heart  still  beating. 

2JZ0.  The  animal  lay  on  its  back.  A  few  weak  respirations  were 
made,  and  then  ceased.  The  heart  was  beating  steadily.  Thorax  opened 
and  heart  exposed.  A  little  blood  drawn  from  the  ventricles  by  a  fine 
pipette  was  examined  microscopically  by  Dr.  Klem.  It  presented 
exactly  the  same  characters  as  those  of  the  former  specimen.  Blood  from 
another,  healthy  rat  showed  numerous  rouleaux,  and  the  corpuscles  were 
not  crenated. 

Action  on  Miaelts. 

Cobra-poison  has  the  power  of  destroying  the  irritability  of  voluntary 
moscnlw  fibre  when  applied  directly  to  it,  either  in  a  concentrated  or 
diluted  condition.  It  does  not  produce  any  quivering  of  the  fibres ;  and 
in  this  particular  it  differa  ftara  the  poison  of  the  rattlesnake  as 
dercribed  by  Dr.  Weir  Mitchell. 

The  local  action  of  cobra-poison  on  muscle  is  illustrated  by  Eiperi- 
menta  XXIII.,  XXI7.,  XXV.,  and  XXTI. 

Experiment  XXIII. 

SejptenAer  4tA. — A  frog  was  decapitated,  and  the  skin  removed  from 
both  hind  l^s.  A  longitudinal  cut  was  then  made  in  the  mnscle  of 
both  thighs.  A  ifrong  solution  of  dried  cobra-poison  in  distilled  water, 
of  aoch  a  atraigth  aa  to  resemble  the  fresh  poison  closely  in  appearance, 
waa  then  ^pliad  to  the  cut  in  one  thigh,  while  the  other  was  moistened 

h2 


86  Messrs.  T.  L.  Brunton  and  J.  Fayrer  on  the     [Jan.  22j 

with  distilled  water.  Immediately  after  the  application  an  almost 
imporceptible  trembling  in  the  muscles  occurred  equdUy  in  both  thig^ ; 
but  it  ceased  after  a  few  seconds,  and  did  not  reappear.  On  testing 
the  muscles  soon  afterwards,  by  an  induced  current  applied  directlj  to 
them,  those  of  the  poisoned  leg  contracted  feebly,  but  those  of  the  noor 
poisoned  leg,  forcibly. 

In  this  experiment,  the  quivering  occurred  equally  in  both  thigha,  and 
was  therefore  obviously  due  to  the  water  in  which  the  poison  was  dia- 
solved,  and  not  to  the  poison  itself. 

As  Weir  Mitchell  found  that  the  quivering  produced  by  the  poiBon  of 
the  rattlesnake  was  not  prevented  by  paralysis  of  the  motor  nerves  by 
curare,  the  previous  experiment  was  repeated  on  a  curarized  frog. 

Experiment  XXIV. 

September  Ath. — The  motor  nerves  having  been  tested  and  fonnd  to  be 
completely  paralyzed,  a  strong  solution  of  cobra-poison  was  applied  to  % 
cut  in  the  back  of  the  right  thigh.  No  quivering  of  the  muscles  conld  be 
observed  after  its  application.  The  poison  was  only  applied  to  the 
middle  of  the  back  of  the  right  thigh.  Alter  a  few  minuteSy  those 
muscles  with  which  it  had  come  into  contact  did  not  contract  when  irritated 
by  the  direct  application  of  an  induced  current.  Distance  of  secondazy 
from  the  primary  coO  0.  The  muscles  of  the  sides  and  front  of  the 
poisoned  thigh,  as  well  as  those  of  the  other  thigh,  contracted  well  when 
irritated  in  the  same  wav,  with  the  coil  at  13  centimetres. 

The  poison  paralyzes  the  muscles  of  warm-blooded  animals  in  much 
the  same  way  as  those  of  frogs ;  and  it  seems  probable  from  the  following 
experiment,  that  the  paralysis  of  the  wounded  limb,  which  is  very  fre- 
quently noticed  in  cases  of  snake-bite,  is  partly  due  to  the  local  action  of 
the  poison  upon  the  muscles. 

Experiment  XXV. 

September  4:th. — Injected  5  or  6  drops  of  a  strong  but  not  perfeetlj 
concentrated  solution  of  dried  cobra-poison  into  the  muscles  of  the  left 
thigh  of  a  guineapig. 

12.43  P.M.  Injection  made.  The  animsl  immediately  became  much 
excited,  and  rushed  about  wildly,  crying  loudly. 

12.47.  The  leg  seemed  paralyzed  and  dragged  behind  the  animal. 

12.48.  It  ground  its  teeth  and  cried. 

12.50.  Began  to  start,  and  cried  more  loudly.    Took  it  in  mj  amis. 
It  then  became  quiet. 
12.52.  Shivered. 

12.58.  Laid  the  guineapig  on  its  side  on  the  table.  It  lay  still  and 
did  not  attempt  to  rise.    Eespiration  was  still  going  on. 

12.59.  Cut  off  the  head  of  this  guineapig  (No.  1),  and  immediately 
aftar  decapitated  another,  healthy  guineapig  of  nearly  the  same  siae  (No.  2). 


1874.]  Pmtott  of  Indian  VenomouM  Snaket.  87 

1.7.  fiipoaed  botit  Bcutici  of  No.  1,  and  irriuted  them  by  ao  induced 
mmnt. 

Left  kg.    CoQ  at  0.    Ko  eontnction. 

Bight  i^.     Coil  mt  17-5.     Morement  of  toes. 

The  miuclM  of  both  1^  twitch  well  when  irritated  hj  single  shocka 
(coil  at  17*5),  except  those  in  the  middle  of  the  inside  of  the  left  thigh, 
near  the  place  to  which  the  point  of  the  ayringe  had  penetrated.  These 
mnsclea  contract  when  the  coil  is  at  3. 

1.13.  The  mnsclea  of  tite  hip  of  No,  2  twitch  distinctly  when  irritated 
b;  aii^le  shocks,  coU  at  24. 

The  toes  more  distinctly  when  the  sciatic  is  irritated ;  coil  at  37. 

1.15.  The  ventricles  of  the  heart  of  No.  1  are  firmly  otmtracted  and 
moHonlees.    The  aoricles  are  still  pulsating  vigorously. 

The  ventricles  of  the  heart  of  No.  2  are  only  modentefy  cantincted, 
and  there  is  no  pnlsation  either  in  them  or  the  auricles. 

1.22.  The  toes  of  the  right  leg  of  Nol  1  move  when  the  sciatic  is 
irritated,  cdl  at  18. 

Those  of  No.  2  do  so,  coil  at  37. 

Putthedectrodes  in  the  cervical  part  of  the  spinal  cord  of  both  guinea 
pigs,  and  irritat«d  it  by  an  induced  current,  coO  at  0.  No  contraction 
took  place  in  the  bind  1^  of  either  animal.  Contractions  occurred  in 
the  muscles  of  the  fore  1^  with  much  the  Bame  force  in  both. 

1.45.  On  irritating  the  muscles  by  single  induced  shocks : — left  leg  of 
No.  1,  vastoB  extemus  contracts,  coil  at  9*5 ;  rectus  femoris,  a  pale 
nnsde,  12-5. 

No.  1.  Bi^t  ieg,  natns  15-5,  rectus  25.  No.  2.  Bight  leg,  vastus  11, 
rectos  16. 

I.6S.  No.  1.  L^  leg,  vastus  at  16 ;  right  leg,  vastus  at  20:  No.  Z. 
Jjeib  leg,  vastus  at  20 ;  right  leg,  vastus  s^  20.  The  vastus  contracts 
rather  more  strongly  in  the  right  leg  of  No.  1  than  in  those  of  No.  2. 

2.23.  No.  1.  Left  leg,  vastus  at  4 ;  right  leg,  vastus  at  11.  No.  2. 
Left  leg,  vastus  at  11 ;  right  1^,  vastus  at  1 1. 

This  experiment  riiows  that  the  venom  paralyzes  the  motor  nerves 

'  vheoi  ap[died  to  them  locally,  a  strong  current  applied  to  the  sciatio- 

caoaing  no  contraction  in  the  left  leg  of  No.  1,  while  a  moderate  one 

cauaed  movement  in  the  right  foot,  at  a  time  when  the  muscles  of  both 

were  nearly  equally  irritable. 

Its  deteteriooB  action  on  the  nrasclee,  when  conveyed  by  the  blood,  is 
also  evident  in  the  rapid  loss  of  irritability  after  death  in  both  legs  of 
No.  1  as  compared  with  No.  2,  The  pale  muscles  seemed  to  retain  their- 
irritabili^  longer  tluui  those  having  a  deep  colour. 

The  power  of  cobra-poison  to  panlyi»  muscle  when  applied  to  it,  even 
in  s  diluted  eonditicm,  is  shown  by  the  following  experiment. 
£vperu)i«nf  XXVI. 

Jttfy  18A,  1873.— The  l^s  of  a  large  frog  were  cut  off  close  In  the 


88  Messrs.  T.  L.  Bruuton  and  J.  Fayrer  on  the      [Jan.  22, 

body,  and  the  skiu  removed.  Each  was  then  placed  in  a  glass,  and  a 
Buflk'ieut  quauiity  of  fresh  ox-blood  serum  poured  orer  it  to  cover  it. 
In  one  gla>s.  tlie  >eruiii  contained  about  5  centigrams  of  cohrar-poison 
di.ssolvt\l  in  abour  2' »  oubie  centims.  of  serum  ;  but,  with  this  exception,  all 
the  conditions  iind^r  whicli  the  two  legs  were  placed  were  exactly  alike. 
Jtilt/  19///. — Aboiir  in  hours  after  the  immersion  of -the  legs  in  serum 
their  irrita]ulit\-  \va<  examinevi. 

m 

The  inu>clos  c»f  tlie  !i*sj  in  the  piu^  serum  did  not  ccmtract  at  all  when 
the  slroni^est  irritation  was  applied  to  the  sciatic  nerve,  but  contracted 
very  villi )ro II slv  whrn  irriTatini  direct  1  v.  The  muscles  of  tlie  leg  in  the 
poisoued  stTiim  w  en.'  whiter  than  those  of  the  other  one.  They  had  a 
faint  vell(>\vi<h  tintro,  and  wore  somewhat  stiff.  Thev  did  not  contract  m 
the  lea^^t  wht-n  tin*  strongest  irritation  by  a  Du-Bois  coil  was  applied 
either  tu  them  or  the  soiatic  nerve. 

AViien  the  poison  i-*  iujivted  directly  into  the  circulation,  op  ia  very 
rapidly  absorlu'il.  so  that  the  quantity  circulating  in  the  blood  is  large,  it 
destroys  the  irritaluliiy  of  the  voluntary  muscles  rapidly,  and,  occasionally 
at  least,  ha^^tens  in  a  most  remarkable  manner  the  occurrence  of  rigor 
mortis.  This  is  wvW  soon  iu  the  E.xperiment  XXV.,  where  rigor 
mortis  supervtMied  in  half  an  hour  after  the  iujection  of  the  poison,  while 
the  musi^le*^  of  aiioihor  animal  killed  at  the  same  time  by  decapitation 
retained  their  irrirabilitv  for  manv  liours. 

m  m 

Ki'jH'n.ii,  lit  XXVII. 

Min/  Sth,  1^73. — "Hight  ihiirh  of  a  troj;  liiratured,  with  the  exception  of 
the  sciatic  nerve.  Animal  p(>isoiie(l  by  the  introduction  of  some  dried 
cobra-[)oison  ilissolvril  in  water  into  the  lymph-sac  of  the  back.  Afterihe 
animal  had  bei'onn'  complftcly  paralyzed,  the  gastro«'nemii  of  the  t^o 
logs  were  irritalt-d  by  an  induced  current  (1  bichromate  cell). 

Loft  log  (poisoned  i,  disianct^  of  coil  l:Vr),  contraction  ;  right,  24"0,  con- 
traction. 

Eu'prrhnPiit  XXVJl  (^i). 

Another  frog  prepared  in  the  same  way  gave  at  first : — left  leg  (poisoned), 
distance  of  coil  4i!*2,  contraction;  right  (^ligatured),  distance  21 '0,  con- 
traction. 

After  some  time: — left  leg,  distance  6*0,  contraction;  right,  distance 
25*0,  contraction. 

Some  time  later: — left  leg,  distance  0,  almost  no  contraction;  right 
leg,  di^tan<-e  14'o.  contra«'iion. 

Jn  this  experiment,  the  poisoned  muscle  at  first  responded  more  readily 

tr.  the  irritation  than  the  one  which  had  been  deprived  of  blood  by  the 

applirat  i(»n  of  a  ligal  iiro  :  and  this  renders  more  apparent  the  effect  of  the 

poison,  in  eausing  ra]»i..l  diminution  and  final  extinction  of  irritability  is 

th«.   n.u-t'-le  to  which  it  had  access,  since  the  other  lost  its  exdtabilitT 
v'rrv  Hl'i-.vlv, 


j 


1874.]  PoitOH  of  Indian  Venomout  Snake:  80 

Sieperimmt  XXVUI. 

8tp*tiiiher  5th. — About  2^  p.m.  injected  |  cubic  centimetre  of  a,  2-pOT- 
eent.  solution  of  dried  cobra'poison  into  the  thoracic  caritj  of  a  ^uiift»- 
pig.  It  wu  uncertain  whether  the  lung  (right  one)  was  pierced  hy  th« 
point  of  the  needle  or  not.  Within  a  few  seconds  the  ftoimal  gave  several 
conrolsive  struggles,  and  died  in  half  a  minute  or  so.  The  head  wu  then 
cut  off.  Immediately  afterwards  a  second  guineapig  was  killed  hj  deca- 
pitation. On  opening  the  thorax  of  N'o.  1  (the  poisoned  guineapig)  the 
long!  wne  found  congested.  The  heart  was  tetanically  contracted  and 
quite  stiU.  The  heart  of  No.  2  was  contracting  vigorously.  The  vena 
cava  contained  a  few  bubbles  of  air.    The  lungs  were  pale. 

2,40.  Peristt^tic  movements  are  going  on  very  actively  in  the  intes- 
tines of  both  animals. 

2.42.  The  muscles  of  the  Nominal  wall  irritated  by  single  induced 
•hocks. 

Guineapig,  No.  1.  No  contraction.    Coil  at  0. 

Guineapig,  No.  2.  Contraction.    Coil  at  14-5. 

Muscles  of  the  Mp  irritated  in  the  same  way : — 
'  ~  if  contraction  of  muscle.     Coil  IS. 

1  Contraction  still  slight.    Coil  0. 


No.  1.1'^'™^'^*=*' 
\  Contraction 


No  2  I  Contraction.     Coil  37. 
'  I  Powerful  kick.     Coil  0. 

2.50.  Bigor  mortis  is  coming  on  in  No.  1.  The  legs  are  quite  stiff. 
A  trace  of  peristaltic  movement  still  going  on  in  the  small  intestine. 

The  muscles  of  No.  3  are  quite  flexible. 

2.56.  No.  1.  Muscles  of  back  of  thigh  and  of  abdominal  wall  irritated 
directly  as  before.  No  contraction.  Coil  at  0.  Muscles  of  the  front  of 
tiugh  twit«h  slightly.     Coil  at  0. 

No.  2.  Muscles  of  back  of  thigh  twitch  decidedly.    Coil  at  37.  . 

3.12.  No.  1.  No  contraction  in  any  muscles.  Coil  at  0.  The  animal 
is  stiff. 

No.  2.  Muscles  are  quite  limp.  Muscles  of  back  of  thigh  twitch  de- 
odedly.    Coil  at  25. 

All  the  muscles  do  not  lose  their  irritability  with  the  same  rapidity, 
•ome  of  them  becoming  paralyzed  before  others.  The  intercostal  muscles, 
•errati,  and  abdominal  muscles  seem  to  lose  their  irritability  fint ;  and 
such  mnsclea  of  tbe  limbs  as  have  a  dark  colour  become  paralysed  sooner 
tiian  tboae  which  are  paler  (Experiment  XXV.). 

Expttvnent  XXIX. 
8«pUtnh«rWi. — A  cannula  was  placed  in  the  carotid  of  a  large  guineapig, 
and  j  cubic  centimetre  of  a  2-pei>cent.  solution  of  cobra-poiaon  injected 
into  it  towards  the  heart.  The  animal  was  seiied  with  violent  convul- 
aions,  passing  into  complete  opisthotonos  in  about  twenty  seconds,  after 
d>e  injectioa  of  tbe  poison,    llieae  ceased,  and  t^e  animal  seemeJ  quite 


90  Messrs.  T.  L.  Bmnton  and  J.  Fayrer  on  the     [Jan.  22, 

dead  in  rather  less  than  a  minute  from  the  injection.  The  thorax  was 
then  opened.  The  lungs  were  somewhat  congested.  The  heart  was 
quite  still  in  tetanic  contraction.  A  strong  interrupted  current  applied 
to  it  caused  no  contraction  of  any  of  the  fibres.  The  muscles  lost  their 
irritability  very  quickly ;  the  intercostals  of  both  sides^  and  the  serratua 
and  subscapularis  of  the  right  side,  seemed  to  lose  their  irritability  befor.* 
the  other  muscles. 

When  the  poison  is  more  slowly  absorbed,  so  that  a  less  quantity  of  it 
circulates  in  the  blood,  its  action  on  the  muscles  is  much  less  mariced, 
as  is  evident  from  a  comparison  of  the  irritability  of  those  in  the  poisoned 
and  non-poisoned  limbs  in  Experiments  XXXYIL,  XXXYIII.,  XX  ATX., 
XLYII.  If  the  poison  has  undergone  such  changes  as  render  it  less 
active,  it  has  no  action,  or  only  a  feeble  one,  on  the  muscles,  as  seen  in 
Experiments  XI.,  XXX.,  XXXI.,  &  XXXII.,  where  poison^  which  had 
undergone  partial  coagulation,  was  employed. 

Experiment  XXX. 

January  14^. — ^In  order  to  test  the  local  action  of  the  poison  on  the 
muscles  and  nerves,  a  ligature  was  tied  round  the  base  of  a  frog's  heart 
so  as  entirely  to  arrest  the  circulation. 

12.0.  About  a  drop  of  cobra-poison  was  injected  into  one  leg. 

1.30.  Laid  bare  the  lumbar  ner>'es  in  the  abdomen,  and  irritated  them 
by  an  induced  current.     Both  legs  contracted  nearly  equally. 

ExpeHment  XXXI. 

January  14<^. — At  12.15.  One  or  two  drops  of  cobra-poison  were  in- 
jected into  the  leg  of  a  frog.  The  wound  bled  freely.  Immediately  after 
the  injection  the  frog  became  very  excited  and  jiunped  about  very  much* 

12.20.  Erog  quiet.     Eespiration  quick. 

2.30.  Prog  quiet,  but  jumps  when  irritated.  It  seems  to  use  both  lega 
equally  well. 

January  15£7t. — The  frog  is  not  dead,  but  is  feeble.  On  killing  and 
opening  it,  both  legs  contracted  nearly  equally  when  the  lumbar  nervea 
were  stimulated  by  an  induced  current. 

ExpeAnvent  XXXII. 

January  \biK — Tied  the  heart  of  a  frog,  and,  12.55  p.m.,  injected  into  the 
right  leg  a  drop  of  water,  and  into  the  left  leg  a  drop  or  two  of  cobra- 
poison. 

1.55.  Irritated  the  back  of  the  frog  by  an  induced  current.  Both  legs 
contracted  nearly  equally. 

Exptritnent  XXXIII. 

May  9<A. — A  frog  (Rana  teniporaria)  was  poisoned  with  curare.  After 
complete  paralysis  had  set  in,  the  right  leg  was  ligatured,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  sciatic  nerve.     The  animal  was  then  poisoned  by  the  in- 


1874.]  PatOH  of  Indian  Venomoua  Snaket.  91 

trodactioii  of  a  aolntion  of  dried  cobn-pcdson  in  orator  into  the  lymplt-aM: 
on  the  \>Bxk,  at  about  12.30  pji.  The  irritabUitj  of  the  muscles  wu 
tested  l^  nng^  induced  currents  applied  to  the  denuded  mosclsfl,  about 
2.30. 

Diitance  of  Coil. 

Left  leg 7-5         Contraction. 

Eight  leg 7-2-7-5     do. 

Another  frog  was  cnrarised  and  similartj  prepared,  with  this  excep- 
tion— that  the  Teasels  of  the  right  leg  only  were  ligatured,  the  muscles, 
as  wen  as  the  nerre,  being  left  free.  This  frog  was  also  examined  in 
the  same  way;  and  the  irritability  of  the  muscles  in  both  1^  was 
fbnikt  to  be  almost  exactly  the  some  three  to  four  hours  after  poisoning. 
Both  contracted  with  the  coU  at  about  7'5. 

Seeondary  Mtion  of  the  Poiaon  on  Matdei. 
Hie  muscles  of  the  part  into  which  the  poison  has  been  introduced  are 
very  apt  to  ondergo  rapid  decomposition.  We  have  already  shown  that 
their  irritability  is  either  lessened,  or  completely  destroyed,  by  the  action  of 
the  venom ;  and  it  seems  very  probable  that  the  mere  contact  of  any  other 
foreign  body,  containing  Bacteria  or  their  germs  (as  the  water  in  which 
the  cobra-poison  was  dissolTed  in  our  experiments  certainly  did)  would 
suffice  to  explain  the  decomposition  of  the  muscle  without  assuming  any 
special  patrefactive  action  on  the  part  of  the  poison;  for  the  muscle, 
whidi  has  been  at  least  temporarily  killed  by  the  poison,  is  placed  in  the 
body  in  the  most  fsTOuiable  conditions  of  temperature  and  moiature  for 
the  occurrence  of  decomposition  whenever  any  germs  are  brought  into  con- 
tact with  it.  However,  Weir  Mitchell  found  that  the  venom  of  the  rattle- 
snake had  a  curious  influence  upon  muscle,  which  could  hardly  be  eiplaiued 
vithont  ibe  supposition  that  the  poison  had  a  peculiar  disorganising 
aetion  upon  the  muscular  tissue.  In  every  instance  the  venom  softened 
the  muscle  in  proportion  to  the  leogtb  of  time  it  remained  in  contact 
Trith  it ;  so  that,  even  after  a  few  hours,  in  warm-blooded  animals, 
and  aft«r  a  rather  longer  time  in  the  frog,  the  wounded  muscle  became 
almost  diffluent,  and  assumed  a  dark  colour  and  somewhat  jelly-like  ap- 
pearance. The  structure  remuned  entire  until  it  was  pressed  upon  or 
■lietched,  when  it  lost  all  regularity,  and  offered,  under  the  microscope, 
the  appearanceof  a  minute  granularmass.  In  order  to  ascertain  whether 
oobra-pcnson  had  a  similar  action,  the  following  experiment  was  tried. 

ExpenmrntlXXi:^ . 
Siptember  1873. — ^The  gastrocnemii  of  a  frog  were  removed  and  laid  in 
twtwatch-glassea.  One  was  then  covered  with  several  drops  of  a  solution 
of  dried  cobra-poison,  dissolved  in  a  sufficient  quantity  of  |-perH:ent,  salt 
solution  to  form  a  mixture  about  the  consistonce  of  fresh  poison,  while 
Hm  a&Mt  was  cohered  with  a  few  drops  of  salt  solution  alone.    They 


92  Messrs.  T.  L.  Brunton  and  J.  Fayrer  on  the      [Jan.  22, 

were  then  protected  from  dust  by  two  other  watch-glasses  inyerted  oiver 
them.  The  temperature  of  the  room  was  moderately  warm.  The 
poisoned  muscle  underwent  no  change.  Both  muscles  gradually  dried 
up ;  but  at  no  time  could  one  be  distinguished  from  the  other,  except  by 
the  label  on  the  watch-glass. 

The  influence  of  cobra-poison  in  causing  decomposition  within  the  body 
is  evident  from  the  following  experiment. 

Experiment  XXXY. 

January  17th, — About  three  drops  of  cobra-poison  were  injected  under 
the  skin  of  the  flank  of  a  guineapig  at  12.48  f.m.  Immediately  after- 
wards the  guineapig  became  restless  and  cried.  In  two  minutes  its  head 
began  to  twitch.  An  hour  after  the  injection  the  animal  was  quiet,  and 
little  or  no  effect  of  the  poison  could  be  observed.  Three  hours  after  the 
injection  it  did  not  seem  very  well.  Next  morning  it  was  found  dead. 
On  examining  it  22  hours  after  the  injection  it  had  begun  to  undergo 
decomposition.  The  abdomen  was  somewhat  inflated,  and  sulphuretted 
hydrogen  issued  from  it  when  opened.  The  hair  came  off  readily  from 
all  parts  of  the  animal*s  skin.  The  muscles  were  soft.  There  was  little 
ecchymosis  at  the  spot  where  the  injection  had  been  made.  The  tissues 
near  it  were  rather  watery.  The  heart  was  contracted;  the  lungs 
somewhat  congested. 

Action  an  the  Nervous  System, 

The  most  prominent  symptoms  of  an  affection  of  the  nervous  system 
after  the  bite  of  a  cobra,  or  other  venomous  snake,  in  animals  or  man,  are 
depression,  faintness,  lethargy,  and  in  some  cases,  somnolence.  There  is 
loss  of  coordinating  power,  and  paralysis,  sometimes  affecting  the  hind  legs 
first  and  creeping  over  the  body,  sometimes  affecting  the  whole  body  at 
once.  Death  occurs  by  failure  of  the  respiration,  and  is  preceded  by  con- 
vulsions. 

These  symptoms  clearly  point  to  paralysis  either  of  the  nervous  centres 
or  of  the  peripheral  nerves.  It  may  be  supposed  that  the  mention  of  the 
latter  alternative  is  superfluous,  and  that  paralysis  of  the  peripheral 
nerves  cannot  produce  such  symptoms,  which  must  therefore,  by  ezda- 
sion,  be  due  to  an  affection  of  the  central  ganglia.  More  especially  may 
the  occurrence  of  convulsions  be  thought  to  exclude  the  possibility  of 
death  being  due  to  paralysis  of  the  peripheral  terminations  of  motor 
nerves  ;  for  if  their  function  is  abolished  here,  how,  it  may  be  said,  can 
general  convulsions,  which  have  their  origin  in  the  nerA'ous  centres,  occur? 

The  answer  to  this  is,  that  although  the  ends  of  the  motor  nerves  are 
80  far  deadened  that  they  no  longer  transmit  to  the  muscles  any  ordinary 
stimulus  proceeding  from  the  nerve-centres,  their  function  is  not  so 
thoroughly  abolished  that  they  cannot  transmit  those  which  are  stronger 
than  usual.  This  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  when  an  animal  is  slowly 
poisoned  hv  curare  (as  for  example  when  that  poison  is  introduced  into 


1874.]  Poiton  of  Indian  Venemout  Snaket.  98 

Ote  Btconsch  after  ligatun  of  tlie  renal  veaselB),  conTnldoni  occur  jiut 
as  in  death  from  cobra-poiBon.  Although  the  motor  neirea  have  their 
function  so  much  impaired  that  they  no  longer  transmit  to  the  musclea 
of  respiiation  the  ordinary  stimuli  from  the  medulla,  which  usually  keep 
Qp  the  movementfl  of  breathing,  they  can  still  transmit  those  stronger 
impulses  which  proceed  from  it  when  greatly  stimulated  by  the  increasing 
▼enosity  of  the  blood,  and  which  cause  the  respiratory  as  well  aa  the  other 
muscles  of  the  body  to  participate  in  the  general  convulsions.  The  loss  of 
coordination  which  occurs  in  poisoning  by  cobra-venom,  has  also  b&ea 
noticed  by  Toisin  and  Liouville  in  poisoning  by  curare. 

That  the  peripheral  terminations  of  the  motor  nerves  are  actually 
paralyzed  by  cobra-venom  is  shown  by  Experiment  XXXVI.,  in  which  the 
animal  was  able  to  move  the  leg  which  hod  been  protected  from  Ihe  action 
of  the  poison  for  some  time  after  the  rest  of  the  body  was  perfectly 
motionless,  as  well  as  by  Exp.  XXXVII.  and  those  succeeding  it.  Its 
occurrence  in  man  is  indicated  by  the  symptoms  of  a  case  described  by 
Dr.  HilsTOi  (Ind.  Med.  Gaz.,  Oct.  1873,  p.  254). 

But  paralysis  of  motor  nerves  is  not  the  only  effect  of  cobra-poison  on 
the  nervous  system.  The  spinal  cord  is  also  paralyzed,  as  is  seen  from 
Exp.  XU.,  where  motion  ceased  in  the  frog's  leg  which  remained  free 
bom  poison,  although  it  answered  with  great  readiness  to  a  very  weak  sti- 
mulus applied  to  its  oerve.  In  some  instances  paralysis  of  the  spinal  cord 
appeared  to  cause  death  when  little  or  no  affection  of  the  motor  nerves 
could  be  observed  (Exp.  XL VII.  Ac.) ;  but  in  others  the  peripheral  pars- 
lysis  was  strongly  marked.  In  no  case  was  it  more  obvious,  and  in  few 
was  it  so  distinct  as  in  Exp.  XXXTI.,  made  with  the  virus  itself,  which 
had  neither  become  coagulated  nor  dried.  In  experiments  made  with  the 
coagulated  poison,  death  seemed  invariably  to  be  caused  by  paralysis  of 
the  spinal  cord,  the  motor  nerves  being  little  sJffected  (Exp.  XI.) ;  while, 
in  t^ose  made  vrith  the  dried  venom,  sometimes  the  action  on  the  cord 
predominat«d,  and  sometimes  that  on  the  nerves.  In  this  respect,  aa 
well  as  in  some  of  the  symptoms  it  produces,  cobra-poison  agrees  very 
doeely  with  conin.  This  alkaloid,  as  Crum-Brown  and  Eraser  have 
shown,  often  contains  a  mixture  of  true  conia  and  methylconia.  Conia 
alone  paralyzes  the  motor  nerves  without  affecting  the  spinal  cord ;  but 
when  mixed  with  methylconia,  sometimes  the  one  is  affected  first,  and 
sometimes  the  other.  When  the  dose  is  small,  the  motor  nerves  are 
nsaally  paralyzed  before  the  reflex  function  of  the  cord ;  but  when  the 
dose  is  large,  the  cord  is  paralyzed  before  the  nerves.  Methylconia  also 
affects  both ;  but  a  small  dose  of  it  paralyzes  the  cord  before  the  nerves, 
while  a  large  one  paralyzes  them  first.  The  paralysis  of  the  hind  legs, 
often  observed  in  snako-poisoning  (Kxp.  VI.  &  VU.),  is  probably  partly 
due  to  t^  local  action  of  the  poison  in  the  nerves  and  muscles  of  the  bitten 
member,  and  partly  to  its  action  on  the  cord.  This  paralysis  is  noticed 
in  Qenens  zlix.  1-7,  where  Jacob  says,  "  Dan  is  an  adder  in  the  path. 


--...  vvi^un^-s  luroiigh  whii-h  irritation  of  the  iifth  ue 
afTected  after  the  refiex  function  of  the  cord  is  nearly 
the  power  of  voluntary  motion  f^till  exists. 

The  effect  of  the  poison  upon  the  respiratory  an« 
will  be  considered  under  the  heads  of  respiration  ano 

Action  of  Cohrorpoison  on  Motor  nen 

As  the  contraction  of  a  muscle,  on  irritation  of  tht 
plying  it,  is  the  index  by  which  we  judge  of  the  irrit 
itself,  the  paralyzing  effect  of  cobra-poison  upon  muscl 
determination  of  its  action  upon  motor  nerves  much 
in  the  case  of  such  a  poison  as  curare,  which  leaves  t 
bility  intact.    For  the  failure  of  a  muscle  to  contract 
motor  nerve,  can  be  due  only  to  paralysis  of  the  motor 
of  curare ;  but  in  poisoning  by  cobra-venom  it  may  b 
ment  of  the  muscles,  as  well  as  paralysis  of  the  nerve, 
instances  in  which  the  muscles  still  retain  their  irriti 
altered,  and  respond  readily  to  direct  stimulation  after 
to  contract  on  irritation  of  their  motor  nerve,  we  are  * 
bhat  the  nerve  is  paralyzed  ;  and  such  is  the  case  in  Eb 
In  Experiment  XXY.  this  action  on  the  ends  of  m< 
he  more  evident  from  the  paralysis  being  most  com] 
("here  the  poison  was  introduced.  At  this  part,  it  was 
entrated  state,  into  contact  with  the  ends  of  the  motor 
ther  parts  of  the  body  received  it  after  dilution  with 
lem  the  paralysis  was  much  less  marked. 
The  paralysis  of  the  hind  legs,  so  often  noHoa^  ^^  — 


1874.]  PotMon  o/Indian  Venomem  Snakes.  95 

Ktperimmt  XXXVI. 

A  ligature  was  placed  round  the  right  thigh  of  a  young  frog,  excluding 
the  Bciatic  nerre. 

2.43.  A  drop  of  durk  fiuid  cobn-poiBon  (the  first  supply)  was  injected 
into  the  donal  lymph-sac.  Immediately  after  the  injection  the  animal 
became  restless. 

3.  It  lies  quietly  with  its  eyes  shut.  It  hardly  moves  when  touched; 
but  it  struggles  when  laid  upon  its  back. 

3.8.  It  can  etiU  draw  up  the  ligatured  leg.  The  other  one  can  be 
drawn  up,  but  with  a  wriggling  motion.  When  laid  on  its  back  the 
BDimal  no  longer  resists. 

3.9.30.  It  lies  quite  flat.  There  is  trembling  of  the  leg  when  either 
foot  is  touched ;  and  when  it  is  pinched  either  leg  can  still  be  drawn  up. 
On  suddenly  touching  the  poisoned'leg,  the  frog  gare  a  jerk  with  both. 
BeopinttOTy  movements  have  ceased.  The  exact  time  when  they  did  so 
WB8  not  noticed. 

3.17.  The  trog  has  become  much  lighter  in  colour,  with  the  exception 
of  the  ligatured  leg, 

3.45.  The  eyes  no  longer  shut  when  touched;  they  remain  widely 
open.  Dilute  acetic  add  of  1  per  cent,  produces  no  effect  when  applied 
to  the  sound  leg ;  but  when  the  leg  is  lifted  up,  so  as  to  prevent  friction 
■gainst  the  teble,  it  is  drawn  in  towards  the  body. 

4.9.  On  applying  a  strong  interrupted  current  to  the  eye  of  the  frog 
tite  unpoisoned  1^  jerks  feebly,  the  poisoned  one  not  at  all. 

4.13,  On  turning  the  frog  on  his  back  the  non-poisoned  1^  moved, 

4.20.  Opened  abdomen.  The  heart  was  beating,  but  only  slowly.  Irri- 
tated the  lumbar  nerves  on  the  left  side  (those  of  poisoned  leg)  by  an  in- 
terrupted current.  No  contraction  occurred  in  the  poisoned  leg ;  but 
twitching  took  place  in  the  non-poisoned  one.  Irritated  lumbar  nerves 
of  right  side.  Tetanus  occurred  in  the  right  (non-poisoned  leg).  No 
movement  of  the  poisoned  leg.  Laid  bare  the  muscles  of  both  legs,  and 
irritated  them  by  a  Faradic  current  directly  applied.  Those  of  the  poisoned 
leg  were  paler  than  those  of  the  other.  The  muscles  of  both  legs  con- 
tracted when  irritated  directly.  Exposed  the  sciatic  nerves  of  both  sides 
and  imtaied  them  by  an  induced  current.  No  contraction  in  the  gastro- 
Gnflmioa  of  poisoned  leg.    Tetanos  in  the  non-poisoned  leg. 

4.36.  The  heart  is  no  longer  contracting.  Electrodes  were  placed  in 
the  medulla,  and  an  interrupted  current  applied.  Contractions  occurred 
in  the  non-poisoned  I^.     No  contractions  in  the  poisoned  one. 

The  movements  which  occurred  in  the  non-poisoned  leg  when  the 
lombar  nerves  of  the  other  side  were  irritated,  may  have  been  due  to  re- 
flex addon  through  the  spinal  cord.  If  this  were  the  case,  it  would  indi- 
cate that  the  sensory  fibres  in  the  lumbar  plexus  were  not  paralyzed,  and 
that  the  reflex  power  of  the  cord  was  not  quite  destroyed ;  but  the  nerves 


_*»»     mVUi  >»l*i-T        1 


luuiur  lUTves  of  the  limb  si  ill   retaiiu'd  the 
paralysis  of  the  reflex  function  of  the  eord  ha 
of  the  leg  on  turning  the  frog  on  his  back  i 
higher  nervous  centres,  through  which  the  o] 
posture  was  manifested,  retained  their  power 

Experiment  XXXVI] 

November  29^A,  1872. — ^The  sciatic  nerve  of 
exposed ;  and  a  double  ligature  being  passed  ui 
whole  of  the  tissues  except  the  bone  were  then 
tween  the  ligatures.    A  fraction  of  a  drop  of  ( 
^per-cent.  salt  solution,  was  injected  into  the 
two  hours  the  animal  seemed  paralyzed.     On  in 
electridtj,  or  by  acetic  acid,  slight  movements  o 
and  were  fully  stronger  in  the  poisoned  than  th( 
tion  of  the  poisoned  hind  foot  also  occasioned  t\( 
non-poisoned  foot.    Twitches  did  not  invariably 
the  fore  paws  was  noticed  on  irritation  of  the  hii 
then  passed  round  the  poisoned  hind  leg,  and  tl 
the  non-poisoned  one,  and  the  animal  left  a  li 
again  applied  had  a  similar  result  to  the  former, 
the  non-poisoned  limb  were  sometimes  stronger  t 
tation  applied  by  a  strong  interrupted  current  to 
trodes  inserted  in  it,  caused  very  faint  twitches  in 
tion  of  the  lumbar  nerves  in  the  abdomen  caused  ^^ 
feet.    Irritation  of  the  exposed  sciatic  nerve  of  the 
interrupted  current  caused  afiv^r»«  — ^ 


1S74.]  Poiton  of  Indian  Vemmoui  Snaia.  97 

cuued  the  p<MSon«l  and  onpoUoned  muscles  to  contract  witli  &pparent1j 
the  ume  force,  shows  that  a  stiiall  dose  of  the  poison  causes  a  consider- 
able amoant  of  paralyaia  of  the  ends  of  motor  nerves,  while  the  mascles 
ftre  but  little  a^cted. 

Bxperimtnt  XXXVIII. 

Jfay  14A. — The  right  leg  of  a  frog  was  ligatured,  with  the  exception 
of  the  sciatic  neire,  and  the  animal  poisoned  by  a  rather  small  dose  of 
dried  cobra-poison  dissolved  in  water,  and  injected  into  the  dorsal  Ijrmph- 
■ac  at  11.45  Ajt. 

12.15.  The  animal  paralysed.  Acetic  add  applied  to  the  left  arm 
caused  movements  in  it ;  but  no  movementB  ensued  when  the  acid  was 
applied  to  the  noae.  When  applied  to  both  arms  and  one  leg,  it  caused 
movements  in  the  arms  and  the  left  leg,  but  none  in  the  right  leg. 

12^.  Acetic  acid  applied  to  the  left  arm  causes  movement  in  it,  but  in 
no  other  part  of  the  body. 

12.51 .  Electrodes  were  placed  in  the  spine  and  the  cord  irritated  by  a 
Faradic  current.  At  15  centimetres  distance  of  the  secondary  from  the 
primary  coil  there  is  faint  twitch  in  right  arm.  At  9,  distinct  twitch  in 
both  anna.  At  0,  distinct  twitch  in  both  arms,  none  in  legs ;  sciatica 
exposed  and  irritated.  At  50,  right  leg  contracts  distinctly.  At  36, 
right  leg  becomes  tetonised.  At  16,  left  leg  contracts  very  faintly  indeed. 
At  6,  left  leg  contracts  slightly. 

The  muscles  were  then  irritated  by  single  induced  shocks : — 9-8  centims., 
right  leg  faint  contraction ;  9-8,  left  (poisoned)  leg  contraction  is  equally 
ttraagi  lO-l,  left  (poisoned)  leg'  contraction  occurs.  lO'l,  right  (liga- 
tured one)  does  not  contract. 

In  tjiis  experiment,  the  irritability  of  the  poisoned  muscle  is  greater 
than  that  of  the  other,  the  venom  having  done  less  injury  to  the  mus- 
cular substance  than  the  deprivation  of  blood  by  the  ligature,  and  conse- 
qnently  the  paralyzing  action  of  the  poison  on  the  ends  of  the  motor 
nervea  becomes  very  evident. 

Experiment  XXXIX. 

Majf  12t&,  1873. — ^A  ligature  was  passed  tightly  round  the  right  thigh 
at  a  huge  frog,  the  adatic  nerve  being  excluded. 

12.  Bight  leg  ligatured. 

12.12.  Injected  a  considerable  dose  of  a  solution  of  dried  oobrar-poison 
in  water  into  dorsal  lymph~aac. 

12.14.  The  frog  has  assumed  a  most  peculiar  position.  The  left  hind 
leg  is  drawn  up,  and  the  two  fore  legs  are  held  over  head  with  palms 
tomed  forwards. 

12.20.  Cornea  sensible.    Left  leg  is  drawn  up  again  if  it  be  forcibly 


12.31,  Cornea  tenaible.    When  the  left  hind  foot  is  pressed  it  ta  drawn 


. w    I  i.  y>^    in     1 1 1  u *. 


reHcx  action  produced  bv  irritation  of  tht 
1.24.  Acetic  acid  ap])lied  to  right  fon 
in  ri^fht  hind  leg  alone.     When  applied  i 
movement  in  that  arm  alone. 

1.35.  Acetic  acid  applied  to  botb  feet,  1 
caused  no  motion  anywhere.  Both  sciatic  i 
a  considerable  portion  of  their  course.  It 
right  sciatic  had  not  been  included  in  tht 
constricted  bj  the  fascia  at  the  place  of  liga 
by  an  induced  current. 

Distance  of  Beoondftrj 
Leg.  from  primary  ooiL 


Left. 

0- 

No  contra 

Bight. 

32-0 

Distinct  < 
possible 
scuitic  1 
morethfl 
expoeed 
below  tl 
above  th 

Sight. 

37-5 

Distinct  c< 

Left. 

70 

No  distin 
muscles 
ducedsh 

Single  shock. 

7.6 

they  con 

In  this  experiment,  the  right  sciatic  nerve 
ration  of  lifi^tn"riT»*»  -  — ^  " 


1874.]  PoUoa  of  Indian  Venomout  Snakes.  99 

10^7.  Ligftture  applied.     A  considerable  quantity  of  blood  was  lost. 

10^,  A  considerable  quantity  of  dried  cobra-poison  dissolved  in  water 
was  injected  into  the  dorsal  lymph-aoc.  Immediately  after  being  released 
the  ttog  jumped  about,  but  became  quiet  in  a  minute  or  so. 

11.28.  Made  some  voluntary  movements. 

11.45.  Acetic  acid  to  fore  feet  causes  weak  reflex  movements  in  both 
fore  feet;  stronger  in  bind  feet,  especially  in  right. 

11.55.  Acetic  acid  to  right  forearm  caused  vigorous  kicks  of  right 
hind  1^.  Acetic  add  affected  right  leg  ui  10  seconds.  No  motion  in 
any  other  part  of  body.  Acetic  acid  to  left  forearm  caused  kicks  in  both 
hind  1^8,  bnt  much  more  vigorous  in  the  right.  Also  movement  of  left 
forearm  by  itself,  but  weak. 

12.5.  Acetic  odd  U>  left  fore  leg  caused  wriggling  motion,  first  in  right 
hind  1^  and  then  in  left  fore  leg  in  16  seconds.  Applied  to  right  forearm 
it  caaaed  a  weak  kick  in  right  hind  leg  and  wriggling  in  left  hbd  leg,  but 
no  motion  in  any  other  part. 

12.27.  Acetic  acid  applied  to  forearm.     No  reflex  action  anywhere. 

12.30.  So  reflex  action  anywhere  on  application  of  acetic  acid. 

12.30.  Distance  of  coil  8,  Electrodes  in  the  spinal  cord.  Slight  con- 
tractions in  right  hind  and  left  fore  legs,  and  also  in  the  abdominal 
muscles,  though  very  weak.  It  was  now  noticed  that  tlie  cord  with 
which  the  frog  was  attached  to  the  board  had  been  very  tightly  tied 
round  the  left  forearm  and  left  there.  The  circulation  was  stopped  there, 
as  the  cord  had  not  been  removed. 

The  paralyxing  effect  of  the  poison  on  the  motor  nerves  was  here  shown 
by  an  involuntary  experiment.  On  irritating  the  cord  the  ligatured  leg 
responded  as  we  hod  expected,  but  we  were  astonished  to  nee  movements 
in  the  left  arm  also.  An  examination  of  the  limb  at  once  showed  the 
cause  of  the  phenomenon.  The  cord  attaching  it  to  the  board  had  been 
inadvertently  drawn  so  tight  as  to  obstruct  the  circulation,  and  thus  pre- 
vented the  access  of  the  poison  to  the  nerves. 

Experiment  XLI. 

May  15A. — Bight  thigh  of  fn^  ligatured,  with  exception  of  the  sciatic 
nerve. 

1.2.  ligature  applied. 

1.4.  A  considerable  dose  of  dried  cobra-poison  dissolved  in  wat«r 
injected  into  dorsal  lymph-sac. 

2.26,  Acetic  acid  applied  to  a  limb  causes  no  movement  whatever  in  60'. 

Interrupted  current.  Distance  0,  electrodes  in  spine:  only  weak 
twitch  in  muscles  of  forearms  ;  no  movement  in  hind  leg. 

2.30.  Both  sciatics  exposed. 

Bi^t  sdatio.     Distance  50,  distinct  contraction  of  gastrocnemius. 

Left  sciatic.  Distance  0,  no  contraction  of  gastrocnemius.  Single 
ahocka.  Both  gastroonemii  exposed  and  irritated  directly. 

VOL.  ZXQ.  I 


,  _   .,.,    I    t,K — Lii  orcliT  to  Icsf  Iho  action  c 
(Muls  of  tlie  motor  n(Tv«'S,  without  di^t  url)iii<2:  tht^  e\] 
one  1(*^,  two  t'n\L;s  were  taken   of  as   nearly   as  po 
Both  wore  a  erv  small ;  but  Xo.  1  was  somewhat  lar^ 
No.  2.     The  sciatic  nerve  was  exposed  in  one  thij 
placed  on  the  hook  electrodes  used  by  Marej  foi 
means  of  a  Pohl*s  commutator,  with  the  cross  pieoet 
rupted  current  could  be  sent  at  wiU  through  either  : 
of  the  secondary  from  the  primary  coil  at  which  th 
tion  took  place  in  the  muscles  of  either  nerve  was  n 

Distauoe  of  primary  firom  secondary  ooiL 
Time.  Frog  1.  Frog  2. 

About  1.25  17-7  22 

1.40  26-3  12-3 

1.46  26  18       Injected   a 

cobra -poi 
dorsal  Ij 
No.  1. 

2.7  31-2  24 

2.27  31  18-5 

2.60  24  17-8 

3.10  17-5  19-2    Frog  1  m( 

when  the 
distance  ( 
ment  occi 
nerve  wae 

3.30  12  17-5 

O  4r\  -  -    - 


1874.]  Powra  rf  Indian  Vewmotu  Siuket.  101 

May  2ltt. — ^Tbo  scUtica  of  the  other  legs  were  exposed  and  irritated. 


30  of  primuj  from  aea)nilw7  ooiL 
XiB»  Prog  1.  Frog  2. 

0  11*5    Frog  1,  no  contraction.  Frog  2, 

slight  contraction.    The  ini- 
tabilitj  of  the  muscles  «-u 
now  tested  by  single  induced 
shocks  applied  to  them. 
0  7-5  Fr(^  1,  no  contraction.   Fk^2, 

slight  contraddoD. 
The  disturtHng  effects  occasioned  in  the  other  experiments  b;  the 
necessity  of  comparing  a  limb  acted  on  by  the  poison,  but  retaining  ita 
blood-«upply,  with  one  in  which  the  circulation  had  been  arrested,  is  here 
got  rid  of  by  employing  tM^  frogs  of  as  nearly  as  possible  the  same  siie. 
The  paralysia  of  nerves  caused  by  the  poison  is  evident. 

Erp^-iment  XLUI. 
Dte,  4lh. — Bight  1^  ligatured,  with  the  exception  of  the  sciatic  nerve ; 
a  small  quantity  of  alcoholic  extract  of  cobra-poiswi  dissolved  In  water 
injected  into  the  dorsal  lymph-sac. 
Noon.  Injection  made. 

1.80.  The  frog  lies  quite  helpless.  A  spark  of  electricity  applied  to 
the  side  causes  reflex  contraction  of  both  legs.  When  the  poisoned  leg  is 
drawn  out,  the  frc^  draws  it  up  again  with  a  wriggling  motion.  The 
poisoned  leg  at  once  reacti  when  the  toes  are  pinched;  the  ligatured 
one  does  not. 

When  the  sides  of  the  frog  are  irritated  by  an  electric  sparh,  all  the 
legs,  except  the  ligatured  one,  give  a  twitch. 

3.50.  On  exposing  the  Inmbar  nerves  in  the  abdominal  cavity  and  irri- 
tating them  by  an  induced  corrent,  the  poisoned  leg  contracted,  the  liga- 
tured one  did  not. 

The  effect  of  the  alcoholic  extract  in  causing  paralysis  is  shown  by  this 
experiment ;  but  the  insensibility  of  the  ligatured  leg,  which  was  in  all 
probdnli<7  dne  to  an  injniy  of  the  sciatic  nerve  by  the  ligature,  renders 
it  difficult  to  say  how  much  of  the  paralysis  was  due  to  the  cord,  and  how 
miteh  to  the  nerves.  That  the  nerves  were  affected,  however,  seems  clear 
from  the  &ct  that  the  muscles  no  longer  reacted  to  voluntary  stimuli, 
but  did  so  when  an  extraordinary  stimulus  was  occasioned  by  pinching. 
Experiment  XUV. 
Amg.  27d.-~A  amoll  dog  was  chloroformed,  and  both  vagi  were  ex- 
posed. 

1235  pjL  About  two  grains  of  dried  cobra-poison  were  injected  into 
the  pentoneat  cavity. 

12.42,  Vat«T  was  thrown  over  the  animal  to  revive  him  more  com- 

l2 


102  Messrs.  T.  L.  Bninton  and  J.  Fayrer  on  the      [Jan.  22, 

pletely  from  the  chloroform.     Bowels  acted.   He  is  verj  unsteady  on  his 
legs.     Looks  drunk. 

12.44.  Dog  vomits  freely. 

12.45.  Both  va^  diWded.  The  vomiting  ceased,  the  breathing  became 
very  slow,  and  the  head  was  thrown  up  with  the  nose  in  the  air. 

12.53.  Has  become  very  quiet.  Falls  down  on  his  side.  The  vomiting 
has  not  recurred. 

12.55.  Dead.     Artificial  respiration  commenced. 

1.12.  On  laying  bare  the  skull  and  trephining,  slight  reflex  movements 
occurred  in  the  limbs. 

1.17.  Micturated.  On  irritating  the  exposed  cerebrum  by  a  Fanidic 
current  no  contractions  occurred  in  the  limbs. 

1*47.  The  spinal  cord  was  exposed  and  irritated  by  a  Faradic  current. 
No  contractions  occurred  in  any  of  the  muscles,  except  those  to  which  the 
current  was  conducted,  even  when  the  strongest  was  employed.  On 
exposing  the  sciatic  nerves  and  dividing  one  of  them  and  applying  a 
Faradic  current,  no  effect  could  be  perceived  when  the  electrodes  were 
applied  to  cither  the  central  or  the  distal  end  of  the  nerve.  The  motor 
nerves  were  thus  seen  to  be  paralyzed. 

The  heart  continued  to  beat  vigorously  all  the  time.  On  laying 
open  the  abdominal  cavity,  the  intestines  and  peritoneum  were  found  in 
a  state  of  intense  congestion.  Electrodes  applied  to  the  lumbar  nerves 
caused  no  contraction  an  v where. 

Thorax  opened.  The  heart  was  beating  vigorously.  The  lungs  were 
normal.  A  Faradic  current  applied  to  the  phrenic  nerve  caused  no  con- 
traction of  the  diaphragm ;  but  when  applied  to  that  muscle  directly,  it 
caused  vigorous  contractions. 

The  left  vagus  was  divided  and  its  peripheral  end  stimulated  by  a  Faradic 
current.  The  pulsations  of  the  heart  were  at  once  arrested,  but  again  com- 
menced ;  and  no  further  irritation  of  the  vagi  had  any  effect  on  the  heart. 

2.2  P.M.  Stomach  removed.  Its  coats  were  intensely  congested,  as 
though  some  irritant  had  been  swallowed.  It  contained  much  bile.  The 
blood  was  florid  and  formed  a  firm  coagulum. 

This  experiment  clearly  shows  that  cobra-poison  produces  paralysis  of 
the  motor  nen'es  in  warm  as  well  as  in  cold-blooded  animals,  the  sciatics 
being  so  completely  paralyzed  that  they  did  not  respond  to  the  strongest 
irritation,  although  respiration  was  efficiently  kept  up  and  the  circular 
tion  continued  unimpaired.  In  almost  all  the  other  experiments,  when 
the  ner>'e  was  irritated  immediately  after  death,  contractions  were  pro- 
duced ;  but  the  same  is  the  case  when  the  animal  is  poisoned  with  curare, 
and  the  contractions  are  due  to  the  poison  not  having  had  sufficient  time 
to  exert  its  full  action. 

The  complete  cessation  of  vomiting  after  division  of  the  vagi  seems  to 
indicate  that  the  poison  produces  emesis  by  acting  on  the  periphend 
termmations  of  the  vagi,  and  not  on  any  nerve-centre. 


1874.]  Poison  of  Indian  Venomous  Snakes.  103 

Action  of  Cohrarpoison  on  Secreting  Nerves, 

A  notable  symptom  of  cobra-poison  in  dogs  is  great  salivation ;  and 
this  might  be  supposed  at  first  sight  to  indicate  that  the  poison  acted 
as  an  irritant  to  the  secreting  nerves  of  the  salivary  gland.  Nausea  and 
Yomiting  being  also  present,  however,  it  is  by  no  means  improbable  that 
the  salivation  is  due  to  the  poison  stimulating  the  secreting  nerves  of  the 
saHvary  glands  not  directly,  but  by  reflex  action,  through  the  gastric 
branches  of  the  vagus.  Unfortunately  we  are  unable  to  say  in  which  of 
these  ways  salivation  is  induced,  as  we  have  not  noted  whether  it 
occurred  after  division  of  the  vagus  or  not.  So  far  as  memory  serves  us, 
we  are  inclined  to  think  that  it  was  much  less  in  these  cases  ;  but  on  this 
point  we  cannot  be  at  all  positive. 

Whether  cobra-poison  has  any  stimulating  action  on  secreting  nerves 
nt  first  or  not,  it  seems  finally  to  paralyze  them,  or  at  least  greatly  to 
diminish  their  power. 

This  is  evident  from  the  following  experiment. 

Experiment  XLV. 

A  dog  was  etherized  and  the  chorda  tympani  exposed  after  its 

separation  from  the  lingual  nerve.    A  cannula  was  then  placed  in  the 

dact  of  the  submaxillary  gland.     On  irritating  the  chorda  by  a  weak 

Earadic  current,  applied  at  intervals,  saliva  flowed  freely.    Some  dried 

cobra-poison  dissolved  in  water  was  then  injected  into  a  vein  in  the  leg. 

Shortly  afterwards  the  saliva  began  to  flow  much  less  freely  than  before  ; 

and  although  the  current  was  increased  in  strength,  only  a  small  quantity 

could  be  obtained. 

Action  on  Sensory  Nerves, 

The  sensory  nerves  seem  to  be  little,  if  at  all,  affected  by  cobra-poison. 
As  appears  from  Experiment  XXXVI.  they  retain  their  power  after  the 
motor  nerves  are  paralyzed;  and  Experiment  XLYI.  shows  the  compara- 
tive effect  of  the  poison  and  of  want  of  blood  both  on  the  sensory  and 
motor  nerves.  The  former  were  so  little  affected  by  the  poison,  that  they 
caused  a  ready  response  when  those  which  had  been  deprived  of  blood  had 
nearly  ceased  to  act.  The  motor  nerves  of  the  poisoned  limb,  on  the  con- 
trary, were  quickly  paralyzed,  while  those  of  the  ligatured  one,  although 
doubtless  weakened  by  the  loss  of  their  vascular  supply,  long  retained 
their  irritability.  In  Experiment  LX.  the  optic  nerve  and  the  aural  and 
buccal  branches  of  the  fifth  nerve  retained  their  irritability  after  the 
cord  had  become  nearly  paralyzed ;  and,  in  several  experiments,  reflex 
actions  could  be  induced  by  irritation  of  the  cornea  after  voluntary  motion 
and  respiration  had  ceased. 

ExperimevU  XL VI. 

The  right  leg  of  a  frog  was  ligatured,  excluding  the  sciatic  nerve,  and  a 
ooncentrated  solution  of  dried  cobra-poison  injected  into  the  dorsal  lymph- 
sac  at  2.3  p.m. 


►  «    T         Ky  ' 


\\  hcii  acetic  acid   is  a])j)]ic(l  to  left  liai 
straii;]»t('in'd,   and  tlicrc  arc    stronu;  {'oiitn 
none  ill  ilu'  left,  and  little  nioveiiinit  m  an 
Acetic  acid  applied  to  left  foot  causes  po 
Acetic  add  applied  to  the  right  foot  hae 
inserted  in  the   spine  and  the  cord  irri 
Distance  of  the  secondary  from  the  primar} 
moyement  of  left  hand. 

At  16  centims.  movement  of  left  hand  an 

At  12  centims.  also  faint  movement  of  le: 

At  15  centims.  the  interrupted  current  wa 

the  muscular  twitchings  were  more  powerfi 

ihMsi  in  the  right  one. 

On  applying  the  electrodes  to  the  lumbar  n 
right  leg  contracts. 

Coil  at  42  centims.  the  left  leg  only  twitcL 

Action  on  the  Spinal  C 

The  spinal  cord  has  the  threefold  function 
impressions,  a  conductor  of  motor  impressio 
in  examining  into  the  nature  dE  the  action  oi 
must  consider  the  manner  in  which  each  of  t] 

Cobra-poison,  as  has  already  been  intimate( 
•ction  upon  the  reflex  function  of  the  cord ; 
Experiment  XLVU.,  &c. 

As  a  conductor  of  sensory  impressions,  the  < 
kinds,  viz.  tactile  and  painful,  and  thpAA  h* 


lOV/V 


I874.J  PouoM  of  Indian  Venomota  Snakeg.  105 

in  it  amly  the  feebleat  movement.  In  Experiment  LX.  no  response 
was  elicited  by  striking,  pinching,  or  pricking  the  pawa  of  the  animal 
but  when  the  ear  was  tickled  the  cat  shook  its  head,  or  moTed  its  paw 
to  ward  <dl  the  irritant. 

FrcHU  these  cases  we  think  we  are  justified  in  concluding  that  the  gny 
matter  of  ihe  spinal  cord,  tiirough  which  painful  impressions  are  trans- 
mitted, is  paralysed  by  cobra-poison ;  but  the  white  sensory  columns  are 
little,  if  at  all,  affected.  The  power  of  the  cord  to  conduct  motor  impres- 
siooa  from  the  encephalic  ganglia  appears  to  be  little,  if  at  all  affected, 
until  the  apparent  death  of  the  animal ;  for  in  Experiment  LX.  we  find 
that,  very  shortly  before  respiration  ceased,  and  when  ordinary  reflex 
action  from  the  cord  was  nearly  gone,  purposive  or  voluntary  movements 
were  still  made.  The  absence  of  movements  in  Experiment  L.,  when  the 
cord  was  irritated  by  a  needle,  as  well  oa  the  rapid  loss  of  its  power  to 
produce  movement  in  the  limbs  when  irritated  by  a  Faradic  current,  is, 
we  think,  to  be  attributed  to  paralysis  of  its  function  as  an  originator, 
and  not  as  a  CMiductor,  of  motor  impressions. 

Krpenmeta  XLVII. 

May  19th. — The  lumbar  nerves  of  a  frog  were  exposed  and  a  ligature 
tied  roand  the  body,  excluding  these  nerves. 

12  (noon).  Some  dried  cobra-poison  dissolved  in  water  was  injected 
into  the  dorsal  lymph-sac. 

1.45.  The  frog  is  partially  paralysed ;  mouth  gaping ;  reflex  action  is 
still  marked  in  all  the  limbs,  but  more  in  the  legs  than  in  the  anna. 

The  heart  was  exposed  when  the  ligature  was  applied ;  it  still  beats, 
but  feebly  and  slowly. 

1.50.  Acetic  add  causes  reflex  movements  when  applied  to  either  the 
hind  or  fore  feet. 

1.54.  Applied  to  the  nose,  acetic  acid  causes  movements  in  all  the 
extremities,  and  especially  in  the  onus. 

1.56.  Applied  to  the  right  hind  foot  it  causes  movements  of  the  arms 
and  of  the  jaw,  which  otherwise  gapes. 

2.2.  Applied  to  the  left  hind  foot  it  causes  no  reflex  action. 

2.14.  Heart  beating  very  feebly,  18  pulsations  per  minute.  Beflex 
movementa  still  occur  in  all  the  limbs,  and  rather  more  in  the  legs  than 
in  the  arms. 

2.30.  Acetic  add  produces  no  reflex  action  anywhere.  The  heart  has 
almost  ceased  to  beat,  and  only  contracts  faintly  at  long  intervals. 

2.34.  All  reflex  action  has  ceased. 

2.45.  Eledrodes  placed  in  the  spine  and  the  cord  irritated  by  a  Faradio 
conent.  At  15'5  centims.  distance,  faint  contractions  in  both  arms.  At 
0  centim.  distance,  no  contraction  in  legs.  Sciatic  nerves  exposed  and 
irritated.  32-5,  slight  contraction  in  left  leg;  sli^t  contraction  in 
right  leg. 


<   Ml     (  iH'l't*  IS  no  ('\  Klfl) 

OV  liiuscl»'s  ;  (It.'Mtli  M|)j)**;u>  (lur  to  |t;ii':il 
caiist'd  l)v  the  aflioii  ot  tin*  j)(U>(Hi  :  I'o 
i]i()ui!;li  I'tH'bly,  aftrr  all  rellex  action  had 

Expenment  XI 

A  ligature  was  passed  under  the  right  t 
tied  round  the  limb,  so  as  to  constrict  th< 
exception  of  the  nerve,  and  completely  arr 

At  1.8  half  a  drop  of  cobra-poison  (1st 
centim.  of  water,  was  injected  into  the  dor 

1.12.  The  animal  is  sluggish. 

1.15.  Crawls  about  but  sluggishly,  and 
drawn  up  close  to  the  body. 

1.20.  The  frog  is  more  sluggish. 

1.23.  The  hind  limbs  seem  paralyzed;  t] 
much  less  than  before. 

1.30.  Frog  almost  motionless.  Conti*acti 
occur ;  but  they  no  longer  respond  when  pii 

1.57.  There  is  a  faint  motion  in  the  limbs. 

2.18.  Frog  is  dead.     Much  ecchymosed. 

On  irritating  the  lumbar  nerves  in  the  abd 
current,  the  poisoned  leg  contracted  rather  mc 

On  irritating  the  sciatic  nerves  in  the  thigl 
ture,  the  contractions  of  the  poisoned  leg  w* 
those  of  the  non-poisoned  leg. 

Electrodes  were  then  placed  in  the  spinal 
by  an  induced  current- 


1874.]  Pmton  of  Indian  Venomoiu  Snakes.  107 

in  this  inatBiioe  became  panlyeed  before  the  motor  oervee.  It  is  indeed 
difScult  to  ny  whether  the  motor  nervee  were  paralyied  in  this  case  or 
not,  u  the  muBcles  themselvee  were  diatioctly  weakened. 

Experittunl  XLIX. 

Dte.  In,  1872. — The  right  1^  ot  a  frog  was  ligatured,  excluding  the 
Bciatac  nerre,  which  was  kept  covered  by  a  flap  of  akin  to  prevent  its 
becoming  dr^.  A  ligature  w^s  also  put  round  the  left  leg  in  a  similar 
manner,  bat  not  tightened. 

2  p.if.  Colmi-p<»son  injected  into  the  abdominal  rein. 

The  effect  not  being  marked,  the  aorta  was  exposed. . 

2.27.  Some  ptnaon  injected  into  the  aorta.  It  seemed  to  take  effect 
at  onoe  ;  all  motion  ceased  immediately. 

2.30.  The  ligature  was  then  tightened  round  the  left  leg. 

2.48.  The  frog  has  since  moved ;  but  all  motion  has  now  ceased. 

2.52.  Even  when  irritated  by  acetic  add  there  is  no  movement.  The 
heart  is  still  contracting. 

No  reflex  action  occurs  when  a  strong  interrupted  current  is  applied 
to  the  nose  or  limbs. 

Lumbar  nerves  exposed  and  irritated. 

ffi^t.  Distinct  contraction  of  thigh.    Coil  at  SS-fi. 

Left.  Do.  do. 

Bight.  Distinct  contraction  of  whole  leg.    Coil  50. 

Left.  Do.  do. 

Sciatica  exposed  and  irritat«d. 

Bight.  Contraction.    Coil  77-0. 

Left.  Do.  „    62-0. 

3.28.  Bight.  Do.  „    50. 
Left.            Do.            „    43. 

The  poisoned  leg  seems  to  be  losing  its  irritability  more  quickly  than 
the  other.     Irrit«lHUty  of  spinal  cord  gone. 

3.35.  The  left  still  contracts,  with  the  coil  at  35.  The  other,  when 
uritAted  by  a  current  of  the  same  strength,  contracts  more  strongly. 

The  loss  of  power  occasioned  by  the  (.'essation  of  the  circulation  In  the 
ligatured  limb  (which  is  used  as  a  standard  with  which  to  compare  the 
other)  was  diminished  in  this  experiment,  by  injecting  the  poison  directly 
into  the  circulation,  so  as  to  enable  it  to  reach  the  motor  nerve-ends  at 
once.  As  soon  as  it  had  taken  effect,  the  poisoned  leg  was  likewise 
deprived  of  its  circulation,  so  aa  to  bring  the  two  limbs  as  nearly  as 
possible  into  the  same  conditions.  The  cause  of  death,  in  t^  experi- 
ment, was  paralysia  of  the  cord,  all  reflex  action  having  been  almost 
immediately  abolished  by  the  large  dose  of  the  poison  injected  into 
the  drcnlation,  thongh  the  heart  continued  to  beat.  The  motor  nerves 
•wen  not  at  Bxtt  afiaeted ;  but  after  a  little  while  paralysis  appeared  in 
fi»  p<saoaed  Hmb.    This  experiment  is  especially  interesting  in  reference 


108  Messrs.  T.  L.  Bruiiton  and  3.  Fayrer  wi  /he       [Jan.  22, 

tu  the  cause  of  death  when  a  considerable  quantity  of  poison  entt^rs  tlio 
arterial  system  at  once.  In  warm-blooded  animals,  as  in  show-n  by  Ei- 
periment  LX  VTII .,  the  heart  is  arrestt^,  in  many  iniitauoes,  and  death  t  bus 
oci'aaioned;  but  when  this  is  not  the  cose,  llie  appearance  of  jiaralysia  \s 
probably  due  to  affection  of  the  nerre-centrw. 

Erperin^ent  L. 

Stpt.  \Zih. — A  ligature  was  placed  round  the  middle  of  a  frog,  excluiling 
the  lumbar  nerves. 

3  P.M.  Some  dried  cobra-poiaon  dissolved  in  water  was  iujeeted  into  tha 
dorsal  Ivuiph-sac.  Immediately  after  the  injection  the  animal  could  move 
all  its  limbs  quito  well. 

3.3.  Bestless  ;  moves  all  its  limbs. 

3.17.  Can  still  move  vigorously. 

3.21.  Can  kick  vigorously  with  its  legs,  especially  the  right.  When 
it  moves  it  aeema  to  overreach  itself  and  turns  over,  apparently  front 
the  hind  limbs  remaining  unaffected  and  the  arms  becoming  partially 
paralyzed. 

3.40,  Still  moves  voluntarily. 

3,.')2.  No  reflex  motion  can  be  produced  by  touching  any  of  the  ei- 
tremitles  with  acetic  acid. 

A  minute  or  two  afterwards  a  slight  twitch  was  noticed  in  one  arm,  to 
which  acetic  acid  had  been  applied ;  but  whether  this  was  greatly  delayed 
reflex  action  caused  by  the  acid,  or  whether  it  was  due  to  aometluDg  elae, 
is  uncertain.  A  needle  was  now  run  down  the  apinal  cord.  It  produced 
no  effect. 

The  legs  contracted  readily  when  the  lumbar  nerves  were  irritated. 

The  absence  of  motion  in  the  legs  when  the  cord  was  irritated  by  a 
needle  run  down  the  spinal  canal,  shows  that  the  power  of  the  cord  to 
originate  motor  impulses  had  been  destroyed,  as  it  would  usually  have 
caused  violent  contractions  in  the  extremities.  These  having  been  pro- 
tected from  the  action  of  the  poison  either  on  muscle  or  nerve,  would 
respond  readily,  as  indeed  they  did,  to  voluntary  motor  impulses  shortlj 
before  the  death  of  the  animal. 

Experiment  LI. 

May  12tA,  1873, — ^The  sacnun  of  a  frog  was  removed,  and  a  iigotara 
passed  round  the  body,  excluding  the  lumbar  nerves.  There  waa  a  good 
deal  of  bleeding. 

12.30.  Ligature  tied. 

1233.  A.  good  dose  of  dried  cobra-poison  dissolved  in  water  was  inti»- 
duoed  into  dorsal  lymph-sac.  Immediately  afterwards  the  frog  spmi^ 
about  once  or  twice. 

1.27.  Cornea  insensible.  On  pincliiDg  the  fiugerof  either  hand,  it  kida 
ont  vigorously  with  the  right  hind  leg.  On  squeezing  the  toee  of  n^tk 
^'td  foot  it  kicks  ont  ngorously  with  it.    On  squeezing  toes  of  Um  klh 


1874.]  Pmaom  of  Indian  Venomom  Snakes.  109 

hind  foot  there  is  no  morement  wbatoTer.    On  placing  acetic  acid  on 
either  forearm  the  frog  kicks  out  strongly  with  the  right  hind  leg. 

2.  Intarrapted  current,  tUstance  7.  Acetic  acid  applied  all  otot  the 
frog  no  longer  cauaee  any  movement  whaterer.  Electrodes  placed  in 
apinal  cord  just  below  occiput.  Cord  irritated  b;  an  interrupted  current. 
Sight  leg  kicks  Tigorously.    No  motion  in  any  other  part  of  the  body. 

Experiment  LII. 
Jfoy  15th. — Frog  ligatured  round  the  middle,  the  lumbar  nerrea  ex- 
cepted.   A  moderate  amount  of  bleeding. 
12.40.  Ligature  applied. 

12.62.  Frc^  springs  actively  ^mut  when  ttmched.     A  considerable  dose 

of  dried  cabn^-'pfOBcai  dissolved  in  water  injected  into  the  dorsal  lymph-sac, 

l.lo.  Cornea  insensiUe.    When  either  hind  foot  is  pinched,  it  is  drawn 

ap  with  a  wriggling  motion  when  the  irog  is  lying  on  the  table.    When 

the  frog  is  suspended  the  foot  is  drawn  up  at  once. 

1^.  On  applying  acetic  acid  to  both  fore  limbs  and  nose,  the  hind 
l^s  were  vigorously  drawn  up  to  the  body,  but  only  after  a  long  interval. 
1.26.  Strong  acetic  acid  applied  to  both  fore  limbs  and  nose.    Move* 
nienta  in  all  four  limbs  after  8  seconds. 

1.36.  Weaker  acid  applied  to  both  fcve  limbs.  Movements  in  all  the 
limbs  in  37  seconds. 

2.20.  Applied  to  both  fore  1^.  Movements  in  both  fore  limbs  in  4 
seconds.    Worse  in  hind  legs. 

2.53.  Apjdied  to  all  the  limbs  and  the  nose.  No  motion  anywhere. 
Divided  medulla. 

2.58.  No  reflex  at  all  in  200  seconds  after  appUcation  of  acid  to  all 
the  limbs  and  tite  body. 

Abdomen  opened.     Lumbar  nerves  irritated  just  below  exit  from  spine. 
DUtBoos  of  primarj  from 
Lrg.     Mix>DdU7  ooil  in  centinu. 

6-3  Left     gastrocnemius     contracts    very 

slightly ;  right  not. 
0  Left  gastrocnemius  contracts  slightiy; 

right  not.   Both  sciatics  exposed  and 
irritated  in  the  thigh  some  distance 
below  ligature. 
Left  57  Tetanus  of  leg. 

Bight  58  Tetanus.     Xerve   rather  more  firmly 

applied   to   electrodes.     Viscera  re- 
moved and  brachial  oerves  irritated. 
Bight  47  Contraction  of  foot. 

Left  45  Contraction  of  foot. 

in  Qiis  experiment  the  loss  of  refiex  motion  was  gradual.  It  is  shown 
to  be  due  to  pandyaia  of  iho  cord,  and  not  to  excitation  of  S^sohenow's 


t  o£  _ 


110  Messrs.  T.  L.  BruDtOD  uric/ J.  Fayrer  on  the      [Jaa.23|j 

iniibitory  centres,  by  the  divUion  of  the  medulla  having  no  power  to 
crease  the  reflex  action. 

The  fact  that  irritation  of  the  lumbar  nerves  hardly  caused  any  conti 
tiou  tn  the  legs,  whUe  irritation  of  the  aciaties  below  the  ligature 
them  to  contract  re-adily,  indicates  either  that  the  nerves  had  been  inji 
by  the  ligature,  or  that  the  part  of  them  lyiug  between  the  spine 
ligature  had  been  paralyzed  by  the  poison.  The  latt«r  is  possible  ;  but  sb 
the  irog  moved  ita  ariuB  aud  not  its  legs  before  death,  the  fonuer  is  more 
probable. 

Several  years  ago  Setschenow  showed  that  the  optic  lobes  in  the  frog 
possess  an  inhibitory  power  over  the  reflex  acta  originating  in  the  spinal 
cord.  Irritation  of  the  optic  lobes  greatly  lengthens  the  time  required  for 
the  performance  of  any  reflex  act,  and  thus  produces  an  effect  apparently 
similar  to  that  of  diminished  ejcitubiht.y,  or  paralysis,  of  the  spinal  cord. 
A  diminution  in  reflex  action  may  therefore  be  due  to  two  very  different 
causes:— (1>  Lessened  excitability  of  the  cord,  and  (2)  excitement  o£ 
Setsehenow'a  inhibitory  centres.  These  can,  however,  be  readily 
tingnishcd  from  one  another  by  dividing  the  eord  just  below  the  medi 
It  is  thus  separated  from  the  inhibitory  eentres ;  aud  if  the  diminution 
reflex  action  is  duo  to  escittmeut  in  them  it  will  disappear,  but  will  bo 
permanent  if  it  is  caused  by  pamJysia  of  the  cord.  The  following  ex- 
periment, performed  by  Tiirck's  method,  shows  that  in  cobra-poisoning 
the  diminution  of  reflex  action  is  due  to  the  latter  of  these  causes. 

Ej-penment  LUI. 

May  19//i,  1873. — The  right  leg  of  a  frog  ligatured,  excluding  the  sciatic 
nerve. 

3.6.  A  full  dose  of  dried  cobra-poison  disaoh'ed  in  water  injected  into 
the  dorsal  lymph-sac. 

3.54.  The  animal  appears  dead.  Both  hind  legs  dipped  into  diluta 
acetic  acid.     Bight  arm  twitched. 

3.57.  Keflex  aclion  in  both  arms.  None  in  the  legs  when  the  left  leg  is 
dipped  in  the  acid. 

4,  No  reflex  action  from  ligatured  leg. 

4.2.  No  reflex  action  from  left  leg  in  (SO  seconds  when  it  is  dipped  in 
the  add. 

4.10.  No  reflex  action  from  either  leg  in  250  seconds. 

The  medulla  was  now  divided  in  order  to  separate  the  cord  from 
Setchenow's  inhibitory  centres. 

4.35.  No  reflex  action  can  be  observed. 

As  the  operation  of  dividing  the  cord  somewhat  lessens  the  excitability, 
in  the  following  experiment  the  division  was  performed  on  the  prerious 
day,  BO  that  its  effects  should  have  passed  off  before  the  poison  was  inje>ct«d. 

The  columns  headed  "  left "  and  "  right"  indicate  the  number  of  seconds 
'  ""bich  lapsed  before  the  correspondii^  leg  was  drawn  out  of  the  acid. 


1 874.]  Poison  of  Indian  Venomous  Snakes.  Ill 

Ea!j>eriment  LIV. 

May  I5th, — About  3  p.m.  divided  the  medulla  of  the  frog. 
„    16^. — Suspended  the  frog  by  a  hook  in  its  jaw. 


When  touched  the  frog  draws  up  its  legs,  an  J 
makes  wiping  movements  on  its  flanks. 


Time. 

Left. 

Bigl 

11.17 

8 

8 

11.44 

5 

6 

11.59 

4 

5 

12.6 

3 

7 

12.10 

5 

3 

12.25 

12.30 

8 

10 

The  pomt  of  an  aneurism  needle  was  drawn 
across  the  spine  so  as  to  destroy  any  rem- 
nant of  medulla.  The  frog  at  once  passed 
into  a  state  of  opisthotonos ;  but  in  a  few 
minutes  this  passed  o£E. 


12.40 

12 

9 

12.48 

12 

9 

12.55 

10 

8 

12.68 

10 

5 

1. 

8 

5 

1.2 

•  • 

•  • 

1.5 

•  • 

•  • 

1.9 

11 

10 

1.16 

10 

10 

1.18 

•  • 

•  • 

2.35 

300 

300 

Injected  a  drop  of  concentrated  solution  of 

dried  cobra-poison  under  skin  of  back. 
It  draws  up  legs  and  wipes  back  once  or  twice. 


Another  drop. 

No  reflex  action  in  either  foot.  The  heart  could 
not  be  seen  beating  till  the  frog  was  opened ; 
then  it  was  found  beating  slowly  and  lan- 
guidly, 24  in  a  minute. 
2.45  Half  a  drop  of  liquor  atropi®  placed  on  heart. 

Immediately  afterwards  its   pulsations  be- 
came more  forcible,  but  were  still  24. 

Ea^periment  LV. 

May  16th, — Divided  the  medulla  of  a  frog  about  3  p.m. 
May  16th. — Suspended  it  by  hook  through  the  jaws. 

1.3  6  3 

1.6  5  5 

1.11  6  6 

1.16  6  12 

1.18  5  6 


One  Aiap  of  lUg^y  dOntad,  bnt  itill  iiiiiiiii 

tiie  akin  oi  Hie  beck. 
2.23  10  14    The  foot  WH  twitched  i^  in  On  add  ^  than 

timeo,  bat  the  leg  wu  not  dnwn  np. 
a25        150        150    No  raSex  eotum.    Strmg  RoetiD  acid  mnina 
none.    Thonx  opened.    Heart  qinto  ML 
These  experiments  show  that  the  time  required  for  Uie  perfonnaiioe  tt 
a  reflex  act  went  on  increaaing,  or,  in  otlier  words,  the  exbltabililj  of  titt 
cord  went  on  diminishing,  after  the  injection  of  tiie  poiaon ;  aitd  all  aim- 
mntiication  with  the  inhibitorj  centres  having  been  preriooslj  oat  off  hf 
dividing  tJie  medulla,  this  effect  oonld  onlj  be  doe  to  Ute  .aotion  ct  Uw 
pcMBon  on  the  cord. 

Exp4nmMt  IjYL 
At  1.16.  Half  a  drop  of  oobr»-p(riara  was  injected  into  Ute  p 
cavity  of  a  guinespig. 

1.17.  The  animal  is  restleaa  and  twitdiing;  nins  about. 

1.18.  Micturates. 
1.24.  It  is  getting  weak  and  Bluggisb.    Thebind  quarters  have  ai 

a  crouching  posture.    It  moves  when  roused. 

1.26.  It  looks  dron-sy,.  is  disinclined  to  moA*e,  and  is  jerking.  The  hind 
le^  M«  almost  paralyzed.  When  they  are  retracted  it  draws  them  np 
with  difficulty. 

1.27.  Has  defecated.  Is  convnlBed  generally,  but  tbo  convulsions  are 
more  marked  in  the  hind  quarters. 

1.32.  Convulaions  continue.  They  are  not  increased  or  ezdted  bj  ex- 
ternal stimuU.     Cornea  insensible. 

1.34.  Mouth  only  twitches.    Heart  acting  vigorously. 

1.35.  The  animal  is  quite  dead. 

1.36.  The  spinal  cord  irritated  by  an  induced  current  through  electrodes 
inserted  in  the  vertebral  column.  The  irritability  of  the  cord  seems  per- 
fect.    (It  was  judged  of  by  the  contractions  of  the  hind  limbs.) 

1.40.  The  heart  continues  to  beat.  Thorax  laid  open.  The  vagi  iso- 
lated, and  one  of  them  irritated.  The  cardiac  action  seems  to  be  increased 
by  the  irritation  of  the  vagus.  The  auricles  contract  very  rapidly,  the 
ventricles  not  so  rapidly.     The  cord  is  still  irritable. 

1.50.  The  irritability  of  the  spinal  cord  as  affecting  the  lower  extae- 
mities  is  almost  gone ;  as  affecting  the  upper  limbs  it  is  still  retained. 
Heart  still  contracts  vigorously. 

1.54.  The  lower  limbs  are  no  longer  affected  by  electricity  applied  to 
the  spinal  cord.     The  upper  limbs  are  affected. 

1.56.  The  spinal  cord  is  still  slightly  irritable.     The  heart  ii 
^^  freely. 
^^   2.  Cbrd  still  slightly  irritable.    Heart  acts  briskly. 


1874.]  Poitim  of  Indian  Venomout  Snakei.  118 

2£.  Heart  octB  as  Tigaronal^  as  ever.    Artificial  Tespintion  was  tried. 

2-15.  Artificial  reapiration  has  been  kept  up,  but  has  been  of  no  Berrice. 
The  imtatnlity  of  the  cord  is  mnch  diminished,  though  not  qnite  eitinct. 
The  stroogast  current  causes  a  barely  perceptible  motion.  The  heart  is 
atill  acting.     There  are  spots  of  ecchymoaie  all  over  tlie  inteatiues, 

2.40,  The  irritatnlitj  of  the  cord  is  quite  gone.  The  heart  is  still 
actii^.    The  blood  collected  from  the  large  vessels  coagulated  finnly. 

Experiment  LVII, 

Aufftiet  30th. — ^A  cannula  was  placed  in  the  trachea  of  a  cat,  and  1^  de- 
cigramme of  dried  cobra-poison  was  weighed  out  and  dissolved  in  a  amall 
quantity  (about  2  cub.  centims.)  of  distilled  water.  The  solution  was 
dear  and  glury,  hanging  in  threads  from  the  stirring-rod. 

2.40.  Injected  about  two  thirds  of  this  solution  under  the  skin  of  the 
right  hip, 

2.50.  Bespiration  is  quicker.  The  cat  lies  down  and  does  not  like  to 
rise.    When  raised  it  walks  toward  a  dark  comer,  dragging  tiie  right 

feg- 

2,58,  Shivering  (^  right  1^  and  partially  of  body.  No  other  symptom 
than  paralyms  of  right  leg  being  noticed,  a  further  injection  was  made. 

4.26.  The  remainder  of  the  solution  injected  in  the  same  place.  This 
also  seemed  to  produce  little  eSect. 

6.10.  Injected  '02  grain  dissolved  in  a  little  water,  as  the  cat  did  not 
•eem  lUxiat  to  die. 

6,2,  Injected  Ij  culnc  centimetre  of  a  2-peiw!8nt.  solution  of  cobr&- 
pmson  in  distilled  water,  partly  into  a  vein  in  the  back  of  the  left  hind 
kg,  partly  into  the  peritoneum.  The  left  hind  1^  seems  partially  para- 
lyied.  The  respiration  has  a  peculiar  character,  the  diaphragm  seeming 
to  relax  with  a  jerk.  The  respiratory  movements  are  very  deep.  Feri- 
staltio  action  of  bowels. 

6.20.  The  fore  legs  are  now  becoming  paralyzed. 

6.25.  Bespiration  quick.  Entirely  diaphragmatic.  Cornea  quite  sensi- 
tive.  The  animal  opens  it«  mouth  when  the  tail  is  pinched,  but  not  wh«i 
the  feet  are  pinched, 

6.37.  Sensibility  of  the  cornea  seems  nearly  gone.  When  the  inside 
of  the  ear  is  tickled  the  animal  shakes  its  head. 

6.43.  Although  respiratory  movements  still  continued,  artificial  respi- 
ration was  begun.    The  animal  was  laid  in  an  apparatus  which  kept  it 

6.45.  The  cat  tries  in  vain  to  vomit.     The  cornea  is  almost  insensible. 

Abont  8.80  the  heart-beats  ceased.     The  body  of  the  animal  was  ex- 

Sjmned  next  day  at  noon.    Bigor  mortis  well  marked.    The  body  of  the 

raTiiinnl  had  a  strong  odour  of  decomposition.    The  lungs  w^«  congested, 

fclie  right  side  of  the  heart  gorged,  the  left  empty  and  firmly  contracted, 

^y*lie  perieardinm  ccmtuned  a  quantity  of  dark-red  serum.  A  considerable 


li.'AO.  Vomits  atraiii.     Tlie  animal  can  waU 
lie  on  its  side. 

2.40.  C an  ualk,  bnt  seems  slightly  giddy. 

2.45.  Vomiting  and  defecation. 

3.12.  Sensibility  of  the  cornea  nearly  gor 
tated  the  cat  shakes  its  head.  When  the  ey 
not  moye ;  but  when  the  point  of  a  pair  of  fo: 
fore  foot  is  raised  to  push  the  forceps  away. 

3.20.  The  animal  suddenly  got  up,  walked  a 

3.22.  It  seems  as  if  it  wanted  to  yomit,  but  ifi 
ear  is  tickled  it  shakes  its  head. 

3.26.  There  is  distinct  reflex  action  on  irrita 
not  when  the  fore  paws  are  pinched. 

3^2.  Breathing  is  getting  deep  and  slow,  an 
each  inspiration.  There  is  still  motion  of  th< 
mouth  are  tickled.  A  minute  or  two  ago  it  got 
two,  and  then  fell.  Bespiration  graduiJly  ceasec 
in  the  trachea,  and  artificial  respiration  kept  n 
beat  very  shortly  after.  Electrodes  were  placed 
seventh  and  twelfth  dorsal  vertebra.  A  Faradi 
them  caused  contractions  in  the  adjoining  mus< 
elsewhere.  The  left  sciatic  was  exposed  and  i 
tracted.  About  an  hour  afterwards  curious  a] 
movements  took  place  in  the  rigJU  foot.  The 
posed  in  the  right  leg. 

Experiment  LIX. 


1874.]  Poiitm  of  Indian  Venamoui  Snakes.  1 15 

4.4.  ConviilsiYe  motiong  oocar,  bat  the  animal  can  still  run.  Almost 
immediately  after,  when  laid  on  its  side  it  could  not  get  np. 

4.7.  The  cornea  is  now  insensible.  A  cannula  placed  in  the  trachea 
and  artificial  respiration  commenced. 

4.15.  A  needle  placed  in  heart.  Pulsations  quick.  The  artificial  re- 
spiration was  discontinued.    The  pulsations  became  quicker. 

In  this  experiment  the  paralysis  began  in  the  fore  legs.  There  was  di- 
stinct loss  of  coordination ;  but  the  animal  could  run  up  to  the  last, 
although  it  could  not  walk.  This  indicates  that  the  higher  coordinating 
centre  (probably  the  cerebellum)  was  paral}ised  before  the  lower  ones,  just 
as  in  the  case  of  a  man  who  is  drunk. 

Ejsperiment  LX. 
August  29ihf  1873. — ^A  cannula  was  placed  in  the  trachea  of  a  cat  about 

5.35.  One  decigram  of  dried  cobra-poison,  dissolved  in  two  cubic  centi- 
metres of  water,  was  injected  into  the  peritoneal  cavity. 

5.39.  The  animal  lies  on  its  side  breathing  very  rapidly  and  wagging 
its  tail.    Bises,  sits  with  head  erect  and  mouth  widely  open. 

5.45.  The  respiratory  movements  are  very  rapid  and  shallow,  with 
occasional  deep  ones.  The  animal  sits  up.  Eespirations  240  per  minute. 
Pulse  148  per  minute. 

6.3.  The  animal  was  lying  down  and  occasionally  rising.  Is  now  lying 
down.  The  respiratory  movements  have  an  extraordinary  vermicular 
character.  Dr.  Sanderson  ascertained  by  palpation  that  this  is  due  to 
the  diaphragm  contracting  before  the  thoracic  waUs  expand. 

6.7.  The  respirations  are  feeble,  with  occasional  deep  ones.  The  cat 
walks  quite  well.    The  bowels  act. 

6.20.  Bowels  act  again.    Tries  to  vomit  several  times. 

6.37.  The  cat  lay  on  its  side,  and  stretched  itself  once  or  twice  in  a 
sort  of  convulsive  manner. 

6.41.  Lies  quietly.  When  the  cornea  is  touched  or  poked  with  a 
pointed  instrument,  or  when  the  finger  is  rubbed  over  it,  the  eyelids  do 
not  close,  nor  does  the  animal  give  any  sign  of  feeling.  When  the  hind 
legs  are  struck,  it  moves  its  fore  legs  very  faintly.  Bespiration  is  quite 
regular  and  apparently  normal.  The  end  of  the  tail  gently  moves  from 
side  to  side.  When  the  inside  of  the  ear  is  tickled  the  animal  shakes  its 
head.  It  took  a  deep  breath,  and  moved  its  head  voluntarily.  The  pupil 
is  much  contracted.  When  the  arms  are  irritated  by  a  sharp  stick  the 
animal  draws  its  body  slightly  together.  A  minute  or  two  afterwards  it 
moved  its  tail  from  side  to  side  several  times  voluntarily.  The  animal 
was  lying  on  its  side.  Lifted  it  up  and  laid  it  on  its  belly  with  its  feet 
under  it.    It  rose  up  and  walked  several  steps. 

6*45.  The  cat  again  rises  and  walks,  but  staggeringly.  It  then  falls 
and  lies  on  its  side.    The  hind  legs  seem  to  be  weaker  than  the  fore  legs. 

TOL.  2xn.  IL 


1 16  Messrs.  T.  L.  Bnmton  and  J.  Fayrer  pn  the      [Jan.  22, 

6.52.  Animal  lying  on  its  side.  When  a  bright  light  is  brou^t  befora 
its  eyes  it  draws  back  its  head.  The  cornea  is  quite  insensible.  When 
the  paws  are  irritated  by  striking,  pinching,  or  pricking  there  is  no  re- 
sponse. When  the  inside  of  the  ear,  nose,  or  mouth  is  tickled,  the  cat 
shakes  its  head,  and  sometimes  moves  its  paw  to  put  the  irritant  away. 

7.5.  On  touching  the  eyes  it  sometimes  draws  back  its  head,  but  there 
is  not  the  slightest  motion  of  the  eyelids.  It  voluntarily  moved  its  paws 
and  head  as  if  to  rise,  and  then  sank  back  as  if  asleep,  and  lay  still  an  its 
side. 

7.6.  Laid  it  on  its  bdly.  It  rose  and  Ti-alked  a  step  or  two  towards  a 
dark  comer  and  then  fell.  Immediately  afterwards  the  musdes  of  the 
neck  gave  a  sort  of  shudder.  After  movement  the  respiration  becomes 
much  quicker,  and  then  rapidly  becomes  slow.  After  lying  a  minute  or 
so  its  respirations  are  27  per  minute, 

7.25.  Moves  its  paws  and  tries  to  get  up  voluntarily,  but  cannot  do  so. 
Irritated  paws  and  ear  by  sparks  from  a  Du-Bois  coil.  No  reaction.  On 
irritating  the  inside  of  the  thigh  in  a  similar  manner,  it  stretched  out  its 
fore  legs,  protruded  its  claws,  and  seemed  to  be  trying  to  grasp  me. 

7.«'%3.  The  respiration  ceased  \dthout  convulsions.  The  cannula  in  the 
trachea  was  immediately  connected  with  an  apparatus  for  artificial  respi- 
ration, and  this  was  kept  up.  While  some  adjustment  was  being  made 
on  the  apparatus  the  animal  was  obser^'ed,  and  its  heart  was  found  to  have 
ceased  to  pulsate  about  five  or  ten  minutes  after  artificial  respiration  had 
been  begun. 

On  opening  the  thorax  the  lungs  were  found  somewhat  congested- 
The  right  side  of  the  heart  was  moderately  filled.  The  left  ventricle  was 
quite  empty  and  firmly  contracted.  The  surface  of  the  stomach  and  in- 
testines was  much  congested.  The  interior  of  the  stomach  was  not  con- 
gested. 

In  this  experiment,  respiration  continued  for  two  hours  after  the  in- 
jection of  the  poison.  The  most  remarkable  points  as  regards  respiration 
are  its  great  acceleration,  with  occasional  deep  breaths  at  first,  its  vermicular 
character  about  the  middle  of  the  experiment,  and  its  regularity  towards 
the  end.  Beflcx  action  seemed  entirely  abolished,  and  sensation  very 
much  impaired ;  the  mental  faculties  seemed  sluggish ;  but  voluntary  power 
was  retained,  and  the  movements  of  the  animal  were  not  indefinite  bat 
distinctly  purposive. 

The  motor  nerves  and  muscles  were  evidently  not  paralyzed ;  but  the 
grey  matter  of  the  cord  seemed  to  have  lost  its  power  of  inducing  reflex 
actions  or  of  conveying  painful  impressions.  Tactile  impressions,  such  as 
laying  the  animal  on  its  belly,  still  caused  reaction.  The  movements 
thus  induced,  as  well  as  those  caused  by  irritating  the  ears,  &c.,  may  all 
be  reasonablv  ascribed  to  the  action  of  the  brain. 

Closure  of  the  eyelids  would  seem  to  be  a  purely  reflex  act,  in  which 
the  brain  is  altogether  unconcerned. 


1874.]  PiriaoH  of  Indian  Venomoui  Snaket.  117 

Experiment  LXI, 

Oetebv  S6A,  1872. — To  aacertun  if  a  mixture  of  etrychaiaand  woonra 
prodnoed  the  same  effect  as  cobra-poiBon,  a  giiiueapig  weighing  1  lb.  waa 
ezperimentod  upon. 

2.36.30,  One  cubic  centimetre  of  a  solution  of  woorara  (1  in  1000) 
was  injected  nnder  the  skin  of  the  side. 

234.  Aa  the  fint  dose  seemed  to  produce  little  effect,  another  cutuo 
centimetre  was  injected  In  the  same  way  as  before. 

2,56.  A  drop  or  two  of  Liquor  Stiychnis  (4  gra.  to  1  fl.  oz.)  waa  in- 
jected into  the  side. 

2.67.  Twitching;  motiona  of  the  body  begin.  (They  were  not  exactly 
like  those  produced  by  cobra-poison.) 

2.58.  The  animal  has  fallen  over  on  ita  side  and  ia  paralyzed,  but  the 
twitching  continues. 

3.2.  The  animal  is  dead.  No  convulsions.  On  opening  the  animal 
the  heart  vna  found  contracting  vigorously. 

ISectrodea  were  inserted  in  the  spinal  column  and  the  cord  irritated  by 
an  induced  current.  The  limbs  contracted  when  irritation  was  applied  to 
the  cord.  The  iciatic  nerve  was  exposed  and  irritated  by  an  induced  cur- 
rent.   The  muscles  of  the  limb  contracted. 

8.9.  Heart  still  contracta  feebly.     The  lungs  are  congested. 

Action  of  Cobra-poiion  on  the  Slomaek  ami  Intealiites, 
One  of  the  most  noticeable  symptoms  of  cobra-poisoning  in  dogs  is 
vomiting  of  a  violent,  repeated,  and  most  distresBiug  kind ;  and  it  is  also 
present  in  cat«  and  guineapigs,  though  to  a  less  degree.  Its  occurrence 
in  guineapigs  is  somewhat  extraordinary,  as  these  animals  very  rarely 
Tomit,  and,  according  to  Schiff,  only  do  bo  after  their  vagi  have  been  di- 
vided ;  whereas  other  animals  which  vomit  under  ordinary  circumstances 
are  then  unable  to  vomit  at  all.  The  nenous  centre  by  «hich  the  move- 
ments of  vomiting  are  originated  is  closely  connected  vdtb  the  respiratory 
centee,  and  it  may  be  set  in  action  by  stimuli  conveyed  to  it  by  the 
branches  of  the  vagus  distributed  to  the  stomach  and  other  intestinal 
organs,  and  also  through  the  pharyngeal  branches,  either  of  the  vagus  or, 
poBsibly,  of  the  glosso-pharyngeal  nerve.  The  brain  can  also  excite  it ;  but 
&»  vomiting  it  produces  is  not  usually  prolonged.  The  vomiting  which 
occurs  in  cobra-poisoning  is,  in  all  probability,  due,  in  part,  to  irritation  of 
the  gastric  or  abdominal  branches  of  the  vagus — but  not  altogether ;  for 
the  attempts  to  vomit  continued  in  Experiment  LXIV.  after  that  nerve 
had  been  divided  in  the  neck ;  and  the  failure  to  bring  any  thing  up  is 
to  be  attributed  to  the  cardiac  aperture  of  the  stomach  failing  to  dilate 
at  the  proper  tame — a  result  which  usually  occurs  after  section  of  the 
vagos. 

In  Experiment  XLIV.  there  wu  intense  congestion  of  the  mucous 
le  of  the  stomach ;  but  this  does  not  occur  in  all  cases.     It  could 


I 


1 18  Messrs.  T.  L,  BnuitoD  and  J.  Fayrer  on  the      [Jan.  J 

hardly  be  due  to  the  divisiuii  of  the  vagi  in  this  iustADce,  as  that  operatuai  J 
b  usuallv  followed  by  paleness  of  the  membroae.     The  intestinal  mov^ 
ments  arc  quickened  by  the  poiiwa,  since  there  is  pui^ng,  which  c 
not  be  due  to  increased   intestinal  secretion,  as   the   stools 
chiefly  of  mucus.     The  movements  contiuue  for  a  considerable  I 
after  death. 

Effect  of  Cobra-poiaoii  upon  &3j)iration. 
The  action  of  cobra-poison  upon  respiration  is  perhaps  the  moet  il 
purtont  of  those  which  it  exertu  upon  the  oi^anism  j  for  it  is  through  th» 
action  that  death  is  generally  caused.  The  rtapiratory  movements,  besides 
being  frequently  altered  in  form,  are  generally  quickened  after  the  intro- 
duction of  the  poison  ;  then  the  number  Biufes  to  the  normal  or  even  below 
it ;  they  become  weaker  and,  finally,  cease  altogether.  The  blood  being 
no  longer  aiirated,  becomes  more  and  more  venous,  and,  by  irritating  either 
the  respirat-ory  centre  itaelf  or  some  nerrous  centre  closely  asaodated 
with  it,  occasions  general  convulsions.  These  disappear  whenecer  arti- 
ficial respiration  is  begun  and  the  blood  again  at-rated;  while  they 
reappear  when  the  respiration  is  disoontiuued  and  the  blood  regains  its 
venous  ch;iract'.'r.  This  condition  ia  to  be  observed  io  Esperimcnt  LXII, 
The  de|>endence  of  the  convulsions  on  the  venosity  of  the  blood  is  well 
ahown  by  Experiment  VIII.  of  onr  former  c<«amumc»tion,  iriiare  the  otn- 
ditioQ  of  the  blood  was  indicated  by  the  colour  of  the  fowl's  ctMnb,  and  as 
this  became  florid,  or  livid,  the  convulsions  disappeared  orretomed.  After 
they  have  continued  a  short  while  the  convulsions  cease ;  ics  the  Temoua 
blood  does  not  maintain  the  vitality  of  the  nervous  centres  lofficiently  to 
keep  them  in  action ;  but  if  artificial  respiration  be  recommenced,  iha  fint 
effect  of  aerating  the  blood  is  to  renew  the  ccmvulaions,  by  increasing  tlia 
vitality  of  the  nervous  centres,  and  rendering  them  again  susceptible  to 
the  action  of  a  stimulus,  though  the  conTulaions  disappear  sa  aooa  as  the 
arterialization  has  proceeded  sufficiently  fair. 

Increased  rapidity  of  the  respiratory  movements  may  depend  either 
upon  greater  excitability  of  the  respiratory  centre  in  the  medullai,  or 
upon  stimulation  of  some  of  the  afferent  nerves  which  have  the  power  to 
accelerate  it.  The  chief  of  these  are  the  pulmonary  branches  of  then^aa, 
though  there  are  probably  others  proceeding  from  the  cerebrum,  throng 
which  the  emotions  influence  the  breathing,  and  others  from  the  general 
surfoce  of  the  body. 

In  order  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  the  acceleration  of  respiration  aarenl 
experiments  were  made.  Experiment  T.TTTT  shows  that  it  is  not  doe  toUw 
action  of  the  poison  on  the  cerebrum ;  for  it  occurs  after  the  oerebcil 
lobes  have  be^i  removed.  The  ultimate  arrest  of  respiration  is  probaUj 
due,  in  part,  to  paralysis  of  the  medulla,  and,  in  part,  to  paralysia  at  tlie 
motor  nerves  distributed  to  the  respiratory  muscles.  The  complete  iaaan-  ^ 
■ihtlity  of  the  phrenic  nerve  to  the  strongest  stimuli,  while  the  aciiliei 


18r4.]  Pmmm  of  IniUan  Vemmoui  Snaket.  119 

and  vagus  still  retwned  a  coiuidenble  amount  of  irritability,  in  Experi- 
ments XLIV.  A  LXTL,  is  very  remarkable.  The  want  of  coordination 
between  the  diaphragm  and  the  thoradc  muscles  in  Experiment  LX.  is 
not  improbably  dne  to  paralysis  of  the  phrenic  nerve,  though  it  may  be 
attributed  to  some  alteration  in  the  reapiratory  centre.  Brown~Seqaard 
states  that  the  diaphragm  contains  ganglia  which  will  keep  up  rhythmical 
movements  in  it  after  the  central  nervous  system  has  been  destroyed ;  and 
if  this  statement  is  correct,  it  seems  probable  that  paralysis  of  the  phrenic, 
bj  interrupting  the  connexion  between  the  respiratory  centres  in  the 
medulla  and  those  in  the  diaphragm,  may  allow  the  movements  of  the 
ibonac  respiratory  muscles  and  of  the  diaphragm  to  occur  one  after  the 
other  instead  of  simultaneously. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  to' what  extent  the  stoppage  of  respiiation  depends 
on  paralysifl  of  the  medulla,  or  of  the  motor  nerves,  in  each  case.  Pro- 
baUy  the  effect  of  the  one  preponderates  in  some  cases,  and  that  of  the 
odter  in  others. 

Eirpinmeiil  LXII. 

JVott.  29, 1872.-~The  vagi  of  a  cat  were  exposed  and  some  dilute  cobra- 
pcnson  injected  subcutaneously.  little  effect  bebg  produced,  the  dose 
was  repeirted,  and  then  a  solution  of  alcoholic  extract  of  the  poison  in- 
jected subcutaneously  and  into  the  peritoneum.  After  the  last  injection 
the  animal  became  feebler.  No  vomiting.  Before  death  slight  convul- 
sions occurred.  After  they  ceased,  a  cannula  was  put  in  the  trachea  and 
arttficial  respiration  bc^un.  Slight  convulsions  again  appeared,  but  ceased 
as  respiration  was  continued.  They  recommenced  when  the  respiiation 
was  stopped,  and  disappeared  when  it  was  again  begun.  On  once 
more  stopping  reapiiation  and  allowing  the  convulsions  to  cease  spon- 
taneously, recommencement  of  the  respiration  caused  them  again  to 
appear. 

Erperittuni  LXIH. 

Jiffy  21, 1873. — A  rabbit  was  etherized  and  the  cerebral  lobes  were 
exposed  and  carefully  removed. 

3  r.u.  Operation  finished. 

3.7.  Bespirations  37  per  minute. 

3.8.  A  small  quantity  of  cobra-poison  injected  into  the  flauk.  Active 
reflex  movements  occur  on  pinching  the  limbs  and  tail,  and  respiration 
also  beccanes  more  rapid. 

3.12.  Beapira^ns  98  per  minute.     Heart's  action  feeble. 

3.23.  Keathing  hurried.     BeRei  force  continues  active. 

Another  quantity  of  cobra-poison  injected,  the  two  doses  together  not 
mating  more  than  a  modeiate  amount. 

337.  Bespirations  very  feeble.  The  upper  part  of  the  spinal  cord,  on 
bmng  irritated  by  a  Faradic  current,  caused  movemeutn  in  the  limbs. 
Beflex  movements  still  present,  but  much  diminished. 


120  Messrs.  T.  L.  BniDton  and  J.  Fayrer  on  ike      [Jon.  23, 

3^8.  Eeapiration  ceased.  Cannula  Inserted  iu  the  trachea,  and  arti- 
ficial reHpiration  commeDced. 

3.40.  Sciatic  nerve  exposed  and  irritated  by  a  strong  current,  indi 
twitcluugs  in  the  limbs,  but  occasioned  no  reflex  moTeraent 
part  oE  the  body. 

'SA5.  The  animal  seems  perfectly  dead.     The  strongest  current 
duces  no  effect  either  when  applied  to  the  cord  or  to  the  sciatics. 

The  colour  of  the  muscles  seems  changed  when  compared  with  those  of 
the  other  rabbit  (Experiment  LXIV.)  which  had  no  poison.  They  are 
of  a  less  vivid  colour,  and  altogether  have  an  altered  appearance. 

In  this  eiperifflent  the  respirations  became  quickened  from  3"  to  AG 
per  minute  after  the  injection  of  the  poison,  although  the  cerebral  lobes 
had  been  preriously  removed.  The  acceleration,  therefore,  could  nut  lie 
due  to  emotion,  or  to  the  action  of  the  poison  on  the  cerebrmn.  A  com- 
.parison  with  Experiment  LXIV.,  in  which  the  cerebral  lobes  were  removed 
without  iujecting  any  poL-ton,  shows  that  in  the  latter  no  acceleration 
whatever  occurred,  and  the  respirations  became  gradually  slower  till  they 
ceased. 


Experiment  LXIV.  ■ 


July  21,  1873. — A  rabbit  was  etherized,  the  calvaria  removed,  and 
cerebral  lobes  carefully  excised.     The  bleeding  was  arrested  by  cotton- 
wool steeped  in  perchloride  of  iron ;  and  by  the  actual  cautery. 

1.18.  The  operation  concluded. 

1.23.  Eespirations  32  per  minute,  liellex  movements  well  marked  on 
pinching  feet  or  fail. 

U3.  Respirations  10  per  minute  andmuch  deeper;  and  each  oneended 
with  a  jerk,  as  if  of  the  (liaphragm. 

1.35.  Fore  legs  extended  in  a  convulsive  manner.  Bespinition  ceased 
almost  entirely ;  but  at  long  inten'als  of  about  15  and  20  seconds,  an  in- 
spiration occurred, 

On  pinching  the  feet  the  respiratory  movements  became  moj-e  perfect, 
though  feeble. 

1.43.  Heart  beats  rapidly  but  feebly.  Eespiration  has  ceased.  Heflei 
movements  are  still  well  marked. 

1.44.  Cannula  placed  in  the  iTachea,  and  artificial  respiration  begun. 
Eeflex  moveiuenta  continued  for  some  mbutes ;  but  then  the  heart  ceased 
to  beat. 

3.55.  Sciatics  exposed  and  irrilafed  by  a  Faradic  current.  No  con- 
tractions occurred  in  the  limbs.  The  muscles  contracted  when  irritated 
directly. 

From  these  experiments  it  was  evident  that  the  accelerated  respiration 
was  not  of  cerebral  origin ;  and  it  was  therefore  probably  due  to  sti- 
mulation of  the  pulmoiiary  branches  of  the  pueumogastric  by  the  poison. 
If  this  were  so,  the  acceleration  would  not  appear  if  the  vagi  wure 
divided  previously  to  the  injection  of  the  poison,  as  the  stimulation  of  Ih^ 


1874.]  Poison  of  Indian  Venomous  Snakes.  121 

terminal  branches  of  the  nerves  in  the  lungs  would  no  longer  be  con- 
ducted to  the  medulla.  The  following  experiment  shows  that  our  hypo- 
thesis  is  correct,  the  injection  of  the  poison  rendering  the  respirations, 
which  had  already  been  greatly  diminished  in  rapidity  by  division  of  the 

▼agi,  still  slower. 

Experiment  LXV. 

Sept,  15th. — A  dog  was  chloroformed ;  both  vagi  were  divided,  and  a  can- 
nula placed  in  the  trachea.  On  recovering  from  the  chloroform,  the 
animal  became  very  restless  and  retched  constantly,  but  was  unable  to 
Tomit.  A  little  while  afterwards  he  became  more  quiet,  and  his  respira- 
tions were  counted. 

3.10.  Bespirations  7i  per  minute. 

3.13.  Bespirations  7  per  minute. 

3.15.  About  *01  grain  of  dried  cobra-poison  dissolved  in  ^  cub.  centim. 
of  water  was  injected  into  the  vein  of  dog*s  leg. 

Immediately  the  animal  became  very  restless,  and  tried  in  vain  to 
Tomit.    Bespirations  7  per  minute. 

3.21.  Constant  retching,  but  no  vomiting.    Bespirations  7. 

3.23.  About  '02  grain  more  was  injected. 

3.27.  Constant  retching.  Bespirations  6.  The  animal  now  lay  down 
exhausted,  and  was  killed  by  a  blow  on  the  head. 

Experiment  LXVI. 

July  9. — ^About  1  grain  of  dried  cobra-poison  dissolved  in  water  was 
injected  into  the  flank  of  a  white  cat. 

3.38.  Injection  made. 

3.43.  Oat  seems  depressed,  sits  with  head  drooping  and  eyes  nearly 
shut.    Licks  its  lips  occasionally.    Pupils  moderately  dilated. 

3.48.  Bubs  its  ear  with  fore  paw,  and  licks  fore  paw  afterwards.  Is 
disinclined  to  move.    Pupfls  more  widely  dilated. 

4.25.  Another  dose  injected. 

4.50.  Another  dose  injected  into  peritoneum.  As  yet  there  is  no  sym- 
ptom except  depression  and  languor. 

4.51.  Vomiting.    Lies  crouched  down. 
5.5.  Still  vomiting. 

5.14.  Lies  on  its  side.  Movements  of  vomiting.  When  the  cornea  is 
touched  the  eyes  move,  but  the  lids  do  not  close.  There  is  also  sometimes 
a  movement  of  fore  foot  as  if  to  ward  off  the  irritant. 

5.17.  Whining.  Pupils  much  contracted.  When  the  inside  of  the 
ear  is  tickled  the  animal  scratches  at  its  shoulder  with  the  hind  leg  of 
same  side.  It  cannot  stand.  It  shakes  its  head  sometimes  when  its  ear  is 
tickled. 

5.25.  Beflex  movement  of  leg  much  fainter  when  the  ear  is  irritated. 

5.31.  Tries  to  get  up  voluntarily.  Gk>t  up,  staggered  some  steps. 
Convulsive  movements.     Death.     Immediately  a  cannula  was  placed 


122  Messrs.  T,  L.  Bmnton  and  J.  Fayrer  on  the     [Jan.  22^ 

in  the  trachea  and  artificial  respiration  begun.  Sciatic  nerve  isolated.  Irri- 
tated by  induced  current.  Eoot  twitched  when  secondary  coil  was  at  57 
centimetres. 

About  6.30.  Electrodes  screwed  into  cord  about  2nd  and  5th  dorsal 
vertebraB. 

The  strongest  current  of  the  coil  produced  contraction  of  the  muscles 
of  the  back,  but  no  contraction  of  the  limbs.  The  sciatic  nerve,  when 
irritated  directly,  caused  contraction  of  foot  with  the  coil  at  23. 

6.50.  The  phrenic  nerve  irritated ;  no  contraction  of  diaphragm ;  vagus 
irritated ;  heart  stopped. 

In  this  experiment  the  continuance  of  reflex  action  on  irritation  of  Uie 
ear,  and  of  voluntary  movements,  after  reflex  action  on  irritation  of  the 
eye  had  disappeared,  and  almost  up  to  the  time  of  death,  are  remarkable ; 
as  is  also  the  paralysis  of  the  phrenic  before  the  sciatic  and  vagus  nerves. 

Action  of  Cobra-poison  on  the  Cirexdation, 

In  most  cases  of  death  from  cobra-poison,  the  fatal  issue  is  not  to  be 
attributed  to  any  failure  of  the  circulatory  apparatus ;  for  the  heart 
continues  to  pulsate  vigorously,  long  after  all  motions  have  ceased  in  the 
voluntary  muscles  Qpd  the  strongest  irritation  applied  to  the  spinal  cord 
and  motor  nerves  fail^  to  produce  the  slightest  effect.  But  this  only 
occurs  when  the  dose  of  poison  is  not  excessive;  and  when  a  large  quantity 
of  it  is  introduced,  at  once,  into  the  circulation,  the  heart  is  not  exempted 
from  its  action,  but  is,  on  the  contrary,  most  seriously  affected.  This  is  seen 
in  Experiments  LXVIII.  and  XXYIII.,  where  the  poison  having  been 
either  injected  into  the  circulation,  or  absorbed  with  extreme  rapidity,  the 
action  of  the  heart  was  at  once  arrested.  But  it  is  to  be  noted  that  it  is 
not  paralysis,  but  tetanic  contraction  of  the  heart  which  is  produced, 
the  poison,  in  fact,  seeming  to  act  as  an  excessive  stimulus ;  and  this  being 
the  case,  we  feel  less  surprise  on  finding  that,  in  ordinary  cases  of  poison- 
ing, the  cardiac  action  may  be  maintained  by  the  use  of  artificial  respira- 
tion for  more  than  thirty  hours,  as  Mr.  Eichards  has  succeeded  in  doing 
in  India.  The  cardiac  movements  cease  much  sooner  in  frogs  poisoned 
by  cobra-venom  than  in  those  paralyzed  by  curare — ^the  pulsations  in  the 
latter  often  continuing  for  very  many  hours,  or  even  for  one  or  two  days. 
They  arc  also  arrested  by  the  direct  application  of  the  poison  to  the  heart, 
as  in  Experiment  LXXII.  Its  action  seems  to  be  somewhat  different  in 
degree,  if  not  in  kind,  when  applied  to  the  outside  of  the  heart,  as  in 
Experiment  LXX.,  and  to  the  inside,  as  in  Experiment  LXXII. ;  for  in 
the  former  case  the  pulsations  continued  for  a  considerable  time,  while  in 
the  latter  they  were  instantly  arrested,  the  heart  stopping  in  partial  systole 
and  moderatelv  contracted. 

The  action  of  cobra^poisou  being  exerted  on  the  heart  of  the  frog  after 
its  excision,  shows  that  it  acts  on  the  heart  itself  ;  and  its  effect  being 
very  much  the  same  without  the  body  as  within  it  renders  it  probable 


1S74.]  Poumo/IntSm  Venomout  Snakea.  12S 

that  the  ceubvl  nerrotu  ■yvtem  is  littls  concerned  in  the  arrest  of  circu- 
lation bj  the  poioon,  at  least  in  the  frog. 

The  stoppage  of  tiie  excised  heart  may  be  due  (1)  to  irritation  of  the 
inh^ttnrf  centres  contained  within  it,  or  (2)  to  paralysis  of  its  motor 
g^"gH»t  or  (3)  to  excessive  stimulation  of  them  producing  tetanus,  or 
(4)  to  the  action  of  the  poison  on  the  muscular  fibre  of  the  oi^an.  It  is  not 
due  to  the  first  of  these  causes;  for  atropia, which  paralyies  the  inhibitory 
g*ng1i*,  does  not  restore  the  ino\'ement8.  The  second  is  improbable,  as 
the  heart  does  not  stop  in  diastK^  but  in  systole,  and  resists  distention 
bj  fluid  within  it.  The  third  seems  the  most  probable  cause,  as  oue  does 
not  see  why  the  poiBan  should  arrest  the  cardiac  pulsations  at  once  when 
applied  to  tiie  interior  of  the  organ,  and  not  do  so  when  placed  on  the 
oataide,  if  it  acted  on  tlie  muscular  fibre,  whereas  it  may  readily  be  sup- 
posed that  the  poison  may  reach  the  gan^ia  more  readily  from  the  inner 
aide  of  the  heut — ^though  we  do  not  venture  to  assert  that  this  is  the  true 
explanatitm  of  the  fitcts  we  have  observed. 

The  inhibitory  branches  of  the  vagus  are  not  always  paralyzed  (Expe- 
riment LXYL ;  but  sometimes  the  cobra-poison  appears  to  affect  them  as 
well  OB  the  motor  nerves ;  and  ut  this  it  resembles  curare,  which  in  small 
doeee  does  not  impair  the  inhibitory  action  of  the  ^'agus,  but  in  large 
doaea  ccmpletely  deatn^s  it.  In  Experiment  LVI.  irritation  of  the  vagus 
qnickeoed,  instead  of  retarding,  the  cardiac  pulsations — a  circumstance 
which  indicates  that  the  inhibitory  fibres  of  the  vagus  were  paralyzed  by 
ibe  poison,  hot  not  the  accelerating  ones. 

The  oqiilhury  circulatitm  is  not  unaffected  by  the  poison.  In  Experi- 
ment IV.  of  our  former  paper,  the  rhythmical  contractions  and  dilatations, 
altogether  independent  of  the  cardiac  pulsations,  which  Schiff  first  obsen'ed 
in  the  rabbit's  ear,  and  which  were  noticed  by  Ludwig  and  Brunton  in 
the  vessels  of  many  parts  of  the  body,  were  greaUy  increased  by  the 
injecticm  of  the  poison. 

In  Experiments  T.XTTV.  and  LXXV.  the  blood-press  vire  remained 
high  after  the  heart  had  ceased  to  beat.  This  shows  that  the  art«rioles, 
or  capillaries,  must  have  been  much  contracted,  thus  opposing  a  barrier 
to  the  exit  of  blood  from  the  arteries  into  the  veins. 

Experiment  LXVII. 

May  iltt. — A  cutnula  was  placed  in  the  trachea  of  a  large  black  rabbit ; 
and  aotna  dried  cobra-poison  dissolved  in  water  was  injected  into  the  hip 
at  1.25  p,H. 

1.50>  The  animal  shows  symptoms  of  poisoning.  Limbs  becoming 
weak.  There  is  trembling,  and  the  body  sinks  donn.  There  is  starting. 
The  respiration  is  hurried. 

2,  Befiex  action  is  well  marked  when  the  animal  is  touched.  The  limbs 
seem  almost  paralyzed ;  but  the  animal  moves  the  head  and  neck  freely.  It 
mokes  efforts  to  rise,  but  is  unable  tn  do  so.    The  head  falls  over ;  the 


I 


124  Messrs.  T.  L.  Brunton  and  J.  Fayrcr  on  the      [Jan.  22, 

respiration  is  getting  feeble.  The  animal  seems  quit*  consdoua,  and  starts 
if  touched, 

2.4.  It  ia  now  quite  feeble.  When  (he  (.'omea  is  touched  the  reflex 
action  ia  less  than  before. 

2.5,  No  convulsions.  Artificial  respiration  commenced.  The  rabbit, 
wrapped  in  cotton,  was  placed  in  a  double  tin  bath  filled  with  \nvrm 
water.     Temperature  in  reetiun  98°'8. 

2.11,  Hespiration  discontinued  for  a  spac^e. 

2.12,  Convulsivetwit^'hingsofleg.'i  begin.  Natural  reflpiration  has  ceased. 
ArtiJici&l  respiration  resumed.     Pupils  contracted.     Reflex  action  on 

irritation  of  the  cornea  has  ceaeed. 

3.16.  Since  the  artiiiciai  respiralaon  has  been  resumed  there  bare  bem 
no  more  convulsive  twitchings. 

2.55,  The  heart  beats  rapidly,  but  vigorously. 

Temperature   101°.     The  bath  being  rather  hot,  its  temperature 
lowered  by  a  little  cold  water  added  to  it, 

2,57.  The  animal  passed  a  quantify  of  urine  tinged  with  blood. 

3.5.  Heart  beats  vigorously. 

3,15.  The  eyeballs  are  very  prominent ;  pupils  normal. 

3.45.  Heart  beating  u'el!,  but  apparently  not  so  vigorously  as  befom 
Teperature  100°-5, 

3.55.  The  bath  getting  told  ;  a  little  hot  water  added  to  it.  The  heart 
beating  more  vigorously  than  at  3,30, 

4.20.  Heart  beatiug  well — if  any  thing,  more  %'igorously  than  before. 

4.40.  Heart  beats  steadily,  but  apparently  with  less  vigour.  Tempera- 
ture lOC-S. 

5.  Heart  sometimes  beats  steadily  130-140  times  per  minute.  Then 
it  gets  feeble  and  intermits,  and  again  beats  steadily. 

5.5,  Heart  beats  more  freely.     Added  more  warm  water  to  the  bath. 
5.25.  He-art.  beats  rapidly  but  more  feebly. 
6.35.  The  same. 

6.  Heart  beating  rapidly,  perhaps  rather  more  feebly.  Temperature 
maintained  at  lU0°-5. 

6.10.  Heart  beating  well  and  more  vigorously. 

6.30.  Heart  beating  well,  rapidly  but  steadily. 

The  attendant,  being  left  alone,  discontinued  artificial  respinktion,  and 
the  animal  died.  The  fluctuations  in  the  activity  of  the  pulsations  were, 
in  aU  probability,  due  to  the  more  or  less  perfect  maintenance  of  the  arti- 
ficial respiration.  

ErptritMni  T.XTTTT. 

A  small  rabbit  had  two  drops  of  diluted  cobra-poison  injected  into  the 
jugular  vein.  In  30  seconds  he  was  in  convuleions,  and  in  60  seconds 
was  dead. 

The  thorax  was  opened  immediately  1  the  heart  had  ceased  to  beat,  and 
was  firmly  contracted. 


1874w]  Ponim  of  Indian  Venomout  Snaku.  ]25 

A  luge  rein  flntering  the  aaricle  on  the  left  side  was  pulsating  vigo- 
roiulj  and  rhjthmicallj,  though  no  part  of  the  heart  itself  showed  the 
lekat  trace  of  motion. 

Experiment  LXIX. 

JitiM  26, 1872. — Ha]f  adiop  of  cobra-poison  diluted  nith  j  cub.  centim. 
(tf  water  was  injected  under  the  skin  of  a  guincapig,  weighing  about  450 
gTsmmeB  (1  lb.). 

At  12.13.15  the  injection  was  made.  Immediately  the  animal  became 
mtieii  and  cried  constantly. 

At  12.16  twitching  movements  began  in  the  limbs. 

At  12.1S  the  *ni'm*l  was  quiet,  and  would  not  move  when  touched.  It 
tiien  became  restless  again,  and  remained  so  till  12.44. 

12.44.  The  jugular  vein  was  exposed,  and  J  cub.  centim.  of  the  diluted 
powA  was  injected  into  it  (•=  j  drop  of  poison). 

Id  kas  than  30  secands  the  animal  appeared  to  be  dead. 

The  thorax  was  opened,  and  the  heart  found  to  be  motionless  and  the 
walls  o(  oil  its  cavities  firmly  contracted.    The  lungs  were  ecchymosed. 

12^.  Electrodes  were  inserted  into  the  spinal  cord,  and  an  interrupted 
eoiieDt  passed  through  it.  Whenever  the  current  passed,  the  legs  of  the 
uimal  jerked  vigorously. 

The  blood  which  was  collected  &om  the  large  thoracic  vessels  formed  a 
firm  coagulum. 

1.22.  The  cord  was  BtHl  irritable  when  excited  by  the  induced  current. 

Experiment  LXX. 
Jan.  14, 1873.— The  heart  of  a  fr<^  was  excised.  It  beat  20  times  in 
1  minute.  Several  drops  of  cobra-poison  were  then  placed  upon  it,  and 
it  beat  24  times  in  1  minute.  When  seized  with  forceps  and  placed  in 
eobra-p<nson  it  stopped  in  systole;  but  this  might  be  due  to  the  efEect  of 
the  compression  by  the  forceps. 

Experiment  LXXI. 

Prog's  heart  excised.   Beats,  30  in  the  first  minute,  34  in  the  second. 

Cobta-poison  applied  to  it.  It  immediately  stopped,  and  then  began 
•gain,  but  slowly  and  feebly.  Then  it  beat  23  times  per  minute,  less 
otron^y  than  before.  It  gradually  recovered  and  seemed  little  affected, 
but  stc^iped  about  10  or  15  minutes  afterwards. 

Ei^eriment  T.T'TTT. 
A  cannula  was  placed  in  the  aorta,  and  another  in  the  vena  cava  of  a 
frog.  All  branches  were  tied,  the  heart  excised,  and  placed  in  connexion 
with  H.  P.  Bowditch's  apparatus  for  keeping  a  stream  of  serum  circula- 
ting through  the  heart  and  recording  its  pulsation  by  means  of  a  mano- 
meter on  a  revolving  cylinder.     When  fed  with  pure  serum,  the  heart's 


126  Messrs.  T.  L.  Bninton  and  J.  Fayrer  on  the      [Jan.  22,   ! 

contractiojia  were  regular  and  strong ;  but  whenever  sertim  containing  \ 
dried  cobra-poison  in  solution  (in  the  proportion  of  abotit  two  grains  J 
in  three  lluid  drachms)  was  introduced  into  the  apparatua  the  hnart  1 
fltopped  almost  immediately.  As  vriil  be  seen  front  the  accompanying  / 
tracing,  it  became  partially  contract«d  and  gave  one  or  tiro  feeble  beats,  J 
but  did  not  dilate,  and  then  remained  still,  the  contraction,  however,  very  I 
slowly  and  gradually  ii 


nomcler  miniiDcteil  wilh  l.he  norli.     The  tmcingn  all  mad  from  right  to  lell. 

1.  Tnttdng  obtAincd  from  the  htart  nipplied  with  pure  aemm  bjintwuDf  atnbt 

2.  Trseing  of  the  mme  kind,  with  the  addition  of  the  line  A,  which  iodintia  the«ra 
of  the  mercoTj.  IThe  tneing  B,  giren  bj  the  heart,  unks  down  to  tero  diiring  «h1i 
diwtole. 

3.  Tncnng  ginn  t^  the  heart  oEler  it  had  been  supplied  with  aeram  oontamiiig  a 
mull  quantity  of  eobn  poieon  inMlution.  The  heart  rnkkdea  few  ineSbctoalattempti^ 
but  can  neither  contract  nor  relax,  and  reniiune  still,  in  a  condition  midway  Iml  wiim 
oomplete  ayitole  and  complete  diaitole.  The  line  A  ii  the  zero  to  which  B  woold  (ink 
if  the  heart  relaxed  ooinplet«ly  daring  diastole. 

Experiment  LXXHI. 
A  cat  was  deprived  of  coneciousnesB  by  a  severe  blow  on  the  head  ;  and 
a  cannula  being  placed  in  the  trachea,  artificial  respiration  vrss  begun. 
The  thorax  was  then  opened  and  the  heart  exposed.  A  solution  of  dried 
cobra-poison  in  water  was  then  injected  into  the  jugular  vein.  At  fint 
the  cardiac  pnlsations  became  much  quiclier,  but  they  were  also  atzone. 
They  next  became  very  small  and  rapid.  Lastly,  the  right  ventricld  bfr- 
came  much  distended,  and  the  heart  stopped.  The  lungs  became  con- 
tracted ;  and  when  force  was  used  to  distend  them  they  did  not  expand 
equally,  but  became  emphysematouB  in  spots,  so  that  the  exterior  of  tbe 
lung  assumed  a  nodulated  appearance.  When  the  right  ventricle  was 
punctured  it  contracted  firmly.  No  further  contraction  took  place  wliea 
it  was  irritated  by  the  direct  application  of  a  Faradic  current.  Xlie  blood 
coagulated. 


1874.]  Pauon  of  Indian  Venonuna  Snakes.  127 

Expa-ittuntLUXIV. 
A  ''»"""1»  WM  placed  in  the  carotid  of  a  dog  and  eonnected  with  a 
kjmi^inphioii. 

Hmii  blood-pmnire.  Pulse 
Xinu.  ■"ill'""       per  miiia(«, 

1^  150  144    Injected   some   cobra-poison    dis- 

solved in  water  into  the  sciatic 
vein.    The  pressure  rose  to  165, 
165  and  then  sank  in  7  secondB  to 

136  135. 

1.45  60 

1^  67  ■ .     Fsces  passed.  A  dot  formed  in  the 

fantiiila  and  had  to  be  remored. 

1^  70 

About  1JB6  8C  . .     Injected  some  more  poison. 

1^1  20 

1.69  55 

1.601  70  ..     act  again  formed. 

2J2  76 

2.7  85 

2.10  85 

2.1B  80  . .      I«ga  loosened ;  but  the  animal  did 

not  move.  Convulsive  move- 
ments occurred  ahnost  imme- 
diately afterwards. 

2.17^  Cornea  still  sensible. 

2.18  85  . .     Convulsive  movements. 

2.19|  90  . .     Convulsbns. 

2.20i  80  80     No  movement. 

2.201  90  64     The  pulse  hera  suddenly  changed 

from  80  to  64 ;  and  at  the  end  of 
every  third  beat  the  pressure 
sank  25  millimB.,  while  at  each  of 
the  others  it  only  sank  5  millims. 

2.21  j  98  . ,     Ueigbt  of  each  single  pulse-wave  is 

now  10  millims.  instead  of  5,  and 
every  now  and  then  it  sinks  30; 
but  the  number  of  beats  aft«r 
which  it  sinks  is  not  now  so  re- 

2.211  100  64     Convulsions. 

2.22 j  105  . .     There  were  now  8  pulsations,  and 

then  an  interval  of  6  seconds, 
during  which  the  pressure  went 
downto  43tuillinu.    Five  bests 


128  Messrs.  T.  L.  Bruntou  and  J.  Fayrer  on  t/ie      [Jan.  22, 

Mean  blood -preuure.  Pulie 
Tims.  million.       pei  nuQute. 

moreraisedittol20.  Height  of 
each  pulse-wave  about  lamillitna. 

2.29  30  . .     The  pulse  ha*  beea  gettiiig  smaller 

aiid  smaller,  aud  the  intervals 
longer  and  longer ;  it  is  now  im- 
perceptible. 

2.30  30  . .      The  pressure  still  seems  at  30,  not- 

withstauding  the  imperceptibil- 
lity  of  the  pulse. 
2.45  The   heart  was   cut   out.     It  stiU 

eontracted  wheu  irritated. 
The  injection  of  cobra-polaon  here  caused  a  diminution  of  the  blood- 
pressure  at  first ;  but  a  further  injection  agaiii  raised  it.  In  the  latter 
part  of  the  experiment  there  is  not  the  slightest  trace  of  failure  of  the 
heart's  action,  but,  on  the  contrary,  every  evidence  of  powerful  action. 
"When  the  respirations  failed,  the  heart  became  slow  from  irritation  of  the 
roots  of  the  vagus  by  venous  blood :  and  the  pulsations  were  gradually 
weakened  by  the  same  condition.  The  fact  that  the  blood-pressure  sank 
slowly  and  did  not  fall  below  30,  even  after  the  heart  bad  almost  entirely 
ceased,  shows  that  the  arterioles  were  much  coatncted. 

Erperiment  LXXV. 

A  cannula  was  placed  in  the  carotid  artery  of  a  rabbit  and  connectad 
with  a  kymographion. 

The  blood-pressure  was  75  millims.  of  mercury.  One  cub.  centim.  of 
a  2-per-cent.  solution  of  cobra-poison  was  injected  into  the  jugular  Tein. 
Almost  immediately  the  animal  began  to  struggle,  and  the  pressure  raae 
to  95.  It  remained  at  this  for  a  minute  and  then  fell.  The  float  unf<n^ 
tunately  stuck,  and  the  curve  it  should  have  described  in  falling  was  con- 
sequently lost.  On  again  getting  the  instrument  to  work,  the  pressure  wai 
found  to  be  So  i  and  this  continued,  although  the  heskft  had  ceased  to  beat 
and  the  thorax  was  opened.  On  cutting  across  the  aorta,  the  pressure  fell 
to  lero,  showing  that  it  had  not  been  due  to  any  clot  in  the  vessel. 

In  this  experiment  the  poison  seems  to  have  caused  tetanic  contraction 
of  the  heart,  and  also  of  the  arterioles.  The  permanence  of  the  prawon 
at  25,  notwithstanding  the  stoppage  of  the  heart's  action,  can  only  Iw 
ascribed  to  contraction  of  the  arterioles  preventing  the  escape  of  tdood' 
from  the  arterial  into  the  venous  system. 

Eavretion  of  Siuilce-poiton. 

We  have  made  only  one  or  two  experiments,  ourselves,  on  the  excietion 
of  cobra-venom ;  but,  from  the  data  a&orded  by  the  experiments  and  ob- 
servations of  others,  we  consider  that  it  is  excreted  by  the  kidneys  and 

"Miunary  glands,  and  probably  also  by  the  salivary  gUuds  and  t 


^74.]  Paiion  qf  Indian  Venomaui  Snakes.  1% 

emtvuie  of  the  ttoouich.    A  case  leported  by  Mr.  Shircore,  olGBlcutts, 

whidi  an  inEuit,  suckled  by  its  mother  after  she  had  been  been  bitten 

'  a  snake  (species  unknown),  died  in  two  hours  after  it  had  partaken  of 

e  milk,  shows  that  the  poison  is  excreted  by  the  mammary  glands,  and 

ith  oonsideraUe  rapidity ;  for  t^e  child  took  the  breast  before  any  marked 

mptoms  had  occuiied  in  the  mother*.    Its  excretion  by  the  kidneys  ap- 

iars  from  an  experiment  of  Mr.  Bichards,  of  BaUisore,  who  found  that 

me  urine  from  a  dog  poiscmed  by  the  bite  of  a  sea-snake  (Enhydrina 

ngdUnsii)  killed  a  pigeon  in  22  hours  after  being  hypodermically  in- 

ctedf.    Scnne  saliya,  which  we  obtained  from  the  submaxillary  gland  of 

dog  poisoned  by  cobr^-venom,  had  no  effect  when  injected  under  the 

3n  of  the  thigh  of  a  lark ;  but  Mr.  Bichards  found  that  one  drachm  of 

16  greenish  liquid  which  flowed  from  the  mouth  of  a  dog  poisoned  by 

(bnirTenom  kflled  a  pigeon  in  two  hours.     As  this  fluid  flowed  con- 

BJktij  from  the  mouth,  and  the  animal  was  paralyzed  and  motionless,  it 

ems  probable  that,  notwithstanding  its  colour,  it  was  saliva  and  not  bile. 

As  the  poison-glands  of  the  snake  are  modified  parotid  glands,  we 

Lould  naturally  expect  the  poison  to  be  excreted  by  the  salivary  glands ; 

id  we  think  it  possible  that  the  immunity  which  poisonous  snakes  enjoy 

om  the  effects  of  their  own  poison  or  that  of  another  species  (an  im- 

onity  which  is  not  shared  by  innocuous  serpents,  nor  even  by  small  in- 

Tiduals  of  a  venomous  species  poisoned  by  a  large  dose  of  venom)  may 

due,  at  least  in  some  measure,  to  their  power  of  excreting  the  inocu- 

yi  venom  through  their  own  poison-glands. .   We  have,  however,  had 

opportunities  of  trying  whether  venomous  serpents,  after  extirpation 

heir  poison-gland,  succumb  to  the  bite  of  others  in  the  .same  way  as 

tcuous  ones. 

I  ihe  Means  of  preventing  Death  from  the  bites  of  Venomous  Snakes. 

the  case  of  all  poisons,  snake-venom  included,  there  is  a  dose  which 

uffident  to  kiU ;  and  animals  may  recover  from  it  even  after  the 

toristic  sjrmptoms  of  the  poison  have  been  distinctly  manifested. 

as  been  clearly  shown  by  Hermann  that  the  real  dose  of  any  poison, 

ither  words,  the  quantity  which  is  actually  circulating  in  the  fluids 

erating  on  the  tissues  of  the  body,  depends  on  two  factors,  viz. 

idity  with  which  it  is  absorbed,  and  the  rapidity  with  which  it 

ted.     If  absorption  goes  on  more  rapidly  than  excretion,  the 

ocumulates  in  the  blood  and  exercises  its  lethal  action ;  while  the 

in  actual  circulation  may  be  reduced  to  an  infinitesimal  amount 

ived  of  all  power  for  evil,  if  the  excretion  can  keep  pace  with,  or 

re  rapidly  than,  the  absorption.    Thus  it  is  that  curare  kills  an 

len  introduced  into  a  wound ;  for  the  poison  is  absorbed  from  the 

TO  rapidly  than  it  can  be  excreted  by  the  kidneys.  If  placed  in 

ch,  curare  has  usually  no  apparent  action  whatever ;  for  it  is 

vtophidia,  p.  43.  t  Indian  Mcdioal  Guette,  Maj  ],  1873,  p.  19. 


excreted  in  the  nrme  m  qmcUj-w  it  ia  ilMxbed  bjr  Hie  g 

if  sbMopticKi  be  quickened  b7  ii 

giving  it  on  an  emptf  tUmaek,  onme  wiU  have  tiie  ■ 

it  is  placed  in  a  wound  or  itgeeted  into  the  dnolatiai.    A  liko  molt  it 

obtained  by  arresting  its  vsentiao,  eiUterby  ligaturing  tiia  nml  tchA 

or  extirpating  the  kidneys.  Bnake-nnom  ■■  «bo  poisonoaa  lAen  •liMftad' 

by  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  etcmach. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  we  wish  to  prerent  'tin  aoeiinuilatfata  cf  if 
pcnson  in  the  blood  and  thus  toanest  its  acti(»i,we  mnat  either  IsMsn  ttt 
absorption,  quicken  its  ezoetion,  or  comlnne  the  two  means. 

In  the  case  of  curare  tlie  former  of  these  issoffioient;  and  all  tlwlaff- 
effects  of  the  introduction  of  this  pmstKi  into  a  wound  majr  be  praTsntadlj' 
applying  a  ligature  between  the  woond  and  the  heart,  and  only  loModag'' 
the  bandage  occaaionally,  for  an  instant  or  two  at  a  time.  ISift  mtUb" 
obtains  in  snake-poisoning.  In  this  way  only  a  litUe  of  Qia  pcutM  it' 
absorbed  each  time  the  li^tnre  is  slackened,  and  this  is  ezented  \^  tfcs' 
kidneys  before  another  qnantity  is  absorbed.  If  tjie  poison  can  be  nnimd 
from  the  wound  itself  by  other  means,  instead  of  "i^Vrng  the  wbole  of  it 
pass  through  the  drculatioji,  the  danger  it  causu  will,  of  oonrsa,  be  •oooar 
over.  Our  power  to  quicken  excretion  is,  in  most  casee,  modi  leaa  tiisi 
that  to  retard  absorption ;  and  it  is  therefore  on  the  latter  that  we  mainly 
rely  in  cases  of  poisoning  in  general,  as  well  as  snake-bites  in  particolar. 

The  ^'arious  methods  of  met^anically  arresting  the  introduction  of  t^ 
virus,  by  eiciBion,  cautery,  and  chemical  agency,  bare  been  fully  discussed 
in  the  '  Thanatophidia  of  India ; '  and  we  purpose  now  to  consider  its  excre- 
tion or  removal  from  the  organism. 

Before  doing  so,  however,  we  must  inquire  whether  its  removal  is  likely 
to  be  of  any  service  or  not ;  for,  aa  we  have  already  pointed  oat  in  oor 
previous  communication,  the  action  of  the  poison  may  be  of  two  kinds. 
Ist.  It  may  resemble  curare  in  desti-oyiiig  the  power  of  the  nervous 
system  so  long  aa  it  is  present  in  the  blood,  but  leaving  it  in  a  condition 
to  resume  its  functions  as  soon  as  the  poison  has  been  removed,  2nd. 
Its  action  may  be  identical  with,  or  similar  to,  that  of  a  ferment,  deccnn- 
posing  or  altering  the  nervous  and  muscular  tissues  in  titn  (in  somewhat 
the  same  way  as  the  pancreatic  or  gastric  ferments  would  decompose  them 
if  they  had  been  placed  in  the  intestinal  canal),  and  thus  rendering  them 
utterly  incapable  of  ever  again  performing  their  functions. 

If  the  action  of  the  poison  is  of  the  latter  kind,  no  treatment  can  be 
expected  to  be  of  any  avail  if  the  dose  has  been  large ;  but  if  it  is  of  die 
former,  we  may  still  entertain  a  reasonable  hope  of  averting  a  &ital  resnlt, 
even  when  the  dose  of  venom  has  been  large. 

We  have  shown  in  our  previous  communication,  that,  by  jaoKoa'  of 
artificial  respiration,  life  may  be  prolonged  for  many  hours,  and  time 
thus  afforded  for  the  excretion  of  some  of  the  poison ;  but  the  means  at 
our  disposal  have  not  enabled  us  to  maintain  respiration  sufficiently  long 


1874.]  Poimm  of  Indian  Venomout  Snaket.  131 

to  show  ua  whether  the  nen'ous  and  muaoul&F  BjatemB  regain  their 
fiuLCtion  after  the  excretion  of  the  poiBon  has  proreeded  far  enough. 
The  ezperimeDts  oi  Mr.  Vincent  Richards,  and  of  a  roramittce  appointed 
b^  the  Goremment  of  India  in  Calcutta,  at  our  siiggestioti,  to  investigate 
the  use  of  artificial  re^iration  in  death  hy  snake-bite,  being  performed 
under  more  favourable  auspices,  have  afTorded  us  tbe  data  which  ve  were 
unable  to  obtain  from  our  own.  In  one  instance,  a  dng  «as  bitten  by  a 
sea  snake  {Enhydrina  bent/nUnnit),  and,  t»o  hours  aften\'ards,  died  in 
convulsions.  Artificial  respiration  wha  commenced  ;  but,  four  hours  after- 
wards, the  application  of  a  galvanic  currenr  caused  no  muscular  contrac- 
taons ;  the  eyes  wore  diy  and  glazed,  and  the  bodr  naa  cold.  Ke<ct  morn- 
ing, about  sixteen  hours  after  tbe  apparent  death  of  the  animal,  reaction 
commenced ;  the  application  of  a  galvanic  ciim:nt  again  caused  movements 
of  the  body  and  expulsion  of  urine,  and  the  bov\els  acted  spontaneously. 
In  five  hours  more  reaction  seemed  e)<tablished  and  went  on  increasing ; 
the  animal  appeared  as  if  it  would  recover :  the  eyes  lost  their  glazed  ap- 
pearance, tears  were  secreted,  and  a  greenish-looking  fluid  flowed  from 
the  mouth;  reflex  action  became  reestablished,  tJie  eyelids  closing  when 
the  cornea  was  touched  or  when  water  was  jioured  into  the  eye.  At- 
tempts to  swallow  were  made  when  n  aler  u  as  poured  into  the  mouth ; 
and  tlie  application  of  a  pan  of  hot  charcoal  to  the  chest  caused  con^-ul- 
sive  movements  all  over  the  body ;  and  these  also  occurred  spontaneously. 
Xhe  animal  also  became  more  or  less  sensible,  and  the  eyelids  twitched 
when  the  finger  was  merely  brought  near  the  eye. 

These  phenomena  show  that  the  muscles,  the  motor  nerves,  the  secreting 
nerves,  the  spinal  cord,  and  the  cerebnun  had  all  recovered  their  functions 
to  a  certain  degree,  after  it  had  been  completely  aboLshed  for  sixteen 
hours.  This  we  think  would  not  have  been  the  case  had  the  poison 
acted  by  decomposing  the  tissues  in  the  manner  of  a  ferment;  and  we 
are  therefore  inclined  to  hope  that,  like  curare,  it  acts  only  while  present 
in  the  system,  and  that  its  injurious  effects  may  be  arrested  by  its  removal. 

Notwithstanding  the  fair  promise  of  recovery  which  the  use  of  artificial 
respiration  gave  in  this  instance,  the  heart  became  weaker,  and  the  animal 
died  24  hours  and  35  minutes  after  its  first  apparent  decease.  Nor  has 
the  Committee  been  more  successful  in  its  further  eiperimenta,  although 
life  has  been  prolonged  for  even  30  hours.  This  result  shows  that,  at- 
tiiough  artificial  respiration  may  still  prove  useful  in  sustaining  life  and 
affording  time  for  the  use  of  other  measures,  it  alone  is  not  likely  to  be  of 
mnch  service  in  preventing  death  from  snake-bite,  except  in  those  cases 
where  the  quantity  of  poison  is  just  enough  to  kill  and  no  more. 

It  is  evident  from  the  length  of  time  during  which  life  may  be  main- 
tained without  the  animal  ultimately  recovering,  that  the  excretion  of  the 
poison  is  very  slow ;  hut  ne  at  one  time  thought  to  quicken  it  by  the  em- 
ployment of  diuretics  and  sialogogues,  and  to  prevent  reabserption  by 
drwning  ofF  the  urine  and  saliva  constantly.     We  also  proposed  to  wash 


333  On  the  Poison  of  Indittn  Venoifwus  Srtakes.      [Jan.  29j 

out  the  Btomach  from  time  to  time,  in  order  to  remove  mit  poison  n-luGt 
might  be  eJtt-'reted  through  the  gastric  walls,  keeping  it  partially  fiUej 
with  milk  or  other  nutrient  fluid  duriog  the  intervals,  in  order  to  snstajii 
the  streugth  of  the  animal. 

We  are  by  no  means  certain  that  sMne  of  the^  methods  maj-  not  provtf 
nsefal  adjuncts  :  but  as  our  hope  of  stimulating  excretion,  by  the  siliran-,' 
^ands  at  least,  baa  been  madt  iMMoed  \iy  oar  diaeamj  Oat  ttw  poiMK 
paralyzes  the  nerves  of  Becmtion,  we  an  inifned  to  tUnk  Unt^  jiamt,»ji^ 
the  readiest  method  (rf  Tenuning  tie  peiMa  fram  die  body  imj  be  to 
allow  it  to  flow  oat  tioag  witb  tlie  Uood  m  wlikh  it  ia  < ' 
supply  the  place  of  the  poiaoned  Uood  tlma  witlidnwii  hj 
(osion. 

The  greater  part  of  the  pcisoD  pnemt  in  tiie  system  ia  probaUj  co^ 
tuned  in  the  blood,  and  only  a  smaiD  propmiian  in  tlie  tusDea ;  toe  fne  ct 
us  (I>r.  Fayrer)  has  found  that  a  few  drops  of  the  Uood  of  a  dog  t^lim 
by  the  bite  of  a  cobra  or  Dabata  caused  death  in  serenty-^re  minalM, 
when  injected  into  the  thigh  at  a  fowl  ('  Thanatophidia,*  pp.  80,  8^ 
119,120).  By  removing  as  modt  blood  as  coold  be  taken  without  ei^taw 
gering  the  life  of  the  animal,  a  great  part  of  tiie  ptnsoD  would  be  wit^ 
drawn  from  the  system ;  and,  probably,  any  harm  from  the  copious  bleediiw 
would  be  prevented  by  transfusing  fresh  blood  immediately  afterwards. 

We  hare  tried  one  or  two  experiments  with  transfusion ;  bnt  they  hare 
hitherto  been  unsacceasful. 

We  are  therefore  by  no  means  confident  that  death  may  be  prevented 
by  the  combined  use  of  artaficial  respiration  and  transfusion ;  bat  we 
think  that  ther  present  some  chance  of  success,  and  that,  at  all  eventa, 
the  suggestion  is  justifiable  on  scientific  and  rational  grounds. 

The  treatment  of  animals  poisoned  by  cobra-TiruB  by  the  hypodermie 
injection  of  liquor  anunonis  has  been  frequently  tried  in  India  by  one  of 
OS  (Dr.  Fayrer)  (vide  Thanat.  pp.  89  rt  »ey.),  and  also  by  Mr.  Kchaida, 
of  Balasore,  and  by  ourselves  again  in  Loudon,  on  sevend  occasionB. 

The  alkali  has  been  administered  internally,  injected  into  the  Bxedlu 
tissue,  and  also  into  the  veins,  over  and  over  again ;  but  no  benefit  has 
resulted.  The  objection  has  been  made  that  experiments  of  this  nature, 
made  on  animals,  are  not  conclusive  in  reference  to  the  probaUe  action 
of  the  agent  experimented  with  on  human  beings  ;  bat  this  objectioQ  ata 
hardly  be  considered  valid  in  a  physiological  point  of  view. 

At  auT  rate  the  trials  that  have  been  made,  of  this  mode  of  averting  ttw 
lethal  efiectfl  of  the  poison,  in  India  by  Dr.  Hilson,  Civil  Surgetm  of 
Moradabad,  do  not  afford  any  indication  that  the  intravenous  injection  of 
liqaor  ammonia  was  followed  by  any  diminution  of  the  effect  of  tbe 
poisons,  the  man  in  both  cases  having  died*  (vide  '  Indian  Med.  Qaaetta,' 
Oct.  1873). 

The  same  may  be  said  of  other  reputed  antidotes,  such  as :— Tanjote 
*  It  is  unneoeawry  to  occupy  time  by  describing  in  detail  the  Tarioos  snlMlBaMl 


1874.]  On  I/k  Lymphatic  Sj/slem  of  the  Lumjs.  133 

piD  Rnd  other  prepu»tionB  of  araenic ;  the  hypodennie  injection  of  Kqmw 
potaiMB;  quinine,  ipecaciuiiha,  Aritloh^ia  iadica,  and  a  vuiety  af  other 
diuga,  geaeisll;  of  >  vegetable  nature,  and  enjoTing  a  lai^e  amount  of 
popokir  confidence :  all,  when  brought  to  the  test  of  carefully  conduct«d 
experinunt,  failed,  as  might  have  been  expected,  to  give  any  favourable 
reanlt. 

It  veema  almoat  auneceuary  to  allude  to  the  so  called  Boake-stones ;  they 
are  powerlWB  for  good  orevil.  They  have  also  eujoyed  much  confidence ; 
bat  when  Butwiitted  to  the  test  of  impartial  experiment  and  obeenation, 
liteir  virtnes  prove  as  unreal  as  those  of  the  antidotes  above  mentioned. 

Witlt  Teference  to  the  mechanicsl  methods  of  preventing  the  entry  of 
the  p<Mson  into  the  circolation  after  a  bite,  we  think  that  the  speedy 
application  of  an  elastic  cord  (such  as  is  used  in  bloodless  operations) 
roond  the  limb,  combined  with  the  application  of  cups  attached  to  an 
exhauBting-«yTing8  or  pump*,  might  be  of  advantage,  and  that  it  might 
be  made  of  genenl  application  in  India. 


January  39,  1874. 
JOSEPH  DALTON  HOOKEB,  C.B.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 
The  Presents  received  were  laid  on  the  Table,  and  thanks  ordered  for 
titem. 

The  foUowing  Papers  were  read : — 
I.  " ContribationB  to  the  Normal  and  Pathological  Anatomy  of 
the  Lymphatic  System  of  the  Lunge."     By  E.  Klein,  M.D., 
AfisiBtant  Professor  at  the  Laboratory  of  the  Brown  Institu- 
tion, London.    Commnnicated  by  Professor  J.  B.  Sanderson, 
F.R.S.     Received  November  13,  1873. 
I  propose  to  give  in  the  following  pages  a  summary  of  an  investigation 
of  the  lymphatic  system  of  the  lungs,  in  the  uonnal  condition  as  well  as 
in  chnmic  seccHidary  inflammation,  undertaken  in  counexion  with  the 
pathological  inquiries  of  Dr.  Burden  Sanderson,  for  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  tJie  Privy  CouncU.     The  research  will  be  published  at  length 
daring  the  course  of  the  next  year,  in  continuation  of  my  work  '  On  the 
Anabmy  of  tjie  Lymphatic  System,'  of  which  the  first  part,  "  Serous 
Uembnmes,"  has  recently  appeared.    The  present  commimication  is  made 
with  the  ^iproval  of  the  medical  officer  of  the  Privy  Coimcil,  Mr.  Simon. 
A.  Normal  eonditiong. 
(a)  The  endottielinm  of  the  surface  of  the  lungs  consists,  in  the  normal 

(animal,  TBgaUbla,  and  miiieral)  Aat  hare  been  idminutered  u  antidotes.    Farti- 
oolan  maf  be  found  in  Uw  'Thanatopliidia.'  where  the  detail*  of  eipnimeaU  eon- 
doetod  tor  the  invMtigstion  of  their  actions  are  reix>rded. 
low  been  conatructed. 


condition,  of  polyhedral  oeUs  (not  1 
arranged  in  a  single  layer,  lliii  ia  well  teen  m  g 
itinctly  in  rabbits,  rats,  doga,  and  cats.  If  Hie  long  u  not  d 
endothelium  of  the  surface  vwy  much  resemblei  an  ophheGnm,  As  fldi 
being  polyhedral,  or  in  the  form  of  short  coIomnB ;  tltey  kv  maikaAf. 
granular,  and  have  distinct  nodd.  Sren  in  the  modentelj  dittgidtl 
lung,  the  endothelium  of  thepleora  ptdmoniim  la  lij  no  meana  of  tka  i^ae 
morphological  character  aa  that  on  the  costal  pleura.  Between  the  €adiK 
theUum  of  the  one  and  that  of  the  otJter  organ  there  exista  dte  tarns  dii^: 
f  erence  as  between  that  of  the  orary  and  that  of  the  peritoneam— tha  0^- 
conai  sting  of  polyhedral ,  or  shortly  colnmnar.graoitlaroeUs  witii  nrjmaAti 
nuclei,  the  other  of  very  flattened,  almost  hyalme,  endotlieliBi  rVitiri. 

(b)  The  pleura  pulmonum  ia  a  rery  thin  oonnectiTe-tiarae  mendBau^ 
prorided,  like  other  serous  membranea,  with  a  rich  netwoA  of  dMib 
fibres.  In  the  lungs  of  the  rat,  rabbit,  cat,  and  dog  the  pleura  pofawnBa 
aeems  to  consist,  for  the  moat  part,  of  elastic  netwtnb.  In  Ae  mafan^ 
there  is  generally  one  layer  of  flattoned  connective-tissue  ompnadea  to  bt 
found. 

Beneath  the  proper  pleural  membrane,  there  .exists,  in  flie  gmamplg,  a 
membrane  which  cousiatB  of  non-striated  muscular  fibres,  arranged  in 
bundles  which  form  a  meshwork.  In  the  normal  condition  the  bundlea 
are  relatively  thin,  and  the  meshwork  which  tlipy  form  has  elongated  lai^ 
meshes.  In  the  distended  lung  the  inesliea  nre  of  n  much  greater  diameter 
than  in  the  collapsed  lung  ;  in  the  latter  they  form  a  more  continuous  mem- 
brane. The  muscular  bundlea  have,  in  geiu-ml,  a  radiating  direction  from 
the  apex  towards  the  basis  of  the  lung ;  and  it  is  further  to  be  noted  that 
they  are  most  abundant  on  the  external  surface,  viz.  that  directed  towards 
the  anterior  wall  of  the  chest,  and  the  internal  surface,  viz.  that  directed 
towards  the  mediastinum  ;  whereas  on  the  posterior  surface  the  bundlea 
are  scanty,  and  become  more  and  more  so  the  nearer  the  vertebral  column 
ia  approached.  This  distribution  of  the  muscular  tissue  is  therefore  in 
perfect  agreement  with  the  proportion  in  nhich  the  different  parts  of  the 
Inng  participate  in  the  respiratory  movement,  the  fibres  being  most  ricUy 
distributed  over  those  parts  of  the  pulmoaary  surface  which  are  subject  to 
the  greatest  extent  of  excursions,  and  vict  vers&.  In  rats  and  rabbita,  aa 
wdl  as  in  cats  and  dogs,  bundles  of  unstriped  muscular  fibres  occur  spa- 
ringly ;  at  any  rate  there  are  none  on  the  posterior  surface  of  the  lung  of 
these  animals.  As  soon  as  the  superficial  parts  of  the  lung  become  the 
Beat  of  a  chronic  inflammatory  process  («.  g.  tuberculosis,  chronic  pneu- 
monia), the  muscular  bundles  increase  in  breadth  and  number  to  aoch 
a  degree,  that  they  form  a  continuous  membrane,  chiefly  in  those  partv  of 
the  surface  which  correspond  to  the  diseased  portions  of  the  lung. 

1.  Suhpleural  lympTiaiict. — The  meshes  of  the  muscular  membtmne  of 
the  lung  of  guineapigs  are  lined  by  a  single  layer  of  flattened  endothelial 
cells,  constituting,  in  fact,  n  coniniunicatiiig  system  of  lymphatic  sinnaea. 


)874.}  Me  Lymphatic  St/»tem  of  the  Lungt.  136 

I  nil  this  system  of  lymphatics  the  intermMamlar  or  pUvral  lymjthaiie*. 
In  the  distended  lung  of  the  guineapig,  these  pleural  lymphatic  ainuses 
■re  Men  to  be  covered  by  hardly  any  thing  but  the  endothelium  of  the 
pleur&I  cavity,  between  which  and  the  cavitieB  of  those  sinuses  a  free 
commonication  exists  by  means  of  true  stomata ;  so  that  tlie  endothelium 
lining  the  sinuses  is  here  direi-tly  continuoux  with  that  oF  the  pleuntl  sur- 
fiuse.  In  every  case  of  chronic  pleuritiB  induced  by  injecting  irritating 
BobBtoncee  (such  as  products  of  arute  and  chronic  pyiemic  processes,  pro- 
ducts of  indurated  lymphatic  glands ).  an  active  geimiuation  of  the  endothe- 
tinm  anmnd  those  stomata  takes  place.  This  genninadon  extends  uot 
(Kily  to  the  endothelium  of  the  neighbouring  parts  of  the  pleural  surface, 
but  also  to  the  endothelium  of  the  intennuscular  lymphatic  sinuses.  The 
Tslatioii  between  the  cells  of  the  membrana  propria  of  the  pleura  pulmo- 
nam.  and  the  endothelium  of  the  surface  is  similar  to  <  hat  already  described 
by  me  in  other  serous  membranes,  the  celJn  of  the  jirojiria  throning  out 
processes,  which  project  between  the  endothelial  elements  of  the  free  buf- 
£aoe,  thus  forming  pseudostomata.  The  pleural  lymphatics  stand  in 
communication  with  lymphatic  tube?,  which  He  in  grooves,  the  arrange- 
ment of  which  corresponds  with  thiit  of  Ibe  most  superficial  groups  of 
alveoli  of  the  lung.  These  may  be  called  the  Kiil>2>leiirnl  hjmpluUKt ;  they  are 
provided  with  valves,  and  form  a  network  of  anastomosing  Ivmphatic  ves- 
sels. The  larger  trunks  run  along  the  ligamcnta  pulmonum  towards  the 
root  of  the  Inng.  This  system  of  Ivmphatic  vessels  is  best  developed  in 
tbe  long  of  the  dog,  in  which  it  has  been  described  by  ^'y  wodiMff ;  it  is 
also  well  developed  in  the  lungs  of  rabbits  and  cats.  It  receives  lympha- 
tic brandies,  which  take  their  origin  betneen  the  alvcoU  of  the  superficial 
portions  of  the  lung.  The  mode  of  origin  of  these  iuteralveolar  lymphatics 
is  that  already  described  in  my  published  work.  The  septa  of  the 
alveoli  contain  branched  connective-tlBSue  corpuscles ;  the  spaces  in  which 
these  cells  lie,  forming  the  Ivmphcanalicular  system,  open  into  the  cavities 
<rf  the  interalveolar  lymphatics,  with  the  endothelium  of  which  the  cells 
<rf  Uie  lymphcanalicular  system  are  in  direct  continuity. 

2.  Ptrivaaeular  l^mphalift. — Besides  the  system  of  subpleural  lympha- 
tics, the  lung  contains  two  other  systems  -.  of  which  one  takes  its  origin 
in  the  alveolar  septa  from  bnuiched  cells  exactly  like  those  previously 
referred  to.  The  lymphatic  capillaries  of  this  system  lead  into  vessels 
that  accompany  the  branches  of  the  pulmonary  artery  and  vein  ;  they  run 
cdther  in  tbe  adventitia  of  these  vessels  in  twos  or  threes,  anastomosing 
vrith  each  other,  or  the  blood-vessel  is  entirelr,  or  only  half,  invaginated  in 
a  lymphatic  vessel.  The  branched  cells  of  the  alveolar  septa,  from  which 
the  capillaries  of  this  system  of  lymphatics  (which  we  will  call  the 
perivaieular  lymphatici)  originate,  have  an  important  rclaticm  to  the  epithe- 
lium of  the  alveoli ;  for  they  send  a  process,  or  a  greater  or  less  portion 
of  their  body,  between  the  epithelial  cells  into  the  cavities  of  the  alveoli. 
These  represent  pseudostomata,  as  describi-d  by  myself  for  the  serous 


136  Dr.  £.  Klein  an  the  Anatomy  qf  [Jan.  29, 

membranes.  As  these  branched  cells  have  a  corresponding  lymphcuiali- 
cular  system,  it  is  easy  to  understand  why  Sikorski,  in  his  experiments, 
found  that  carmine  entered  freely  from  the  cavities  of  the  alveoli  into  the 
interalveolar  lymphatics.  But  there  is  no  other  communication  between 
the  caWties  of  the  alveoli  and  the  lymphatics  than  by  means  of  these 
pseudostomata.  It  can  be  easily  understood  that  the  pseudostomatoua 
canals  (viz.  the  canal  in  which  lies  the  process  of  a  cell  projecting  freely 
into  the  cavity  of  an  alveolus,  and  the  lymphcanalicular  system,  in  whidi 
the  interalveolar  branched  cells  lie)  may  become  occasionally  distended, «.  g» 
in  inflammation,  by  exudation,  or  by  migratory  cells.  In  fact,  it  must  be 
assumed  that  cells,  such  as  are  produced  by  catarrhal  inflammation  of 
the  air-passages,  migrate  ^m  the  cavities  of  the  alveoli  into  the  in- 
teralveolar lymphcanalicular  system  through  those  pseudostomata ;  and 
the  same  assumption  must  be  made  for  the  well-known  large  granular 
mucous  corpuscles,  in  many  lungs,  containing  carbon  particles,  inasmuch 
as  similar  cells  are  found  in  the  interalveolar  tissue. 

3.  Peribronchial  lyinphcUics. — The  third  system  of  lymphatics  is  com- 
posed of  lymphatic  vessels  which  are  chiefly  distributed  in  the  adventitift 
of  the  bronchi.  I  shall  therefore  call  it  the  system  of  perihnmMal 
lymphatics.  The  vessels  of  this  system  are  usually  distributed  around  the 
bronchi,  anastomosing  with  each  other,  and  especially  with  the  perivascular 
lymphatics.  The  vessels  of  the  peribronchial  system  take  up  capUlaries, 
which  originate  in  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  bronchi  and  penetrate 
through  the  tunica  muscularis  of  the  bronchi.  These  capillary  branches 
originate  in  the  usual  way ;  t.  e.  their  wall  is  continuous  with  the  branched 
cells  of  the  mucosa,  which  cells  in  turn  penetrate,  as  a  nucleated  reticnlmn, 
between  the  epithelial  cells  of  the  bronchus,  and  project  on  its  free  surface. 
From  this  it  may  be  understood  how  particles  can  penetrate  from  the 
cavity  of  a  bronchus  into  the  peribronchial  l3rmphatics,  as  in  the  experi- 
ments of  Sikorski.  The  lymphatics  are  always  most  numerous  cm  that 
side  of  a  bronchus  which  is  directed  towards  a  branch  of  the  pulmonary 
artery.  In  the  course  of  each  bronchus,  especially  those  that  possess  only 
a  thin  muscular  tunic  and  no  trace  of  cartilage,  there  are  generally  several 
vasculated  lymph-follicles  to  be  met  with,  which  are  placed  in  continuity 
with  the  endothelial  wall  of  a  lymphatic  vessel,  in  such  a  manner  that 
they  are  surrounded  by  that  lymphatic  vessel,  in  the  same  way  as  the 
lymph-follicles  of  Peyer's  patches  are  by  their  lymph-sinuses.  These 
follicles,  already  seen  by  Dr.  Burdon  Sanderson,  extend  up  to  the  tunica 
muscularis ;  in  some  instances  they  are  to  be  traced  through  this  latter  into 
the  mucosa.  They  always  lie  in  the  wall  of  a  lymphatic  vessel,  between  the 
bronchus  and  the  accompanying  branch  of  the  pulmonary  artery.  They 
are  of  different  sizes,  and  are  generally  spherical  or  elliptical ;  sometimes 
they  represent  merely  a  cord-like  thickening  of  the  wall  of  the  lymphatic 
vessel.  In  the  lung  of  the  guineapig  these  perilymphangial  follicles  are 
very  numerous ;  they  are  not  so  numerous  in  rabbits.  It  can  be  proved  that 


1874.}  tHe  Lgmphatie  System  oftheLungi.  137 

%  amitant  growth  uid  reproduction  of  these  follicles  is  going  on.  The 
lymphktic  Teasels  of  the  two  last-mentiooed  sjatems  anftBtoinose  with 
each  other  in  the  ligaments  of  the  lung,  and  fin&lly  enter  the  bronchial 
Ijmphatic  gbuds, 

B.  Paiholoyieal  condiiiont. 
I  have  alnaij  mentioned  the  germination  of  the  endothetium   of 
tiie  surface,  and  the  hypertrophy  of  the  muscles,  in  chronic  diseases  of 
the  long. 

In  many  chronic  infiammatory  proeeases  of  the  lung  (chronic  pynmia, 
artificiat  tuberculosis,  chronic  pneumonia)  the  pleura  pulmonnm  becomes 
tite  seat  of  nodnles  of  rnrious  sicea  and  shapes.  Generally  they  are  more 
(V  less  ronnd,  and  correspond  in  position  to  those  superficial  portions  of 
tita  lung  ^lich  have  become  the  seat  of  an  inflnmmatory  process.  These 
nodules  of  the  pleura  are  due  to  a  very  rapid  proliferation  of  the  branched 
oonnectave-tiBsue  corpuscles,  simultaneously  with  an  increase  of  fibrous 
ConnectiTe  tisane,  this  latt«r  fact  being  very  obvious  when  the  nodules 
haye  reached  a  certain  age.  As  long  as  they  are  small,  they  show  merely 
an  abundance  of  cellul^  elements;  in  their  later  stages  they  become 
richly  supplied  with  capillary  blood-vessels. 

Lungs  of  guineapigs  that  are  far  advanced  in  the  process  of  artificial 
tnberouloaia  {%,  e.  where  the  bronchial  glands  have  already  become  the 
•eatof  cheeay  deposits)  show  auperfidal  nodules,  which  are  in  direct  con- 
tinuity with  the  subpleural  lymphatics.  In  horir,ontal  sections  through 
audi  portions  of  the  lung,  one  tinds  these  lymphatics  filled  with  lymph- 
oorpuades,  iriiile  at  a  later  period  they  are  occupied  by  an  adenoid  reti- 
cnlnm,  the  meshes  of  which  contain  lymph-corpuscles,  and  which  is  in 
direct  continuity  with  the  endothelium  of  the  lymphatic  tubes.  The  no- 
dules themselves  represent  a  network  of  cords,  which  very  much  resembles 
adenoid  tissue.  The  meshes  of  this  network  of  trabcculce  are  the  alveoli, 
which,  at  an  early  period,  contain  a  few  lymphoid  corpuscles,  while  the 
epitJielinm  is,  at  the  same  time,  in  a  state  of  germination,  the  individual 
cellt  being  swollen  and  the  nucleus  in  a  stato  of  division.  At  a  latcrperiod 
the  alveoli  are  filled  with  small  lymphoid  corpuscles,  while  the  epithelium 
of  the  alveoli  is  no  longer  to  be  distinguished  as  such.  The  blood-<'apil- 
laries  belonging  to  these  alveoli  have  undergone  some  remarkable  changes, 
of  which  I  shall  speak  at  length  afterwards;  at  present  I  will  only 
mention  that  at  a  later  period  they  are  no  longer  permeable  for  the  blood. 
Hiese  interalveolar  trabccnlo)  of  adenoid  tissue,  forming  the  framework 
of  the  superficial  nodules,  are  developed  from  the  branched  connective- 
tissue  corpuscles  of  the  alveolar  septa.  The  same  process  extends  to  the 
Bubpleuial  lymphatics,  originating  from  these  interalveolar  connective- 
tissue  corpuscles,  in  such  a  way  that  these  lymphatics  become  con- 
verted into  cords  of  adenoid  tissue  connected  with  their  endothelium. 
Consequently  Uiese  lymphatics  become  converted  into  cndolyiuphangial 
cords. 


188  Dr.  E.  Klein  on  the  Anatomy  of  [Jan.  29^ 

If  one  examines  the  lungs  of  a  guineapig  which  is  so  &r  advanced  in 
the  process  of  artificial  tuberculosis  that  the  bronchial  glands  contain 
cheesy  deposits,  one  can  distinguish  with  the  naked  eje  two  kinds  of 
morbid  structure  on  the  surface  of  the  lungs : — 

(a)  Translucent  structures  of  a  circular  or  irregular  shape,  sometimes 
projecting  slightly  above  the  surface,  generally  isolated,  but  in  some 
instances  confluent,  so  as  to  form  patches.  The  smallest  are  of  the  size 
of  the  head  of  a  small  pin ;  some  of  them  are  three,  four,  or  several  times 
as  large.  In  some  lungs  only  the  large  structures  are  to  be  found ;  the 
larger  kind  have  generally  a  yello\ii8h  centre. 

(6)  Opaque  patches  of  considerable  diameter  projecting  above  the  sur- 
face of  the  lung,  some  of  them  relatively  very  large  (about  •}■  to  -jl^  of  an 
inch),  quite  white,  and  very  firm.  On  sections  through  the  lung  one  findtf 
that  the  first  kind  of  structures  correspond  with  cords  provided  with  lateral 
nodular  swellings,  which  accompany  the  branches  of  the  pulmonary  artery 
and  vein.  The  second  kind  of  structures  correspond  with  nodules  and 
patches  which  are  irregularly  distributed  in  the  tissue  of  the  lung.  On 
microscopical  examination  it  is  seen  that  the  first  kind  of  structures  are 
perivascular  cords  of  adenoid  tissue,  representing  the  follicular  tissue 
which  is  found  in  the  walls  of  the  peribronchial  lymphatics  in  the 
normal  condition.  Many  of  these  perivascular  cords  or  nodules  are 
supplied  with  a  system  of  capillary  blood-vessels.  The  second  kind  of 
nodules,  or  patches,  are  seen  to  consist,  on  microscopical  examination,  of 
a  framework  of  trabeculao  which  corresponds  to  the  intend veolar  tissue ; 
they  represent  trabecula?  of  adenoid  tissue  which  are  in  continuity  with 
the  perivascular  cords  first  mentioned.  The  meshes  of  this  network  are 
more  or  less  filled  out  by  cells  lying  in  the  spaces  that  were  previously  the 
cavities  of  the  alveoli.  The  question  arises.  How  do  these  two  kinds  of 
morbid  structures  develop,  and  what  is  their  ultimate  fate  ? 

If  one  studies  sections  of  lungs  that  possess  very  few  of  the  first 
kind  of  cords  and  nodules,  one  comes  across  a  number  of  the  lymphatic 
vessels  that  accompany  the  branches  of  the  pulmonary  artery,  con- 
taining more  or  less  numerous  Ivmph- corpuscles.  In  addition  to  those 
just  mentioned,  one  is  able  to  find  lymphatic  vessels,  the  endothdiom 
of  which  is  in  contiuuitv  with  a  thin  short  cord  of  adenoid  tissue  that 
stretches  along  the  outer  wall  of  the  lymphatic,  or  (as  may  be  seen  in  some 
places)  projects  into  its  ca>dty,  thus  connecting  the  two  endothelial  walls 
of  the  lymphatic ;  in  other  words,  we  have  here  a  peri-  as  well  as  an 
endolymphangial  growth  of  adenoid  tissue,  connected  with  the  endo- 
thelium of  the  Ivmphatic.  From  what  I  have  shown  in  the  case  of  the 
serous  membranes,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  above-mentioned 
tuberculous  cords  of  adenoid  tissue  accompanpng  the  blood-vessels  are  in 
reality  only  peri-  or  endol}inphaugial  outgrowths  of  the  endothelium  of 
the  lymphatics.  It  is  important  to  state  that,  at  the  same  time,  the  fol- 
licles of  the  bronchial  adventitia  increase  in  size,  and  also  that  a  perilym- 


1874.]  the  LgByihoik  SyMtem  of  the  tungt.  139 

ph&ngiftl  n«w  growth  takes  place  on  the  peribronchial  lyupliatica.  From 
the  study  of  the  nonnAl  lung,  it  can  be  attcertained  that  not  all  the  lai^ 
bntDchea  of  blood-Tesiets  are  accompanied  bv  lymphatics,  and  not  even 
one  and  the  same  branch  for  its  whole  length,  but  that  in  some  places 
they  are  only  Burrounded  by  branched  connective-tissue  corpuscles,  which 
may  be  said  to  belong  to  their  adveutitia.  In  a  given  case,  one  'ndll  not 
be  able  to  determine  whether  a  certain  tubercular  cord  hae  developed  by 
the  increase  of  these  adventitial  cells,  or  whether  it  has  developed  from 
the  endothelium  of  a  lymphatic,  either  as  a  peri-  or  endol\-mphangial  cord ; 
for  the  fully  developed  cords  have  quite  the  same  rclatiou  to  the  blood- 
vessels as  if  they  had  developed  in  their  adventitia. 

I  have  already  mentioned  that  the  growth  of  adenoid  tissue  in  the 
branches  of  the  subpleural  lymphatics  extends  to  the  connective-tissue 
corpuscles  between  the  alveoli.  Exactly  in  the  same  way  we  see  the  pe- 
liTascular  adenoid  cords  spreading  between  the  alveoli ;  that  is  to  say,  the 
perilymphangial  growth  of  tracts  of  adenoid  tissue  extends  from  the  Ivm- 
pbatics  to  the  interalveolar  branched  cells,  with  which  the  endothelium 
of  the  former  is  indirect  continuity. 

The  first  points  at  which  the  tubercular  perivascular  cords  of  adenoid 
tissue  make  their  appearance  are  tho  ultimate  branches  of  the  pulmonary 
artery  and  vein,  whence  they  spread  along  the  lymphatics  towards  the 
larger  branches,  as  well  as  towards  the  interalveolar  branched  cells.  In 
general  the  growth  in  the  first  direction  (that  is,  towards  the  larger 
bntnchea)  goes  on  much  more  abundantly  and  rapidly  than  in  the  other 
direction. 

It  is  an  important  fact  tliat  I  have  constantlymet  with  the  following  con- 
dition of  the  tuberculous  lungs  of  guiueapigH  : — The  ultimate  branches  of 
tiie  pulmonary  artery  show  a  genniuatioa  of  their  endothelium,  which  is 
already  recognizable  in  the  earlier  stages  of  the  disease,  at  a  time  when 
perivascular  cords  are  only  rarely  to  be  found.  If  tho  process  advances,  the 
germination  of  that  endothelium  reaches  such  a  degree  that  the  cavities  of 
the  blood-vessels  are  almost  filled  with  its  products,  only  a  very  narrow 
central  canal  being  left  free.  In  later  stages,  the  tunica  media  of  the 
smaller  and  middle-sized  vessels,  that  are  provided  with  perivascular  cords, 
becomes  very  much  thickened,  and  splits  into  laminse,  between  which  lie 
accumulated  lymphoid  cells,  either  free  or  contained  in  a  reticulum.  In 
many  places  it  can  be  shown  that  the  adenoid  tissue  of  the  perivascular  cords 
gradually  grows  towards  the  cavities  of  the  vessels,  and  finally  assumes  the 
whole  portdon  of  the  vessel  into  its  substance.  The  chief  fact  of  import- 
KDce,  however,  is  that  the  capillary  blood-vessels  of  those  interalveolar 
trabeculaa,  into  which  the  perivascular  cords  have  penetrated,  have  become 
converted  into  soHd  nucleated  bands  and  threads,  which  are  in  continuity 
with  the  surrounding  reticulum.  These  threads,  although  they  appear 
aoM,  must  be  taken  as  still  permeable  by  fluid  substances ;  for  in  lungs 
the  pulmonary  artery  of  which  had  been  previously  injected  with  a  cold 


140  Dr.  E.  Klein  on  the  Anattmy  of  [Jan.  29j 

solution  of  Berlin  blue,  the  cavity  of  many  of  the  capillaries  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  those  iuteralveokr  trabecule  stops  short,  but  the  injecting 
material  can  be  traced  into  the  nucleated  filaments  which  enter  those  tra- 
becule. From  the  study  of  a  great  number  of  specimens,  taken  from 
lungs  in  different  stages  of  the  process  of  artificial  tuberculosis,  I  haye 
reason  to  believe  that  the  first  parts  which  undergo  inflammatory  changea 
are  the  ultimate  branches  of  the  pulmonary  artery  and  the  capillaries  next 
to  them,  and  that  the  morbid  process  extends  from  them  to  the  corre- 
sponding lymphatics. 

I  have  already  mentioned  that,  where  the  alveolar  septa  become 
thickened,  the  epithelium  of  the  alveoli  becomes  gradually  changed,  bo  as 
completely  to  fill  the  cavities  of  the  alveoli.  By  this  means  nodulttr 
or  patch-like  structures  are  formed,  which  may  be  called  secondary  patchea. 
It  may  be  said,  in  general,  that  the  epithelial  cells  proliferate  :  tiiey  en- 
large; their  nuclei  divide ;  and  then  the  cells  themselves  divide.  In  many 
alveoli  there  appear,  besides  isolated  epithelial  cells,  with  or  without  car- 
bon particles  in  their  substance,  numerous  small  lymphoid  corpusdea* 
In  some  of  the  alveoli  the  enlarged  epithelial  cells  become  fused  together 
to  one  large  ma«8  of  granular  protoplasm,  which  contains  a  number  of 
nuclei  in  its  periphery ;  this  represents,  in  the  true  sense  of  the  term,  a 
"  giant  cell."  We  may  therefore  say  that,  at  an  early  period,  these  patches 
consist  of  trabecuhe,  which  represent  the  thickened  interalveolar  s^taand 
their  meshes  (the  alveoli),  and  that  the  latter  are  filled  either  with  small 
cells  or  \vith  giant  cells,  or  rather  with  multinuclear  protoplasmic  cylin- 
drical masses.  These  secondary  patches  gradually  increase  in  size,  by 
the  extension  of  the  adenoid  metamorphosis  of  the  alveolar  septa  and  tiie 
changes  of  the  capillary  blood-vessels,  indicated  above. 

A  perivascular  cord  may  become  furnished  with  a  number  of  lateral 
nodules  of  adenoid  tissue  from  the  assumption,  by  adenoid  interalveolar 
cords,  of  the  contents  of  alveolar  cavities  into  their  own  tissue.  Where, 
however,  the  alveolar  cavities  contain  giant  cells,  other  remarkable  changes 
take  place.  These  are  as  follows : — The  cylinders  of  multinuclear  proto- 
plasm grow  and  divide  into  a  number  of  giant  cells,  which  gradually  be- 
come converted  into  a  tissue  to  a  certain  extent  resembling  adenoid  tissue, 
but  differing  from  it  in  many  respects.  Thus  the  giant  cells  give  origin 
to  a  more  or  less  regular  network  of  nucleated  cells,  which,  consisting  at 
first  of  granular  substance,  soon  assume  the  appearance  of  a  more  or  less 
distinct  fibrillar  substance ;  in  their  meshes  lie  only  a  limited  number 
of  lymphoid  colls.  This  tissue  spreads  very  rapidly,  and  finally  undei^goes, 
from  the  centre  outwards,  a  fibrous  degeneration,  which  becomes  the  seat 
of  cheesy  deposits. 

Different  lungs  are  somewhat  different  in  this  latter  respect.  In  some 
cases  iho  transformation  of  the  giant  cells  into  a  network  of  nucleated 
cells  goes  oTi  very  rapidly ;  and  then  the  cheesy  metamorphosis  is  also  soon 
eslablislioJ.     In  other  cases  the  growth  of  the  network  of  nucleated  cells 


1874.]  the  Lj/ngihatic  Syttem  of  the  Lungt.  141 

ba>  a  Tory  long  dnntion,  and  consequently  the  growth  of  the  secondary 
patdiea  remains  acHve  for  a  long  time.  The  network  of  nucleated 
oells  is,  at  no  period  of  its  development,  such  a  delicate  reticulum  as  in 
the  adenoid  tdsBOe,  nor  does  it  contain  lymphoid  corpuscles  so  r^ularly 
ai  this  latter.  Moreorer  the  adenoid  tiHSue  of  the  periraacular  cords 
or  their  lateral  nodules  never  becomet  the  leat  of  a  jibrotLi  or  tket»}f 
mttamorphoni.  The  more  the  lung  has  advanced  in  the  process  of 
aitifidal  tnberculosiB,  the  more  do  we  find  the  tissue  of  the  lung, 
in  the  ncdghbooriiood  of  the  primary  and  secondary  nodules,  undergoing 
inflammatory  changes — consisting  in  thickening  of  the  alveolar  septa, 
and  in  a  granular  condition  of  the  walls  of  their  capillary  blood-vesseU, 
Ae  nuclei  of  which  are  in  active  proliferation,  their  number  being  out 
of  proportion  large. 

In  the  peripheral  parts  of  the  lung  the  most  numorous  secondary  no- 
dules are  to  bo  met  with ;  and  consequently  the  most  numerous  cheesy 
depodta  are  here  to  be  found.  I  have  often  seen  a  system  of  laige  patches 
pn^ectang  somewhat  above  the  surface  and  radiating  towards  the  deeper 
parte,  as  the  terminal  branches  of  a  minute  bronchus  puss  towards  the 
■tern. 

Tba  secondary  process  extends  from  the  terminal  branches  (alveoli  and 
infnndibnla)  to  the  lar^  bronchi.  In  these  the  process  becomes  ver}' 
marled,  and  consists  of  the  following  changes  : — 

(a)  The  epithelium  proliferates  very  abundantly,  whereby  the  cavity 
may  finally  become  almost  completely  plugged  up  by  the  progeny  of  the 
epithelium. 

(&)  A  more  important  change  consists  in  the  proliferation  of  the  tissue 
titat  we  have  designated  above  as  pseudoatomata,  namely  the  branched  cells 
of  the  tunica  mucosa  that  extend  between  the  epithelial  cells  to  the  surface ; 
this  tissue  grows  so  as  to  form  a  very  rich  adenoid  tissue.  At  the  same 
time  ijiere  goes  on  an  active  growth  of  adenoid  tissue  in  the  walls  of  the 
peribnmchial  lymphatics  :  that  is  tu  say,  there  is  a  hyperplasia  (Sander- 
son) of  tjie  preexisting  follicles,  as  well  as  a  new  formation.  [The  most 
active  transformation  of  the  pseudostomatous  tissue  of  the  bronchi  into 
•denoid  tissue  I  have  met  with  was  in  i-abbita  sufEering  from  chronic 
pynmia ;  it  has  been  already  stated  that  the  reticulum  of  branched  cells 
vhicb  stretches  between  the  epithelial  cells  of  the  surface  is  better 
developed  in  rabbits  than  in  guinenpigs,  m  the  normal  coudilion.] 

(e)  In  the  large  bronchi,  which  liave  become  involved  in  the  secondary 
process,  another  noteworthy  change  takes  place,  viz.  the  fusion  of  groups 
of  the  proliferating  epithelial  cells,  not  only  those  of  the  free  surface, 
bat  also  those  of  the  mucous  glands,  so  as  to  form  multinuclear  proto- 
plasmic cylinders  and  lumps  (giant  cells). 

The  secondary  process,  vis.  that  which  affects  the  alveoli  and  bronchi, 
and  which  may  be  justly  called  the  catarrhal  pneumonic  process, 
always  accompanies  artificial  tuberculosis  when  it  has  extended  to  the 


142  DT.E.KlmnamtkeJmiamgqf'  [Jnuttl^ 

interalTeolar  tissue ;  in  the  earij  stages  of  sriifieial  taberadosia,  mJ^  tti 
perivascular  lymphangtal  cords  mre  to  he  md  mtik. 

If  the  infection  has  been  established  from  tiie  pleural  oafitj,  the  gov 
mination  of  the  endothelium  of  tiie  surfaoe  round  tiie  atomat%  and  tta 
transformation  of  the  subpletiral  lymphatics  into  ooids  of  ^vfhnmll 
is  the  first  symptom,  and  is  fdlowed  by  tiie  appearanoe  of 
adenoid  cords.  If,  however,  the  lung  becomes  tuberoulooa  bj  ii 
from  the  blood-vessels,  the  peritoneal  cavity  or  the  Bubentaneoaa  tiiniQ, 
the  perivascular  adenoid  cords  are  tiie  first  strueturea  that  make  tiieir  aip* 
pearance.  In  lungs  which  have  become  the  seat  of  duronio  pyuua^  the 
first  changes  are  to  be  found  in  the  alveolar  septa  and  alveoH,  vis.  the 
formation  of  patches  and  nodules  similar  to  thoee  that  I  havo  dnaignattiil 
before  as  secondary;  and  if  the  process  lasts  Icmg  enou^,  ftoaa 
changes  take  place  that  I  have  designated  before  aa  primaiy  tubemiknis 
changes. 

The  opinion  has  been  expressed  (by  Sanderson  and  Wilson.  Eooc)  tlMiJI 
the  process  of  artificial  tuberculosis  in  the  lungs  of  gnineapiga  vaaemhleai 
in  its  anatomical  features,  the  tuberculous  process  in  man.  I  iviB 
therefore  examine  the  process  that  is  dinically  and  anatomieaUj  knomi 
as  miliary  tuberculosis  in  man.  For  this  purpose  I  shall  deaonbe  the 
changes  that  I  found  in  three  series  of  cases  of  miliary  tuberculosis  in 
children,  representing,  as  we  shall  see,  three  different  stages  of  develop- 
ment. In  the  first  series  the  lungs  exhibited  all  the  anatomical  appear- 
ances of  acute  miliary  tuberculosis.  Ou  microscopical  examination  it  waa 
found  that  the  nodules  were  due  to  groups  of  alveoli  (with  the  correspond- 
ing infundibula)  being  filled  with  and  dist^^nded  by  a  fibrinous  material 
that  contained  granules  and  a  few  small  cells  ;  generally  these  latter  oo- 
cupied  the  centre  of  the  alveoli.  The  walls  of  the  alveoli  were  hardly 
distinguishable  ;  and  the  capillary  vessels  were  not  permeable,  as  shown 
by  the  fact  that,  in  well-injected  preparations,  the  injection  did  not  pene- 
trate into  the  capiUaries  of  the  alveolar  septa.  The  alveoli  next  to  these 
nodules  contained  the  same  fibrinous  material ;  but  they  were  not  filled  up 
by  it  completely ;  and  their  epithelium  could  be  distinctly  recognised, 
having  become  wholly  or  partially  detached,  the  individual  cells  being 
somewhat  enlarged,  and  some  of  them  containing  two  nuclei.  Here  tiie 
injection  material  penetrated  the  capillary  blood-vessels  more  or  less 
perfectly:  the  alveoli  of  the  neighbouring  parts  contained  either  a 
small  amount  of  fibrinous  material,  besides  isolated  young  cells,  or  a  ho- 
mogeneous gelatinous  substance  that  had  become  stained  with  hssmatozy- 
lin.  The  epithelium  was  very  distinct,  its  cells  granular.  In  some  of 
the  alveoli  the  epithelial  membrane  was  more  or  less  detached  from  the 
alveolar  septa ;  the  capillary  blood-vessels  were  perfectly  permeable. 

In  the  second  series  of  cases  of  miliary  tuberculosis,  in  which  the  lungs 
did  not  differ  in  macroscopical  appearance  from  those  of  the  first  series,  but 
in  which  the  process  had  lasted  longer,  ^^^  microscopical  appearances  were 


1874.]  ike  Lyn^katic  Syttem  of  ike  Ltrnga.  148 

•nmewhat  diiEereDt.  The  nodules  were  seen  to  differ  m  their  structure 
{rom  Uiose  iu  the  former  series  in  the  following  respects.  In  some  of  them 
it  was  eaxjXa  recogiUEe  that  they  represented  a  number  of  alveoli  very  much 
distended  b;  a  fibrinous  subatoDce  similar  to  that  described  abore,  which 
included  granular  nutterial  and  a  number  of  small  cellular  elements ;  the 
tnbecnln  of  these  nodules  (that  is,  the  interalveolar  tissue)  were  slightly 
tliickened  and  contained  young  ceils,  their  capillary  blood-vessels  being  not 
completely  permeable  and  not  easily  dLstingiii!«h able.  Besides  these  there 
ware  nodules  of  which  only  the  central  alveoli  were  in  the  state  just  men- 
tifmed;  whereas  in  those  situated  more  peripherally  the  fibrinous  material 
was  no  longer  to  be  discovered,  but  they  were  filled  in  one  or  other  of  the 
following  ways  ; — first,  by  spherical  nucleated  elements,  many  of  which 
could  be  still  rec<^ized  as  epithelial  cells,  by  their  8i7.e,  granulation,  and 
nudensjand  some  of  wluch  contained  two  nuclei.  In  these  places,  theinter- 
Klveolar  trabecule  were  thickened  in  a  very  marked  manner,  exhibiting 
all  the  appearances  of  an  infiltrated  tiNNuc — that  is  to  say,  a  more  or  less 
distinct  reticulum  of  nucleated  libres,  in  the  meshes  of  which  lay  small 
lymphoid  corpuscles  very  readily  stained  by  logwood  or  carmine.  Or, 
aecimdly,  they  were  filled  by  one  large  multinucleated  mass  or  giant  cell. 
In  the  latter  case  the  giant  cell,  or  rather  the  multi nuclear  protoplasmic 
cylinder,  contwned  the  nuclei  either  regularly  distributed  in  its  periphery, 
at  all  crowded  together  in  the  central  part  of  the  mass.  As  regatds  tho 
nuclei,  it  may  be  said  that  they  xtain  readily  ;  they  are  relatively  small, 
sharply  outlined,  andcontRin  one  or  two  nucleoli.  The  protoplasm  of  the 
giant  cell  is  tinted  slightly  yellowish,  docs  not  stain  in  ha-iimtoxvlin,  and  is 
very  regularly  filled  with  small  granules  of  (iijual  size.  As  regards  the  deve- 
lopment of  these  giant  cells  and  their  nuclei,  I  ninst  first  contradict  those 
authors  who  say  that  they  oripnatc  generally  by  a  free-cell  formation  in 
the  veins,  as  well  as  thos<!  who  make  them  originate  in  h-mphatic  vessels ; 
for  I  have  folloucd  their  development  from  the  epithelial  cells  of  tho 
alveoli  with  all  possible  certainty.  I  have  been  able  to  make  out  that  the 
whole  epithelial  lining  of  an  alveolus  bet-omes  fused  together  into  one  pro- 
toplasmic lump  which  fills  out  the  alveolar  cavity,  and  the  nuclei  of  which 
rapdlydivide.reuiMning,  however,  in  theirorigijialplaces,  viz.  peripheral. 
"We  have  here  a  protoplasmic  cylinder  the  transverse  section  of  which 
■hows  a  peripheral  ring  of  nuclei.  But  a  single  epithelial  cell  may 
also  become  transformed  into  a  multinuclcar  giant  cell:  one  or  the 
other  epithelial  ceil  increases  rapidly  in  size  (probably  at  the  expense  of 
its  fellows)  ;  its  protoplasm  becomes  enlarged  as  well  as  its  nucleus ;  then 
this  nucleus  gives  rise  by  cleavsgc,  or  by  budding,  to  a  number  of  small 
nuclei,  so  that  it  is  transformed  into  a  number  of  nuclei  lying  in  th« 
middle  of  the  cell.  [I  have  little  doubt  that  Klebs  would  be  much  inclined 
to  regard  the  very  regular  granulation  of  the  giant  cells  previously  men- 
tioned, as  being  due  to  the  presence  of  micrococci ;  such  an  assumption, 
however,  could  not  easily  be  proved.     A  snlwtance  filled  very  regularly 


T. 


144  On  the  Lyn^fkaHe  l^Hem  rf  the  Lm^.        ['n^il^ 


.< 

m 


with  granules  is  said  to  be  flDed  with  mkroooooL  AgMiwt  tlMiA  viMr. 
howeyer,  it  can  be  maintnned,  flnt,  fliflt  tiiflro  are  •  mmiber  of  irmiM 
tissues  that  appear  after  harfffliing  to  be  jurt  m  xegobily  ilBad  ivilk 
granules  (e.g.  the  liver-cells  of  anyHtcrhaHiwMidmipirifcXM>i>»eMUfcJ^^^ 
that  the  resistance  of  these  grmnnleB  to  adds  and  alkaliea  after  hntai^if 
does  not  prove  them  to  be  mieroooccL] 

Where  the  alveoli  contain  giant  oeDs,  the  alveolar  septa  sre 
thickened,  and  are  seen  to  consiBt  of  a  tumie  tint  ^wwtMna 
and  spindle-shaped  cells,  the  substance  of  whkli  baa  more  or  Ibbi  the 
appearance  of  a  fibrous  lassne,  their  proeeeeee  as  weQ  aa  Aeir  bodj 
being  slightly  fibrillar.  Between  tiiese  Aere  are  vecy  few  lywpjiflH 
corpuscles  to  be  found. 

la  a  third  series  of  lungs,  wfaidi  also  in  maoroeoopioal  aspeet  Si  mk 
differ  from  the  former  ones,  it  is  seen  tibat  almost  all  flie  T»qdntBr  innntaii 
giant  cells,  corresponding  to  the  alveolar  spaces.  Theoe»  howeffer,  ImM 
undergone  changes  which  are  ooneetljr  described  by  Schuppel  and  otherii 
viz.  the  giant  cells  give  origin  to  a  network  of  brandiednncleatodeslb^  tfl 
well  as  toa  few  spherical  nucleated  elements  that  lie  inita  meahee,  TUi 
network  grows  at  the  expense  of  the  giant  ceD,  which  nndeigoes  proBI^ 
ration  at  the  same  time.  We  have  here  what  is  generallj  called  a  relieiilir 
tubercle.  From  one  giant  cell  a  number  of  giant  oeUs  maj  take  tbeir 
origin. 

The  nearer  to  the  centre  of  a  nodule  the  giant  cell  lies,  the  more  exten- 
sively and  quickly  does  a  transformation  of  its  substance  take  place.  It 
becomes  converted  into  a  very  dense  feltwork  of  fibrillar  tissue,  the 
nuclei  of  which  gradually  disappear,  while  the  tissue  itself  dies  away, 
becoming  firm  and  hard,  and  finally  resembling  a  granular  substance,  in 
which  fibrils  can  be  made  out  very  indistinctly.  While  the  network  of  the 
nucleated  cells  continues  to  grow  at  the  expense  of  the  giant  cells,  the 
process  of  necrosis  spreads  gradually  to  the  peripheral  parts.  In  this 
stage  of  the  process  the  thickened  interalveolar  trabeculsB  become  also 
assumed  into,  and  identified  with,  the  tissue  that  originated  from  the  giant 
cells.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  the  nodules  there  are  very  numerous 
places  where  the  interalveolar  trabecule  are  thickened  and  contain  nume- 
rous young  cells,  the  epithelium  of  the  corresponding  alveoli  being,  at  the 
same  time,  in  a  state  of  proliferation.  In  general  the  tubercular  nodulee 
of  both  these  latter  series  have  the  common  character  that  the  peripheral 
zone  of  the  tubercular  nodule  is  a  regular  adenoid  tissue,  being  composed 
of  a  delicate  reticulum  which  includes  small  lymphoid  corpuscules ;  this 
adenoid  tissue  is  in  continuity  with  the  tissue  of  the  interalveolar 
trabecule  above  mentioned.  In  these  stages  of  the  tuberculous  process, 
we  find  numerous  branches  of  large  blood-vessels,  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood  of  the  nodules,  provided  with  the  same  perivascular 
cords  of  adenoid  tbsue  as  have  been  described  in  the  tuberculous  lung 
of  the  guineapig. 


1874.]      Onthe  Contparative  Value  of  certain  Geological  Aget.     145 

fitudly,  it  may  be  mentioaed  that  thc§e  nodiiJeH  also  grow  in  drcum- 
ferance,  by  the  alveolar  septa  of  the  neighbouring  alveoli  gradually  be* 
ooming  thickened,  while,  at  the  same  time,  the  epithelium  of  the  ooire- 
aponding  alveoli  undergoes  the  changes  before  described.  The  capillary 
Tesoels  of  these  parte  show  the  same  changes  as  were  mentioned  in  the  cose 
of  the  gnineapig's  lung — being  transformed  gradually  into  nucleated  fibres, 
wluch  must  be  supposed  to  be,  for  a  certain  time,  still  permeable  by 
coloured  fluids. 

If  we  summarize  the  results  thus  described,  it  is  evident  that  tho 
changes  in  the  process  of  miliary  tuberculosis  in  man  are  only  to  a  limited 
extent  nmilar  to  those  which  occurr  in  the  proi-ess  of  artificial  tu- 
berculoeiB  in  guineapige.  In  the  lung  of  tuberculized  guineapigs  the 
first  structural  changes  are  characterised,  briefly  speaking,  by  the  appear- 
ance of  perivascular  lymphaDgial  nodules,  whereas  the  changes  of  the  in- 
teralveolar  tissue  and  the  alveolar  epithelium  form  only  a  secondary  pro- 
cess. In  miliuy  tuberculosis  of  man,  on  the  other  band,  we  see  that  the 
firat  dianges  take  place  in  the  alveoli  and  interalveolar  septa,  and  these 
changes  are  followed  by  the  appearance  of  perivascular  cords. 

It  is  tlierefore  probable  that,  in  artificial  tuberculosis  of  the  lung  of  th« 
gnine^ng,  the  parts  first  attacked  are  the  smaO  branches  of  the  pulmo- 
nary artery  <k  pulmonary  Tein,  whereas  in  I'he  miliary  tuberculosis  of  man 
the  capillary  blood-vessels  of  the  alveoli  seem  to  be  the  tissue  from  which 
the  action  of  the  morbid  agent  starts. 


n.  "  On  the  Comparative  Value  of  certain  Geological  Ages  (or 
groups  of  formations]  considered  as  items  of  Geological  Time." 
By  A.  C.  Ramsay,  LL.D.,  V.P.R.S.  Received  December  16, 
1873. 

(Abstract.) 

The  author  first  reviews  briefly  several  methods  by  which  attempts 
have  been  made  to  estimate  the  value  of  minor  portions  of  geological 
time,  such  as: — calculations  intended  to  estimate  the  age  of  ddtas, 
founded  on  the  annual  rate  of  accumulation  of  sediments ;  the  astro- 
nomical method  followed  by  Mr.  Croll,  in  connexion  with  the  recurrence 
of  glacial  epochs ;  the  relative  thicknesses  of  different  formations ;  and 
tiie  relation  of  strong  unconformity  between  two  sets  of  formations  in 
connexion  with  marked  disappearance  of  old  genera  and  species,  and  the 
appearance  of  newer  forms.  Having  shown  that  none  of  these  methods 
^ve  any  clear  help  in  the  absolute  measurement  of  time  in  years  or 
^dea  of  years,  even  when  founded  on  well-estabhshed  bets,  he  proceeds 
to  attempt  to  estjmate  the  compartUive  value  of  long  portions  of  geo- 
lo^cal  time,  all  of  which  are  represented  by  important  series  of 
fonnatitns. 


146  Prof*  A.  C.  Ramsay  on  the  [Jan.  29^ 

The  author  then  alludes  to  the  subject  of  two  papers  by  himself,  giyen 
to  the  Geological  Society  in  1871,  on  the  £ed  Kocks  of  England,  in 
which  he  attempted  to  show  that  the  Old  Eed  Sandstone,  Permian,  and 
New  Eed  scries  were  all  deposited  in  great  inland  lakes,  fresh  or  salt ; 
and  this,  taken  iu  connexion  with  the  ^ide-spreadiug  terrestrial  cha- 
racter of  much  of  the  Carboniferous  series,  showed  that  a  great  con- 
tinental age  prevailed  over  much  of  Europe  and  in  some  other  regions, 
from  the  close  of  the  Silurian  epoch  to  the  close  of  the  Trias.  He  then 
endeavours  to  show  the  value  of  the  time  occupied  in  the  deposition  of 
the  above-named  formations,  when  compared  >%ith  the  time  occupied  in 
the  deposition  of  the  Cambrian  and  Silurian  strata,  and  of  the  marine 
and  freshwater  strata  which  were  deposited  between  the  dose  of  the 
Triassic  epoch  and  the  present  day. 

After  alluding  to  the  probable  mixed  estuarine  and  marine  character 
of  the  purple  and  grey  Cambrian  rocks  of  St.  David's,  it  is  shown  that  the 
Cambrian  and  Silurian  series  may  be  massed  into  three  great  groups: — 
first,  from  the  bottom  of  the  purple  Cambrian  rocks  to  the  top  of  the 
Tremadoc  slates ;  these  being  succeeded  unconformably  by  the  second 
group,  the  Llandeilo  and  Bala  or  Caradoc  beds ;  on  which  rest  imcon- 
formably  the  members  of  the  third  series,  ranging  from  the  base  of  the 
Upper  Llandovery  to  the  top  of  the  Upper  Ludlow  beds, — each  uncon- 
formable break  in  stratigraphical  succession  being  accompanied  by  a 
corresponding  break  in  paljeontological  succession. 

These  three  great  divisions  are  next  shown  to  be  comparable,  in  the 
time  occupied  for  their  deposition,  to  the  three  dinsions  of  Lower, 
Middle,  and  Upper  Devonian  rocks,  which  are  considered  to  be  the 
marine  representatives  of  the  Old  Bed  Sandstone ;  and  therefore  it 
follows  that  tJu  time  occupied  in  the  deposition  of  the  latter  may  have  been 
OB  long  as  t7w,t  taken  in  the  deposition  of  the  Cambrian  and  Silurian  series. 
This  position  is  strengthened  by  the  great  palseontological  dilEerences  in 
the  fossils  of  the  Upper  Ludlow  and  those  of  the  marine  Carboniferous 
series,  which  seem  to  indicate  a  long  lapse  of  time  during  which,  in 
Old  Eed  Sandstone  areas,  no  direct  sequence  of  marine  deposits  took 
place. 

The  next  question  considered  is,  what  relation  in  point  of  time  the 
deposition  of  the  Old  Eed  Sandstone  may  have  taken,  when  compared 
with  the  time  occupied  in  the  deposition  of  certain  members  of  the 
Mesozoic  formations.  Through  a  series  of  arguments,  lithological, 
stratigraphical,  and  pala'ontological,  the  conclusion  is  arrived  at,  that  the 
whole  of  the  Liassic  and  Oolitic  series  present  the  various  phases  of  one 
facies  of  marine  life,  and,  in  this  respect,  are  comparable  to  the  changes  in 
the  fossil  cont<mts  of  the  various  subformations  of  the  Cambrian  and 
Lingula-flag  series,  of  which  the  Tremadoc  Slates  form  an  upper 
member.  In  like  manner  the  Lias  and  Oolites  may  be  compared 
with  the  TiOwer  Devonian  strata ;  and  therefore  a  lower  portion  of  the 


1874.]        Coa^iarative  Value  ef  certain  Geological  Ayea.  147 

Old  Red  Sandttane  may  have  taken  at  lonff  for  its  depotition  at  ihe  vihoU 
cf  the  time  occupied  in  the  deposition  of  the  Jttrauie  teria. 

Followmg  out  this  tnin  of  argument  through  the  NeocomiaD  and 
CretaoeoDB  stnts,  the  result  is  aniTed  at  that  Ihe  whole  of  ihe  time 
oempied  in  the  depotilUm  of  the  Old  Red  Sandtlone  may  have  been  equal 
to  the  viMe  of  the  time  occupied  in  ihe  deposition  of  all  ihe  Juratne, 
Weedden,  and  Cretaceous  strata  eolleetively. 

In  the  same  manner  the  next  t«nn  of  the  Continentnl  era,  the  Carboni- 
ferouB  epoch,  is  compared  with  the  Eocene  period,  both  being  locally 
of  marine,  estuarine,  freshwater,  and  terrestrial  origin,  and  both  con- 
nected with  special  continental  epochs.  Next  comet  the  Permian  series, 
comparable  in  its  lacustrine  origin  to  the  Miooene  strata  of  so  much  of 
Enrope,  tJiongh  in  the  case  of  the  Permian  waters  the  lakes  were  salt. 
After  this  the  TriassJc  series  o£  Europe  alone  remains  o£  the  old  con^ 
tinent,  tiie  marine  and  salt-lake  strata  of  which  are  not  likely  to  have 
taken  a  shorter  time  in  their  depOHition  than  the  older  Pliot^ne  strata. 

If  the  foregoing  method  be  of  value,  we  arrive  at  the  general  conclusion 
that  the  great  heal  continental  era,  which  began  nith  the  Old  Red  Sandstone 
and  dosed  with  the  Nevi  Bed  Marl,  iseoniiiarable,inpointofOeohffiealTime, 
to  that  oeeupiedin  the  deposition  of  the  vhole  of  the  Mesoioic  series  later  than 
AelfeiD  Bed  Marl,  and  of  all  the  Cainozoic  formations,  and,  more  probably,  of 
aU  the  time  that  has  elapsed  since  the  beginning  of  the  deposition  of  the  Lias 
down  to  the  present  day  i  and  consequently  the  more  modem  continental  era, 
which  locally  began  with  the  Eocene  period  and  lasts  to  the  present  day, 
has  been  of  much  shorter  duration. 

The  author  then  pointed  out  that  during  the  older  continental  era 
there  flourished  two  typical  floras — one  extending  from  the  time  of  the 
Old  Bed  Sandstone  to  the  close  of  the  Permian  strata ;  while  the  second, 
which  is  largely  of  Jurassic  type,  characterized  the  Triaesic  formations. 
From  the  time  of  the  Lias  onward  in  time,  we  have  also  two  distinct 
typical  floras — the  first  of  Jurassic,  and  the  second  of  much  more  modem 
type,  beginning  with  the  Upper  Cretaceous  strata  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  and 
lasting  to  the  present  day. 

In  like  manner  the  faunas  connected  with  the  land  resolve  themselrea 
into  two  types  : — the  first  chiefly  Labyrinthodontian,  as  shown  in  the 
CarbtmiferoaB  and  Permian  strata ;  and  the  second  characteristic  of  the 
Trias,  with  Crocodilia,  many  land-lizarda,  Anomodontia,  Deinoeauria,  and 
Manupial  Mammalia-  This  fauna,  as  regards  genera,  with  the  exception 
of  Lat^iintbodontia  and  the  appearwice  of  Pterosauria,  is  represented 
Ihrongh  the  remaining  members  of  the  Mesozoic  formations,  ^from 
Jurassic  to  Cretaceous  inclusive.  After  this  comes  the  Pachydermatous 
MammaliaTi  Eocene  fauna,  and  after  that  the  Miocene  land-fauna, 
which,  in  its  main  characters,  is  of  modem  type.  From  Jurassic  to  Cre- 
taoeons  times,  inclusively,  there  was  therefore,  as  far  as  we  know,  in 
this  area  a  land-tanna  chiefly  Beptilian,  Saurian,  and  Marsupial,  and 


1  Ml  \  III     1 J I    a     .'»i.u  I     I 


.  •  •  «  1  V. 


.^irara.       Of  tlip   ^eoloi^ical   lustorv,   in   the  v 
'  we  |)os-;rss  the  last  \olunit' alone,  rt'latini;  oiilv  totwoo, 
I'lir  oonnoxioii  of  this  (jiu'stion  with  that  of  the  com 
liffereiit  geological  eras  is  obvious,  especiaUy  in  relation 
iogical  part  of  the  question. 


Presents  received  January  8,  1874. 

FransactionB. 
Bordeaux : — Acad^mie  Nationale  des  Sciences,  BeUes-L 
Actes.  3«  s^rie,  34«  ann^,  1872-73.  1*  et  2*  trimest 
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Sod^t^  Medico-Chirurgicale  des  H6pitaux  et  Hospice 

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am  Main  1873. 
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Gel : — Uniyersitat.    Schrift^n  -"-  ^ 


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[Jut  89, 
■Si"' 


Oqra  !<«<■>>•(  Dr.  Sd  ^mtt,  U&,W1 


"i  ':i"j'  J       'ij  .  I      i  I   ITia    ■"    fagi  ■■■wlli  ITii  ■ 
fHiwiiliiw il>  Slr-n^nE. 


■ 


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Natural  Harbours  of  Befuge  on  the  Malabar  coast.  8vo.   Edinburgh 

1873.  The  Author. 
Silliman  (B.)      Mineralogical  Notes  on  Utah,  California,  and  Nevada. 

8vo.  Neui  Haven  [U.S.]  1873.  The  Author. 

Walker  (J.  F.)      The  Modifications  of  the  Substitutions  of  Benzol  and 

Benril-Eaiyl-BenaDl.  8vo.  1872.  The  Author. 


Crayon  Portrait  of  Dr.  Neil  Amott,  F.E.S.,  by  Mrs.  Carpenter,  in  gilt 
frame  and  glazed.  Mrs.  Amott. 

Forty-aeven  Original  Drawings  of  Venomous  Snakes,  illustrating  Dr. 
Fayrer's  Thanatophidia  of  India.  (Coloured  Drawings,  mounted  and 
numbered  Plates  1-9, 12-35,  31»,  33",  35";  unmounted  Drawing  of 
the  OpKiophoffut  elapa,  numbered  Plate  10  ;  large  unmounted  Draw- 
ing of  the  dusky  variety  of  the  same,  Plate  8  in  printed  book  ;  nine 
uncoloured  Drawings  of  Dissections,  mounted.)  Dr.  Fayrer- 

VOI..  XXII.  » 


154  Dr.  J.  D.  Macdonald  on  the  [Feb.  5, 

February  5,  1874. 

JOSEPH  DALTON  HOOKER,  C.B.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

The  Presents  received  were  laid  on  the  table,  and  thanks  ordered  for 
them. 
The  following  Papers  were  read : — 

I.  ''  On  the  Anatomy  and  Habits  of  the  genus  Phronima  (Latr.).'' 
By  John  Denis  Macdonald,  M.D.,  F.R.S.,  Staff  Surgeon 
R.N.,  Assistant  Professor  of  Naval  Hygiene,  Netley  Medical 
School.     Received  January  15,  1874. 

Of  all  groups  of  Crustacea  the  Amphipoda  would  appear  to  exhibit 
the  widest  range,  in  the  modification  of  their  parts  or  organs,  without 
obliterating  the  delicate  lines  of  natural  affinity  running  through  them 
as  a  whole.  This  is  well  exemplified  in  the  interesting  paper  of  Dr.  S. 
Willemoes-Suhm,  Naturalist  to  the  '  Challenger '  Exploring-Expedition, 
"  On  a  new  Genus  of  Amphipod  Crustaceans"  founded  by  him,  and  named 
Thaumops  (Phil.  Trans,  vol.  cbdii.  p.  629).  This  genus,  although  exhibiting 
many  characters  in  common  with  Phronima,  presents  some  striking  points  of 
difference  traceable  in  the  external  jaw-feet,  caudal  appendages,  the  posi- 
tion of  the  generative  pore,  and  certain  particulars  in  its  internal  anatomy. 

Of  the  several  characters  given  of  Thaumops  the  presence  of  only  four 
caudal  appendages  is  perhaps  the  most  exceptional ;  for  in  the  generality 
of  the  Ubopteba  there  are  six  besides  the  telson,  which  is  obviously  the 
equivalent  of  the  seventh  abdominal  segment  of  Macrura.  Thus  the  six 
pairs  of  abdominal  appendages,  including  the  tail-fins  of  the  prawn  or 
shrimp,  for  example,  are  represented  in  Phronima  aud  its  allies,  with  the 
exception  of  Tfiaumops.  The  manner  in  which  the  fourth  and  fifth  pair 
of  swimmerets  and  the  caudal  fins  of  Macrura  are  modified  in  the 
XJroptera  is  well  seen  in  the  accompanying  figures ;  ^g,  2  in  Phronima 
and  fig.  3  in  a  neighbouring  group  of  Hjrperians,  which  also  serve  to 
show  why,  at  least  in  the  former  genus,  only  five  segments  have  hitherto 
been  recognized  in  the  abdomen. 

During  the  exploratory  voyage  of  H.M.S.  *  Herald,'  in  the  S.W. 
Pacific,  numerous  species  which  I  have  always  been  in  the  habit  of 
referring  to  the  genus  Phronima,  were  taken  in  the  towing-net ;  and  I 
may  remark  that  the  assumed  parasitic  habit  of  these  creatures  was 
never,  at  least,  a  prominent  fact  to  me ;  they  were  so  often  taken  either 
perfectly  free,  or  tenanting  a  nidamental  case,  such  as  that  subsequently 
to  be  described.  Those  who,  like  Dr.  Suhm,  are  acquainted  uith  deep- 
sea  dredging  are  usually  cautious  how  they  refer  the  doubtful  product 
to  their  proper  habitat ;  whether  it  be  the  bottom  that  has  been  reached, 
or  some  zone  of  the  watery  space  above.     Indeed  it  is  quite  possible  for 


1874.]         JM^omjf  OHd  ffabiii  of  the  GtMi*  ViaoainiM.  16S 

ths  naznnr  m*  td  the  lallow-aniiing  of  the  deep-sea  lead  to  include  for- 
toibxulj',  and  carry  down  Phronima  or  any  other  little  crustacean  natu- 
lallj  liTing  near  the  surface ;  and  contact  with  the  bottom  would  finall; 
pieaa  it  into  the  tallow,  so  aa  to  mislead  the  obseirer  as  to  its  true 
liafaitat.  CoaTersely,  in  bringing  up  the  dredge  from  a  giren  depth,  it 
maj  finallf  eany  with  it  anf  more  superficial  objects  casually  lying  in 
the  track  which  it  takes. 

Fig.  1  of  the  accompanying  dranings  from  nature  represents  a  species 
of  Phrvnima  captured  in  hit,  30°  Itf  S.,  long.  176°  27'  W.,  of  which  I 
find  the  following  description  in  my  notes  taken  at  the  time ; — 

Head  exceedingly  elongated  from  above  downwards,  nith  considerable 
enlargement  of  the  back  part,  which  contains  two  masses  of  transparent, 
rounded?,  and  tapering  columns,  whose  bases  occupy  the  fulness  of  the 
peril,  fl^uUting  a  regularly  facetted  appearance  eitemally  on  two  rounded 
protuberanoe*.  The  apices  of  these  organs,  on  the  other  hand,  con- 
TBrgeaadUendwiththeraysof  theeompoundeye,  of  which,  indeed,  they 
Biay  be  said  to  form  part,  probably  assisting  nocturnal  vision  by  the  pro- 
duction of  himinosity.  The  long  axis  of  the  head  is  therefore  at  right 
■n^ea  witji  that  of  the  body,  its  form  being  full  abore  and  gradually 
t^>ering  downwards.  The  aperture  of  the  mouth  is  situated  at  the 
■mailer  extremity,  inferiorly  guarded  by  its  mandibuls,  maxillte,  and  one 
pair  of  foot-jaws,  appertaining  to  the  cephalic  segments.  The  latter 
'  organs  are  more  distinctly  recognizable  than  the  others,  on  account  of 
Uieir  more  superficial  position.  They  are  short,  apparently  united  at  the 
base^  and  curved  forwards,  terminating  in  two  ovate  and  acute  appen- 
dages lying  side  by  side,  serrated  on  the  borders  and  beset  with  short  hairs. 

The  eyes  are  small  where  the  facets  are  Uteral,  and  the  apices  are 
invested  with  black  pigment,  but  large  where  they  swell  out  the  back  of 
the  head,  the  pdnts  of  the  same  cones  meeting  in  a  red  spot,  quite  distinct 
from,  and  internal  to  the  black  one.  This  condition  is  also  observable  in 
the  Hyperians,  and  is  worthy  of  further  study  in  a  physiological  point  of 
view. 

Two  minate  two-jmnted  antennte  arise  from  the  head,  just  above  and  in 
front  of  tJte  eyes.  The  posterior  or  upper  surface  of  the  second  joint  of 
these  antennie  is  clothed  with  short  stiff  hairs. 

There  we  seven  pairs  of  thoracic  limbs ;  but  the  first  two  are  separated 
from  the  others,  to  some  little  extent,  by  arising  on  a  plane  anterior  and 
inferior  to  them,  the  first  two  tergal  pieces  being  somewhat  wider  than 
those  of  the  succeeding  segments.  They  are,  moreover,  distinguished 
from  the  other  limbs  by  possessing  a  minute  apine-like  movable  claw, 
bounded,  on  either  side,  by  a  short  styliform  process.  There  is  also  a 
rudimentary  manus  developed  upon  the  posterior  part  of  the  second  seg- 
ment above  this  daw,  that  of  the  first  pair  being  the  stoutest,  although 
the  limbs  themselves  are  the  smaller  of  the  two.  Both  pairs  of  members 
BOW  described,  while  they  very  distinctly  belong  to  the  thorax,  act  the 

h2 


156  Dr.  J.  D.  Macdonald  on  the  [Feb.  5, 

part  of  foot-jaws  as  in  the  higher  Crustacea.  The  five  sucoeeding  pairs 
are  more  especially  restricted  to  the  thorax,  the  third  or  middle  one  being 
stoutly  chelate,  normally  directed  backwards,  with  the  pollex  superior,  and 
enjoying  a  very  considerable  range  of  motion. 

The  first  pair  is  usually  thrown  forwards  over  the  head,  and  the  last 
backwards  over  the  abdomen,  the  first  fiexure  corresponding  with  the 
first  swimmeret ;  the  second  pair  is  the  longest. 

The  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  thoracic  segments  are  each  furnished  with 
a  pair  of  elongated  and  laterally  compressed  respiratory  yesicles,  connected 
with  the  posterior  and  inferior  part  of  the  epimeral  pieces  behind  the 
articulation  of  the  corresponding  limbs.  These  vesicles  increase  in  size 
from  before  backwards ;  and  indeed  a  very  rudimentary  one  may  be  seen 
behind  the  third  pair  of  limbs.  The  last,  or  seventh,  thoracic  segment  is 
of  unusual  length,  tapering  posteriorly,  to  correspond  T^ith  the  narrowness 
of  the  abdomen,  in  which  also  the  segments  are  of  greater  length  than 
those  of  the  thorax.  It  has  been  alr^ftdv  stated  that  in  Phronima.  as  in 
the  Macrura,  there  are  seven  segments  in  the  posterior  division  of  the 
body ;  functionally,  however,  three  of  these  may  be  said  to  belong  to  the 
abdot&en  and  four  to  the  tail.  The  three  abdominal  segments  bear  each 
a  pair  of  swimmerets,  arising  near  their  posterior  border,  and  consisting 
of  a  stout  or  inflated  foot-stalk  and  two  narrow,  acuminate,  annulated 
and  setaceous  terminal  pieces. 

The  three  anterior  of  the  four  caudal  segments  bear  a  narrow  fan,  con- 
sisting of  three  pairs  of  slender  appendages  furnished  with  two  shorl 
styliform  tips.  The  first  and  third  of  these  caudal  members  are  much 
longer  than  the  second. 

The  oral  organs  (with  the  exception  of  the  jaw-feet),  the  large  chelo, 
and  the  foot-stalks  of  the  swimmerets  are  tinted  with  a  rich  purple  pig^ 
ment.    All  the  other  parts  are  hyaline  and  transparent. 

EXPLANATION  OP  THE  PLATE. 

Fig.  1.  Lateral  view  of  Pkronima  (species ?).  With  the  exception  of  the  antennie, 

the  limbs  and  appendages  of  one  side  only  are  represented,  magnified  about 
9  times. 

Fig.  2.  The  abdomen  and  tall  of  the  same,  further  enlarged,  to  show  the  several  s^- 
ments,  nmnbered  (from  before  backwards)  1,  2,  and  3,  with  swimmerets,  and 
4,  5,  and  6  bearing  caudal  appendages,  while  7  is  the  terminal  segment  or 
"telson." 

Fig.  3.  The  abdoipen  and  tail  of  a  Hyperian  for  comparison,  all  the  numbers  haTing 
the  same  signification  *. 


The  evidence  of  Dr.  Willemoes-Suhm  supports  my  own  experience,  that 
there  is  no  metamorphosis  in  this  group  ;  and  as  it  is  very  probable  that 
the  history  of  the  development  of  Thaumops  would  resemble  that  of 
Phronima^  the  following  observations  may  be  of  some  importance, 

*  r,  2',  3',  4',  5',  and  6'  being  the  appendages  of  the  corresponding  segments. 


Pm'»<./.to».I.XHIP;J. 


1874.]         Anatamn  and  Habits  of  the  Genus  Phrouima.  157 

auTTing  liie  prooees  a  little  further  than  it  has  perhaps  yet  been  traced 
by  him: — 

In  lat.  2V  0'  8.  and  long,  ir  45'  W.  off  the  island  of  Ono,  Fiji 
Oroap,  apparently  the  same  species  of  Phronima  as  that  aboTO  described 
was  taken  in  the  towing-net,  but  with  the  addition  of  a  numerous  pro- 
geny of  young  in  a  large  gelatinous  but  tough  nidamental  case.  This 
interesting  nest  was  shaped  like  a  barrel,  but  with  both  ends  open,  and 
the  external  surface  was  somewhat  tuberculated  and  uneven.  The  wall 
of  the  tube  presented  numerous  round  and  puckered  openings,  observing 
no  very  definite  arrangement,  but  through  which  entering  currents  were 
observed  to  pass.  These  openings  generally,  though  not  invariably, 
pierced  the  tuberculations. 

An  external  membrane,  with  an  internal  lining,  were  distinctly  visible, 
both  seeming  to  be  continuous  at  the  rims  of  the  tube.  The  space  between 
these  layers  was  filled  up  with  a  pulpy  substance,  in  which  scattered 
nudeiform  bodies  were  detected  \i-ith  a  higher  power  of  the  microscope. 

I  have  been  particular  in  the  description  of  the  case,  as  some  far- 
fetched guesses  were  made  as  to  its  real  nature.  The  cutting,  piercing, 
and  tearing  implements  of  Phrtynima  would  very  soon  alter  and  reduce  a 
bell-shaped  Medusa,  aSalpian,  or  a  Pyrosoma  tube  to  the  required  pattern ; 
for  there  is  usually  a  great  uniformity  in  the  character  and  appearauce 
of  this  case. 

*•  With  regard  to  PArontwwi,"  says  Mr.  Spence  Bate*,  "  oiur  knowledge 
is  small :  its  habit  is  that  of  an  inhabitant  of  the  gill-ca\itie8  of  some  one 
or  more  species  of  Medusa ;  but  in  the  Collection  of  the  British  Museum, 
emtrosted  to  my  care  for  examination,  is  a  very  curious  case  that  was 
sent  home  from  Naples  by  S.  P.  Pratt,  Esq.,  as  being  the  one  in  which  the 
animal  was  taken.  The  structure  is  thick,  fleshy,  semitransparent,  and 
stndded  over  the  surface  and  round  the  orifices — one  of  which  is  smaller 
than  the  other — with  numerous  white  excrescences.  Examination  with 
the  microscope  shows  the  substance  to  be  pervaded  by  bundles  of  fibres  ; 
each  fasciculus  is  twisted  together  near  its  centre ;  these,  some  of  them 
being  larger  than  others,  star  the  structure  thickly,  and  still  more  plenti- 
fully where  the  white  excrescences  appear." 

However  problematical  the  nature  of  the  case,  that  its  use  is  for  nidi- 
fication  there  can  be  no  further  doubt. 

Though  I  have  already  given  figures  of  the  specimen  above  noticed  to 
my  friend  Major  Holland,  IL.M.L.I.,  for  a  paper  on  Phronima,  published 
in  *  Science  Gossip '  (April  1869),  I  trust  that  allusion  to  it  here  may  not 
be  out  of  place. 

In  a  subsequent  commission  on  the  North-American  and  West-Indian 

Station  in  H.M.S.  *  Icarus,'  I  have  frequently  captured  "  Phronima  in 

its  bag,**  as  my  messmates  would  say.  In  order  to  bring  the  swimmerets 

into  full  play,  the  animal  protrudes  it«  body  tail  foremost  from  the  case, 

ft  Annmls  and  Maguine  of  Natural  History  (Third  Series),  March  1858. 


lbs  Mr.  H.  E.  RoBCoe  an  a  Method  of  meoiuring  the     [¥eh.  5, 

onlj  calliiig  into  use  the  fine  tips  of  the  third  and  fourth  pairs  of 
thoracic  limbs  to  hold  fast  its  charge.  When  it  fully  retires  into  the 
case,  the  claws  of  the  two  posterior  pairs  of  legs  are  pressed  backwards 
against  the  lining  membrane,  so  as  still  more  effectuallj  to  secure  its 
hold  on  the  approach  of  danger. 


II.  ''  On  a  Self-recording  Method  of  Measuring  the  Intensity  of 
the  Chemical  Action  of  Total  Daylight/'  By  H.  E.  Roscoi, 
P.R.S.    Received  November  27,  1878. 

(Abstract.) 

The  object  of  the  present  communication  is  to  describe  an  instrument 
by  which  the  varying  intensity  of  the  chemically  active  rays,  as  affecting 
chloride  of  silver  paper  of  constant  sensitiveness,  can  be  made  self-record- 
ing. The  method  described  by  the  author  in  the  Bakerian  Lecture  for  1865, 
although  it  has  been  the  means  of  bringing  into  notice  many  important 
&ct8  concerning  the  distribution  of  the  sim's  chemical  activity  throughout 
the  atmosphere,  as  well  as  in  different  situations  on  the  earth's  sur&ce,  has 
not  as  yet  been  introduced  as  a  portion  of  the  r^ular  work  of  meteoro- 
logical observatories,  owing  to  the  fact  that,  in  order  to  obtain  a  satisfac- 
tory curve  of  daily  chemical  intensity,  at  least  hourly  observations  need  to 
be  made,  and  this  involves  the  expenditure  of  more  time  and  labour  than 
it  has  been  found  possible  to  give.  In  the  present  communication  a 
method  is  described,  which,  whilst  preserving  untouched  the  principles 
and  accuracy  of  the  former  method,  reduces  the  personal  attention  needed 
for  carrying  out  the  measurements  to  a  minimum,  and  thus  renders  its 
adoption  in  observatories  possible. 

According  to  this  plan,  a  constant  sensitive  paper  is  exposed  by  a  self- 
acting  arrangement  for  accurately  known  times,  at  given  intervals 
throughout  the  day.  The  insolation  apparatus  stocked  with  sensitive 
paper  is  placed  in  position  either  early  in  the  morning  of  the  day  during 
which  the  measurements  have  to  be  made,  or  on  the  previous  night,  and 
by  means  of  an  electric  communication  with  a  properly  arranged  dock, 
the  sensitive  paper  is  exposed  every  hour  during  the  day,  so  that,  in  the 
evening,  the  observer  has  only  to  read  off,  in  the  ordinary  manner,  the 
hourly  intensities  which  have  been  recorded  on  the  paper  during  the 
day. 

This  self-recording  arrangement,  though  apparently  simple,  involves 
points  which  have  rendered  its  successful  completion  a  somewhat  difficult 
matter,  owing,  in  the  first  place,  to  the  great  variations  which  occur  in 
the  chemical  intensity  of  total  daylight  in  different  places,  at  different 
times  of  the  day,  and  in  different  periods  of  the  year ;  and  secondly, 
owing  to  the  fact  that,  in  order  to  be  able  to  estimate  the  chemical 
intensity,  the  coloration  acquired  by  the  paper  must  reach,  but  not  much 


1874.]     Intensity  of  the  Chemical  Action  of  Total  Daylight.       159 

exceed,  a  giyen  tint.  It  becomes  necessary  therefore  that  on  each  occasion 
when  an  observation  is  needed,  the  sensitive  paper  should  be  exposed 
mechanically,  not  once,  but  for  several  known,  but  varying  intervals  of 
time,  quickly  succeeding  each  other ;  so  that  whatever  may  be  the 
intenaiiy  of  the  total  daylight  (supposed  during  these  intervaJs  to  re- 
main constant),  some  one  at  least  of  the  several  exposed  papers  will 
possess  the  requisite  shade.  This  is  accomplished  by  a  duplicate  ar- 
rangement of  a  clock  and  insolation-apparatus,  by  means  of  which  disks  of 
ihe  constant  sensitive  paper  are  exposed  each  hour  for  successive  known 
intervals  of  tame,  varying  from  two  to  thirty  seconds.  After  an  interval 
of  an  hour,  another  set  of  disks  are  exposed  for  the  same  series  of 
intervals,  and  these  series  of  insolations  are  repeated  once  every  hour 
during  the  day.  The  mechanical  arrangements  for  effecting  this  with 
aocaracy  are  fully  described  in  the  paper.  On  unrolling,  at  the  end  of 
the  day,  tiie  strip  of  sensitive  paper  which  has  served  for  the  exposures, 
black  disks  showing  where  the  paper  has  been  stationary  for  the  hour 
aro  seen,  and  between  each  of  these  are  found  ten  circles  variously  tinted, 
from  that,  probably,  scarcely  visible,  which  was  exposed  for  two  seconds,  to 
tliat,  perhaps  too  dark  to  read  off,  which  was  insolated  for  thirty  seconds. 
Amongst  these,  some  one  at  least,  will  be  found  of  such  a  shade  as  to 
enable  it  to  be  read  off  by  the  monochromatic  soda-flame,  on  a  graduated 
fixed  strip,  as  described  in  former  communications. 

A  new  method  of  calibrating  the  fixed  strips  of  standard  tints  neces- 
sary for  these  measurements  is  next  described,  and  the  question  as  to  the 
possibility  of  preparing  constant  sensitive  paper  in  long  strips  instead  of 
in  large  sheets  is  next  experimentally  discussed,  the  result  of  the  exa- 
mination being  that  it  is  possible  to  prepare  silvered  paper  in  long  narrow 
strips  such  as  are  used  in  Morse's  telegraph-apparatus,  so  that  it  shall 
tliroughout  its  length  preserve  the  standard  sensitiveness. 

The  time  during  which  the  disks  of  constant  sensitive  paper  are  ex- 
posed is  next  ascertained  for  each  instrument  by  a  chronograph. 

During  wet  weather  the  insolator  is  covered  by  a  semicircular  glass 
shade,  and  the  value  of  the  coefficients  for  refraction  and  absorption 
due  to  this  glass  shade  is  determined. 

The  latter  portion  of  the  communication  contains  the  results  of  a  series 
of  comparisons  of  the  curves  of  daily  chemical  intensity  obtained  (1)  ^vith 
the  hand-insolator,  and  (2)  with  the  self-recording  instrument.  Com- 
parisons of  this  nature  were  made  during  the  months  of  May,  June, 
and  July,  1873,  by  simultaneous  hourly  determinations  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Manchester  according  to  both  methods.  Of  these  observations, 
six  full  days  are  selected,  and  the  tables  and  curves  accompanying  the 
communication  show  the  close  correspondence  of  both  sets  of  observations. 
The  integrals  of  total  chemical  intensity  for  these  days  are  also  given,  and 
exhibit  as  close  an  agreement  as,  from  the  nature  of  the  experiments, 
can  be  expected. 


160  Mr.  F.  A.  Abel  on  the  [Feb.  5, 

III.  '^  Contributions  to  the  History  of  Explosive  Agents.*' — Second 
Memoir.      By   F.  A.  Abel^  F.R.S.,  Treas.  C.S.      Received 

December  1,  1873. 

(Abstract.) 

The  researches  detailed  in  this  memoir  are  in  continuation  of  those 
described  in  the  Memoir  on  Explosive  Agents,  published  in  1869*,  and 
relate  chiefly  to  the  investigation  of  the  conditions  to  be  fulfilled  for 
accomplishing  the  detonation  of  explosive  substances,  and  of  the  circum- 
stances and  results  which  attend  the  transmission  of  detonation. 

The  exceptional  behaviour  exhibited  by  certain  explosive  compounds 
with  respect  to  their  power  of  inducing  the  detonation  of  other  sub- 
stances by  their  explosion,  which  was  demonstrated  and  discussed  in 
the  preceding  memou*,  has  been  confirmed  by  further  experiments.  The 
susceptibility  of  some  substances  to  detonation,  through  the  agency  of 
certain  compounds,  and  their  remarkable  inertness  when  subjected  to  the 
detonation  of  others,  which  at  any  rate  do  not  rank  lower  as  regards  the 
mechanical  force  and  heat  developed  by  their  explosion,  led  the  author  to 
suggest  that  a  similarity  in  character,  or  synchronism,  of  the  vibrations 
developed  by  the  explosion  of  particular  substances,  might  operate  in 
favouring  the  detonation  of  one  such  substance  by  the  initial  detonation 
of  a  small  quantity  of  another,  while,  in  the  absence  of  such  synchronism, 
a  much  more  powerful  initiative  detonation,  or  the  application  of  much 
greater  force,  would  be  needed  to  effect  the  detonation  of  the  material 
operated  upon.  This  view,  which  has  been  favourably  entertained  by 
many,  as  affording  a  reasonable  explanation  of  the  apparently  anomalous 
results  referred  to,  appears  to  have  received  support  from  the  results  of 
experiments  recently  instituted  by  Champion  and  Pellett,  with  iodide  of 
nitrogen  and  some  other  explosive  compounds,  which  indicated  that  the 
explosion  of  certain  sensitive  substances  could  be  accomplished  only  by 
vibrations  of  a  particular  pitch,  and  by  which  they  also  demonstrated  that 
particular  explosions  affected  certain  sensitive  flames  which  were  un- 
affected by  others,  unless  the  volume  of  the  explosion  was  proportionately 
much  increased. 

Some  few  experiments  were  made  by  Champion  and  Pellet  on  the 
transmission  of  detonation  to  iodide  of  nitrogen  through  considerable 
spaces,  by  means  of  tubes,  and  some  experiments  of  a  purely  practical 
character  have  also  been  instituted  by  Captain  Trauzl,  on  the  transmission 
of  detonation  to  cartridges  of  dynamite,  separated  by  spaces,  in  iron 
tubes,  by  the  explosion  of  a  charge  of  the  material  placed  in  one  extremiiy 
of  the  tube.  It  appeared  to  the  author  that  a  systematic  investigation  of 
the  transmission  of  detonation  through  the  agency  of  tubes,  with  the 
employment  of  explosive  agents  less  highly  susceptible  and  more  uniform 

♦  Phil.  Trans.  1869,  vol.  clix.  p.  489. 

t  Comptet  Rendiis,  vol.  Ixxv.  pp.'210  &  712. 


1874.]  History  of  Explosive  Agents.  161 

and  oonfltant  in  composition  than  the  iodide  of  nitrogen,  might  usefully 
oontribate  to  our  knowledge  of  the  behaviour  and  relation  to  each  other 
of  explosire  substances. 

Experiments  were  first  carried  on  with  tubes  of  cast  and  wrought  iron 
of  difierent  diameters  and  lengths.  The  explosive  agents  used  were  gun- 
ootton,  in  difEerent  mechanical  conditions,  dynamite,  mercuric  fulminate, 
and  preparations  containing  the  latter  as  an  ingredient.  Interesting 
results  were  obtained,  among  others,  in  the  course  of  these  experiments, 
demanstrating  a  want  of  reciprocity  in  behaviour  between  gun-cotton  and 
mercuric  fulminate,  as  regards  the  transmission  of  detonation  from  one 
to  the  other,  similar  to  that  previously  observed  in  the  case  of  nitro- 
glycerine, chloride  of  nitrogen  and  gun-cotton,  and  sho^^ing  also  how 
greatly  the  results,  as  regards  transmission  of  detonation,  may  be  altered 
when  certain  limits  in  respect  to  the  quantity  of  material  employed  as 
tlie  initiative  detonator,  are  exceeded.  Thus  7  grammes  of  strongly  con- 
fined mercuric  fulminate,  inserted  into  one  extremity  of  an  iron  tube  only 
'152  metre  (6  inches)  long  and  '025  metre  (1  inch)  in  diameter,  was  the 
minimum  amount  required  to  determine  the  detonation  of  gun-cotton 
placed  in  the  other  extremity  of  the  tube,  being  at  least  fifty  times  the 
amount  requisite  to  ensure  detonation  of  compressed  gun-cotton  when 
exploded  in  dose  contact  with  the  latter ;  but  the  detonation  of  7  grammes 
of  compressed  gun-cotton  in  one  extremity  of  a  channel  2*128  metres 
(7  feet)  long  and  '031  metre  (1'25  inch)  in  diameter,  consisting  of  two 
iron  tubes  placed  end  to  end,  accomplished  the  detonation  of  fulminate 
inserted  in  the  other  extremity.  When  14  grammes  of  confined  fulminate 
were  employed,  detonation  of  giin-cotton  was  accomplished  through  a 
channel  2*129  metres  (7  feet)  long  and  *031  metre  (1*25  inch)  in  diameter, 
while  7  grammes  only  just  sufficed  to  develop  detonation  through  a  tube 
of  smaller  diameter  and  only  '152  metre  (6  inches)  long,  and  10  grammes, 
tlirou^  a  similar  tube  only  *228  metre  (9  inches)  long.  The  foregoing 
are  quoted  as  illustrations  of  the  instructive  results  obtained  in  these 
experiments. 

A  few'experiments  were"made  on  a  comparatively  large  scale  >*ith  the 
above-named  explosives,  >^ith  the  view  of  ascertaining  the  influence  of 
ihe  material  composing  the  tube,  upon  the  effect  produced ;  and  some  strik- 
ing results  were  also  obtained  by  interposing  very  slight  obstacles  {e,  g, 
loose  tufts  of  cotton  wool)  in  the  path  of  the  gas- wave,  and  thus  checking 
the  transmission  of  detonation,  \\'hich  was  certain  when  the  path  was 
unobstructed.  But  these  points  were  more  closely  investigated  by  a 
series  of  accurate  experiments  upon  a  small  scale  with  silver  fulminate, 
the  tubes  used  being  alike  in  diameter  and  thickness,  but  varying  in 
length,  and  consisting  of  different  materials,  >iz.  glass,  pewter,  brass, 
paper,  and  vulcanized  india-rubber.  The  principal  results  obtained  by 
the  larger  operations  with  other  explosives  were  confirmed  by  these  small 
experiments,  and  several  additional  interesting  observations  were  made. 


162  Mr.  F.  A.  Abd  on  the  [Feb.  5, 

A  great  difference  appeared,  at  first,  to  be  established  in  the  power  pos- 
sessed by  tubes  of  different  materials  of  favouring  the  transmission  of 
detonation,  the  glass  tubes  being  far  in  advance  of  the  others  in  this 
respect.  It  was  eventually  established,  very  clearly,  by  a  series  of  experi- 
ments that  this  difference  was  not  due,  to  any  decisive  extent,  to  ihe 
physical  peculiarities  (in  regard  to  sonorosity,  elasticity,  &c,)  of  the 
materials  composing  the  tubes,  but  chiefly  to  differences  in  the  degree 
of  roughness  of  their  inner  surfaces,  and  in  the  consequent  variation  of 
the  resistance  opposed  by  those  surfaces  to  the  gas-wave.  Thus  the 
power  of  a  glass  tube  to  favour  the  transmission  of  detonation  was 
reduced,  by  about  two  thirds,  by  coating  the  inner  surface  with  a  film  of 
French  chalk,  while  the  facility  of  transmission,  through  a  brass  tube,  was 
nearly  doubled  by  polishing  its  interior,  and  was  increased  threefold, 
with  a  paper  tube,  by  coating  the  interior  with  glazed  paper. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  points  established  by  these  experiments 
on  the  transmission  of  detonation  by  tubes : — 

1.  The  distance  to  which  detonation  may  be  transmitted  through  the 
agency  of  a  tube  to  a  distinct  mass  of  explosive  substance  is  regulated  by 
the  following  conditions : 

(a)  by  the  nature  and  the  quantity  of  the  substance  employed  as  the 
initiative  detonator,  and  by  the  natm«  of  the  substance  to  be  detonated, 
but  not  by  the  quantity  of  the  latter,  nor  by  the  mechanical  condition  in 
which  it  is  exposed  by  the  action  of  the  detonation ; 

(5)  by  the  relation  which  the  diameter  of  the  "  detonator,"  and  of  the 
charge  to  be  detonated,  bear  to  that  of  the  tube  employed ; 

(c)  by  the  strength  of  the  material  composing  the  tube,  and  the  conse- 
quent resistance  which  it  offers  to  the  lateral  transmission  of  the  force 
developed  at  the  instant  of  detonation ; 

(d)  by  the  amount  of  force  expended  in  overcoming  the  friction  between 
the  gas  and  the  sides  of  the  tubes,  or  other  impediments  introduced  into 
the  latter ; 

(e)  by  the  degree  of  completeness  of  the  channel,  and  by  the  positions 
assigned  to  the  detonator  and  the  charge  to  be  detonated. 

2.  The  nature  (apart  from  strength  or  power  to  resist  opening  up,  or 
disintegration)  of  the  material  composing  the  tube  through  which  detona- 
tion is  transmitted,  generally  appears  to  exert  no  important  influence 
upon  the  result  obtained.  At  any  rate  the  differences  with  respect  to 
smoothness  of  the  interior  of  the  tubes  far  outweigh  those  which  may 
prove  traceable  to  differences  in  the  nature  of  the  materials  composing 
them. 

In  the  tube  experiments  with  gun-cotton  many  instances  occurred  in 
which  the  mass  operated  upon  was  exploded,  but  with  comparatively 
little  if  any  destructive  effect,  portions  of  the  gun-cotton  being  at  the 
same  time  dispersed  and  occasionally  inflamed.    Similarly,  the  mercuric 


1874.]  History  of  Explosive  Agents,  168 

fnfaniiiate  was  frequentlj  exploded,  through  the  agency  of  a  transmitted 
detonatKin,  in  a  manner  quite  distinct  from  the  violent  detonation  at  other 
tfaneB  deyeloped.  Even  the  silver  fulminate,  which  under  all  ordinary 
eireomstaiioes  detonates  violently  even  when  only  one  particle  of  a  mass 
ia  sabmitted  to  a  sufficient  disturbing  influence,  has  on  one  or  two  occa- 
Bums  been  exploded  by  the  transmitted  effect  of  a  detonation  of  mercuric 
fulminate,  without  the  usual  destructive  effect. 

This  remarkable  difEerenoe  in  the  behaviour  of  one  and  the  same  explo- 
iiTe  Bubstanoe,  under  nearly  similar  circumstances,  has  been  made  the 
subject  of  experimental  investigation,  in  the  course  of  which  some  in- 
temting  illustrations  have  been  obtained  of  the  manner  in  which  varia- 
tions  in  the  resistance  to  mechanical  motion  influence  the  results  obtained, 
by  sabmitting  some  part  of  a  mass  of  explosive  material  to  sharp  blows, 
by  firing  from  a  rifle  (at  different  ranges)  against  masses  of  compressed 
gUDrCotton  of  different  weight  and  thickness,  and  either  freely  suspended 
in  air  or  supported  in  various  ways.  An  important  exemplification  of  the 
difference  between  explosion  and  detonation  was  obtained  in  the  course  of 
sabsequent  experiments,  instituted  for  the  purpose  of  determining  the 
Telocity  with  which  detonation  is  transmitted  through  tubes. 

The  influence  of  dilution,  by  solids  and  liquids,  on  the  susceptibility  of 
explosive  compounds  to  detonation  has  been  made  the  subject  of  syste- 
matic experiments,  and  some  of  the  results  obtained  have  already  acquired 
considerable  importance.  The  dilution  of  a  liquid  and  of  a  solid  explosive 
compound  by  inert  solid  substances  produces  very  different  results.  Thus 
the  liquid  (nitroglycerine)  may  be  very  largely  diluted  (as  in  the  case  of 
difnamite  and  similar  preparations)  by  inert  solids,  without  any  modifica- 
tion of  its  sensitiveness  to  detonation,  because  this  dilution  does  not 
interrupt  the  continuity  of  the  explosive  substance.  The  initiative  deto- 
nator, when  surrounded  by  such  a  mixture,  is  therefore  in  contact  at  all 
points  with  some  portion  of  the  nitroglycerine,  and  the  latter  is  in  con- 
tinuous connexion  throughout ;  hence  detonation  is  as  readily  established 
and  transmitted  through  the  mixture  as  though  the  liquid  were  undiluted. 
But  when  a  solid  explosive  agent  is  similarly  diluted,  there  must  obviously 
be  complete  separation  of  its  particles  at  a  number  of  points  proportionate 
to  the  extent  of  dilution  and  the  state  of  division ;  the  establishment  of 
detonation,  or  its  transmission,  is  therefore  impeded  either  by  a  diminution 
of  the  extent  of  contact  between  the  initiative  detonator  and  the  substance 
to  be  exploded,  or  by  the  barrier  which  the  interposed  non-explosive 
particles  oppose  to  the  transmission  of  the  detonation,  or  by  both  causes. 

Intimate  mixtures  of  a  finely  divided  sensitive  explosive  compound 
with  an  inert  solid,  if  compressed  into  compact  masses,  become  much 
more  susceptible  of  detonation  than  if  they  be  in  the  loose  pulverulent 
condition ;  thus  compressed  mixtures  of  finely  divided  gun-cotton,  with 
large  proportions  of  inert  solids,  were  found  but  little  inferior  in  sensi- 
tiveness to  the  undiluted  explosive  agents.    If  the  diluent  consists  of  a 


164  Mr.  F.  A.  Abel  on  t/u:  [Feb.  5i  i 

soluble  salt  {e.if.  potassmm  cliloride)  the  well-inoorporated  mixture  being 
compressed  with  the  aid  of  the  solvent  ('.y.  water),  and  then  dried,  the 
material  ib  obtained  io  a  condition  of  great  rigidity,  the  particles  being 
pemeuted  together  by  the  cr_y8talli?ed  salt;  it  is  therefore  in  a  form  more 
favourable  to  the  action  of  detonation  than  undiluted  gun-cotton  sub* 
mitted  to  considerably  greater  compreaHion,  1 

When  the  solid  substance  with  which  gun-o«tton  is  diluted  consisbl  < 
of  an  oxidising  agent  (a  nitrate  or  chlorate),  the  predbposition  to  chemic^ 
reaction  butween  the  two  substances  so  far  increascB  the  susceptibility  to 
detonation  that,  operating  in  conjunction  with  the  effect  of  the  soluble 
salt  io  imparting  rigidity  to  the  mixture,  it  renders  the  latter  quite  as 
sensitive  to  the  detonating  action  of  the  minimum  fulminate^;ha!^  M 
undiluted  guu-cotton  is,  when  highly  compressed.  This  fact  has  given 
additional  importance  to  results  which  the  author  obtained  some  time 
since  in  availing  himself  of  the  facility  with  whiL-h  finely  divided  gun- 
cotton,  as  obtained  by  the  pulping  process,  may  be  intimately  mixed  with  J 
the  proportion  of  an  oxidising  ^ent(sueh  as  potassium  nitrate)  required  ' 
to  completely  osidtze  the  carbon.  If  about  three  fourths  of  the  theoreticiJ 
requirements  of  the  salts  be  employed,  the  resulting  products  will  perform 
fully  the  uniount  of  work  obtaiued  from  a  correspouding  weight  of  undi- 
luted gun-fotton  ;  and  an  nearly  one  third  of  this  suhstanoe  has  hwn 
replaced  in  thorn  by  material  nf  very  much  li-^-^  I'ost,  acoiisidentble  advan- 
tage is  gained  in  point  of  economy.  Moreover  the  greater  rigidity  of  tiie 
compressed  mosses  of  "nitrated"  gun-cotton,  already  explained,  renders 
them  less  susceptible  to  injury  by  transport  and  rough  usage  than  ordinary 
compressed  gun-cotton. 

These  compressed  mixtures  being  found  quite  as  sensitive  to  detonation 
by  fulminate  as  the  pure  explosive  compound,  it  became  interesting  to 
compare  their  behanour  with  that  of  the  latter,  when  exposed  to  the 
detonation  of  nitroglycerine.  The  results  demonstrated  that  they  aie 
much  more  readily  susceptible  of  detonation  by  it  than  compressed  gun- 
cotton  ;  thus,  in  only  one  instance  was  the  latter  detonated  by  the  explo- 
sion of  62*4  grammes  (two  ounces)  of  nitroglycerine  in  close  contact  with 
it,  hut  that  quantity  invariably  detonated  "  nitrated"  gun-cotton.  The 
same  result  was  obtained  with  only  31'2  grammes  (one  ounce)  of  nitro- 
glycerine in  three  out  of  four  experiments  ;  in  the  fourth  the  nitrated 
preparation  was  exphcUd,  but  without  the  destructive  effect  produced  in 
the  other  experiments ;  similar  explosions  of  the  substance  were  deve- 
loped by  means  of  15-6  grammes  (0-5  ounce)  of  nitroglycerine.  In  the 
case  of  pure  gun-cotton,  the  results  obtained  were  always  either  simple 
disint^ration  of  the  mass,  or  else  detonation,  if  aufGdent  nitroglycerine 
were  used. 

To  ascertain  whether  the  different  behaviour  of  the  "  nitrate  "  (and 
"chlorate")  preparations  \vas  due  to  their  greater  hardness  and  rigidity, 
some  corresponding  experimeuls  were  made  with  compressed  masses  pro- 


1874.]  History  of  Explosive  Agents.  165 

dnoed  in  a  precisely  similar  manner,  but  containing  an  inert  salt,  potassium 
diloride,  in  place  of  the  oxidizing  agent.  These  were  more  susceptible 
of  explosion  by  nitroglycerine  than  pure  gun-cotton,  but  decidedly  less 
so  than  the  *^  nitrate  **  preparations.  It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  ex- 
plosion of  gun-cotton  by  the  detonation  of  nitroglycerine  is,  to  some  extent, 
fiualitated  by  the  greater  resistance  it  opposes  to  disintegration  when 
incorporated  with  a  salt,  as  described  ;  but  that  the  higher  susceptibility 
to  detonation  by  nitroglycerine  of  the  "  nitrate ''  (and  "  chlorate  ")  pre- 
pantions  is  probably  chiefly  due  to  some  predisposing  influence  exerted 
by  the  oxidizing  agent. 

If  gun-cotton  is  diluted  by  impregnation  with  a  liquid ^  or  with  a  body 
Bcdid,  at  ordinary  temperatures,  which  is  introduced  as  a  liquid  into  the 
mass,  its  sensitiveness  to  detonation  is  reduced  to  a  far  greater  extent 
than  by  a  corresponding  weight  of  a  solid,  incorporated  as  such,  with  the 
gun-cotton.  The  cause  of  this  is  evidently  the  converse  of  that  which 
operates  in  preventing  the  reduction  of  sensitiveness  of  nitroglycerine  by 
its  considerable  dilution  with  an  inert  solifl ;  the  liquid  diluent  which 
envelopes  each  particle  of  the  solid  explosive  material  isolates  it  from  its 
neighbours,  and  thus  opposes  resistance  to  the  transmission  of  detona- 
tion, while  with  nitroglycerine  the  liquid  explosive  agent  envelopes  the 
Bolid  diluent,  and  thus  remains  continuous  throughout  the  mass. 

The  absorption  of  three  per  cent,  of  water  by  gun-cotton  (in  addition 
to  the  two  per  cent,  which  it  normally  contains)  rendered  its  detonation 
doubtful  by  the  "  detonator  "  ordinarily  used.  Dry  disks  which  had  been 
impregnated  with  oil  or  tallow,  (^oiild  not  be  exploded  by  means  of  one 
gramme  of  mercuric  fulminate,  applied  in  a  metal  case  in  the  usual  way. 
By  considerably  increasing  the  initiative  charge  of  fulminate,  damp  gun- 
cotton  could,  however,  be  detonated;  and  it  occurred  to  Mr.  Abel's 
amistant,  Mr.  E.  O.  Bro^^Ti,  to  apply  the  detonation  of  dry  gun-cotton 
itaelf  to  the  development  of  the  explosive  force  of  1  he  compressed  material, 
when  in  a  moist  state. 

A  series  of  precise  experiments  showed  that  when  compressed  gun- 
cotton  contained  as  much  as  17  per  cent,  of  water,  it  could  he  detonated, 
though  not  with  absolute  certainty,  by  C-5  grammes  (100  grains)  of  com- 
pact air-dry  gim-cotton  explod(jd  by  means  of  the  usual  "  detonator,"  in 
dose  contact  with  it.  When  the  proportion  was  increased  to  20  per 
cent,  detonation  was  not  accomplished  M'ith  certainty  by  employing  less 
than  31*2  grammes  (1  ounce)  of  the  air-dry  material ;  and  when  the  maxi- 
mum amount  of  water  (30  to  35  per  cent.)  was  absorbed,  detonation  conld 
not  be  absolutely  relied  upon  vrith  the  employment  of  less  than  124*8 
grammes  (4  ounces)  of  air-dry  gun-cotton  applied  in  close  contact. 

Moist  and  wet  compressed  gim-cotton  are  decidedly  more  readily  sus- 
ceptible of  detonation  by  means  of  air-dry  gun-cotton,  freely  exposed  and 
exploded  by  the  usual  *'  detonator  *^  of  mercuric  fulminate,  than  by  means 
of  the  confined  fulminate  applied  alone :  thus,  when  the  material  containcM^ 


166  Mr.  F.  A.  Abel  on  the  [Feb.  6, 

17  per  cent,  of  water,  its  detonation  by  fulminate  direct  was  not  certain 
with  the  employment  of  less  than  about  13  grammes  (200  grams), 
whereas  the  result  was  absolutely  certain  with  employment  of  about  10 
grammes  of  air-dry  gun-cotton. 

The  transmission  of  detonation  from  dry  to  wet  gun-cotton,  through 
the  agency  of  a  tube,  appears  to  take  place  with  the  same  fiidlity  as 
though  the  mass  to  be  detonated  were  dry ;  and  the  same  is  the  case  with 
regard  to  the  propagation  of  detonation  from  one  mass  of  moist  gun- 
cotton  to  others  freely  exposed  to  air,  but  touching  each  other,  provided 
the  one  first  detonated  contained  not  less  water  than  the  others  to  which 
detonation  is  to  be  transmitted ;  but  this  is  not  the  case,  if  eyen  small 
spaces  intervene  between  the  separate  masses,  and  in  this  respect  the 
moist  gun-cotton  behaves  very  differently  from  the  air-dry  material. 

The  "nitrated"  and  "chlorated"  preparations  of  gun-cotton  are  as 
readily  detonated,  in  the  moist-  state,  as  ordinary  compressed  gun-cotton. 
With  respect  to  the  mechanical  effects  obtained  by  the  detonation  of 
these  materials  in  the  moist  or  wet  state,  numerous  small  and  large  com- 
parative experiments  have  demonstrated  that  there  is  no  idling  off  in  tiie 
work  done  by  them  when  used  wet. 

Decided  evidence  has,  moreover,  been  obtained  of  greater  sharpness  of 
action,  when  gun-cotton  and  its  preparations  are  detonated  in  the  wet 
state ;  and  this  accords  with  the  observations  made  in  the  earlier  of  these 
researches,  that  the  less  susceptible  a  mass  of  given  explosive  material  is 
of  compression,  when  submitted  to  the  action  of  a  sufficient  initiative 
detonation,  the  more  readily  will  detonation  be  transmitted,  and  the  more 
suddenly  will  the  transformation  from  solid  to  gas  and  vapour  take  place. 
When  air  is  replaced  by  water  in  the  compressed  masses,  the  transmission 
of  detonation  is  obviously  favoured  by  the  increased  resistance  of  the 
particles  to  motion,  at  the  instant  of  their  exposure  to  the  detonative 
force. 

The  freezing  of  wet  compressed  gun-cotton  renders  it  as  readily  sus- 
ceptible of  detonation  as  the  mixtures  of  gun-cotton  with  soluble  (crys- 
tallized) salts,  to  which  the  wet  material  obviously  becomes  quite  similar 
in  structure  by  the  solidification  of  the  water. 

Mercuric  fulminate  and  mixtures  of  it  with  potassium  chlorate,  when 
mixed  with  water  to  such  an  extent  as  to  convert  them  into  pasty  masses 
and  freely  exposed,  are  readily  detonated  by  small  quantities  (0*2  grm.  or 
3  grains)  of  the  confined  fulminate,  even  when  not  in  contact.  Finely 
divided  gun-cotton,  made  up  into  a  pulp  with  water,  was  found  not  to 
be  susceptible  of  detonation,  even  under  very  much  more  favourable  con- 
ditions than  the  above,  the  mixture  being  placed  in  thin  metal  cylinders, 
open  at  one  end,  and  a  large  disk  of  dry  gun-cotton  detonated  in  the 
centre.  But  if  wet  compressed  gun-cotton  is  packed  into  receptacles  of 
wrought  iron,  so  that  the  initiative  charge  of  dry  gun-cotton  is  closely 
fnuTounded  by  it,  and  the  small  spaces  intervening  between  the  several 


1874.]  History  of  Explosive  Agents,  167 

nuuNMS  are  filled  up  with  water,  the  charge  being  then  sabmerged,  it  is 
exploded  with  oertainiy  and  with  results  equal  to  those  furnished  under 
similar  conditions  by  the  dry  material.  Provided  the  escape  of  force,  by 
truiainission  through  the  water,  be  retarded  at  the  instant  of  the  first 
detoiatioiiy  either  by  the  resistance  which  the  material  of  the  case  offers, 
or  by  the  pressure  of  a  considerable  colimin  of  \iiiter,  the  detonation  of 
wet  gun-cotton  immersed  in  water,  and  separated  by  thin  layers  of  the 
fluid  from  the  contiguous  masses,  is  accomplished  with  certainty.  Besults 
fully  equal  to  those  furnished  by  charges  enclosed  in  strong  wrought-irom 
eases,  have  been  obtained  by  the  emplojnnent  of  sheet-tin  cases  or  of  bags, 
or  even  of  simple  fishing-nets,  these  only  serving  to  hold  the  masses 
composing  the  charge  tightly  together.  If,  however,  the  latter  condition 
is  not  attended  to,  or  the  depth  of  the  immersion  of  the  charge  is  insuf- 
ficient, its  detonation  will  not  take  place,  even  if  a  comparatively  large 
initiatiYe  detonator  be  employed. 

The  suddenness  and  completeness  with  which  detonation  was  trans- 
mitted through  small  water-spaces  in  the  experiments  with  wrought-iron 
cases,  led  the  author  to  attempt  the  application  of  water  as  a  vehicle  for 
tlie  efficient  employment  of  only  small  denotating  charges  for  bursting 
or  breaking  up  cast-iron  shells  into  numerous  and  comparatively  uniform 
fragments  (and  thus  to  employ  a  hollow  projectile  of  the  most  simple 
construction  to  fulfil  the  functions  of  the  comparatively  complicated 
"shrapnel"-  or  "  segment  "-shell).  The  results  afforded  remarkable 
illustrations  of  the  transmission  of  force  by  water,  and  may  prove  of 
considerable  practical  importance.  The  destructive  effects  produced  by 
small  detonating  charges,  when  exploded  in  shells  which  were  filled 
up  with  water  and  entiroly  closed,  wero  proportionate,  not  simply  to  the 
amount  of  explosive  agent  used,  but  also  to  the  suddenness  of  the  con- 
cussion imported  to  the  water  by  the  explosion.  Thus  7  gnunmes 
(0*25  ounce)  of  compressed  gun-cotton,  detonated  in  a  shell  filled  with 
water,  broke  it  up  into  nearly  eight  times  the  number  of  fragments 
obtained  by  exploding  a  shell  of  the  same  kind  full  of  gunpowder  (viz. 
containing  367*9  grammes  =>  13  ounces).  When  picric  powder,  which 
is  also  a  very  violent  explosive  agent,  though  much  less  sudden  in  its 
action,  was  detonated  in  one  of  these  shells,  in  the  same  way  as  the  small 
charge  of  gun-cotton,  28*3  grammes  (=1  ounce),  or  an  amount  four 
times  greater  than  that  employed  of  the  latter  substance,  burst  the  shell 
into  about  the  dame  number  of  fragments  as  were  produced  by  the  13 
ounces  of  gunpowder  (instead  of  about  8  times  the  number,  produced  by 
means  of  0*25  ounce  of  gun-cotton).  Other  observations  of  interest 
wero  made  in  the  course  of  these  shell-experiments ;  they  led,  moreover, 
to  some  cognate  experiments  which  furnished  interesting  rosults. 

In  developing  detonation,  in  a  perfectly  closed  and  sufficiently  strong 
Tessel,  completely  filled  with  water  besides  the  detonating  charge,  the 
resistance  offered  by  the  liquid  at  the  instant  of  detonation  may  be  re- 


168  Mr.  F.  A.  Abel  on  the  [Kb.  B, 

garded  as  similar  to  that  wiiidi  would  be  premnted  by  a  perCeettj  solid 
mass.  Similarly,  if  the  strong  Tessel  be  oompletelj  fiDed  with  a  mixfcnie  of 
yrB,ter  and  a  solid  {e.  g.  a  fine  powder  or  a  fibre  reduced  to  a  fine  stale  oC 
division),  such  a  mixture  should  also,  at  the  instant  of  defamation, 
behaye  as  a  very  compact  solid  with  regard  to  the  resistBnee  which  it 
opposes  to  the  detonating  charge  which  it  surrounds.  If  this  be  so,  a 
mixture  of  finely  diWded  gun-gotton  with  water,  if  enclosed  in  a  shell, 
should  be  in  a  condition  readily  susceptible  of  detonation^  beeanse  at  tibe 
instant  of  explosion  of  the  initiatiTe  diarge,  the  partides  of  gnnrcottan 
must  offer  great  resistance  to  mechanical  motion.  Experiment  has  fully 
established  the  correctness  of  this  oondusum,  having  demonstrated  that^ 
while  it  is  indispensable  to  employ  gun-cotton  in  a  hig^y  compressed 
form,  to  ensure  its  detonation  under  all  other  oonditionB,  it  may,  if  en- 
dosed  in  strong  vessels,  sudi  as  shells,  be  employed  with  equal  efficiencj 
in  a  finely  divided  state,  provided  the  spaces  between  the  particles  be 
completely  filled  with  >^iiter,  <he  small  detonating  diarge  being  immersed 
in  the  aqueous  mixture. 

The  results  obtained  in  the  several  experiments  bearing  on  the  trans- 
mission of  detonation  led  the  author  to  attempt  to  detennine  its  vdodty, 
or  the  rate  at  which  it  proceeds  along  a  continuous  mass,  or  from  one 
mass  of  an  explosive  body  to  another,  under  various  conditions.  Eor 
this  purpose  he  availed  himself  of  the  electric  chronoscope  devised  by 
Captain  A.  Noble,  F.B.S.,  which  had  furnished  satisfactory  results  in 
determinations  of  the  rate  of  motion  of  projectiles  in  the  bore  of  a  gun, 
made  by  the  Government  Committee  on  explosive  substances.  The  ex- 
periments were  carried  out  with  compressed  gun-cotton  in  the  dry  and 
wet  state,  with  "  nitrated  "  gun-cotton,  ^\ith  nitroglycerine  and  dynamite, 
and  with  small  charges  of  gun-cotton  inserted  into  tubes,  with  considerable 
intervening  spaces*.  The  disks  of  gun-cotton,  dry,  wet,  and  nitrated, 
were  arranged  either  in  continuous  rows  or  trains,  the  disks  either 
touching  each  other,  or  a  definite  and  imiform  space  or  interval 
intenening  between  each.  At  the  commencement  of  the  row  a  fine  in- 
sulated wire,  forming  part  of  the  primary  circuit  (by  the  sudden  severance 
of  which  the  electric  record  of  the  rate  of  transmission  was  obtained  on 
the  chronoscope),  was  tightly  stretched  across  the  first  disk.  Other 
wires  were  similarly  fixed  at  uniform  distances  (of  one,  two,  four,  or  six 
feet)  from  each  other.  In  determining  the  velocity  of  transmission  of 
detonation  through  tubes,  wrought  iron  gas-pipes  of  0*032  metre 
(1*25  inch)  diameter  were  used,  with  small  perforations  at  the  desired 
intervals,  through  which  the  insulated  wires  were  passed ;  the  disks  of 
gun-cotton,  to  which  detonation  was  to  be  transmitted,  were  inserted 
into  the  tubes  so  as  to  be  in  close  contact  v^ith  these  tightly  stretched 

*  In  carrying  on  these  experiments,  Mr.  Abel  reoeived  Taluable  aasiBtanoe  at  dif- 
ferent times  from  Captain  Singer,  B.N.,  Major  Maitland,  B.A.,  and  Captains  W.  H. 
Noble  and  Jones,  B.A. 


1874u]  HUiory  of  Explosive  Agents.  169 

wires.  The  tmiiui  of  dynamite  were  arranged  like  those  of  gun-cotton, 
compreeaed  charges  of  this  material,  3  inches  (*0759  metre)  long  and  1 
inch  (*0253  metre)  in  diameter,  being  placed  end  to  end  or  ^vith  definite 
spaces  intenrening  between  them.  The  nitroglycerine  was  placed  in  V- 
shaped  trooghs  of  thin  sheet  metal,  through  which  the  insulated  ^nres  ^^-ere 
passed  transverselj  at  the  requisite  intervals,  so  as  to  be  immersed  in  the 
liquid. 

A  number  of  experiments  \iith  dry  gun-cotton  compressed,  demon- 
stiated  that  the  rate  at  which  detonation  is  transmitted  from  mass  to 
masSy  when  these  are  in  actual  contact  with  each  other,  is  between  17,50<) 
and  20,000  feet  (5320  metres  and  G080  metres)  per  second,  and  that  the 
rate  of  transmission  is  affected  by  the  compactness  of  the  material,  but  not 
bja  difference  in  the  form  and  arrangement  of  the  individual  masses,  nor  by 
▼eiy  considerable  variations  in  their  weight.  By  the  experiments  with 
^pocM^  gun-cotton  disks,  it  wtM  demonstrated  that  the  separation  of  the 
masses  may  retard  the  rate  at  which  detonation  is  transmitted,  the  extent 
of  such  retardation  being,  of  counte,  detennined  by  the  relation  between 
the  siae  of  the  individual  masses  and  the  extent  of  space  inten'eniiig  be- 
tween them.  With  compressed  gun-cotton,  containing  fifteen  per  cent. 
of  water,  detonation  was  transmitted  at  a  slightly  higher  velocity  than 
with  the  dry  substance  of  the  same  compactness ;  but  when  gun-cotton 
satureUed  with  water  was  employed,  the  increase  in  the  rate  of  trans- 
mission was  very  marked,  being  equal  to  about  20,000  feet  per  second, 
with  disks  which,  when  dry,  detonated  at  a  rate  of  about  17,500  feet  per 
second.  With  "  nitrated  **  gun-cotton  the  rate  of  transmission  was,  as 
might  have  been  anticipated,  decidedly  slower  than  with  the  pure  dry 
material ;  it  ranged  between  15,500  and  10,000  feet  (4712  metres  aiul 
4864  metres)  per  second. 

The  results  obtained  with  dynamite  and  nitroglycerine  presented  some 
very  interesting  points  of  difference  from  those  furnished  by  compressed 
gun-cotton,  which  are  ascribable  to  the  liquid  nature  of  the  explosive 
material.  The  dynamite  used  was  in  the  form  of  compressed  rolls  or 
cylinders,  similar  in  firmness  or  solidity  to  stiff  but  not  very  plastic  clay. 
Bows  or  trains  of  these  charges,  pressed  together  end  to  end,  so  as  to 
form  perfectly  continuous  masses  2S  feet  (8-533  metres)  and  42  feet 
(12'8  metres)  in  length,  were  detonated  by  means  of  a  fulminate  detonator 
of  the  kind  used  with  gun-cotton,  which  was  inserted  into  a  small 
cylinder  of  gun-cotton,  or  into  a  small  cartridge  of  dynamite,  and  placed 
upon  one  extremity  of  the  train.  The  rate  at  which  detonation 
was  transmitted  ranged  between  19,500  and  21,600  feet  (5928  and 
6566  metres)  per  second ;  it  was  therefore  decidedly  higher  than  with 
compressed  gun-cotton.  The  separation  of  the  individual  cartridges 
or  cylinders  by  spaces  of  0*5  inch  (-013  metre)  produced,  however,  a 
very  much  greater  retarding  effect  than  was  the  cose  with  a  sepa- 
ration to  the  same  extent  of  masses  of  compressed  gun-cotton;  the 

VOL,  XXIT.  <> 


^ 


170  On  the  Oitorp  tf  EsgOome  JfenU.  [FcIkB; 

mean  rate  at  which  velodtj  waa  inmamilted  along  the  q^aoad  tnaMwa  ti 
dynamite  (in  an  experiment  remarkable  £or  the  great  imiConnitjr  ot  ike 
records  at  different  parte  of  the  train)  ma  c«il7»6289  fiaet  (1896  ]^^ 
per  second ;  the  mean  rate  of  toranamiBsifla  along  matioa  of  gim-oolAaiiof 
the  same  weight  and  length  as  the  dynamite  cartridges,  and  aepanted  by 
0*5  inch  spaces,  was  (in  two  experiments)  neariy »  lifiOO  bk 
(5179-9  metres)  per  second.  When  niirogtyeerine  was  employed  in  die 
pure  and,  therefore,  liquid  state^  detonati(m  being  established  afe  one  ex- 
tremity of  the  trains  by  means  of  a  cartridge  of  dynamite,  the  mean  rate 
at  which  it  was  transmitted  was  only  abont  5500  feet  (167S  metrea) 
per  second,  the  same  result  being  obtahied  in  two  experiments,  in  one  of 
which  the  quantity  of  nitrog^yoerine,  in  a  giTen  length  of  tbe  tnin,  was 
double  that  employed  in  the  other*.  It  may  be  possiUe  that^  by  very 
greatly  increasing  the  quantity  of  nifooglyoerine  used,  the  rate  of  trana- 
mission  of  detonation  would  be  increased ;  bat  there  is  no  doabt  that  the 
mobility  and  elasticity  of  the  liquid,  and  the  consequent  facility  with 
which  it  yields  to  mechanical  force  when  nnconfined,  act  antagonistioally 
to  the  transmission  of  detonation  in  a  mass  of  fredjf  expoad  mtrof^y- 
cerine.  The  author  hopes  that  he  may  haye  the  means  and  opportnnity 
of  extending  these  interesting  experiments,  by  ascertaining  the  effect  of 
confinement,  both  of  nitroglycerine  and  gun-cotton,  on  tiie  transmission 
of  detonation  along  continuous  masses  of  the  explosive  agent. 

The  numerical  details  given  in  the  memoir  afford  proof  of  the  trust- 
worthiness of  the  results  obtained  in  the  velocity  determinations,  and  of 
the  uniform  rate  at  which  detonation  is  transmitted  along  rows  of  con- 
siderable length,  composed  of  distinct  masses  of  the  explosive  material, 
even  when  these  are  separated  from  each  other  by  spaces.  With  trains 
12-16  metres  to  15*20  metres  (40  to  50  feet)  in  length,  the  rate  at  which 
detonation  travelled  along  the  last  few  feet  was  equal  to  that  obser\'ed  in 
the  first  portion  of  the  train.  This  was  not  the  case  with  the  transmission 
of  detonation  through  tubes  to  widtly  separated  masses  of  gun-cotton.  The 
time  intervening  between  the  detonation  of  the  initiative  charge  at  one 
extremity  of  the  tube  and  that  of  the  first  distinct  charge  (separated  by  a 
space  of  3  feet  3  inches,  or  1  metre)  was  somewhat  variable,  and  ranged 
between  10,000  and  13,000  feet  (3000  to  3900  metres)  per  second ;  the 
subsequent  transmission,  from  charge  to  charge,  along  the  tubes  proceeded 
at  a  tolerably  uniform  but  considerably  reduced  rate,  the  average  being 
1800  metres  (0000  feet)  per  second.  In  one  experiment,  with  reduced 
charges,  the  detonation  was  transmitted,  as  usual,  to  the  first  three  separate 
masses ;  but  the  fourth  and  succeeding  charges,  though  they  exploded^  did 
not  detonate  ;  the  tube  containing  them  was  uninjured  at  those  parts,  but 
the  wires  were  severed  at  the  seat  of  each  charge,  and  the  records  ob- 

*  The  amount  of  nitroglycerine  employed  in  a  given  length  of  the  train  conre- 
Bponded  to  that  used  in  certain  of  the  gun-cotton  experiments,  in  which  the  imte  of 
traosmiwion  of  detonation  rangrxl  between  18,000  and  21,000  feet. 


1874.]  On  the  Synthesis  qf  Formic  Aldehyde.  171 

explotum 


9k  the  nte  of  between  450  and  640  metres  (1500  and  1800  feet)  per 
aeoond.  These  experiments  with  tubes  showed  that,  when  the  relations 
between  the  amount  of  explosive  material,  the  diameter  of  the  tube,  and 
the  space  intervening  between  the  charges  are  such  as  to  ensure  the 
transmiHHJon  of  detonation,  its  rate  is  about  one  third  of  that  at  which  it 
travels  along  a  continuous  mass,  or  continuous  row  of  distinct  masses,  of 
tiie  same  material. 

The  concluding  part  of  this  memoir  deals  \iith  a  subject  only  iuci- 
dentally  referred  to  in  the  former  memoir  on  explosive  agents,  and  which 
has  since  that  time  acquired  considerable  importance^namely,  the 
manner  in  which  the  accumulation  of  heat  in  a  mass  of  explosive  ma- 
terial, and  other  conditions,  may  operate  in  bringing  about  or  promoting 
violent  explosion  or  detonation. 


February  12,  1874. 

JOSEPH  DALTON  HOOKER,  C.B.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

The  Presents  received  were  laid  on  the  table,  and  thanks  ordered  for 
them. 
The  following  communications  were  read : — 

I.  ''  Note  on  the  Synthesis  of  Formic  Aldehyde."     By  Sir  B.  C. 
Bbodib,  Bart.,  F.R.S.     Received  February  5, 1874. 

In  a  former  note  I  communicated  to  the  Society  the  result  of  an 
experiment  in  which  a  mixture  of  equal  (or  nearly  equal)  volumes  of 
hydrogen  and  carbonic  oxide  had  been  submitted,  in  the  induction-tube, 
to  the  electric  action.  My  expectation  in  making  the  experiment  had 
been  that  the  synthesis  of  formic  aldehyde  would  be  thus  effected  accord- 
ing to  the  equation  CO+H,=  COH,.  The  only  permanent  gas,  however, 
other  than  the  gases  originally  present  in  the  induction-tube,  which 
appeared  in  the  result  of  the  experiment  was  marsh-gas.  When  a  mix- 
ture of  hydrogen  and  carbonic  acid  gas  was  similarly  operated  upon,  the 
flame  hydrocarbon,  together  with  carbonic  oxide,  was  formed.  I  have 
now,  however,  succeeded,  by  a  modification  in  the  conditions  of  the  latter 
experiment,  in  attaining  the  object  which  I  originally  had  in  view. 
Evidence  of  this  is  afforded  by  the  following  analysis : — The  gas  analyzed 
was  the  result  of  submitting  to  the  electric  action  about  equal  volumes  of 
hydrogen  and  carbonic  acid.  After  removal  from  the  gas  of  carbonic  add 
and  carbonic  oxide,  and  also  of  a  trace  of  oxygen,  191*2  volumes  of  gas 
remained,  in  which  were  found,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  analysis,  2*6 
volumes  of  nitrogen.  Deducting  this  amount  of  nitrogen,  188*6  volumes 
of  gas^  remain,  containing  the  residual  hydrogen  in  the  gas,  together  vaih. 

o2 


172  Dr.  E.  A.  Parkcs  on  the  [Feb.  12, 

any  gases  besides  carbonic  oxide  formed  in  the  experimetit.  This  gaa 
was  analysed  by  the  addition  of  oiygen  and  subsequent  detonation  by 
the  electrif  spark,  the  absorption  of  the  carbonii-  ai-id  by  potash,  and  the 
removal  of  the  oxygen  over  by  pyrogallate  of  potash.  The  results  of  the 
atudysis  entirely  concur  with  the  asBumplion  tliat  the  IflS'C  volumes  of 
gas  were  constitnted  of  hydrogen,  marsh-gas,  and  formic  aldehyde  in  the 
proportions  given  below ; — 

Hydrogen    183*2 

Marsh-gns    0-2 

Formic  aldehyde 5-2  ^ 

188G  ■ 

The  composition  of  100  volumes  of  the  gas  beinfj. 

Hvdrogen    fl7'14 

Marsh^pia    0-10 

Formic  aldehyde  , . , 2'76 

100-00 
Another  experiment  was  attended  with  similar  results,  only  that  tlisi 
proportion  of  marsh-gn,*  was  somewhat  greater. 

The  R-siiH  of  litis  L^prrittifiit  iiinv  Ix'  .■oiisidi.-reJ  tfl  !«■  i;ivoii  in  im* 
equation  CO.+2H,=:C0H,+H,0.  t  have  reason  to  believe  that  formic 
aldehyde  is  also  formed  in  the  reaction  of  hydrogen  and  carbonic  oxide, 
and  that  the  marsh-gas  found  (in  both  erporiments)  results  from  the 
decomposition  of  this  substance,  possibly  according  to  the  equation 
2C0H,— CO,+CH,.  I  do  not  now  dwell  upon  this  subject,  as  it  is 
my  intention  very  speedily  to  lay  before  the  Society,  together  with  other 
matters,  the  details  of  the  various  experiments  which  I  hare  made  in 
reference  to  it. 

II.  "On  the  Influence  of  Brandy  on  the  Bodily  Temperature, 

the  Pulse,  and  the  Bespiratious  of  Healthy  Men."    By  E.  A. 

Fahkes,  M.D.,  F.R.S.,  Frofeaaor  of  Hygiene,  Army  Medical 

School.     Received  November  29,  1873. 

In  the  Proceedings  of  the  Eoyal  Society  (Nos  120,  123,  and  136)  the 

details  of  experiments  are  given  which  show  that  in  two  healthy  men 

pure  ethyl  alcohol,  brandy,  and  claret,  given  at  intervals  during  the  day, 

produced  no  eSect  on  the  temperature  of  the  body  as  measnred  in  the 

axilla  and  rectum. 

This  result  is  in  accordance  with  the  experiments  of  Eeveral  other 
observers,  while  there  are  some  experimenters  who  have  noticed  a  de- 
crease in  temperature  in  healthy  men  after  the  use  of  alcohol.  In  some 
cases  of  disease  in  men  and  in  some  healthy  animala  alcohol  has  CftOaed, 
it  would  seem,  a  decided  lessening  of  temperature. 


1874.]     Influence  of  Brandy  on  the  Bodily  Temperature  ifC.      178 

These  difierences  of  statement  led  me  to  conceive  that  the  time  when 
the  alcohol  was  given  might  have  some  effect. 

In  the  experiments  formerly  reported  to  the  Eojal  Society,  alcohol 
was  osnaUy  given  either  with  or  at  no  long  interval  from  food.  As 
food  raises  the  temperature  of  the  body,  it  occurred  to  me  that  it  might 
mask  an  opposite  action  of  the  alcohol ;  and  I  therefore  determined  to 
repeat  the  experiments,  and  to  give  the  alcohol  about  four  hours  after  a 
moderate  breakfast,  when  the  heating-effect  of  the  food  had  gone  off, 
and  when  digestion  was  completed,  and  also  to  give  it  in  a  state  of 
complete  inanition. 

I.  RvperinienU  after  the  completion  of  Digestion, 

The  subject  of  the  obsen'^ations  is  a  strong  healthy  soldier,  T.  B.,  aged 
25,  height  5  feet  8|  inches,  weight  (naked)  67*46  kilogrammes,  or  148  lbs. 
He  has  at  times  drunk  some  quantity  of  spirits,  but  not  for  the  last  two 
or  three  years,  and  usually  takes  about  two  or  three  pints  of  beer  daily. 

The  course  of  the  experiments  was  as  follows : — His  breakfast  was 
taken  at  6.30,  was  finished  every  day  by  7  a.m.  ;  he  took  for  break&st 
8  ounces  of  bread,  j  ounce  of  butter,  and  17  fluid  ounces  of  tea  with  sugar 
and  with  3  ounces  of  milk.  Immediately  after  breakfast  he  went  to  bed 
again,  and  did  not  get  out  of  the  recumbent  position  for  any  purpose 
until  2  o  clock.  He  then  dined  on  12  ounces  of  beefsteak,  4  ounces  of 
bread,  and  8  ounces  of  water. 

After  dinner  he  took  exercise  and  smoked,  had  tea  (same  food  as  at 
breakfast)  at  6,  and  a  glass  of  water  at  9  p.m.,  when  he  went  to  bod. 
He  took  daily  precisely  the  same  diet  and  quantity  of  water. 

Thermometers  (tested  for  accuracy  and  exactly  corresponding)  were 
placed  in  the  axilla  and  rectum  at  6  o'clock,  and,  except  at  breakfast,  they 
were  removed  only  for  the  purpose  of  being  read  at  first  every  30  and 
then  every  15  minutes,  and  were  at  once  replaced,  until  2  o'clock,  after 
which  time  the  temperatures  were  only  taken  every  t>^'o  hours. 

After  several  days'  preliminary  examination  (during  which  time  he 
took  no  alcohol)  the  experiments  were  commenced  and  carried  on  for  six 
days  without  alcohol ;  then  during  five  days  undiluted  brandy  containing 
50  per  cent,  of  absolute  alcohol  was  given  once  daily,  viz.  at  11  a.m.,  four 
hours  after  breakfast. 

On  the  first  day  one  fluid  ounce  of  brandy  (=j|  ounce  of  alcohol)  was 
given,  on  the  second  day  two  ounces,  on  the  third  day  four  ounces,  on 
the  fourth  day  six  ounces  (=3  ounces  of  alcohol),  and  on  the  fifth  day 
also  six  ounces.  I  had  intended  to  give  him  eight  ounces  on  the  fifth 
day,  but  the  brandy  made  him  so  ill,  he  begged  me  not  to  increase  the 
quantity*. 

*  The  effect  of  the  six  ounces  of  brandy  taken  in  this  way  at  one  time  and  without 
water  waa  entirely  to  destroy  appetite,  so  that  he  could  not  force  himself  to  take  his 
food ;  it  also  caused  a  great  feeling  of  depression,  sickness,  and  headache,  and  increased 
the  flow  of  urinary  water  very  largely  for  three  hours.    The  nitrogenous  elimination 


174 


Dr.  E.  A.  Parkes  o«  the 


[Feb.  13,  , 


Acilla  and  ifartum  Temperatitra. 

The  foUoniiig  Tables  give  all  the  thennometric  observations  under  the' 

three  fenois  oE  6  a.m.  to  11,  11  to  2,  and  2  to  10  p.m. 

Abulia  Temperature  (Fahrenheit). 

Before  Brandy. 

Period  from  C  a.m.  to  11  a.m. 


Hours. 

Diyi,  June  187). 

... 

... 

.J- 

.4- 

.!• 

6     o'clock  ... 

97-0 

irS 

9>-4 

97-. 

97 

0 

970 

„■! 

97 

97-0 

97-* 

971 

98'. 

98-0 

91 

s 

97a 

9K-0 

S.JO      .. 

98-. 

98-. 

,I-o 

,8-. 

,«-o 

'! 

97-1 

,8-. 

,!■• 

9,6 

,8-. 

980 

98-. 

M«in  of  the  period 

5,1. 

97'7 

98-.. 

97-9 

97-7 

97-6 

Period  fron 

11  A.M.  to  2  P.M. 

98-. 

97-8 

97S 

,«., 

,<-.l 

t>.4{      .> 

»»■■ 

9«-o 

,8-. 

97-0 

97-9 

97-4 

I1.JO       ,. 

,1. 

980 

97-84 

97-« 

97-6 

97-5 

ii+S      .. 

97-5 

97-S 

97'4 

i.'S      ., 

9T* 

1-30      „ 

97*4 

Mi      .. 

,7-6 

"'! 

97-4 

' 

97-6 

97-7 

97-1 

MainofUiojuifiod 

,r,t 

91=1 

97'9 

97-9 

97-8 

97-4 

"   Period  6 

■om  2  to  10  P.M. 

3      o-dock.. 

,!•= 

97-8 

,7-8 

qg'> 

,16 

9«'. 

97-8 

,7-8 

qli'O 

9S-. 

,l!'o 

91-4 

,8-1 

,7-8 

9li'K 

9»'4 

,!•• 

,!■. 

98-. 

98-0 

9lt'K 

flS-1 

10 

,n 

9>-. 

,86 

,7-8 

9fb 

911-S 

M»n  of  tJic  pcricj 

,1-, 

51.5 

ji-.s 

97-8 

9if+ 

9^-J 

mu  not  increaaed,  and  wsi  piobabl;  ilighU;  iMBensd ;  but  the  Ion  of  appctit«^  wkieh 
■Itered  the  ingnes  of  nitrogeD,  on  ooe  day  reodend  th«  expmineDt  nOm  imparfeet. 
In  ocder  not  to  lengllian  the  praent  DommuniMtioii,  I  raecire  til  detaila  of  the  egrtm 
of  nilTOgen  tad  pboapborio  acid  and  alMhol  for  uiother  opportunity. 


1874.]    Influence  of  Brandy  on  the  Bodily  Temperature  l^e.      175 


Axilla  Temperature, 

Broudy  at  11  &.», 

Period  from  6  to  11  i..M.. 


HoUra. 

Day 

Junti7aml  Julyi, 

873. 

*?■ 

»8. 

9.           JO. 

'■ 

6      o-elDtV  ... 

g6-6 

96-1 

6.30      ., 

97-1 

97 

I      97  + 

97'o 

7           ,f 

97-0 

97-0 

9/ 

*      97  4 

97-1 

7-30      .. 

97'» 

97 

97-1 

97-+ 

9', 

97'4 

,«-, 

7a  0 

g      98'4 

,M-i 

9!)> 

S       986 

980 

««'4 

9!l-4 

lO.JO        „ 

m-z 

■)«•+ 

91 

"1 

981 

9S-0 

9*1 

0       98.. 

98-4 

M«.n  of  tlie  period   I977 

9772    97 

58     979S 

97-6 

Period  from  1 

1  A.M.  to 

2  p.m. 

11. IS  o'clock...!  9B0 

97'° 

9» 

0      ^i■^ 

98-6 

11-30      .. 

97-1 

"■45       .. 
I1.1S      „ 

97-1 
97-4 
971 

9/ 
97 
97 

i      97-5 
8      97'i 

97-9 
980 
977 

1».J0       „ 

97-S 

9. 

97-4 

IMS      .. 

9', 

B      97-1 

97-4 

"■; 

97'6i 

9/ 

96'8^ 

97-4 

i.iS      ,. 

97-44 

V, 

97'4 

1.30      „ 

97'5 

97 

S      96'8 

974 

I-4S      " 

97'S 

97 

S      97'i 

97'4 

J 

97-5 

97 

974 

MMiioribeporiod 

9783 

97-4      97 

!    1  sj'ij 

97-4 

Period  from 

2  to  10  I 

M. 

3      o'ulook  ... 

qS-o 

97-6 

98 

0    '  9S-2 

9r6 

fl«-3 

9«-» 

9* 

.       98-4 

CH-. 

9iCz 

9! 

,       98-+ 

97-8 

9*-. 

9il-+ 

9» 

3    1  93'4 

98'4 

10 

97'4 

97'3 

99 

97'4 

Mean  of  the  period 

98-01 

97-9+ 

98 

3    1  98-. 

97-84 

Dr.  E.  A.  Parkes  on  the 


[Feb.  12, 


Temperature  of  Rectuin, 

Before  Braiiiiy. 
Period  from  0  to  II  A.M. 


Hours. 

Daj»,  June  i!7j. 

*.. 

II.      1],  1   14. 

"S- 

16. 

6    o'clock   .,.!  97-8 

97-8    !  98-8    i  97'8 

97'4 

984 

6.10     „          ;  97'« 

">■ 

i  ;  1* 

*       V, 

97'4 

4 

91 

4 

7-50     ..             5«-8 

9' 

0    1  9t 

9" 

8    1   9i 

0       9l 

8      98-8 

H 

S.JO      ,.               OT'o 

8       95 

0       9! 

0   1  99-0 

9i 

9' 

4       9! 

9' 

0      9S-8 

I    ]  ,1 

8    ,  98  ! 

10.30     „          1  jB-g 

9: 

1 1            „            1  9l-4 

98! 

98-4    1  98-8    i  98-8 

98-6 

MeanoFttiepenDd  |  98-67 

98-6 

98-96]  98-6    1  9t-s 

„■<. 

Perioct  fron 

1  11  JiJt.  Io2p.m. 

ii.ij  o-dodt 

...     U9-0 

988 

,1-1 

ll.JO       „ 

99-0 

98-61]     ... 

988 

99' 

98 

99-0 

,«* 

IJ.I5     „ 

990 

99-0 

99-0 

10.30     „ 

99-1 

11.+S     „ 

98-z 

?2.| 

9lf8 

i.iS     .. 

1.30     „ 

9' 

58-4    ■  98-4 

I.4S      ■■ 

?8-8 

sa-a 

99-0 

98-8 

98-4    1  98-5 

!«■• 

Mean  of  Ihepfriod      98-96 

98-8    1  98-88  1  98-74!  98'6 

,is« 

Period  from  2  to  10  p.m. 

,        o-dock 

99-4      99*0    1  98-8 

,11    1 

W'. 

9^ 

99'8    1  9! 

9^ 

8 

6 

99-6       99 
IDO-4        99 

99-6 

= 

10 

99-6    1  994 

■  00-4 

Mean  of  the  poriod    100-14  lOdS 

99-76     99-1       99-36 

99-1 

1874.]    Ii^ttienee  (^Brandy  m  the  BottUtf  Temperaturt  Ifc.      177 

Temperature  of  Bectnni. 

During  Brandy. 
Period  from  6  to  11  a.u. 


D»yt,  June  17  '<•  3alj 

.  1873. 

noun. 

.7. 

.g.  i  29. 

3 

6        o-elock 

flT6 

984    1  ita 

98 

0      97'4 

6.30       .. 

97'6 

9U   !  9>-4 

7 

og-o 

98x      93-4 

qU 

flm 

! 

9JC6 

93-6    j  98-4 

IS 

♦    »!! 

8.30        „ 

9(-6 

98-6    I   98'4 

9'i 

4       98-8 

9 

99'0 

99-0     ;   98-4 

ll 

9-JO 

99-0 

990     1   93-4 

1^ 

l-i 

1      99-1 

10.30        „ 

9IIII 

9>J 

»      994 

..       „ 

,H-» 

99 

0      991 

Kfuioftheprriod 

9»-4 

93-64,    984s 

9» 

7      9!-S 

Period  from  1 

A.M.  to  2  P 

SI. 

,g-s 

,ga 

«■* 

fll 

J      99-4 

^s-t 

6      99'1 

<,3-4 

<,%■!> 

9" 

9»-4 

98-6 

1       g8-6 

986 

98  b 

•>i 

.!■, 

,8-b 

9" 

0       98-6 

•i*■^ 

9« 

,    ,   98-6 

1           „      1  98-3 

9»-i 

gH-b 

97 

Mf^n  of  Ibe  period  ,  9905 

98-+;  '   98-75 

98'3S    98'84| 

Period  from 

2  to  10  P.U 

}       o'clock 

.9-4 

990       9S-8 

98 

4       98-6 

4 

99-1 

99-5       996 

9^ 

99+     IOO-6 

t^ 

994 

99a     loog 

10 

Ibuoftheporiod 

99» 

99'     '«>■> 

» 

1!    99S6 

These  obsen'stions  will  now  be  considered  under  the  three  following 
heads : — 

Ist.  The  mean  temperature  of  the  day. 

2nd.  The  mean  temperature  of  the  periodi. 

3rd.  The  lauge  of  the  thermometer  from  11  to  2  o'clock ;  i.  e.  the  differ- 
ence between  the  11  o'clock  and  the  2  o'clock  temperatures. 


Dr.  E.  A.  Porkes  on  Iht 


1.  J/eioi  Teinjxrature  of  thf  f&urUen  hourtwhen  the  w 

t^iTvation. 


[Feb.  12,  .j 
It  UKU  under 


1-14  observations  in  the  water  days  give  a  mean  daily  temperature  in 
the  aiiUa  of  'J7°-9,  and  137  obserrations  in  the  brandy  days  give  a  mean 
daily  temperature  of  OT"'"!.  In  the  rcctinn  the  observations  were  144 
and  138  respectively,  giving  a  mean  daOy  rectum  temperature  of  98°-89 
in  the  non-brandy  and  98'^ 78  in  the  brandy  days. 

This  difference  is  eo  slight  as  to  fall  nithia  the  range  of  unavoidable 
error;  but  it  might  be  that  the  effect  of  tbe  brandy  was  only  perceptible 
for  a  ehort  time.  It  is  necessary  tlkeu  to  take  the  temperature  of  the 
periods. 

2.  Mean  Trvipfrature  of  the  Penoth. 


Unnuilk 

BsTiM 
br.ndj. 

br«d;. 

Period&om6A.ii.  toil  A.)i.  ... 

57-Si 

97°*71 

Bo.  of  OMefTHtions  pvm^  Tuean 

66 

SS 

Period  from  1 1  A.u.  to  i  p.m.  ... 

jr^'ja 

97=- 58 

No.  of  obeermliou*  giTing  mean 

49 

S7 

Period  from  i  r.M.  to  lo  p.m.   ... 

98=-»S 

98=05 

No.  of  obsoryfttions  giving  mean 

19 

*S 

M«m  rectum 

t«nper»ture. 

Period  from  6  XH.  to  tl  A.M.  ... 

98»-6j 

9fS7 

66 

5S 

Period  from  r  i  i.h.  to  1  f.k.  ... 

9>°-73 

ss-ea 

« 

5! 

Period  from  a  P.m.  to  10  p.m.  ... 

996-jj 

99''-46 

No.  of  obwmtioai  giving  mesn 

»9 

*S 

The  differences,  espeoally  in  the  case  of  the  rectum  mean  tempera- 
tures, are  slight  eren  in  the  hours  between  11  and  2.    In  every  case, 
however,  the  mean  of  the  thermometer  is  lower,  though  to  a  very  slight 
^^xtent,  in  the  alcoboUc  series.    This,  howeTer,  is  not  ccmclusiTe,  as  will 
^^1  evident  from  a  considenitioa  of  the  meao  r^um  temperatarea  on  the 
"BmI  days. 


1874.]     Influenee  of  Brandy  on  the  Bodily  Temperature  ^c.      17! 
Heau  Tempenture  of  Bectum  in  the  three  houra  following  brandr. 


No  Bmnd;. 

Brandy. 

let  day    9!o6 

3Td  „      ItZt 

ith  ,.      9874 

5th   „          Qg'fio 

ath  ..      98-S6 

&d„       9f-55 
3rd  „       98-75 

Bth   „      98-li 

On  four  of  the  brandy  days  the  mean  temperatures  were  quite  eqn^ 
to  fonr  of  the  non-brandy  days ;  on  one  day  (6  ounces  of  brandy)  the 
mean  wu,  however,  only  98°- 34,  or  0°'22  below  the  loweat  temperatura  of 
a  water  day.  But  this  was  accidental,  and  was  owing  to  the  thermometer 
getting  imbedded  in  a  mass  of  fioces,  which  separated  it  from  the  intestinal 
wall.  For  fear  of  spoiling  the  experiment,  the  man  would  not  move 
though  he  greatly  wished  to  do  so.  That  this  was  the  real  cause  of  the 
diminution  in  this  mean,  is  shown  by  the  last  day's  experiment,  when 
with  the  same  quantity  of  brandy  the  temperature  was  higher  than  on 
four  of  the  water  days,  and  was  0°-l  above  the  mean  of  the  six  water 
days.  It  seems  therefore  very  difficult  to  conclude  from  the  mean 
rectum  temperature  of  the  period  that  there  was  an  actual  fall. 

In  the  period  from  2  to  10  the  mean  brandy  temperature  was  O^'S? 
lower  than  in  the  water  period.  But  as  the  observations  were  much 
fewer  at  this  time  and  were  taken  at  much  longer  intervals,  and  as  food  and 
exercise  complicated  the  results,  little  importance  can  be  attached  to  them. 

Although  themean  temperatures  do  uot,  then,  give  a  satisfactory  answer 
to  the  inquiry,  it  may  be  that  an  effect  may  be  found  in  the  initial  and  ter- 
minal temperatures  of  the  11  to  2  period.  This  is  shown  in  the  following 
Table:— 

3.  Bange  of  the  TemperaUire  from  11  to  2  o'elocl: 
Axilla  Temperatures. 


Temperature. 

Water  Pwiod.     DajB.       ,     Bratiily  Period.    Dsja. 

,. 

1. 

3- 

.|5.|...|.. 

A. 

a- 

4. 

J- 

At  II  o'clock  ,. 
At  I  o'clock    .. 

9S-, 
97-6 

97-6 

97-8 

>7f 

977 

97-g  ,  9lt-» 
97"»  iierS 

9rs 

980 

97-8 

981 

97-D 

98-4 
97-4 

DlfR™.   

-■€ 

+■6 

-■4 

-.|-,pj-> 

-s 

-' 

-'■* 

-'■° 

Rectum  Tempemhires. 

At.i  o'clock  ... 

At  »  o'clock    .. 

,a-4 

9S-i 

9S'i 
99'6 

93-4  |93'B 
98-8  98-4 

9S-8  98-!|Ua 
98S  .98->  '\^-t 

9S-i 

98-3 

98-7    99-0 

99-1 

98-6 

Difibrcnee    

+•4 

+..|...j-. 

-'h\-h 

-1  -1-3 

-■6 

180  Dr.  E.  A.  Parkos  on  Me  [Feb.  12, 

The  greatest  fall  iii  these  three  hotira  of  the  axilla  temperature  oil  a 
water  day  was  0°-6  Fahr. :  the  greatest  fall  ou  a  brandy  day  w-os  F-S,  and 
ou  another  day  the  fall  was  1",  or  '6  and  "4  more  than  on  any  wat«rday ; 
yet  on  the  third  day  of  brandy,  when  four  fluid  ounces  (  =  2  fluid  ounces 
of  absolute  alcohol)  were  taken,  the  difiereuco  was  only  U°'2  Fair. 

In  considering  the  rectum  temperatures  it  is  necessary  to  omit  the 
fourth  day  of  brandy,  when  impacted  fnjcal  matter  in  the  bowel  evidently 
lowered  the  reading  of  the  thermometer.  There  M-as  no  fall  with  one 
fluid  ounce  of  brandy  (  =  ]J  fluid  ounce  or  14  cub.  centim.  of  alcohol),  a  fall 
of  O^'S  with  two  fluid  ounces  (=2S-4  cub.  centims.  of  alcohol),  of  only  0°'l 
with  four  fluid  ounces,  and  of  0°-6  with  six  fluid  ounces.  There  was  there- 
fore no  regularity  with  tlie  increasing  quantity  of  brandy.  The  greatest 
fall  (O^-fl)  was  not  more  than  occurred  on  one  of  the  wat«r  days. 

When  these  numbers,  omitting  the  fourth  brandy  day  of  the  rectum 
aeries,  are  submitted  to  calculation  according  to  the  rule  given  by  Ut. 
Galloway  in  his  Treatise  on  Probability,  the  following  results  are  given  ;^ 

Differrace  of  Temperature  between  11  and  2  o'clock  in  Fahrenheit  degrees. 


Reet-am  tcmper»tui*. 

Wfltrr  daje.    Bnmdy  dflye 

Water  ddys. 

Bfandy  d«y«. 

Mo.afob«rvatiotis  

6                      S 

6 

4 

-=''■37 

Probable  error  of  MHiilt 
Truth  liM  bctwMn  ...   | 

±d'-..S 
-o=-j9S 

+  0°M  + 

-o°774 

If  the  obaeriations  are  not  too  few  to  be  trusted,  this  calculation 
shows  that  there  was  a  slight  fall  in  temperature  in  the  three  hours 
following  brandy. 

But  it  will  be  seen  at  once  both  how  small  the  fall  is,  and  how  difficult 
it  is  even  yet  to  feel  quite  sure  of  the  result.  Taking  the  rectum 
temperature  for  example,  the  probable  errors  of  result  ae  calculated  out 
are  O"-!!  in  the  water  and  O^-Oy  in  the  brandy  days  ;  the  results  in  each 
series  might  then  have  been  a  mean  fall  of  — 0''16  in  the  water  series 
and  of  —  0°-23  in  the  brandy  series,  or  there  might  have  only  been  a 
difference  of  — O^-O?. 

Still,  looking  at  all  these  results,  and  especially  to  the  fact  that  the 
calculation  is  in  all  cases  a  little  against  the  brandy  series,  it  may 
be  concluded  that  in  this  man  the  brandy  did  produce  a  very  sligbt 
fall ;  but  that,  if  this  is  correct,  the  fall  could  not  have  been  more  than  0°'35 
Falir.,  and  may  have  been  only  '07  Fahr.,  in  three  hours. 


1874.]     Influence  of  Brands  tm  the  BodUg  Tmperatwe  ^e.      18L 

It  may  probaUjr  be  intoreatiiig  to  note  the  usual  course  of  the  bodOy 
temperature  in  the  water  period.  It  was  ver;  nnif  orm :  at  6  a.m.  (twelre 
hours  after  food)  the  mean  rectal  temperatuie  was  lowest,  vii.  98°;  and 
it  was  highest  at  10  at  night,  when  it  reached  100°-I4,  or  a  difference  in 
the  twenty-four  hours  of  2°-14  Fabr. 

IVom  the  effect  produced  by  the  breakfast,  I  infer  that  this  course  was 
chiefly  owing  to  food,  and  uot  to  any  peculiar  effect  produced  by  the  time 
of  day. 

Thus  the  mean  rectum  temperature  being  98°  at  6  and  6.30  o'clock 
A.1I.,  it  rose  at  7  (just  after  a  warm  breakfast)  to  98°-3,  and  continued  to 
rise  till  9  o'clock,  when  it  reached  99°.  It  continued  at  this  point  until 
10  or  10.30,  when  it  began  to  fall,  and  at  11  was  08°06,  at  1  98°-65,  aud 
at  3  o'clock  98°-62.  Then  dinner  and  exercise  were  taken,  and  the  ther- 
mometer went  rapidly  up,  being  99°-08  at  3  o'clock,  Od°-i2  at  4,  B9°-83 
at  0, 100°-10  at  8,  and  100°- 14  at  10.  It  seems  fair  to  attribute  this  rise 
especially  to  the  effect  of  food. 

The  mean  axilla  temperature  followed  exactly  the  same  course,  being 
lowest  (97°'36)  at  0  a.m.,  rising  after  breakfast,  falling  again  three  and 
three  and  a  half  hours  after  breakfast,  and  rising  immediately  after 
dinner  and  tea  to  its  highest  point,  98'''4 ;  the  mean  diurnal  difference  in 
the  axilla  temperature  was  one  half  that  of  the  rectal,  or  l°-04*. 

The  pulse  was  taken  on  an  average  twenty-three  times  daily,  from  six 
in  the  moniiug  until  ten  at  night,  the  man  being  always  in  a  recumbent 
position,  and,  in  fact,  being  in  bed  until  two  o'clock  every  day.  The  course 
of  the  pulse  before  the  brandy  was  taken  was  very  constant ;  the  number 
of  beats  per  minute  was  raised  by  breakfast  for  t\TO  hoiurs,  then  fell  gra- 
dually until  dinner,  and  then  rose  greatly  after  dinner  in  consequence  of 
the  food  and  exercise. 

The  following  are  the  averages  of  the  days : — 

Dbjb,        Before  Bnndj.        During  Brandy. 
'    76J  7S*4 


Average  of  tbe  whole  water  period  ts'tj 
..  "    brandj    „        75-47 


*  It  may  be  noticed,  in  referenni  to  tbe  rectum  temperature,  tbst  it  is  not  quite 
correct  to  uy,  u  i*  eometime*  done,  that  there  ij  no  change  within  ahort  periods.  In 
half  an  hour  tbe  rectum  temperature  haa  varied  u  mooh  a*  0°'4  Fahr.,  though  I  took 
everj  precaution  to  place  the  thermometer  properlj  and  to  reed  it  with  great  care. 
Usually  it  is  much  leea  than  tbi*.  The  variationi  within  abort  perioda  in  the  axilla 
were,  however,  decidedlj  greater  thso  in  tbe  rectum,  but  mm  seldom  more  than  from 
W-C  10  (f -8  M  a 


182  Dr.  E.  A.  Parkes  on  the  [Feb.  13,  . 

It  will  be  obseired  Ihat,  when  nil  the  dftVB  are  taken,  the  brandy  did  I 
not  raise  the  mean  pulse  of  the  whole  day.  It  increased,  howerer,  th«  \ 
rapidity  of  the  pul^e  during  the  three  hou»  after  it  was  token,  as  will  ba'  i 
soen  from  the  following  Taljle : — 

Mean  of  the  hoora  &om  11  to  2  oVluk. 

Dr^s.        Ko  Brntidf.  Bmodj. 

»    67-0  6-) 

a    ^\^6  677 

3    «-9  79» 

4    64-8  7IJ 

5    6j-o  71-1 

Wwin 65-7  Jf7 

The  quickening  of  the  pulse  during  these  hours  is  best  seen  \yf  € 
two  days,  nhit-h  are  fair  samples  of  the  Bcriea. 

Becord  o£  two  days,  one  without  and  one  nith  brandy  (C  ounces),  ia   1 
dhow  the  influeiK-e  of  food,  of  movement,  and  of  brandy. 


Hour*. 

Best  of  rulM. 

Houn. 

(continued). 

BeatorPul*. 

Brandv. 

Brandj 

o'dock 
(6  ounces). 

No 
Bnuid;. 

Brandy 

o'clock 
(6  ounce.). 

61.K. 
6,  JO 

7  (br«W«l) 

g.30 

9 

9.3a 

10.  JO 

6; 
67 

^4 

i 

I 

66 
Si 
95 

90 

7S 
74 
74 

11,15  P-"- 

11.3a 
"■45 

LIS 

'-JO 

I -45 

61 
61 
61 
Gi 
Go 

71 

G7 
Gj 

il 

70 

Mean  or  period 

ei-6 

T-H 

98 
94 

99 

y 

Mmn  uf  period         71 

76 

u.is 
11.30 

"■,V(..„, 

60 

76 

So 

73 

UflBn  of  period 

,. 

95 

As  the  means  of  the  entire  day  are  practically  the  same  when  all  the 

days  are  token,  it  is  clear  that  the  acceleration  of  the  pulse  in  the  three 

hours  succeeding  the  taking  of  the  brandy  must  have  been  compensated 

bf.  a  corresponding  lessening  of  ^equency  afterwards ;  and  this  is  shown 

_by  the  fcUowing  Table : — 


1874.]     Zi^ftMence  of  Brandy  on  the  Bodily  Temperaiwe  t^e.      188 


FulK. 

Period  from    Period  from 
6toll  A.H.  |lljt.ii.to2rj(. 

Period  from 
2  to  10  r.il. 

MMnof«ii4iy^l 
withwrt  bnmdyj 

wUh  brandy...) 

77'» 
74* 

6s-7 

7'7 

88-9 

87-0 

Id  the  brandy  period  the  me&a  pulse  was  I'D  per  minute  slower  in  the 
after  put  of  the  day,  and  three  beats  per  minute  slower  in  the  morning. 
The  action  of  the  single  small  dose  of  brandy  in  the  day  was  to  alter  the 
mode  of  working  of  the  heart,  and  not  to  alter  the  amount  of  work  done 
ID  24  hours,  as  far  as  this  was  judged  of  by  the  frequency  of  the  pulse. 
As  far  as  frequency  was  concerned  the  compensation  was  perfect,  and 
the  temporary  quickening  was  balanced  by  an  equal  amount  of  subsequent 
retardation.  Frenoua  experiments  indicated  that  when  large  and  repeated 
dosee  were  taken,  the  acceleration  was  not  thus  compensated,  and  that 
the  heart  beat  more  frequently  than  was  natural  throughout  the  whole 
day.  It  was  certainly  very  interesting  to  see  how  this  healthy  heart 
maintained  its  balance,  and,  in  spite  of  the  alteration  in  action  forced 
upon  it,  accomplished  in  the  day  the  same  amount  of  work  under  different 
conditions  of  diet.  Whether  other  healthy,  and  especially  whether 
diseased,  hearts  would  do  the  same  is  an  interesting  question,  as  is  also 
the  point  whether  the  temporary  acceleration  was,  in  this  man,  useful,  or 
hurtful,  or  indifferent,  to  the  heart. 

Respiration. 
The  respirations  were  taken  at  the  same  time  as  the  pulse,  and  there 
were  twenty-three  daily  observations.    To  save  space  I  give  only  the 
mean  numbers, 

Bespintions. 

Mean  number  per  minute. 

Before  Brandy. 


Period. 

D»j.,  June  1873. 

11. 

la. 

XI. 

M- 

»S- 

ifi. 

6  to  11  AM. 

1 1  ut.  to  1  r.M. 

a  to  10  P.II. 

»r3 

117 

HO 
ij-j 

10-8 
191 

>9 

■8 

«3 

13 

Dr.  E.  A.  Parkes  on  the 
During  Braudy. 


[Feb.  12, 


Period. 

D.jfcJiii«.27l«j3ulj  1,1873. 

17. 

iL 

99. 

ja    j      I. 

II  A.M.  to  a  r.H. 
a  to  la  f.K. 

igj 

so 

.7! 

10-; 

.6'«6     ii-9 
*i-4      ij 

The  reapiratioas  in  tbU  man  vere  always  extremely  quieic,  even  when 
he  had  been  h-ing  in  bed  for  eighteen  hours.  The  variation  follows  Hosely 
the  changes  in  the  pulse.  They  increased  after  breakfast  at  7  o'clock,  and 
then  at  9.30  commenced  to  fall,  and  conliuued  less  numerous  by  two  or 
three  per  minute  until  dinner.  This  meal,  and  the  exercise  which  was 
always  taken  in  the  afternoon,  raised  the  number.  The  brandy  seemed 
to  lessen  the  number  of  respirations  in  the  period  from  11  to  2  o'clock  ; 
the  juean  of  this  period  in  the  auti-brandy  days  was  19'86  per  minute, 
and  in  the  brandy  period  was  17-8S.  This  result,  if  it  bo  real,  showed  a 
difference  between  the  pulse  and  respirations,  the  former  being  raised  sii 
beats  per  minute  on  a  mean  of  all  the  days,  and  the  latter  being  lowered 
two  respirations  per  minute  in  the  three  hours  following  the  brandy. 
The  effect  on  the  number  of  respirations  was  most  marked  in  the  two 
days  when  six  ounces  of  braudy  was  taken. 

Considering,  however,  theratheruuuaualfrequeney  of  the  respirations  in 
tlie  man  and  the  smallness  of  the  change,  I  hesitate  to  conclude  that  the 
Teepirations  were  lessened  in  number,  but  decidedly  they  were  not 
increased. 

Received  February  5,  1874. 
II.  Ej'jiirimenit  ihiring  mxiiiUte  Inanition. 
The  following  experiments  were  made  to  determine  the  effect  of  alcohol 
after  sixteen  hours  fasting : — 

A  healthy  man  (J.  S.),  5  ft.  4  in.  in  height,  weighing  'BG-T"*  fcOo- 
grammes,  v,-aa  kept  in  bed  every  day  until  1  o'clock,  at  which  time  he  re- 
ceived his  first  meal  in  the  day.  The  last  meal  was  taken  at  6  o'clock  P.u. 
He  was  consequently  fasting  for  nineteen  hours.  The  axilla  and  rectum 
temperatures  were  taken  every  half  hour  from  6  to  10  a.m.,  and  every 
fifteen  minutes  from  10  to  1  p.m.,  the  thermometers  remaining  in  riht, 
^  except  for  the  purpose  of  being  read.  The  daily  food  was  the  same, 
except  on  two  days,  when  the  brandy  destroyed  his  appedle  and  ho  coidd 
t  not  quite  eat  his  ration. 


1874.]     Ii^hienee  (^BrtmOg  on  the  BotHfy  Temperature  ^c.      186 

The  ezperiioeats  were  carried  on  for  six  iaja :  on  the  flist,  third,  uid 
fiftii  dajB  he  took  no  alcohol ;  on  the  second,  fourth,  and  nxth  daja  ha 
took  8  fluid  ounces  of  brandy,  containing  36  per  cent,  of  alcohol,  at  10 
o'clock;  he  therefore  took  2*16  fluid  oonces,  or  61  cub.  centims.,  of 
absolute  alcohol  dxteen  houn  after  taking  food.  The  following  Tables 
gire  ibo  results. 

Temperature  of  Axilla. 


D-j^ 

.- 

■■ 

3- 

4- 

s- 

e. 

6      o-ok 
6.  JO 

7.30 

1.30 

9.30 

«k  A.-.. 

98-o' 
970 
97-4 

III 
966 
97  ■> 
969 

97'4 
97'4 
97-4 
97'4 
973 
97-6 
97*4 

968 
968 

97;4S 
96.7 

i 

97-0 
966 
96-g 

971 

97-5 
97-S 
977 
97-8 
97-4 
97'i 
97-J 
971 

97-> 
97-j 
97-0 
97» 
97' 
97-» 
97-0 
974 

97.01s 

97-46 

97-os 

56-77 

97-43 

971S 

Sounoa 
of 

bnmdj. 

ti  ounces 

of 
braudf. 

6oimc«i 
of 

ID..5O-01CK&A.M.. 
10.30 

">-*S      .. 
1 1.  IS        " 

Il.JO 

"■4S 

".30 
M.4.S 

977 

976 

St 

97-6 

9775 
97-1 
97-6 

976 
97-5 

''i 

97-0 

S?l 

97'4 
97'4 
97-4 
97-35 
97» 
977 
97-4 
97-S 

Ill 

964 
9lS'8 
9fi-fis 
96-6 

966 

97'4 
97-S 
ST'- 
97-| 
97-6 
97-S 
97-4 
97-» 
974 
974 

96S 

97-» 
971 
9T-' 
971 

97-1 
97-» 
97-3 
97-05 
97-1 
97-1 
97-4 

MWH.     

97J8 

9TS9 

97-]8 

96654 

97-16 

97-<3 

io'dooll-.« 

4 
6 

,8-4 

984 

98a 
98-1 
98-44 
97* 
96-8 

981 

98-4 
97  89 

ti 

97-4 

97-4 

,1,1 

9»H 

97-»7 

97-81 

98.6 

97B4 

'} 

9S-4 
9S-. 

9^4 

93'! 

98 

Jg-l 

9*'44 

98,9 

98-= 

of 
brandj. 

6oiin 

of 

brant 

10.30 
'0-4S         .. 

II. IS 
11.30 

11       o'clock  ?,«.., 
H-I5        .. 
11.30 
11-4S 

9W"o 
9*9 
990 
99-0 
990 
99-0 
990 
99-0 

98-1 

9S-1 

981 
98*5 

98 '4 
98  ■+ 

li 

98-35 
98-1 

9S-3 

Si 

97-8 

srs 

9T-4 

97  + 
97*4 
97-4 
97*+ 
97'4 
97"  S 

Mmd   

98-833 

9BJ46 

9B-J. 

97-66 

io-cIo«kp.ii 

t   ;: 

99;s 
99-0 

IK 

994 

99-4 
99-1 

99'3 

"1 

99-1 

Haul   

99'68 

99.Il    i     oo'iS 

jii. 

If  the  rectimi  temperatures,  as  being  tu>.  » 
the  following  &re  the  mean  daily  tempenturea  :- 


1874.]     Ii^aence  ^Bnaufy  m  the  Bodily  Temperature  Jfc.        187 

The  mean  of  the  three  water  days  was  98'67,  and  of  the  three  days 
with  brandy  98-24. 

There  appears,  then,  to  fae  a  alight  iM  on  the  brandy  days.  On  refer- 
ence to  the  larger  Table  giving  the  means  of  the  periods,  it  will  be  also 
noticed  Qiat  in  the  peiiods  from  10  to  1  in  the  three  hours  immediately 
anoceeding  tiie  brandy,  the  rectum  temperature  was  not  only  lower  in 
two  of  the  brandy  periods,  but  sank  twenty-sii  times  to  fl8°-2  or  below  it, 
■nd  on  one  day  sank  to  97°'4  for  more  than  »i  hour ;  while  in  the  corro- 
sponding  periods  without  brandy,  which  include  an  equal  number  of  oh- 
aerrationB,  it  only  sank  three  timea  as  low  aa  &8°'2,  and  never  fell  below 
this.  In  other  words,  out  of  nine  hours  when  brandy  was  taken,  the 
temperature  was  at  9^2,  or  below  it,  during  6]  hours,  while  in  other  9 
konrs  without  brandy,  at  the  same  time  of  the  day,  the  temperature  was 
at  98°-2  only  for  {  of  an  hour,  and  was  never  lower.  This  seems  conclu- 
sive; for  whatever  conditions,  independent  of  food  and  movement,  may 
cauae  alight  alterations  in  temperature  (and  the  Tables  show  such  con- 
ditioDB  do  act),  it  seems  impossible  they  should  have  acted  twenty-six 
times  out  of  thirty-six  when  alcohol  was  taken,  and  only  three  times  out 
of  thirty-six  when  alcohol  was  not  taken. 

On  tracing  the  rectum  temperatures  on  the  se^'eral  days  tram  6  a.h. 
to  1  P.U.,  the  fall  after  alcohol  is  well  marked  on  the  fourth  day,  and  is 
quite  perceptible  on  the  sixth  day,  while  on  the  second  day  it  is  only  ob- 
vioufl  for  an  hour,  and  is  not  great.  The  explanation  of  this  want  of 
nniformity  may  perhaps  be  that  the  processes  in  the  body  caoHing  vario- 
tions  of  temperature  may  sometimes  act  in  the  same  direction  with 
alcohol  and  sometimes  in  the  apposite,  or,  in  other  words,  may  sometimes 
increase  the  fall  and  sometiiaes  counteract  it. 

With  r^ard  to  the  amount  of  fall,  the  lowest  rectum  temperature  on 
the  fourth  day,  when  the  effect  of  alcohol  was  most  marked,  was  97°'4, 
while  in  the  hours  on  the  same  day  before  alcohol  tbe  lowest  was  97°-8. 
If  the  effect  of  alcohol  is  measured  by  this  difference,  it  amounts  to 
0°'4  F. ;  if  it  is  measured  by  the  difference  in  the  means  of  the  two 
periods,  it  amounts  to  0°-39  Fahr.  It  seems  hax  to  assume  that  2-16  fluid 
ounces,  or  61  cub.  centims.,  of  absolnto  alcohol  produced  a  mean  de- 
pression equal  to  ^  of  a  d^ree  Fahr.  during  three  honra  after  alcohol 
was  taken. 

The  Faite  and  Se»piratu»it, 
The  pulse  in  this  man  was  raised  in  frequency  about  five  beats  per 
minute  by  the  brandy,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  following  Table,  where 
the  means  of  the  periods  only  are  given  to  save  room. 


Dr.  £.  A.  Parkea  on  the 


LFel).18i, 


MMUipuke. 

D.^. 

■■ 

^' 

J- 

BjU, 

S- 

6. 
Bmndj 

BtlO. 

From  6  to  lo  A.-.,  1 
S  obserTftliona  on    V 
taeh  day J 

j.iS 

ss" 

*677 

47 '9 

47'iS 

4*7J 

FromioA.u.toii'.ii.,'! 
iiobeenstjoiuon  \ 

jrs" 

59<S 

461 

5''9" 

+fi-i7 

ss-rf 

From  1  to  id  p.n.,  I 

1,1 

76 

S9 

65-6 

66» 

70. 

Sphygniographic  tracings  B"ere  token  for  me  very  carefully  by  Dr. 
Hewett,  Surgeou  R.N.,  every  hour ;  niid  forty-two  were  taken  in  sU. 
I  anuex  a  few  traeiugs,  which  show  the  increased  force  of  the  heart  and 
the  relaxations  of  the  arterial  coats. 

20th  January. 

Tracing  at  9.30  a.m.,  15  j  hours  after  food,  and  during  rest. 

Fulse  62;    BeapiratioDH  15. 


Tracing  at  11  a.m.  on  the  same  day,  during  rest,  1  hour  after  0 
fluid  ounces  of  brandy,  17  hours  after  food.  Pulse  59.  Bespira- 
tions  11. 


Tracing  at  0.30  a.m.,  15  j  hours  after  food,  and  during  rest. 
Pulse  4!l.     Respirations  12. 


.-;——,..__..    „,      ,-_   „ .  il^  •,     .^,„j^ 


1874.]     Influence  of  Brandy  on  the  Bodily  Temperature  ifc.      189 

Tracing  at  11  a.m.  on  the  same  day,  1  hour  after  6  fluid  ounces  of 
brandy,  but  with  no  food  for  17  hours.  Body  at  rest.  Pulse  68. 
Bespirations  9. 


Tracing  at  12.30  on  the  21st  January,  18 J  hours  after  food.    No  brandy. 
To  show  the  effect  of  fasting.     Pulse  48.     Bespirations  11. 


The  respirations  were  slightly  lessened  in  number. 

General  Condusians, 

I  believe  the  following  conclusions  may  be  drawn  from  the  observa- 
tions formerly  recorded  (Proceedings  of  the  Boyal  Society,  Nos.  120, 
123,  and  136)  and  from  those  now  laid  before  the  Eoyal  Society. 

1.  When  brandy  in  dietetic  doses  (=s2*16  fluid  ounces,  or  61  cub. 
centims.,  of  absolute  alcohol)  was  given  to  a  healthy  man  i^ting  and  at 
rest,  a  decided,  though  slight  lowering,  of  bodily  temperature  (as  judged 
of  by  the  heat  of  the  rectum)  was  caused.  The  amount  of  lowering  was 
under  i  a  degree  of  Fahrenheit ;  and  sometimes  even  this  amount  was  not 
perceptible,  being  probably  counteracted  by  the  opposing  influence  of  the 
heat-producing  changes  in  the  body,  which  cause  slight  variations  of 
temperature  independent  of  food  and  movement.  The  greatest  effect 
was  produced  from  about  one  to  two  hours  after  the  alcohol  was  taken, 
and  the  effect  was  evidently  passing  off  in  three  hours. 

2.  When  brandy  in  dietetic  doses  was  given  to  a  healthy  man  at  rest 
and  in  whom  the  process  of  digestion  was  completed,  and  whose  tempe- 
rature raised  by  tiie  food  was  again  commencing  to  fall,  a  lessening  of 
temperature  was  also  proved,  but  its  amount  was  not  so  great ;  it  could 
not  have  been  more  than  0^*35  Fahr.,  and  may  have  been  only  0^*07  Fahr. 

3.  When  alcohol  was  given  with  food,  with  either  usual  or  increased 
exercise,  no  effect  on  temperature  was  perceptible,  even  though  the 
alcohol  was  given  in  large  quantities,  viz.  from  4  to  8  fluid  ounces  of 
absolute  alcohol  (114  to  227  cub.  centims.)  in  twenty-four  hours.  It  is 
to  be  presumed  that  the  amount  of  heat  generated  from  the  food  and 
movement  concealed  the  effect  of  the  alcohol,  which  would  require  a  more 
delicate  method  or  longer  observations  for  detection. 

4.  In  no  case  did  alcohol  raise  the  temperature. 

5.  The  effect  of  alc<^ol  on  the  pulse  was  uniform  in  the  four  men  experi- 


190       Mr.  J.  Cottrell  on  the  Division  of  a  Sound-  Wave     [Feb.  12, 

inent«d  upon.  Thf  pontTftctions  of  the  heart  were  more  frequent  after 
alcohol  during  complete  rest,  from  five  to  ten  beats  per  minute  for  aome 
time ;  and  when  eiercise  was  taken  the  inorease  was  greater.  The  mean 
pulse  of  the  twputy-four  hours  was,  however,  not  increased  unless  the 
amount  of  alcohol  was  large  and  repeated.  In  other  words,  the  heart's 
beats  were  less  frequent  than  naturftl  when  the  effect  of  the  alcohol  had 
passed  off.  The  pulse  became  both  fuller  and  softer  to  the  touch  ;  and  this 
relaxation  of  the  radial  artery  was  shown  also  by  the  sphygmi^Taph.  That 
the  smaller  vessels  were  relaied,  was  shown  both  by  the  redness  of  the 
surface  and  by  the  erident  ease  with  which  the  blood  traversed  the  capil- 
laries, as  shown  by  the  sphygmographic  tracings. 

6.  The  respirations  were  not  increased  in  number  by  alcohol ;  they 
were  rather  lessened,  and  were  deeper  in  some  of  the  experiments  ;  but 
the  effect  was  not  very  marked. 


.  "  Experimental  Deraonst rations  of  the  Stoppage  of  Sound  by 
partial  Reflections  in  a  n  on -homogeneous  Atmosphere."  By 
John  Tyndali,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  Professor  of  Natural 
PLlloaophy  in  the  Royal  Institution. 

(See  Paper  read  Jan.  15,  ante.) 


IV.  "  On  the  Division  of  a  Sound- Wave  by  a  Layer  of  Flame 
or  heated  Ga«  into  a  reflected  and  a  transmitted  Wave."  By 
John  Cottrell,  Assistant  in  the  Physical  Laboratory  of  the 
Royal  Institution.  Communicated  by  Professor  Tyndall, 
F.R.S.     Received  February  2, 1874. 

The  incompetency  of  a  sound-pulse  to  pass  through  non-homogeneous 
air  having  been  experimentally  demonstrated  by  Dr.  Tyndali,  and  proved 
to  be  due  to  its  successive  part^  reflections  at  the  limiting  surfaces  of 
layers  of  air  'Or  vapour  of  different  density,  further  experiments  were 
conducted  in  order  to  render  vistUe  the  action  of  the  reflected  sound- 
wave. 

The  most  successful  of  the  various  methods  contrived  for  this  purpose 
consists  of  the  following  arrangement.  A  vibrating  bell  contained  in  a 
padded  box  was  directed  so  as  to  send  a  sound-wave  through  a  tin 
tube,  B  A  (38  inches  long,  1|  inch  diameter),  in  the  direction  BF*,  ite 
action  being  rendered  manifest  by  its  causing  a  sensitive  flame  placed  at 
F*  to  become  violently  agilat«d. 

The  invisible  heated  layer  immediately  above  the  luminous  portion  of 
an  ignited  coal-gas  flame  issuing   from  an  ordinary  bat'a-wing  burner 


1874.]  by  a  Layer  of  Flame  or  Heated  Go*.  191 

was  allowed  to  stream  upwards  across  the  end  of  the  tin  tube  B  A  at  A. 
A  portion  of  the  sound-wave  issuing  from  the  tube  was  reflected  at  the 
limiting  surfaces  of  the  be«t«d  layer;  and  a  part  being  tnuumitted 
through  it,  was  now  only  competent  to  slightly  agitat«  the  sensitiye 
flame  at  F. 


The  heited  layer  was  then  placed  at  such  an  angle  that  the  reflected 
portion  of  the  sound-wave  was  sent  through  a  second  tin  tube,  A  F  (of 
the  same  dimensioas  as  B  A),  its  action  being  rendered  nsible  by  it4 
causing  a  gecond  sensitive  flame  placed  at  the  end  of  the  tube  at  F  to 
become  violently  affected.  This  action  continued  so  long  as  the  heated 
layer  intervened ;  but  upon  its  witiidrawal  the  sensitive  flame  placed  at 
F",  receiving  the  whole  of  the  direct  pulse,  became  again  violently  agi- 
tated, and  at  the  same  moment  the  sensitive  flame  at  F,  ceasing  to  be 
a&ected,  resumed  it-s  former  tranquiUity, 

Exactly  the  same  action  takes  place  when  the  luminous  portion  of  a 
gas-flame  is  made  the  reflecting  layer ;  hut  in  the  experiments  above 
described,  the  invisible  layer  above  the  flame  only  was  used.  By  proper 
adjustment  of  the  pressure  of  the  gas,  the  flame  at  F  can  be  rendered 
so  moderately  sensitive  to  the  direct  sound-wave,  that  the  portion  trans- 
mitted through  the  reflecting  layer  shall  be  incompetent  to  affect  the 
flame.  Then  by  the  introduction  and  withdrawal  of  the  bat's-wing  flame 
the  two  sensitive  flames  can  be  rendered  alternately  quiescent  and 
shrongly  agitated. 

An  illustration  is  here  afforded  of  the  perfect  analogy  between  light 
and  sound ;  for  if  a  beun  of  light  be  projected  from  B  to  F*,  and  a  plate 
of  glass  be  introduced  at  A,  in  the  exact  position  of  the  reflecting  layer 
of  gas,  the  beam  will  be  divided,  and  one  portion  will  be  reflected  in  the 
direction  A  F,  and  the  other  portion  transmitted  through  ^e  glass  in 
the  direction  F*,  exactly  as  the  sound-ware  is  divided  into  a  reflected  and 
transmitted  portion  by  the  layer  of  heated  gaa  or  flame. 


192  Mr.  J.  Y.  Buchanan  on  the  Absorption  of        [Feb.  19, 

February  19,  1874. 
JOSEPH  DALTON  HOOKER,  C.B.,  Preaident,  in  the  Chair. 

The  PresentB  received  were  kid  on  the  Table,  and  thanks  ordered  for 
them. 

The  following  Papers  were  read : — 
I.  "  On  the  Absorption  of  Carbonic  Acid  by  Saline  SolutionB." 
By  J.  y.  BucHANiiN,  Chemist  on  board  H.M.S. '  Challenger.' 
Communicated   by   Prof.  Williamson,   For.  Sec.  R.S.     Re- 
ceived December  11,  1873. 

(AbstTBCt.) 

Until  lately  it  was  beheved  that  the  atmospheric  gases  disBolved  in 
Bfla-water  could  be  extracted  from  it,  as  from  fresh  water,  by  boiling  in 
vacuo.  The  merit  of  the  discoyery  that  such  is  not  the  cose  is  due  to 
Dr.  Jacobaen,  of  Kiel,  who  found  that,  in  order  to  drive  out  the  whole 
of  the  carbonic  acid,  the  water  must  be  evaporated  almost  to  drvueBS, 
and  that  no  amount  of  boiling  m  vacMi  will  Bufiice  to  eliminate  it.  Being 
particularly  interested  in  the  matter,  I  immediately  commenced  a  series 
of  experiments  to  determine,  if  possible,  the  salt  or  salts  to  which  sea- 
water  owea  this  property. 

Preliminary  obBerrationa  satiafled  me,  in  the  first  place,  that  sea-water 
has  this  property,  and,  secondly,  that  solutioiu  of  the  enlphates  of  mag- 
nesia and  of  lime  possess  the  same  property.  In  order  to  gfun  more 
precise  information,  two  series  of  experiments  were  made,  the  one  auA- 
lytical,  the  other  synthetical.  The  former  consisted  in  saturating  saline 
solutions  with  carbonic  add,  and  then  distilling  them,  the  carbonic  acid 
passing  in  the  various  fractions  being  determined ;  the  latter,  in  deter- 
mining the  absorption  coefficients  of  two  solutions,  the  one  of  sulphate  (A 
magnesia,  the  other  of  sulphate  of  lime. 

First,  the  analytical  series. — Before  proceeding  to  saline  solutiona, 
distilled  water  was  eatur&ted  with  carbonic  acid  and  distilled.  The  first 
eighth  of  the  distillate  contained  abundance,  the  second  a  trace,  and  the 
reminder  no  carbonic  acid.  It  may  therefore  be  assumed,  in  the  ex- 
periments which  follow,  that  the  carbonic  acid  held  simply  in  tolvtion  by 
the  water  passes  almost  entirely  in  the  first  eighth  of  the  distillate,  and 
that  whatever  passes  afterwards  has  been  retained,  in  some  way  or 
other,  by  the  salt  in  solution. 

Experiments  were  made  on  sdutions  of  sulphate  of  magnesia,  of  sul- 
phate of  magnesia  and  chloride  of  sodium,  and  of  sulphate  of  lime,  to 
which  were  added  some  on  sea-water  itself.  In  every  experiment  the 
quantity  of  solution  operated  on  was  300  cub.  centims.,  which  was 
boiled  in  a  flash  connected  by  a  doubly  bored  cork  with  a  Liebig's  con- 
denser, which  was  fitted  at  Its  other  end,  air-tight,  into  a  tubulated 


1874.]  Carbome  Aeid  by  Saluu  Solutiimt.  193 

reosiTer.  To  the  tnbnlnie  wm  attached  a  bulbed  U-tnbe,  and,  b; 
mcAoa  of  an  atpirator,  air  could  be  constanUy  sucked  through.  The 
oarbonic  acid  coming  off  was  retuned  hy  barfto-wster  of  known  Btrength 
distributed  between  the  receiver  and  the  TJ-tube  ;  what  remained  unneu- 
tralized  was  determined  hy  oxalic  acid,  the  point  of  neutraliution  b^ng 
indicated  by  roaolic  add.  The  oxalic  add  was  rather  stronger  than 
tenth  ncomal;  it  contained  6-478  grammes  0,H,O,+2H,O  in  the 
}itn.  One  litre  baiyta-water  required  3235  cub.  centims.  oxalic  acid  for 
neutralization. 

The  method  of  conducting  the  operation  waa  as  follows : — Carbonic  add 
was  passed  through  the  solution  until  it  could  be  assumed  to  be  satu- 
rated. The  object  being  to  determine  the  carbonic  add  retained  by  the 
■alt,  it  was  necessary  to  get  rid,  as  much  aa  possible,  of  the  simply  dis- 
■d.Ted  gas.  This  waa  effected  by  drawing  six  or  seven  litres  of  air 
through  the  solution  cold,  then  heating  it  to  boiling,  and  allowing  it  to 
bdl  for  a  couple  of  minutes  in  a  current  of  air.  The  receiver,  with  the 
baryta  solution,  was  then  attached,  and  the  distillation  continued  in  a 
current  of  air,  until  the  contents  of  the  flask  were  nearly  dry.  The 
amount  of  carbonic  acid  was  given  by  the  remaining  alkalinity  of  the 
baryta-water. 

Experiments  on  sulphate-of-magnesia  solution,  'containing  12*3 
grammes  crystallized  salt  per  litre. — As  all  were  conducted  in  precisely 
the  same  way,  it  will  be  suf&cient  to  give  the  results  in  a  tabular  form. 
The  first  three  experiments  were  made  with  one  and  the  same  solutioa ; 
for  the  last  two  a  fresh  solution,  prepared,  to  all  appearance,  in  exactly 
the  same  way  as  the  previous  one,  was  used.  The  difference  in  the  results 
shows  the  precarious  nature  of  the  combination. 


TolamB  of 
■olaUoaiarfL 

Tolutno  of 

Tolome  of 

ouboniaadd 
in  800 

OUb.MDtimik 

OrunuM 
osrboDiouid 
in  one  litre. 

cub.  cantinu. 
300 
SOO 
800 
300 
300 

odU  OBDtmu. 
2S 
10 
10 
16 
10 

onb.  oentinu. 
78-96 
SOW 
30-90 
4750 

si-sa 

(HI04S 
IH)063 
0O033 
fUKSS 
00023 

00143 
O0166 
frOllO 

oom 

0-0077 

Two  experiments  were  made  with  a  solution  prepared  as  follows : — 
The  quantity  of  sulphuric  add  necessary  for  the  formation  of  12-3 
grammes  crystallized  sulphate  of  magnesia  was  dilated  to  a  litre,  and  pul- 
verized carbonate  of  magnesia  suspended  in  it.  Although  the  mixture 
was  allowed  to  stand  over  night,  shut  off  &om  the  influence  of  the 
atmosphere,  the  solution  was  still  very  add.  It  is  well  known  that  car- 
bonate of  magnesia  is  difficultly  soluble  in  cold  dilute  adds.  To  have 
heated  the  soludon  would  have  frustrated  the  object  of  the  experiment, 
which  was,  by  bringing  nascent  sulphate  of  magnesia  together  wiA 


194  Mr.  J.  Y.  Buchanan  on  (he  Absorption  of       [Feb.  19, 

□aBcent  carbonic  acid  at  ordinarr  temperaturee,  to  gire  them  the  be^t 
opportuoitv  of  combining.  Two  expenments  were  made  nith  a  sinii- 
lariy  prepared  solution  of  sulphate  of  lime.  In  this  case  aulphurio  acid 
was  added  to  tbe  water  in  quantity  sufficient  to  form,  wilh  lime,  more 
salt  than  nould  dissolve  in  the  liquid.  Here  neutralization  took  place 
without  difGculty ;  and,  aa  might  have  been  expected,  the  amount  of 
carbonic  acid  found  was  considerably  greater  than  in  the  case  of  tbe 
magoeaia  salt. 

Two  experiments  were  made  with  an  ordinary  sulphata^f-mi^esia 
solution,  containing  2'05  grammes  crystallized  salt  per  litre. 

Two  further  experiments  were  made  with  a  aolution  containing  2'05 
grammes  sulphate  of  magnesia  and  30  grammes  chloride  of  sodium  per 
litre.  All  were  conducted  in  the  way  described  above,  and  the  results 
are  given  in  the  following  Table.  The  experiments  with  the  carbonates 
of  magnesia  and  of  lime  were  made  at  a  couaiderably  later  date  than  tbe 
others;  the  i-alue  of  10  cub.  centims.  baryta- water  had  in  coosequence 
become  equivalent  to  32-i)  cub,  centims,  instead  of  32-34  cub.  centima. 
oxalic  acid : — 


KgC0„H,80^  I 
0,.  H,  SO,  I 


+NaCl.,' 


Tolume  of 

Tolums  qF 

Tolmue  of 

«>lut.<»i. 

oxaUoruid. 

ub.  centimi. 

cub.  oentim* 

300 

10 

30-B 

300 

10 

309 

300 

10 

275 

300 

10 

27-5 

300 

10 

312 

300 

10 

31-3 

10 

31-6 

300 

10 

31-4 

0<)0.'i2 
Ofl026 
0-1014 
0-tOU 
0-OOW 
000-J3 
0-0016 


OiXIST 
01X177 
0-00&3 
IMW70 


I 


Five  experiments  were  made  with  Beft-wat«r  taken  at  the  end  of  Porto- 
bello  Pier,  on  the  Firth  of  Forth.  In  the  first  three  it  was  submitt«d 
immediately  to  the  same  treatment  as  the  saline  solutions ;  in  tbe  last  two 
carbonic  add  was  fint  passed  through  it  for  some  time.  As  the  results 
are  identical,  it  is  evident  that,  in  its  natural  stat«,  the  water  in  question 
was  practically  saturated  with  carbonic  odd  in  this  peculiar  state  of  com- 


Tolume  of 

Tolume  of 

Volume  of 

Qrammes 

GrsmmM 
csrbouio>md 
in  one  litn. 

bsryta-water. 

•mlicadd. 

in  300 
cub.  centim*. 

onb.  o(mtin». 

cub.  cenlins. 

cub.  oenUms. 

300 

16 

39-75 

0<I198 

0-0660 

300 

10 

23flO 

o^H^l 

0-0703 

0-0208 

04693 

00203 

10 

00203 

0-n«TT 

1874.] 


Carbottie  Acid  by  Saline  Sohiiioru. 


19S 

From  the  large  unount  of  oi^anic  matter  pouied  into  the  Forth  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Portobello,  there  must  be  an  abundant  production  of 
carbonic  add  in  the  vater  itself ;  and  we  hare  Been  above  the  effect  of 
bringing  it  together  in  the  nascent  state  with  sulphate  of  lime.  Sea- 
water  contains  on  an  average  about  8  parts  sulphate  of  lime  in  10,000. 
A  saturated  solution  of  the  same  salt  in  distilled  water  containa,  at 
1^  C,  24  parts  in  10,000.  Under  the  most  favourable  circumstances, 
tlten,  sea-water  might  be  expected  to  bind  about  one  third  of  the  quantity 
rebuned  b;  an  equal  volume  of  saturated  gypsum  eolutaon.  We  have 
seen  that  a  litre  of  this  solution  is  cap^le  of  rettuning  0-338  gnn.  CO^ 
while  the  same  volume  of  sea-water  contained  at  the  most  only  0*07 
grm.,  or  very  little  more  than  one  fifth  of  that  held  by  the  sulphate  of  lime. 

In  ocean-water  I  have  never  yet  found  more  than  0-064  grm.  CO, 
per  litre,  including  both  nmply  ditaolved  and  half  bound.  We  have,  then, 
in  the  sulphate  of  lime  alone  an  agent  capable  of  retaining  much  more 
carbonic  acid  than  is  usually  found  to  exist  in  sea-water ;  and  there  is 
besides  the  sulphate  of  magnesia ;  so  that  whatever  may  be  the  function 
of  the  other  salts,  we  do  not,  in  order  to  find  a  vera  eauia  for  the  phe- 
nomenon under  consideration,  require  to  go  beyond  the  sulphates ;  and 
the  practical  lesson  to  be  learned  is  that,  if  we  get  quit  of  the  sulphates, 
the  carbonic  add  will  be  more  easily  disengaged  by  heat. 

This  is  entirely  borne  out  by  experiment.  In  determining  the  car- 
bonic add  in  sea-water,  I  always  add  to  It  a  suifident  quantity  of  a  satu- 
rated solution  of  chloride  of  barium ;  and  I  find  that,  after  about  the 
first  fifth  of  the  distillate  has  passed,  there  is  rarely  a  perceptible  tur- 
bidity in  fresh  baryta-water. 

The  synthetical  experiment  consisted  in  determining  directly  the 
coetGdente  of  absorpUon  of  a  1-23  per  cent,  solution  of  dyBtalliied 
sulphate  of  magnesia  and  of  a  0-205  per  cent,  solution  of  Ga  SO, 
•f  2H,0.  In  Table  I.  the  results  of  experiments  on  the  magnesia  so- 
lution are  given,  where  the  obserrationa  were  mode  without  loss  of  time. 
In  Table  II.  the  reeolts  of  experiments  on  the  some  solution  are 
given,  only  here  the  duration  of  the  reaction  was  taken  into  account. 
The  first  reading  was  made  at  the  highest  pressure  after  the  gas  and 
solution  hod  been  together  for  nine  d«ys ;  the  pressure  was  then  succes- 
sively reduced,  and  the  other  readings  mode  at  iuterrals  of  twenty-two, 
forty-one,  and  twenty-five  hours  from  each  other,  the  last  of  all  being 
mode  only  after  the  lapse  of  some  days.  Table  HI.  gives  the  results  oF 
experiments  on  the  gypsum  solution,  the  readings  in  this  case  being 
made  without  allowing  much  time  for  the  reaction  to  take  place. 
T&BLB  I. 


Temperature  C 

Absorption  ooeffioieDt  ot  Mg  SO^  solution. 
Abaorption  ocwffloinit  ot  wiier  


476-M        652-7 


68114 
11^ 


73673 


196 


Mr.  A.  E.  Donkin  on  an  Instrument  for  the      [Feb.  19, 

Table  II. 


Pressure  in  millims 832'7 

Temperature  C ll'l 

Absorption  coefficient  of  MgSO^  solution'  1*2467 
Absorption  coefficient  of  water 1  '3052 


696-3 

11-0 

0-9331 

1-0446 


651-6 

10-45 

0-8823 

0-8461 


498-1 

111 

0-8974 

07546 


468-6 

111 

0-8221 

0-7014 


Table  III. 


Pressure  in  miUims 

Temperature  C 

Absorption  coefficient  of  Oa  SO^  solution 
Absorption  coefficient  of  water 


554-9 

683-8 

765'3 

770-8 

805-2 

869-5 

10-1 

12-9 

13-3 

11-1 

111 

11-65 

0-8845 

0-9923 

1-0651 

1-1885 

1-2191 

1-2964 

0-8617 

0-9618 

1-0624 

M534 

1-2048 

1-2757 

The  general  result  of  these  experiments  is,  that  sulphate-of-lime  sola- 
tion  absorbs  a  little  more  carbonic  acid  than  water,  but  follows  the  same 
law  of  yariation  with  temperature  and  pressure;  sulphate-of-magnesia 
solution  differs  slightly  from  water  when  but  little  time  is  left  for  the 
reaction  to  complete  itself.  If,  however,  the  gas  and  solution  are  left  in 
contact  for  a  considerable  time,  the  difference  between  the  coefficients 
of  water  and  of  the  salt  solution  becomes  very  marked,  that  of  the  latter 
being  less  for  high  pressures  and  greater  for  low  ones  than  that  of  water. 

The  details  of  these  experiments  will  be  found  elsewhere  in  a  more 
extended  paper. 


II.  '^  On  an  Instrument  for  the  Composition  of  two  Harmonic 
Curves."  By  A.  E.  Donkin,  M.A.,  F.R.A.S,,  Fellow  of  Exeter 
College,  Oxford.  Conmiunicated  by  W.  Spottiswoode,  Treas. 
R.S.     Received  November  6,  1873. 

The  interest  in  such  compound  curves  lies  in  the  fact  that  as  a  simple 
harmonic  curve  may  be  considered  to  be  the  curve  of  pressure  on  the 
tympanic  membrane  when  the  ear  is  in  the  neighbourhood  of  a  vibrating 
body  producing  a  simple  tone,  so  a  curve  compounded  of  two  such  simplS 
harmonic  curves  will  be  the  curve  of  pressure  for  the  consonance  of  the 
two  tones  which  they  severally  represent,  and  thus  the  effect  on  the  ear 
of  different  consonances  can  be  distinctly  represented  to  the  eye. 

If  the  motion  of  a  point  be  compounded  of  rectilinear  harmonic 
vibrations  and  of  uniform  motion  in  a  straight  line  at  right  angles 
to  the  direction  of  those  vibrations,  the  point  will  describe  a  simple 
harmonic  curve. 

Thus  a  pencil-point  performing  such  vibrations  upon  a  sheet  of  paper 
moving  uniformly  at  right  angles  to  their  direction  would  draw  such  a 
curve. 

The  same  kind  of  curve  would  also  be  drawn  by  keeping  the  pencil 
fixed  and  by  giving  to  the  paper,  in  addition  to  its  continuous  transverse 
motion,  a  vibratory  motion  similar  and  parallel  to  that  which  the  pencil 
had  ;  and  if  the  motion  of  the  latter  be  now  restored,  a  complicated  curve 
will  be  produced  whose  form  will  depend  on  the  ratio  of  the  numbers  of 


198  Mr.  A,  E,  Boiikm  on  an  Instrument  for  the     [Feb.  19, 

number  of  teeth,  the  relative  angular  velocities  of  the  spindles  can  be  regu- 
lated at  pleasure.  The  paper  upon  which  the  curve  is  to  be  drawn  is  carried 
upon  a  rectangular  frame,  E  F  G-  H,  capable  of  sliding  horizontallj  up  and 
down  in  a  direction  parallel  to  that  of  the  plane  passing  through  the  spin- 
dles. This  frame  has  a  pair  of  rollers,  £  F  and  G  H,  at  each  end  connected 
by  tape-bands,  between  which  the  paper  passes  as  tl^  rollers  turn.  In  order 
to  give  a  motion  of  revolution  to  the  rollers,  a  wheel,  L,  is  fixed  upon  the 
axis  of  one  of  them  whose  teeth  gear  into  those  of  a  pinion,  P  Q,  along- 
side which  the  frame  slides,  and  which  is  itself  driven  by  one  of  the 
vertical  spindles.  A  connecting-rod,  D  M,  is  carried  to  the  frame  from  the 
crank  of  this  spindle,  so  that  upon  turning  the  latter  a  vibratory  motion 
is  given  to  the  former ;  and  since  the  transverse  motion  of  the  paper  also 
depends  upon  the  same  spindle,  a  fixed  pencil-point  resting  on  it  would 
draw  a  simple  harmonic  curve  whose  amplitude  would  depend  on  the 
radius  of  the  crank,  and  wave-length  on  the  transverse  speed  of  the  paper, 
which  can  be  regulated  at  pleasure  by  means  contrived  for  the  purpose*. 

A  vibratory  motion  similar  and  parallel  to  that  of  the  frame  is  given 
to  a  small  tubular  glass  pen,  B,  so  arranged  as  to  move  with  its  point 
lightly  resting  upon  the  paper.  This  motion  is  communicated  by  a  con- 
necting-rod, G  N,  from  the  other  crank,  which  is  carried  underneath  the 
sliding-frame  and  jointed  to  the  lower  end  of  a  small  vertical  lever,  S,  to 
whose  upper  end  the  arm  carrying  the  pen  is  attached. 

The  weight.  W  serves  to  regulate  the  pressure  of  the  pen  on  the  paper, 
as  it  can  be  screwed  in  or  out.  T  is  merely  a  pillar  upon  which  the 
change-wheels  can  be  placed  for  convenience. 

If  the  pair  of  wheels  on  the  spindles  are  now  connected  by  the  inter- 
mediate one,  it  is  plain  that,  upon  turning  either  of  the  spindles  by  a 
winch  provided  for  the  purpose,  the  two  motions  of  the  paper  will  be 
combined  with  that  of  the  pen,  and  the  curve  drawn  will  be  that  com- 
posed of  the  two  simple  harmonic  ones,  which  would  be  the  result  of 
separately  combining  the  harmonic  vibrations  due  to  each  crank  with  the 
transverse  motion  of  the  paper.  Thus  if  m  and  n  are  the  numbers  of  teeth  on 
the  pair  of  wheels  respectively,  the  equation  to  the  resultant  curve  will  be 

y==sin  nur-fsin  nx. 

This  equation  implies  that  not  only  are  the  radii  of  the  cranks  the  same, 
but  also  that  they  start  parallel  to  each  other  and  at  right  angles  to  the 
vertical  plane  passing  through  their  axes :  both  these  conditions  can,  how- 
ever, be  altered ;  and  therefore  the  general  form  of  equation  to  the  curves 
which  the  machine  can  draw  will  be 

y=a  sin  (wM?+a)  +  6  sin  (na?  +  /3), 

*  It  should  be  obserred  here  that  the  yibratory  motion  thus  giyen  to  the  frame  is  not 
truly  harmonic.  In  order  to  make  it  so,  a  more  complicated  oontriTanoe  than  the  simple 
cnvk  and  connecting-rod  would  have  to  be  adopted  ;  but  this  would  probably  introduce, 
through  unavoidable  play,  an  error  greater  than  the  present  one,  the  length  of  the  con- 
necting-rods and  the  small  size  of  the  cranks  rendering  the  latter  nearly  inappreciable.  The 
motionwill,  however,  for  the  sake  of  convenience,  be  considered  truly  harmonic  throughout 


1874]  CompoHtioH  (fftvo  Hatraome  Oueve$.  109 

vkere  a  and  b  are  the  ndii  of  the  cranks,  uid  a  and  ^  are  dependent 
(m  tiieir  relative  incUnatioiiB  to  the  above-mentioned  vertical  plane  at 
starting. 

A^  an  example,  suppose  that  a^b,  while  theratioof  m  tonisasStol; 
tien  the  above  equation  will  repreeent  the  cuire  of  pressure  tor  the  octave. 
Similarly,  if  n>  is  to  n  as  1 6  to  15,  the  resultant  curve  represents  the  effect 
on  the  ear  of  a  diatonic  semitone,  while  the  ratio  81  to  80  would  give 
that  of  the  comma.  Jn  both  these  curves,  and  more  eBpe<:iall7  in  the 
latter,  the  beats  which  would  ensue  on  actually  sounding  the  two  tones 
together  are  shown  with  remarkable  distinctness. 

As  the  machine  is  provided  with  a  act  of  change-wheels,  many  different 
curves  can  be  produced,  while  the  form  of  each  can  be  more  or  less 
changed  by  altering  the  relative  positions  of  the  cranhs  before  bringing 
the  idle  wheel  into  gear.  It  is  also  poesible  to  obtain  very  large  valoes 
of  m  and  n  in  the  above  equation  by  using  two  idle  wheels  on  the  same 
axis  which  shall  come  into  gear,  the  upper  one  with  the  wheel  on  the  one 
spindle,  the  lower  one  with  that  on  the  other. 

Thus,  suppose  A  and  B  are  the  numbers  of  teeth  on  the  spindle-wheels 
respectively,  C  and  D  those  on  the  idle  wheels,  and  let  A  gear  with  C 

and  D  with  B ;  then  —  =  -j= .    Now,  by  properly  choosing  the  four 

wheels,  large  values  of  m  and  n  maybe  obtained.  If,  forinstuice,  A^sSl, 

B=80,C=55,andD  =  27, -  =  ||^,  this  ratio  being  nearly  =  ^,the 

corresponding  curve  will  represent  the  effect  of  an  octave  slightly  out  of 
tune.  The  period  of  such  curves  as  these  being  very  long,  it  is  necessary 
to  have  a  good  supply  of  paper ;  and  this  is  arranged  by  carrying  a  reel- 
full  on  the  horizontal  frame,  from  which  it  is  slowly  unwound  between 
the  rollers.  The  rate  at  which  this  takes  place  has  a  good  deal  of  influ- 
ence on  the  form  of  the  resultant  curve ;  the  slower  it  is  the  more  com- 
pressed wiU  the  latter  appear.  Instead  of  using  paper,  the  curves,  pro- 
vided the  periods  are  short  enou|^,  may  be  drawn  on  slips  of  blackened 
glass,  which  can  be  carried  along  between  the  tapes  connecting  the  rollers ; 
they  can  be  at  once  placed  in  a  lantern  and  thrown  on  a  screen. 

The  width  of  contour  of  any  curve  depends  on  the  radii  of  the  cranks ; 
these  may  have  any  value  between  0  and  half  an  inch,  and  therefore  the 
limit  of  possible  width  at  any  part  will  be  two  inches ;  so  also,  by  altering 
the  radii,  a  series  of  curves  may  be  produced  corresponding  to  the  con- 
sonances of  tones  not  of  the  same  intensitiei.  Since  the  mmn'miiin  width 
of  any  curve  will  be  double  the  sum  of  the  radii  of  the  cranks,  the  paper 
is  cut  to  a  width  of  two  and  a  half  inches,  within  which  all  curves  which 
can  possibly  be  drawn  will  be  comprised. 

The  instrument  is  constructed  by  Messrs.  Tisley  and  Spiller,  of 
Brompton  Boad,  to  whom  some  improvement  upon  the  original  model 
is  due. 


300  Mr.  W.  Shanks  on  the  Period  of  the  [Feb.  19, 

III.  "  On  the  Number  of  Figures  in  the  Period  of  the  Reciprocal 
of  every  Prime  Number  below  20,000/'  By  William 
Shanks.  Communicated  by  the  Rev.  Geo&ge  Salmon. 
Received  December  2,  1873*. 

The  following  Table,  in  reality  the  joint  production  of  the  Bev.  G^rge 
Salmon,  F.R.S.,  and  myself,  was  commenced,  and  indeed  nearly  com- 
pleted, before  either  calculator  was  distinctly  aware  that  Burckhardt, 
Jacobi,  or  Desmarest  had  written  or  published  any  thing  on  the  same 
subject.  This  fact  is  perhaps  to  be  regretted ;  but  it  has  led  to  the  in- 
dependent recalculation,  by  two  different  methods,  both  of  Burckhardfs 
( Jacobi's  Table  is  professedly  a  reprint  of  Burckhardfs)  and  of  Desmarest's 
Table,  and  has  resulted  in  the  detection  of  several  errors,  which  have,  as 
far  as  I  know,  never  before  been  pointed  out.  These  errors,  in  the  first 
place  regarded  as  discrepancies,  have  been  carefully  examined ;  in  fact 
every  case  has  been  reworked  by  me,  with  the  view  of  either  proving  or 
disproving  the  accuracy  of  such  numbers  as  differ  from  those  in  our 
Table.  The  result  is,  that  such  discrepancies  are  found  to  be  errors  both 
in  Burckhardt  and  Desmarest.     The  two  lists  of  errors  are  given  below. 

I  now  proceed  to  give  the  theorems  used,  and  some  account  of  the 
means  employed  by  me  in  forming  the  Table. 

Let  P  be  any  prime  number,  except  2  and  5.    Then,  from  Fermat's 

theorem,  we  have     p    ^1 ;  or,  adopting  the  usual  notation,  10^"^=.!. 

Again,  since  the  number  of  figures  in  the  period  of  the  reciprocal  of 

all  primes  is  not  P— 1  (or,  in  other  words,  since  10  is  not  a  primitive 

root  of  all  primes), 
p-i 

Let  10  **  "=1,  where  n  is  even  or  odd,  not  less  than  2,  and  not  greater 

than     Q    •     Then  we  have 

(1)  The  number  of  figiures  in  the  period  of  the  reciprocal  of  P  is  either 
P  —  1  or  a  submultiple  of  P  —  1.  ,  ^, 

(2)  Let  a  and  b  be  integers,  and  let  m  be  the  remainder  from  -p  ; 
that  is,  let  10*=w ;  then  lO-^—m*. 

In  practice  b  is  never  greater  than  2,  at  least  Httle  or  no  advantage  is 

P-1 

gained  by  putting  b  higher.    Also  ab  need  not  be  greater  than  — s—  * 

P-1  . 

Car,  When  m  is  greater  than  — o —  we  may  obviously  use  P — wi,  or 

simply  —  m  ;  for  (P— m)*=P— 2Pm-hm'^m",  or,  because  (— w)'=m*, 
b  being  2. 

(3)  Let  lO'^m,  and  10»=n;  then  10«+*=mn. 
In  practice  a-f-6  is  never  greater  than  P — 1. 

Cor,  1.  When  m  and  n  are  each  of  them  less  than  P,  we  may  with 

advantage  use  —m  and  —  n ;  that  is,  we  may  subtract  m  and  n  severally 

from  P  ;  for  (P-w)(P— n)=P^-P(m4-n)4-mn=(— w)(— n). 

P-1  P-1 

Cor.  2.  When  m  is  > — ^  ,  and  )*  is  <    -g— ,  or  vicr  versd,  we  may  use 

*  The  part  from  17,000  to  20,000  was  receired  January  8,  1874. 


1874-.]     Reciprocal  of  every  Prime  Number  below  20,000.  201 

— m  and  m,  or  wee  vtrfd,  obtainiiig  a  negative  result,  which  becomes 
positive  by  being  subtracted  from  P.       p_. 

(4)  Let  2c  and  3r,  not  greater  than  — 3— >  be  submultiplea  of  P— 1 ; 
andletlO'£s+a,and  lO^sS-l;  thenlO*=  +  l.  This  is  evident  from 
(2)  and  (3).  t^ 

From  (1)  we  have  10  •  s:  +  l,  according  as  the  submuldple  of  P-1  is 
even  or  odd. 

On  these  theorems  and  adjuncts  my  calculations  have  been  based. 
They  enable  us  to  find  the  remainder  either  from  -  ■  p— ,  or  from  any 
Bubmultiple,  such  as  — &-,  or  from  any  figure  in  -p— >  and,  if  required, 
the  jiffxtre  itself.  Compared  with  other  methods,  such  for  instance  as 
Dr.  Salmon's  •,  mine  may  seem  tedious,  reqiuring  as  it  does  much  multi- 
plication and  division.  All  I  can  say  Is,  I  did  not  find  it  so,  though  I 
am  free  to  admit  that  the  calculation  of  such  a  Table  as  ours  demands 
very  considerable  labour. 

It  would  be  foreign  to  my  purpose  to  enter  upon  the  consideration  of 
primitive  roots,  or  even  of  prime  numbers.  If  wo  have  found  10  to  be  a 
prinutive  root  of  a  great  many  prime  numbers  between  10,000  and 
20,000,  we  havo  contributed  somethiDg,  as  far  as  I  know,  quite  new. 
In  addition  to  this  we  have  found  the  number  of  figures  in  the  period  of 
each  of  the  other  primes  between  10,000  and  20,000,  and  have  corrected 
upwards  of  70  errors  in  Burclchardt's  and  Desmarest's  Tables. 

I  beg  to  refer  to  the  works  of  Euler,  Lagrange,  Legendre,  Gauss,  Foiusot, 
Cauchy,  and  Jacobi  (mentioned  by  Desm&rest),  and  to  Desmarest  himself, 
for  valuable  information  touching  prime  numbers  and  primitive  roots. 

Icannot,  however,  refrain  from  quoting  from  Desmarest's  '  ThiJorie  des 
Nombres  '  the  view  of  Euler  as  to  prime  numbers  and  primitive  roots  :— 
"  On  ne  pent  saisir  entre  un  nombre  premier  et  les  racines  primitives  qui 
lui  appartiennent,  aucune  relation  d'oi  Ton  puisse  d^Juire  vm  teule  de 
ces  racines,  de  eorte  que  la  loi  qui  r^gne  entre  elles  parait  aussi  profondii- 
ment  cach^  que  celle  qui  eriate  entre  les  nombres  premiers  oux-memes." 

Not  discouraged  by  Euler's  remark,  Desmarest  thus  writes  :^"  Car 
pourquoi  nous  serait-il  d^fendu  d'ajouter  que-nous  croyons  que  I'intel- 
ligence  humaine  n'a  pas,  sur  ce  point,  dit  son  dernier  mot,  et  que  les 
operations  nombreuses  que  nous  avons  dQ  faire  sur  les  nombres,  ne  nous 
ont  pas  convaincu  de  I'impossibiliti)  de  saisir,  sinon  I'ensemble,  du  moins 
quelques-une  des  uineaux  de  la  chafne  mysterieuse  qui  unit  les  racines 
primitives  aui  nombres  premiers." 

■  Note  bff  Dr.  Sahnait. — The  method  here  referred  la  i>  explained,  '  Ueegongsr  of 
M«tb«nMtiW  (1872),  p.  4».  It  ia  founded  on  the  remirk  th«t  if  we  havo  10'=2^, 
10»£22*,  wemflTdedue6ltW~'»  =  l.  Thus,  let  the  prime  be  251.  we  ram  at  ones  writa 
down  the  equaUom  10'=-2',  2f=W,  whence  imraediBlely  KF'  =  -1,  10"'=1. 
In  like  manner  from  the  oquations  I0«  =  2'3',  lO'E:^2-a<,  ll)'=2»3',  we  deduce  (hat 
the  number  of  flguna  in  the  period  of  the  reciprocal  of  the  prime  ia 
a(mr — n  j)+i(np — r/) + eOq — ntji ) , 

Bj  the  appliraition  of  thaw  principle*  I  caloulatea  tlw  TwiUa  (ftAMiwi  'w^  **  ^*" 
lowing  Table  aa  far  as  1 850ft  Por  dw  primes  above  that  nuwtoeT  "SLt.  Woa'ti  w  w^A-J 
mponMUe;  hi/mfeipmnKieof  hisaccunw^givp*  iiiooonftA»T\RoV(v'\v\«  t«»™*> 


J  -  -T  J 


1 

"    I 

393 

842 1   1 

9       140S   1     ,,     1    32   ..boil Id  lx>  ■ 

2-6       .,     ^   £552     6421 

-,        433       M     1   «66     67S1    1 

6-So 

■9         59   i 

,   11^   ,  6997 

3498 

57 

p-i  p-i 

1 

298 

7001 
7127 

3500 
509 

S3 

271 

i> 

54a 

7481 

37AO 
3780 

73 

562 

»f 

843 

7561 

13 

853 

)> 

1706 

7717 

38J8 
2580 

»7 

1758 

»» 

879 

7741 

fi 

60 

»» 

20 

7841 

39a 

«-7 
37 

3546 
3636 

1773 
909 

78.53  ^  1 
omitted  J 

omitted 

77 

919 

II 

1838 

801 1 

'335 

69 

942 

II 

1884 

8087 

4043 

21 

I910 

II 

3820 

8093 

8092 

II 

3910 

11 

»955 

8101 

8100 

^9 

IOI2 

II 

2024 

8219 

4109 

67  1 
Id  be 

8413 

r  8422  \ 

57  . 

8521 

355' 

97 

»57 

II 

314 

8609 

538 

ZI 

4620 

i> 

924 

8681 

4340 

51 

2325 

II 

4650 

8893 

4446 

71 

8999 

8998 

dbe  . 

9067 

9066 

1 

ri 

9187 

9186 

3 

2471 

II 

4942 

9397 

4698 

I 

2540 

i» 

1270 

9521 

952 

7 

5106 

II 

»553 

!  9629 

4814 

7 

901 

II 

1802 

9649 

1206 

9 

5478 

II 

2739 

9941 

9940 

9 

5518 

11 

2759 

I<(.I3.  There  are  64  errors,  3  miaprints,  2  omisi 

(ions,  m.  3  s 

md  78 

Table  II.  List  of  Errors  in  Burckhardt'a 

and  Jacobi's  Tj 

V«    -'« 


1874.]     Recipreealnf  ever]/ Prime  Number  below  SO,(m.         30S 

In  tbs  laft-tund  eolnmni  of  X*U«  m.  «ra  pritnM ;  in  the  right-hand  columni,  iinme- 
di«(dj  <9pa*it«,  U  tlia  numbw  of  flgtUM  in  Uw  period  of  the  reciprocal  of  cull  pnioe. 


s 

, 

1" 

■ss 

691 

130 

1109 

liol 

.567 

1566 

7 

t 

I'l 

111 

701 

700 

1117 

n* 

'57' 

.570 

1"7 

79 

709 

70I 

11.3 

56. 

'S79 

.571 

■3 

6 

311 

7>9 

\n 

1119 

564 

'ill 

1381 

"7 

16 

117 

lit 

717 

"5' 

575 

'597 

'13 

>9 
13 

il 

»7 
349 

III 

713 
719 

Ci 

146 

;;il 

"i: 

i<oi 
1607 

1606 

19 

iS 

351 

31 

743 

74* 

"V 

1170 

.609 

}■ 

■  5 

359 

■79 

75' 

>»S 

nil 

iilo 

1613 

,r.i 

37 

3 

367 

iil 

757 

17 

.,17 

591 

1619 

4> 

1 

171 

i>6 

761 

380 

"91 

1191 

■e«t 

■  Gio 

41 

179 

37I 

769 

191 

■617 

171 

47 

4« 

3I1 

31* 

'Z' 

'91 

iiij 

.637 

409 

53 

'1 

II9 

3" 

7»7 

393 

1117 

•i 

Ail 

59 

i* 

397 

99 

797 

199 

1113 

61 

60 

401 

I09 

1119 

ml 

,667 

S33 

«7 
7« 

11 
15 

409 
4>9 

3 

In 
111 

lio 
Ito 

1131 
1117 

4i 

1669 
1691 

556 

73 

i 

4»i 

140 

!!'J 

IM 

1149 

108 

,697 

•% 

79 

■1 

431 

»5 

117 

4)1 

11S9 

115I 

1699 

13 

41 

431 

43* 

119 

»7i 

"77 

638 

1709 

1701 

■9 

;j 

439 

119 

S19 

419 

1179 

639 

1711 

430 

91 

441 

>SJ 

11} 

"|3 

64. 

1S7 

4 

449 

3a 

>57 

isi 

Ills 

91 

1731 

S6$ 

lOJ 

14 

♦57 

:i: 

>f9 

16 

1*91 

1190 

174' 

1740 

53 

4ii 

"3 

i6i 

"97 

1*96 

■747 

191 

109 

■ol 

4«1 

>54 

I77 

43I 

1301 

'300 

'753 

1** 

t<3 

467 

*11 

Hi 

44° 

1303 

1301 

'759 

879 

»7 

4a 

479 

139 

II3 

t& 

1307 

651 

"777 

'776 

■  !■ 

130 

4>7 

4>i 

llj 

1119 

6S9 

.783 

17S1 

■  37 

1 

491 

490 

907 

'5' 

1311 

Si 

1787 

«33 

139 

4< 

499 

49> 

911 

455 

1317 

1316 

1789 

1781 

149 

143 

Soj 

SOI 

919 

•i 

.36. 

Mo 

iloi 

900 

1(7 

;i 

509 

JSI 

50* 

919 
937 

,367 
1373 

•& 

i8it 
,S»3 

iSio 
■  111 

Jj 

Si 

5"J 

»it 

941 

940 

.3Si 

,j,„ 

,831 

■M 

167 

i6t 

541 

S40 

947 

471 

1399 

ij! 

\lVr 

173 

43 

547 

9' 

^ 

95* 

1409 

J? 

179 

17I 

^V 

•z> 

311 

'4»1 

■i' 

1I67 

911 

ttl 

ilo 

sh 

all 

971 

970 

1417 

713 

1I71 

915 

igl 

95 

569 

at4 

977 

lU 

'4*9 

.4.1 

,73 

.87. 

'91 

iji 

571 

570 

9S3 

9S1 

'413 

'4J» 

.877 

931 

197 

9l 

577 

57« 

991 

4?i 

1419 

.» 

'«S» 

111 

199 

99 

S»7 

193 

997 

166 

"447 

1SS9 

3I0 

10 

591 

59" 

1009 

iji 

■4S' 

.90 

1901 

»»1 

599 

199 

I013 

»^a 

■451 

716 

,907 

953 

i»7 

113 

601 

300 

1019 

toil 

'459 

iGi 

1913 

''« 

aa9 

ail 

foj 

^' 

715 

1931 

3S6 

13s 

■1» 

61 J 

S' 

1031 

lOJ 

740 

'933 

139 

7 

fii7 

IS 

1033 

1031 

14S3 

H7 

"949 

I94» 

14> 

10 

C19 

Cil 

1039 

5 '9 

14S7 

1416 

"95  > 

>97l 
IV 

»s« 

50 

63? 

3'S 

■049 

5H 

.4S9 

148 

"971 

:i5 

:i: 

& 

1» 

;a: 

1050 

"491 
■499 

371 
114 

'979 
19I7 

>«| 

iCS 

<47 

1063 

1061 

1511 

7SS 

"993 

«J 

171 

5 

<!3 

?> 

106^ 

IO«l 

'5*1 

761 

•997 

99* 

»77 

3 

'» 

k 

>ol7 

1086 

'53> 

1530 

'999 

,9» 

ill 

ill 

1091 

1090 

'543 

■S4» 

lOOJ 

\ 

>91 

•a 

!" 

i 

109J 
1097 

:S 

'549 
>S$1 

MM 

107 

Hi 

«, 

3*' 

HOJ 

'»» 

\  "' 

\«A1 

\  \oi-i 

<* 

*   . 

1111 

III] 

i  I  29 

1141 
1143 
1153 
1161 

"79 
1203 

1207 

1213 

1221 

1237 
1239 
1243 
1251 
1267 
1269 
1273 
L281 
1287 
1293 

•297 
.309 

311 
333 
339 
341 
347 
351 
357 
J7I 
177 
j8i 

;83 

189 
93 


,  ^055 

2621 

2620 

21  I  2 

26',3 

2632 

5  3'- 

2647 

S3- 

7ID 

26,- 

26ci6 

2136 

2659 

886 

2140 

2663 

2662 

2142 

2670 

1335 

2152 

2677 

223 

30 

2683 

447 

2178 

2687 

2686 

XIOI 

2689 

42 

2206 

2693 

1346 

553 

2699 

2698 

2220 

2707 

1353 

1118 

271 1 

'355 

IXX9 

2713 

2712 

1121 

2719 

1359 

2250 

2729 

682 

''11 
2268 

2731 

2730 

2741 

2740. 

227a 

*749 

9x6 

228 

2753 

2752 

762 

2767 

2766 

1 146 

2777 

2776 

2296 

2789 

2788 

2308 

2791 

31 

583 

1797 

699 

280X 

X400 

2338 

2803 

140X 

2340 

2819 

28x8 

1173 

2833 

2832 

"75 

2837 

709 

1x78 

2843 

142  X 

2370 

2851 

2850 

264 

2857 

408 

476 

2861 

2860 

2382 

2879 

1439 

2388 

2887 

2886 

i8>i 

tinf 

_o_/r 

3II9 
3I2I 


16 


3 


3167 
3169 
318X 
3187 
3191 
3203 
3209 
3217 
322X 
3229 

3*51 

3*53 

3*57 

3*59 
327X 

3299 
330X 
3307 
3313 
3319 
33*3 
33*9 
3331 
3343 
3347 

3359 
336X 

3371 
3373 
3389 
339> 
3407 
3413 
3433 


i>S9 
156 

3156 

15S1 

3166 

72 

636 

177 
29 
1 60 1 
x634 
X072 
3220 
X076 
3250 

54a 
3256 

3258 

X635 

3298 

3300 

X653 

3312 

553 

x66i 

832 

3330 

334* 
X673 

X679 

x68o 

3370 

843 

3388 

169s 
3406 
1706 

343* 


3623 

3631 

3637 

3643 
659 
671 
673 
677 
691 
697 
701 
709 

719 
727 

733 

739 
76X 

767 

769 

779 
793 
797 
803 

821 

823 

833 
847 

851 

853 
863 

877 
881 

889 

907 

9" 
9>7 
919 

923 


jU  1  u 

3622 

I8I5 

9^(; 
1821 
3658 

367 
3672 
X838 
X23O 
1232 
3700 
3708 

1859 
3726 

933 
1246 

x88o 

3766 

1884 

3778 
1264 

949 
X901 
3820 

X274 
3832 

3846 

770 

963 
3862 

969 
X94O 

'944 

"953 

1955 
X958 

653 
xg6i 


1874.]      Recijtrocal  0/ every  Prime  Number  below  SO,COO.         205 
Table  III.  (co^ainatd). 


♦603 

1301 

5  "47 

*S73 

5689 

3'6 

6*47 

6146 

680, 

3401 

4611 

914 

5'S3 

S'S» 

5693 

■4»3 

6*57 

6.56 

68a3 

6811 

4*17 

61 

S'«7 

s,U 

570 " 

5700 

6163 

6161 

68*7 

3413 

4639 

13 19 

SI71 

57" 

571 

6x69 

6x68 

6Sa9 

6818 

4643 

1311 

5179 

S'78 

57'7 

1419 

617, 

1045 

6833 

683* 

4649 

7 

5189 

Si8g 

5737 

S736 

6*77 

'569 

684, 

«ss 

46s. 

4650 

S>97 

433 

574' 

5740 

6187 

6:iti 

68S7 

68s6 

4*57 

'SSI 

SK>9 

371 

5743 

57*1 

6199 

94 

6863 

686a 

46*1 

S117 

161 J 

5749 

5748 

630" 

6869 

6868 

4673 

4*7» 

S»3' 

1615 

5779 

1889 

6]. 7 

3158 

687" 

3435 

4679 

»339 

5*33 

S131 

5783 

5781 

6313 

3.61 

688, 

344" 

+69. 

4690 

S»37 

77 

579> 

96s 

63*9 

316+ 

6gg| 

^898 

4703 

4701 

516. 

lOJI 

jgo. 

"45° 

6337 

6336 

6907 

"151 

47»" 

1360 

S»73 

S171 

5807 

5806 

6343 

6341 

691, 

3455 

47*3 

.361 

S»79 

»639 

58.3 

1906 

6353 

635» 

6947 

3473 

47»9 

1181 

5.81 

.64= 

SUi 

siio 

61 S9 

3'79 

6949 

694* 

4733 

■  18] 

5197 

5196 

S!»7 

1913 

6j6i 

1590 

tut 

3479 

475' 

»37S 

5303 

5301 

5839 

1919 

6367 

6j66 

3480 

4759 

»179 

5309 

S3o8 

5843 

1911 

6373 

106a 

6967 

6966 

47»1 

47S» 

S3»! 

1661 

5849 

1461 

*379 

aii6 

6971 

6970 

47«7 

»393 

SJ33 

"333 

85? 

'95° 

6389 

6388 

6977 

6^6 

4789 

iiS 

5347 

>673 

S»57 

5856 

6397 

78 

6983 

6981 

4793 

4791 

S3SI 

267s 

586.  . 

5860 

64" 

1140 

«99" 

1495 

4799 

1399 

5381 

5380 

5867 

»933 

64*7 

1071 

6997 

'749 

4SQI 

Soo 

5J87 

»69J 

5869 

5868 

6449 

i6ia 

7001 

1 7  JO 

48.3 

801 

S393 

539» 

5879 

*939 

645' 

aijo 

7013 

3So6 

48,7 

4S16 

5399 

.699 

588. 

1940 

6469 

9*4 

7019 

70>8 

4331 

8=5 

54°7 

"801 

5897 

5S96 

6473 

647* 

70*7 

""71 

4S61 

971 

54"  3 

1706 

5903 

5901 

6481 

a70 

7039 

39' 

487. 

»43S 

5417 

54' 6 

59*3 

196. 

649. 

.198 

7043 

5°3 

4877 

ijig 

54' 9 

5418 

S9»7 

59-6 

6ii. 

8"  5 

7057 

7056 

4889 

1444 

5431 

1715 

5939 

5938 

6S.9 

1088 

7069 

7068 

4903 

.6,4 

5437 

'359 

5953 

.984 

6547 

1091 

7079 

3539 

4909 

.63* 

5441 

1710 

598' 

5980 

655' 

3*75 

7103 

710a 

49 '9 

^59 

5443 

907 

5987 

1993 

6553 

655* 

7109 

7108 

493" 

4935 

5449 

*7H 

6007 

8si 

S'5' 

»S, 

7iai 

3j6o 

4933 

1466 

547' 

S47 

6011 

5oio 

6569 

164, 

7117 

1018 

4937 

4916 

5477 

.3S9 

(019 

6018 

6S7" 

6S7° 

7119 

594 

4943 

4941 

5479 

»739 

6037 

3o.g 

6577 

119* 

7"5" 

*7S 

495' 

147s 

5483 

»74l 

604J 

fiS8> 

1316 

7"59 

h;i 

4957 

4'3 

55°' 

5500 

6047 

I046 

6599 

3-99 

7' 77 

4967 

4966 

5503 

550* 

6053 

10.6 

6507 

7187 

3593 

4969 

SiS 

5507 

»753 

60I7 

3033 

66.9 

66.8 

7' 93 

719* 

4973 

m6 

55'9 

J7S9 

6073 

6071 

ii" 

474 

7*07 

7106 

4987 

J493 

55»' 

345 

6079 

1013 

6653 

13*6 

lOJO 

4993 

■  66+ 

55»7 

55-6 

6^89 

76. 

tip 

6658 

7"3 

;si 

4999 

357 

SS3> 

553° 

6091 

ao]o 

6661 

6660 

7*'9 

5003 

»ioi 

SiS7 

'^.6 

6101 

6673 

667* 

7**9 

,..1 

5009 

6x6 

5563 

.7*" 

6.13 

6iti 

6679 

3339 

7*37 

40» 

5011 

.670 

5569 

1391 

6iit 

3=60 

668? 

.67* 

7143 

,6.1 

5011 

5010 

5573 

.786 

6131 

6.30 

6691 

6690 

7*47 

7246 

JO13 

1674 

SS8. 

5580 

6.33 

'533 

6701 

6700 

7*51 

"    7* 

5039 

»S'9 

S59' 

1795 

6,41 

6.4» 

6703 

6701 

7*8j 

,(,■ 

5051 

50 

5613 

56" 

6,5. 

1015 

6709 

6708 

7*97 

.43" 

5«S9 

5058 

5639 

1819 

6.6, 

79 

67.9 

3359 

7307 

!i!| 

S°77 

.53S 

564' 

470 

6171 

1086 

6731 

3j66 

7309 

,!ol 

So8i 

1170 

5647 

tS8* 

6197 

3098 

6717 

6736 

73*1 

,6(0 

S»87 

S086 

565. 

5*5" 

9 '99 

J099 

676. 

1690 

733" 

,jM 

S099 

S098 

5653 

aii6 

441 

6763 

161 

7133 

611 

5101 

1700 

5*57 

S6S6 

6110 

6779 

677S 

7349 

7V 

5107 

»S53 

5659 

5658 

6it7 

6116 

67S1 

1356 

7^s' 

\  ^^^^  \ 

S"J 

1704 

5«9 

6^8 

tk.a. 

6110 

67,1 

V  Ti*"^ 

X^-cX 

S"9 

»53 

S«3 

1841 

6»9 

«76 

679^ 

\t!.11 

V2 

l:. 

eft 
7576 

7S8. 

JT9S 
1187 
76o« 


7639 

7*49 
7669 


j67» 

76I6 
7«jo 
769I 


T-S9 

li-i 

-t. 

■!!» 

7-SS 

779* 

-;■■ 

7l.( 

»»3 

4^1 

8-0- 

!i47 

4071 

iT'% 

Ii6> 

Sr-5 

8167 

j;ii 

S-3. 

!i7l 

lijo 

«r37 

8179 

It78 

*^+' 

1.9? 

«J«S 

i"+7 

<>09 

4'<H 

^753 

S119 

tilt 

876. 

Siii 

«74o 

^'-9 

s  5i 

j:;; 

Sgo, 

S'  7 

4"! 

S807 

s=4i 

4111 

Jg.^ 

fa6l 

■iSs 

SSii 

Sif9 

■t6t 

■8]l 

'=?) 

■l7> 

»37 

6=*- 

tiS6 

>Sl9 

g!JI 

U90 

■8^1 

*9i 

107  J 

■86i 

£157 

■19I 

<86] 

I 

4'J5 

M67 

S  7 

461 

■887 

8  3^ 

1041 

»93 

*;r. 

»35» 

•9" 

>:>'■ 

4iti 

«9»9 

S;*.9 

4i«4 

t913 

1,76 

8941 

414* 
8Gb! 


■Sot 
■StS 

I810 

44"5 

44K 

4419 


,;s  Ki:  n:! 


9JII 

4is; 

«>9 

4ejs 

M»J 

466. 

93  37 

Jill 

9341 

9340 

9343 

934; 

9349 

ju6 

937' 

93T" 

9377 

,|7« 

1874.]     Reciprocal  ofewry  Prune  Number  hehtw  20,000.         307 
Table  111.  (contintted). 


1014  J 

S69 

10847 

10846 

11447 

.1446 

.1049 

6014 

11613 

6306 

10147 

■0146 

loSs) 

5416 

1.467 

5733 

11071 

355 

,16,9 

4106 

io»S3 

1561 

10859 

10858 

11471 

5735 

I1073 

11071 

,16]  7 

3'S9 

10159 

10158 

10861 

10860 

11483 

574' 

11697 

4031 

,164, 

3.60 

S>3J 

10867 

1811 

11489 

1871 

11647 

■  1646 

10171 

79 

10S83 

S44' 

11491 

766 

11,07 

'foS3 

11653 

6316 

1017] 

10171 

.088, 

1711 

"497 

1,496 

11109 

4036 

11659 

.1658 

10189 

S144 

10S9. 

11503 

1,501 

111,3 

.167. 

■8. 

lOJOI 

10300 

10903 

10901 

,15.9 

5759 

11119 

6059 

.1689 

793 

lOJOJ 

34)4- 

10909 

11517 

3841 

i»'43 

11141 

.1697 

.1696 

10J.3 

iOJll 

10937 

10936 

11549 

1.548 

■  1149 

11.48 

11703 

4134 

10311 

.580 

10939 

10938 

1155, 

.915 

11157 

1016 

ii;,3 

11711 

10351 

1066 

10949 

10948 

"579 

.1578 

,116. 

60S0 

lOJJJ 

S.66 

10957 

J7)9 

1.587 

1931 

,1.63 

60S. 

.1739 

4146 

■0357 

10336 

IC973 

1743 

"593 

11591 

,1.97 

3049 

11741 

.1741 

'0343 

I034» 

10979 

10978 

"597 

5798 

11103 

6101 

■1757 

1116 

"a3S7 

S'78 

10,87 

S493 

11617 

1.6,6 

4070 

.1763 

709 

.0369 

»S9i 

10993 

10991 

11611 

11610 

6113 

.1781 

117S0 

10391 

S'9S 

IIOOJ 

SSOi 

"<)3 

.1631 

,1139 

6.19 

11791 

639s 

10J99 

'733 

SS'3 

.16,7 

1,656 

,114. 

6.10 

11799 

"33 

10417 

5113 

11047 

■  1046 

'.677 

583« 

.1151 

.1150 

"si? 

6404 

10419 

94« 

11057 

"056 

11681 

5840 

"»S3 

3063 

11810 

"HI) 

I04J1 

11059 

11058 

,1689 

4B7 

11163 

.1161 

\\t\\ 

.1811 

1045J 

5116 

.1069 

11068 

.1699 

,1698 

.1169 

.1168 

118x9 

4176 

I04S7 

10456 

6.5 

,1177 

6°'o 

.1841 

6410 

10459 

I04S8 

1 1083 

■I47 

11717 

1919 

mil 

11853 

459 

10463 

IO+61 

11087 

481 

11719 

i*59 

.1189 

384 

11889 

3111 

10477 

.746 

11093 

1773 

1,731 

11730 

11301 

H60 

,1893 

3113 

10437 

104I6 

11113 

3704 

11743 

"74* 

11313 

6161 

.1899 

,1898 

10499 

10498 

I1I17 

1779 

11777 

'■776 

1.J19 

3081 

11907 

645) 

10501 

3500 

5!S9 

«i779 

39»6 

"343 

4114 

1191. 

64s  S 

10513 

lOJIl 

11130 

117!) 

..781 

i»347 

6173 

119.7 

6458 

10519 

iW 

I1I49 

li.+S 

"7i9 

117K8 

"373 

6.86 

119.9 

1,53 

10531 

10530 

'"59 

5579 

11801 

1950 

11377 

.1376 

11913 

646. 

10559 

5179 

11161 

JIO 

11807 

11806 

11379 

11378 

11941 

.1940 

10567 

10566 

11.71 

.1S.3 

59o« 

,139, 

6195 

11953 

,1951 

105S9 

lojIS 

11175 

"sitl 

1,811 

il8to 

1140 

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■  Art  Art 

1 
I 
I 


1 
1 


1874.]     Reciprocal  of  every  Prime  Number  behw  20,000. 
Table  III.  {amtimted). 


6417 

;  1*4)3 
I  16447 


16649 


16653 

■670J 
16719 
'674' 
16747 
167S9 
1676J 
167S7 


16S4]    401 
■"--    1*05 


1768 


7'4 
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"35 
17I90 
1790* 
179°S 
"9*5 
.1  8961^ 
13  896. 
•"  8964 
1793! 
....  8978 
I79S9  8979 
"797"  17970 
"7977  856 
1 7981  179*° 
17987  899J 
17989  599* 
1E013  900G 
1804" 
jlo4j 
18047 
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18059 

18077   4S"9 
J  8089   9044 


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18719 


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18819 

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19009  47S» 
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9518 
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19069  6356 
1907J  19071 
19079  95J9 
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19087  636: 
I9"i"  9S6(. 
19139  19138 
19140 
4789 
95S1 


6394 
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19118 

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19149  jiol 

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19167  9633 

IQITI    1917* 
4811 
19JDI     3860 
19309   19108 

[9319   9*S9 
'9333   4833 
'9373  '*•- 
19379 
19381 
19387 


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1191 

3S 

9701 
19416 

'Vi»\ 


I  94" 7 

324b 

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32f)7 

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994 

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9741 

196  u; 

9S04 

19763 

98*1 

1  9  S  9 1 

603 

194X9 

406 

1 966 1 

19600 

February  26,  1874. 

JOSEPH  DALTON  HOOKER,  C.B.,  President, 

The  following  Papers  were  read : — 

I.  "  The  Winds  of  Northern  India,  in  relation  to  tl 
and  Vapour-constituent  of  the  Atmosphere/' 
Blanfobd,  F.G.S.,  Meteorological  Reporter  to  tl 
of  Bengal.     Comnoiunicated  by  Major-General  S 
Received  May  25,  1873. 

(Abstract.) 

The  object  of  this  paper  is  to  describe  the  normal  v 
Northern  India,  and  their  annual  variation,  and  to  trace 
and  causes,  so  far  as  these  can  be  discovered  in  the 
changes  of  the  atmosphere.  After  referring  to  the  dal 
conclusions  are  based,  the  author  goes  on  to  describe  t 
principal  geographical  regions  of  North  India  in  di*tail. 

Pabt  I.  Description  of  Winds, 
1.  The  Punjab, — Asa  rule  currents  from  the  westward 


1874.]  fVinds  of  Northern  India.  21 1 

and  southerly,  south-westerly,  and  north-westerly  winds  predominate — 
the  two  former  in  the  rainy  months,  the  last  in  the  cold  and  hot  dry 
season.  In  the  coldest  months  the  wind  veers  towards  the  north,  and 
occasionally  passes  a  little  to  the  east  of  north. 

2.  The  Gattgetic  Plain, — ^The  great  chain  of  the  Himalaya,  which  skirts 
the  northern  edge  of  this  region,  the  elevation  of  which  is  between  150 
feet  above  sea-level  on  the  east  and  900  feet  on  the  west,  determines  in  a 
great  measure  the  direction  of  its  prevailing  winds ;  and  those  from  the 
north-west  and  south-east  much  exceed  those  from  other  quarters.  In 
the  western  part  of  the  plain  the  north-westerly  winds  somewhat  exceed 
the  easterly.  In  the  eastern  part  the  converse  holds  good.  The  change 
from  the  westerly  to  the  easterly  direction  accompanies  the  change  from 
the  hot  and  dry  season  to  the  rains,  and  from  easterly  to  westerly  that 
from  the  rains  to  the  cold  season.  In  the  districts  more  remote  from  the 
mountains  the  tendency  to  a  westerly  direction  increases,  and  occasional 
south-west  winds  blow,  apparently  caused  by  incursions  from  the  Arabian 
Sea.  During  the  hot  months,  and  during  the  day,  the  westerly  winds 
blow  with  great  force,  falling  at  night ;  calms  are  a  characteristic  of  the 
nights,  and  prevail  most  in  the  colder  months.  As  the  hot  season  advances 
the  easterly  winds  become  more  frequent,  and  attain  their  maximum  in 
July,  when  the  rain  becomes  general.  The  winds  veer  from  the  west 
through  the  north  to  east  and  south-east,  the  opposite  change  being  more 
abrupt,  and  at  one  place  of  observation  apparently  retrograde. 

3.  Plateau  of  Majpootana. — ^This  region  is  somewhat  elevated  above  the 
Gangetic  plain,  varying  from  800  or  900  feet  to  1800  feet  above  the  sea- 
level.  Winds  from  the  west  and  south-west  greatly  exceed  those  from 
other  quarters  in  the  southern  districts,  commencing  as  early  as  February 
and  continuing  till  November,  when  they  are  replaced  by  northerly  and 
north-easterly  winds.  The  north-east  winds  are  comparatively  weak  and 
unsteady,  and  interrupted  by  calms.  A  similarity  to  the  winds  of  the 
JSouthem  Punjab  may  be  observed.  The  northern  part  of  the  plateau  of 
Eajpootana  partakes  more  of  the  character  of  the  Gangetic  plain  in  its 
winds,  the  winds  of  the  hot  season  being  chiefly  westerly  and  north- 
westerly ;  but  the  rainy  season  is  accompanied  by  south-westerly  winds, 
and  not  by  easterly  winds  as  in  the  Gungetic  plain ;  and  easterly  winds 
are  always  rare. 

4.  Central  India, — This  region  is  on  an  average  somewhat  less  elevated 
than  that  last  referred  to ;  it  is  traversed  by  the  high  land  known  as  the 
8atpoora  range,  and  is  otherwise  considerably  broken  up  into  valley  and 
mountain,  so  that  the  winds  are  more  influenced  by  merely  local  con- 
ditions than  in  the  less  hilly  regions  before  noticed.  Westerly  winds  on 
the  whole  prevail.  In  the  hot  months  westerly  and  north-westerly 
winds  predominate.  Local  inroads  of  south-westerly  winds  occur  during 
the  rainy  months  on  the  north  of  the  Satpoora  range,  and  less  strongly 
on  the  south  of  the  range ;  as  the  rainy  season  ceases  the  winds  veer 


212  Mr.  II.  F.  Blaiifoi-d  on  the  [Feb.  26,' 

through  weat  to  north  imd  north-enst,  which  diroelioii  is  dominant  nftor 
Kovumbyr  tiJl  January,  when  the  northerly  tendency  faiJa  and  southerly 
winds  blow,  which  again  pass  into  the  westerly  winds  oE  the  hot  months. 
This  region  partifiputea  in  the  chttracttri  sties  both  of  the  pliuns  of 
Northern  India  and  of  the  Puniusulft,  whii-h  laet  is  under  the  influencu 
of  llio  true  aoiith-Most  and  north-east  monsoons.  During  the  cold 
months  and  the  rainy  season  respeclively,  when  the  two  great  moneoons 
ar«  at  their  height,  the  winds  of  the  Central  India  plateau  are  from  the 
north-east  and  south-west,  \yhiJe  those  of  the  Gaugetic  plain  are  Etohj 
the  north-west  and  Bouth-fnst,  the  former  blowing  to  or  from  the  Arabian 
or  Western  Sea,  the  latter  to  or  from  the  Bay  of  Bengnl,  or  Eastern  l^ea. 
Only  in  the  hot  season  do  the  winds  approximate,  bio\ving  from  the  dry 
region  to  the  north-west  towiH^ls  the  thermal  focus  of  Ceiitral  India  and 
Western  Bengal. 

6.  irMieoi  Beni/nl. — This  regioa  includes  the  continuation  of  tho 
plateau  of  Central  India  to  the  margin  of  the  delta  of  the  Gnngea,  and 
descends  to  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  The  northern  part,  b«ug  a  compam- 
tively  open  tableland,  participates  greatly  as  to  its  winds  in  the  chanwrtfrs 
of  the  ni.'ighhoiiriiig  fJangelie  jdain.  The  west  and  north-west  winds  of 
the  cold  months  are  followed  by  south-west  and  south  winds,  which  draw 
round  to  south-east  during  the  rainy  season,  again  reverting  to  north- 
west through  west.  Occasional  incursions  of  the  south-west  monsoon 
are  felt,  wliich  are  perceptible  in  the  Gangetic  valley.  On  the  coast  the 
winds  are  very  different.  The  west  and  north-west  winds  of  the  interior 
are  quite  subordinate.  North  and  north-east  winds  begin  in  October, 
when  the  south-west  monsoon  ceases,  becoming  more  northerly  with  the 
increasing  cold  and  the  strengthening  of  the  land-winds  of  the  interior. 
Later  they  again  veer  towards  the  east ;  and  the  sea-winds  blow  from 
Eoutb-east  in  January,  and  ultimately  from  the  south-west.  After  Sep- 
tember the  winds  fall  back  rapidly  through  south-east  and  east  to  north- 
east. At  places  removed  from  the  coast  the  wind  is  more  westerly  than 
ou  the  coast. 

6.  Oantfetie  Delta. — From  its  position  this  region  is  swept  by  the 
currents  of  air  passing  between  the  Gangetic  plain  and  the  equatorial 
ocean.  The  general  course  of  the  winds  is  as  follows  : — The  winter 
monsoou  becomes  well  estabhshed  in  November,  blowing  nearly  from  the 
north  on  the  east  of  the  Delta,  and  from  north-west  on  the  west ;  near 
the  sea  the  direction  is  a  little  east  of  north.  As  the  season  advances 
the  wind  draws  round  towards  the  west,  where  it  is  about  February,  and 
eventually  backs  by  south-west  to  south  and  south-east,  in  which  direc- 
tion it  blows  during  the  rainy  season  and  till  September.  In  October 
tiie  winds  are  chiefly  easterly,  but  unsteady  and  apt  to  be  stormy,  alter- 
tatiDg  with  calms  In  the  earlier  part  of  the  month,  and  passing  into 
and  north-west  in  the  latter  part. 
iwMiii. — The  local  configuration  of  this  valley  no  doubt  affects  its 


187:1.]  mnda  of  Northern  India.  313 

u'iuds,  forming,  as  it  does,  an  open  pasBOge  for  the  monBOons  to  pass  to 
and  (rom  the  region  north  of  the  H^nalaya.  The  vinter  monsoon  be^s 
in  October,  when  north  and  north-eaat  winds  blow  with  great  steadiness 
till  January,  after  which  westerly  winds  are  felt,  chiefly  blowing  from 
the  Bouth-west,  till  in  June  they  predominate  and  continue  till  Septem- 
ber, when  they  in  turn  give  way  to  the  easterly  winds.  On  the  whole 
the  characteristic  of  Assam  is  the  prevalence  of  easterly  winds,  which  is 
here  aa  conspicuous  as  that  of  the  westerly  winds  over  the  Gangetic 
plain  and  Punjab. 

8.  Araican  Coast. — The  observations  in  this  region  are  limited  to 
places  on  the  coast.  The  northerly  winds  begin  in  October,  with  000- 
sioual  north-west  wind,  continue  till  March,  or  a  month  later  than  in  the 
Gangetic  delta,  after  which  they  work  round  to  the  southward,  and  at 
length  to  south-east  by  south,  which  is  the  normal  mean  direction  of  the 
wind  along  this  coast  during  the  south-west  monsoon.  This  mean 
direction  is  varied  at  all  times  of  the  year  by  the  land  and  sea  breezes. 
The  changes  of  the  monsoons  occur  sensibly  later  on  the  southern  parts 
of  the  coast  than  on  the  northern ;  also  the  southerly  winds  attun  less 
easting,  and  the  northerly  winds  less  westing,  in  the  south  than  in  the 
north.  In  August  a  sudden  drawing  of  the  wind  towards  the  west  is 
observable  on  this  const  (and  is  also  discernible  in  Bengal  and  the  North- 
west Provinces  of  India),  followed  by  a  return  to  the  eastward,  due 
apparently  to  the  influence  of  the  true  south-went  monsoon  of  the 
Arabian  Sea,  then  at  its  height. 

Smnmary. — From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  seen  that  the  winds  of 
Northern  India  are  very  different  from  those  of  the  adjacent  seas.  Id- 
slcad  of  two  monsoons  from  the  north-east  and  south-west  alternately 
prevailing  during  about  equal  periods  of  the  year,  we  find  rather  three 
distinct  seasons  in  which  special  winds  prevail,  the  directions  of  which 
mainly  depend  on  the  directions  and  relative  positions  of  the  mountain- 
ranges  and  plains. 

During  the  cold-weather  months,  November  to  January,  light  westerly 
and  northerly  winds  blow  from  the  plains  of  Upper  India  down  the 
valleys  oE  the  Ganges  and  Indus,  and  across  the  tableland  of  Central 
India,  and  join  into  the  north-east  monsoon  of  the  Peninsula.  The 
e.istcrly  winds  of  the  valley  of  Assam  add  to  this  current. 

In  April  and  May,  as  the  hot  weather  comes  on,  the  ninds  of  Northern 
India  become  mure  westerly  and  powerful,  and  take  the  form  of  the  hot 
winds,  which  are  not  continuous  hut  diurnal,  blowing  till  sun-down  and 
then  followed  by  calms,  and  prevailing  to  the  eastern  limits  of  the 
Gangetic  delta.  At  the  same  time  southerly  winds  are  commencing  on 
the  coast,  and  are  felt  from  Sindh  across  to  Bengal,  but  only  at  intervals, 
and  feebly  except  near  the  sea. 

In  June  the  south-west  monsoon,  being  established  in  the  equatorial 
.ocean,  sets  in  round  both  coasts  of  the  peninsula,  penetrates  up  the 


214  Mr.  H.  F.  Blanford  on  the  [Feb.  20, 

vallej-B  of  the  Indus,  tho  Xerbuddn,  aud  Taptee,  carrying  a  west  or 
Bouth-weat  piirrent  over  CVut-rnl  India,  and  from  the  Bay  of  Bengal 
pouring  lip  the  fiumel-Bhapetl  opening  occupied  by  the  Gangetic  delta, 
whence  turning  westward  it  passes  np  the  Gangetic  yalley  towards  the 
Punjab,  which  sijetna  to  be  the  limit  of  the  south-easterly  winds,  in 
Afghanistan  the  dominant  winds  being  westerly  even  during  the  summer 
montha.     This  is  the  period  of  the  rainy  season  of  Norlbern  Lidia. 

In  October,  as  the  south-west  mou-soon  ceases,  the  southerly  current  is 
reoun-ed  towards  the  heated  region  along  the  Coromandel  coast  (on 
which  the  rainfall  ia  till  this  season  of  the  year  comparatively  small),  and, 
blowing  as  a  south-east  M-ind,  causes  the  autiimn  rains  on  that  coast, 
which  some  «Tit*rs  have  erroneously  attributed  to  the  north-east  mon- 
soon. With  the  gradual  cessation  of  the  southerly  winds  the  westerly 
tfinda  of  Korthem  India  again  begin,  and  the  cycle  of  the  year  is  thus 
completed. 

Fakt  II.  lUlation  of  Wind*  to  other  EUnuntt  of  Climate. 
1.  Tttnperatare. — The  seasons  of  Norihoni  Lidia  present  three  distinct 
phases: — the  mW.<r«Mti, from  the  end  of  the  rains  in  September  to  February 
or  Mnri'h  :  flic  hit  sfafnu,  ch.'irarli'rizpd  bv  a  drv  iituiosphere  and  great 
diurnal  range  of  temperature  ;  and  the  rainy  season,  in  which  the  tem- 
perature is  moderately  high  and  equable,  and  the  air  vety  humid.  At 
the  close  of  the  rains  (the  end  of  September)  the  temperature  of  Northern 
India  from  the  Punjab  to  the  sea  is  nearly  uniform  at  about  81°  or  82°. 
But  evaporation  and  radiation  to  a  cloudless  sky  soon  reduce  the  tem- 
perature of  the  interior  below  that  of  the  maritime  r^ona ;  and  in 
January  the  Punjab  is  about  11°  colder  than  Bengal,  the  plains  of  the 
North-west  Provinces  being  about  midway  in  temperature  between  the 
two.  In  March  the  advance  of  temperature  in  Centra)  India  has  brought 
out  two  thermal  foci — one  on  the  west  in  Bajpootona,  and  the  other  on 
the  east  in  the  hilly  tracts  of  Western  Bengal.  In  April  the  Central- 
Indian  thermal  focus  is  well  developed.  The  mean  temperature  of 
Nagpore  is  7°  above  that  of  Bombay,  13°  above  the  northern  Punjab, 
and  6°  above  tbe  coast  of  the  Gangetic  delta.  The  hottest  region  has  a 
mean  temperature  between  85°  and  90°,  the  Upper-Punjab  and  Upper- 
Assam  being  from  75°  to  "7°.  In  May  the  thermal  focus  has  gone 
further  to  the  north-west,  and  lies  in  the  northern  part  of  the  Hajpootana 
plateau.  In  June  it  has  reacbed  tbe  Punjab,  the  temperature  of  which 
continues  to  increase,  rising  to  OS"  and  more ;  while  that  of  tbe  south  of 
India  begins  to  fall,  consequent  on  the  rains,  which  commence  about  the 
middle  of  the  month.  In  July  the  Punjab  ranges  above  90°,  whUe  the 
greater  part  of  Central  India  is  below  85°.  After  July  the  temperature 
again  foils,  so  that  by  the  end  of  September  it  is  nearly  equalized  all  over 

,   Northern  India. 

k     To  sum  up  briefly.    In  the  cold  veather  there  are  two  foci  of  mini- 


1874.]  fVin4»  of  Northern  Trtdia.  S15 

miun  temperature,  the  one  in  the  Fonjab  and  the  other  in  Assun,  Knd, 
with  Bome  exceptions,  the  ieothermalB  nesrl^r  conform  to  the  pinllels  of 
latitude.  In  the  hot  months  a  focus  of  heat  is  formed  in  Central  India, 
round  which  the  isotherms  are  bent,  the  temperature  on  the  coasts  and 
in  the  northern  plains  being  considerably  lower  than  that  of  the  interior. 
I'^ntly,  during  the  rainy  season  the  seat  of  highest  temperature  is  in  the 
Punjab,  the  coolest  regions  then  being  those  of  the  maximum  rninfall, 
and  consisting  of  two  tracts  extending  from  the  coasts  of  Bombay  and 
Bengal,  along  the  course  of  the  monsoon  currents. 

The  author  then  refers  to  the  distribution  of  temperature  in  a  Tertieal 
direction,  as  ascertained  from  obaervations  made  at  the  monntaio-stations. 
He  points  out  apparent  anomalies  in  the  differences  of  temperature  due 
to  difference  of  altitude  in  the  mountains  of  North-western  India  and 
thoae  bordering  on  Bengal,  and  auggestfl,  as  a  probable  explanation,  the 
variation  of  hygrometrical  condition  of  the  air  in  the  two  r^ons, 
remarking  that  the  continual  upward  diffusion  and  condensation  of  water 
Tapour  must  tend  to  equalise  the  upper  and  lower  temperatures,  and  that 
this  tendency  will  be  the  greater  as  the  approach  to  saturation  is  clowr. 
The  subject,  however,  is  admitted  to  be  one  that  requires  further  exami- 
nation, and  particularly  with  respect  to  the  operation  of  nocturnal  radia- 
tion and  diurnal  absorption  of  heat — the  remark  being  also  made  that  the 
avfulable  observations  give  the  local  temperature  near  the  surface  of  the 
mountains,  and  do  not  properly  represent  the  condition  of  the  free 
atmosphere  at  corresponding  elevations. 

2.  Vajxnir-tefuion,  Humidity,  and  SaitifaU. — In  the  r^ons  under 
dianission,  the  lowest  vopour-tenaion  occurs  almost  everywhere  in 
January,  when  the  temperature  is  lowest.  The  lowest  mean  tension  tor 
any  month  is  about  0'2  inch,  observed  in  the  Southern  Punjab,  the  c(nT&- 
sponding  minimum  in  Bengal  being  about  0-5  inch.  The  increase  of 
tension  begins  early  in  the  districts  near  the  sea,  and  continueB  regularly 
and  rapidly  till  the  setting  in  of  the  rains  ;  but  in  the  drier  regions  of 
the  interior,  where  the  west  winds  prevail  throughout  the  spring  and 
hot-weather  months,  the  rise  of  tension  is  slow,  probably  not  more  than 
ia  due  to  the  actual  rise  of  temperature  acting  on  the  local  vapour  supply. 
The  increase  at  the  commencement  of  the  rains,  in  June  or  July,  when 
the  southerly  winds  begin  to  be  felt,  is  very  marked  and  sudden ;  and 
equally  so  ia  the  fall  after  September,  when  the  southerly  is  replaced  by 
the  northerly  current. 

As  regards  variation  of  tension  due  to  elevation,  the  conclusions  of 
former  obBer\'erB  are  confirmed,  that  the  ratio  of  decrement  foUovs 
g(^nerally  the  increase  of  elevation,  but  with  a  marked  addition  to  the 
rulative  tensions  at  the  higher  stations  in  the  hottest  and  wettest  months. 

Passing  to  the  humidity  of  the  air,  it  is  shown  that  the  period  of  greatest 
dryness  falls  later  in  the  year  the  greater  the  distance  from  the  sea, 
measuring  along  the  course  of  lain-csrrying  wind-cnrrent.    On  the  eoMt 


i 


216  Mr.  ](.  F.  Blauford  on  the  [Fdi.  SG, 

of  Bt'iigat  thp  lirieat  month  is  Jftuuary,  the  pei'iod  being  Iat«r  as  we  go 
iiilanil  lip  the  finngetic  vfJIey,  till  it  is  fountl  in  Mny  or  Juno  in  llie 
Piiiijub  mill  North-west  I'rovinees. 

In  the  western  part  oE  the  Gtuigstic  Talley  and  the  Punjab  there  is  a 
Bdcondary  minimum  of  dryness,  which  follows  a  converse  rule  to  that  of 
the  principal  minimum  ;  that  ia,  it  falla  earlier  the  f/retita-  the  ilistnnee 
from  the  (tea  in  the  sense  before  explained.  In  the  Punjab  this  minimum 
ia  as  early  as  September  or  October,  shortly  after  the  cessation  of  the 
rains,  gradually  advancing  till  November  at  Benares,  east  of  which  it  ia 
not  appreciable.  Intermediate  between  the  two  minimum  periods  is  n 
Becoudary  or  winter  maximum,  evidently  related  to  the  n'inter  rains  of 
the  Upper  Provinces,  and,  like  the  corresponding  winter  maximum  and 
rains  of  Europe,  traceable  to  the  descent  of  the  equatorial  (here  the  anti- 
monsoon)  current,  and  the  low  winter  temperature. 

The  relative  humidity  of  the  air  remains  pretty  constant  at  all  eleva- 
tions ou  the  Himalaya,  as  already  pointed  out  by  Dr.  Hooker  and  other 
writers,  but  not  including  Tibet,  the  conditions  of  which  are  very 
dftEerent.  There  are,  however,  considerable  exceptions  to  the  general 
rule ;  and  the  local  law  of  lariation  depends  much  on  local  conditions. 

The  rainfall  is  next  discussed.  The  author  points  out  that  there  are 
three  principal  seasons  of  run  calling  for  notice.  The  summer  and  early 
autumn  rains  (that  is,  those  of  the  Bouth-west  monsoon,  or  of  the  raimj 
teaton  commonly  eo  called)  are  the  most  important.  In  Bengal  they 
bc^in  on  an  average  about  the  middle  of  June,  with  a  fall  of  from  9  to  15 
incbes  in  that  month.  In  the  Upper  Provinces  they  are  later,  and  in 
Bajpootaoa  there  is  little  rmn  till  July.  Everywhere  they  have  their 
maximum  in  July.  In  the  Upper  Prorinces  and  Bajpootana  verj'  little 
nun  falls  in  October,  and  the  nwns  may  be  said  to  end  in  the  lost  week 
of  September.  In  Bengal  and  Central  India  the  fall  is  still  considerable 
in  October;  and  the  rMUS  there  end  about  the  middle  of  this  last-uameil 
month. 

The  spring  rains  prevail  in  the  region  over  which  the  sea  winds  blow 
from  the  Bay  of  Bengal  early  in  the  year.  In  Assam  and  £^teni 
Bengal  showers  are  frequent  in  March,  and  in  April  the  fall  is  copious, 
amounting,  in  those  districts  to  windward  of  the  eastern  mouritains,  to  V2 
or  14  inches  in  the  latter  mouth.  In  Western  Bengal  the  fall  is  less, 
and  takes  place  with  occasional  thunder-storms,  locally  known  as  north- 
v'titers,  which  extend  as  far  inland  as  Xagpoor  and  Benares. 

Thewinter  rains  are  received  most  regularly  and  copiously  in  the  Punjab 
and  Upper  Provinces,  Assam,  and  Cachar.  In  Bengal  and  the  lo«er 
part  of  the  Gnngetic  valley  they  are  less  regular  and  lighter.  They  begin 
at  the  end  of  December,  continuing  till  March  in  the  North-west  Pro- 
Tincjs,  and  till  April  in  the  Punjab.  The  fall  in  these  districts  amounts 
to  about  'Lor  3  inches  during  the  whole  season.  The  author  considers 
that)  fi4  they  do  not  coincide  either  nith  the  period  of  greatest  cold  or 


1874.]  mndi  of  Northern  India.  217 

greatest  humidity,  these  mns  must  he  due  to  some  other  cftuse,  which  he 
thinka  to  be  the  humidity  of  the  snti-mouBoon  current. 

On  the  mountains  the  heaviest  rainfall  is  on  the  lower  and  outer 
slopes.  The  gTeat«st  recorded  falls  are  those  at  Cherra-Poonji  over 
Eastern  Bengal,  averaging  more  than  500  inches  in  the  year.  On  the 
Himalaya  the  records  show  falls  of  from  280  inches  on  the  east  to  70  or  80 
inches  in  the  North-west  Provinces,  and  40  to  50  inches  in  the  Punjab. 
Local  circumstances  of  position  greatly  affect  the  quantity. 

Generally  the  quantity  of  rainfall  diminishes  with  increase  of  distance 
from  the  coast ;  but  it  increases  on  approaching  a  hill-range  on  the  wind' 
ward  side  when  the  rise  Is  steep,  while  to  leeward  a  decrease  takes  place, 
followed  eventually  by  another  gradual  increase. 

3.  Atmospherie  Pressure. — The  available  data  for  discussing  this  part  of 
the  subject  are  imperfect ;  and  particularly  the  means  of  reducing  the 
pressures  to  the  sea-!evel  are  not  forthcoming  in  many  cases.  The  fol- 
lowing remarks  are  made  subject  to  this  ezplonatioii. 

The  mean  pressure,  reduced  to  sea'lerel,  in  the  month  of  October  is 
nearly  uniform  over  Bengal,  on  both  sides  of  the  bay,  in  the  Central 
Provinces,  and  the  Gangetic  valley,  with  a  slight  tendency  to  a  higher 
pressure  in  the  North-west  Provinces  and  Cuttack  on  the  one  side,  and 
on  the  Arakan  coast  on  the  other,  which  finds  its  expression  in  the 
slightly  converging  winds  of  that  season. 

In  the  following  months  the  pressure  rises  over  the  whole  area,  but  most 
in  the  North-west  Provinces  and  Western  Bengal ;  and  in  December  an 
axis  of  maximum  pressure  lies  on  a  line  drawn  from  Cuttack  to  the 
North-west  Provinces  in  a  north-west  and  south-east  direction.  The 
distribution  of  pressure  remiuns  much  the  same  till  the  end  of  February. 
In  March  a  rapid  fall  takes  place  in  Korthem  India ;  but  the  line  of 
higher  pressure  still  remains,  extending  now  from  North-western  India 
across  to  the  coast  of  Arakan  round  the  delta  of  the  Ganges.  This, 
doubtless,  is  the  immediate  cause  of  the  back  to  back  winds  described  in 
Parti. 

In  April,  with  a  continued  rapid  fall,  a  trough  of  low  pressure  becomes 
apparent,  which  extends  from  the  head  of  the  delta  of  the  Ganges  into 
Central  India.  In  May  this  area  of  low  pressure  is  somewhat  displaced 
towards  the  north,  occupying  a  line  from  Western  Bengal  to  Nagpoor, 
along  the  34th  parallel  of  latitude.  In  June  the  conditions  are  generally 
similar,  but  with  much  reduced  pressure  in  the  Punjab,  in  the  north-west 
of  which  province  the  absolute  minimum  is  probably  to  be  found.  The 
mean  difference  of  pressure  in  June  between  Port  Blair  in  the  Bay  of 
Bengal  and  the  upper  part  of  the  North-west  Provinces  is  not  less  than 
■j^  of  an  inch,  and  between  Port  Blair  and  Calcutta  -j^  of  an  inch,  Cal- 
cutta being  about  as  far  from  Fort  Blair  as  from  the  head  of  the  Gangetio 
valley,  800  miles ;  the  baric  gradient  over  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  therefore,  is 
about  double  what  it  is  over  the  axis  of  the  Ganges  valley,  and  amounts 


218  On  the  Hinds  of  Northern  India.  [Feb.  26, 

to  -jlj  of  an  inch  for  400  miles  over  the  land,  and  ^  of  an  inch  over  the 
sea,  which  BufHccs  to  maiot^  the  steady  current  of  the  Boutb-west 
monsooa. 

In  July  the  minimum  of  preasoro  is  reached  without  important  relative 
diange.  la  August  a  rise  begins,  greater  over  Northern  India,  which 
continues  during  Septi^mber  and  October,  when  the  uniformity  of 
pressure  is  once  more  approximately  restored. 

It  is  apparent  that  thd  distribuKou  of  preasiu^  follows,  within  certain 
limits,  that  of  temperature,  in  an  inverse  ratio  of  intensity.  Thus  the 
region  of  high  pressure  in  the  cold  months,  which  Ues  across  Northern 
India  from  Boorkee  to  Cultach,  coincides  approximately  with  the  area  over 
which  the  isothenaala,  then  approximately  parallel  to  the  circles  of  latitude, 
are  bent  downwards,  or  the  temperature  of  which  ie  lowest  relatively  to 
the  areas  to  the  e-ost  and  west  of  it.  Again,  during  the  hot  half  of  the 
year,  aa  the  isothermal  lines  advance,  first  turning  their  branches  south- 
wards and  leaving  an  area  of  higher  temperature  in  Central  India  between 
them,  which  eventually  is  inverted  towards  the  west  over  the  Punjab,  Bo 
a  pomewhat  corresponding  change  occurs  in  the  lines  of  equal  pressure, 
which  at  this  sPASon  may  bo  said  ta  be  distributed  on  lines  generally 
following  tlii>  ui'TiiliiLiis,  but  with  a  loop  more  or  Ipss  deeply  coucavo 
towards  the  west. 

The  author  then  discusses  at  some  length  the  manner  in  which  these 
changes  of  pressure  arise,  and  to  what  extent  they  are  dependent  on  the 
changes  in  the  proportion  of  aqueous  vapour  in  the  air,  and  concludes 
that  the  vapour  indirectly  greatly  influences  the  pressure  by  carrying 
heat  from  the  lower  to  the  upper  strata,  and  by  arresting  solar  and  ter- 
restrial radiation,  thus  equalizing  the  temperature  of  the  air-column,  but 
that  its  power  of  changing  the  density,  by  reason  of  the  displacement  of 
the  heavier  air-particles,  b  relatively  small,  and  in  some  cases  unimportant. 
In  general  terms  the  changes  of  temperature  are  the  principal  causes  of 
the  variations  of  pressure. 

4.  Certain  EffeeU  of  Wind*. — Inquiry  is  made  whether  any  dynamic 
heating  or  cooling  of  the  air  can  be  traced  by  reason  of  winds  descending 
to  a  lower  or  rising  to  a  higher  level,  with  the  conclusion  that  no  such 
effects  are  discernible,  and  that  certain  explanations  given  of  the  winds 
of  India  (by  other  writers),  baaed  on  such  a  conception,  are  erroneous. 

Evidence  is  adduced  which  is  held  to  estabUsh  that  anti-nwnsooii.  cur- 
rents blow  in  the  upper  strata  of  the  atmosphere,  at  the  various  seasons 
of  the  year,  and  at  varying  elevations,  causing  corresponding  modifica- 
tions in  the  general  temperature,  the  operation  of  all  winds  being  to  dis- 
tribute the  temperature  peculiar  to  them.  To  the  descent  of  the  anli- 
montoon  current  from  the  south,  the  author  is  disposed  to  attribute  the 
runs  of  the  cold  weather. 

Attention  is  also  directed  to  the  greater  velocity  of  the  wind-<;urrenta 
near  the  sea,  the  westerly  winds  increasing  in  force  as  they  approach 


1874.]  Oa  Dltplaeemmt  of  the  Solar  Spectrum.  319 

Bengal,  and  the  south-easterly  winds  diminishing  in  force  as  they  reach 
the  North-west  Provinces,  indicating  that  descending  and  ascending  cur- 
rents must  be  formed  in  the  upper  strata,  though  of  the  return  south- 
ward of  any  descending  current  from  the  north  there  is  no  direct 
evidence. 


II.  "  Note  on  Displacement  of  the  Solar  Spectrum."  By  J. 
H.  N.  Hbnnkssby,  F.R.A.S.  Communicated  by  Profeaaor 
G.  G.  Stokbs,  Sec.  B.S.     Keceived  December  15,  1873. 

The  following  experiments  were  made  with  the  (new)  spectroscope 
(three  prisou)  of  the  Boyal  Society  to  ascertain  for  this  instrument  the 
amount  of  displacement  in  the  solar  spectrum  from  change  of  tempera- 
tore.  The  spectroscope  was  set  up  on  a  pillar  within  a  small  tent  at  a 
time  of  the  year  when  the  thermal  range  is  considerable  :  the  collimator 
was  placed  horizontal,  and  directed  through  a  window  in  the  tent  to  a 
heliostat,  which  was  made  to  reflect  the  sun's  image  when  required.  On 
closing  the  window  darkness  prevailed  in  the  tent,  so  that  the  bright 
sodium  lines  were  easily  d>tained  from  a  spirit-lamp.  Before  commencing, 
the  slit  was  adjusted  and  the  spectroscope  clamped ;  and  no  movement  of 
any  kind  was  permitted  in  the  instrument  during  the  experiments.  The 
displacement  was  measured  by  means  of  a  micrometer  in  the  eye-end  of 
the  telescope,  reading  being  taken  (out  of  curiosity)  successivaly  to  both 
dark  and  bright  lines,  >.  «.  to  K  1002-8=0^  and  K  1006-8=D^  A 
verified  thermometer  was  suspended  directly  over  and  almost  touching 
the  prisms.  The  meteorological  observatory  referred  to  was  some  fifty 
yards  north  of  the  tent. 

Bejecting  observation  6  (in  the  following  Table)  because  the  tlwrmo- 
meter  was  evidently  in  advance  of  the  prisms,  we  deduce 

By  Dark  lines,  displacement  equal 

Dr  to  Ds  is  produced  by 31 'S  change  of  temperature. 

By  Bright  lines,  displacement  equal 

Dr  to  Du  is  produced  by 29'4  „ 

Mean 30 

from  which  it  appears  that  the  displacement  in  question  may  not  be 
neglected  in  investigations  made  under  a  considerable  thermal  range. 


Mr,  J.  H.  N.  Ilenncasey  art 

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1874.]  WUle  Linet  in  the  Solar  Speeimm.  231 

III.  "On  White  Linea  in  the  Solar  Spectrum."  By  J.  H.  N. 
Hennbsset,  F.R.A.S.  Commuaicated  by  Professor  Stokes, 
Sec.  R.S.     Received  December  8,  1873. 

Extract  from  a  Letter  from  Mr.  Hennetteif  to  Profetior  Slolcet. 

"Muasoorie,  No».  12.  1871 
"  Mr  DEAB  Sib, — As  I  camiot  account  for  what  is  described  and  drawn 
in  enclosed,  I  hasten  to  place  the  same  before  you,  intending  to  look  for 
the  white  linis  in  question  so  sooa  as  I  move  down  to  a  lower  altitude. 
Amongst  others,  no  doubt  KirchhofE  closely  examined  the  region  in  queS' 
tion,  without  notice  of  the  lines ;  and  this  only  adds  to  my  perplexity,  un- 
less what  I  see  here  is  due  (1)  to  altitude,  or  (2)  is  inatrumeutal.  In 
the  latter  case  I  cannot  account  for  the  absence  of  the  white  lines  at 
Sehra,  where  I  eiamined  the  spectrum  generally  several  times;  I  must, 
however,  odd  that  without  close  examination  and  some  experience,  the 
lines  might  easily  be  passed  over.  But  if  instrumental,  to  what  are  they 
due?  I  very  much  regret  that  the  old  spectroscope  is  not  available  at 
present  [it  had  beea  temporarily  sent  elsewhere  for  a  special  objecf]  to 

enable  me  to  verify  the  phenomena " 

[In  the  drawing  sent  by  Mr.  Hennessey,  the  intervals  between  the 
dark  lines  are  coloured  green,  except  in  the  place  of  the  two  white 
lines.  To  transfer  this  distinction  to  a  woodcut,  an  additional  horizontal 
band  has  been  added  below,  in  which  only  those  parts  of  the  drawing 
which  are  left  white  appear  as  white,  while  in  the  upper  part  the  white 
of  the  woodcut  represents  the  white  or  green,  as  the  case  may  be,  of  the 
original.— O.  G.  S.] 

Part  of  Solar  Speetram,  drawa  to  Kirchhoff't  scale,  obeerved  at  Ifiueoorie, 
JV^.  W.  Pivvineee,  India,  Lot.  JV.  30°  28',  Long.  E.  78°  4' ;  ffeu/ht 
6700  feet  above  tea  (aho^),  v)ith  the  Sptetroteope  hdoaging  to  tho 
Bot/al  Sodely. 


Is  ot"  white  floss  silk  held  in  the  light.  liie  spectroscope  lu 
mo>t  ('()nveiii(Mit;  hii^hest'-power  eyepiece,  [)re>ents  iiaai^es 
thirds  to  seven  ninths  ot'  those  drawn  in  the  diagnun  ;  the 
:uggerated  by  reckoning  to  agree  with  KirehhoJI's  millimetre 
therefore  be  readily  understood  that  the  white  lines  do  not 
ing  objects  in  the  spectroscope,  especially  about  the  time  of 
I  happened  first  to  notice  them ;  they  are  best  seen  about 
;heir  resemblance  to  threads  of  white  floss  silk  is  very  dose ; 
1,  the  lines  in  question  can  always  be  readily  detected.  So 
istrumental  means  permit,  the  wider  line  extends  between 
d  K  1658*3 ;  more  accurately  speaking,  it  &dls  short  of  the 
ther  underlies  the  former ;  the  narrower  white  line  is  under- 
0*3,  sensibly  more  of  the  former  appearing  beyond  the  edge 
)t  of  the  latter,  which  presents  the  quaint  look  of  a  black 
ite  surface  enclosed  in  a  green  band.  These  are  the  only 
1  the  spectrum  from  extreme  red  to  F ;  they  are  not  bright 
lines),  so  far  as  I  have  had  opportunity  to  judge.  Were  they 
the  question  wouldarise,  why  these  alone  should  be  reyersed 
aboYe  sea.  Like  the  black  lines  the  white  lines  grow  dim 
r  with  the  slit  opened  wide.  As  seen  here»K  1657*1  is  sen- 
than  K  1667*4,  whereas  Klrchhoff  assigns  5  6  to  the  former 
to  the  latter. 


ttph  of  the  Moon,  sent  by  the  Bey.  Dr.  Bobinson,  F Jt.S., 
the  Great  Melbourne  Equatorial,  was  exhibited ;  also  a 
-  the  Nebula  in  Argo^  made  from  eye-observations  with  the 
lent. 


1874.3 


PreiaUi  received,  Febmary  5,  1B74. 

Traniiactions. 

Briiun : — Naturfonchender  Yerein.    YerbandlongeD.  Band  XI.  8to. 
1873.  .  The  Sodely. 

CWcuttoi—AsiatioSoriety  of  Bengal.    Journal,  1873.  Ra*l,No.l,2; 
Part  2,  Nu.  1-3.  Svo.     ProceedingB,  1873.  No.  2-8.  8to. 

The  Sodety. 

Laueume  : — Soci^t^  Yaudoiae   des   Sdences    Xaturelles.      Bulletin. 

Yol.  XII.  No.  89,  70.  8vo.  1873.  The  Society. 

London  : — Mathematical   Sodety.       Proceedings.    No.    54-63.    8to. 

1872-73.  The  Sodety. 

Odontological  Sodety.    Transactiona.  Vol.  VI.  No.  1, 2.  8vo.  1873. 

The  Society. 
Pharmaceutical  Sodety.     Pharmaceutical  Journal  and  Transoctiona. 
Third  Series.  Yol.  I.,  II.,  lY.  (Part  37-42).  8vo.  1870-73. 

The  Society. 

Quekett  Microscopical  Gub.     Journal.  No.  24, 25.     Eighth  S«port. 

July  1873.  8vo.  1873-74.  The  Oub. 

Melbourne  : — Boyal    Sodety   of  Victoria.      Progress,   Beport«,  and 

Final  Beport  of  the  Exploration  Committee.  foUo.  1872. 

The  Sodety. 

Nencfaatel ; — Sod^t^  des  Sdences  Naturelles.     Bulletin.   Tome  IX. 

Cfthier  2.  8to.  1872.  The  Society. 

Paris : — Ecole  des   Mines.     Annales   des   Mines.    LivTuson  1—4  de 

1873.  8vo.  The  £cole. 

Faculty  dea  Sdences.      Theses  par  E.  Branly,  G.  Le  Monnier,  E, 

Jannettaz,  E.  Bichat,  B.  Benoit,  A.  Sabatier,  Legouia,  J.  Chaiui. 

No.  344-351.  8yo  A  4to.  1872-73.         The  Faculty  des  Sdences. 

Sod^  G^k^que  de  France.     Bulletan.  2*  S^rie.  Tome  XXIX. 

ff.  42-49  ;  3»  Serie.  Tome  I.  No.  3.  8to.  1872-73. 

The  Society. 

Warwick : — WarwickBhire  Natural-History  and  Arclueological  Sodety. 

Thirty-seventh  Annual  Beport.  April  1873.  8to.      The  Society. 


Barboza  du  Bocage  (J.  V.)  Notice  sur  I'Habitat  et  lea  Caract^res  dn 
Macrosdncua  Coctd.  8to.  ZUbomie  1873.  Ten  Zoological  Papers 
extracted  from  the  '  Jomal  de  Sdendas  Mathematicas,  Physicaa,  e 
Naturaea.'  8to.  Litboa  1869-73.  Five  Papers  extracted  from  the 
'  Proceedings  of  the  Zoological  Sodety.'  8vo.  1865-70. 

The  Author,  by  Prof.  Huxley,  Sec.E.S. 


"rMn-aclions. 
Albany: — Aiiiorican  Tiistitut(\     Thirtieth  Annual  l\oport 

l^(;i)-7(>.  .^vo.  Alhfun/  Ls70.  Tl: 

New- York  State  Agricultural  Society.     Transactions.  ^ 

1871.  8vo.  Albany  1873.  ^1 

Boston  [U.S.] : — Boston  Society  of  Natural  History.   Memo 

Part  2.  No.  2, 3.  4to.  1872-73.    Proceedings.  Vol.  XI 

426 ;  Vol.  XV.  Part  1,  2.  8vo.  1872-73.  1 

Buffalo  : — Society  of  Natural  Sciences.      Bulletin.  Vol. 

8vo.  1873.  G 

Cambridge  [U.S.] : — American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Scie 

moirs.  New  Series.  Vol.  IX.  Part  2.  4to.   1873.     I 

pp.  409-604.  8vo.  1872-73.  Th< 

American  Associfttion  for  the  Advancement  of  Science. 

ings.  Twenty-first  Meeting,  held  at  Dubuque,  Iowa,  A 

8vo.  1873.  Thei 

London  : — Geological    Society.       Quarterly   Journal.     V 

Part  3,  4;  Vol.  XXX.  Part  1.  8vo.  1873-74.     List  . 

8vo.  1873.  1 

Madison,  U.S. : — Wisconsin  Academy  of  Science,  Arts,  a 

Transactions,  1870-72.  8vo.  1872  (2  copies).  The 

New  Haven : — Connecticut  Academy  of  Arts  and  Science 

actions.   Vol.  11.   Part  2.  8vo.  1873.  The 

New  York: — American  Geographical  Society.    Journal.  Vo 

New  York  1873.  T 

Paris : — Soci^t^  de  Biologic.  Comptes  Eendus  des  Seances  et 
4«  SpriA-    Tom  A  TTT     TV    ^J   .    K^  aA^^     rr t     tt 


1874.]  Pretenta.  225 

Beporbs. 

Albany : — Annual  Mesiagei  of  the  Qovernor  of  the  St&te  of  New  York, 
1871,  1872.  8vo.  The  Govemor. 

SeTenteenth  Annual  Beport  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
BtructioQ  of  the  State  of  New  York.  8to.  1871. 

The  Department. 
Twelfth  Annual  Seport  of  the  Superintendent  of  the  Insurance 
Department,  State  of  New  York.  8to.   J871. 

The  Department. 
TTniYereity  of  the  State  of  New  York.  Annual  Beporte  of  the 
Begents,  84,  85.  8to.  1871-72.  Annual  Beport*  of  the  TruBteea 
of  the  New-York  State  Library,  54,  55.  8to.  1872-73.  Subject- 
Index  t»  the  Catalogue  of  the  New-York  State  Library.  8yo.  1872. 
Besulte  of  a  Series  of  Meteorological  ObaerrationB  mode  at  sundry 
Stations  in  the  State  of  New  York.  Second  Series.  By  F.  B. 
Hough.  4to.  1872.  The  Eegents  of  the  UniTerdty. 

Beport  of  a  Topographical  Survey  of  the  Adirondack  Wilderness  of 
New  York,  by  V.  Colrin.  8vo.  1873.  The  Author. 

Baltimore  : — Peabody  Institute.  Sixth  Annual  Beport  of  the  ProToat 
to  the  TruBteea.  8vo.  1873.  The  Institute. 

Bosten,  U.S. :— Board  of  Education.  Tbirir-aixth  Annual  Beport. 
8ro.  1873.  The  Boarf. 

Board  of  State  Charities  of  Massachusetts.    Ninth  Annual  Beport. 
8vo.  1873.  The  Board. 

Massachusetts  Board  of  Agriculture.     Nineteenth  and  Twentieth 
Annual  Beports  of  the  Secretary,  1871,  1872.     8vo.  1872-73. 

The  Board. 
Cambridge,  U.S. :— Harvard  College.   Catalogue,  1872-73.  8yo.  1873. 
Forty-seventh  Annual  Beport  of  the  President,  1871-72.  8vo. 
and  other  Papers.  The  College. 

London : — Meteorological  Office.  Daily  Weather  Beport,  Jan.  to 
June  1873.  folio.  Quarterly  Weather  Beport.  1872,  Part  4 ; 
1873,  Part  1.  4to.  Notes  on  the  Form  of  Cyclones  in  the 
Southern  Indian  Ocean,  by  C.  Meldmm.    8vo.    1873. 

The  Office. 

New  York : — Cooper  Union.     Annual  Beport  of  the  Curator.    8vo. 

1873.    Fourteenth  Annual  Beport  of  the  Trustees.  8vo.  1873. 

The  Institution. 

Washington  : — Bureau   of  Navigation.       American  Ephemeris  and 

Nautical  Almanac  for  the  year  1876.  8vo.  1873.        The  Bureau. 

Catalogue  of  Books  added  to  the  Library  of  Congress  during  the 

year  1871.  roy,  8vo.  1872.  The  Smithsonian  Institution. 


ii-^«'l>  :  — Acadriiiic  Ixoyali-  df  I^('li;i([U('.  BulK'tiii.  \'J'  an 
:>     lo.   12.    Svo.    r>r>fj;ll,s   1>7:5.  The   A 

Ac:i(l<iiii«'  Kovak'  dr  Mt'dcciin'.  Mrmoires  Couroniu's  r 
Memoires.  Tome  II.  fasc.  1.  8vo.  1873.  Bulletiu.  J 
Tome  VU.  No.  5-12.  Svo.   1873.  The  J. 

iblin  : — Boyal  Geological  Society  of  Ireland.  Journal.  V< 
Part  3.  Svo.  1873.  The 

ndon: — British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.    Year-Book 
macj,  with  the  Transactions  at  the  Tenth  Annual  Meet 
at  Bradford,  Sept.  1873.  Svo.  London  1873.         The  Co: 

Odontological  Society.  Transactions.  New  Series.  Vol.  T 
8vo.  London  1873.  The 

Boyal  Astronomical  Society.  Monthly  Notices.  Vol.  5 
No.  8, 9 ;  Vol.  XXXIV.  No.  1-3.  8vo.  1873-74.      The 

Bo3ral  United-Senrioe  Institution.  Journal.  Vol.  XVLI. 
73.  Svo.  1873.  The  Ini 

»me  : — ^Accademia  Pontificia  de'  Nuovi  lincei.  Atti.  Tc 
Anno  3  (1849-60).  4to.  Boma  1873.  The  J 

enna : — Osterreichische  G^sellschaft  fiir  Meteorologie.  Ze 
redigirt  von  C.  Jelinek  und  J.  Hann.  Band  VIU.  Ni 
Band  IX.  Nr.  1,  3.  roy.  Svo.  Wien  1873-74.  The 


sbrugghe  (G.  van  der)    Sur  la  tension  superfidelle  des  .' 
Second  M^moire.  4to.  BruxelUs  1873.  The 


1874.]  Pretentt.  227 

Fthruary  26,  1874. 

TranaactionB. 
Amsterdam : — Koninklijke  Akademie  van  Wetenschappen.  Yerhuide- 
tiugen.  Deel  XIII.  4to.  1873.  Veralageo  en  Mededeelingen. 
Aideeliug  Nataurkimde.  Tweede  Beeks.  Deel  VII.  8to.  1873. 
Afd.  Letterkunde.  Twe«de  Beeks.  Deel  III.  8to.  1673.  Jaai<- 
boek  voor  1872.  8¥0.  Proceasen-Verbaal,  1872-73.  8vo.  Oaudia 
Doiuestica.  Svo.  1873.  The  Academy. 

Leipsic : — Konigl.  SachsiBche  QeBeilschaft  der  Wiaseiuchaftoii.  Ab- 
handlungen.  Math.-pUp.  Classe.  Band  X.  No.  6 ;  Phil.-hiat. 
Claase.  Band  VI.  No.  5 ;  Band  VII.  No.  1.  roy.  8to.  Leipxig 
1873.     Berichte  iiber  die  Verbandlungen.    Matb.-phye.  Claaae, 

1872.  3,  4,  Eitraheft,  1873,  1, 2 ;  PhJI.-hist.  Claase,  1872.  Svo. 

1873.  The  Society. 
Munich  : — Kdnigl.  Bayerische  Akademie  der  WiaBenBchaften.     Ab- 

handlimgen.  Math.-phys.  Classe.  Band  XI.  Abth.  2 ;  Hist.  Claase. 
Band  Xn.  Abth.  1 ;  Philos.-philol.  Classe.  Band  XIU.  Abth.  1. 
4to.  Miiwhen  1873.  The  Academy. 

Washington  : — Smithsonian  Institution.  Miscellaneous  Collections. 
Vol.  X.  Svo.  1873.  Annual  Beport  of  the  Board  of  Begents  for 
the  year  1871.  Svo.  1873.  The  Institution. 


Beporte  &c. 
Paris : — D^pot  de  la  Marine.       Annates    Hydrographiques,   1873. 
Trimestre   1,  2.    Svo.      Catalogue  des  Cartes  &c.    Svo.    1873. 
Annuaire  des  Mar^  des  Cotes  de  France  pour  I'aa  1874.  12ma. 

1873.  Annuaire  de  MaHes  de  la  Basse  Cochinchine  pour  Tan 

1874.  12mo.  1873.    Des  Vents  observes  dans  I'Atlantique  Nord. 
Svo.  1873.  Fifty-six  Maps  and  Plans.     The  D4pdt  de  la  Marine. 

Washington  : — United  States  Q«ological  Survey  of  the  Territories. 
First,  Second,  and  Third  Annual  Beports,  for  1867,  1868,  and 
1869.  Svo.  1873.  Sisth  A  nnual  Eeport.  8vo.  1873.  Report. 
Vol.  I.  Part  1.  Contributiona  to  IJie  Extinct  Vertebrate  Fauna  of 
the  Western  Territories,  by  J.  Leidy.  Vol.  V.  Part  1.  Acrididw 
of  North  America,  by  C.  Thomas.  4to.  1873.  Hiscellaneous 
Publications,  No.  1,2.  Svo.  1873.  The  Survey. 

Annual  Beport  of  the  Chief  Signal-Officer  to  the  Secretary  of  War 
for  the  year  1872.  Svo.  1873.  The  Department. 


1874.]  Praentt.  337 

Pebniajy  26,  1874. 
TmuActianfl. 

Amaterdam : — Koiiiiildijke  Akodeinie  van  Wetenschappen.  Yertiaado- 
lingen.  Deel  SHI.  4to.  1873.  Veralagen  en  Mededeelingen. 
Afdeeling  Natnorkimde.  Tveede  Beeka.  Deel  VII.  8vo.  1873. 
Aid.  Letterkimde.  Tweede  Beeks.  Deel  III.  8to.  1873.  Jaai^ 
boek  vooT  1872.  8vo.  ProcesBen-Verbaal-,  1872-73.  8vo.  Gaudia 
Domestica.  8to.  1873.  The  Academy. 

Letpsic : — Konigl.  Sachsische  Gesellschaft  der  WisBenBchaften.  Ab- 
handlungen.  Math.-plijs.  Claese.  Band  X.  No.  6 ;  Phil.-hist. 
Oaeae.  Band  VI.  No.  5;  Band  VII.  No.  1.  roy.  8to.  LetjMiff 
1873.    Berichte  tiber  die  Verhandlungen.    Math.-phys.  Classe, 

1872.  3,  4,  Extraheft,  1873,  1, 2 ;  Phil.-hist.  Classe,  1872.  8vo. 

1873.  The  Society. 
Municli ; — Konigl.  Bayerische  Akademie  der  WisBenBchaften.     Ab- 

handlungen.  Math.-phye.  Classe.  Band  XI.  Abth.2;  Hist.  Classe. 
Band  XU.  Abth.  1 ;  Philos.-philol.  Claaee.  Band  XIII.  Abth.  1. 
4to.  MiauAtn  1873.  The  Academy. 

'Washington : — SmithBOQian  Institution.  Miacellaneoua  CoIlectionB. 
Vol.  X.  8to.  1873.  Annnal  Report  of  the  Board  of  Begents  for 
the  year  1871.  8vo.  1873.  The  Institution. 


Beports  £c. 

Paris  : — D4pdt  de  la  Marine.  Annates  Hydrc^raphiques,  1873. 
Trimestre  1,  2.  8vo.  Catalogue  des  Cartes  &c.  8vo.  1873. 
Anuuaire  des  Mar^  des  Cotes  de  France  pour  I'an  1874.  12mo. 

1873.  Annuaire  da  Mar^  de  la  Basse  Cochinchine  pour  I'aQ 

1874.  12mo.  1873.     Des  Venta  obserr^a  dans  TAtlantique  Nord. 
8vo.  1873.  Fifty-eii  Maps  and  Plans.     The  D^pot  de  la  Marine. 

Washington : — Unit«d  States  Qeological  Survey  of  the  Territories. 
Mrat,  Second,  and  Third  Annual  Beports,  for  1867,  1868,  and 
1869.  8to.  1873.  Sixth  Annual  Beports  8vo.  1873.  Beport. 
Vol.  L  Part  1.  Contributions  to  the  Extinct  Vertebrate  Fauna  of 
the  West«m  Territories,  by  J.  Leidy.  Vol.  V.  Part  1.  Acrididie 
of  North  America,  by  C.  Thomas.  4to.  1873.  Miscellaneous 
PuhUcations,  No.  1, 2.  8to.  1B73.  The  Survey. 

Annual  Bepori)  of  the  Chief  Signal-Officer  to  the  Secretary  of  War 
for  the  year  1872.  8vo.  1873.  The  Department. 


Cunningham  (D.  D.)  Microscopic  lExaminationB  of  Air.  folio.  CaiouUa 
1873.  The  Government  of  India. 

Day  (F.)  Beport  on  the  Freshwater  Fish  and  Fisheries  of  India  and 
Burma.  8vo.  CoZniMa  1873,  The  Oovemmwt  of  India. 

vol..  xm.  t 


228  Ust  of  Candidates.  [Mar.  5, 

Jevone  (W.  Stanley),  F.H.S.     The  Prindples  of  Science  :  a  Treatise  on 
Logic  Find  Scientific  Method.   2  vols.    8vo.    London  1874. 

The  Author. 

Eiitimeyer  (L.)     TJeher  den  Bau  ron  Schale  iind  Schiidel  bei  lebenden 
und  fossilen  SchildkrcitflD.  8to,  Basel  1873.  The  Author. 


March  5,  1874. 

JOSEPH  DALTON  HOOKER,  C.B.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

In  pursuance  of  the*Stjitut«s,  the  names  of  the  Candidates  for  election 
into  the  Society  were  read  as  follows  : —  ^ 


Eev.  Alfred  Barry,  D.D.,  D.C.L. 
Edward  Middleton  Barry,  B.A. 
Isaac  Lowthian  Boll,  F.C.S. 
George  Bishop,  F.E.A.S. 
W.  T.  Biantord.  F.G.S. 
Henry  Bowman  Brady,  F.L.S, 
Thomas  Lauder  Bninton,  M.D, 
George  Buchanan,  M.A.,  M.D. 
Walter  Lawry  BuUer,  Sc.D. 
W.  Chimrao,"Capt.  Tt.N. 
Prof.  W.  Kingdom  Clifford. 
CnthbertCollingwood,M.A.,F.L.S. 
Herbert  Daries,  M.D. 
August  Dupro,  Ph.D.,  F.C.S. 
Thomas  Fairbaim. 
Joseph  Fayrer,  M.D. 
Prof.  Dand  Ferrier,  M.D. 
Peter  Le  Nevo  Foster,  M.A. 
Augustus  Wollastou  Franks,  M.A. 
Prof.   Thomas    Minchin    Goodeve, 

M.A. 
Lewis    Dunbar     Brodie     Gordon, 

F.G.S. 
Eobert  Baldwin  Hayward,  M.A. 
Prof.  Olaus  Henrici,  Ph.D. 
Preacott  G.  Ilewett,  F.E.C.S.E. 
John  Eliot  Howard,  F.L.S. 
Prof.  Thomas  M'Kennv   Hughes, 

M.A. 
Bldmund  C.  Johnson. 
Robert  M'Lachlan,  F.L.S. 


Sir  Henry  Sumner  Maine,  C.S.I., 

LL.D. 
Kichard  Henry  Major. 
William  Maves,  Stafi-Commander 

B.N. 
Charles  Meldrum,  M.A. 
Edmund  James  Mills,  D.Sc. 
Eichard  Xorris,  M.D. 
Oliver  Pemberton,  M.R.C.S. 
Eev.  Stephen  Joseph  Perry. 
John  Arthur  PhilHps,  F.C.S. 
AViUiam  Overend  Priestley,  M.D. 
William  Chandler  Eobcrts,  F.C.S. 
Henry  Wyldbore  Eumsey,  M.D. 
Henry    Toung     Darracott    Scott, 

Major-General  E.E.,  C.B. 
Alfred  E.  C.  Selwyn  (Geo!.  Survey, 

Canada). 
Samuel  Sharp.  F.G.S. 
Robert  Swinlioe. 
Sir  Henry  Thompson,  F.R.C.S. 
Thomas  Edward  Thorpe,  Ph.D. 
Charles  Todd  (Oba.,  Adelaide). 
Ed«in  T.  Truman,  M.R.C.S.  " 
Fmncia  Henr>'  Wenham,  F.E.M.S. 
Wildmaii  Orange  Whitehouse,  CF:. 
Charles    William    Wilson,    Major 

B.E. 
Archibald    ITenry    Plautagenet 

Stuart  Worlley,  Lieut. -Col. 


1874.]         On  the  localization  qf  Function  in  the  Brain.  220 

The  Presents  received  were  Wd  on  the  table,  and  thanks  ordered  for 
them. 

The  foUowlDg  Paper  was  read : — 

"  The  Localization  of  Function  in  the  Brain."  By  Datid 
Fbrrier,  M.A.,  M.D.,  M.R.C.P.,  Professor  of  Forensic 
Medicine,  King's  College,  London.  Commnmcated  by  J. 
BuRDON  Sanderson,  M.D.,  F.R.S.,  Professor  of  Practical 
Physiology  in  UniTersity  College.  Received  February  20, 
1874. 

(Abstract.) 

The  chief  contents  of  this  paper  are  the  results  of  an  experimental 
investigation  tending  to  prove  that  there  is  a  localization  of  function  in 
specif  regions  of  the  cerebral  hemiapheres. 

In  a  former  paper  published  by  the  author  in  the  'West  Sidiog 
Lunatic  Asylum  Medical  Beports,'  vol.  iii.  1873,  the  results  were  given 
of  experiments  on  rabbits,  cats,  and  dogs,  mode  specially  for  the  purpose 
of  testing  the  theory  of  Hughlings  Jackson,  that  localized  and  unilateral 
epilepsies  are  caused  by  irritation  or  "  discharging  lesions  "  of  the  grey 
matter  of  the  hemispheres  in  the  region  of  the  corpus  striatum.  Besides 
'confirming  Hughlings  Jackson's  views,  the  author's  researches  indicated 
an  exact  localization  in  the  hemispheres  of  centres,  or  regions,  far  the 
carrying  out  of  simple  and  complex  muscular  movements  of  a  definite 
character,  and  described  by  him  as  of  a  purposive,  or  expressional,  nature. 

Facts  were  also  recorded  tending  to  show  that  other  regions  of  the 
brain  were  connect«d  with  sensory  perception,  but  no  localization  was 
definitely  arrived  at. 

Among  the  experiments  now  related  are  some  in  further  confirmation 
and  extension  of  those  already  made  on  cats,  dogs,  and  rabbits,  as  well 
as  a  new  series  of  experiments  on  other  vertebrates.  In  particular, 
numerous  experiments  on  monkeys  are  described,  for  the  purpose  of 
which  the  author  received  a  grant  of  money  from  the  Council  of  tbe 
Boyol  Society,  In  addition,  the  results  of  experiments  on  jackals, 
guineapigs,  rats,  pigeons,  frogs,  toads,  and  fishes  are  narrated. 

The  method  of  investigation  consists  in  the  application  of  the  stimulus 
of  an  induced  current  of  electricity  directly  to  tbe  surface  of  the  brain 
in  animus  rendered  only  partially  insensible  during  the  process  of  explo- 
ration, complete  antesthesia  annihilating  all  reaction.  It  is  supplemented 
by  the  method  of  localized  destructive  lesions  of  the  hemispheres. 

Special  attention  is  called  to  the  precision  with  which  a  given  result 
follows  stimulation  of  a  definite  area — so  much  so,  that  when  once  the 
brain  has  been  accurately  mapped  out,  the  experimenter  can  preset  with 
certunty  the  result  of  stimulation  of  a  given  region  or  centre.  The 
theory  that  the  phenomena  are  due  not  to  excitation  of  cortical  centres, 
but  to  conduction  of  the  electric  currenta  to  basal  gangli*  and  motor 


230  Dr.  D.  Ferrier  on  the  [Mar.  5, 

tracts,  is  considered  to  be  disposed  of  by  the  fact  of  the  precision  and  pre- 
dictable characters  of  the  results,  and  by  the  marked  differences  in  the 
phenomena  which  are  observed  when  regions  in  close  local  relation  to 
each  other  are  excited.  Other  facts  are  pointed  out  bearing  in  the  same 
direction ;  among  others,  the  harmony  and  homology  subsisting  between 
the  results  of  experiment  in  all  the  different  animals. 

The  experiments  on  monkeys  are  first  described. 

Beference  is  continually  made  in  the  description  to  figures  of  the  brain, 
OD  which  are  delineated  the  position  and  extent  of  the  regions,  stimula- 
tion of  which  is  followed  by  constant  and  definite  results.  A  complete 
statement  of  these  results  in  the  present  abstract  is  impossible. 

Generally,  it  may  be  stated  that  the  centres  for  the  movements  of  the 
limbs  are  situated  in  the  convolutions  bounding  the  fissure  of  Bolando, 
viz.  the  ascending  parietal  convolution  with  its  postero-parietal  termina- 
tion as  far  back  as  the  parieto-ocdpital  fissure,  the  ascending  frontal,  and 
posterior  termination  of  the  superior  frontal  convolution.  Centres  for 
individual  movements  of  the  limbs,  hands,  and  feet  are  differentiated  in 
these  convolutions. 

Further,  in  the  ascending  frontal  convolution,  on  a  level  with  the  pos- 
terior termination  of  the  middle  frontal,  are  centres  for  certain  facial 
muscles,  e.  g,  the  zygomatics  <fcc.  At  the  posterior  termination  of  the 
inferior  frontal  convolution  and  corresponding  part  of  the  ascending 
frontal  are  the  centres  for  various  movements  of  the  mouth  and  tongue. 
This  is  the  homologue  of  "  Broca's  convolution."  At  the  inferior  angle 
of  the  intraparietal  sulcus  is  the  centre  for  the  platysma. 

In  the  superior  frontal  convolution,  in  advance  of  the  centre  for  cer- 
tain forward  movements  of  the  arm,  as  well  as  in  the  corresponding  part  of 
the  middle  frontal  convolution,  are  areas,  stimulation  of  which  causes  lateral 
(crossed)  movements  of  the  head  and  eyes  and  dilatation  of  the  pupils. 

The  antero-frontal  region,  with  the  inferior  frontal  and  orbital  convo- 
lutions, give  no  definite  results  on  irritation.  Extirpation  of  these  parts 
causes  a  condition  resembling  dementia. 

No  results  could  be  ascertained  as  regards  the  function  of  the  central 
lobe  or  island  of  Eeil. 

Irritation  of  the  angular  gyrus  (pit  eourhe)  causes  certain  movements 
of  the  eyeballs  and  pupils.  Destruction  of  this  convolution  gives  data 
for  regarding  it  as  the  cerebral  expansion  of  the  optic  nerve,  and,  as  such, 
the  seat  of  visual  perception. 

The  phenomena  resulting  from  irritation  of  the  superior  temporo- 
sphenoidal  convolution  (pricking  of  the  ear,  Ac.)  are  indications  of  exci- 
tation of  ideas  of  sound.  It  is  regarded  as  the  cerebral  termination  of 
the  auditory  nerve.  The  sense  of  smell  is  localized  in  the  uncinate  con- 
volution. The  situation  of  the  regions  connected  vrith  sensations  of 
taste  and  touch  is  not  accurately  defined,  but  some  facts  are  given  indi- 
cating their  probable  locality. 


1874.]  Localizatitm  of  Ftttictitm  m  the  Brian.  281 

The  occipital  lobea  do  aot  reset  on  stimulation.  Destruction  of  these 
lobes  caused  no  loss  of  sensation  or  ToluDtary  motion,  but  an  apparent 
abolition  of  the  instincts  of  self-preserration. 

The  corpora  striata  are  shown  to  be  motor  in  function,  and  the  optic 
thalami  sensory. 

Stimulation  of  the  corpora  quadiigemina  causes  dilatation  of  the 
pupils,  opisthotonic  contractions,  and  the  utterance  of  peculiar  cries 
when  the  tate*  alone  are  irritated.  The  nature  and  signification  of  these 
phenomena  are  regarded  as  still  obscure,  and  requiring  further  investi- 
gitioa. 

8<xne  experiments  have  been  made  on  the  cerebellum  of  monkeys. 
They  confirm  the  author's  previous  views  tA  to  the  relation  of  this  organ 
to  coordination  of  the  optic  axes,  and  the  maintenance  of  bodily  equili- 
brium. The  eiperimenta  are  not  detailed,  as  they  will  form  the  subject 
of  a  future  paper. 

New  experiments  on  dogs  essentially  confirm  those  already  published, 
while  many  new  facta  have  been  elicited.  Those  on  jackals  agree  in  the 
main  with  the  experiments  on  dogs,  both  as  to  the  chuacter  of  the  results 
and  the  localization  of  the  centres.  New  experiments  on  cats  generally 
confirm,  as  well  as  further  define,  the  results  described  by  the  author  in 
his  former  paper.  The  &ctB  of  experiment  on  rabbits,  guineapigs,  and 
rats  are  essentially  alike,  and  also  confirm  former  statements. 

In  all  those  animals  tbe  sensory  regions  are  defined  and  their  position 
compared  with  those  in  the  brain  of  the  monkey. 

The  only  result  obtained  by  stimulation  of  the  cerebral  hemispheres 
in  pigeons  was  contraction  of  the  pupil.  The  region  associated  with  this 
action,  situated  in  the  postero-parietal  aspect,  is  compared  with  a  similar 
region  in  the  nmmnmliftn  brain,  and  regarded  as  the  seat  of  visual  per- 
ception. 

Movements  of  the  limbs  in  frogs,  and  of  the  tail  and  fins  in  fif  hes  (as 
in  swimming),  can  be  excited  from  the  cerebral  hemispheres  in  these 
animals.   Exact  localization  of  motor  and  sensory  centres  is  not  possible. 

The  optic  lobes  in  birds,  frogs,  and  fishes  seem  related  to  movements 
of  flight  and  progression,  in  addition  to  their  relation  with  tbe  eyes. 
Similar  phenomena  result  from  irritation  of  the  cerebellum;  but  the 
significatian_of  these  is  reserved  for  future  inquiry. 

From  the  data  of  physiological  experiment  a  foundation  is  obtained 
for  constructing  an  anatomical  homology  of  the  convolutions. 

Among  other  points  in  homology  the  fissure  of  Bolando  is  shown  to 
be  the  homologue  of  the  crucial  sulcus  in  tbe  brain  of  the  Camivora. 

Tbe  whole  brain  is  regarded  as  divided  into  sensory  and  motor  regions, 
corresponding  to  the  anatomical  relation  of  these  r^ons  to  the  optic  tha- 
lami and  corpora  striata  and  the  sensory  and  motor  tracts. 

The  motor  r^ons  are  regarded  as  essential  for  tbe  execution  of 
voluntary  movements,  and  as  the  seat  <^  a  corresponding  motor  memory 


■n "^    

232  Mr.  E.  B.  LanJcester  on  the  [Mar.  13, 

motor  ideas),  Lhe  sensory  regions  being  looked  upon  as  the  organic  seat 
of  ideas  derived  from  sensory  impressions.  An  tiplnnation  is  attempted 
of  the  phenomena  of  aphasia,  and  the  relation  of  the  in:?mory  of  words 
to  the  ideas  they  represent. 

The  theory  that  a  eertjiin  action,  esoited  by  stinmlation  of  a  certain 
centre,  is  the  result  of  a  mental  conception  is  i"onaidered  and  dispnted. 
From  the  complesity  of  mental  phenomena,  and  the  participation  in  them 
of  both  motor  and  sensory  substrata,  any  sTStem  of  localiealioii  of  mental 
faailties  which  does  not  take  both  faetors  into  account  milst  be  radi- 
cally false.     A  scientific  phrenology  is  regarded  as  possible. 

The  paper  concludes  with  a  short  consideration  of  tie  relation  of  the 
basal  ganglia  to  the  hemispheres.  The  yiew  is  adopted  that  they  con- 
ititute  a  subvoluntory  or  automatic  seusori-motor  mecbauism. 


March  12,  1874. 

JOSEPH  DALTON  HOOKER,  C.B.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

The  Presents  received  were  laid  on  the  table,  and  thanks  ordered  for 
them. 
The  following  Papers  were  read : — 

I.  "  Contributioas  to  the  Developniental  History  of  the  Mollasca. 
Sections  I.,  II.,  III.,  IV."  By  E.  Rav  Lankester,  M.A., 
Pdlow  of  Exeter  College,  Oxford.  Communicated  by  G. 
RoLLBSTON,  M.D,,  F.R.S.j  Linacre  Professor  of  Anatomy  and 
Physiology  in  the  Uniyersity  of  Oxford.  Received  January  1 9, 
1874. 

(Abstract.) 

Section  I.  The  ovarian  Eyg  wtd  early  development  o/Loligo. 
The  points  of  greatest  interest  to  which  the  author  draws  attention  in 
the  present  memoir  are : — 

1.  The  explanation  of  the  basketwork  structure  of  the  surface  of  the 
ovarian  egg  by  the  plication  of  the  inner  egg-capsule. 

2.  The  increase  of  the  yelk  by  the  inception  of  cells  prohferated  from 
the  inner  egg-capsule. 

3.  The  homogeneous  condition  of  the  egg  at  fertilization. 

4.  The  limitation  of  yelk-cleavage  to  the  cleavage-patch. 

5.  The  occurrence  of  independently  formed  corpuscles  (the  autoplasts) 
which  take  part  in  the  formation  of  the  blastoderm. 

6.  The  primitive  eye-chamber,  formed  by  the  rising  up  of  an  oval  wall 
and  its  growing  together  so  as  to  form  a  roof  to  the  chamber. 

7.  The  origin  of  the  otocysts  by  invagination. 

8.  The  rhythmic  contractility  of  a  part  of  the  wall  of  the  yelk-sac. 


1874.]      -      DevelopmaUal  Hutory  of  the  Molhaca.  233 

9.  The  disappearance  of  the  piimitaTe  mouth,  and  the  development  of  a 
secondaiy  mouth. 

10.  The  development  of  a  pur  of  lai^  nerve-ganglia  by  invagination 
of  the  epiblast  immediately  below  the  primitive  eye-chamben. 

Oenerdl  Connderatiom  Telative  to  the  Ohtervatima  contained  in  Sections  VL., 
III.,  IV.  {tontaining  the  developmental  hUloriei  of  Pisidium,  Aplysia, 
Ter^pes,  Polyeera,  taui  Neritina). 

In  these  observations  the  author  points  out  briefly  their  bearing  on  two 
matters  of  theoretical  importance,  viz.  (1)  the  origin  and  significance  of 
what  has  been  called  the  fiajtrttio-phase  of  development,  and  (2)  the  ho- 
mologies or  homogenies  (as  the  author  prefers  to  say)  of  the  shells,  liga- 
ments, and  internal  pens  of  the  MoUusca.  More  facts  have  to  be  sought 
out  and  brought  to  bear  on  these  questions ;  but  the  author,  while  occu- 
pied in  that  further  search,  indicates  the  anticipations  which  must  guide 
and  stimulate  it.  Before  doing  so  he  mentions  that  there  are  a  variety 
of  other  matters  of  interest  in.  the  facts  recorded  in  the  paper  which  can- 
not yet  be  brought  into  any  theoretical  structure,  but  which  are  not  on 
that  account  kept  back,  as  they  will  probably  be  of  some  service  in  their 
isolated  condition. 

Kowalevsky  was  the  first  to  describe,  in  a  precise  manner,  the  forma- 
tion of  the  foundations  of  the  alimentary  tract  in  a  developing  embryo, 
by  invagination  of  the  wall  of  a  simple  primitivo  blastosphere,  or  hollow 
ball  of  embryonic  cleavage-^wrpuscles.  He  detected  this  mode  of  deve- 
lopment in  Amphiojrui,  and  subsequently  in -ilscM^ia.  By  later  researches 
he  was  able  to  indicate  the  same  mode  of  development  in  certain  Vermes 
(Saffitia,  Euaxei,  Lttmbz-ieua) ;  and  he  mentioned  incidentally  that  he  had 
observed  a  Bimilor  development  in  the  Heteropodous  mollusk  Atalanta. 
At  that  time  the  author  was  studying  the  development  of  Pitidium  and 
Limax,  and  obtained  evidence  of  the  invagination  of  the  primitive  blasto- 
sphere in  those  two  widely  separated  mollnsks.  Subsequently  at  Naples 
he  found  the  same  process  occurring  in  Nudibranchs.  The  probable 
identity  of  this  process  of  invagination  with  that  so  well  known  in  the 
Batrachians,  especially  through  Strieker's  admirable  work  on  the  subject, 
became  clear,  to  those  occupied  with  embryologies!  studies,  from  the  facts 
established  by  Kowalevsky ;  and  the  "  anus  of  Busconi  "  could  now  be  re- 
cognized in  the  "  orifice  of  invagination  "  present  in  members  of  the  three 
large  groups  of  Vermes,  Mollusca,  and  Vertobrata. 

The  embryonic  form  produced  by  this  invagination-process  is  a  simple 
aac  composed  of  an  ectoderm  and  endoderm,  with  an  orifice  connecting 
the  exterior  with  the  cavity  lined  by  the  endoderm.  It,  in  short,  pre- 
sents the  typical  structure  of  the  simplest  Ckelenterata,  and  corresponds 
exactly  with  the  so-called  Planvla  of  the  polyps  and  corals.  Hence  we 
are  tempted  to  see  in  this  primitive  invagination-form  the  representative 
of  the  CcGlenterat«  phase  of  development  of  the  whole  animal  kingdom. 


234  Mr.  K.  R.  Laiikester  oit  the  [Mar.  12, 

111  a  paper  published  iii  May  1873*,  coDtomJDg  the  aubatance  of  lectures 
deliyei-etl  in  the  preceding  Oi-tober,  the  author  discussed  this  notion  at 
Bomo  length,  and  other  points  cuoiiected  with  the  attempt  to  wwk  out 
the  con-espondencea  of  the  embryonal^^ll-layera  of  the  various  groups  of 
the  animal  kingdom.  At  the  end  of  the  year  1872,  Professor  Uackel'a 
splendid  Monograph  of  the  Calcareous  Sponges  appeared,  in  which  the 
same  questiouH  are  methodically  discussed.  The  name  GasCniia  is  given 
by  Professor  Hiiokel  to  the  embryonic  form  which  the  author  proposed 
to  designate  by  the  old  name  Planula ;  and  the  multicellular  bJastoaphere, 
from  which  the  Gaxtrula  is  developed,  which  the  author  had  proposed  to 
speak  of  as  a  Pulgplast,  he  well  christeiiB  the  Morala.  Professor  Miickol 
was  able  to  show  in  his  monograph  that  &e  Catcarecrus  Sponges  exbilHt  a 
beautifully  definite  (riw^ruif-larvn,  which  swims  freely  by  means  of  eilia, 
Lieberkiilm,  Miklucho-JIaclay,  and  Oscar  Schmidt  had  previously  shown 
that  certain  sponges  exhibit  such  an  embryonic  form;  but  Professw 
Hiickel  described  it  in  many  cases,  and  showed  fully  its  mode  of  deve- 
lopment and  structure. 

This  brings  us  to  an  important  point  in  what  Hackel  calls  the  "Gas- 
tnca  theory  "t.  The  Gastrala  form  of  the  CalcareouB  Sponges  is  not  formed 
by  invagination,  but  without  any  opening  in  the  blastospbere  mailing  its 
appearance ;  the  cells  conatitutiDg  its  walls  divide  into  an  endoderm  and 
an  ectoderm ;  then,  and  not  until  then,  an  orifice  is  formed  from  the 
central  cavity  to  the  exterior  by  a  breaking  through  atone  pole.  Careful 
accounts  of  the  development  of  Coelenterata,  with  a  ^iew  to  determine  the 
mode  of  development  of  the  PlaMuUi  or  Qastrula  form  in  regard  to  the 
question  of  invagination,  are  not  to  hand  in  a  large  number  of  cases. 
But,  on  the  one  hand,  we  have  Kowalevsky's  account  of  the  development 
of  Pelagia  and  Actinia,  in  which  the  formation  of  a  Qastntla  by  invagina- 
tion is  described,  as  in  the  cases  already  cited  among  Vermes,  Molluscs, 
Kad  Vertebrata  ;  on  the  other  hand,  we  have  Allman's  observations  on 
the  Hydroids,  Schultze's  on  Cordyhpluira,  Kleinenberg'a  on  Hydra, 
Hackel's  on  the  Siphonophora,  and  Hermann  roll's  on  the  Geryonjdje, 
in  which  the  ectoderm  and  endoderm  of  the  embryo  (which  is  at  first  a 
Planula  without  mouth,  then  a  Qatlrula  with  a  mouth)  are  stated  to 
arise  from  the  splitting  or  "  delamination  "  of  a  single  original  series  of 
cells  forming  the  wall  of  the  blastosphere.  Hermann  Foil's  observations 
are  of  especial  value,  since  he  shows  most  carefully  how,  from  the  earliest 
period,  even  when  the  egg  is  nnicelhilar,  its  central  part  has  the  character 
of  the  endodermal  cells,  its  peripheral  part  that  of  the  ectodermal  cells. 

The  question  now  arises,  can  the  Qattrvla  which  arise  by  invagina- 
tion be  regarded  as  equivalent  txi  those  which  arise  by  internal  segrega- 
tion of  an  endoderm  from  an  ectoderm  ?  and  if  so,  which  is  the  typical 

•  AnnaU  and  M>g.  Nat.  Hist  1673,  li.  p.  321. 

t  His  moat  reoent  tiewi  on  this  niBltgr  ure  ronUinfd  in  i  pamphlet  duled  Jun<!  7. 
IS73,  ■  Die  Gaitraa-Theorie." 


1874.]  Developmental  HUtmy  of  the  Molbuea.  285 

or  ancestral  mode  of  development,  and  what'  relation  baa  the  orifioe  of 
invagination  in  the  one  case  to  the  mouth  which,  later,  breaks  its  way 
through  in  the  other  ? 

It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  the  present  memoir  to  discuss  these  que»- 
tions  at  length;  but  the  author  is  of  opinion  that  we  must  regard  the 
Ocutnda~aac  with  its  endoderm  and  ectoderm  as  strictly  equivalent  (ho- 
mogenous, to  use  another  expression)  in  the  two  seta  c^  cases.  One  of 
the  two  methods  is  the  typical  or  ancestral  method  of  development,  and 
the  departure  from  it  in  the  other  cases  is  due  to  some  disturbing  condi- 
tion. He  believes  that  we  shall  be  able  to  make  out  that  disturbing 
element  in  the  condition  of  the  egg  itself  as  laid,  in  the  presence  in  that 
egg  of  a  greater  or  less  amount  of  the  adventitious  nutritive  material 
which  Edouard  van  Beneden  calls  "  deutoplasm."  This  and  certain  re- 
lations of  bulk  in  the  early  developed  organs  of  the  various  embryos  con- 
sidered, determine  the  development  either  by  invagination  or  by  delami- 
nation.  The  relation  of  bulk  to  the  process  of  invagination  may  be  illus- 
trated from  a  fact  established  in  the  preceding  communications.  In 
Loligo  the  large  otocysts  develop,  each,  by  a  well-marked  invagination  oE 
.  the  epiblast,  forming  a  deep  pit  which  becomes  the  cavity  of  the  cyst.  In 
Aplyiia  the  smaller  otocysts  develop,  each,  by  a  simple  vaeuolation  of 
the  epiblast  without  invagination.  In  LcUgo  the  chief  nerve-ganglia  de- 
velop by  invagination  of  the  epiblast,  in  Aplywia  by  simple  thickening. 
Again,  in  Yertebrata  the  nerve-cord  develops  by  a  long  invagination  of 
the  epiblast ;  in  Tuliftx  and  Lumbricus  the  corresponding  nerve-cord  de- 
velops by  a  thickening  of  the  epiblast  without  any  groove  and  canal  of 
invagination. 

The  bulkier  structures  in  these  cases  are  seen  to  develop  by  invagi- 
nation, the  smaller  by  direct  segregation.  Invagination  therefore  acts  as 
an  economy  of  matenal,  a  hollow  mass  being  produced  instead  of  a  solid 
mass  of  the  same  extent. 

That  the  presence  of  a  quantity  of  deutoplasmic  matter,  or  of  a  par- 
tiaUy  assimilated  mass  of  such  matter,  in  the  original  egg  ia  not  accom- 
panied by  well-marked  invagination  of  the  blaatosphere,  while  the  absence 
of  much  deutoplasm  is  the  invariable  characteristic  of  eggs  which  de- 
velop a  Gattrula  by  invagination,  is  shown  by  a  comparison  of  Aplytia 
and  Loligo  with  Piadtum  and  Limax,  and  of  the  Bird  with  the  Batra- 
chian.  In  some  cases,  such  as  Selenka  has  characterized  by  the  term 
"  epiboly,"  it  seems  that  the  enclosure  of  the  large  yelk-mass  by  the  over- 
growth of  cleavage-cells  may  be  held  as  equivalent  to  the  invagination 
of  the  lai^  yelk-cells  by  "emboly;"  and  the  intermediate  character 
which  the  development  of  Evaatt  and  Lumbriau  present  in  this  respect, 
as  described  by  Kowalevsky,  tends  very  strongly  to  establish  a  transition. 

But  the  mode  of  development  of  the  Qagtrula  i>t  Geryonid»,  described 
with  so  much  minuteness  by  Foil,  which  is  obviously  the  same  as  that  of 
the  Oatlrvia  of  Spongiada  and  most  Hydroids,  is  clearly  no  masked  case 


Mr.  E.  R.  Lankeater  on  the  [Mar.  12, 

of  iovaginatioii.  There  is  no  question  o£  "  epiboly  "  here,  but  a  direct 
and  simple  splitting  of  one  cell  into  two  ;  so  that  vhat  was  a  sac  formed 
by  a  layer  of  cella  one  deep,  becomes  a  sat'  formed  by  a  layer  of  eells 
two  deep,  or  of  two  layers  each  one  deep. 

It  is  yet  a  question  for  much  further  inquiry  as  to  how  this  mode 
of  forming  a  double-walled  Oagtrula  cau  be  derived  from,  or  harmonined 
with,  the  formation  of  Giutrulahy  the  embolic  or  epibolic  forms  of  inva- 
gination. 

It  would  certuinly  seem  at  present  that  the  orifice  o£  inva^nation  of 
the  invaginate  Oasli-ula  must  wot  be  regarded  as  the  equivalent  of  the 
later  erupting  month  of  the  segregate  Oastrula*,  which  is  the  true  per- 
manent mouth  of  the  Spouge  or  Ccelenterate.  In  no  case  ts  the  oriiice 
of  iuvagiuation  of  the  invaginate  Oaatrida  known  to  persist  under  any 
form ;  it  appears  solely  to  effect  the  invagination,  and  nheu  that  is 
effected  vaniBhea. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  the  importance  of  observations  relating 
to  the  GcKinda-'pha&ei  of  development.  In  the  paper  well-marked  inva- 
ginate Goiinda  are  described  from ; — 

1.  Piaidiam  (Lamelli branch). 

2.  Ttrffipes  (Nudibranch). 

3.  Pohjcera  (Nudibranch), 

4.  Limas  (Pulmonate). 

5.  Limnceut  (Pulmonate). 

In  addition  to  these  cases  of  the  development  of  invaginate  Gaatndct 
among  MoUusca,  the  examination  of  the  very  beautiful  figures  in  the 
papers  of  Love'n  on  molluecan  development  leaves  no  doubt  that  he 
has  observed  invaginate  Qastrula:  in  the  following  cases,  but  has  not 
understood  their  structure ; — 

6.  Cardium  (LamelUbranch). 

7.  Ci-fntlki  (Lamellibranch). 

Similarly,  Karl  Yc^'s  observations  on  AcUeon  indicate  the  same  state 
of  things  as  the  author  has  pointed  out  in  Polyetra;  and  hence  we  mav 
add:— 

8.  Aetceon  (Nudibranch), 

and,  finally,  from  Kowaievsky's  statement,  though  not  accompanied  by 
figure  or  descriptiou, 

fl.  Aialanta  (Heteropod). 

The  second  matter  of  theoretical  interest  (namely,  the  early  features 
in  the  development  of  the  shell)  has  not  been  previously  discussed,  since 
the  structures  described  in  the  paper  as  shell-patch,  shell-groove,  and 
shell-plug  were  unknown. 

If,  as  seems  justifiable,  the  Cephalopoda  are  to  be  regarded  as  more 
'  In  his  paper  in  the  '  AanaU'  for  Mbj  1873  Ibe  author  hai  inclined  to  Ihe  lietr 
(bat  it  may  be  >o  r(<gard«l. 


1874.]  Deoeb^meiUal  HUtory  of  the  MoUuaea.  S87 

nearly  representuig  the  moUuscan  type  than  do  the  other  chuses,  or,  in 
other  words,  more  closelj  reBemble  the  anceitnJ  forms  than  they  do,  we 
might  look,  ia  the  course  of  the  developmeDt  of  the  less  typical  Mollusca, 
for  some  indication  of  a  representative  of  the  internal  pen  of  the  higher 
Cephdopoda.  We  might  expect  to  find  some  indication  of  the  connexion 
between  this  and  the  calcareous  shell  of  other  forms ;  in  fact  the  ori^nal 
shell  of  all  MoUusca  should  be  an  internal  one,  or  bear  indicatioos  of  a 
possible  development  into  that  condition. 

In  PUidium,  in  Aplytia,  and  in  Neritina  the  author  has  submitted  evi- 
dence of  the  existence  of  a  specially  differentiated  patch  of  epidermio 
cells  at  the  aboral  pole,  which  develops  a  deep  furrow,  groove,  or  pit  in 
its  centre  almost  amounting  to  a  sac-like  cavity  opening  to  the  exterior. 
The  first  (chitinous)  rudiment  of  the  shell  appears  as  a  disk  on  the  sur- 
face of  this  gland ;  but  also,  in  some  eases,  the  caiity  or  groove  is  filled  by 
a  chitinous  plug. 

Let  the  walls  of  the  sac  close  and  the  activity  of  its  lining  cells  con- 
tinue, and  we  have  the  necessary  conditions  for  the  growth  of  such 
a  "  pen  "  as  that  of  the  Decspodous  Cephatopods. 

At  present  the  details  of  the  development  of  the  "  pen  "  in  the  Cepha- 
lopoda are  not  fully  known ;  but  the  author  has  evidence  that  it  is  formed 
in  an  enclosed  sac-like  diverticulum  of  the  epidermis,  but  he  has  not  yet 
ascertained  the  earliest  condition  of  this  sac.  The  history  of  its  develop- 
ment becomes  surrounded  with  additional  interest  in  relation  to  the  shell- 
gland  of  the  other  Mollusca. 

The  position  of  the  groove  of  the  shell-gland  in  Pitidium  au^ieats  a 
possible  connexion  of  its  chitinoua  plug  with  the  ligament,  which  it  will 
be  worth  inquiring  into  in  other  developmental  histories  of  Lamellibranchs. 
The  internal  sheUs  of  other  Mollusca  besides  the  cuttlefish  are  cer- 
tidnly  not  in  some  cases  (e.  g.  Aplyna)  primitively  internal,  but  become 
enclosed  by  overspreading  folds  of  the  mantle.  But  in  the  case  of  Limax 
and  its  allies,  it  'a  possible,  though  the  matter  requires  renewed  investiga- 
tion, that  the  shell  is  a  primitively  internal  one  representing  the  sheU- 
plug. 

There  is  yet  one  more  possible  connexion  of  this  ahell-gland  and  plug : 
this  is  the  chitinous  secretion  by  which  TerebratvJa  and  its  allies  fix 
themselves  to  rocks  &c.  The  position  of  the  peduncle  exactly  corre- 
sponds to  that  of  the  shell-glaiid ;  and  an  examination  of  Professor. 
Morse's  recently  published  account  of  the  development  of  Ter^ratulina 
leaves  little  doubt  that  at  the  pole  of  attachment,  which  very  early  deve- 
lops its  function  and  fixes  the  embryo,  aa  in-pushing  occurs,  and  a  kind 
of  shallow  gland  is  formed  which  gives  rise  to  the  homy  cement.  The 
author's  own  observationa  on  the  development  of  TtrAratvla  vitrea  do 
not  extend  to  so  early  a  period  aa  this. 

It  is  perhaps  scarcely  necessary,  in  conclusion,  to  point  out  the  close 
resemblance  of  shell-gland  and  plug  to  the  byssal  gland  and  its  secretion. 


238  ^Messrs.  Negretti  mtd  Zambra  [Mar.  12, 

They  are  cloaely  similar  structurea ;  but  there  does  nol  appear  to  be 
aiij  reason  for  considering  them  "  serial  homologues,"  or  more  closely 
related  than  are,  sav,  the  hairs  on  the  head  of  a  man  with  the  hairs  oii 
his  cheat. 


II.  "  On  a  New  Deep-sea  Thermometer."  By  Henry  Negretti 
and  Joseph  Warken  Zambra.  Commmiicated  by  Dr.  Car- 
penter, F.R.S.     Received  March  5,  1874. 

The  Fellows  of  the  Boyal  Society  are  perfectly  aware  of  the  assUtauee 
afforded  by  Her  Majesty's  Government  (at  the  request  of  the  E«jyal 
Society)  for  the  purpose  of  deep-aea  investigatjons,  and  have  been  made 
acquainted  with  their  results  by  the  Reporla  of  those  in* estigatioua 
published  in  the  '  I'roeeodinga  of  the  Royal  t^ociety '  aud  by  the  in- 
teresting work  of  Professor  Wwille  Thomson.  Among  other  subjects, 
that  of  the  temperulure  of  the  sea  at  various  depths,  and  on  the  bottom 
itself,  is  of  the  greatest  importance.  The  Fellows  are  also  aware  that 
for  this  purpose  a  peculiar  thermometer  was  and  is  used",  having  its 
hulb  protected  by  an  outt^r  bulb  or  casing,  in  order  that  its  indications 
may  not  be  vitiated  by  the  pressure  of  the  water  at  various  depths,  that 
pressui^  being  about  1  ton  per  square  inch  to  every  800  fathoms.  This 
thermometer,  as  regards  the  protection  of  the  bulb  and  its  non-liability 
to  be  affect«d  by  pressure,  is  all  that  can  be  desired ;  but  unfortunately 
the  only  thermometer  available  for  the  purpose  of  registering  tempera- 
ture and  bringing  those  indications  to  the  surface  is  that  which  is 
commonly  known  as  the  yii's  thermometer — aa  instrument  acting  by 
means  of  alcohol  and  mercury,  and  having  movable  indices  with  delicate 
aprings  of  human  hair  tied  to  them.  This  form  of  instrument 
registers  both  maximum  and  minimum  temperatures,  and  as  an  ordinary 
out-door  thermometer  it  is  very  useful;  but  it  is  unsatisfactory  for 
■cienti£c  purposes,  and  for  the  object  which  it  is  now  used  (viz,  the 
determination  of  deep-sea  temperatures)  it  leaves  much  to  be  desired. 
Thus  the  alcohol  and  mercury  are  liable  to  get  mixed  in  travelling,  or 
even  by  merely  holding  the  instrument  in  a  horizontal  position ;  the 
indices  also  are  liable  either  to  slip  if  too  free,  or  to  stick  if  too  tight. 
A  sudden  jerk  or  concussion  will  also  cause  the  instrument  to  give 
erroneous  readings  by  lowering  the  indices,  if  the  b!ow  be  downwards, 
or  by  raising  them,  if  the  blow  be  upwards.  Besides  these  drawbacks, 
the  Six's  thermometer  causes  the  observer  additional  anxiety  on  the  score 
of  inaccuracy ;  for,  although  we  get  a  minimum  temperature,  we  are 
by  no  means  sure  of  the  point  where  this  minimum  lies.  Thus  Professor 
Wyville  Thomson  says  (*  Depths  of  the  Sea,'  p.  139) : — "  The  determina- 
tion of  temperature  has  hitherto  rested  chiefly  upon  the  registration  of 
thermometers.     It  is  obvious  that  the  t«mperatnre  registered 


^tion  of 


1874.]  OH  a  New  Dt^-tea  Thermometer.  289 

by  minimum  thennometora  sunk  to  the  bottom  of  the  bm,  even  tf  their 
registration  were  unaffected  by  the  pressure,  would  oolj  give  the  lowest 
temperature  reached  aonwicAcre  between  top  and  bottom,  Dot  iitee*$arHy 
at  the  bottom  itself.  The  temperatures  at  various  depths  might  indeed 
(proWded  they  nowhere  increased  on  going  deeper)  be  determined  by  a 
series  of  minimum  thermomet«r8  placed  at  different  distances  along  the 
line,  though  this  would  involve  considerable  difEculEies.  Still,  the 
liability  of  the  index  to  slip,  and  the  probability  that  the  indication  of 
the  thermometers  would  be  affected  by  the  great  pressure  to  which  they 
were  exposed,  rendered  it  very  desirable  to  control  their  indications  by 
an  independent  method."  Again,  at  p^e  299,  we  find  : — "  I  ought  to 
mention  that  in  taking  the  bottom  temperature  with  the  Six's  thermo- 
meter the  instrument  simply  indicates  the  lowest  temperature  to  which 
it  has  been  subjected  ;  bo  that  if  the  bottom  water  were  warmer  than 
any  other  stratum  through  which  the  thermometer  had  passed,  the 
observations  would  be  erroneous."  Undoubtedly  this  would  be  the  case 
in  extreme  latitudes,  or  in  any  spot  where  the  temperature  of  the  air  ia 
colder  than  that  of  the  ocean.  Certainly  the  instrument  might  be 
warmed  previous  %a  lowering ;  but  if  the  coldest  water  should  be  on  the 
surface,  no  reading,  to  be  depended  upon,  could  be  obtained. 

It  was  on  reading  these  passages  in  the  book  above  referred  to  that  it 
became  a  matter  of  serious  consideration  with  ua  whether  a  thermometer 
could  be  constructed  nhich  could  not  possibly  be  put  out  of  order  in 
travelling  or  by  incautious  handling,  and  which  should  be  above  suspicion 
and  perfectly  trustworthy  in  its  indications.  This  was  no  very  easy  task. 
But  the  instrument  now  submitted  to  the  Fellows  of  the  Soyal  Society 
seems  to  us  to  fulfil  the  above  onerous  conditions,  being  constructed  oa 
a  plan  different  from  that  of  any  other  self -registering  thermometers, 
and  containing  as  it  does  nothing  but  mercury,  neither  alcohol,  air,  nor 
indices.  Its  construction  is  most  novel,  and  may  be  said  to  overthrow 
our  previous  ideas  of  handling  delicate  instruments,  inasmuch  as  its 
indications  are  only  given  by  upsetting  the  instTument.  Having  said 
this  much,  it  will  not  be  very  difficult  to  gness  the  action  of  the  thermo- 
meter ;  for  it  is  by  upsetting  or  throwing  out  the  mercury  from  the  in- 
dicating column  into  a  reservoir  at  a  particular  moment  and  in  a  par- 
ticular spot  that  we  obtain  a  correct  reading  of  the  temperature  at  that 
moment  and  in  that  spot.  Firsi;  of  all  it  must  be  observed  that  this  in- 
strument has  a  protected  bulb,  in  order  to  resist  pressure.  This  pro- 
tected bulb  is  on  the  principle  devised  by  us  some  sixteen  years  since, 
when  we  supplied  a  considerable  number  of  thermometers  thus  protected 
to  the  Meteorological  Department  of  the  Board  of  Trade ;  and  they  are 
described  by  the  late  Admiral  PitzBoy  in  the  first  Kumher  of  the 
'  Meteorelogical  Papers,'  page  66,  published  July  5th,  1867.  Beferring 
to  the  erroneous  readings  of  all  thermometers,  consequent  on  their 
delicate  bulbs  being  compressed  by  the  great  pressure  c^  the  ocean,  he 


240 


On  a  New  Deep-sea  Tliermovieter. 


[Mar.  12, 


gays  r — ""With  a  ™w  to  obviate  this  failing,  Messrs.  Negretti  and  Zambra 
undertook  to  mako  a  case  for  the  weak  bulbs,  which  should  tnwismit 
temperature,  but  resist  pressure.  Accordingly  a  tube  of  thick  glass  is 
sealed  outside  the  delicate  bulb,  between  which  aud  the  casing  is  a  space 
all  round,  which  is  nearly  filled  with  mercury.  The  small  space  not  so 
filled  is  a  vacuum,  into  which  the  mercury  caa  be  expanded,  or  forced  by 
heat  or  mechanical  compression,  without  doing  injury  to 
or  even  compressing  the  inner  or  much  more  delicate 
bulb." 

The  thermometers  now  in  use  in  the  '  Challenger'  Expe- 
dition are  on  this  principle,  the  only  difEerenee  being  Ihat 
the  protecting  chamber  has  been  partly  filled  with  alcohol 
instead  of  with  mercury  ;  but  that  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  principle  of  the  invention. 

We  have  therefore  a  protected  bulb  thermometer,  like 
B  siphon  with  parallel  legs,  all  in  one  piece,  and  having  a 
continuous  communication,  as  in  the  annexed  figure.  The 
scale  of  this  thermometer  is  pivoted  on  a  centre,  and 
being  attached  in  a  peipendicular  position  to  a  simple 
apparatus  (which  will  be  presently  described),  is  lowered 
to  any  depth  that  may  be  desired.  In  its  descent  the 
thermometer  acts  as  an  ordinary  instrument,  the  mereury 
rising  or  falling  according  to  the  temperature  of  the  stratum 
through  which  it  passes  ;  but  so  anon  as  the  descent 
ceases,  and  a  reverse  motion  is  given  to  the  line,  so  as  to 
pull  the  thermometer  to  the  surfa*'e,  the  instrument  turns 
once  on  its  centre,  first  bulb  uppermost,  and  afterwards 
bulb  downwards.  This  causes  the  mercury,  \i'hich  was 
in  the  left-hand  column,  first  to  pass  into  the  dilated  si- 
phon bend  at  the  top.and  thence  into  the  right-hand  tube, 
where  it  remains,  indicating  ou  a  graduated  scale  the  ex- 
act temperature  at  the  time  it  was  timied  over.  The  wood- 
cat  shows  the  position  of  the  mercury  o/Ver  the  instrumeut  "l' 
has  been  thus  turned  on  its  centre.  A  is  the  bulb ;  B  the 
outer  coating  or  protecting  cylinder :  C  is  the  space  of 
rarefied  air.  which  is  reduced  if  the  outer  casing  be  com- 
pressed :  D  is  a  sranll  glass  plug  on  the  principle  of  our 
Patent  Maximum  Thermomater,  which  cuts  off,  in  the 
moment  of  turning,  the  mercury  in  the  column  from 
that  of  the  bulb  in  the  tube,  thereby  ensuring  that  none 
but  the  mercury  in  the  tube  can  be  transferred  into 
the  indicating  column  ;  E  is  an  enlargement  made  in  the 
bend  so  as  to  enable  the  mereury  to  pass  quickly  from 
one  tube  to  another  in  revolving  ;  and  F  is  the  indicating 
tube,  or  thermomfiter  proper.     In  its  action,  aa  soon  an 


1874.]      On  the  Chemical  Conetiltdion  of  Saline  Soluiiotu.         241 

the  thermometer  is  pat  in  motion,  and  immediately  the  tabe  has  acquired 
a  slightly  oblique  position,  the  mercury  breaks  oS  at  the  point  D,  nms 
into  the  curved  and  enlarged  portion  E,  and  eventually  falls  into  the 
tube  F,  when  this  tube  resumes  its  original  perpendicular  position. 

The  contrivance  for  turning  the  thermometer  over  may  be  described  as 
a  short  length  of  wood  or  metal  having  attached  to  it  a  small  rudder  of 
fan  ;  this  fan  is  placed  on  a  pivot  in  connexion  with  a  second,  and  on 
this  second  pivot  is  fixed  the  thermometer.  The  fan  or  rudder  points  up- 
wards in  its  descent  through  the  water,  and  necessarily  reverses  its  posi- 
tion in  ascending.  This  simple  motion  or  half  turn  of  the  rudder  gives 
ft  whole  turn  to  the  thermometer,  and  has  been  found  very  effective. 

Various  other  methods  may  be  used  for  turning  the  thermometer, 
such  as  a  simple  pulley  with  a  weight  which  might  be  released  on  teaching 
the  bottom,  or  a  small  vertical  propeUer  which  would  revolve  in  passing 
through  the  water. 


March  19,  1874. 

JOSEPH  DALTON  HOOKER,  C.B.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

The  Bight  Hon.  Viscount  Cardwell  was  admitted  into  the  Society. 
The  Presents  received  were  laid  on  the  table,  and  thanks  ordered  for 
them. 
The  following  Papers  were  read : — 

I.  "  Preliminary  Notice  of  Experiments  concerning  the  Chemical 

Constitution  of  Saline  Solutions."  By  Walter  Noel  Hartlit, 

F.C.S.,  Bemonstrator  of  Chemistry,  King's  College,  Iiondon, 

Communicated  hy  Professor  Stoebs,  Sec.  R.S.      Keceived 

February  3,  1874. 

The  author  has  been  engaged  in  investigating  the  above  subject  during 

the  lost  eighteen  months,  and  his  experiments  being  still  in  progress,  he 

thinks  it  desirable  to  place  the  following  observations  on  record. 

In  the  examination  of  the  absorption-spectra,  as  seen  in  wedge-ehaped 
cells,  of  the  principal  salts  of  cerium,  cobalt,  copper,  chromium,  didymium, 
nickel,  palladium,  and  uranium,  to  the  number  of  nearly  sixty  different 
solutions,  it  was  noticed  that  the  properties  of  the  substances  in  regard 
to  changes  of  colour  could  be  ascertained  by  noticing  the  absorption- 
curves  and  bands,  so  that,  provided  water  be  without  chemical  action, 
it  could  be  foreseen  what  change  would  occur  on  dilution  of  a  saturated 
solution. 

TJui  effect  of  Mtat  on  Abiorption-i^Ktra. 
When  saturated  solutions  of  coloured  salts  are  heated  to  100°  C,  1st, 


242     Or  the  Chemical  Constitulim  qf  Saline  Solaliaas.        [M»r.  19, 

tliere  are  few  ctmoa  in  whicb  no  i^huige  is  noticed.  2udly,  generally  the 
amount  of  light  transmitted  is  diminished  to  a  small  extent  by  some  of 
the  more  refranKible,  the  leas  refrangible,  or  both  Idnds  of  raya  being 
obfltrui-t-ed.  3rdl_v,  tliere  is  frequently  a  complete  difference  in  the 
nature  of  the  transmitted  light.  Anhydrous  salts-  not  depomposed, 
hydratod  compounds  not  dehydrated  at  100°  C„  and  salts  which  do  not 
change  toloiir  on  dehydration,  give  little  or  no  alteration  in  their  spectra 
when  heated. 

Solutions  of  hydrated  salts,  and  most  notably  those  of  haloid  com- 
pounds, do  change  ;  and  the  alteration  is,  if  not  identical  with,  similar  to 
that  produced  by  dehydration  and  the  action  of  dehydrating  hqiiids,  such 
as  alcohol,  acids,  and  glycerine,  on  the  salts  in  crystals  or  solution. 

A  particiUar  instance  of  the  action  of  heat  on  an  aqueous  solution  is 
that  of  cobalt  chloride,  which  gives  a  diScreut  series  of  dark  bands  in 
the  red  part  of  the  spectrum  at  difEerent  temperatures,  ranging  between 
23°  C.  and  73°  C.  Band  after  band  of  shadow  intercepts  the  red  rays  as 
the  temperature  rises,  till  finally  nothing  but  the  blue  are  transmitted. 
Drawings  of  six  different  spectra  of  this  remarkable  nature  have  been 
made.  The  changes  are  most  marked  between  33°  and  53°,  when  the 
temperature  may  be  told  almost  to  a  degree  by  noting  the  appearance  of 
the  spectrum.  Though  to  the  unaided  eye  cobalt  bromide  appears  to 
undergo  the  name  eliange,  yet,  as  seen  with  the  spectroscope,  it  is  not  of 
BO  curious  a  character,  the  bands  being  not  so  numerous. 

With  cobalt  iodide  a  band  of  red  light  ia  transmitted  at  low  t«mperatures ; 
thebandof  light  moves  towards  the  opposite  end  of  the  spectrum,  with  rise 
of  temperature,  until  it  is  transferred  to  such  a  position  that  it  consists  of 
green  rays  only.  In  this  instance  the  change  to  the  eye  is  more  striking 
when  seen  without  the  spectroscope,  because  the  misturea  of  red,  yellow, 
and  green  rays,  which  are  formed  during  the  transition,  give  rise  to  verv 
beautiful  shades  of  brown  and  olive-green.  Thus  a  saturated  solution  at 
16°  C.  was  of  a  brown  colour,  at  — 10°  C.  it  became  of  a  fiery  red  and 
crystals  separated,  at  -t-lO"  reddish  brown,  at  20°  the  same,  at  35° 
Vandyke  brown,  at  45°  a  cold  bron-n  tint  with  a  tinge  of  yellowish  green, 
at  55°  a  decidedly  yellowish  green  in  thin  layers  and  yellow-brown  in 
thick,  at  65°  greenish  brown,  thin  layers  green,  and  at  75°  oliie-green. 
An  examination  of  this  cobalt  salt  has  shown  that  there  are  tno  distinct 
crystalline  hydrates — the  one,  formed  at  high  temperatures,  has  the 
formula  Co  Clj.2HjO,  and  is  of  a  dark  green  colour ;  the  other,  which 
contains  a  much  larger  proportion  of  crystalline  water,  Co  CI,,  6H,0, 
is  produced  at  a  low  temperature,  and  its  colour  is  generally  brown, 
in  cold  weather  inclining  to  red. 

The  action  of  beat  on  .solutions  of  didymium  is  characterized  hy  a 
broadening  of  the  black  lines  seen  in  the  spectrum,  more  especially  of 
the  important  band  in  the  yellow  ;  and  in  the  case  of  potassio-didymium 
nitrate,  this  is  accompanied  by  the  formation  of  a  new  line.     In  the  case 


1874.}  Ob  the  Blood-corptucUa  of  MrnnmaUa,  243 

of  didyiniuDi  acetate,  vMch  decomposes  with  sepontioii  of  a  basic  salt, 
tite  lines  thickened  on  heating. 

Themu-chemieal  Experiments. 

Begnauld  (Institut,  1864  ;  Jahresbericht,  1864,  p.  09)  has  shown  that 
on  dUuting  a  saturated  solation  of  a  salt,  as  a  mle  there  is  an  absorption 
of  heat ;  but  in  one  or  two  cases  he  noticed  that  heat  was  erolved.  The 
change  in  colour  that  ta1(es  place  on  the  dilution  of  saturated  solutions  of 
cobalt  iodide,  cupric  chloride,  bromide,  and  acetate  is  very  remarkable. 
There  is  every  likelihood  that  this  phenomenon  is  due  in  each  case  to  the 
formation  of  a  liquid  hydrate.  It  is  impossible  of  belief  that  accompanying 
such  a  circumstance  there  should  be  no  measurable  development  of  heat; 
and  the  author's  experiments  have  proved  that  in  the  above  cases,  at  any 
rate,  the  heat  disengaged  is  very  considerable — amounting,  for  instance, 
on  the  part  of  cupnc  chloride,  at  least  to  about  2565  units  when  1  gram 
molecule  of  the  crystalline  salt  is  dissolved  in  its  minimum  of  water  at 
16°  C  and  brought  into  contact  with  sufScient  to  make  the  addition  of 
40  Aq.  These  numbers  only  roughly  approximate  to  the  truth.  On 
diluting  a  solution  of  cobalt  iodide  till  the  red  colour  appears,  the  thermal 
effect  must  be  much  greater,  as  not  only  does  it  register  several  degrees 
on  an  ordinary  thermometer,  but  it  may  be  perceived  by  the  hand. 

The  conclusions  indicated  by  these  results  are  obvious,  but  it  is  beyond 
the  scope  of  this  paper  to  refer  to  them.  The  writer  hopes  before  long 
to  complete  his  experiments  with  the  view  of  having  them  communicated 
to  the  lioyal  Society. 

II.  "Note  on  the  Intracellular  Development  of  Blood-corpuscles 
in  Mammalia."     By  Edward  Albert  Schafer.     Communis 
cated  by  Dr.  Sharpbt,  V.P.B.S.     Received  January  22, 1874. 
If  the  subcutaneous  connective  tissue  of  the  new-born  rat*  is  exa- 
mined under  the  microscope  in  an  indifferent  fluid,  it  is  found  to  consist 
chiefly  of  an  almost  homogeneous  hyaline  ground-substance,  which  is 
traversed  by  a  few  wavy  fibres,  and  has  a  consider^le  number  of  exceed- 
ingly dehcate,  more  or  less  fiattoned  cells  scattered  throughout  the  tissue. 
The  cells  here  spoken  of  are  of  course  the  connective-tissue  corpuscles. 
They  are  not  much  branched  as  a  rule(at  any  rate  their  branches  do  not 
extend  far  from  the  body  of  the  corpuscle),  and  they  are  mainly  distin- 
guished by  the  extraordinary  amount  of  vacuolatiou  which  they  exhibit — 
by  which  is  meant  the  formation  within  the  protoplasm  of  minute  clear 
spherules,  less  refractive  than  that  substance,  and  probably,  therefore, 
spaces  in  it  containiog  a  watery  fluid.     The  nuclei,  of  which  there  is 
generally  not  more  than  one  in  each  cell,  are  frequently  obscured  by  the 
vacuoles,  but,  when  visible,  are  seen  to  be  roimd  or  oval  in  shape  and 
*  ^nw  uumsl  employed  wu  &e  white  rat, 


244  On  the  Blood-corpvscles  ofAfammalia.        [Mar.  19, 

beautifully  clear  and  homogeneoua ;  they  commonly  contain  either  one 
or  two  nucleoli.  It  is  from  these  cells  that  the  blood-Tessels  of  the  tissue 
are  forme^l,  and  within  them,  red,  and  perhaps  also,  white  hlood-cor- 
puBclea  beeouio  developed. 

Of  the  vacuolated  cells  above  described  some  possess  a  dietinct  reddish 
tinge,  either  pretty  evenJy  diffused  over  the  whole  corpuscle,  or  in  one  or 
more  patches,  not  distinctly  circumscribed,  but  fading  off  into  the  sur- 
rounding  protoplasm.  Others  contain  either  one,  two,  or  a  greater  num- 
ber of  reddish  globules,  consisting  apparently  of  hjemoglobin.  These  vary 
in  size,  from  minute  specks  to  spherules  as  large  as,  or  even  larger  than, 
the  red  corpuscles  of  the  adult  r  in  cells  wbich  are  apparently  least  deve- 
loped it  is  common  to  find  them  of  various  sizes  in  the  same  cell ;  whereas 
cells  which  are  further  advanced  in  development  are  not  uncommonly 
crowded  with  haimoglohin-glohules,  tolerably  equal  in  point  of  siie,  and 
differing  from  the  adult  corpuscle  only  in  shape.  It  is  important  to  re- 
mark that  there  is,  at  no  time,  an  indication  of  any  structure  within  the 
globtdes  resembling  a  nucleus :  the  nucleus  of  the  cell  also  appears,  up  to 
this  point  at  least,  to  undergo  no  change.  In  fact  the  formation  of  the 
hsemoglobin-globulea  reminds  one  rather  of  a  deposit  within  the  cell- 
substance  such  as  occurs  in  developing  fat-eells,  the  difference  being  that 
in  the  latter  case  the  deposited  globules  eventuaUy  run  together  int«  one 
drop,  whereas  in  the  former  they  remain  distinct  as  they  increase  in  size 
and  erentually  take  on  the  flattened  form. 

Before,  however,  this  change  occurs  in  the  hsBmoglobin-globules,  the 
cells  containing  them  become  lengthened,  and  are  soon  foitnd  each  to 
contain  a  cavity,  within  which  the  globules  now  lie.  This  cavity  is  pro- 
bably formed  by  a  coaleecence  of  the  vacuoles  of  the  cell,  or,  what  amounts 
to  the  same  thing,  by  the  enlargement  of  one  vacuole  and  the  absorption 
of  the  rest  into  it.  The  cell  now  comes  to  resemble  a  segment  of  a  ca- 
pillary, but  with  pointed  and  closed  extremities ;  it  is  of  an  elongated 
fusiform  shape,  and  consists  of  a  hyaline  protoplasmic  wall  (in  which  the 
nucleus  is  imbedded)  enclosing  blood-corpuscles  in  a  fluid — blood,  in  fact. 

Two  or  more  such  c^lls  may  become  united  at  their  ends,  a  communi- 
cation being  established  between  their  cavities ;  indeed,  by  aid  of  branches 
sent  out  from  the  sides  a  number  of  ceUs  may  unite  to  form  a  complete 
plexus  of  capUlaiy  vessels  containing  blood,  and  situate  at  a  considerable 
distance  in  the  tissue  from  any  vessels  in  which  blood  is  circulating. 
JEventualiy,  however,  these  last  become  united  with  the  newly  developed 
capillaries,  and  the  blood  contained  in  the  latter  thus  gets  into  the 
general  circulation. 

"With  regard  to  the  mode  of  junction  of  the  capillary-forming  cells  with 
one  another,  and  with  processes  from  preexisting  capillaries,  it  has  seemed 
to  me  to  occur  most  commonly,  not  by  a  growing  together  of  their  ei- 
treme  points,  as  commonly  described,  but  rather  by  an  overlapping  and 
coaptation  of  their  fusiform  ends,  which,  at  first  solid,  become  subse- 


1874.]  On-Mi^eU  and Sleetrie  Gmdueton. 

Queotiy  hollowed  by  tta  extension  into  (hem  of  the  cftrity  of  ib6  cell  Or 
cspill^,  the  partition  between  the  two  being  finftlly  sbioriwd. 

The  best  preparations  •for  demonstrating  tho  facts  abore  described  or* 
obtained  from  the  subcutaneous  tissoe  of  the  upper  put  of  the  fore  limb, 
and  from  that  under  the  skin  of  the  back — regions  in  which,  in  the  adult 
rat,  this  tisane  becomes  almost  entirely  conTert«d  into  fat.  Drea  in  the 
new-bom  animal  some  portions  hare  already  undergone  this  change ;  and 
it  is  principally  in  the  neighbourhood  of  such  patches  that  the  hema- 
poietic  cells  are  met  with.  It  is  only  when  the  young  rats  are  not  more 
than  a  few  days  old  that  the  formation  of  blood-vessels  is  preceded  by  a 
development  of  blood-corpuscles  within  the  same  cells  ap  form  the  vessels  i 
in  such  other  animals  as  I  have  hitherto  examined  this  phenomenon  se^ni 
to  occur  only  whilst  still  in  the  foetal  state.  The  immature  condition  in 
which  the  young  of  the  rat  are  brought  forth  is  sufficient  to  account  foe 
this  difference. 

The  observations  here  recorded  as  to  the  intracellular  development  o£ 
blood-corpuscles  are  in  many  respects  in  accordance  with  what  has  already 
been  described  by  others  as  occurring  in  the  area  vaieuhia  and  other  parts 
of  the  embryo  chick.  It  has  not,  however,  appeared  desirable  to  enter 
into  the  literature  of  the  subject  in  this  bt^  notice. 

m.  "  On  the  Attractions  of  Magnets  and  Electric  Conductors." 
By  Geoboe  Gou,  F.R.S.     Beceived  January  27,  1874. 

Being  desirous  of  ascertabiing  whether,  la  the  case  of  two  paralM 
wires  conveying  electric  currents,  the  attractions  and  repulsions  were 
between  the  currenta  themselves  or  the  substances  conveying  them,  and 
believing  this  question  had  not  been  previously  settled,  I  made  the  fi^ 
lowing  experiment : — 

I  passed  a  powerful  voltaic  current  through  the  thick  copper  wire  of  a 
large  electromagnet,  and  then  divided  it  equally  between  two  vertical 
pieces  of  thin  platinum  wii«  of  equal  diameter  and  length  (about  six  or 
seven  centimetres),  so  as  to  make  them  equally  white-hot,  the  two  wires 
being  attached  to  two  horisontal  cross  wires  of  copper. 

On  approaching  the  two  vertical  wires  symmetrically  towards  tlw 
vertical  face  of  one  pole  of  the  horiEontolly  placed  magnet,  and  at  equal 
distances  from  it,  so  that  tlie  two  downward  currents  in  them  might  be 
eqn^y  acted  upon  by  the  downward  and  upward  portions  respectively 
of  the  currents  which  drcuhtted  nnind  the  magnet-pole,  the  one  was 
strongly  bent  towards  and  the  other  from  the  pole,  as  was,  of  course, 
expected ;  but  not  the  least  sign  of  alterataoa  of  rehttive  temperature  <rf 
the  two  wires  could  be  perceived,  thereby  proving  that  not  even  a  small 
proportion  of  the  current  was  repulsed  from  the  repelled  wire  or  drawn 
into  the  attracted  one,  as  would  have  occurred  had  the  attraction  and 
repulsion  taken  place,  even  to  a  aodra«t«  degree,  between  the  cnizeints 

lt2 


246  0)1  Maffnets  and  Electric  Conductors.         [Mar.  19, 

themselves ;  aad  1  therefora  conclude  that  thi  aUr^ians  and  rejmhioiif 
of  electric  tomlucloi's  are  iiot  exei-ted  between  the  currenU  thertuelvet,  but 
between,  the  svhstanees  convening  them. 

Some  importftut  consequencea  appear  to  flow  from  this  conclusion, 
eBpeoially  when  it  is  considered  in  connexion  with  Ampere's  theory  of 
magnetism,  and  with  the  molecular  changes  produced  in  bodies  generally 
by  electric  currents  and  hy  magnetism. 

As  every  molecular  distiu-bance  produces  au  electric  alteration  in  bodies, 
BO,  conversely,  the  discoveries  of  numerous  investigators  hare  shown  that 
every  electric  current  passing  near  or  through  a  substance  produces  a 
molecular  change,  which  ia  rendered  manifest  in  all  metals,  hquid  con- 
ductont,  and  even  in  the  voltaic  arc  by  the  development  of  sounds,  espe- 
cially if  the  substances  are  under  the  influence  of  two  currents  at  right 
angles  to  each  other.  In  iron  it  is  conspicuously  shown  also  by  electro- 
torsion,  a  phenomenon  I  have  found  and  recently  made  knonii  in  a  paper 
read  before  the  Eoyal  Society, 

Numerous  facts  also  support  the  conclusion  that  the  molecular  changes 
referred  to  last  as  long  as  the  current,  De  la  Rive  has  shown  Ihnt  a  rod 
of  iron,  either  transmitting  or  encircled  by  an  elecfric  current,  emits,  as 
long  as  the  current  lasts,  a  diSerent  sound  when  stnick  ;  and  we  know  it 
'  Also  exhibits  magnetism.  The  peculiar  optical  properties  of  glass  and 
other  bodies  with  regard  to  polarized  light  discovered  by  Faraday  also 
coatinue  aa  long  as  the  current.  A  rod  of  iron  also  remains  twisted  as 
long  as  it  transmits  and  is  encircled  by  electric  currents  ;  and  in  steel 
and  iron  the  molecular  change  (like  magnetism)  partly  remains  after  the 
cmrents  cease,  and  enables  the  bar  to  remain  twisted. 

That  the  peculiar  molecular  structure  produced  in  bodies  generally  by 
the  action  of  electric  current-s  also  possesses  a  definite  direction  with  re- 
gard to  that  of  the  current,  is  shown  by  the  rigidly  definite  direction  of 
action  of  magnetized  glass  and  many  other  transparent  bodies  npon  polar- 
ized light,  also  by  the  difference  of  conductivity  for  heat  and  for  elec- 
tricity in  a  plate  of  iron  parallel  or  transverse  lo  electric  currents,  by 
tho  stratified  character  of  electric  dischai^es  in  rarefied  gases  and 
the  action  of  electric  turrents  npon  it,  and  especially  by  the  pheno- 
mena of  electro- torsi  on.  In  the  latest  example  an  upward  current  pro- 
duces a  reverse  direction  of  twist  to  a  downward  one,  and  a  right-handed 
current  develops  an  opposite  torsion  to  a  left-handed  one ;  and  the  two 
latter  are  each  internally  different  from  the  former.  As  each  of  these 
four  torsions  is  an  outward  manifestation  of  the  collective  result  of  inter- 
nal molecular  disturbance  and  possesses  different  properties,  these  four 
cases  prove  the  existence  of  four  distinct  molecular  movements  and  four 
corresponding  directions  of  stmcture ;  and  the  phenomena  altogether 
are  of  the  most  r^dly  definite  character. 

As  an  electric  current  imparts  a  definite  diroction  of  molecular  struc- 
ture to  bodies,  and  as  the  attractions  and  repulsions  of  electric  wires  are 


1874.]  ^ctroacopie  ObterviUions  t^  the  8tm.  247 

betneen  the  wires  thetneelTes  and  not  between  the  cuirents,  repuldon  in- 
stead of  attraction  must  be  due  to  differmce  of  direction  ofttrueture  pro- 
duced by  difference  of  direction  of  the  currents. 

Although  the  Amp^rean  theory  has  rendered  immense  aerrice  to  mag- 
netic science,  and  agrees  admirably  with  all  the  phenomena  of  electro- 
magnetic attraction,  repulsion,  and  motion,  it  is  in  some  respects  defec- 
tive; it  assumes  that  magnetism  is  due  to  innumerable  little  electric 
currente  continually  circulating  in  one  unifonn  direction  round  the  mo- 
lecules of  the  iron ;  but  there  is  no  fcnown  instance  of  electric  currents 
being  maint^ed  without  the  consumption  of  power,  and  in  magnets 
there  is  no  source  of  power ;  electric  currents  also  generate  heat,  but  a 
magnet  is  not  a  heated  body. 

If,  however,  we  substitute  the  view  that  the  phenomena  of  attraction 
and  repulsion  of  magnets  are  due,  not  to  continuously  circulating  electric 
currents,  but  (as  in  electric  wires)  to  definite  directions  of  molecular 
structure,  such  as  is  shown  by  the  phenomena  of  electro-torsion  to  really 
exist  in  them,  the  theory  becomes  more  perfect.  It  would  also  agree  with 
the  fact  that  iron  and  steel  have  the  power  of  retiuning  both  magnetism 
asd  the  electro-torsional  state  after  the  currents  or  other  causes  producing 
them  have  ceased. 

According  so  this  view,  a  magnet,  like  a  spring,  is  not  a  source  of 
power,  but  only  an  arrangement  for  storing  it  up,  the  power  being  re- 
tained by  some  internal  disposition  of  its  particles  acting  like  a  "ratchet" 
and  termed  "coercive  power."  The  fact  that  a  magnet  becomes  warm 
when  its  variations  of  magnetism  are  great  and  rapidly  repeated,  does 
not  contradict  this  view,  because  we  know  it  has  then,  like  any  other 
conductor  of  electricity,  electric  currents  induced  in  it,  and  these  develop 
heat  by  conduction-resistance. 

According  also  to  this  ^-iew,  any  method  which  will  produce  the  requi- 
site direction  of  structure  in  a  body  will  impart  to  it  the  capacity  of  being 
acted  upon  by  a  magnet ;  and  any  substance,  fermginoas  or  not,  which 
possesses  that  structure  has  that  capacity ;  and,  in  accordance  with  this, 
we  find  that  a  crystal  of  cyanito  (a  silicate  of  alumina)  possesses  the  pro- 
perty, whilst  freely  suspended,  of  pcanting  north  and  south  by  the  direc- 
tive influence  of  terrestrial  magnetism,  and  one  of  stannito  (oxide  of  tin) 
points  east  and  west  under  the  same  conditions. 

IV.  "  Spectroscopic  Observations  of  the  Sun."  By  J.  Normak 
LocKYEB,  F.B.S.,  and  G.  M.  Seabboke,  F.R.A,S.  ReceiTed 
February  2,  1874. 

(Abstract.) 

This  paper  consisted  of  the  observations  made  of  the  sun's  diromo- 

sphere  and  of  the  prominences  for  the  period  Ist  September,  1872,  to 

31st  December,  1873.    Details  are  given  of  the  modes  of  observation 

adopted. 


March  26,  1874. 

JOSEPH  DALTON  HOOKEU,  C.B.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

The  Presents  received  were  laid  on  the  table,  and  thanks  ordered  for 
tbein. 

The  following  Papers  were  read  : — 

I.  "  On  the  Organization  of  the  Fossil  Plants  of  the  Coal- 
measures.— Part  VI.  Ferns."  By  W.  C.  Williamson,  F.R.S., 
Professor  of  Natural  History  in  Owena  College,  Manchester. 
Eeceived  March  18,  1874.. 

(Abstract.) 

The  author  call(jd  attention  to  the  various  methods  of  classifyiug  the 
fem-fltems  and  petioles  of  the  Coal-measures  adopted  by  Cotta,  Corda, 
Brougniart,  and  others,  and  to  the  difGcul  ties  which  attend  those  methods. 
Some  of  those  difficulties  had  been  already  felt  and  partially  removed  by 
M,  Brongniart.  All  the  generic  distinctions  hitherto  adopted  were 
based  upon  wiationB  in  the  form,  number,  and  arrangement  of  the  Tas- 
cvixr  bundles.  These  elements  vary  so  much,  not  only  in  different  speraes 
of  the  same  genus,  but  in  different  parts  of  the  same  petiole,  as  to  make 
them  most  untrustworthy  guides  to  generic  distinctions.  The  consequence 
has  been  an  enormous  multiplication  of  genera ;  but,  notwithstanding 
their  number,  the  author  found  that  if  he  adopted  the  methods  of  his  pre- 
decessors he  would  hare  to  establish  additional  ones  for  the  reception  of 
his  new  forms.  Under  these  drcnmstances  he  decides  that  it  will  be 
better  to  include  the  entire  series  of  these  petioles,  provisionally,  under  the 
common  generic  term  of  Sackiopterit.  This  plan  dispenses  with  a  number 
of  meaningless  genera,  and  is  rendered  additionally  desirable  by  the  cir- 
cumstance that  all  the  petioles  to  which  these  numerous  generic  names 
have  been  applied  belong  to  fronds  which  have  already  received  other 
names,  such  as  PteopUrit,  Sphvnopterii,  &c.,  only  the  structure  of  fronds 
found  in  the  shales,  and  their  respective  petioles  of  which  we  have  ascer- 
tained the  structure,  have  not  yet  been  correlated. 

As  a  preparation  for  the  present  investigation,  the  author  made  an  ex- 
tensive series  of  researches  amongst  recent  British  and  foreign  fern-stems 
and  petioles,  with  the  object  of  ascertaining  not  only  the  modifications  in 
their  arrangementa  in  different  parts  of  the  same  plant,  but  especially  of 
studying  the  modes  in  which  secondary  and  tertiary  vascular  bundles 
were  derived  from  the  primary  ones.  This  inquiry  led  him  over  the 
ground  previously  traversed  by  M.  Tr^ul,  and,  so  far  as  British  ferns 
were  concerned,  by  Mr.  Church. 

The  most  common  general  forma  exhibited  by  transverse  sections  ot 


1874>.]  FtutU  Plants  iff  the  Coal-meiuvre$.  S49 

these  bundles  in  recent  petioles  may  be  teprelented  by  the  letters  H,  T, 
IX,  and  X.  As  a  general  rule,  tiie  seoondaiy  bundles  are  given  off  irom 
that  part  of  the  primary  one  which  happens  to  be  nearest  to  the  secondary 
rachis  to  be  supplied.  Thus  in  same  cases  the  upper  arms  of  the  X  will 
merely  be  prolonged  and  their  endt  detached ;  in  other  cases  a  loop  pro- 
jects from  the  side  of  one  or  both  arms  of  the  V,  and  becomes  detached 
as  a  ring. 

The  first  petiole,  described  under  the  name  of  Raehiopleru  atpera,  is 
one  in  which  transverse  sections  of  the  central  vascular  bundle  exhibit 
modificationa  of  the  H  format  its  base,  separating  into  two  contiguouB 
bundles  higher  up,  and  ultimately  reverting  to  the  V  form — the  gatter- 
shaped  bundle  {en  gouttiere)  of  M.  Irecul.  This  is  the  plant  to  which,  on 
a  previous  occasion,  the  author  proposed  to  assign  the  generio  name  o£ 
Edraaylon  (Proc.  Eoy.  Soc.  vol,  ii,  p.  438),  The  vessels  are  chiefly 
reticulate,  with  some  of  the  barred  and  spiral  types.  The  bark  con- 
sists of  a  delicate  iimer  parenchyma,  the  cubical  cells  of  which  are  arranged 
vertically.  This  is. enclosed  in  a  coarser  middle  parenchyma,  and  the 
whole  is  surrounded  by  an  outer  layer,  composed  of  intermingled  paren- 
chyma and  prosenchyma,  the  latter  being  disposed  in  vertical  fibrous 
bands,  having  wedge-shaped  transverse  sections,  and  being  modifications 
of  the  Bclerenchyma  of  authors.  The  outer  surface  of  the  bark  is  covered 
with  innumerable  little,  obtuse,  projecting  cellular  appendages,  which  ar« 
obviously  abortive  hairs.  These  appendages  are  relatively  huger  in  the 
smaller  rachis  than  in  the  larger  petioles.  In  very  young  petioles  trans- 
verse bands  of  small  consolidated  cells  traverse  the  bark  at  numerous 
points,  reminding  us  of  the  similar  conditions  seen  in  the  Seterangium 
Qrievii,  described  in  a  previous  memoir.  In  the  larger  petioles  these 
coUular  bonds  have  disappeared,  and  left  in  their  places  large  intercellular 
lacunn.  N'umerous  fragments  of  the  terminal  rachis  of  the  above  plant 
have  been  obtained  with  the  leaflets  attached.  For  a  long  time  the  author 
believed  that  he  could  identify  these  with  the  detached  leaflet«  of  a  JV 
copterii,  which  are  very  abundant  in  the  Oldham  nodules ;  but  later 
researches  have  led  to  the  conolusion  that  the  plant  has  been  a  ^heno- 
pterit,  closely  allied  to,  if  not  identical  wiUi,  the  S.  HomingJuam  of 
Brongniart.  The  author  proposes  the  provisional  name  of  SaAu^ttrit 
atpera  for  the  above  plant. 

The  next  petiole  described  is  one  to  which  Mr.  Binney  proposed 
('  Proceedings  of  the  Literary  tmd  Philosophical  Society  of  Manchester,' 
Jan.  0,  1872)  to  give  the  name  of  StauropUrii  OWutmia.  This  is  one  of 
the  plants  of  which  the  vascular  bundle,  when  seen  in  transverse  section, 
exhibits  the  appearance  of  the  letter  X.  The  vessels  composing  this 
bundle  are  barred  ones ;  t^ey  are  sometimes  grouped  in  four  slightly 
coherent  clusters,  with  some  delicate,  vertically  elongated  cells  in  or  near 
their  central  point  of  conjunction.  The  same  kind  of  cellular  tissue  sur- 
rounds the  bundle,  fonning  a  thia  layer,  which  passes  rapidly  into  a  very 


On  the  Fossil  PJanli  of  the  Coal-measures.     [Mar,  2 

thick  layer,  of  coarse  prosenchyma,  and  vrhich  hae  evidently  been  bard  and 
woody,  as  in  mauy  of  the  recent  AdiantiumB.  Toward§  the  upper  part 
of  the  petiole  the  vaaeular  bundle  becomes  distinctly  consolidated  into  a 
single  cluster  of  crucial  form  ;  it  then  passes  into  a  somewhat  trifid  form, 
and  ultimately  int-o  a  sraall  cyliadrital  one.  Tlus  petiole  has  branched 
much  more  freely  than  any  of  the  others  described.  Two  of  the  estre- 
mities  of  the  crucial  arms  of  the  laecular  bundle  become  first  esJarged 
and  then  detached  us  two  secondary  bundles,  which  generally  have  an 
irregularly  triangular  transverse  section,  nith  long  arms  to  the  triangle. 
Theae  triangular  bundles  are  altogether  different  from  the  central  aiis  of 
.AsterophylUtei  Ae3criheAiQ&  preceding  memoir.  The  ultimate  subdivisions 
of  these  secondary  branches  look  more  like  Uie  terminations  of  cylindrical 
rootletfl  than  of  petioles — which  fact,  combined  with  the  circumstance  that 
no  traces  of  leaflets  have  been  found  associated  with  any  of  these  ultimate 
twigs,  renders  tlie  petiolar  nature-  of  this  plant  open  to  question,  though 
the  arguments  in  favour  of  its  being  a  braneliing  fern-petiole  preponderate 
oTer  those  which  militate  against  that  conclusion.  The  author  designates 
this  plant  Ititrhinpleris  Oldhamia. 

The  next  plant  described  is  an  exqiuaitely  beautiful  petiole  from  Bumt^ 
island,  to  two  detached  portions  of  which  the  author  has  already  assigned 
the  names  of  Arpexylon  duplex  and  A.  timpUx*,  but  which  two  forms  he 
now  proves  to  belong  to  the  same  plant.  In  the  matured  petiole  the 
TEicular  bundle  is  always  a  double  one.  There  is  a  central  bundle, 
exhibiting  a  transverse  section  shaped  like  an  hour-glass,  one  side  of 
which  is  truucat«d  and  the  other  rounded,  with  a  free,  narrow,  crescentic 
hand  at  the  more  truncate  of  its  enlarged  extremitieB.  At  each  of  these 
extremities  of  the  central  bundle  there  is  a  longitudin^  groove,  which  is 
shallow  on  the  truncated  side  nearest  to  the  crescentic  bundle,  but  bo  sur- 
rounded by  small  vessels  at  the  opposite  convex  side  as  often  to  become 
converted  into  a  longitudinal  canal.  The  hour-glass  bundle  always  reap- 
pears in  various  specimens  under  the  same  aspect ;  but  the  crescentic  one 
dividesinto  two  lateral  halves,  and  the  ends  of  each  of  these  two  subdivided 
parts  curl  under  their  more  central  portions.  We  thus  obtain  two  of  the 
creflcentic  structures  previously  designated  Arpexi/lon  gimplex.  These 
crescentaare  traced  outwards  through  the  bark  to  lateral  secondaryrachidcs. 
The  Teasels  thus  detached  from  the  truncated  side  of  the  central  hour- 
glass bundle  now  reappear  at  its  opposite  and  more  convex  side,  whence, 
in  turn,  they  again  become  detached ;  so  that  the  truncate  surface  with 
ita  crescentic  appendage,  and  the  more  oblate  one  with  Kb  almost  closed 
canal,  have  alternately  reversed  their  positions  in  the  petiole  as  each 
secondary  rachis  was  given  off.  Alternating  distichous  tertiary  rachides 
spring  from  these  secondary  ones. 

Two  plants  which  appear  to  be  identical  with  those  described  by  M. 

Sessillt,  under  the  names  of  ZygopterisLaaatii  and  Z.  Ubractiensi),  are  next 

"  Proceediiigg  of  the  Sfijei  Society,  vol.  xx.  p.  438. 


1874.]     On  the  Motiotu  of  Nebula  towardi  or  from  the  Earth.     26X 

examined*.  In  these  plants  the  eection  of  the  central  bundle  exhilnt«  a 
form  of  the  letter  H.  The  Tesaels  of  the  large  central  tranHTerse  bar  are  all 
reticulated  ones :  the  greater  part  of  those  of  the  terminal  vertical  bars 
are  of  the  same  character ;  but  the  oatermost  Teasels  of  those  latter 
structures  are  barred  or  qnasi-scalariform.  As  in  the  case  of  B.  dvpUx, 
already  described,  these  outermost  layers  of  barred  vessels,  accompanied 
by  a  few  reticulated  ones,  become  detached  alternately  from  opposite  sides 
of  the  K-shaped  central  bundle.  Passing  quickly  through  a  tliin  delicate 
cellular  inner  bark,  they  eat«r  the  coarser  parenchyma  of  a  middle  one, 
as  two  irregular  clusters  of  vessels  with  one  common  investment  pro- 
longed from  the  innermost  bark.  Onreachingtheouterbarktheybecome 
two  distinct  cylindrical  bundles,  each  with  its  own  dehcate  cortical 
investing  layer ;  and  thus  invested,  they  emerge  from  the  primary  petiole 
to  supply  the  secondary  rachis. 

The  Oldham  specimens  of  HwAiepUrit  bibradienaii  agree  with  those 
described  by  M.  Benault  in  having  all  their  vessels  'of  the  barred  type. 
The  outer  bark  projects  at  numerous  points  iu  large  conical  abortive 
hairs,  which  almost  assume  a  spinous  aspect. 

The  author  further  figures  and  describes  the  sedaon  of  a  vascular  axis, 
with  a  central  cellular  medulla  surrounded  by  five  contiguous  crescenlic 
masses  of  vascular  tissue,  whose  concavities  are  directed  outwards.  This 
plant  appears  identical  with  the  AnartJicpteris  Decaimii  of  Benault, 


II.  "On  the  Motions  of  some  of  the  Nebulse  towards  or  from 
the  Earth."  By  William  Huggins,  D.C.L.,  LLJ).,  F.It.S. 
Received  January  26, 1874. 

The  observataons  on  the  motions  of  some  of  the  stars  towards  and 
from  the  earth  which  I  had  the  honour  to  present  to  the  Boyal  Society 
in  1872  appeared  to  show,  from  the  positicm  in  the  heavens  of  the 
approaching  and  receding  stars,  as  well  as  from  the  relative  velocities  of 
their  approach  and  recession,  that  the  sun's  motion  in  space  could  not  be 
regarded  as  the  sole  cause  of  these  motions.  "There  can  be  little  doubt 
but  that  in  the  observed  stellar  movements  we  have  to  do  with  two  other 
independent  motionB — namely,  a  movement  common  to  certain  groups 
of  stars,  and  also  a  motion  peculiar  to  each  Btar''t, 

It  presented  itself  to  me  as  a  matter  of  some  importance  to  en- 
deavour to  extend  this  inquiry  to  the  nebuln,  as  it  seemed  possible 
that  some  light  might  be  thrown  on  the  cosmical  relations  of  the  gaseous 
nebula  to  the  stars  and  to  our  stellar  system  by  obserratiims  of  their 
motions  of  recession  and  of  approach. 

Since  the  date  of  the  paper  to  which  I  have  referred,  I  have  availed 
*  Aniaitm  dct  ScIminb  KmtnrellM,  6*  tlnie,  Boi  toms  xii. 
t  Fi«etediiigsctftlwSo7dSod«tj,Tc^sx.p.382. 


2S2  Br.  W.  HuffginA  on  the  Motions  of  tome       [Mar.  26, 

myself  of  the  nighta  Bufiicieatly  fine  (imusually  few  even  for  our  un- 
favourable climate)  to  mate  observatious  on  this  point. 

The  inquiry  was  found  to  be  ono  of  great  difficulty,  from  the  Faiutncss 
of  the  objects  and  the  very  minute  alteration  in  position  in  the  spectrum 
which  had  to  ba  observed. 

At  first  the  inquiry'  appeared  hopeleiis,  from  the  circumstance  that  tJie 
brightest  line  in  the  ncbuhir  spectrum  is  not  sniEdently  coincident  iu 
oharacter  and  poeition  ivith  the  brightest  line  in  tha  spectrum  of  nitrogen 
t-o  permit  this  line  to  be  used  as  a  fiducial  line  of  comparison.  The  line 
in  the  spectrum  of  the  nebula)  is  narrow  and  defined,  while  the  line  ot 
nitrogen  ie  double,  and  each  component  is  nebulous  and  broader  than 
the  lino  of  the  nebulas.  The  nebular  line  is  apparently  coincideut 
with  the  middle  of  the  less  refrangible  line  of  the  double  lino  of  ui- 

The  third  and  fourth  lines  of  the  nebular  spectrum  are  undoubtedly 
those  of  hydrogen  ;'  but  their  great  faintnoss  makes  it  impossible  to  use 
them  as  lines  of  comparison  under  the  necessary  conditions  of  great  dis- 
persive power,  except  iu  the  case  of  the  brightest  nehtUiD. 

The  second  tine,  as  1  showed  in  the  paper  to  which  I  have  referred,  is 
sensibly  coincident  with  an  iron  line,  wave-length  495*7 ;  but  this  line  ii 
inconveniently  faint,  except  in  the  brightest  nebulte. 

In  the  course  of  some  other  experiments  my  attention  was  directed  to 
a  line  in  the  spectrum  of  lead  which  falls  upon  the  less  refrangible  of  the 
components  of  the  double  line  of  nitrogen.  This  line  appeared  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  the  cose,  as  it  is  narrow,  of  a  width  corresponding  to 
the  slit,  defined  at  both  edges,  and  in  the  position  in  the  spectrum  of  the 
brightest  of  the  lines  of  the  nebulte. 

In  December  1872  I  compared  this  line  directly  with  the  first  line  in 
the  spectrum  of  the  Qreat  Nebula  in  Orion,  I  was  delighted  to  find  this 
line  sufficiently  coincident  in  position  to  serve  as  a  fiducial  liue  of  com- 
parison. 

I  am  not  prepared  to  say  that  the  coincidence  is  perfect ;  on  the  con- 
trary, I  believe  that  if  greater  prism-power  could  be  brought  to  bear 
npon  the  nebulee,  the  line  in  the  lead  spectrum  would  be  found  to  be  in 
a  small  degree  more  refrangible  than  the  line  in  the  nebulte. 

The  spectroscope  employed  in  these  observations  contains  two  com- 
pound prisms,  each  giving  a  dispersion  of  9°  &  from  A  to  H.  A  mag- 
ztifying-pKiwer  of  16  diamet«rs  was  used. 

In  the  simultaneous  observation  of  the  two  lines  it  was  found  that  if 
the  lead  line  was  made  rather  less  bright  than  the  nebular  line,  the  small 
excess  of  apparent  breadth  of  this  latter  line,  from  its  greater  brightness, 
appeared  to  overlap  the  lead  line  to  a  very  small  amount  on  its  less 
refrangible  side,  so  that  the  more  refrangible  sides  of  the  two  lines 
appeared  to  be  in  a  straight  line  across  the  spectrum.  This  liue  could  be 
*  ProDBtdings  of  the  Bojil  Sooietj,  vol,  n.  p,  360. 


1874.]  of  the  Nebula  towards  or  from  the  Earth.  233 

therefore  conTeniently  employed  as  a  fiducial  line  in  the  obaenrationB  I 
had  in  view. 

In  my  own  map  of  the  spectrum  of  lead  this  line  is  not  giren.  In 
Thal^n's  map  (1868)  the  line  is  represented  by  a  short  line  to  show  that, 
under  the  conditions  oF  spark  under  which  Thal^n  observed,  this  line  was 
emitted  hj  those  portions  only  of  the  vapour  of  lead  which  are  close  to 
the  electrodes. 

I  find  that  by  alteratioOB  of  the  character  of  the  spark  this  line  becomes 
long,  and  reaches  from  electrode  to  electrode.  As  some  of  those  conditions 
(such  as  the  absence  of  the  Leyden  jars,  or  the  close  approximation  of 
the  electrodes  when  the  Leyden  jars  are  in  circuit)  are  those  in  which  the 
lines  of  nitrogen  of  the  air  in  which  the  spcurk  is  token  ore  faint  or 
absent,  the  circumstance  o(  the  line  becoming  bright  and  long  or  faint 
and  short,  inversely  aa  the  line  of  nitrogen,  suggested  to  me  the  possi- 
bility that  the  line  might  be  due  not  to  the  vapour  of  lead,  but  to  some 
combination  of  nitrogen  under  the  presence  of  lead  vapour.  As,  how- 
ever, this  line  is  bright  under  similar  conditions  when  the  spark  is  taken 
in  a  current  of  hydrogen,  this  supposition  cannot  be  correct, 

A  condition  of  the  spark  may  be  obtained  in  which  the  strongest  lines 
of  the  ordinary  lead  spectf  um  are  scarcely  visible,  and  the  line  under 
consideration  becomes  the  strongest  in  the  spectrum,  with  the  exception 
o£  the  bright  line  in  the  extreme  violet. 

I  need  scarcely  remark  that  the  circumstance  of  making  nee  of  this 
line  for  the  purpose  of  a  standard  line  of  comparison  is  not  to  be  taken 
as  aSording  any  evidence  in  favour  of  the  existence  of  lead  in  the 
nebulte. 

Each  nebula  was  observed  on  several  nights,  so  that  the  whole  observ- 
ing time  of  the  past  year  was  devoted  to  this  inquiry.  In  no  instance 
was  any  change  of  relative  position  of  the  nebular  line  and  the  lead  line 


It  follows  that  none  of  the  nebulte  obsei^ed  shows  a  motion  of  trans- 
lation so  great  as  26  miles  per  second,  including  the  earth's  motion  at 
the  time.  This  motion  must  be  considered  in  the  results  to  be  drawn 
from  the  observations;  for  if  the  earth's  motion  be,  say,  10  miles 
per  second  from  the  nebula,  then  the  nebula  would  not  be  receding 
with  a  velocity  greater  than  15  miles  per  second ;  but  the  nebula  might  be 
approaching  with  velocity  aa  great  as  35  miles  per  second,  because  10 
miles  of  this  velocity  would  be  destroyed  by  the  earth's  motion  in  the 
contrary  direction^ 

The  observations  seem  to  show  that  the  gaseous  nebulie  as  a  class 
have  not  proper  motions  so  great  aa  the  bright  stars.  It  may  be 
remarked  that  two  other  kinds  of  motion  may  exist  in  the  nebulie,  and, 
if  sufficiently  rapid,  may  be  detected  by  the  spectroscope : — 1.  A  motion 
of  rotation  in  the  planetary  nebuln,  which  might  be  discovered  by  phudng 
the  slit  of  tlie  infltrnment  on  opposite  limbs  of  the  neboloi.  2.  A  motasn. 


g 

^^H 

^^H 

^^^H       ^^^^^^H 

1 

^— "^^^^^ 

1 

254                        Mr.  J.  A.  Broun  on  the  Annual              [Mar.  26, 

of  translation  iu  the  visual  direction  of  aome  portions  of  the  nebulous 
matter  within  tho  uebuliv,  which  might  be  found   by    compuriiig  the 
difEerent  parts  of  a  large  and  bright  nebula. 

Sir  William  Herschel  states  that  "  nebulie  wero  generally  detected  in 
certain  Erections  rather  than  in  others,  that  the  spaces  preceding  them 
were  generally  quite  deprived  of  stars,  that  the  nebulaJ  appeared  some 
time  after  among  starn  of  a  certain  considerable  sine  and  but  seldom 
among  very  small  stars,  that  when  I  came  to  one  nebula  I  found  several 
more  in  the  same  neighbourhood,  and  afterwards  a  considerable  time 
passed  before  I  came  to  another  parcel  "•. 

Since  the  existence  of  real  nebulro  has  been  established  by  the  use  of 
;he  spectroscope,  Blr.  Proctorf  ajid   Professor   D'Arrestt  have  called 
attention  to  tho  rektion  of  position  which  the  gaseous  nebiUio  hold  to  the 
Milky  Way  and  the  sidereal  system. 

It  was  with  the  hope  of  adding  to  our  information  on  this  point  that 
these  observations  of  the  motions  of  the  nebulio  were  undertaken. 

In  the  following  list  the  numbers  are  taken  from  Sir  J.  HerBchel'B 
General  Catalogue  of  KebuliB.'     The  earth's  motion  given  is  the  mean 
of  the  motions  of  the  different  days  of  obsenatiou. 

No. 

h. 

H. 

Otliere. 

Earth's  motion  from  Nebula. 

1179 
4234 
4373 

4390 
4447 
4610 
4964 

360 
1970 

2000 
2023 
2047 
2241 

iv!37. 

IV.  51. 
IV.  18. 

M.  42 
S.  5 

s.'c 

M.67 

7  miles  per  second. 

12  „ 

1  ,. 

2  „ 

3  » 
14     .- 

13  „ 

III.  "Onthe  AnnualVariationof  the  MagneticDeclination,"  By 
J.  A.  Bboun,  F.R.S.  Received  February  11,  1874. 
The  first  observations  which  seemed  to  show  that  the  mean  position 
of  the  declination-needle  followed  an  annual  law  were  those  of  Cassini, 
made,  more  than  eighty  years  ago,  in  the  hall  of  the  Paris  Observatory 
and  in  the  eaves  below  it  (90  feet  under  ground).  It  cannot  be  said, 
however,  that  Cassini's  result  has  been  confirmed  by  subsequent  observa- 
tions, either  as  regards  the  direction  or  amounts  of  movement  from 
month  to  month. 

The  extensive  series  of  observations  made  in  difEerent  parts  of  the 
k  ■  PbiI<Mophical  TraDsoctions,  17S4,  p.  448. 

WL  t  Other  Worlds  than  Ours,  pp.  ^280-290. 

^  {  Astroiioiiiische  Jfaehrioliten,  Ko.  1008,  p.  190. 


187'4.]  Variaiion  of  tKe  Magnetic  DecUnation.  255 

world  in  modem  times  have  given  results  so  different  that  we  must  con- 
clude either  that  the  magnetic  needle  obeys  different  annuaJ  laws  at  each 
place,  or  that  the  differences  are  due  to  instrumental  errors.  The  con- 
sequence has  been  that,  after  long,  laborious,  and  expensive  researches,  it  is 
still  a  question  whether  the  magnetic  needle  obeys  an  annual  law  or  not. 

The  results  obtained  at  some  obBervatoriea  have  mads  it  very  probable 
that,  if  an  annual  law  exist,  the  range  of  the  oscillation  must  bo  very 
small.  It  is  therefore  essential,  in  questioning  any  series  of  observa- 
tions for  this  law,  to  be  assured  that  the  errors  (instrumental  or  others) 
are  neither  considerable  nor  systematic. 

I  have  concluded,  from  sevenJ  series  of  observations  made  with  sus- 
pension-threads bearing  unmagnetic  or  slightly  magnetic  weights,  that 
the  systematic  errors  due  to  varying  temperature  or  humidity  are  very 
small  when  the  suspension-threads  are  carefully  constructed  with  fibres 
from  which  the  original  torsion  haa  been  removed.  Dr.  Lloyd  has  con- 
cluded that  threads  with  fibres  differently  twisted  may  produce  com- 
paratively large  annual  variations  in  different  directions,  according  to  the 
direction  of  the  twist.  There  is  little  doubt,  however,  that  the  greatest 
errors  are  due  to  the  unequal  stretching  and  rupture  of  the  different 
fibres  which  form  the  suspension-thread. 

When  the  instrumental  errors  may  be  so  considerable  compared  with 
the  variations  to  be  observed,  it  cannot  be  supposed  extraordinary  that 
instruments  in  different  places  give  different  results ;  and  it  appears 
essential  so  to  eliminate  the  sources  of  error  that  two  instruments  in  the 
some  place  may  tell  the  same  story  before  we  attempt  to  announce  the 
existence  of  any  law. 

If  at  sea  two  or  more  chronometers  are  necessary  in  case  one  may  be 
affected  by  error,  it  seems  not  less  necessary  in  scientific  researches 
requiring  continuous  observations  for  years,  where  errors  are  so  difficult 
of  detection  and  elimination,  that  two  or  more  instruments  should  be 
observed.  These  considerationa  induced  me  to  establish  at  Treran- 
drum  two  declination-magnetometers  of  different  construction,  placed 
under  considerably  different  atmospheric  conditions ;  and  it  is  to  the 
results  ot  sixteen  years'  comparative  observation  from  these  two  instru^ 
ments  that  I  desire  to  draw  the  attention  of  physicists. 

Both  instruments  had  suspension-threads  made  vrith  the  utmost  care. 
One,  Dr.  Lloyd's  instrument,  made  by  Mr.  Glrubb,  of  Dublin,  with  a 
m^net  weighing  nearly  a  pound,  was  placed  in  the  large  room  of  the 
Trevaudrum  Magnetic  Observatory,  which  was  always  more  or  less  open 
to  the  external  air ;  and,  although  covered  by  a  cotton-wadded  hood  and 
a  series  of  boxes,  it  was  much  more  liable  to  any  errors  due  to  atmo- 
spheric actions  than  the  other.  Its  chief  source  of  error  was,  however, 
connected  with  small  movement-s  of  the  telescope  wire,  although  that  was 
made  to  coincide,  at  varying  intervals  of  time,  with  the  transit-mark  five 
miles  distant. 


256  Mr.  J .  A.  Broun  on  the  Annml  [Mar.  26, 

Tlie  second  instrument,  mado  according  to  my  own  designs  by  Mr.  P. 
Adie,  of  London,  had  a  magnet  weighing  only  about  one  sislb  of  the  other ; 
it  WHS  suspended  under  a  glass  boll  from  whicb  tlio  air  wiis  exhausted, 
and  which  was  covered  with  two  hoods — one  with  gilt  surfacea,  the 
other  with  cotton  wadding.  This  instrument  was  placed  in  a  closed  room 
without  windows  or  external  opeuings,  and  with  s  terraced  ceiling  below 
the  obeen-atory  roof.  Obser\-ed  from  without  (within  the  large  room  of 
the  observatory),  the  diurnal  variations  of  temperature  in  the  instrument 
were  not  more  than  three  tenths  (0'3)  of  a  degree  Fahrenheit,  while  the 
annual  variation  was  under  5°  Fahr.* 

The  compared  mean  positions  of  the  two  magnets  for  each  day,  derived 
from  hourly  observations  of  botli  instruments  during  eleven  j'ears,  and 
from  eight  daily  observations  during  the  remaining  live  years,  will  bo 
found  with  all  other  details  in  the  volume  referred  to  in  the  note  to  the 
preceding  paragraph.  It  will  be  suflicient  for  the  purposes  now  in  view 
to  give  here  the  chief  conclusions  from  these  means. 

The  monthly  mean  declinations  having  boon  freed  from  tho  secular 
movement,  and  the  meana  for  three  groups  of  years  having  been  taken, 
these  means  are  represented  very  nearly  by  the  following  equations  of 
sines  (fl  =  0,  Jan.  15);— 

Tetn. 

fAdie.    j/=0'-033sin(fl  +  135°)+0'-009sin(2e+299°). 
]854tol»oy   |Grubb.i(=U'-U3asiu(0+15O°)  +  O'-O783in(l'O+3OO'j. 

IHtint^  18(14  |-^^'«-    y=0'-1908in(8  +  178°)+0'-070sin(2e+324''). 
lGrubb.y=0'-099ain(fl+211°)+0'0628in(2fl+319°). 

IftfiKtolRflq  Z-^^^-    y=0'-171  sin  (fl+181'>)+0'-104sin  (28+342°). 
lGnibb.y=0'-0S2  8iii(e+228°)+0'-122sin(2e+322°). 

In  the  years  1854  to  1859  the  movements  of  Onibb'e  telescope  were 
Tery  small,  the  daily  mean  declinations  from  both  instruments  differing 
rarely  more  than  O'-l  throughout  the  whole  six  years.  It  will  be  seen 
that  the  equations  for  these  years  agree  very  nearly.  In  spite  of  the 
greater  movements  of  the  telescope  in  following  years  (affecting  chiefly 
the  coefficient  of  sin  9),  the  epochs  of  maxima  and  mittima  derived  from 
the  two  instruments  differ  but  little,  and  all  the  principal  deviations 
from  the  mean  law  for  any  year  are  confirmed  by  both  instruments. 

When  the  means  for  the  whole  sixteen  years  are  token,  and  the  equi- 

*  Sxperimenti  wilh  luapenBioii-IIircadi  mnying  slightly  magnetic  nei'ghls  of  nearly 
one  pound,  shoved  Oivt,  the  eflbct  of  a  change  of  1°  fUir.  on  the  poeition  of  Orubb'i 
inngnet  amounted  to  about  O'OOS  (  — 0"'1S) — a  r««ult  deduced  rrom  (he  change!  of  lem- 
perature  from  hour  to  liour,  na  well  an  from  those  from  day  to  day.  I  auel  refer  to 
the  flrtt  volume  of  the  '  Trevandruin  Obwrvatioiu,'  now  in  the  preu,  for  (he  details  of 
^thete  eiperimeuta. 


1874.]  Variation  of  the  Mt^putic  Declination. 

Talent  equations  of  sines  are  carried  to  four  terms,  the  {oUowing  iwulti 
are  obtamed : — 

1864  to  1869< 
Adie.     y=0'-120  8m(e+175<')+0'-076eiii(2e+323'') 

+ O'-Oll  Bin  {3fl + 299°) + 0'-022  Bin  (49  + 181°). 

Gmbb.  y =0'-056  Bin  (fl + 209°) + 0'-095  sin  (29 + 316°) 

+ 0'-012  sin  (39 +293°) + 0'-022  Bin  (4fl + 197°). 

From  these  equations  we  deduce  the  following  epochs  of  mftTima  and 
minima: — 

Minima.  Ma3Qraa> ' 

Adie.      January  26  and  May  19.        March  14  and  October  1. 
Grubb.    January  13  and  May  23.        March  18  and  September  29. 

The  confirmation  o£  the  results  from  Adie's  instroment  by  those  from 
Gnibb's,  in  spite  of  the  errors  of  the  latter,  is  so  marked  in  each  year 
and  group  of  years,  that  ve  can  affirm  that  at  Trevandrum,  in  the  south 
magnetic  hemisphere,  the  magnetic  needle  obeys  on  annual  law  producing 
a  double  oscillation,  having  a  minimum  towards  the  end  of  May,  t^e  prin- 
dpal  maximum  near  the  end  of  September,  another  minimum  in  January, 
and  a  secondary  maximum  in  the  middle  of  March.  Or,  taking  the  results 
fr<Hn  Adie's  instrument  as  most  free  from  all  error,  the  principcd  mini- 
mum occurs  about  a  month  before  the  June  solstice,  and  the  secondary 
TTiinimiim  about  a  mouth  after  the  December  solstice ;  while  the  principal 
mitx'm'iT'i  occurs  about  a  week  after  the  September  equinox,  and  the 
secondary  muTimiim  about  a  week  before  the  March  equinox. 

In  the  result  obtained  by  me  from  four  years'  observations  (1843  to 
1846)  at  Makerstoun,  in  Scotland,  the  greatest  easterly  position  was 
attained  in  the  end  of  April  or  beginning  of  May,  and  the  greatest 
westerly  (or  least  easterly)  position  in  September.  If  that  result,  derived 
from  a  single  iuBtrument,  can  be  accepted*,  it  would  appear  that  the 
movements  of  the  north  end  of  the  needle,  in  the  annu&l  Tariations,  are 
in  opposite  directions  at  Trevandrum  and  Makerstoun  at  the  same  period 
of  the  year.  This  result  agrees  with  that  which  I  have  found  for  the 
decennial  inequality,  or  that  in  the  south  magnetic  hemisphere  ;  the  law 
for  the  south  end  of  the  magnet  is  the  same  as  that  for  the  north  end  of 
the  magnet  in  the  north  magnetic  hemisphere :  but  it  is  opposed  to  the 
result  obtained  by  me  for  the  twenty-six  day  period,  in  which  the  easterly 
and  northeriy  magnetic  forces  have  their  muxim*  at  the  same  time  in  both 
hemispheres. 

It  follows  that  the  results  which  are  connected  with  the  Bun's  rota- 
tion on  its  axis  are  the  some  in  both  hemispheres,  while  those  related  to 


*  I  hkTB  always  coniidered  tlii»  recult  a  nesr  Bpproiimatjcm  to  the  tratli,  \«A  it 
wu  not  confinned  by  th*  rery  limited  went*  of  Qbnrraliaiu  mads  in  the  three  sutae- 
quent  ysan^  ytan  of  great  distoifaanw. 


Pregents. 


[Mar.  I 


the  earth's  revolution  round  the  sun  appear  oppoaito  in  the  two  hem 
spheres. 

It  might  be  suppcsed,  as  was  done  for  the  diurnal  variation  of  magneti 
dechnation,  that  the  directions  of  motion  being  oppoaito  in  the  two  hem. 
spheres,  the  amount  of  motion  should  diminish,  and  perhaps  altogetht 
disappear,  at  the  magnctie  equator.  This  docs  not  seem  to  be  the  c&i 
far  the  annual  law  more  than  for  the  diumal  law,  the  range  of  tb 
mean  oscillation  from  four  years'  observationa  at  Makerstoun  being  aboi 
1''0,  which  is  little  different  from  that  found  for  Trevandrum  (0''33),  th 
difference  of  the  directive  forces  being  considered. 


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!■  the  Eastor  Eecess  to  Thuradaj 


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The  Observatory. 


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260 


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1874.]  Presents.  'SOI 

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"  On  the  Nervous  System  of  Actinia." — Part  I.  By  Professor 
P.  Martin  Duncan,  M.B.  Lond.,  F.R.S.,  &c.  Keceived 
October  9,  \%7i. 

1.  A  Notice  0/  the  Invatigatiotit  of  Homard,  Haime,  Schneider  and 
Sdttcken,  and  others  on  the  lul^eet. 

MM.  MUne-Edwards  and  Jules  Hoime*  wrote  as  follows  in  1857 
concerning  the  nenous  attributes  of  the  group  of  C<elenterata  called 
Zoantharia : — "  They  (les  Coralliairea)  enjoy  a  highly  developed  sensibi- 
lity ;  not  only  do  they  contract  forcibly  upon  the  slightest  touch,  but  they 
are,  moreover,  not  insensible  to  the  influence  of  light.  Nevertheless,  neither 
a  nervous  system  nor  oi^ans  of  special  sense  have  been  discovered  in  them. 
It  is  true  that  Spix  described  and  figured  ganglions  and  nenous  cords 
in  the  pedal  disk  of  Actinim ;  but  the  observations  of  this  naturalist,  so  far 
as  the  polypes  are  concerned,  are  not  entitled  to  the  least  confidence. 

"  Some  naturalists  have  supposed  that  the  '  bourses  calicinales '  of  the 

Actinite  are  eyes,  and  M.  Huschke  believes  that  certain  capsules  in  the 

trunk  of  Verelilla,  which  contain  calcareous  bodies,  are  the  organs  of 

hearing.     But  these  hypotbesea  do  not  rest  upon  any  proved  facts." 

*  Hist.  Kat.  dea  Corallisire*,  vol.  i.  p.  11. 


264  Prof.  P.  M.  Duncan  on  the  ■ 

In  1804  Huxley  noticed  that,  with  regard  to  the  CiBleiit^rata,  "  a  noi 
voua  system  has  at  present  been  clearly  made  out  only  in  the  Ctem 

Homard  t,  an  admirahie  observer,  contributed  to  the  histology  of  th 
Actinozoa  in  ISol.  He  corrected  Erdl'g  mistake  concerning  the  suj 
posed  striation  ot  the  mnscular  fibrilliD  of  the  tentacles,  and  also  Quatn 
fago  and  Leuckart's  notion  concerning  the  rupture  of  the  tentacular  end 
previously  to  the  passage  of  water  from  them.  Giving  very  good  iUiis 
tratious,  he  proved  himself  to  be  a  very  reliable  invesligator. 

Amongst  other  parts  of  the  Actinozoa,  he  paid  especial  attention  to  tl 
minute  anatomy  of  the  "  bourses  ealiciuales."  These  bead-like  appendage 
situated  just  without  the  tentacles  in  some  genera,  but  not  in  all,  u 
&1bo  called  chromatophores  and  "  bourses  marginales  ; "  and  their  heautifi 
turquoise  colour  had  rendered  them  attractive  to  pre^noua  anatomists 
who  had,  as  has  already  been  noticed,  giie-saed  concerning  their  functioi 

Homard  determined  that  they  were  folded  eleincnta  of  tlio  skin  i 
■which  the  capsules  (nematocysts)  were  enormously  developed.  H 
stated  that  the  thread  of  these  gigantic  nematocysts  was  seen  with  diff 
culty.  He  noticed  the  transparency  of  some  large  cells  in  the  bourse: 
ouJ  sLatod  that,  m  hl^  opiuiDu,  there  "'as  "  suae  phytiiulogical  relation  Ix 
tween  these  little  organs  and  the  light." 

Jules  Haime  (probably  in  1855)  examined  the  minute  anatomy  c 
Actinia  mesembn/antTujitum,  and  his  colleague,  Jlilue-Ed wards,  quot« 
him  in  the  '  Hist,  Kat.  des  Coralliaires,'  vol.  i.  p.  240.  The  laments 
young  naturalist  found  out  that  the  chromatophores  bore,  so  far  as  thei 
number  is  concerned,  a  decided  numerical  relation  with  the  number  c 
the  tentacles.  He  decided  that  they  contained  but  few  muscular  fibrei 
and  had  navicular-shaped  nematocysfs,  "  diversement  contoumee,"  wit 
indistinct  threads  within  them.  However,  he  recoguiBed  large  tnuLE 
parent  cells  and  pigmentary  granules  in  them.  The  nematocysts  of  th 
chromatophores  aro  larger  than  those  of  the  tentacles.  He  was  evi 
dently  not  satisfied  with  the  data  upon  which  these  coloured  masses  wer 
decided  to  be  of  importance  as  organs  of  special  sense.  In  all  probabilit 
Haime  was  aware  of  Homard's  work. 

Kulliker  and  the  German  histologists  added  about  this  time,  and  latci 
to  the  exact  knowledge  respecting  the  histology  of  the  muscles,  akii 
endothelium,  and  tentacular  apparatus,  but  no  advance  was  made  to 
wanls   the  discovery   of  a  nervous   8yst«m   in  the  Actinia  for  man; 

In  1871  the  popular  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  nen-ous  system  ii 

*  Huilo;,  '  Elemonta  of  Coraparative  Anatomy,'  p.  82,  See  Dr.  Grant,  F.Bil.  to 
on  Sero'e  piUiia,  Zool.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  10.  Seo  also  '  A  Munual  of  the  Subkingdoi 
dlentcrala,'  by  J.  R.  Greene.  18G1,  p.  105. 

+  "Sur  Ees  Actiniat,"  Ann.  dca  Sciences  Kat.  1851. 

i  Sea-side  Studiee,  Eliz.  and  A.  Agusiz,  1871,  p.  12. 


NervoHi  Syittm  of  Actinia.  S66 

.AcHnui  was  ezpteased  by  Alex.  Agassi£:t>  "ho  wrote  :r-"  NotwithBtanding 
ita  extrsordinary  MoaitiTeneu,  the  organs  of  the  senses  in  the  Actinia 
are  very  inferior,  consisting  only  of  a  few  pigment-cells  accumulated  at 
the  base  of  the  tentacles ." 

But  in  this  year  a  great  advance  was  made  towards  discovery  by 
Profs.  A.  Schneider  and  Botteken*.  The  first-named  naturalist  paid 
especial  attention  to  the  development  of  the  lamelhe  and  septa  in  Corals 
and  Actiniie,  and  hi»  colleague  laboured  in  the  histology  of  Actinia 
especially. 

Working  at  a  very  great  disadvantage,  with  specimens  which  had  been 
preserved  in  alcohol,  Botteken  produced  a  series  of  researches  which 
added  greatly  to  the  knowledge  already  granted  to  science  by  Homard  and 
Haime.  So  far.  as  they  bear  on  the  nervous  system,  the  result  of  his  re- 
searches may  be  stated  as  follows : — "  The  bourses  marginales  "  (cbroma- 
tophoree)  are  undoubtedly  organs  of  sense,  and,  indeed,  compound  eyes. 
They  are  pyriform  diverticula  of  the  body-waU,  standing  between  the 
tentacles  and  the  outer  margin  of  the  peristome ;  they  are  constructed 
after  the  fashion  of  a  retina,  and  the  following  layers  of  structure  may  be 
distinguished  in  them : — 1,  externally  a  cutdcular  layw  broken  up  into 
"bacilli"  by  numerous  pore-canals;  2,  a  layer  of  strongly  re&actile  , 
spherules,  which  may  be  regarded  as  lenses  ;  3,  cones — hollow,  strongly 
refractile,  transversely  striated  cylinders  or  prisms  rounded  at  the  ends ; 
these  have  hitherto  been  confounded  with  urticating  capsules  (nemato' 
cysts) :  at  the  exterior  end  of  each  cone  there  is  generally  one  lens,  and 
sometimes  two  or  three  may  stand  in  the  interspaces ;  4,  a  granular 
fibrous  layer  occupying  the  interspaces  between  the  cones ;  5,  a  layer 
which  is  deeply  stained  by  carmine,  and  contains  numerous  extremely  fine 
fibres  and  spindle-shaped  cells,  probably  nerve-fibrea  and  cells ;  6,  the 
muscular  layer ;  7,  the  endothelium,  which  bounds  the  perigastric  cavity. 

Actinia  maembryanthmium  was  the  species  examined,  and  the  diagram 
(Fl.  II.  fig.  16)  will  explun  the  relative  position  of  the  layers. 

Botteken  could  not  determine  the  position  of  the  pigment  of  tbe 
chromatophorea  from  the  alcoboIiEed  specimens.  An  examination  of  the 
minute  anatomy  of  the  tentacles  of  Actinia  cereut,  Ellis  and  Solander, 
determined  that  the  refractile  spherules  and  large  cones  were  to  be  found 
on  the  tips  of  these  organs. 

Danat,  in  his  popular  work  <m  Corals  and  Coral  Islands,  appears  to 
accept  the  statements  quoted  above.  He  states  that  "  they  sometimes 
possess  rudimentary  eyes ;"  and  elsewhere,  "  they  have  crystalline  lenses 
and  a  short  optic  nerve."    He  th^i  observes:—"  Tet  Actiniie  are  not 

*  Sitiangsbericht  der  Obsriienuohan  Qeaellsohftft  Tui  Ifitur-  und  Heilkunde,  U&n& 
1871  (OnUieStnictamof  Actii)i»a]id  Oorali).  Translfttod  for  the  Ann.  and  Hag.  of 
Nat  Uirt.  1871,  vii.  p.  437,  bjr  W.  S.  DiU^  V.h.B.  ko. 

t  Corals  and  Coml  lalandi,  bj  JamM  D.  Dana,  hLD.,  1S72,  pp.  41, 39. 


known  to  have  a  proper  nen'ouB  eysteni ;  their  optic  nervea,  where  they 
exist,  arc  apparently  isolated,  and  not  connected  with  a  nen'ous  ring 
Buch  as  esista  in  the  higher  Badiat«  onimala." 

II,  A  Description  of  tin  Morphology  of  the  Chromalophoret, 

During  the  summer  of  1871  the  author  of  thiB  communication  was 
examining  into  the  minute  anatomy  of  Actinia  mesemhryanihemum,  and 
had  the  advantage  of  possessing  hving  specimens.  Havbg  satisfied 
himself  of  thn  general  correctness  of  Efltteken'a  admirahle  work,  ho 
relinquished  the  inquiry  until  1873,  when  he  resumed  it. 

Every  one  who  has  endeavoured  to  anatomize  one  of  the  Actinifo  inu^t 
acknowledge  the  esccssive  ditficulties  which  accompany  the  attempt. 
The  irritahiiity  of  the  muscular  tissues,  their  persistant  contraction  during 
manipuhitioQ,  the  toufusion  caused  by  the  sbuudauce  of  different  cellular 
histological  elements,  and  the  general  sliraineas  of  the  whole,  render  the 
minut-o  eianuoation  very  troublesome  and  usuaUy  very  unsatisfactory. 
Eeageots  are  useful  for  rough  examinations  ;  hut  when  the  most  delicate 
of  the  tissues  are  to  be  examined  they  must  be  floated  under  seai-water, 
and  this  must  be  the  medium  in  which  they  must  he  examined  under  the 
>  microscope.  Carmine-solution,  osmic  acid,  and  spirits  of  wine  in  wenk 
Bolutiona  are  useful  after  the  natural  appearances  have  been  determined, 
but  they  exaggerate  some  histological  elements  and  destroy  others. 

Great  care  must  be  taken  in  making  the  thin  sections,  and  no  tearing 
must  be  allowed;  for  it  is  of  paramount  importance,  in  endeaTouring  to 
trace  the  nervous  system,  that  the  relative  position  of  parts  should  be 
retained. 

It  is  useless  to  rely  on  any  observations  made  with  object^glasBea 
lower  than  -ji^-inch  focus  (immersive). 

In  examining  the  chromatophores.  Actinia)  with  very  bright-coloured 
ones,  and  other  specimens  with  these  organs  dull  in  tint,  should  be 
selected.  Fresh  subjects  should  be  obtained,  and  it  is  not  Dcccssary  to 
kill  them  first  of  all.  The  blades  of  very  delicate  scissors  should  be 
allowed  to  touch  the  desired  chromatophore  close  to  its  base,  and  then  aa 
the  Actinia  commences  to  contract,  they  should  be  brought  together 
gently  and  without  wrenching  the  tissues.  By  this  method  the  chroma- 
tophore will  remain  on  the  blades.  Two  or  three  chromatophores  may 
be  removed,  n4th  their  intermediate  tissues,  without  injury  to  the  animal ; 
but,  of  course,  the  excision  must  not  be  too  deep,  or  the  endothelium  will 
be  cut  into. 

A  dropping-tube  should  be  used  to  wash  the  chromatophore  off  the 
blades  on  to  a  glass  slide,  where  a  drop  of  sea-water  awaits  it. 

Sections  are  by  no  means  easy  to  make,  but  they  are  best  performed 
under  a  power  of  10  diameters  with  fine  scalpels.  The  forceps  must  not  be 
employed,  as  it  crushes  the  tissues.    If  possible,  very  slight  pressoie 


Nervous  Sgilem  of  Actinia,  267 

should  be  exemsed  on  the  thin  glass,  which  is  to  be  placed  very  carefully 
and  wet  over  the  object.  After  the  examinatioD,  carmine  should  be 
added,  or  osmic-acid  solution,  1  per  cent,  in  strength ;  but  no  results 
con  be  relied  on  which  are  derived  from  the  examination  imder  the 
influence  of  reagents  alone,  as  they  modify  the  natural  appe»ance 
greatly. 

So  far  as  the  chromatoph ores  are  concerned,  my  investigations  took  the 
following  course: — 1.  Eotteken's  researches  on  the  alcoholized  ^cfinta 
were  followed  in  recent  specimens.  2.  The  tissues  of  the  chromato- 
phores,  of  their  margins,  and  of  the  spaces  between  them  were  examined 
in  a  lai^  specimen  of  a  living  pale-green  variety  of  Actinut  ituiembri/tm- 
ihrntum  from  the  Mediteronean.  3.  The  tissues  of  the  chromatophores 
of  the  Actinia  mesembryanihtmum  were  again  examined  with  a  view  to 
explain  the  differences  between  M.  Bdtteken's  and  my  own  results. 

The  rounded,  free,  coloured,  external  layer  of  a  chromatophore  was 
carefully  disengaged  from  the  granular  tissue  beneath  it,  so  that  the 
baialli  of  Botteken,  the  refractile  corpuscles,  and  bis  so-called  cones 
were  separated  from  the  rest.  This  turquoise-coloured  film  was  floated 
mtd  carefully  placed  on  a  glass  slide,  the  badllary  layer  being  inferior 
and  on  the  glass,  whilst  the  proximal  ends  of  the  cones  were  free  in  the 
water.  No  thin  glass  was  placed  over  the  film,  and  an  object^lass  of 
J-incb  focus  was  used.  The  appearance  presented  under  this  low  power 
(by  transmitted  light)  was  very  remarkable,  for  a  great  number  of  bril- 
liant paints  of  light  were  seen  surrounded  and  separated  by  dark  opaque 
tissue.  When  a  j-inch  object-glass  was  used,  the  appearance  was  less 
striking,  for  the  points  of  light  were  more  diffused.  No  trace  of  an 
object  could  be  seen  through  the  refractUe  tissues. 

The  transparent  and  refractile  tissues  were  the  so-called  bacilU,  the 
globular  bodies  and  the  "  cones"  already  noticed ;  and  the  tissue,  which 
was  impermeable  by  light,  consisted  of  the  coIouring-matt«r  in  sm^  dull 
grannies,  cells  small  and  round  in  outline  and  granular,  and  also  the  cell- 
walls  of  the  cones. 

Sections  through  a  chromatophore  were  made  at  right  angles  to  the 
point  of  the  greatest  convexity  of  the  surface,  and  thin  slices  were  floated 
off  carefully  from  the  line  of  section  on  to  glass  slides.  The  slices  in- 
eluded  (a)  the  coloured  outside  of  the  chromatophore,  (h)  the  tissue 
beneath  it,  and  (c)  some  muscular  fibres  which  limit  the  endothelium. 
Sea-water  was  used  as  the  medium,  and  a  thin  glass  cover  was  applied  after 
the  specimens  had  been  examined  with  a  low  power. 

Externally  was  the  baccillary  layer  (PI.  11.  fig.  15).  Botteken  de- 
scribes this  as  a  cuticular  layer  broken  up  into  bacilli  by  numerous  por^- 
canals.  Examined,  however,  in  the  fresh  subject,  this  ext«mal  layer  con- 
sisted of  a  vast  multitude  (^  small  rod-shaped  bodies,  sharply  rounded  but 
conical  at  both  ends,  very  transparent,  and  resembling  the  smallest 


S68  Prof.  F.  M.  Duncan  on  the 

nematocyata  of  the  tentacles  without  the  internal  thread  (PI,  II.  fig.  2). 
These  are  placed  sido  by  side,  and  the  external  rounded  end  of  each  is 
separated  by  a  small  Hpaco  from  the  terminations  of  its  neighbours. 
These  ends  are  free  and  are  in  contact  with  the  water  in  which  the 
Actinia  lives.  The  rods  are  cylinders,  and  are  separated  from  each 
other  by  a  very  delicate  film  of  protoplasm,  in  which  are  numerous 
dark  opaque  granules  and  a  few  flat  simple  colourless  rounded  cells 
(I'l.  II.  lig.  3).  The  inner  ends  aro  shaped  like  the  CKtemai,  and 
are  embedded  in  the  ne^t  layer  of  tissue.  Each  of  Ihuao  bodies  is 
a  simple  cell  filled  with  a  transparent  fluid.  "When  a  thin  film 
of  the  surface  of  a  chromatophoro  ia  removed  and  examined  imder  u 
-ylg-iuch,  the  bacilli  may  be  observed  to  crowd  together  over  a  layer  of 
large  refractile  cells.  The  thin  glass  cover  is  generally  sullicieut  to  crush 
down  the  bacilli,  so  that  their  sides  may  be  seen  as  f  bey  rest  in  all  kiuda 
of  positions  ou  the  deeper  cellular  layer  (PI.  U.  fig.  17). 

The  bacilli  are  not  found  universally  over  the  chromatophores,  nor  do 
they  invariably  cover  the  layer  of  large  rofractile  globular  cells. 

It  will  be  noticed,  on  cxamiuiug  eicised  portions  which  include  two  or 
three  chromatophorcs  and  their  intermediate  tissue,  that  not  only  are 
they  marked  on  their  surface  by  foldings  of  their  superficial  tissue,  but 
that  between  them  there  are  others  which  are  microscopic.  These  last 
rarely  have  badlli.  Moreover,  in  some  parts  of  the  margins  of  the  chro- 
matophores,  other  pigments  are  visible  than  the  turquoise,  and  the  ted 
often  predominates ;  the  bacilli  are  not  usually  present  there. 

Beneath  the  superficial  layer  of  bacilli  and  their  separating  protoplasm, 
which  is  faintly  granular,  there  is  some  granular  tissue  with  a  few 
small  spherical  cells  containing  granules,  and  the  inner  ends  of  the  bacilli 
are  embedded  therein  (PI.  II.  fig.  3). 

This  granular  tissue  ia  very  thin,  but  it  covers  and  dips  down  between 
the  large  refractile  cells,  which  form  the  next  layer  (PI.  II.  figs.  4, 13, 
15, 16,  17). 

These  cells  are  more  or  less  spherical ;  the  cell-wall  is  very  thin,  And 
the  contents  are  transparent,  colourless,  and  refractile.  Home  have  a 
pale  grey  tint,  and  one  or  more  extremely  faint  nuclei  are  attached  to  the 
inner  surface  of  the  cell-wall.     The  ovoid  shape  is  occasionally  seen. 

These  lai^  cells,  which  transmit  light  so  readily,  are  universally  found 
onthe  chromatophorcs  J  and  when  there  are  bacilli  upon  them.the  spherical 
shape  is  common. 

At  the  margins  of '  the  chromatophores,  and  where  the  red  pigment 
commences,  these  refractile  cells  assume  much  larger  dimensions  and  more 
irregular  shapes.  These  refractile  cells  are,  as  has  already  been  noticed, 
embedded  in  a  tissue  of  granular  and  slightly  cellular  protoplasm,  and 
this  occasionally  is  differentiated  into  some  peculiar  structures, 
jk  Where  there  are  no  bacilli  this  granular  tissue  is  increased  in  thickness 


I 


I 


Nervoua  Sytiem  (^  Actinia.  269 

ftnd  becomes  superfidAl ;  moreover  the  granules  tlieQ  contribute  to  the 
colour  of  the  chromatophore,  and  probably  the^  always  do  bo  to  a  cert«Q 
d^;ree. 

The  re£mctile  cells  are  not  inTariably  confined  to  the  layer  abore  tho 
so-called  cones  of  Botteken,  although  they  are  often  thus  limited  in  their 
position,  especially  iE  there  are  bacilli  covering  them.  In  part«  of  the 
same  chromatophore,  where  this  apparently  normal  arrangement  is  seen, 
and  especially  on  the  microscopic  chromatophorea  between  the  larger 
kinds,  the  large  refractile  spherules  are  found  between  and  in  the  midst 
of  groups  of  the  cones  (PI.  U.  fig.  16). 

In  the  chromatophores  there  is  considerable  variety  in  the  size  of  the 
refractUe  cells ;  they  appear  to  be  developed  from  the  small  ceUs  with 
a  circular  outline,  which  contain  a  few  dark  granules,  and  which  are 
found  in  considerable  abundance  amidst  the  enveloping  granular  tissue 
(PI.  n.  fig.  8). 

The  most  striking  of  all  the  histological  elements  of  the  chromato- 
phores are  the  cones  of  Etittekeu,  or  the  nematocysts  with  imperfectly 
Yiaible  threads  of  Homard.    They  are  divisible  into  three  series : — 

a.  Elongated  simple  cells,  cylindrical  in  shape,  with  rounded  and 
somewhat  pointed  estremities,  consisting  of  a  tough  cell-wall  which  ia 
capable  of  being  bent  without  being  broken  or  ruptured,  and  of  colour- 
less transparent  contents  which  are  rather  viscid  (PI.  11.  fig.  5).  They 
are  four  or  five  times  the  length  of  the  bacilli,  and  three  times  their 
width.  The  cell-wail  is  faintly  tinted  with  the  peculiar  colour  of  the 
chromatophore.  These  elongated  cells  are  not  conical,  nor  can  they  be 
really  termed  cones  with  any  propriety ;  when  obsened  through  their 
greatest  length,  or  when  the  light  traverses  their  long  axis,  the  cell-wall 
appears  dark  and  the  centre  very  refractile.  They  exist  in  vast  multitudes 
over  most  parts  of  the  chromatophore,  and  also  in  the  intermediate  tissue 
and  its  microscopic  chromatophores. 

/3.  Cells  of  the  same  shape  as  "  a,"  but  the  cell-wall  is  faintly  striated, 
the  appearance  being  very  distinct  under  a  power  of  2000  diameters 
(PI.  11.  flg.  6).  These  wJls  are  very  numerous,  and  were  noticed  by 
Botteken ;  they  appear  in  the  same  position,  and  often  amongst  the  cells 
with  simple  walls. 

y.  Cells  of  the  same  shape  and  size  as  "  a  and  fl,"  with  a  well-deve- 
loped thread  within  them,  which  usually  has  no  barb  (Fl.  II.  fig.  7). 

These  cells  are  common  where  there  are  no  bacilli,  but  they  occur  here 
and  there  in  all  parts  of  the  chromatephore  circle. 

In  some  rare  instances  the  "  Botteken  bodies"  (for  thus  I  would  name 
these  remarkable  cells)  ore  closely  approximated,  side  by  side,  without  the 
interv&tion  of  any  structure ;  but,  usually,  there  is  a  very  thm  layer  of 
granular  protoplasm,  containing  small  cells,  between  them. 

As  the  bodies  are  cylindrical  and  more  or  less  closely  applied  by  their 


270  Prof.  P.  M.  Duncan  on  the 

aides,  there  is  more  space  between  them  ia  some  plaees  than  in  otherB ;  and 
it  is  in  these  spots,  where  Ihe  bodies  eauuot  come  in  direct  conUct,that 
their  intermediate  structures  are  elongated  and  filiform  (PJ.  U.  figs,  9- 
14),  The  fliiform  arrangement  of  the  gi-anulo-cellular  protoplasm  is  often 
branched,  and  a  set  of  elongated  masses  may  unite  above  or  below  the 
bodies.  The  cells  of  this  intermediate  tissue  are  small  and  usiialiy  spheri- 
cal ;  in  one  kind  there  is  a  largi^  refractile  nucleus,  but  in  the  cohimonest 
Tftrieties  the  cells  Rim])ly  contain  granules.  It  is  necessary  to  study  this 
tdsHiie,  because  of  its  close  agreement  to  what  I  presume  to  be  the  nerve- 
structure,  in  some,  but  not  in  the  essential,  points.  This  tissue  is  clearly 
continuous  with  that  which  has  already  been  noticed  ns  separating  and 
bounding  the  larger  refractile  cells  outside  the  Eotteken  bodies,  and  it  is 
continued  amongst  the  small  closely  set  granular  cells  which  underlie 
these  interesting  histological  elements  (PI.  II.  fig.  !3). 

The  intermediate  tissue  binds  together  the  bacilli ;  for  it  is  continued 
upwards  and  between  them,  the  large  refractile  cells  (which  I  propose  to 
term  "  Haimean  bodies '"),  and  the  "  fiiitteken  bodies,"  and  it  becomes  lost 
in  the  cells  upon  which  the  proximal  ends  of  these  last  rest. 

It  contains  the  granulnr  alTiicturea  which  give,  in  the  mass,  the  colour 
to  the  chromatophore,  and  it  ia  evident  that  the  Haimean  bodies  are  de- 
veloped from  it. 

The  proximal  ends  of  the  Eotteken  bodies  retain  their  sharp  and 
rounded  contour  amidst  the  dense  layers  of  small  granular  cells  which 
everywhere  underlie  them. 

Those  granular  cells  form  a  tissue  through  which  light  passes  with 
difficulty  under  the  microscope.  They  are  regularly  placed  in  series  near 
the  RStteken  bodies ;  but  deeper  they  become  less  so,  and  then  other 
anatomical  elements  may  be  obaened  between  them  and  the  muscular 
fibres  upon  which  the  whole  chromatophore  rests,  and  which  in  their 
turn  limit  externally  the  endothelium. 

Ill,  A  Notice  of  liottekm'a  flUcovery  of  Futifonn  Cells  and  of  the  iUffeTe»t 
appearanets  of  the  Nervout  Elemtnti  now  first  observed  in  the  "Ple^ri- 
form  Tmut." 

Botteken  describes  these  nervous  elements  as  extremely  fine  fibres  and 
spindle-shaped  cells,  and  asserts  that  they  are  probably  nen'e-fibres  and 
cello.  But  he  has  not  traced  them  in  conjunction,  nor  have  the  fibres 
been  seen  of  sufficient  length  to  anastomose. 

I  have  found  the  fusiform  bodies  and  their  long  ends — the  fine  fibres 
mentioned  above.  Jloreover  the  connexion  of  these  irregular-shaped 
cells  has  been  determined  in  these  investigations,  and  the  anaatompsis  of 
their  processes  and  their  connexion  with  parts  of  a  plexiforra  nervous 
tissue  also. 

These  structures  are  in  the  midst  of  a  mass  of  viscous  protoplasm. 


I 


Nervoui  Sgsteot  of  ActamA.  271 

graauleB,  and  granulu-  cells,  vhich  merga  gradually  into  the  close  layers 
of  granular  cells  under  the  £otteken  bodies,  and  they  transgress  hero 
and  there  on  those  layers. 

The  fusiform  cells  are  numerous  (PI.  H,  figa.  18-24),  and  may  be  di- 
Tided  into  two  kinds : — (a)  Those  with  irregular  shapes  and  short  ter- 
minal processes,  which  are  prolongations  of  the  cell-wall  and  aro  rounded 
off.  These  cells  contain  either  highly  refractile  nuclei,  or  several  nudei 
with  granular  nucleoli.  The  fusiform  shape  is  not  invariable,  and  in 
Flate  II.  fig.  20  a  large  cell  twice  the  diameter  of  a  Eotteken  body 
is  seen  amidst  the  granular  plasm.  It  has  a  tail-shaped  prolongation  and 
some  highly  refractile  nuclei. 

/3.  Those  which  are  rounder  in  outline,  and  whose  projections  are  long 
and  c<mtinuou8  with  those  of  others.  The  outlines  of  these  cells  are 
soft,  and  without  definite  and  sharp  margins,  and  the  colour  is  a  very 
pale  blue-grey.  They  contiun  one  or  more  very  distinct  nuclei.  Our 
type,  illustrated  in  Plate  II.  fig.  21,  haa  its  cells  rather  wider  than 
a  Botteken  body,  and  they  are  connected  by  a  process  with  sharply, 
defined  wells — the  cell,  with  many  nuclei,  having  a  long  caudal  fibril  of 
a  pale  grey  colour  and  rather  sharp  marginal  lines  which  had  suffered 
disruption. 

A  second  type  has  large  spherical  or  elliptical  cells,  which  do  not  have 
processes  passing  out  in  opposite  directions,  but  they  are  reatricted  to 
one  part.  Usually  the  cells  have  only  one  process,  but  somctimeB  two 
exist  close  together  (fig.  22). 

These  cells  are  granular  within  and  have  very  indistinct  nuclei ;  the 
cell-wall  is  extremely  delicate,  and  the  whole  is  of  a  pale  grey  colour. 
The  fibrils  of  these  cells  are  particularly  connected  with  the  plexiform 
tissue.  In  FIat«  II.  fig.  22  there  is  a  cell  with  two  fibrils^-one  is 
short,  for  it  dips  down  and  is  foreshbrtened,  and  the  other  is  very  long ;  it 
bifurcates,  and  one  end  joins  a  rounded  mass  of  the  plexus,  and  the  other 
the  nigged  fibrillar  part. 

In  Plate  II.  fig.  24  a  cell  with  one  fibril  is  shown.  The  fibril  swells 
slightly,  and  then  passes  down  to  join  a  transverse  fibre  belonging  to  the 
plexus. 

The  plexiform  tissue  is  probably  continuous  around  the  Actinia  beneath 
the  chromatophores,  for  it  is  foimd  between  the  cireular  band  of  mus- 
cular fibres  and  every  ehromatophore.  It  consisfs  of  an  irregular  main 
structure  and  of  lateral  prolongations,  which  either  anastomose  with  the 
fibrils  from  the  Fusiform  and  more  spherical  cells,  or  nxe  directly  con- 
tinuous with  the  cells  (fig.  23). 

The  main  structure  resembles,  in  its  iudiBtinctness  of  outline  and  its 
pale  grey  colour  and  indefinite  marginal  arrangement,  the  fibre  of  the 
sympathetic  of  mammtds,  but  it  is  less  coherent  and  smaller.  The 
usual  appearance  (Plate  II,  fig.  23)  is  that  of  a  grey  film  with  definite 
branches,  and  the  whole  has  few  granules  here  and  there  and  a  rety  few 


nuclei.  It  is  intimately  ftssociated  with  the  surrounding  cell-atnicturM, 
but  they  may  be  separated  by  accident  or  compression.  Here  and 
thero  the  structure  eulargi.-a  and  a  gangliou-lJke  cell  is  seen  (Plate  II. 
Sg.  22). 

I  have  traced  this  structure  almost  across  the  whole  field  of  the  micro- 
scope in  some  sections. 

It  appears  that  this  portion  of  the  nervous  system  of  Actinia  (namely, 
the  fuaifonn  and  spherical  cells  n-ilh  fibrils  and  the  plexiform  structure) 
is  distinct  histologically  from  the  fibrillar  and  cellular  structures  amidst 
the  Haimean  aud  Bottelcen  bodies.  These  structures  are  connectiTO  and 
developing ;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  it  is  possible  for  both  seriea 
to  come  in  contact  in  the  midst  of  the  layers  of  granuhir  cells  which 
nndorlie  the  Biitteken  bodies. 

rV,  Ei-am!nation  into  the  Phijuologwal  Htlation  hetwtfti  iht  Chroma- 
topliores,  the  Nen'ei,  and  Light, 

The  question  arises,  Are  these  nerves  of  special  seneo  ?  MM.  Schneider 
and  Kutteken  answer  that  the  small  portion  of  the  nervous  arrangement 
they  descrilietl,  i.  e.  the  riifliform  borlip.s  and  their  fibrilfi,  are  optic  nerves. 
They  are  satistied  with  the  physical  arrangement  of  the  bacilli,  Uaimeaa 
and  Botteken  bodies,  aud  the  nature  of  the  colouring-matter  imitating 
tliat  of  an  brgao  of  nsion. 

The  discovery  of  the  anastomosing  fibrils  and  the  plexiform  arrangement 
favour  this  theory  ;  but  there  toe  reasons  to  be  considered  which  throw 
much  doubt  on  the  views  of  the  distinguished  investigators.  All  Actinia 
have  not  chromatophores,  and  closely  allied  genera  may  or  may  not 
have  them.  Thus,  amongst  the  Actinia  with  smooth  tentacles,  there  is 
a  group  with  non-retractilo  and  another  with  retractile  tentacles : 
amongst  those  with  non-rctractilo  arms  arc  the  genera  Antmimia  and 
Eumenidet  without  chromatophores,  and  Coviactis  and  Ceralactis  with 
them;  amongst  the  Actinia  with  retractile  tentacles  are  Actinia  with, 
and  Paraetit  without,  chromatophores. 

Amongst  the  tubercular  division,  the  genus  Phymactis  has  chromato- 
phores, but  its  close  ally  Ccreue  has  them  not. 

Whatever  may  be  the  value  of  this  classification  of  the  Actinia,  it  is 
quite  evident  that  to  group  together  those  niih  and  ^lithout  chromato- 
phores in  separate  divisions  would  be  the  reverse  of  producing  a  natural 
arrangement.  It  is  therefore  diiTicuIt  to  belieie  that  these  ornaments, 
with  something  resembling  an  optical  arrangement,  can  be  the  seat  of 
special  sensarion. 

MM.  Eiitteken  and  Schneider  have  obsened  the  large  refractile 
Haimean  bodies  in  the  tentacles,  nnd,  as  will  be  noticed  further  on, 
I  have  found  them  of  enormous  size  in  the  peristome. 

They  are  surrounded  in  those  places,  but  not  covered,  with  pigment- 
■■ill*  -nd  granaleB,  and  are  situated  just  beneath  the  neimaf  ocyst  layer  in 


Nervous  Syitem  ^Actinia.  273 

tbe  tentacle,  and  beneath  tt  correeponding  la^er,  or  one  of  badlli,  in  the 
periatome.  I  hme  faUed  to  rec<^ize  any  nervous  elemente  in  the 
tentacles  save  the  fudform  bodies,  and  there  are  none  in  the  peristome 
except  these  irregular  cells. 

Again,  the  Haimean  bodies  are  found  in  the  chromatophorcB,  in  some 
places,  amidst  the  Botteken  bodies,  separating  them. 

Nevertheless  it  is  true  that  light  falling  on  the  surface  of  an  Aettnta 
will  reach  further  into  its  structures  where  there  ore  Haimean  bodies, 
and  further  still  if  the  Bottelten  cells  underlie  them.  ^Vhe^o  there  ii 
no  pigment  intervening  between  the  bodies  when  placed  side  by  side,  or 
between  the  Sdttoken  cells,  a  difhised  glare  of  light  would  impinge  on 
the  grsnulo-cellnlar  layer  below  them,  in  which  the  nerves  ramify  and 
the  nerve-cells  exist.  But  when  the  pigment-granules  and  cells  exist, 
they  break  up  the  general  illumination  and  confine  it  to  a  series  of 
separate  bright  rays.  Each  of  them  is  brighter  than  the  corresponding 
space  of  diffused  light ;  and  it  would  appear  that  the  bacilli,  the  Haimean 
bodies,  and  the  Eottoken  cells  in  combination,  concentrate  light. 

Two  of  three  badlh  are  placed  side  hy  side  and  behind  each  other  over  a 
small  Haimean  refractUe  spherical  cell,  and  perhaps  twenty  or  more  covers 
large  cell  (PI.  H.  fig.  15).  TTsually  a  Haimean  body  is  placed  immediately 
over  a  Botteken  body  ;  hut,  as  Botteken  has  pointed  out,  this  is  not  an 
invariable  arrangement,  for  some  cover  the  spaces  between  and  over 
them.  The  refractibility  of  the  fluid  contents  of  the  Haimean  bodies 
and  Botteken  cells  appears  to  be  the  same ;  but  the  elongated  form  of  the 
last^mentioned  structures  may  act  upon  light  as  if  their  internal  fluid 
were  more  viscid. 

In  every  instance  there  is  a  more  or  less  opaque  tissue  between  the 
proximal  end  of  the  Botteken  body  and  the  nerve-cells ;  and,  moreover, 
the  delicate  protoplasmic  layer,  which  is  slightly  impervious  to  light, 
surrounds  the  Haimean  bodies. 

In  my  opinion  the  Haimean  bodies,  wherever  they  exist,  carry  light 
more  deeply  into  the  tissues  than  the  ordinary  epithelial  stmctnres. 
This  is  also  the  case  with  the  bacilli  and  Bdtteken  bodies,  even  when  they 
exist  separately  and  with  or  without  the  Haimean  bodies.  There  are 
three  ordinary  constituents  of  the  skin,  and  tbrough  their  individual  gifts 
and  structural  peculiarity  they  place  the  Actinia  in  relation  with  light. 
"When  they  are  brought  together  in  this  primitive  form  of  eye,  they  con- 
centrate and  convey  light  with  greater  power,  so  as  to  enable  it  to  act 
more  generally  on  the  nervous  system — probably  not  to  enable  the 
distinction  of  objects,  but  to  cause  the  light  to  stimulate  a  rudimentary 
nervous  system  to  act  in  a  reflex  manner  on  the  muscular  system,  which 
is  highly  developed.  The  Actinia,  therefore,  may  feel  the  light  by  means 
of  the  transparent  histological  elements  when  they  are  separate  and 
constitute  integral  portions  of  the  ectodenn;  butthis  sensation  thU  be  in* 


274 


Prof.  P.  M.  Duncan  on  the 


temified  when  the  thres  kinds  of  cells  ore  pUiced  iu  such  order  osb 
been  obsen-ed  in  tha  chromatophoreB. 

The  evolution  of  an  eye,  which  can  distinguish  outlines,  shadowB,  and 
colours,  probably  took  the  p&th  which  ia  thus  faintly  indicated  in  th^  J 
Actinia,  which  doubtless  has  an  appreciadou  of  the  difference  betweea  I 
light  and  darkness. 

V.  O.i  Ihe  Nerves  of  the  hose  of  Actinia  mesembrj-anthemum. 

A  large  specimen  of  a  pale  green  variety  from  the  Meditcrraneitn  was 
examined. 

The  base  beiug  free  and  expanded,  a  rapid  incision  cut  out  a  tTiangidar 
piece  comprehending  the  ectothelium,  the  muscular  layers,  and  the 
mucous  endothelium.  The  apex  of  the  triangle  reached  the  centre  o£ 
the  base  of  the  Actinia,  and  the  base  of  the  triangle,  which  was  covered, 
corresponded  with  the  basal  margin  of  the  animal. 

Sections  were  made  parallel  with  the- original  aspect  of  the  base  ot 
the  Actinia,  and  then  some  others  at  right  angles. 

The  histological  elements  were  studied  separately  and  compared,  so 
that  the  following  tissues  could  be  distinguished  readily ; — 

1.  A  fibrous- looking  tissue  like  ordiuary  white  filirous  tissue  with 
dark  nuclei,  to  which  the  muscular  fibres  are  attached  and  from  which 
they  originate. 

2.  A  dense  layer  of  muscular  fibres,  or  rather  fibrils,  which  originates 
at  right  angles  to  the  fibre  of  the  fibrous  tissue.  Each  fibril  is  refractile 
aud  nucleated.  £ach  is  separate  from  its  neighbours, and  hes  in  the  midst  of 
granules  and  small  cells  which  contain  granules,  all  being  highly  refractile. 
In  some  places  the  fibrils  are  gathered  together  in  masses,  so  as  to  _leave 
areola:  between  them. 

3.  Large  muscular  fibres  in  contact  laterally,  so  as  to  form  a  thin 
layer.  Each  fibre  is  long,  broad,  has  several  pale  elongate  nuclei  and  a 
distinct  lateral  dark  line.     There  are  no  striae. 

4.  The  elements  of  the  endothelium  and  ectothelium,  which,  as  they  do 
not  bear  on  the  immediate  subject,  will  be  described  in  a  future  memoir. 

The  object  of  the  investigation  being  to  discover  some  trace  of  a 
nervous  system,  which  was  presupposed  to  resemble  somewhat  the  traces 
observed  below  the  chromatophores,  the  necessity  of  becoming  familiar 
\nth  the  fibrous  and  muscular  tissues,  so  as  to  decide  uhat  was  uot 
muscle  and  fibre,  is  apparent. 

I  have  not  found  any  isolated  fusiform  cells  amongst  the  tissues  of  the 
base  ;  hut  under  the  endothelium,  and  also  between  the  layers  of  muscular 
fibres,  there  are  structures  which  I  feel  disposed  to  believe  must  belong 
to  the  non-ous  system.  1.  They  are  in  the  position  of  nerves.  2.  Their 
structure  is  not  that  of  muscle  or  fibre.  3.  Their  structure  resembles, 
in  some  instances,  Ihe  plexiforra  tissues  beneath  the  chromatophores. 


I 


Nervous  Syitem  o^  Actinia.  275 

Tha  nerrous  Btructures  are  found  to  present  three  chftncberiitio 
sbapea : — 

1.  A  thin  layer  of  muscuUr  fibriU  of  the  BUiall  and  separate  (seis 
2  above)  kind,  with  veil-defined  dark  nuclei  in  them,  was  examined. 
The  whole  was  rerj  transparent  and  well  defined  under  the  ,^inch 
objective. 

Underlying  this  layer,  and  extending  on  either  aide  beyond  it(  so  ■■ 
to  appear  in  one  of  the  meshes  between  groups  o£  these  fibrils,  was  a 
ramified  pale  grey  tissue,  which  was  less  pervious  to  light  than  the  mus- 
cular fibrils  (Fl.  m.  fig.  26).  SwoUen  in  one  part  and  faintly  granular 
throughout,  it  had  its  margins  very  faintly  visible.  It  was  flat,  and  had 
a  definite  resemblance  to  the  widest  portion  of  the  plexus  already  men- 
tioned. 

2.  A  lai^  section  of  muscular  tissue  was  examined.  It  consisted  of 
one  layer  of  lat^  muscular  fibres  (see  3  above)  in  close  lateral  contact. 
Bunning  obliquely  over  the  layer  was  an  irregular  but  continuous  cord 
ramifying  here  and  there,  the  branches  breaking  up  into  fibrils.  In  one 
part  the  cord  was  swollen  (Fl.  HI.  figs.  26  &  27).  A  second  ramification 
passed  from  the  opposite  end  of  the  field  of  the  microscope  and  broke  up 
into  ultimate  fibrils,  and  in  this  structure  there  was  a  fusiform  cell. 

Careful  manipulation  separated  a  portion  of  the  upper  cord  &om  the 
muscular  fibres,  but  a  part  of  it  evidently  dropped  down  amongst  them. 

3.  A  layer  of  muscular  fibres  of  the  same  kind  as  those  just  mentioned 
was  examined.  It  was  marked,  as  usual,  with  the  lat«ral  dark  lines  and 
pale  elongated  nuclei. 

Three  long  and  irregular  fibres  passed  more  or  less  obliquely  over  the 
muscular  tissue  (PI.  III.  figs.  28-30).  They  had  distinct  lateral  or  mai^ 
ginol  lines,  were  swollen  out  in  several  places,  and  their  texture  was  faintly 
granular. 

I  beUeve  that  these  fibres  were  continuous  with  the  fine  twnificationi 
of  the  plexiform  arrangement  just  described. 

4.  Above  the  moscular  layers,  and  under  the  folds  of  the  endothelium, 
I  found  an  inosculating  series  of  ramificatjons  arising  from  a  common 
cord.  It  was  situated  upon  the  layer  of  muscular  tissue,  with  small  and 
separate  long  fibrils. 

The  structure  was  faintly  granular,  pale  grey  in  colour,  with  funt 
outlines,  and  was  swoUeu  in  some  places :  it  covered  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  field  of  the  microscope;  and  portions  of  it  had  a  close  resem- 
blance to  the  ramifying  structure  mentioned  as  having  been  observed 
below  the  muscular  layer  (Fi.  III.  fig.  31). 

The  multiplication,  if  it  be  justifiable,  of  these  structural  elements  in 
the  other  segments  of  the  base  which  were  not  examined  would  give  a 
fair  notion  of  the  plexiform  arrangement  of  the  basal  nervous  tissue.  I 
presume  that  it  consists  of  a  reticuhite  structure  beneath  the  endothelium, 
which  sends  large  branches  between  the  vacuities  of  the  moat  de^ica^ 

vol,.  XXII.  ''- 


276      Prof.  P.  M.  Duncan  en  Ihe  Nervous  iyttem  of  Actinia. 

muscular  layer,  and  which  communicatefl  with  a  ramifying  tissue  in 
tact  with  the  other  muscular  layers,  and  that  this  eads  in  long  fibres 
which  supply  the  wide  fibres  o£  this  last^mentioned  layer. 

The  diffused  nature  of  thia  nervous  tissue  is  what  might  be  anticipated 
would  be  found  in  annuals  possessing  such  general  irritability  of  tiaaue, 
and  probably  its  function  is  lo  assist  in  the  reficx  movements  of  ths  | 
1,  and  to  produce  expansion  of  the  disk  on  the  stimuloa  of  li^t. 


DESCBIPnON  05  THB  PLAIBS. 
Pwia  n. 
Fig.    1,  irbioh  ]»  »a  outline  of  a  ohromatophore,  witb  two  >msU  onea  cIom  tc 

mugniflcd  10  diamslen;  all  the  rnt  aredratm  from  nature  under  the 

oirying-power  of  a  j^j-inch  iuimorsion  lens  and  a,  medium  ejepiece. 
Fig,    2.  Bacilli, 

Pig,    3.  Qranular  and  cellular  pratoplaam  bettrsen  baeiUi 
Fig.    4.  Large  refradilo  cella.     Haimean  bodiea. 
Fig.    5.  Tjpa  a  of  a  Botteken  bod/. 
Fig.    6,      „    &     „         ., 

Fig,    7.      „    7     ,.        „  „        with  a  thread. 

Fig.    S.  Qranular  and  cellular  tjasue  between  the  Haimean  bodiea. 
Fig.    9.  Same  kind  of  tinue  in  oontaot  with  a  Botteken  body. 
Fig.  10.  Some  oells  with  refivctile  nuclei  in  the  tissue. 
Pig,  11.  Portion  of  tisaue  from  amongst  the  Bottekon  bodies. 
Fig.  14.  The  same,  with  a  forked  end. 
Fig.  12.  Three  portions  of  intermediate  (issue  ending  in  the  la/er  of  granolar  oella 

which  underliee  the  Rotteken  bodiee. 
Fig.  13.  Haimean  and  Botteken  bodiee  and  the  intermediate  tiaaue  in  position. 
Fig.  I&.  Adiagnim,  but  verj  close  to  nature,  of  the  reUtire  position  of  the  hiitologiea] 

elements  of  the  ohromatopboree. 
Fig.  16.  Haimean  and  BoUeken  bodies  intermingled. 
Fig.  17.  Humean  bodin  surrounded  bj  pigment-oslls,  and  with  bacilli  flat  opan  them, 

owing  to  pressure. 
Fig*.  18  &  19.  Fusiform  nerre-odls. 
Fig.  20.  A  nerve-oell. 

Fig.  21 .  Nerre-cells  connected  and  with  flbrea. 
Fig.  22.  A  spherical  nerre-oell  with  processes  joining  the  pleius. 
Fig,  23.  Ramifications  of  the  plerifonn  cord. 
Fig,  24.  Ji'erre-cetl  and  fibres. 

Flati  hi. 
Fig.  25,  Nerve  in  relation  to  the  small  muscular  fibrils  of  the  base. 
Pig.  26.  Nerve  rami^ing  and  supplying  wide  muscular  fibre. 
Fig,  27.  A  loop  of  nsrrous  fibre. 

Fig.  28.  Terminal  end*  of  the  pleius  passing  over  muscniar  fibre. 
Figs,  29  &  30.  The  same,  more  highly  magnieed. 
Pig.  31.  The  plexu*  under  the  endothelium. 


^' 


1. 


n 


ft 


l>roc.8^.  Soc.  Vol.XM  PL  1 


1  i  (  ^'" 

j  i  If 


1874.]   '  On  the  Pneumatic  Actum  accompanying  Articuhdion.    277 

Apnl  16,1874. 

JOSEPH  DALTON  HOOKER,  C.B.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

The  Presents  received  were  laid  on  the  table,  and  thanks  ordered  for 
them. 
The  following  Papers  were  read : — 

!•  '^  On  the  Pneumatic  Action  which  accompanies  the  Articulation 
of  Sounds  by  the  Human  Voice,  as  exhibited  by  a  Recording 
Instrument.'*  By  W.  H.  Barlow,  F.R.S.,  V.P.Inst.CE. 
Received  February  23,  1874. 

All  articulated  sounds  made  by  the  human  voice  are  accompanied  by 
the  expulsion  of  air  from  the  mouth ;  and  in  a  series  of  articulated 
sounds  the  air  is  ejected  in  impulses  which  vary  in  quantity  and  pres* 
sure,  and  in  the  degree  of  suddenness  with  which  they  commence  and 
terminate. 

It  appeared  to  me  that  it  would  be  interesting  and  probably  useful,  as 
tending  to  elucidate  the  process  and  effects  of  articulation,  to  construct 
an  instrument  which  should  record  these  pneumatic  actions  by  diagrams, 
in  a  manner  analogous  to  that  in  which  the  indicator-diagram  of  a  steam- 
engine  records  the  action  of  the  engine. 

In  considering  a  suitable  form  of  recording  instrument,  the  conditions 
to  be  met  were : — first,  that  the  pressiues  and  quantities  were  very  vari- 
able, some  of  them  being  extremely  smaU ;  and,  secondly,  that  the  im- 
pulses and  changes  of  pressure  follow  each  other  occasionaUy  with  great 
rapidity. 

It  was  therefore  necessary  that  the  moving  parts  should  be  very  light, 
and  that  the  movement  and  marking  should  be  accomplished  with  as  Uttle 
friction  as  possible. 

The  instrument  I  have  constructed  consists  of  a  small  speaking- 
trumpet  about  4  inches  long,  having  an  ordinary  mouthpiece  connected 
to  a  tube  ^  an  inch  in  diameter,  the  other  end  of  which  is  widened  out 
so  as  to  form  an  aperture  of  2|  inches  diameter. 

This  aperture  is  covered  with  a  membrane  of  goldbeater's  skin  or  thin 
gutta  percha. 

A  spring  which  carries  the  marker  is  made  to  press  against  the  mem- 
brane with  a  slight  initial  pressure,  to  prevent  as  far  as  practicable  the 
effects  of  jar  and  consequent  vibratory  action. 

A  very  light  arm  of  aluminium  is  connected  with  the  spring  and  holds 
the  marker ;  and  a  continuous  strip  of  paper  is  made  to  pass  imder  the 
marker  in  the  same  manner  as  that  employed  in  telegraphy. 

The  marker  consists  of  a  small  fine  sable  brush  placed  in  a  light  tube 
of  glass  -jl^  of  an  inch  in  diameter.  The  tube  is  rounded  at  the  lower 
end,  and  pierced  with  a  hole  about  i^j^  of  an  inch  in  diameter.  Through, 
this  hole  the  tip  of  the  brush  is  made  to  project,  and  it  is  fed  by  colour 

TOL.  XXII.  z 


278  Mr.  W.  H.  Barlow  on  the  Pneumatic  Action       [Apr.  16, 

put  int-o  the  glaaa  tube  in  which  it  is  held.  To  provide  £or  the  escape 
of  the  air  passing  through  the  iitstrument,  a  small  orifice  is  made  in  the 
side  of  the  tube  of  the  speaking-trumpet,  so  that  the  pressnre  exerted 
upon  the  membrane  and  its  spring  is  that  due  to  the  difference  arising 
from  the  quantity  of  air  forced  into  the  trumpet  and  that  which  can  be 
delivered  through  the  orifice  in  a  given  time. 

There  being  an  initial  pressure  upon  the  membrane  to  prevent  vibra- 
tory action  as  before  deaoribed,  the  strength  of  the  spring  and  the  sine 
of  the  orifice  had  to  be  adjusted,  eo  that  while  the  lightest  pressures 
arising  under  articulation  could  be  recorded,  the  greatest  pressures 
should  not  produce  a  movement  exceeding  the  limit  of  the  width  of  the 
paper. 

It  will  be  seen  that  in  this  construction  of  the  instrument  the  sudden 
application  of  pressure  is  as  suddenly  recorded,  subject  only  to  the  modi- 
ficationa  occasioned  by  the  inertia,  momentum,  and  friction  of  the  parts 
moved.  But  the  record  of  the  sudden  cessation  of  pressure  is  further 
affected  by  the  time  required  to  discharge  the  air  through  the  escape 
orifice. 

Inasmuch,  however,  as  these  several  effects  are  similar  under  similar 
circumstances,  the  same  diagram  should  always  be  obtained  from  the 
same  pneumatic  action  when  the  instrument  ia  in  proper  adjustment ;  and 
this  result  is  fairly  bomo  out  by  the  experiments. 

We  are  thus  enabled  to  trace  to  what  extent  the  pneumatic  action 
varies  with  different  articulations  ;  and  it  will  be  seen  that  although  there 
are  instances  in  which  considerable  differences  in  sound  do  not  make 
much  ^-ariation  in  the  diagram,  yet,  as  a  rule,  every  change  of  sound  or 
articulation  produces  a  change  in  the  diagram,  and  that  there  are  pneu- 
matic actions  revealed  hy  this  instrument  which  are  imperceptible  to 
ordinary  observation. 

Before  referring  to  the  peculiarities  of  the  diagrams,  it  may  be  desir- 
able to  say  a  few  words  on  the  quantities  of  air  used  in  articulation. 

On  reference  to  medical  authorities,  it  appears  that  the  average 
quantity  of  air  expelled  in  one  respiration  is  estimated  at  40  cubic 
inches,  and  that  the  total  air-space  of  the  lungs  is  estimated  to  aven^ 
110  cubic  inches. 

I  have  ascertained  by  experiment  that  a  balloon  made  of  goldbeater's 
skin,  whose  cubic  content  when  full  was  523  cubic  inches,  was  filled 
with  twelve  ordinary  respirations,  or  at  the  rat«  of  about  44  cubic  inches 
for  each  respiration. 

Also  that  by  filling  and  emptying  the  lungs  as  completely  as  pr&cti- 
eahle,  the  523  cubic  inches  could  bo  filled  with  six  reapirotions,  or  about 
88  cubic  inches  for  each  respiration. 

I  also  made  the  following  experiment  to  ascertain  the  average  quantity 
of  air  used  in  pronouncing  syllables. 

Using  the  same  bollooa  and  speaking  into  an  elastic  tube  commuoi- 


1874.]     accompanj/u^  the  ArtieulBtion  o/ the  Hmmam  Voice.     270 

eating  with  it,  I  read  fnm  a  book  until  the  ballocm  wsa  filled,  taking  cara 
to  close  the  elastic  tube  when  it  wu  neceesiuy  to  take  breath. 
The  resultfl  were  as  follows : — 

Time  nquind.    Va.  of  i^lkblM.    Oubie  inobea. 

84  seconds  353  623 

84       „  353  623 

Fhnn  another  part  of  the  book  90      „  364  623 

„  „  95      „  364  623 

Mean 86      „  359  623 

Showing  tu  average  of  about  1  j  cubic  inch  of  air  for  eadi  Billable,  and 
rather  more  than  four  syllables  per  second,  including  stops. 

Without  stops,  from  five  to  six  syllables  can  be  pronounced  in  a  second. 

The  lungs  appear  to  be  capable  (A  exerting  considerable  pressure  in 
the  expulsion  of  air ;  but  distinct  articulation  becomes  difficult  agunst  a 
pressure  of  2  inches  of  water,  and  I  could  not  pronounce  anj  words 
against  a  pressure  of  4  inches,  without  considerable  exerti<m. 

The  following  diagrams  made  by  the  instrument  show  the  d^ree  of  ao- 
cordauceobt^ed  when  the  same  words  are  repeated  by  the  samespeaker: — 


One  of  the  first  features  manifested  in  using  the  instrument  is  the 
action  produced  by  the  silent  diacharge  of  air  frcnu  the  mouth,  after  a 
syllable  or  word  or  a  sentenw  it  pnmounced.    This  silent  discharge 

x3 


38a         Mr.W.  H.  Barlov  On  tfu:  Pneumatic  Action       [Apr.lO^ 

appears  to  depend  on  the  force  required  in  the  last  syllable,  if  more  tlian 
one  are  consecntiTely  uttered,  and  is  moat  developed  in  tiioee  syllablea 
terminating  with  the  consonants  termed  "  Dsplodents,"  vbetber  with 
or  without  tite  silent  vowel  E  after  them. 
This  effect  is  exhibited  in  fig.  1. 


1874.]     aeerni^anyiAg  the  Articulation  of  the  Hwnan  Voice.     ^1 

In  theae  diagrams  the  part  marked  d  is  the  ailent  dischat^,  and  its 
appeamnce  in  the  diagram  is  under  the  control  of  the  will ;  for  hy  holding 
the  breath  immediately  aft«r  pronouncing  the  word,  this  part  of  the 
diagram  can  be  altered  and  the  discharge  of  air  postponed  or  let  off 
gradually,  as  exhibited  in  fig.  2. 

If,  instead  of  t«rrainating  with  the  "  Exptodent^,"  another  syllnble  be 
added  to  each  word,  making  them  terminate  with  conaonanta  of  softer 
•ound,  the  air  which  would  have  been  silently  discharged  is  used  to  form 
the  syllable  added,  and  the  subsequent  silent  discharge  is  very  much 
diminished  (see  fig.  3). 

There  are  other  silent  or,  rather,  insensible  actions  which  occur  within 
certain  words,  as  is  exhibited  in  the  difierences  between  the  word 
"  Exeommvnitate"  and  the  syllable  "  Ex"  and  the  word  "  Communicate" 
pronounced  separately. 


Communicale. 


Eioommuniote. 


Here  it  is  seen  that  the  part  p,  which  is  the  secondary  sound  of  the 
•yllable  "Ex,"  becomes  compressed,  its  length  being  shortened  and  its 
height  increased ;  so  that  althou^  nearly  insensible  as  regards  sound,  it 
becomes  developed  into  the  form  p',  and  constitutes  the  most  prominent 
feature  of  the  diagram  when  the  whole  word  is  pronounced. 

Some  words  are  shortened  when  a  syllable  is  added.  This  eSect  is 
strongly  exhibil«d  in  the  word  "  Strettgthtn  "  as  compared  with  "  Strength." 
"  Strength  "  is,  I  believe,  the  only  word  of  one  syll^Ie  in  the  English 
language  which  contuns  seven  consonants,  all  of  which  are  pro- 
nounced. 


»3  Mr.  W.  B.  Barlow  «  tke  pHemmmHe  Aetitm       [Apr.  Ifl, 

The  diagnuns  are  u  follow*  :— 


Afl  a  test  of  the  npidity  of  odaon  of  the  inBtnimoit,  I  bxn  tued  Hb 
old  nnraery  words, "  Ater  P^  jnat«d  ajweit  of  pideUd  ptpptr' 

This  is  Bud  at  the  nte  of  six  syUiUes  p«r  Mcond ;  and  ft  w31  In 
observed  that  there  are  two  principal  upward  and  two  principal  dowiH 
ward  moTements  to  many  of  the  syllables,  besides  other  oubsiitiaiy 
actions. 

Peter  Piper  picked  &  peak  of  ptokled  pepper. 


Another  curious  test  is  the  continuous  soond  of  the  rough  B. 

The  upper  diagram  ia  pronounced  by  myself,  the  lower  one  by  my  eon. 


There  is  a  very  marked  difference  in  the  quantity  of  air  used  and  the 
degree  of  compression  in  different  words  and  syllables. 


1874.]     accoj>g>aai/inff  the  Articulation  of  the  Human  Voice.      288 


The  difference  in  the  action  between  whispered  sounds  and  tboM 
spoken  loud  ie  not  bo  great  as  might  hare  been  expected. 


384  Mr.W.  H.  Bariow  m  thePuemmatie  Aetiut      {Apr.Ifl; 

Tbe  TOrd  used  in  the  four  foUoring  biali  U  "  /iiwwjwJiwMiWftjy.'* 
The  flnt  ii  vhispend  Eimtlj, 
The  second  is  whiapared  f orciUy, 
The  third  is  spoken  at  the  orduuiy  tone  of  Ute  nin^ 
And  the  fourth  ii  spoken  loudLj, 


In  ordnr  to  tihow  the  manner  in  which  the  diagrams  oE  words  Ste 
nflected  when  spoken  together,  I  giTe  four  linea  from  Uohenlinden  and 
the  words  separately. 

By  torch  and  tnimp^t  fa»t  HmTeil, 


Each  Horxomsn  drew  hi*  bnttip  bUde  : 


And  furioiifl  e*i>rj  nhari;<>r  npiKlied. 


To  join  tlie  drmdful  rpTplry. 


886  Mr.  J.  H.  N.  HennMcy  m  [j^.  li. 

It  vQI  be  obserred  th&t  the  diagmoB  of  the  npantte  wordi,  »M-.h«ngfc 
tbey  become  modified  whea  gronped  together,  aze  more  or  leu  dueent- 
iUe  in  the  lines  contiiiuoDBlf  ipokea ;  and  ibe  nmiluitj  of  ■oimd  at  tibe 
tenniiution  of  the  first  three  linea,  whidi  oonitatatefl  tiie  riiyme  of  tlie 
verse,  is  represented  in  the  sinularity  of  form,  mr  in  the  chaaeter  o{  &m 
fonn,  of  the  t«rminAtions  of  the  diagnma  of  theae  three  linea. 

The  Bubject  might  be  pnraaed  mooh  farther  hj  showing  the  diorama 
of  Hm  same  words  spoken  bjr  di&mnt  individaals,  the  ontlinea  produced 
by  the  words  and  senteuoes  of  other  langoages,  &a  effect  prodnmd  bj 
change  of  accent,  Ac 

Tiiy  object,  howerer,  has  not  been  to  porsae  tiie  subjeot  into  minnts 
detail,  but  to  show  that  the  actienlation  of  the  human  roice  is  a«om^ 
panied  by  definite  pneumatic  actions,  and  that  those  actions,  mamf  <tf 
which  are  insensible  to  ordinaiy  obaerration,  are  capable  <£  being 
recorded. 


11.  "NoteonthePeriodidtyofBain&a'*  ByJ.H.K.HnnnnBr, 
Esq.,  F.R.A.S.  Commniucated  hj  Prof.  O.  G.  Stoebb, 
Sec.R.S.     Received  February  24,  1874. 

1.  Interested  in  the  inquiry  proposed  by  Mr.  Meldrum,  as  to  whether 
rain&ll  varies  n-ith  the  sun-spot  area,  I  examined  the  register  kept  ftt  the 
office  of  the  Superintendent  of  the  Great  Trigonometrical  Survey  of  India, 
and  am  enabled,  through  the  courtesy  of  Colonel  J.  T.  Walker,  B.E.,  to 
communicate  the  results.  These  are  probably  not  devoid  of  peculiar 
interest,  from  the  abnormal  conditions  presented  by  the  stations  of 
observation,  which  are  far  inland,  and  on,  or  adjoinisg,  lofty  mountains, 
as  appears  frcnn  the  following  brief  descriptions. 

2.  MuBSOorie  station  is  on  the  southernmost  range  of  the  Hlm^aya 
Mountains,  Ut.  N.  30°  28',  long.  E.  78°  7',  height  6500  feet ;  this  range 
rises  suddenly  and  forms  the  northern  bound^  of  the  Dehra  Doon  (or 
Dehra  valley),  which  is  some  18  miles  wide  and  40  miles  long,  and  is 
bounded  to  the  south  by  the  Sewalik  range  of  hills,  about  3500  feet  high. 
Dehn  station  is  2200  feet  high,  10  miles  south  6f  Mussoorie  station,  and 
in  the  Dehra  valley. 

3.  Owing  to  the  absence  of  the  observers  in  the  winter  months  from 
Mussoorie  station,  the  runfaU  is  not  recorded  there  during  that  period ; ' 
this,  however,  is  of  little  consequence  to  the  inquiry  in  hand,  for  the  total 
annual  fall  occure  almost  entirely  in  June,  July,  and  August.  I 
accordingly  give  in  Table  I.  the  total  fall  at;  Mussoorie  between 
May  1  and  October  31  of  each  year ;  and  in  order  to  make  these  totals 
comparable  at  the  two  stations,  if  desired,  the  fall  for  January,  Febnutij, 
March,  April,  November,  and  December  is  excluded  from  the  Dehm 
totals ;  this  quantity  excluded  may  be  set  down  at  some  6  indtes,  or  only 


1874.]  the  PeHo^eUy  of  BamfaU.  2^7 

some  7^  per  cent,  of  the  atumal  fall.  Excepting  five  fears  at  Sehra  and 
two  at  MusBoorie,  aU  the  obaerradona  have  been  taken  under  my  own 
Bupermtendence,  so  that  1  can  vouch  for  their  accuracy.  Bejecting 
decimal  places  as  redundant,  the  rainfall  is  as  follows  (in  inches)  for  20 
years  at  Mussoorie  and  for  13  years  at  Dehra  :— 

Table  I. 


Sun-ipot  am*. 

(H>7lto 
Oot31). 

Bainbll,  m  mches,  at 

iUtion. 

Dehra 
■taliaii. 

«i.,»™ 

1864 
1856 

856 
867 
858 
859 
860 

1861 
1862 
1863 
1864 
1866 

1866 
1867 
1868 
1869 

1870 

ffi 

187S 

101 

86 

93 
88 
85 
78 
66 

141 

SI 

82 
76 

81 
82 
61 

80 

84 
83 
S3 

103 
110 

S* 
er 

75t 
70 
45 
65 
84 

114 
83 
63 

4.  Adding  to  the  &1I  in  the  epochal  year  (i.«.  woTiiwiiTw  or  iriinimnn^) 
the  fall  for  one  preceding  and  one  snoceeding  year,  we  shall  get  what 
may  be  termed  Aree^ear  mmi ;  similarly,  by  including  two  yean  on  each 
side  of  the  epochal  year,  we  find  jfv^-yMr  mmtXi  &a  lesolts  ate  as 
follows: — 

Table  n. 


S-jmt  tamt,  in  incliet. 

5-j<ar  nima,  in  inolua.    ] 

DihM. 

MoMDorie. 

Dehra. 

26T 

as6 

224 
S47 

190 

asi 

453 
464 
363 
381 

332 
409 

*  Ttiea  from  a  pap«r  in  '  JltXan,'  187%  Daaeiober  13,  pa^a  100,  hf  If  orman 
Loekjer,  Bm].,  F.B.S.,  Ac. 
t  Site  of  rain-gaogB  ihifted. 
X  •HatiiM.'lSTi^S 


S88  Oh  the  Periodieittf  of  Rautfall.  [Apr.  18, 

Ifohrithstanding  the  exceptional  localities  of  tbe  statioiiB,  the  abore 
reaultB  are  generally  in  keeping  with  the  Meldrum  tbeor; :  the  Dritn 
obserrataona  for  1860  and  prior  yean  are  unfortunately  waotang;  hut  it 
will  be  seen  in  Table  I.  that  heavy  falls  occurred  in  the  two  years  soo- 
ceeding  the  epochal  year  1860. 

5.  It  may,  howerer,  be  questioned  whether  stations  inland  are  ineligible 
to  test  the  theory  under  notice.  No  doubt  far  more  rain  falls  on  certein 
porta  of  the  globe  than  on  othera,  and  Mussoorie  and  Dehra  are  included 
in  the  former :  but  a  large  rainfall  is  in  fact  a  recommendation,  presenting 
as  it  does  a  large  measure  of  the  periodicity  in  question ;  bo  that  stations 
under  this  condition  appear  highly  eligible  unless  the  rainMl  is  subject 
to  abnormal  fluctuations,  apart  from  the  supposed  influence  of  sun-spot 
area;  indeed,  were  it  practicable  to  measure  the  total  runfall  on  the 
whole  globe,  the  total  results  would  present  the  most  effective  argument 
for  periodicity.  Projecting  the  factit  of  Table  I.,  with  the  help  of  ordinate* 
and  absdssie  we  obtain  tbe  appended  diagram,  where  I  am  unable  to 


introduce,  in  lieu  of  the  year,  numerical  values  of  8un-spot  areas  from 
n-ant  of  complete  results,  such  as  those  obtained  by  Messrs.  De  La  Bue, 


1874.]  Dr.  W.  Roberts  on  ftojrenerif.  289 

Balfour  Stewart,  and  Loewy.  BecognlziDg  the  aun  as  the  governor  of 
our  syetem  and  the  source  of  terrestHal  heat  and  light,  it  appears  certain 
that  at  least  some  of  the  drcuiuBtances  attending  our  globe  are  directly 
or  indirectly  the  resulte  of  solar  conditions,  of  which  we  can  read  but  too 
few,  and  interpret  still  fewer  rightly.  In  the  present  instance  we  see 
that,  aa  is  other  curres,  a  certain  rainfall  maximum  may  be  Utt  than 
minima  not  immediately  preceding  or  succeeding ;  and  this  alone  suggests 
the  desirability  of  comparison  with  actual  magnitudes  of  sun-spot  areas  ; 
but  the  introduction  of  this  more  accurate  test  would  doubtless  prove  a 
waste  of  time,  unless  the  appronmato  relation  at  present  under  view  can 
be  mainttuiied. 


III.  "  Studies  on  Bic^^esis."  By  William  Roberts,  M.D., 
Manchester.  Commiinicated  by  Hbnby  E.  Roscoe,  F.R.S. 
Received  March  3,  1874. 

(Abstract.) 

The  object  of  the  investigation  is  to  inquire  into  the  mode  of  origin  of 
Bacteria  and  torul<ud  vegetations.  The  inquiry  is  divided  into  three 
sections. 

Section  1,  Onihe  ttmliattion  by  ht^  of  organic  liqmdt  artd  mixtures.— 
When  beef-tea  or  a  decoction  of  turnip  is  boiled  for  a  few  minutes  and 
afterwards  preserved  from  extraneous  contamination,  it  passes  into  a 
state  of  "  permanent  sterility," 

This  state  is  characterized  by  loss  of  power  to  originaU  organisms  with 
conservation  of  tbe  power  of  nouruAtn^  and  promoting  the  growth  of 
orgamsms. 

All  organic  liquids  and  mixtures  seem  capable  of  b^ng  brought  to  this 
state  I^  exposure  to  the  heat  of  212^  F. ;  hut  the  length  of  time  during 
which  exposure  to  this  heat  is  necessary  to  induce  sterilisatioh  varies 
greatly  according  to  the  nature  of  the  materials.  Ordinary  infusions 
and  decoctions  were  st«rilixed  by  boiling  for  five  or  ten  minutes ;  but 
milk,  chopped  green  vegetables  in  water,  pieces  of  boiled  egg  in  water, 
and  other  mizturee  were  not  sterilized  unless  the  heat  was  continued  for 
twenty  to  forty  minutes.  Hay-infusion  was  sterilized,  like  other  infu- 
sions, by  boiling  for  a  few  minutes ;  but  when  the  infusion  was  rendered 
alkaline  with  ammonia  or  liquor  potaass,  it  was  not  sterilized  except 
after  an  exposure  to  the  heat  of  boiling  water  for  more  than  an  hour. 
Sometiinea  it  germinated  after  two  hours,  and  once  after  three  hoars  fA 
such  exposure. 

There  appeared  to  be  two  factors  of  equal  importance  in  the  induction 
of  sterilization — ^namely,  the  degree  of  beat  and  the  dunUion  of  its  appli- 
cation. These  two  foctors  appeared  to  be  mutually  compensatory  in  sudi 
fashion  that  a  longer  exposure  .to  a  lower  temperature  was  equivalent  to 


390  Dr.  W.  Roberts  on  Biogenesis.  [Apr.  Id, 

a  shorter  exposure  to  a  higher  temperature.  For  example,  speaking 
roughly,  an  exposure  for  an  hour  to  a  heat  of  212°  F.  appeared  to  ba 
equivalent  to  an  exposure  for  fifteen  iiiiDiit«s  to  a  heat  of  228°  F. 

Sbctios  n.  On  the  capahility  of  tht  twnivil  tUsnes  antljuica  to  generala 
Bacteria  and  Torulte  without  extraruout  inftetion. — The  follovring  sub- 
stances were  examined  : — egg-albumen,  blood,  urine,  bliBter-seram,  milk, 
grape,  orange-  and  tomato-juice,  turnip  and  potato.  These  aubstancoB 
were  conveyed  into  previously  prepared  sterilized  bulbs  and  tubes,  which 
were  hermetiffllly  sealed  at  one  end  and  plugged  with  cotton-wool  at  tha 
other  end.  Wlien  the  several  steps  o£  the  experiment  were  quickly  and 
dexterously  performed,  the  risks  of  extraneous  contamination,  although 
not  altogether  avoided,  were  reduced  to  small  proportions.  The  bulba 
and  tubes  thus  charged  were  afterwards  maintained  at  a  temperature 
ranging  from  60°  to  90°  F.,  and  were  finaUy  examined  at  periods  varying 
from  four  to  ten  weeks.  Out  of  90  experiments  performed  in  this  way, 
67  preparationa  remained  barren  and  23  became  ferHle.  When  the  ideal 
conditions  of  the  experiment  could  be  carried  out  in  approximative  per- 
fection, as  with  urine,  hlister-serum,  orange-,  grape-,  and  tomato-juioe  • 
(34  experiments),  the  preparations,  all  save  one,  remained  barren ;  but 
when  the  rjaks  of  extraneous  infection  were  (from  the  mechanical  dif- 
ficulties) obviously  greater,  as  with  blood,  milk,  turnip,  and  potato,  the 
proportion  of  fertile  preparations  was  considerable,  though  even  with 
l^ese  (except  in  the  case  of  milk)  the  barren  preparations  were  in  a  Ui;ge 
majority. 

The  experiments  seemed  clearly  to  lead  to  the  condusi<»i  that  the 
normal  tisBnes  of  plants  and  animals  were  incapable  of  breeding  Bacteria 
and  ToraUx  except  under  the  stimulus  of  extraneous  infection. 

Sbttiob  in.  On  the  bearing  of  thefts  adduced  in  the  preetding  mo- 
tioM  an  the  origin  of  Bacteria  and  Torulte,  and  on  the  real  explanation  of 
tome  of  the  alleged  eases  of  Abtogenests. — Seeing  that  organic  liquids  and 
mixtures  sterilized  by  heat,  and  the  normal  juices  and  tissues,  continued 
permanently  barren  under  the  most  favourable  conditions  of  air,  moisture, 
warmth,  and  light,  so  long  as  they  were  preserved  from  extraneous  con- 
tamination, and  seeing  that  the  admission  of  ordinary  air  or  water  into 
contact  with  them  was  invariably  followed  by  germination,  it  was  im- 
possible to  avoid  the  conclusion  that  ordinary  air  and  water  contain,  in 
addition  to  their  proper  elements,  multitudes  of  particles  capable  of  pro- 
voking germination.  The  exact  nature  of  these  particles  may  be  « 
matter  of  dispute,  but  the  reality  of  their  existence  is  not  doubtful ;  nor 
is  it  doubtful  that  the  ordinary  and  common  development  of  Bacteria  sad 
Torvjof  is  directly  due  to  their  agency. 

The  greatest  difficulty  hitherto  encountered  to  the  general  acceptance 
of  the  panspermic  theory  has  been  the  appearance  of  Bacteria  (without 
the  possibility  of  fresh  infection)  in  certain  liquids  which  have  been 
exposed  for  a  considerable  time  to  a  boiling  heat.    Only  two  explanati<»u 


1874.]  On  the  Ctrcuialion  of  the  Blood.  291: 

of  this  fact  Beem  poiuble — either  germs  preexiatuig  in  tbem  hare  snr- 
vived  the  heat^  or  the  organisms  have  arisen  in  them  abiogenically. 
These  alternatives  were  subjected  to  two  series  of  test  experiments.  In 
the  first  series  it  was  proved  directly  that  there  exist  in  ordinary  air  and 
water  particles  which  preaerre  their  germinal  actiTity  after  being  boiled 
for  five  minutes  in  previously  sterilized  liquids.  The  second  series  of 
experiments  showed  that,  in  the  extraordinary  increase  of  resistance  to 
steiilization  by  heat  exhibited  by  alkalized  hay-infusion,  the  action  of  tJie 
alltali  is  to  heighten  the  surviving  power  of  preexisting  germs,  and  not 
to  exalt  the  abiogenic  aptitude  of  the  infusion  itself. 

The  issue  of  the  whole  inquiry  has  been  to  fully  confirm  the  main 
propositions  of  the  panspermic  theory,  and  to  establish  the  conclusion 
that  Bacteria  and  ToruJce,  when  they  do  not  proceed  from  visiUe  parents 
like  themselves,  originate  from  invisible  germs  fioatdng  in  the  surrounding 
aerial  and  aqueous  media. 

Nevertheless  the  author  is  nnable  to  withstand  the  impression  that  this 
general  and  conunon  mode  of  origin  is  poanbly  Bupplemeuted,  under 
rare  conditions,  by  another  and  ui  abiogenic  mode  of  origin.  The  facts 
on  which  this  impresnon  rests  are  comparatively  few.  They  consist  in 
certain  instances  of  greatly  retarded  germination  of  Bacteria  in  liquids 
which  had  been  expc»ed  to  a  boiling  heat,  and  in  two  very  remarkable 
instances  of  the  growth  of  fungoid  vegetations  (not  identical  with  those 
usually  developed  after  air  infection)  in  plugged  bulbs  which  had  been 
boiled  in  a  can  of  water. 

If  it  should  be  hereafter  established  that  Saeteria  and  fungoid  vege- 
tations do,  under  exceptional  circumstances,  arise  abiogemcally,  this  would 
not  overturn  the  panspermic  theory,  it  would  merely  limit  the  nniver- 
sality  of  its  application. 


Jpnl  23,  1874. 

JOSEPH  DALTON  HOOKER,  C.B.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

The  Presents  received  were  laid  on  the  table,  and  thanks  ordered  for 
them. 
The  following  Papers  were  read  : — 

I.  "  On  some  Points  connected  with  the  Circolation  of  the 
Blood,  arrived  at  from  a  stndy  of  the  SphygmogTaph-Trace." 
By  A.  H.  Gasbod,  B.A.,  Fellow  of  St.  John's  College,  Cam- 
hridgt: ;  Prosector  to  the  Zoological  Society.  Communicated 
by  Prof.  A.  B.  Garrod,  M.D.,  F.R.S.  Received  March  12, 
1874. 

(Abstract.) 

The  author  commences  by  giving  a  table  containing  a  fresh  series  of 


i 

i 


392  On  the  Circulation  of  the  Bluod.  [Apr.  2ff,  ' 

meoeuperaenls  of  tlie  ratio  borne  by  the  cardiosyatole  *  to  its  cotaponeob 
beat  in  the  cardiograph-trace.  Those  tend  Btrongly  to  BubBtanl.iate  the 
law  preriously  published  by  him,  yu.  that  the  length  of  the  cardiosystoio 
is  constant  for  any  given  ptilee-rate,  and  that  it  varies  as  the  square  root 
of  the  length  of  the  pulse-beat  only — being  found  from  the  equation  ( 
a^=20v''f.  where  a^=the  pulse-rate,  and  i/=the  ratio  borne  by  the  cap- 
diosystole  to  the  whole  beat. 

A  Birailor  series  of  fresh  measurements  are  ^ven  in  proof  of  the  law 
previously  published  by  him,  that  iii  the  spliygmograph-traoe  from  the 
radial  artery  at  the  wrist  the  length  of  the  sphygmosy stole  t  is  constant 
tor  any  given  pulse-rate,  but  varies  as  the  cube  root  of  the  length  of  the 
pulse-beat — it  being  found  from  the  equation  at/'= 47  ^i',  where  j:=  the 
pulse-rate,  and  )/'=tlie  ratio  borne  by  the  sphygmosystole  to  the  whole 
beat. 

By  measurement  of  Bphygmograph-tnicings  from  the  carotid  in  the  neck 
and  the  posterior  tibial  artery  at  the  ankle,  it  is  then  shown  that  tba 
length  of   the  sphygmosystole  in    those   arteries    is   exactly   the 
ns  in  the  radial ;  bo  that  the  above-stated  law  as  to  the  length  of  thi 
sphygnioByBtole  in  the  latter  apphes  to  them  also,  and  must  tberefoiw! 
apply  eqiuillv  to  the  pulse  in  the  aorta. 

i^ucli  beiug  Ihu  uaee,  by  i:uuipikriii^  tLc  nqtiatioa  for  £u<Iiug  the  leugth 
of  the  cardiosyfitole  with  that  for  finding  the  aortic  sphygmosystole,  the 
relation  between  the  duration  of  the  whole  cardiac  systolic  act  and  tbe 
time  during  which  the  aortic  valve  remains  open  can  be  estimated  with 
facility  ;  for  by  subtracting  the  shorter  sphygmosystole  from  the  longer 
cardiosystole,  a  remainder  is  obtained  which  can  be  nothing  else  than  the 
expression  of  the  time  occupied  by  the  ventricle  at  the  commencement  of 
its  systole  in  elevating  its  internal  pressure  to  that  of  the  blood  in  the 
aorta,  which  must  occur  before  the  aortic  valve  can  open  up.  This  in- 
terval is  named  the  "  ti/tpasis."  Its  length  is  found  to  be  constant  for 
any  given  pulse-rate,  but  to  decrease  very  rapidly  with  increftse  in 
rapidity  of  the  heart's  action,  becoming  mi  when  that  reaches  170  & 
minute.     An  attempt  is  made  to  explain  these  phenomena. 

If  the  above  considerations  are  correct,  certain  independently  obtuned 
measurements  ought,  on  comparison,  to  correspond  ;  for  by  reference  to 
one  of  the  author's  papers  in  the  '  Proceedings  of  the  Koyal  Society,*  it  is 
shown  that  the  length  of  the  there-termed  second  cardio-arterial  interval 
(which  may  be  called  the  second  cardio-radial  interval)  can  only  represent 
the  time  taken  by  the  second  or  dicrotic  pulse-wave  in  travelling  &Y>m 
the  aortic  valve  to  the  wrist.  This  being  so,  there  is  every  d  priori 
reason  in  favour  of  the  earlier  primary  wave  taking  the  same  time  in  going 

■  Tfae  cardiMgsiaU  U  the  intfirral  betveen  the  comineii cement  at  the  sj'Btole  and  tho 
clonuro  of  the  aortic  val™  in  each  oudiiic  reTolution. 
■f-  The  ephygmotyttoU  in  the  interval  between  the  opening  and  cloeing  of  the  aortw 
^■ntlTs  in  each  cardiao  revolution. 


1874]       On  the  MmUe  Anatomy  of  the  Alimentary  Canali      293 

the  same  distance — which  can  be  expressed  in  other  terms  by  saying  that 
the  length  of  the  first  cardio-radial  interval,  from  which  that  o£  the 
syspasis  has  been  subtracted,  ought  to  be  exactly  the  same  aa  that  of  the 
eecoad  cardio-radial  interval.  That  such  is  the  cose  is  proved  by  th£ 
measurement  of  the  lengths  of  these  two  intervals  independently  ;  and 
it  is  found  that  in  all  cases  they  agree  to  tlirte  places  of  deeimalt,  which 
ia  great  evidence  in  favour  of  the  accuracy  of  the  methods  and  arguments 
employed. 

The  latter  part  of  the  paper  is  occupied  with  the  description  of,  and  the 
results  obtained  by,  the  employment  of  a  double  sphygmograph,  by  means 
of  which  simultaneous  tracings  ore  taken  from  two  arteries  at  difEercnt 
distances  from  the  heart.  The  arteries  experimented  on  are  the  radial 
at  the  wrist  and  the  posterior  tibial  just  behind  the  ankle,  29  and  52-5 
inches  respectively  from  the  aortic  valves.  From  the  resulting  tracings, 
the  time  occupied  by  the  pulae-wave  in  travelling  the  difference  of 
distance  (52-5—20=),  23-6  inches,  is  found  and  stated  to  be  0-0012  of  a 
minute  in  a  pulse  of  75  a  minute  ;  and  it  is  shown  that  this  varies  very 
little  with  differences  in  piilse-rate,  as  might  have  been  previously  ex- 
pected ;  it  is  also  proved  that  there  ia  an  appreciable  acceUrtUioit  of  Ike 
inovenutU  of  ike  puhe-tvave  as  it  ijets  farther  from  ihe  heart. 

By  superposing  the  simultaneous  trace  from  the  wrist  on  that  from 
the  ankle,  direct  verification  is  obtained  of  the  earlier  proposition — that 
the  sphygmosystole  at  the  wrist  and  that  at  the  ankle  are  of  exactly  similar 
duration.    The  peculiarities  of  the  ankle-trace  ore  also  referred  to. 


11.  "Note  on  the  Minute  Anatomy  of  the  Alimentary  Canal." 
By  Herbert  Watnet,  M.A.  Cantab.  Communicated  by  Dr. 
Sandesson,  F.R.S.,  Profeaaor  of  Practical  Physiology,  Uni- 
versity College.     Beceived  March  10,  1874. 

The  following  results  relating  to  the  anatomy  of  the  mucous  membrane 
of  the  alimentary  canal  were  obtained  in  the  laboratory  of  the  Brown  In- 
stitution. The  researches  were  carried  out  under  the  direction  of  Dr. 
Klein. 

1.  CoHrte^ivt-listw  eorpuacUt  amongtt  the  epillielium. — In  specimens 
hardened  in  chromic  acid  and  alcohol  and  stained  in  tuematoxylin, 
structures  are  constantly  seen  among  the  columnar  epithelium  of 
the  intestinal  tract  in  many  animals  (aa  monkey,  sheep,  cat,  d<^, 
rat,  rabbit)  which  belong  to  the  connective  tissue.  These  are  ; — 
(1)  a  delicate  reticulum,  which  is  continuous  with  that  formed  by  the 
most  superficial  layer  of  connective-tissue  corpuscles  (the  basement 
membrane) ;  (2)  round  nucleated  cells,  exactly  similar  to  those  of  the 
mucosa. 

TOL.  XXII,  2  A 


294     On  the  Minute  Anatomy  of  the  Almvntary  Canal.      [Aj^.  23, 

This  is  the  case  at  Iho  pyloric  end  of  Ihp  (itoinacli,  on  the  Wlli,  orer 
Peyer'a  patches,  and  in  Lieberkuhn's  glwuls. 

2.  The  lining  endothelium  of  the  lym]ih-veB8el8  of  the  mucosa  is  in 
anatomical  conlinuity  with  the  reticulum  of  nucleated  cells  (connective 
tissue  stroma) ;  so  thiit  it  may  be  said  the  endothelial  cells  of  the 
lymphatic  vessel  are  only  transformed  connertive-IiMsue  corpuscles. 

3.  In  animals  killed  during  the  absorption  of  fat  (cream)  the  fat  can 
be  seen  in  prepamtiona  stained  by  osmic  add  as  Bmall  black  particles : — 
(Ist)  arranged  in  lines  between  or  around  the  epithelial  cells  ;  (2ndly)  in 
the  basement  membrane  ;  (3rdly)  as  has  been  noticed  by  many  previcmB 
observers,  in  the  connective-tissue  stroma  of  the  villus,  whence  it  can  be 
traced  mto  the  lymph-iessel.  This  indicates  that  the  fat  is  absorbed  by 
the  processes  of  the  connective  tissue  which  exist  between  the  epithelial 
cells,  and  thence  finds  its  way  by  the  connective-tissue  stroma  to  the 
lymph- vessel. 

4.  Tlie  reticulum  of  nucleated  cells  of  the  mucosa  formfl  a  special 
sheath  to  the  vessels  and  unBtriped  mnscular  tissue. 

In  the  villi  the  muscular  bundles,  having  approached  the  apei,  termi- 
nat<>,  the  connective  tissue  which  forms  their  sheath  being  coutinaous 
with  the  corjiuscles  forming  the  basement  membrane. 

In  the  mucosa  of  the  colon  of  the  rabbit  the  slender  muscle-bands 
divide  into  single  muscle-fibres,  on  which  the  common  sheath  is  con- 
tinued. This  sheath  becomes  often  connected  with  peculiar  large,  oval, 
nucleated  cells  lying  close  under  the  epithelium. 

5.  StnU  of  flie  -miieoxis  r/laiuls  of  Uie  torvjue  in  rMt  ami  stcrttion. — 
It  has  been  found,  in  accordance  with  the  researches  of  Professor  von 
Ebner,  of  Graz,  that  there  are  two  kinds  of  acinous  glands  in  the  tongue, 
which  have  been  distingiushed  as  serous  and  mucous — the  former  being 
always  found  in  relation  to  the  papilla;  vallataj  and  drcumi-allatjo,  the 
latter  always  at  the  root  of  the  tongue  and  partially  surrounding  the 
former. 

In  the  coiu-se  of  the  present  inquiry  it  has  been  further  found  (iu  sec- 
tions stained  in  hjematoiylin  and  carmine,  made  from  the  hardened  tongue 
of  ananimalwhiehbadbeenlcftforafewhours  without  food)  that  the  two 
kinds  of  glands  are  coloured  red  and  blue  respectively ;  but  in  sections 
of  the  tongue  of  an  animal  killed  while  feeding,  both  kinds  of  glands  were 
stained  red,  while  any  mucus  in  the  duct  of  the  mucous  glantia  was 
stained  blue — showing  that,  in  the  stateof  inanition,  the  cells  of  the  mncous 
glands  contain  mucus,  while,  during  secretion,  the  cell-subatonee  is 
affected  by  the  staining  fluids  in  a  manner  not  unlike  that  in  which  ordi- 
nan,"  cell-substance  would  be  acted  on. 


1874.]       On  the  Sejraetioa  of  Sound  by  the  Atmotphere.  295 

III.  "On  the  Befraction  of  Sound  by  the  Atmosphere."  By  Prof. 
OsBOHNE  Retholub,  Owens  College,  Manchester.  Communi- 
cated by  Prof.  Stokbs,  Sec.B.S.     Received  March  18, 1874. 

(Abstract.) 

The  principal  object  of  this  paper  is  to  show  that  sound  is  refracted 
upwards  by  Hie  atmosphere  in  direct  proportion  to  the  upward  diminu- 
tiou  of  the  temperature,  and  hence  to  explain  several  phenomena  of  sound, 
and  particularly  the  results  of  Prof.  Tyndall'a  recent  observations  off  the 
South  Foreland, 

The  paper  commences  by  describing  the  explanation  of  the  efEect  <^ 
wind  upon  sound,  viz.  that  this  efEect  ia  due  to  the  lifting  of  the 
sound  from  the  ground,  and  not  to  its  destruction,  as  is  generally  sup- 
posed. 

The  lifting  of  the  sound  is  shown  to  be  due  to  the  different  velodties 
with  which  the  air  moves  at  the  ground  and  at  on  elevation  above  it. 
During  a  wind  the  air  moves  faster  above  than  below,  therefore  sound 
moving  against  the  wind  moves  Easter  be]owthanabove,theefEect  of  which 
is  to  refract  or  turn  the  sound  upwards  j  so  that  the  "  rays  "  of  sound, 
which  would  otherwise  move  horizontally  along  the  ground,  actually  move 
upwards  in  circular  or  mora  nearly  hyperbohc  paths,  and  thus,  if  ther^ 
is  sufficient  distance,  pass  over  the  observer's  head.  This  explana- 
tion was  propounded  by  Prof.  Stokes  in  1857,  but  was  discovered  inde- 
pendently by  the  author. 

The  paper  then  contains  the  descriptian  of  experiments  made  with  a 
view  to  establish  this  explanation,  and  from  which  it  appears  that  :— 

1.  The  velocity  of  wind  over  grass  differs  by  one  half  at  elevations  {A 
1  and  8  feet,  and  by  somewhat  less  over  snow. 

2.  When  there  is  no  wind,  sound  proceeding  over  a  rough  sur&ce 
is  destroyed  at  the  surbce,  and  is  thus  less  intense  below  than  above. 

3.  That  sounds  proceeding  against  the  wind  are  lifted  up  off  the  ground, 
and  hence  the  range  is  diminished  at  low  elevations  ;  but  that  the 
sound  is  not  destroyed,  and  may  be  heard  from  positionB  sufficiently 
elevated  with  even  greater  distinctness  than  at  the  same  distances  with 
the  wind. 

4.  That  sounds  proceeding  with  the  wind  are  brought  down  to  the 
ground  in  such  a  manner  as  t«  counterbalance  the  effect  of  the  rough  sur- 
face (2) ;  and  hence,  contrary  to  the  experimenta  of  Delaroehe,  the  range 
at  the  ground  is  greater  with  the  wind  than  at  right  angles  to  its  direc- 
tion, or  where  there  is  no  wind. 

On  one  occasion  it  was  found  that  the  sound  could  be  heard  360  yards 
with  the  wind  at  all  elevations,  whereas  it  could  be  heard  only  200  yards 
at  right  angles  to  the  wind,  standing  up ;  and,  against  the  wind,  it  was  losb 
at  30  yards  at  the  ground,  70  yards  standing  up,  and  at  160  yards  at  aa 


293         Oil  the  litfrarthn  o/Sviml  bj  Ike  Atmosphere.     [Apr. '. 

elevation  oE  30  feet,  although  it  could  Iw  heard  distinctly  at  this  lottef^ 
point  5  few  feet  higher. 

As  might  be  expected,  the  effect  of  nusiag  the  bell  was  to  extend  its 
range  to  windward,  to  even  a  greater  extent  than  was  obtained  by  an 
equal  elevation  of  the  observer. 

These  results  agree  so  well  with  what  might  be  expected  from  the 
theory  as  to  place  its  truth  and  completeness  beyond  queRtion. 

It  is  thus  argued  that,  since  the  wind  raises  the  soiuid  so  that  it  cannot 
be  heard  at  the  ground,  by  causing  it  to  move  faster  below  than  above, 
ftny  other  cause  which  produces  such  a  difference  in  Telocity  will  lift  the 
sound  in  the  same  way ;  and  therefore  that  an  upward  diiuinution  in  the 
temperature  of  the  air  must  produce  this  effect ;  for  every  degi-ee  of  tem- 
perature between  32°  and  70°  adds  nearly  one  foot  per  second  to  the 
velocity  of  sound.  Mr.  Glaisher's  balloon  observations  •  show  that  when 
the  sun  is  shining  with  a  clear  sky,  the  variation  from  the  surface  is  V 
for  every  hundred  feet,  and  that  with  a  cloudy  sky  0°-5,  or  half  what  it 
is  with  a  clear  sky.  Hence  it  is  shown  that  "rays"  of  Bound,  otherwise 
horizontal,  will  he  refracted  upwards  in  the  form  of  circles,  the  radii  of 
which  are  110,000  feet  with  a  clear  sky,  and  220,000  with  a  cloudy  sky 
— that  ia  to  say,  the  reCmcticn  on  bright  hot  days  will  be  double  what  it 
is  on  dull  days,  and  still  more  under  exceptional  circumstances,  and  com- 
paring day  \iith  iiight. 

It  is  then  shown  by  calculation  that  the  greatest  refraction  (110,000 
radius)  is  sufGcient  to  render  sound,  from  a  cliff  235  feet  high,  inaudible 
on  the  deck  of  a  ship  at  Ij  mile,  except  such  sound  as  might  reach  the 
observer  by  divergence  from  the  waves  passing  over  bis  head  ;  wherefta, 
when  the  refraction  ia  least  (220,000  radius),  that  ia,  when  the  aty  is 
cloudy,  the  range  would  be  extended  to  2^  miles,  with  a  similar  extenuon 
for  the  diverging  waves,  and  under  exceptional  circumstances  the  exten- 
sion would  be  much  greater.  It  ia  hence  inferred  that  the  phenomenon 
which  Prof.  Tyndall  observed  on  the  3rd  of  July  and  other  days  (namely, 
that  when  the  air  was  still  and  the  sun  was  hot  he  could  not  hear  guns 
and  other  sounds  from  the  cliffs  235  feet  high  more  than  2  inilee, 
whereas  when  the  sky  clouded  the  range  of  the  sounda  was  extended  to 
3  milea,  and,  as  evening  approached,  much  further)  naa  due,  not  to  tJie 
stoppage  or  reflection  of  the  sound  by  clouda  of  invisible  vapour,  aaProf. 
Tyndall  has  supposed,  hut  to  the  sounds  beiug  lifted  over  his  head  by 
refraction  in  the  manner  described  ;  and  that,  had  he  been  able  to  ascend 
30  feet  up  the  mast,  he  might  at  any  time  have  extended  the  range  of  the 
sounds  by  a  quarter  of  a  mile  at  least. 

•  Brit.  Assoc.  Eeport,  1862,  p.  463. 


1874.3  Oa  the  Mucous  Membrane  qfthe  Utentt. 


April  30,  1874. 

Prof.  ANDREW  CEOMBIE  RAMSAY,  LL.D.,  Vice-President, 
in  the  Chair. 

It  was  announced  from  the  Chair  that  the  President  and  Coimdl  had 
appointed  Mr.  liockyer'a  Paper,  "Eeeearchea  in  Spectrum- Analysis  in 
connexion  with  the  Spectrum  o£  the  Sud,  No.  111."  read  Nov.  27  last,  to 
be  the  Balterian  Lecture ;  and  Dr.  Ferrier'e  Paper,  on  "the  Localization 
of  Function  in  the  Br^n ,"  read  March  5  last,  to  be  the  Croonian  Lecture 
for  the  present  year. 

The  Presents  received  were  laid  on  the  table,  and  thanks  ordered  for 
them. 

The  following  Papers  were  read : — 

I.  "  The  Structure  of  the  Mucous  Membrane  of  the  Uterus  and 
its  Periodical  Changes."  By  John  Williams,  M,D.  (Lond.), 
Assistant  Obstetric  Physician  to  University  College  Hos- 
pital. Communicated  by  Pr.  Sharpey.  Received  March  3), 
1874. 

(Abstract.) 

The  paper  consists  of  obserrations  made  on  the  uteri  of  nine  women 
who  had  died  in  different  stipes  of  the  monthly  period. 

lu  two  of  the  uteri  the  menstrual  flow  had  almost  ceased,  and  the 
mucous  membrane  was  wanting  in  the  bodies  of  the  organs.  The 
muscular  fibre-cells  were  more  or  less  exposed  in  the  canity,  and  the 
meshes  formed  by  their  bundles  contained  glands  and  groups  of  round 
cells. 

In  one  uterus  menstruation  had  ceased  three  days  before  death,  and 
the  muscular  fibres  were  not  exposed  in  the  cavity  of  the  orgnn,  but  im- 
posed upon  them  was  a  layer  of  tissue  composed  of  fusiform  and  round 
cells.  This  tissue  conttuned  glands.  The  muscular  tissue  near  the 
internal  orifice  was  devoid  of  glands,  but  nearer  the  fundus  it  contained 
numerous  glands. 

In  one  uterus,  in  which  the  catameniol  flow  had  ceased  probably  about 
a  fortnight  before  death,  the  layer  of  superficial  tissue  was  thicker  than 
in  the  last;  and  near  the  internal  orifice  there  was  a  marked  and  abrupt 
distinction  between  it  and  the  subjacent  muscular  tissue. 

In  one  uterus  the  flow  had  ceased  three  weeks  before  death,  and  the 
superficial  layer  was  still  thicker ;  and  the  distinction  between  it  and  the 
subjacent  muscular  layer  was  well  marked,  except  at  the  fundus.  The 
uterine  glands  were  tubular,  ond  arranged  in  some  parts  obliquely,  in 
others  perpendicularly  to  the  surface.  They ^ were  lined  by  columnar 
ciliated  epithelium. 


298  Dr.  H.  Airy  on  Leaf-Arrangement.  [Apr.  80^ 

In  two  uteri  menstruation  M^as  imminent,  but  the  flow  had  not  begun. 
In  these  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  body  of  the  uterus  was  fuUy  deve- 
loped, and  had  begun  to  undergo  fatty  degeneration.  There  was  a 
marked  distinction  between  it  and  the  muscular  tissue  throughout  the 
uterine  cavity  :  it  was  highly  congested. 

In  one  uterus  the  menstrual  flow  had  taken  place  for  one  day,  and  in 
another  for  two  or  three  days  before  death.  In  these  there  was  extrava- 
sation of  blood  into  the  mucous  membrane,  and  the  latter  had  in  part  been 
disintegrated  and  removed. 

Menstruation  appears  essentially  to  consist,  not  in  a  congestion  or  a 
species  of  erection,  but  in  gro\\i;h  and  rapid  decay  of  the  mucous  mem- 
brane. The  menstrual  discharge  consists  chiefly  of  blood  and  of  the 
dAris  of  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  body  of  the  uterus.  The  source 
of  the  ha)morrhago  is  the  vessels  of  the  body  of  the  uterus.  The  mucous 
membrane  having  undergone  fatty  degeneration,  blood  becomes  extrava- 
sated  into  its  substance ;  then  the  membrane  undergoes  rapid  disinte- 
gration, and  is  entirely  carried  away  ^vith  the  menstrual  discharge.  A 
new  mucous  membrane  is  then  developed  by  proliferation  of  the  inner 
layer  of  the  uterine  wall,  the  muscular  tissue  producing  fusiform  cells, 
and  the  groups  of  round  cells  enclosed  in  the  meshes  of  the  muscular 
bundles  producing  the  columnar  epithelium  of  the  glands. 


II.  '^On  Leaf- Arrangement.^'  By  Hubert  Airy,  M.A.^  M.D. 
Communicated  by  Charles  Darwin,  F.R.S.  Received 
March  23,  1874. 

(Abstract.) 

This  paper  is  offered  in  correction  and  extension  of  the  news  con- 
tained in  a  previous  paper  by  the  same  author,  read  27th  Februarv, 
1873. 

The  main  facts  of  leaf-arraugement  to  be  accounted  for  are : — 

(1)  the  division  into  verticillute  and  alternate  leaf-order; 

(2)  in  the  former,  the  equal  division  of  the  circumference  of  the  stem 

by  the  leaves  of  each  whorl,  and  the  alternation,  in  angular  posi- 
tion, of  successive  whorls ; 

(3)  in  the  latter,  the  arrangement  of  leaves  in  a  spiral  series  round  the 

stem,  with  uniform  angular  divergence  between  successive  leaves, 
and  the  limitation  of  that  angular  divergence  (represented  as  a 
fraction  of  the  circumference)  to  certain  fractional  values  (in  most 
cases  only  approximate)  which  find  place  most  commonly  in  the 
following  convergent  series  (A): — 

1     1    2    3     5      8     13    21    34     65     «^  ... 

?   5*   5*  8*   13'   21'   3i'   55'   8D'   144' ^•' ^^^ 


1874.]  Dr.  H.  Airy  on  Leitf-ArrartgemaU.  3J9 

more  rarely  iu  the  following  (B) : — 

I     I    3     a     5     8     13  t,.  .  ,„. 

li'   4'   f    n'   16-   25-   47'*'-'     ^^^ 

very  rarely  in  the  followiiig  (C) : — 

^    ^    2    ^     ^   Ac  •  tr\ 

4-  6'  ff  ff  23' *^- ' ■- tC) 

besides  a   few  iaolated  values,  ^j,  „,  L  &c.,  which  would  find 

place  in  higher  series.    (Hofmeister, '  Allgenieine  Morphologie  der 

Oewachse,'  p.  449.    Leipzig,  1868.) 

Dealing  first  with  the  phenomena  of  alternate  leaf-order,  the  theory  ia 
advanced  that,  in  each  of  the  series  A,  B,  C,  &c.,  the  higher  orders  have 
been  derived  from  some  lower  order  of  the'  same  series  by  a  process  of 
condensation  advantageous  to  the  species  in  which  those  higher  orders  are 
found ;  that  the  sceue  of  this  condensation  of  leaf-order  has  been  the 
bud  and  other  close-packed  forms  of  plant-growth ;  and  that  the  imme- 
diate gain  has  been  better  economy  of  space. 

In  support  of  this  theory  it  is  argued,  first,  that  the  ute  of  leaf-order 
is  to  be  found  in  that  sUge  of  the  life  of  a  shoot  in  which  the  leaf-order 
is  most  regular  and  perfect.  Leaf-order  is  seen  in  perfection  in  dose- 
packed  forms  of  plant-growth,  such  aa  ike  bad,  the  balb,thB>'aidiealroielt^, 
the  involucre,  the  eompotite  head,  the  catkin,  the  eime,  even  the  tetd  itself. 
Therefore  it  must  be  in  these  forms  that  leaf-order  is  especioUy  useful. 
In  elongated  shoots,  on  the  contrary,  with  long  iutemodes  and  distant 
leaves,  the  !ea£-order  has  a  tendency  to  lose  that  regularity  which  it 
enjoyed  iu  the  bud,  and  is  often  disarranged  by  a  twiat  of  the  stem 
or  by  contortion  of  the  leaf-stalks  (required  for  the  better  display  of  the 
leaf-blodes  to  the  light).  The  native  arrangement  of  the  leaves  (excluding 
the  order  ■;\  ia  oft«n  a  positive  disadvantage  to  them  in  lateral  twigs. 
It  is  only  in  the  more  vertical  and  unembarrassed  shoots  that  the  leaf- 
blades  remtun  content  with  their  distributive  position.  Indeed,  one  chief 
use  of  the  leaf-stalk  seems  to  be  to  enable  the  leaf-blade  to  moke  the  best 
of  an  unfavourable  birth-place.  (Yew,  silverfir,  box,  and  privetore  in- 
stanced as  examples.)  Hence  it  appears  probable  that  the  use  of  leaf- 
order  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  elongated  shoot. 

Looking,  then,  to  the  above-mentioned  clos»-packed  forms  of  pkmt- 
growth  as  the  scene  of  the  usefulness  of  leaf-order,  it  is  seen  that  the  cha- 
racteristic feature  which  distinguishes  them  from  the  elongated  forms  ia 
contact  between  neighbouring  leaves  (or  shoots).  The  whole  surface  of  the 
stem  is  occupied  by  their  bases,  and  no  vacant  interstices  are  left  between 
them.  It  is  plain  that  the  process  of  cell-growth  bos  resulted  iu  great 
miOtttil  premirt  between  neighbouring  leaves  and  shoots.    Becognicing 


AOO  Dr.  H,  Airy  oh  Leaf-Arrangfrnent.  [Apr.  30, 

tbis  fact  of  mutual  pressure,  we  can  see  that  leaf-order ia us»?ful  in  these 
cloee-paclicd  fcraia  hy  securing  eijunl  development  of  leaves  and  therefore 
economy  of  space.  If  Ihe  whole  space  is  to  hi'  occupied,  and  the  leaves 
or  shoots  are  to  have  equal  development,  there  muet  bo  orderly  ar- 
raugemout  of  aome  kind.  The  principle  of  economy  of  apace  under 
mutual  pressure  is  put  forward  aS  of  chief  importance  in  leaf-Arrange- 
ment. 

It  appears  that  economy  of  apace  is  especially  demanded  in  a  longi- 
tudinal direction,  for  the  sake  of  protection  against  vieisaitudes  of  tem- 
perature and  the  attai'ks  of  enemiea.  In  s.  bud,  for  example,  it  is  evidently 
important,  on  the  one  liand,  that  as  many  leaves  aa  poasible  should  attain 
as  high  development  aa  their  situation  will  allow,  in  order  that  they  may 
he  ready  at  the  first  approach  of  spring  to  complete  that  development 
and  enter  on  their  function  without  loaa  of  lime  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  is  evidently  important  that  the  embryo  shoot  should  be  as  short  as 
possible,  in  order  that  it  may  be  well  within  the  guard  of  the  protecting 
Bcatea  and  less  exposed  to  danger  during  the  long  period  of  bud-life. 
These  claims  will  be  satisfied  by  a  vertical  condensation  of  the  leaf-order, 
Buch  as  the  state  of  mutual  pressure  of  the  embryo  leaves  and  shoots  ia 
calculated  to  bring  about. 

That  the  arrangements  represented  by  the  lower  terms  of  the  above- 
.  mentioned  aeries  A,  B,  C,  Ac.  would,  under  a  force  of  longitudinal  con- 
densation, actually  give  rise  to  the  successive  arrangements  represented 
hy  the  higher  terma  of  the  same  aeries,  is  shown  by  diagrams,  in  whidi 
the  necessary  conscquenees  of  each  step  of  condensation  are  made 
apparent  to  the  eye.  In  these  diagrams  a  leaf  or  shoot  is  represented 
(for  mechanical  considerations)  by  a  sphere,  and  the  spheres  are  numbered 
from  0  upwarda.  Taking,  first,  series  A,  the  lowest  order  of  that 
series,  „,  ia  represented  by  two  vertical  rows  of  spheres,  those  of  each 
row  being  in  contact  and  alternating  nith  thoae  of  the  other.  If  these 
two  rowa  remain  vertical,  no  longitudinal  condenaation  can  taXe  place. 
The  first  atep  towards  such  condensation  must  be  their  sponttmeona 
deviation  from  the  vertical.  (Instances  of  such  deviation  in  nature  are 
found  in  the  genus  Oaxtena  and  others,  to  he  considered  further  od.) 
The  next  atep  required  is  some  force  of  vertical  compression,  such  as 
would  result  in  nature  from  the  stunting  of  thebud-axia  (due  directly  to 
cold  or  indirectly  to  the  advant^e  of  protection  gained  thereby),  attended 
with  less,  if  any,  stunting  of  the  leaves.  Then  it  is  seen  that  the  succes- 
aive  stages  of  condensation,  beginnmg  with  the  order  ^,  will  bring  sucoes- 
aively  into  contact  with  0  (zero)  the  following  numbera,  3,  5,  8,  13,  21, 
34,  55,  89,  144,  &x.,  alternately  to  right  and  left,  producing  in  euccesdnn 


1874.]  Dr.  H.  Airy  on  Leaf-Arrangement.  801 

a  series  of  orders  which  exactly  resemble  those  found  in  nature,  repr&- 
sented  approximately  by  thf  aucceaaive  terms  of  series  A ; — 
1    2    3     5^     8     13    . 
3'   &'   8'    13'   21'   34' 

The  first  two  or  three  stages  of  this  process  may  be  illustrated  by 
mechanical  experiment.  Attach  two  rows  of  light  spheres  in  alternate 
,  order  on  opposite  sides  of  a  stretched  india-rubber  baud,  give  the  band  a 
slight  twist,  and  relax  tension ;  the  system  rolls  up  with  strong  twist 
into  a  tight  complex  order  with  three  at«ep  spirals,  an  approximation  to 
the  order  \ :  if  the  spheres  are  set  a  little  away  from  the  axis,  the  order 
becomes  condensed  into  (nearly)  -,,  with  five  nearly  vertical  ranks ;  and 
it  is  plainly  seen  that  further  contraction,  with  increased  distance  of  the 
spheres  from  the  axis,  will  necessarily  produce  in  succession  the  orders 
(nearly)  s'  y^  sp  ^-i  ^i^d  that  these  successive  orders  represent  sue- 
cessive  maxima  of  stability  in  the  process  of  change  from  the  simple  to 
the  complex.  These  results  are  not  invalidated  by  the  consideration 
that  the  natural  development  of  leaves  is  not  simultaneous  but  succes- 
aive. 

By  other  diagrams  it  is  shown  that  the  same  process  of  condensation 
operating  on  the  orders  represented  by  the  lower  fractions  of  series  B  (=, 
P  &c.\  will  produce  the  higher  orders  of  that  series. 
■  The  same  is  also  shown  for  series  C  I  „  f,  &c.\. 

From  the  striking  correspondence  thus  brought  out  between  fact  and 
theory,  the  conclusion  is  anticipat«d  that  we  have  here  a  clue  to  the 
secret  of  complex  spiral  lenf-order— that  it  is  the  result  of  condensation 
operating  on  some  earlier  and  simpler  order  or  orders,  the  successive 
stages  of  that  condensation  being  ruled  by  tbe  geometrical  necessities  of 
mutual  accommodation  among  the  leaves  and  axillary  shoots  under 
mutual  pressure  in  the  bud  (t^ing  the  bud  as  the  type  of  close-packed 
forms). 

From  this  point  of  view,  Hofmeister's  law,  that  every  leaf  is  found  at 
that  point  in  the  circumference  of  the  st«m  which  has  been  left  most  open 
by  the  earlier  leaves  of  the  cycle,  means  that  every  leaf  stands  in  that 
position  relative  to  its  neighbours  which  gave  it  most  room  for  develop- 
ment in  the  bud. 

Allusion  was  made  above  to  deviation  of  leaf-ranks  from  the  vertical 
ns  a  necessary  first  step  towards  condensation.  A  series  of  six  diagrams 
shows  the  gradual  transition  presented  by  different  species  of  the  South- 
African  genus  Oatteria,  ftx>m  a  form  in  which  the  two  ranks  are  exactly 


802  Dr.  H.  Airy  on  Leaf-Arrangement.  [Apr.  80, 

vertical,  to   a  form  iu  which  they  arc  strongly  twisted  luto  a  oom- 
plex  order  with  angular  divergence  nearly  ^,  differing  from  ?  by  only 

g-  of  the  circumference,  and  endently  admitting  of  further  twist  and 


closer  approximation  to  the  order  £    From  this  striking  series  it  is 

inferred  that  ranks  originally  vertical  can  and  do  acquire  and  transmit  a 
tendency  to  deviate  from  the  vertical,  and  that  this  tendency  admits  of 
augmentation  to  a  high  degree. 

Assuming  a  twist,  then,  as  a  probable  primary  variation  from  an 
originally  vertical  condition  of  leaf-ranks,  it  is  plain  that  each  leaf  would 
take  a  lower  position,  and  the  whole  bud  (with  the  same  number  of 
leaves)  would  be  shorter,  than  in  the  untwisted  form.  The  shorter  bud, 
it  is  supposed,  would  Imve  an  advantage  in  cold  seasons.  The  direct 
action  of  cold,  by  stunting  the  bud-axis  (provided  it  did  not  stunt  the 
leaves  in  the  same  proportion),  would  increase  the  twist.  It  may  fairly 
be  supposed  that  this  twist  would  bo  taken  advantage  of  and  increased 
by  natural  selection  in  subservience  to  the  close  packing  of  the  leaves. 
This  course  of  modification  is  equivalent  to  the  continued  action  of  a 
force  of  vertical  compression  (mentioned  above  as  the  second  requisite  for 
condensation). 

Transition  similar  to  that  in  Oasteria  is  seen  in  the  genus  Aloe. 
Compare  the  two  vertical  ranks  of  A,  verrucosa  vWth  the  two  twisted  ranks 
of  A.  obliqua.  In  A.  serra  (^achs,  *  L<^hrbuch  der  Botauik,'  fig.  144) 
the  change  from  the  vertical  to  the  strongly  twisted  form  is  found  in  the 

same  plant :  the  basal  leaves  are  in  order  .^ ;  the  higher  take  complex 

ml 

order. 

Exactly  comparable  (in  thi.s  respect)  with  Aloe  serra  are  the  common 
laurel,  Portugal  laurel,  Spanish  chestnut,  ivy,  and  others,  which  exhibit  a 
similar  change  of  leaf-order.  These  instances  agree  in  presenting  the 
complex  order  in  the  buds  or  parts  of  buds  which  occupy  the  most  exposed 

situations,  while  they   retain  the  simple  order  -.^  in  the   le^s  exposed 

lateral  buds  or  in  their  basal  portion.  The  exposure  in  the  former 
case  may  be  regarded  as  a  sauiple  of  that  which,  in  the  course  of 
many  generations,  has  (it  is  supposed)  occasioned  the  condensation  of 
leaf-order. 

It  is  here  contended  that  the  force  of  graWty  (to  which  the  two- 
ranked  leaf-order  of  lateral  twigs  is  referred  by  some  authors)  could 
not  have  been  equally  the  cause  of  the  pheuomena  seen  in  the  inclined 
lateral  shoot  of  Spanish  chestnut  and  in  the  upright  Aloe  serra :  but  the 
phenomena  in  the  two  cases  are  the  same,  and  admit  of  a  common 
explanation  by  the  condensation  theory,  if  we  regard  the  basal  portion 


1874.]  Dr.  H.  Airy  on  Leaf-Arrangtmeni.  803 

of  the  shoot  as  letaining  the  andeiit  order,  and  the  more  exposed  torminal 
portion  oa  hsving  imdei^ne  protectiTO  modification. 

.  The  variouB  degrees  of  obliquity  of  spiral  ranks  in  the  alternate  orders 
of  leaf-arrangement,  and  the  complicated  numerical  relations  existing 
between  those  Tarious  ranks,  are  ail  fully  accounted  for  by  the  conden- 
sation theory. 

Analyzing  the  spiral  arrangement  seen  in  a  sunflower-head,  a  dandelion- 
head,  a  house-leek  rosette,  and  an  apple-twig,  the  result  is  found  to  be 
that  any  leaf  (or  fruit,  inthefirsttwoinstances),  taken  as  zero,  has  for  next 
neighboursHuccesBively,inrisingatepBof  complexity  of  order,  the  1st,  2ud, 
3rd,  5th,  8th,  13th,  2l8t,  34th,  65th,  89th,  144th,  Ac.  (in  order  of  growth) 
alternately  on  the  right  side  and  on  tho  left,  producing  alternately  right- 
and  left-handed  spimls  in  sets  of  1,  2,  3,  5,  8,  13,  21,  34,  55,  89,  144, 
&c. ;  and  these  numbers  are  identical  with  those  which  would  result 
from  condensatioa  of  one  of  the  lower  orders  of  series  A.  Similar 
considerations  apply  to  series  B  and  C. 

It  is  a  significant  relation  that,  in  the  sunflower  and  simihir  examples, 
the  arrangement  of  the  fruits  in  the  composite  head  is  such  as  would 
retult  from  condensation  oE  the  arrangement  of  the  leaves  on  the  stem. 

Among  the  whorled  orders  also  there  is  equally  strong  evidence  of  the 
woiting  of  the  same  force  of  condensation. 

First  there  is  a  series  (n)  derivable  from  the  crucial  arrangement. 
(This  is  shown  by  diagrams.)  In  the  orders  thus  formed  it  is  seen  that 
conspicuous  sets  of  parallel  spirals  will  form  the  most  striking  feature, 
and  that  these  spirals  will  be  found  in  sets  of  2,  4,  6,  10, 16,  26,  42,  &e. 
(series  a). 

Instances  are  seen  in  the  genera  Mtrmriaiis  and  Sa;/ina,  and  the  order 
Di2mKaee<x,  in  which  last  the  whole  series  a  finds  exemplification. 

Here  also  it  is  a  significant  relation  that  the  fruit-order  in  the  com- 
posite heads  of  DipaaatcM!  is  such  as  would  result  fn»n  condensation  of 
the  crucial  order  of  theb  stem-leaves.  Some  of  these  plants  exhibit  in 
their  radical  leaves  a  minor  degree  of  the  same  condensation. 

In  like  manner  it  is  shown  that  condensation  of  whorls  of  three 
would  produce  orders  with  spirals  in  sets  of  3,  6,  0,  IS,  24,  39,  63,  &c. 
(series  /3).     For  examples  see  Hofmeister,  op.  cit.  p.  460. 

Condensation  (if  any)  of  whorls  of  four  would  give  spirals  in  sets  of 
4,  8,  12,  20,  32,  Ac.  (series  y). 

It  is  contended  thatthe  preceding  evidence,  drawn  from  both  divisions 
of  leaf-arrangement  (alternate  and  whorled),  is  sufficient  to  establish  the 
principle  of  condeniatian  as  having  played  an  important  port  in  the 
history  of  leaf-orruigement. 


304.  Dr.  H.  Airy  on  Leaf- Arm /i^^  iiin.L  [Apr.  80j 

But  tlicra  are  pbenomeua  in  leaC-arrangemont  nhii-h  are  not  explmn^ 
by  condensation.  We  have  still  to  nocouut  for  (1)  the  ori^;in  o£  altei^ 
nate  orders  with  3,  4.  5,  7,  9,  &o.  vertical  ranks ;  and  (2)  the  oripn  of 
the  different  whorled  orders,  with  whorls  of  two,  three,  four,  five,  A/c 
(with  4,  (i,  8. 10,  &c.  vertical  ranka). 

The  whole  course  of  condensation  depended  on  obliquity  of  ranks  ;  but 
the  distinguishing  feature  in  these  cases  is  that  the  ranks  are  exactly  oe 
nimost  exactly  vertical. 

All  these  cases  are  explained  on  the  hypothesis  that  there  has  been  in  the 
vegetable  kingdom  a  variability  (jiersallum)  in  the  number  of  leaf-r&nksj 
that  a  plant  oripjially  ha**ing  two  vertical  ranks  has,  by  a  stroke  of 
variation,  produced  shoots  or  seedlings  with  three  vertical  ranks ;  th&t 
three  have  varied  to  four,  four  to  five,  five  to  si.\,  and  so  on  ;  and  that 
these  "  sports  "  have  survived  in  some  cases  because  of  some  advantage 
which  they  enjoyed  (probably  the  same  advantage  as  that  gained  by 
condensation — the  accommodation  of  the  same  number  of  leaves  in 
a  shorter  bud). 

This  hypothesis  is  supported  by  the  variability  which  is  found  &t  tfaa^ 
present  day  in  the  niunber  of  leaf-ranks  in  one  and  the  same  Bpecies, 
Forinstanee,  6V(/itni  aearaiir/ulnre  exhibits  sei'ci  nearly  vertical  ranks  in  order 
?,  or  tfti'  exactly  rerticdl  in  whorla  of  three.  FrAeinus  wwJmi  has  uor- 
mally  four  exactly  vertical  ranks  in  whorls  of  two,  but  may  be  found 
viithjlve  nearly  vertical  ranks  in  order  ^,  or  with  sLv  exactly  vertical  in 

whorls  of  three.  (These  three  varieties  may  be  found  on  shoots  growing 
from  the  same  stump.)  Whorls  of  three  are  often  produced  by  plants 
usually  hearing  whorls  of  two  (e.  g.  sycamore,  lilac,  laurustinus,  maple, 
horse-chestnut,  elder,  ash,  &c.),  and  whorls  of  four  instead  of  three  are 
seen  in  some  species  of  Sedam  and  Verhaui.  Among  these  forms  it  does 
not  seem  possible  that  one  could  be  produced  from  another  by  occuma- 
lative  modification. 

Professor  Beal  has  found  well-marked  variation  in  the  cones  of  larch, 
spruce,  &c.,  the  majority  belonging  to  series  A,  but  a  considerable  minority 
to  series  B  or  series  a. 

In  dandelion-heada  about  5  per  cent,  belong  to  series  a. 

DifEerent  species  of  the  same  genus  (e.  g.  Ahc  verrueosaaiiA  variegata, 
Hatvorlhia  viacosa  and  pentaejona,  and  difEerent  species  of  Sedum  and 
Cactus)  often  exhibit  differences  of  leaf-order  which  can  hardly  be  under- 
stood but  as  resulting  from  direct  variation  in  number  of  leaf-ranks. 

This  hypothesis  is  also  supported  by  analogy  drawn  from  the  animal 
kingdom.  Among  starfishes  there  is  variability  in  the  number  of  rays : 
Aiterias  rubens  has  sometimes  four  or  six  instead  of  five  ;  A.  papposa  has 
from  twelve  to  fifteen.  Among  mammals  there  is  some  variability  in  tho 
number  of  digits. 


1874.]  Dr.  H.  Airy  on  Let^- Arrangement.  805 

Supposing,  then,  that,  by  strokea  of  r&riatlon,  fonns  have  been  pro- 
duced with  (2)  3,  4,  5,  6,  Ac,  vertical  leaf-ranks,  it  is  next  to  be  con- 
sidered how  the  arrangement  of  the  leaves  in  each  form  would  be  affected 
by  the  demands  of  economy  of  space  and  mutual  accommodation  of  ranks, 
supposing  the  ranks  to  be  similar  in  point  of  size  and  number  of  leaves. 

Tu'o  vertical  ranks  would  gain  lateral  accommodation  by  taking 
alternate  order  ^,  Under  vertical  condensation,  with  twist  in  either 
direction,  they  would  give  rise  to  the  auccesBive  orders  of  series  A.  (Two 
ranks  are  found  in  uneconomical  opposite  order  in  the  genus  Matmbry- 
anthemum.  This  arrangement  would  be  prone  to  fall  into  crucial  order 
under  vertical  compression.) 

Three  vertical  ranks  would,  with  least  surrender  of  lateral  accommo- 
dation, assume  alternate  order  ^  (illustrated  by  diagram).  A  slight  twist 
in  one  direction  (No.  3  towards  No.  1)  would  allow  perfect  lateral 
accommodation.  In  three-ranked  plants  (e.  g.  Carex  and  Alnut)  such 
twist  is  usually  found.  Vertical  condensation  operating  on  three  ranks 
possessing  this  obliquity  would  produce  subsequent  orders  of  series  A,  If 
the  obliquity  were  in  the  opposite  direction  (No.  3  towards  No.  2),  con- 
densation would  produce  successive  orders  of  series  B, 

Four  vertical  ranks  would  economically  fall  into  crucial  order,  the 
members  of  each  rank  fittbg  into  the  intervals  between  those  of  its 
neighbours.  Opposite  members  therefore  would  stand  at  the  same 
height,  and  would  occupy  one  and  the  same  node ;  they  would  also 
divide  the  circumference  equally,  and  would  stand  over  the  intcnals  of 
the  next  loner  pair.  This  crucial  order  under  vertical  condensation 
would  produce  series  a.     In  rare  cases  four  ranks  might  assume  an 

alternate  order  ..     Vertical  condensation  of  this  order  :,  with  twist 

4  4 

(No,  4  towards  No.  1)  would  produce  series  B ;  with  opposite  twist 
(No.  4  towards  No.  3)  it  would  produce  series  C. 

live  vertical  ranks  would,  with  least  surrender  of  lateral  accommoda- 
tion, assume  alternate  order  ?.  A  slight  obliquity  (No.  5  towards  No.  2), 
such  as  is  usually  found  in  nature,  would  allow  perfect  lateral  accom- 
modation. Condensation  would  then  produce  further  orders  of  series 
A.  "With  opposite  obliquity  (No.  6  towards  No,  3)  a  new  series 
(i'  ?'  ^'  W  *"■)  ^'"'^^  ^  produced.  Pivo  ranks  might  also  take 
alternate  order  I,  which,  cond^ised,  would  give  with  one  twist  series  C, 
with  the  other  a  new  series  ?,   s,   ^,    r^,  &c. 

Six  vertical  ranks  would  economically  fall  into  whorls  of  three,  the 
members  of  each  whorl  dividing  the  circumference  equally,  and  standing 
over  the  intervals  of  the  nest  lower  whorl.    Condensation  would  ^ve 


30C  Br.  H.  Airy  on  Leiif-Arranf/anenl.  [Apr.30,< 

series  p.  If  sii  ranks  shoiUd  fall  iuto  alternate  order  ~,  one  obli- ' 
qnity  would  lead  to  &  series  ff  ji  n-  i^f  **^''  *'^°  opposite  to  a  Benes  ^ 
I  l.  ■?,  Ac. 

ff  n'  17' 

,S«i>ifn  vertical  ranks  would  take  alternate  order  =,  bdlitat«d  bj  I 
obii()uity.  Condensation  wonW  give  series  B.  (It  is  needless  to  foQav  I 
other  po«sible  lines  of  condensation.) 

Eiffht  vertical  ranks  would  fall  into  whorls  of  foar,  with  the  < 
general  charaeters  noted  above  in  whorls  of  two  and  three. 
would  give  series  y. 

Sine  would  give  -.     Condensation  would  produce  series  C. 

Ten  would  give  whorls  of  five. 

Eleven  would  give  ~. 

Twelve  would  give  whorls  of  six. 

Thirteen  would  give  ^ ;  and  bo  on. 

Thus  it  appears  that  the  whnrled  orders  would  naturally  arise  from 
economic  arrangement  of  eveit  numbers  (eicepf  2),  and  tlu-  nltn-uaU 
orders  from  economic  arrangement  of  odd  numbers  (including  also  a),  «rf 
vertica]  ranks. 

It  also  appears  that,  in  the  whorled  division,  the  members  of  eadt 
whorl  will  divide  the  circumference  of  the  stem  equally,  and  that  succes- 
sive whorls  will  alternate  in  angular  position. 

It  has  already  been  showTi  that  in  the  alternate  division  the  spiral 
aTTangement  of  the  leaves,  with  angular  divergence  limited  to  certain 
series  of  fractional  values  (A,  B,  C,  &c.),  would  follow  on  the  hypotheaia 
of  condensation. 

These  are  the  "  main  facts  of  leaf -arrangement "  set  down  on  page  298 
to  be  accounted  for. 


It  is  possible  that  all  the  varieties  of  leaf -order  at  present  existing  may 
have  been  derived  from  an  original  two-ranked  arrangement,  partly  l^ 
Tariation  in  the  number  of  leaf-ranks,  and  partly  by  vertical  condensa- 
tion of  the  orders  so  formed.     This  view  is  supported  by 

(1)  the  high  probability  that  the  simplest  form  has  been  the  earliest; 

(2)  the  prevalence  of  the  two-ranked  form  among  lower  phanero- 

gamous plants  (e.  g,  Graminete)  ; 
(.'))  the  numerous  instances  of  transition  from  a  two-ranted  order 

at  the  base  of  a  shoot  to  a  more  complex  order  in  the  bigher 

parts; 
(4)  the  prevalence  of  the  two-ranked  arrangement  of  rootlets  on 


1874.]  Dr.  II.  Airy  on  Leaf. Arrangement.  307 

roots,  token  in  connexicoi  with  their  probable  homology  with 
lateral  shoots  (the  three  ranks  of  rootlets  in  Polygtmaeta, 
and  the  four  in  carrot  and  parsnep,  illustrate  rariability  in 
number  of  ranks) ; 
(5)  the  two-ranked  arrangement  of  leaves  in  the  Be«dB  of  Mono- 
cotyledonous  plants,  as  compared  with  the  more  condensed 
(though  probably  at  first  two-ranked)  order  in  the  more 
highly  developed  Dicotyledonous  embryo. 


Summary, — ^The  author  is  led  to  suppose  : — 

I.  That  the  original  form  of  leaf -arrangement  was  two-ranked. 

II.  That  this  original  two-ranked  form  gave  rise  to  forms  with  2,  3,  4, 
5,  6,  7,  Ac.  ranks,  by  "  sporting,"  as  opposed  to  any  process  of  accumu- 
lative modification. 

UL  That  of  the  orders  so  formed  those  with  an  even  number  of 
ranks  (except  2)  have,  as  a  rule,  assumed  a  whorltd  arrangement,  and 
those  with  two  or  an  odd  number  oi  ranks  have  assumed  an  alUmate 
arrangement,  under  the  need  of  lateral  accommodation  of  ranks  in  th^ 
bud  (taken  as  type  of  close-packed  forms). 

rV.  That  ol!  these  orders  have  been  subject  to  vertical  condensation, 
nnder  the  need  of  vertical  economy  of  space  in  the  bud  (taken  as  type  of 
dose-packed  forms). 

V.  (a)  That  such  condensation,  operating  on  a  2-ranked,  or  S-ranked, 
or  5-ranked  alternate  order  (^,  5,  gj,  has  produced  subsequent  or- 
ders of  series  A  (-, 


m   2V 


».), 


{b)  That  condensation  of  a  7-ranked  /= I  or  rarely  of  a  3-  or  4-raiilced 

(I,   >]    alternate  order  has   produced  subsequent  orders  of  series  B 

(I,   I    2     i,    1,  Ac.V 
U'    4'    V    11'    18'        7 

(c)  That  condensation  of  a  ©-tanked  (^\  or  rarely  of  a  4-  or  S-ranked 

/j,   pi    alternate  order  has  produced  subsequent  orders  of  series  C 

U'   5'   »•   14'   ^'      7 

(d)  That  condensation  of  a  4-ranked  whorled  order  (whorls  of  two) 
has  produced  successive  orders  of  series  a,  with  spirals  in  sets  of  4,  6, 
10,  16,  26,  42,  &x. 

(f)  That  condensation  of  a  &-ranked  whorled  order  (whorls  of  three) 
has  produced  successive  orders  of  series  ^,  with  spirals  in  sets  of  0,  9, 
15,  24,  30,  &c. 

(/)  That  condensation  (if  any)  of  an  8-ranked  whorled  order  (whorls 
of  four)  would  produce  ancoessive  orders  of  series  y,  with  spirals  in  sets 
of  8, 12, 20, 32,  &c.  Higher  numbers  of  ranks  would  lead  to  higher  series. 


Iir,  "On  the  Improvement  of  the  Spectroscope."      By  Taoi 
(iRVBB,  F.R.S.     K«ceived  April  30,  1874. 

The  importance,  as  an  instrument  of  reaearcli,  which  the  spectrosc 
hfts  reached  within  a  few  years,  renders  any  improvement  thei 
a  matter  oE  general  scientific  interest.  Hitherto  it  has  heen  undt 
disadvantage,  which,  though  slight  in  amount  in  those  cases  in  which 
dispersive  power  of  the  instrumeut  is  moderate,  becomes  a  rather  sen 
annoyance  to  the  observer  when  a  number  of  prisms  are  used  in  ae 
combination,  and  the  curvature  of  the  spectral  lines  is  proportion 
increased,  and  only  to  be  restrained  irt  appearance  by  usmg  a  nnr 
breadth  of  the  spectrum. 

I  have  lately  thought  of  a  very  simple  and  practical  remedy  (wl 
may  indeed  have  occurred  to  others,  but  which  I  have  not  seen  n 
tioued),  whereby  thoso  liues  are  rendered  palpably  straight  in  a  ' 
large  field  ;  but  previous  to  describing  it,  it  is  desirable  to  refer  to  a  st 
ment  appearing  in  the  '  Astronomical  Notices '  for  last  month  (March), 
that  the  spectral  lines  can  be  rendered  perfectly  straight  simpl] 
returning  them  (after  their  first  passage  through  a  series  of  pri 
ari-anged  for  minimum  deviation)  by  a  direct  reflection  from  a  p 
mirror  ;  and,  further,  that  this  has  been  accomplished  in  a  spectrosi 
in  construction  for  the  Boya!  Ohservatory. 

Such  a  statement  has,  as  might  be  expected,  produced  several  inquii 
in  one  case  the  querist  is  much  interested,  viz.  by  having  a  very  li 
spectroscope  in  band  which,  from  its  construction,  involves  the  q 
tion  of  straight  or  curved  lines  resulting.  It  therefore  seems  desii 
to  remove  any  illusion  which  may  be  entertained,  by  a  short  conaid 
tion  of  the  economy  of  the  spectroscope,  so  far  as  the  question  of  cu 
ture  is  concerned. 

The  curvature  of  the  upectral  lines  may  be  considered  a  functio 
the  dispersion  of  a  prism  ;  it  {the  cun-ature)  not  only  always  ac» 
panies  the  dispersion,  but,  further,  its  character  is  always  the  same 
respect  to  the  dispersion — that  is  to  say,  the  centre  of  curvature  wi 
found  invariably  to  lie  in  the  same  direction  with  respect  to  the  direc 
of  the  dlsiiersioa,  the  Unea  being  invariably  concave  towards  that 
of  the  spectrum  baling  the  more  refrangible  rays*.  This  (which  ad 
of  the  clearest  proof)  is  adequate  to  show  the  impossibility  that,  by 


•  Professor  StokM  hns  indeed  inveaiignlcd  a  form  of 
TSiiuUing  lines  are  etraight,  and  on  tlia  ■amo 
of  courBo  media  of  different  opLioal  powon) 
remaining,  the  eurtatura  might  be  found 
law.   The  ourTatiirein  that  coin  pound  pri 


lund  priam  in  whic 

iple  no  mu;  eombine  prisms  ( 

■liich,  with  0  halaiire  of  dispt 

hut,  this  diwa  not  ofiect  tho  g« 

(whicli  Iras  Ibe  result  of  rarious  triali 


first  used  in  tbp  apECtrosoopo  of  IliB  Great  Melbourne  Telescope,  and  now,  I  appro! 
in  pretty  general  Mtimation  and  uw)  probnblj  has  n  less  proportional  curniture  < 
line*  than  the  simple  prism. 


1874.]  Improvement  of  the  ^ectroacope.  809 

kind  of  iiiTersioii,  whether  by  reflectionB  or  otherwise,  we  can  nentralize 
the  curvature  while  donbling  the  dispersion. 

If  we  examine  the  spectrum,  as  produced  by  a  series  of  prisms  placed 
in  the  position  of  minimnm  deTiation,  we  necessarily  find  that  the  lines 
of  higher  refrangibility,  also  their  centres  of  curvature,  lie  towards  the 
centre  of  the  polygon  which  the  prisma  themselves  affect ;  and  it  we  arrest 
the  rays  at  any  ptart  of  the  circuit,  and  reflect  them  directly  back  by  a 
plane  mirror,  this  reflection  reverses  {right  for  left)  not  only  the  direc- 
tion of  tho  centre  of  currature  of  the  lines,  but  also  the  direction  of  the 
spectrum  itself,  both  which  are  consequently  doubled  in  amount  after 
the  rays  have  performed  the  second,  or  return,  passage  through  the 
prisms ;  or  (conversely)  if,  after  the  first  passage  through  the  prisms,  we 
reflect  the  rays  so  as  to  pass  through  a  similar  set  in  such  manner  as  to 
neutralize  the  curvature  of  the  first  set,  we  shaU  find  the  resulting  dis- 
persion reduced  to  zero. 

The  writer  of  the  article  having  alluded  to  a  differraice  between  the 
reflection  as  given  by  a  plane  mirror  and  a  prism  of  (double)  total  reflec- 
tion, it  may  be  observed  that,  so  far  as  the  dispersion  and  curvature  are 
concerned,  the  cases  are  practically  identical,  the  difference  being  that, 
in  the  double  reflection,  there  is  a  vertical  inversion  of  the  spectrum, 
which,  however,  produces  no  discernible  effect  in  either  the  spectrum  or 
curvature  of  the  lines ;  and  as  the  spectroscope  constructed  with  the 
double  reflecting  prism  is  known  to  produce,  with  double  dispersion, 
double  curvature,  we  here  have  an  additional  proof,  if  such  were  required, 
that  the  single  reflecting  mirror  does  the  same. 

The  remedy,  or  means  of  producing  straight  spectral  lines,  which  I 
have  alluded  to,  is  simply  that  of  constructing  the  "  slit"  with  curved 
instead  of  rectilinear  edges.  There  is  but  little  practical  difficulty 
incurred  in  construction,  and  no  apparent  objection  to  its  use.  It  may 
be  objected  that  for  each  variation  of  prism-power  in  use  there  should  be 
a  special  slit.  It  is,  however,  only  in  spectroscopes  arranged  for  high 
dispersion  that  the  curvature  becomes  objectionable;  in  such  there  is 
seldom  a  change  required,  and  a  single  slit  of  medium  balanciug-power 
would  probably  remove  all  practical  difflculty,  or  objectionable  curvature 
of  the  lines.  I  have  found  by  trial  that,  when  two  compound  prisms 
were  in  use,  giving  a  dispersion  from  A  to  H  of  nearly  14°,  the  spectral 
lines  were  straight  in  a  field  of  one  degree,  when  the  radius  of  curvature 
of  the  slit  was  made  1*25  inch. 


[^NbU  on  the  above  Paper. 

If  a  ray  of  light  be  refracted  in  any  manner  through  any  number  of 
prisms  arranged  as  in  a  spectroscope,  undei^ing,  it  may  be,  any  number 
of  intermediate  reflections  aji  snrfaces  parallel  to  the  common  direction 
of  the  edges  of  the  prisms — or,  more  generaUy,  if  a  ray  be  thus  refracted 

VOL.  Txn,  2  B 


310 


Lisl  of  Candidates. 


[May 


or  reflected  at  the  surfocea  of  any  number  of  meJia  bouDded  by  cy 
drical  surfaces  in  tbe  most  general  sense  (including,  of  eourwe,  plane  a 
particular  easo),  the  generating  lines  of  which  are  piirallel,  and 
brevity's  sake  will  be  suppo9t.>cl  vertical,  and  if  cc  be  the  altitude  of 

ray  in  air,  a,  a" ,  its  altitudes  in  the  media  of  which  the  rotraot 

indices  are  /i,  fi", then 

(1)  The  Hucoessive  altitudes  will  be  determined  by  the  eqnatiaaa 


=^  ,  sin  a  =  . 


th^ 


just  as  if  the  ray  passed  through  a  set  of  parallel  plat«e. 

(2)  The  t!Ourse  of  the  horizontal  projection  of  the  ray  will  bo  the"  a 
as  would  be  that  of  au  actual  ray  passing  through  a  set  of  media 
refractive  indices  " ,  c ^_. instead  of  fi',  ft",  . .  ,  _ 

a<a,  the  fictitious  iudex  is  greater  than  the  actual,  and  therefore 
deviation  of  the  projection  is  increased  by  obliquity. 

These  two  propositions,  belonging  to  common  optics,  place  the  jusi 
of  Mr.  Gnibb's  conclusion*  in  a  clear  light.— April  m.  Q.  Q.  KTOKKa 


WILLIAM    SPOTTISWOODE,    M.A.,    Treasurer    and    Vi 
President,  in  the  Chair. 

In  pursuance  of  the  Statutes,  the  names  of  the  Candidates  reci 
mended  for   election  into    the   Society  were  read  from  the  Chair 

follows  :— 

Isnac  Lovrthian  Bell,  F.C.S. 
W.  T.  Blanford,  F.G.S. 
Henry  Bowman  Brady,  F.L.8, 
Thomas    Lauder    Brunton,    M.D., 

ScD. 
Prof.  W.  Klngdon  CTiffoid,  M.A. 
Augustus  Wolkstou  Franks,  M.A. 
Prof.  Olaus  Henrid,  Ph.D. 
Prescott  G.  Ilewett,  F.R.C.S. 


John  Eliot  Howard,  F.L.S. 
Sir  Henry  Sumner  Maine,  LXi,] 
Edmund  James  Mills,  D.Bc. 
Hev.     Stephim     Joseph      Perr 

F.a.A.S. 
Henry  Wyklbore  Bumsey,  M.D 
Alfred  K."c.  Selwyn,  F.Q.S. 
Charles    William    Wilson,     Ma 

E.E. 


The  Present: 


■d  were  laid  on  the  table,  and  thanks  ordered 
The  following  Papers  were  read  :— 


1874.]  On  a  Magnetized  Copper  Wire.  311 

I.  "  Preliminary  Experiments  on  a  Magnetized  Copper  Wire." 
By  Professor  Balfour  Stewart,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  and  Arthur 
Schuster,  Ph.D.     Received  March  30,  1874. 

I.  The  following  experimente  were  made  in  the  Physical  Laboratory 
of  Owens  College,  Manchester.     The  copper  wire  employed  (A  B  C  D, 


1 

■ 

see  fig.)  was  found  to  contain  no  perceptible  trace  of  iron,  nor  «a8  it 
sensibly  magnetic,  behaving  qnite  in  a  neutral  manner  when  tested  by 
the  highest  magnetic  power  at  our  disposal.  It  was  covered  with  gutta 
percha.  The  diameter  of  the  wiro  was  0-0487  inch.  The  wire  was 
wound  fifty-three  times,  in  one  direction,  round  the  poles  of  a  powerful 
electromagnet,  the  length  of  wire  encircling  these  poles  being  about 
twelve  metres.  The  direct  distance  of  the  magnet  from  the  galva- 
nometer, G,  was  about  twelve  metres. 

A  ^Vheatstone  bridge  was  employed,  and  a  very  delicate  Thomson's 
reflecting  galvanometer  by  Elliott  Brothers,  of  which  the  resistance  was 
5540  B.-A.  units.  A  circuit-breaker  was  placed  in  the  circuit  at  E,  close 
to  the  bridge.  On  some  occasions,  wo  used  one  consisting  of  a  solid 
key,  which  might  be  removed,  thus  breaking  the  circuit ;  but,  on  other 
occasions,  a  fluid  or  mercurial  circuit-breaker  was  employed. 

When  the  left-hand  pole  of  the  electromagnet  {see  fig.)  was  made  north 
the  arrangement  was  called  (1),  and  when  the  other  pole  was  made  north 
the  arrangement  was  called  (2).  It  will  thus  be  seen,  from  the  figure, 
that  the  current  went  round  the  magnet  in  the  same  direction  as  the  mole- 
cular currents  of  arrangement  (2). 

Experiments  were  made  at  intervals  of  two  minutes ;  t  Jd,  on  each 
occasion,  the  current  was  allowed  to  pass  through  the  Kiidge  for  ten 

2b2 


812 


Prof.  B.  Stewart  and  Dr.  A.  SchuBter  [May  7,  1 


seconda,  the  meaaureraent  being  taken  by  the  first  swing  of  the  gali>~»-  ' 
nometer,  which  lasted  for  about  eight  f«oonds.  Three  cells  of  Gpove'a  ' 
battery  were  used  for  producing  this  euireiit ;  hut,  on  the  other  hand,  aix 
Bimilar  cells  were  employed  for  magnetiKing  the  electromagnet.  The 
arrangements  for  magaetinng  are  not  shown  in  the  figure.  The  distance 
of  the  magnet  was  too  great  to  affect  the  galvanometer-needle  so  as  to 
alter  its  sensibility,  the  average  detiection  causing  a  difference  in  the 
zero  of  about  four  divisions  of  the  scale. 

2.  In  the  first  experiments  made,  the  key  at  E  (see  fig.)  was  not  takeo 
out  before  the  magnetism  wsa  put  on  or  off,  in  consequence  of  whidi  Um 
induction-current,  due  to  the  wire  coiled  round  the  magnet,  aSoctMl  the 
galvanometer  on  these  occasions ;  but,  after  December  12th,  the  key  waa 
taken  out,  so  that  no  induction-eurnmt  passed. 

The  following  is  a  specimen  of  the  obserraticina  made  : — 


December  17,  1873. 

oarrcni,  ii>er«*dng  rcaislance  in  A  B  C  D).  "-rw.- 

11"  11- 312  oil 

13  317  off 

16  311  off 

17  345  (1) 

19  328  off 

21  306  (1) 

23  : 303  off 

25  293  (1) 

27  300  off 

29  290  (1) 

31  307  off 

33  283  (1) 

35  292  off 

37  288  (1) 

39  302  off 

41  292  (1) 

43  309  off 


It  win  be  seen  from  this  experiment  that  the^wf  effeet  of  putting  ca» 
the  m^netism  was  a  marked  increase  of  resistance ;  but,  with  this  excep- 
tion, the  resistance,  when  the  m^netism  was  on,  was  leas  than  the  meui 
of  the  two  resistances  on  both  sides  of  it,  representing  the  mag- 
netism off. 

3.  The  arrangement  remained  untouched,  as  far  as  we  know,  frtmi 
December  15,  when  it  was  finally  made,  until  December  19,  when  the 
experiments  were  interrupted  during  the  Christinas  holidays ;  and  in  all 


D>t«. 

FiistoE 

Dec.  1«  .. 

....  0  

,,      17  .. 

.,.,  0  

„      18  ., 

,...   0   

„      10  .. 

....   0. 

1874.]  on  a  Magnetized  Copper' Wh-e.  313 

cues  tlie^rK  efftei  of  puttiiig  on  the  magnetism  was  ft  marked  increase 
of  resistance.    For  instance,  we  have — 

On  flret  eflbct  Seoond  <M. 

+38  on  (2)   +3 

+34on(l)  +17 

+54on(l)   +24 

+33on(l)   -18 

It  was  soon  seen  that  this  firtt  effect  had  some  reference  to  the  time 
elapsing  since  the  last  experiments  were  made.  For  instance,  in  the 
above  Table,  we  see  for  December  18th  a  marked  increase  of  resistance 
when  the  magnet  was  first  put  on;  but,  on  the  afternoon  of  that  day,  the 
experiments  were  repeated,  and  there  was  no  apparent  increase  of 
resistance  in  this  Jirtt  tfft^.  Next,  with  regard  to  tiie  average  tffeel  t  on 
Dec.  16th,  17th,  and  18th,  this  average  effect  of  magnetism  was  a  decrease 
of  resistance;  but  on  Dec.  l&t^  there  was  an  apparent  increase  of  resist- 
ance  when  the  magnetism  was  on.  We  cannot  say  that  nothing  had 
been  done  to  the  arrangement  between  the  ISth  and  19th  of  December 
that  might  account  for  this  change ;  but  whatever  was  done  must  have 
escaped  our  recoUectioi}.  Undoubtedly  a  good  many  experiments  were 
made  during  the  time  between  the  15th  and  l&th  of  December,  and  tiie 
direction  of  the  magnetism  was  frequentiy  changed.  This  curious 
anomaly,  occurring  unexpectedly,  induced  us  to  limit  our  future  experi- 
ments to  a  definite  set  each  day. 

4.  The  experiments  were  resumed  on  January  7tii,  the  urange- 
ment  having  remained  untouched  during  the  holidays.  From  this  date 
until  January  10th  inclusive,  the  key  was  taken  out  before  beginning 
experiments  in  the  momii^ :  there  was  no  peculiar ^rvt  ^eet ;  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  an  avemge  effect  denoting  a  decrease  of  resistance  came 
out  very  prominentiy.  On  January  12th  and  13th  the  key  was  only 
taken  out  before  magoetaDng,  and  on  these  occasions  the  Jirtt  effeet, 
denoting  increased  resistance,  was  sufGcientiy  marked. 

Our  method  of  procedure  was  varied  in  tiie  above  manner  up  to 
January  27th  ;  and  it  was  invariably  fonnd  tiiat,  whenever  the  key  was 
taken  out  before  commuLdng  experiments,  there  was  aojint  effeet;  bnt 
when  it  was  kept  in  until  before  magnetizing,  tins  ^firsl  effeet  was  suffi- 
ciently marked.  These  experiments  concur  in  proving  that  the  ^rti 
effeet  has  scHue  reference  to  the  previous  treatment  of  the  wire ;  but  they 
do  not  prove  that  it  is  at  tiie  same  time  connected  witii  the  putting  on 
of  the  magnetism.  To  determine  this  pcnnt  we  made  a  set  of  experi- 
ments on  January  22nd,  26tii,  and  27th.  When  the  current  had  become 
constant  the  key  was  taken  out,  but  the  magnetism  was  not  put  on ;  and 
on  these  occasions  there  was  no^^nt  effect  of  the  current  upon  itself  in  the 
direction  of  increased  resistance,  but  nther  in  the  opponte  direction.  It 
thus  appears  that  the  Jint  ^eet  which  increases  the  resistance  has  not 


314  Prof.  B.  Stewart  and  Dr.  A.  Scliustcr  [May 

only  referoucn  to  th«  previous  treatment  of  the  wire,  but  depends  aJi 
upon  the  magoetiBni  being  put  on. 

This  result  ja  coufirmed  by  experiinenta  miide  previous  to  Dec.  12t 

in  which  the  key  was  not  taken  out  at  all.     For  instance,  we  har9<f 

Dec.  9th,  ^ 

First  off.  On  flrat  eSk^t.  Scvtmi  ott.        H 

0      +54      +45 

We   have   hitherto   only    spoken    of    the  ^rsl    effect    obtained   aft 
January   7th  ;   we  now  come  to   the  average  effect.     From  January    7' 
to  January  27th  i'lclutiive,  the  magnetism  was  always  put  on  is   tl 
direplion  (1),  and  the  avtrmje  rfftct  invariably   denoted  a  decrease 
resistance  when  the  magnetism  was  on. 

5.  On  January  28th  the  magnetism  was  reversed  ;  the  effect  during  th 
day  wa«  very  irregular.  On  January  29th,  30th,  31st,  and  February  2i 
the  key  was  left  in  until  before  magnetization,  The^Mf  effect  was  no 
extremely  large  ;  but  it  was  suspected  that,  during  these  e.tperiments,  tl 
contact  of  the  key  was  not  very  good. 

On  January  29th  the  average  fffett  denoted  a  decrease  of  resistatic 
but  on  January  30th,  Slst,  February  2nd,  4th,  6lh,  the  avemge  ffft 
denoted  an  increase  of  resistance. 

6.  From  February  flth  until  February  11th  the  wires  were  left  hrokei 
on  February  11th  there  was  a  very  alight  _firit  effect  in  the  direction 
increased  resistance,  and  a  slight  avemi/e  effect  in  the  direction  of  d 
creased  resistance.  On  February  12th  a  mercury  int^'rruptor  was  urn 
instead  of  a  metal  key,  both  the  wnres  being  broken  by  it,  and  its  u 
was  continued  until  February  18th.  The  infa^rruptor  was  left  in  ov 
night  and  the  current  was  only  broken  before  uingnetiKation,  but  ; 
_firil  'ffeet  was  observed. 

From  February  19th  to  February  2fjth  one  wire  onlv  w'as  broken 
the  fluid  interrupter;  ne^'erthelesa  there  was  nojiml  effect. 

On  February  12th,  when  the  fluid  interruptor  was  first  employed,  tht 
was  a  very  small  average  effect  in  the  direction  of  increased  resistanc 
but,  in  ail  the  experiments  afterwards,  this  avrroije  effect  \fa»  in  the  din 
tion  of  decreased  resistance.  The  magnetism  had  been  in  the  direct!. 
(2)  from  January  Stfth;  but,  during  the  experiment  of  February  25th, 
was  reversed  and  retained  in  this  condition  through  the  experiment 
February  Sttth,  without  appearing  to  affect  the  results. 

7.  From  these  experiments  we  may  perhaps  conclude  as  follows  :■ — 
In  the  Jii-st  place,  there  is  a  Jirst  effect  in  the  direction  of  incre&s 

resistance  which  appears  to  have  reference  to  three  things — -namely,  t 
previous  state  of  the  wire,  the  solidity  of  the  circuit,  and  its  ma 
netization. 

In  the  recond place,  we  have  an  average  effect,  of  which  the  normal  sla 
appears  to  denote  a  decreased  resistance  while  the  magnetism  is  o 
without  reference  to  the  directiou  of  the  magnetism. 


1874.]  on  a  Magnetized  Copper  Wire.        ^  315 

In  the  third  plaet,  when,  in  a  solid  circuit,  the  direction  of  the  mi^;- 
netism  has  been  recently  changed,  there  appears  to  be  a  t«mparai7 
reversal  of  the  average  effect,  which  appears,  at  first,  as  an  increase  of 
resistance.  Besides  the  evidence  herein  detailed,  we  have  other  evidence 
in  favour  of  the  third  conclusion;  tor  in  some  preliminary  experiments, 
in  which  we  frequently  reversed  the  poles,  we  found  an  increase  of 
resistance  when  the  magnetism  was  on.  We  have  given,  in  a  Table 
appended  to  this  paper,  a  synopsis  of  our  \'ariouB  experiments. 

8.  We  are  led  to  conclude,  from  other  experiments  besides  these,  that 
the  efEect  of  the  magnetism  is  not  merely  confined  to  the  part  of  the  copper 
B-ire  wound  round  the  poles,  but  is  propagated  all  along  the  wire.  On 
December  2nd,  for  instance,  the  current  was  passed  through  the  wire, 
the  galvanometer  being  joined  as  a  secondary  circuit.  The  main  current 
was  therefore  measured. 

The  deflections  were  as  follows : — 

297   off  300  off 

300   (1)  302  (1) 

297  off  301  off 

300  (1) 

This  shows  an  average  strengthening  of  the  current,  equal  to  about 
one  two-hundredth  part  of  the  whole.  Were  this  strengthening  due  to 
merely  the  change  of  resistance  of  that  part  of  the  wire  wound  round 
the  poles,  the  effect,  as  measured  by  the  much  more  delicate  arrangement 
of  Wheatfltone's  bridge,  would  be  much  larger  than  was  actually  observed. 

9.  Allusion  was  made  in  article  7  to  some  preliminary  experiments,  in 
which  increased  resistance  was  observed  when  the  magnetism  was  put  on 
(1)  and  (2)  alternately.  Similar  experiments  were  made,  giving  the 
same  result  with  a  piece  of  coke  and  graphite,  which  were  placed  between 
the  poles  of  the  magnet. 

10.  We  have  also  some  evidence  that  a  copper  wire,  one  end  of  which 
is  wound  round  the  pole  of  the  magnet,  changes  its  position  in  the 
electromotive  series.  Two  copper  wires  were  dipped  into  dilute  nitric 
acid  and  connected  with  the  galvanometer.  A  weak  current  passed 
through  the  galvanometer  owing  to  a  slight  difference  in  the  copper  wires, 
one  of  which  was  also  connected  with  the  copper  wire  wound  round  the 
magnet.  When  the  magnet  was  on,  the  current,  as  a  rule,  changed  in 
intensity ;  but  the  effect  was  small,  and  the  difficulty  of  having  two 
copper  wires  which,  when  joined  together  and  dipped  into  nitric  acid, 
give  a  current  sufficiently  weak  and  constant,  prevented  us  from  getting 
any  decided  results. 

11.  In  conclusion  we  have  to  state  that  we  regard  these  results  which 
we  have  ventured  to  bring  before  the  Boj^  Society  as  preliminary,  the 
correctness  of  which  will,  we  trust,  be  confirmed  by  the  further  experi- 
ments which  it  is  our  intention  to  make. 


On  a  Magnetistd  Copper  Wire. 


[May 


y 


Dale. 

1873. 

Naturi'  <i(  Eiperiroeai. 

Value  of  ttrst 
effi»<X. 

Number 

of 
obser»»i- 

fi^t 

resJi 

Deo.  17. 

,.    IB. 

..    19. 
1874. 
Jan.    7. 

„    e, 

„      9. 
„     10. 
„     12. 

.,     13. 

.,   u. 

..     15. 
..     18. 
,.     17. 
..    1!0. 
„    21. 
..    22. 

.,    24. 

,.    20. 
..    27- 
.,    28. 

„    20. 

„    30. 

„    31. 

Feb.    2. 

„     3. 
„      4- 

„       5. 
„      6. 

„  n. 

,.     12. 

.,     13. 
„     14. 
^     10. 

,.     17. 
..     38. 
..     19. 

..    20. 

.,    22. 
^       24. 

MfltAl  ke;  left  in  otbt  niglit  Uken  out  before 

0+54+24 
0+33-18 
Nofirato&ct. 

Ditto 

Dilto 

Ditto 

0+47  +  18 
No  first  effect. 
0+3-6 
0+17+11 
No  fi™t  effect. 
0+28  +  119 
KoSrBt  effect 
0+7  +  1 

No  Qrst  effect 
Ditto 
Ditto 
Ditto 

0+103+47 
0+219 
0+137+161 
0+  47+84 

No  Brat  effect 

Nofirit'effbct 
0+7+S 

No  first  effect 
Ditto 
Ditto 

Ditto 

Ditto 

Ditto 

0+11  +  18 

No  first  effect 

Ditto 

15 
30 
.'5 
1& 
16 
IS 
15 
Id 

16 
15 
16 
15 
15 

16 
16 

1& 
16 

13 
15 
16 

15 

IS 

"is" 

15 

31 
16 
16 

16 
15 
15 
15 

15 

17 

17 

\     ^^ 

+ 
actio 

Mewl  1k7  left  in  over  night  t^ten  out  before 

MetS  key  Uft  in  orer  Bight  tabln  out  "before 
Thelejwu«(aliea  out  beforebegiiiiiing  tbe  ei- 

tC  kej  was  taken  out  be^ro  begiwing  U^  ex- 
periments in  the  morning    

Tiie  kef  nu  lakon  oat  before  b^inniiiB  the  ex- 
perimmils  in  the  morning    

The  ke»  waa  Uk™  out  before  beginning  the  ei- 

The  key  wm  not  uUten  out  until  baTora  mag- 

netiring-' 

The  key  was  taken  out  (Mim«  u  Jan.  7)  

Tiie  key  was  not  taken  out  (aame  a  Jan.  13)  ... 

Thekeywae  taken  out  (Balneal  Jan,  7)  

The  key  was  not  token  out  (same  as  Jan.  12)  ... 
The  eonneiions  had  been  broken  since  Jan.  17  . 

Thekev  wu  tnkm  out  (same  as  Jan.  7]   

Wlien  the  current  wus  conntant  the  key  was  taken 
out,  but  the  BiBgnoC  was  not  put  on  before  tbe 

Ditto 

The  roognet  was  put  on  (2)  from  thU  day  until 

The  magnet  was  put  on  (2),  kaj  l*ft  in  (same  as 

The  niaenet  was  put  on  (2),  key  loft  in  (same  as 

Jan,  12) 

The  uiBguet  was  put  on  (2J,  key  left  in  (same  as 

The  magnet  was  put  on  (2),  key  Wt  in  {same  as 

Tbe  key  was  taken  out  and  put  in  after  aereral 

ThakojwaBlalienout(eajDeBs  Jan.  22) 

The  mercury  interrupter  wss  kept  in  DTec  night 
The  mercury  intsrruplor  was  kept  in  over  night 
N»w   mercurinl  contact  breaker  from  Elliott 

Ditto            keyleftin(BainBasJan.l2) 
Ditto                            Ditto. 

One  wire  only  whs  broken 

One  wire  only  was  broken,  key  left  in  (same  as 

Jan.  12)..... 

One  wire  only  was  broken,  key  Uft  in  (same  aa 

Jan.  13)....' 

Oae  wire  only  was  broken,  key  left  in  (same  aa 

»■/ 

One  wire  only  WM  broken,  TD&gn<A  oa  (,\')  

\       Wavo 

1874.]      On  some  l^ermomeiric  ObtervtUiont  in  the  A^.        317 

Dec  16,  1873.  For  a  Mcond  lei-ie*  of  15  on  this  da;  do  Aret  effect  wu  found. 

Jan.  \b,  1874.  There  fne  a  sudden  obonge  of  the  current  during  tJiseiperimenta,  to 
which  the  unusuatlj  small  effect  is  moat  likelj  due. 

Jon,  16.  There  wee  a  eudden  change  a!  the  current  during  the  eiperimenti,  to  whiel) 
the  anusttoll;  large  effect  is  most  likely  due. 

Jan.  IT.  There  wae  an  irregulorit;  at  the  beginning  of  the  eiperiinenL 

Jon.  20.  Action  somewhat  irregular. 

Jan.  22.  There  seemed  to  be  a  Brat  tiStiA  of  the  current  on  itself  in  the  opposite 
direction,  0-14-9. 

Jan.  28.  There  seemed  to  be  again  a  first  effect  ir 

Jan.  27.  Ditto  Ditto 

Jan.  28.  The  action  was  *ety  irregular. 

Jan.  2U.  It  is  suspected  tbat  during  tbe  elperinieBts  from  Jan.  2D  to  Feb.  12Uie  con- 
tact at  the  Vej  was  not  Terj  good. 

Feb.  3.  The  action  wm  tbtj  irregular. 

Feb.  4.  There  seemed  to  be  two  first  effects  of  the  current  upon  iteelf  in  the  direction 
of  increased  resistance. 

Feb.  5.  The  action  wna  rer;  irregular. 

Feb.  G.  There  seemed  to  be  a  flrst  effect  of  decreased  reeistance  of  current  upon  itadf. 

Feb.  11.  The  wires  hod  been  broken  eince  Feb.  6th. 

Feb.  12.  One  of  the  wires  bod  got  between  the  pole  and  the  oare  of  the  magnet. 

Feb.  2A.  After  the  first  on  (2)  the  magnet  was  olwajsput  on  (1). 


II.   "  Note  on  some  Winter  Thermometric  Observations  in  the 
Alps."     By  E.  P»A«KLAND,  F.R.S. 

During  the  past  winter,  I  spent  a  fortnight  at  the  Tillage  of  Davos, 
Canton  Graubiinden,  Switserland,  and  had  thus  an  opportunity  of 
experiencing  some  of  the  remarkable  peculiarities  of  the  climate  of  the 
elevated  valley  (the  Prattigau)  in  which  Davos  is  situated.  The  village 
has  of  late  acquired  considerable  repute  as  a  climatic  sanitarinm  i(x 
persons  suffering  from  diseases  of  the  chest.  So  rapidly  has  its  reputa- 
tion grown,  that  while  in  the  winter  of  1865-66  only  eight  patients 
resided  there,  daring  the  past  season  upwards  of  three  hundred  have 
wintered  in  the  valley. 

The  summer  climate  of  Davos  is  very  similar  to  that  of  Pontiesina  and 
St.  Moritz,  in  the  neighbouring  high  valley  of  the  £Dgadin — cool  and 
rather  windy ;  but  so  soon  as  the  FrKtt^u  and  surrounding  mountains 
become  thickly  and,  for  the  winter,  permanently  covered  with  snow, 
which  usually  happens  in  November,  a  new  set  of  conditions  come  into 
play  and  the  ^jjti»T  climate  becomes  exceedingly  remarkable.  The  sky 
is,  as  a  rule,  cloudless  or  nearly  so ;  and,  as  the  solar  rays,  though  very 
powerful,  are  incompetent  to  melt  the  snow,  they  have  little  effect  upon 
the  temperature,  either  of  the  valley  or  its  enclosing  mountMns  ;  conse- 
quently there  are  no  currents  of  heated  air ;  and,  as  the  valley  is  well 
sheltered  frtan  more  general  Ktjnospberic  movements,  an  almost  uniform 
cairn  prevails  until  the  snow  melts  in  spring. 


Prof.  F 

According  to  Dufour'a  trigonom-etrical  meaaureineute,  Davos  is  loo9 
metres,  or  5105  feet,  above  the  sen;  the  measurements  of  the  Swiss 
Meteorological  Sodety  make  the  height  1650  metres,  or  5413  feet ;  oud 
my  own  estimation  with  an  aneroid  gave  it  as  4000  feet  above  Zurich, 
or  6352  feet  above  the  sea.  The  rUlage  of  Davoa  is  thereforu  about  SUO  i| 
feet  lower  than  the  summit  of  the  Higi. 

I  arrived  on  the  evening  of  the  20th  of  December,  and  found  the  sutnr  J 
lying  from  two  to  three  feet  deep  on  the  flat  sole  of  the  valley.     On  t 
following  morning  the  tbermometric  observations  were  commenced  wt^ 
instrumentu  supplied  to  me  by  Mr.  L.  Casella,  all  of  which  had  I 
certified  at  the  K.ew  Observatory.     For  the  corresponding  readingB  Wl 
Greenwich  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  GJaisher. 

Dfctmher  2\tt,  1873.^From  behind  the  sharp  ])eak  oE  the  Sohwan-  I 
horn   the  sun  rose  at  the   Seehof  Hotel,    Davoa-Diirfli,  at  8.35   a.,|(,'.I 
Throughout  the  day  Ihe  sun  was   alternately  clear  and  obscured  byffl 
clouds.     At  Davos-PlatK  it  did  not  rise  until  'J.44  a.m.     At  10  a.m.  tlw  " 
mercurial    thermometer  with  blackened  bulb  in  vaam  showed  44°  C. 
(lll'-2  Fahr.)  in  the  sunshine,  and  45"  C.  (113°  Fahr.)  at  2.50  p.m.    At 
GreeD^ich  the  readings  on  tliis  day  with  the  blackened  bulb  in   vaouo 
placed  (in  the  grass  •  in  the  sunshine  were  r— at  0  a.h..  S>°-3  C.  {48°-7 
Fahr,).  at  noon  and  .it  3  p.m.,  21"-9  C.  {IV-^  Fahr.),  the  maximum 
during  the  day  being  2\-i)  C.  (Tf-S  Fahr,),     The  maximum  tempera- 
ture observed  in  the  shade  was  10°'9  C.  (51°'7  Fahr.),  and  the  miuimuni 
on  grass  in  the  shade  2°-l  C.  (SS"-?  Fahr.). 

December  22nd. — A  mercurial  thermometer  with  black  glass  bulb  wm 
laid  on  the  snow  at  8  a.m.  ;  twenty  minutes  later,  or  fifteen  miiiut«s 
before  sunrise,  it  marked  — 18°-3  C.  (  —  1°  Fahr.).  The  sky  was  deep 
blue,  and  almost  perfectly  cloudless  during  the  whole  day.  Five  minutes 
after  sunrise  many  of  the  patients  at  the  Seehof  Hot«l  were  walking  in 
the  open  air  without  any  special  wraps,  and  many  of  them  without  over- 
coats. In  the  brilliant  sunshine  one  felt  comfortably  warm  sitting  in 
front  of  the  hotel  in  a  light  morning  coat.  The  following  thermometrica) 
observations  were  made  on  this  day ; — 


■  Since  the  above  was  written  I  have  aKOrtained  thnt  tho  readingn  of  this  kind  of  in- 
Btnunent  ij^  much  higher  when  it  is  laid  on  grass  than  when  it  ia  clamped  upon  a 
staff  at  B  height  of  5  feet  above  the  ground.  Thue,  at  SI.  Lninard's^in-Sfla  on  the  7th 
of  April  last,  this  thermometer  in  Bunahine  stood  at  42°  3  C.  at  11.50  aji.,  when  plB««d 
5  feet  from  the  ground,  but  when  laid  on  (he  graas  it  prompdj  rose  to  SB^'S  C.  It  u 
therefore  evident  that  the  readings  of  tlie  solar  therniometcr  at  Qreenwicb,  gma 
throughout  thia  paper,  are  much  too  high  lor  fair  oomparison  with  the  Daros  tempen- 
ture,  the  thermometer  at  Greenwich  having  been  olwsjs  laid  upon  the  graa>.  On 
the  7th  of  April  the  ekj  at  St.  Leonard's  was  clear,  the  air  warm  with  but  littlo  nrind, 
and  the  sun  bright ;  nevertheless  the  maiiroum  temperature  during  the  day  in  sunshiD* 
was2°'7C.  lower  than  that  observed  with  the  same  iastrument  at  Davos  on  the21atof 
Dscember  last.— Msj  7,  1674. 


1874.]  Thermometric  Obaervatioiu  ia  the  A^a.  319 

I.  Blackened  bulb  in  vacuo.    Ia  sunshine. 


8.45 

8.50 

9.0 

9.45 

10.15 

10.45 

l.M. 

"-.""'X'"- 

Light  oloud 

Clear. 
1.45  P.M. 

2l-6C 

26-0  0 

30-0  C 

37  J  C 

35'3  c'ao-o  c 

1 

41-2  C 

42'4C 

372  C. 

43^  C. 

This  thermometer  was  clamped  to  an  alpenstock  at  a  height  of  about 
five  feet  from  the  snow  in  all  the  observations  recorded  in  this  paper. 
At  Greenwich  the  readings  were,  with  blackened  bulb  in  vacuo  : — maxi- 
mum 12°-8  C.  (55°  Ffthr.) ;  at  9  a.m.,  8^-5  C.  {47°'3  Tahr.) ;  at  noon 
and  at  3  p.m.,  12°-8  C.  (55"  Fahr.).  The  maximum  in  the  shade  was  ' 
10°-4  C.  (SO"-?  Fahr.),  and  the  minimum  on  grass  in  the  shade  -  l=-7  C. 
(28°-fl  Fahr.). 

II.  Plain  mercurial  thermometer  with  black  glass  bulb.  In  sunshine. 


9.45.  A.M. 

10.15  KM. 

11.15  A.1I. 

NOOD. 

1.45  p.K. 

-1°C. 

0=-6C. 

3°-3  C. 

3°-3C. 

7°-2  C. 

III.  Plain  mercurial  thermometer  with  black  glass  bulb.  In  shade. 


10.15  A.M. 

11.15  A.M. 

Noon. 

1.45  P.M. 

-4'-0C. 

-r-oc. 

- 1''0  C. 

-2^0  C. 

IV.  Pl^  mercurial  thermometer  with  block  glass  bulb,  placed  in  a 
box  lined  with  padded  black  cloth  and  covered  with  plate-^lass 
j  inch  thick. 


0.45  A.if. 

10.15  A.M. 

Noon. 

12.35  P.M. 

2  P.K. 

75°-0  C. 

ss^-o  C. 

100°-0  C. 

102°-8  C. 

105°-0  C. 

Thus  in  mid  winter  the  unconcentrated  solar  rays  at  Davos  ore  capable 
of  producing,  under  favourable  circumstances,  a  temperature  of  221° 
Fahr., — 9°  Fahr.  above  the  boiling-point  of  water  at  the  sea-level,  or 
21°  Fahr.  above  that  point  at  Davos,  where  I  found  water  to  boil  at 
200°  Fahr.  when  the  barometer  stood  at  627-3  miUims. 


320 


Prof.  Frankland  on  same  Winter 


[May  7, 


December  2Srd. — ^The  sky  was  again  deep  blue  and  doudlesB  nearly 
the  whole  of  the  day.  The  atmospheric  pressure  was  627*3  miUimB.,  and 
the  temperature  eight  minutes  before  sunrise,  as  shown  by  a  black-glass- 
bulb  thermometer  laid  upon  the  snow,  was  again  — 18°*3  C.  (— P  Faihr.). 
The  foUowing  thermometric  observations  were  made  :— 

I.  Blackened  bulb  in  vacuo.     In  sunshine. 


90a.ii. 


28»-5C. 


9^A.M. 


11.0  a.m. 


35°-5C.  37*»-2C. 


11.15a.m. 


SQ'^O  C. 


ll.aOA.M.  12.15  p.m. 


39*^-0  0. 


2.0  P.M. 


39<>-6C.  40°-0C. 


Light  clouds, 
2.23  P.M. 


34*»OC. 


n.  In  the  shade,  the  plain  mercurial  thermometer,  with  black  glass 
bulb,  stood  at  -.9°-4  C.  (15-1°  Fahr.)  at  11.30  a.m.  It  was  freely  sus- 
pended in  the  air  at  a  height  of  about  three  feet  from  the  snow. 

At  Greenwich  the  readings  were,  with  blackened  bulb  in  vacuo : — 
maximum  22*^-8  C.  (73'*  Fahr.)  ;  at  9  a.m.,  4°-4  C.  (40°  Fahr.) ;  at  noon, 
12°-6  C.  (54°-6  Fahr.) ;  at  3  p.m.,  22°-8  C.  (73°  Fahr.).  The  maximum 
in  the  shade  was  8^*3  C.  (46°*9  Fahr.),  and  the  minimum  on  grass  in 
the  shade  -  2°-3  C.  (27^-9  Fahr.). 

December  24Ah, — As  the  Fluela  pass,  the  highest  carriage-road  in  Swit- 
a^rland,  was  still  open  for  sledges,  I  determined  to  make  some  observa- 
tions on  the  summit,  which  is  7890  feet  above  the  sea,  and  consequently 
about  2538  feet  above  Davos.  Starting  from  Davos  at  8  a.m.,  I  arrived 
at  the  summit  of  the  pass,  where  there  is  a  small  hotel  and  telegraph 
station,  at  10.30  a.m. 

The  early  morning  was  somewhat  cloudy,  but,  about  ten  o'clock,  the 
sky  became  perfectly  clear  and  deep  blue,  and  continued  so  until  the  sun 
set  behind  the  Schwarzhom,  a  few  minutes  past  noon.  The  following 
temperatures  were  recorded : — 

I.  The  blackened  bulb  in  vaaw  marked  41°*  7  C.  at  11  a.m.  in  the  siui- 
shine,  42°-3  C.  at  11.30  a.m.,  and  42°-3  C.  at  12  o'clock. 

n.  The' plain  black  glass  bulb  in  the  shade  showed  at  noon  —  7°'2  C. 
when  freely  suspended  about  two  feet  above  the  snow  in  a  brisk  breeze. 

The  highest  temperature  in  sunshine  which  I  have  observed  at  Davos 
at  noon,  with  the  blackened  bulb  in  vacuo,  was  42°'5,  which  scarcely 
differs  from  that  read  on  the  Fluela  pass  at  the  same  hour.  So  far  as 
these  limited  observations  go,  therefore,  they  indicate  that  the  solar  rays 
are  not  of  appreciably  higher  thermal  intensity  at  a  height  of  7890  feet 
than  at  a  height  of  5350  feet.  I  may  add  that  the  thermometer  in  tiie 
sunshine  was  sheltered  from  the  wind  on  the  Fluela  pass,  and  was,  in  all 
respects  but  oue,  in  a  more  favourable  position  for  attaining  a  high  tem- 
perature than  at  Davos.  The  one  unfavourable  condition  was  its  expo- 
sure to  less  solar  heat  reflected  from  the  snow  than  at  Davos. 


1874.] 


Thartaometric  Obaervalioiu  in  tfie  Alps. 


821 


At  Greenwich  the  readingH  were,  with  blackened  bulb  in  vacuo : — 
maximum  19°-5  C.  (G?"-!  Fahr.)  ;  at  9  a.m.,  e°-6  C.  (49°-3  Fahr.)  ;  at 
noon,  IS^-e  C.  (65''-5  Fahr.)  ;  and  at  3  p.if.,  19°-5  C.  (e^-l  Fahr.).  The 
mftTimiim  in  the  shade  was  10°'5  C.  (50°-9  Fahr.),  and  the  Ttiiniinnpi  od 
grass  in  the  shade  -3*^1  C.  (26°-5  Fahr.). 

Deetmber  25ih. — The  sky  was  again  deep  blue  and  perfectly  cloudless. 
The  sir  was  also  apparently  clear,  except  at  about  9  a.m.,  when  the  village 
and  valley  became  immersed  in  a  bght  fog,  which  coneisted  of  minute 
enow  crystals.  On  thia  and  most  subsequent  days  isolated  crystals  could 
be  distinctly  seen  floating  in  the  air,  by  placing  the  eye  in  shadow  and 
then  looking  into  the  aunshine.  The  abundance  or  pandty  of  these 
suspended  and,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  invisible  snow  crystals  . 
must  exercise  a  powerful  influence  upon  the  intensity  of  solar  radiation. 
To  this  cause,  for  instance,  it  was  probably  due  that  at  1.45  p.u.  on  this 
day,  although  the  sky  was  perfectly  clear  and  the  sunshine  most  intensely 
bnlliant,  the  blackened  bulb  in  vacuo  only  stood  at  35°  C.  in  the  sun, 
whereas  at  noon,  when  all  the  conditions  were  apparently  the  same 
(except,  of  course,  the  sun's  altitude),  the  temperature  was  6°  C.  higher. 
The  following  readings  were  taken  : — 

I.  Blackened  bulb  in  vaewo.    In  sunshine. 


9.0  A.«, 
froMn  fog. 

9.15  A.1I., 
clan. 

10.20  A.M., 

cle«. 

11.15  A.M., 

clear. 

Noon, 
dear. 

1.45  P.11., 
dear. 

2y-5  C. 

32°-5  C. 

3!"9  C. 

39»-2  C. 

40°-0  C. 

3«°0  C. 

<w  eight  minutes  before  sunrise 
tde  it  stood  at  -9°-l  G.     Height 


II.  The  black  glass  bulb  on  the  si 
marked  -12=-8  C.  At  noon  in  the  s 
of  barometer  630  millims. 

At  Greenwich  the  readings  were,  with  blackened  bulb  in  vacuo -, — 
maximum  10°-4  C.  (50°-8  Fahr.) ;  at  9  a.m.,  40-6  C.  (40''-3  Fahr.) ;  at 
noon  and  at  3  p.m.,  10°-4  C.  (50°-S  Fahr.).  The  maximum  in  the  shade 
was  7°'5  C.  (45°'6  Fahr.),  and  the  minimum  on  grass  in  the  shade 
-2°-7  C.  (27°-2  Fahr.). 

December  26<A. — Not  the  smallest  cloud  was  visible  during  the  whole 
of  this  day.  The  sky  was  intensely  blue  and  the  mt  perfectly  calm. 
Atmospheric  pressure  630  millims.  Fifteen  minutes  before  sunrise  the 
thermometer  on  the  snow  marked  — 16°-7  C.  At  1.50  p.m.  the  same 
thermometer  in  the  shade  stood  at  — 4°-l  C  The  following  readings  in 
the  sunshine  were  made  with  the  blackened  bulb  in  vacuo  -. — 


8.45 

9.0 

lao 

10.30 

11.0 

11.30 

A.M. 

.^. 

12.30 

1.0 

2.30 

3.60 

P.M. 

2S-0C 

3i-8C. 

3^-8  C 

4tS'80. 

d-5C 

4^-70 

^6C 

1&1C. 

(3-0  c. 

af-oo. 

3llC. 

Prof.  Franklaud  on  same  fVinter 


(.May  7. 


At  Greenwich  the  readingfl  were,  with  blackened  bulb  ift  vacuo : — 
maKJmum8°SC.  (iT^-fFahr.);  at  9  a.m..  e^-JC.  (44°Fahr.) ;  ftt  noon 
uid  at  3  P.M.,  8°'8  C.  (47°'9  Fahr.)-  The  maximum  in  the  ahftde  WM 
8°-2C.  (W-T  Fahr.).  and  the  minimum  on  grass  in  the  shade  -fC. 
(39°-2  Fahr.). 

December  27th. — A  cloudless  morning  aiid  deep  blue  sky.  Eight 
minuf«s  before  sunrise  the  thermometer  on  the  snow  iudicatfd  —  1T""2C'. 
At  10.25  A.K.  the  block  bulb  in  vaciui  registered  in  the  simahine  3tS°-5  C 
nnd  at  noon  38°'5  C.  The  afternoon  woa  cloudy  and  no  observations 
were  made. 

At  Greenwieh  the  reodingB  were,  with  blackened 'bulb  in  vaato: — 
maximum  13°-6  C.  (3<;°-4  Fahr.)  ;  at  9  a.k.,  7°-5  C.  (45'^S  Fahr.)  ;  ftt 
noon  6=-2C.  (43°lFahr.);  and  at  3  p.m.  13'-6C.  (56''-4Fiihr.).  The 
maximum  in  the  shade  was  8°4 C.  (47°-2  Fatr.),  and  the  iilinimuin  oa 
grass  in  the  shade  -S"-?  C.  (25''-3  Fahr.). 

December  2S(A. — At  4.30  A.M.  there  was  a  violent  stonn  of  wind  witli 
mow  ;  afterwards  moderate  wind  with  snow  until  the  afternoon.  The 
barometer  stood  at  615  minima.  At  2  f.m.  the  blaekened  bulb  in  vaeita 
registered  28°C.  in  sunshine. 

At  Gre«.nwiah  the  n^aJings  were,  with  l.lm-keiieil  bulb  m  vitcuo:— 
maximum  0°-7  C.  (33°-2  Fahr.);  at  9  a.m.,  -O^'S  C.  (SI"-!  Fahr.) ;  at  noon 
and  at  3  p.m.  0°-7  C.  (33°-2  Fahr.).  The  maximum  in  the  shade  was  0°-6  C. 
(33°  Fahr.),  and  the  minimum  on  grass  in  the  shade  was  -  8°-4  C.  {l&'-Q 
Fahr.). 

December  29th. — Sky  deep  blue  and  quite  free  from  cloud  during  the 
wholeday.  Barometer  620millims.  AtS  a.m.  the  thermometer  on  the 
snow  stood  at  —  22°-2  C.  A  spirit  thermometer  (not  verified),  4  feet  from 
the  ground,  indicated  — 22°'l  C.  At  noon  the  thermometer  in  the  shade 
stood  at  —  I8°'l  C.  The  following  observations  were  made  with  the 
blackened  bulb  in  vacuo  : — 


9.0  A.if. 

10.0  A.H. 

11.0  A.X. 

11.30  A.I.. 

Noon. 

4  minutes  sftor  Euiuet, 
3.30  P.M. 

18°-0  C. 

30°-0  C. 

33°-7  C. 

37°-0  C. 

33°-7C. 

.      -12°-0C. 

At  Greenwich  the  readings  were,  with  blackened  bulb  in  vacuo ; — 
maximum  28°-4C.  (83°-2  Fahr.) ;  at  9  a.m.,  -  r-6  C.  (29''-2Ffthr.)  ;  at 
noon,  28°  3  C.  (82°  9  Fahr.) ;  and  at  3  p.m.,  28°-4  C.  (S'6''-2  Fahr.),  The 
maximum  is.  the  shade  was  4°'2  C.  (39°'5  Fahr.),  and  the  minimum  on 
grass  in  the  shade  was  -  9°-6  C.  (14°-8  Fahr.). 

December  30th. — Sky  deep  blue  and  perfectly  free  from  cloud  during 
the  whole  day.  Barometer  621-7  millims.  At  8  a.m.  the  thermometer  on 
the  snow  stood  at  —  26°-4C.  (— IS^SPahr.).  A  self-registerbg  mioimnm 


1874.] 


Thermometric  Obiervaiioat  in  the  Alpt. 


823 


spirit  thermometer  (imverifled),  fixed  to  a  post  4  feet  above  the  snow, 
recorded  —18°  Fahr.  as  the  minimum  temperature  during  the  night  of 
December  3S)-30th.  At  2  p.u.  the  thermometer  in  the  shade  stood  at 
— 12°'8  C.  The  air  was  apparently  equally  clear  throughout  the  whole 
day.    The  following  readings  of  the  blackened  bulb  in  vacuo  in  lunshine 


9,0  *.«!. 

B.30  A.K. 

10.0  a.-.      11.30a.«. 

12.15  P.u. 

1.30  p.u. 

2.0  p.-. 

25°-5  C. 

3Si°-3  C. 

35°-0  C.     37°-5  C. 

35°-2  C. 

38°-5  C. 

33=-7C. 

At  Greenwich  the  readings  were,  with  blackened  bulb  in  vacua : — 
maiimom  22°-^  C.  (73°-2  Fabr.) ;  at  9  a.m.,  2° -7  C.  {36°-9  Fahr.) ;  and  at 
3  P.M.,  22°-9  C.  i't2P-2  Fabr.).  The  maiimnm  in  the  shade  was  7°'5  C. 
(45°-5  Fahr.),  and  the  minimum  on  grasa  in  the  shade  was  — 4°-9C.  (23°1 
Fahr.). 

DeceiiAer  Z\H. — Sky  deep  blue,  sun  quite  free  from  clouds  during  the 
whole  day.  Very  light  streaks  of  cloud  appeared  in  the  S.W.  just 
before  sunset.  Barometer  621-6  millims.  At  8  a.u.  the  thermometer  on 
the  snow  registered  — 23'''6  C. ;  at  noon  the  thermometer  in  the  shade 
stood  at  — 10''-C.  A  naked  thermometer  with  smoked  black  glass  bnlb 
freely  suspended  restored  only  — 2°*8  C.  at  9.30  a.m.  in  sunshine. 
During  the  day  abundance  of  snow  crystals  were  frequently  observed  to  be 
floating  about  in  the  wr.  The  blackened  bulb  in  vacuo  was  read  in  the 
sunshine  as  follows  ; — 


9.30  4.M. 

10.0  a.m. 

11.0  a.m. 

Noon. 

12.30  p.M 

2.0  P.M. 

2.50  P.M. 

32=0  C. 

36»-5  C. 

38°-7C. 

39°0C. 

40°-0C. 

35°-0C. 

21°-5C. 

At  Greenwich  the  readings  were,  with  blackened  bulb  tn  vacuo : — 
maximum  24''-4  C.  (76=  Fahr.) ;  at  9  a.m.,  8''-1  C.  (46''-6  Fahr.) ;  at  noon, 
21°-3  C.  (70''-4  Fahr.) ;  and  at  3  p.m.,  24''-4  C.  (76°  Fahr.).  The  maxi- 
mum in  the  shade  was  10°'4  C.  (50°'7  Fahr.),  and  the  minimum  on  grass 
in  the  shade  was  0''C  C.  (33°-l  Fahr.). 

January  \$t,  1874. — A  cloudy  morning.  Sun  only  slightly  visible 
before  9  a.m.;  afterwards  brilliant  between  the  clouds.  Barometer 
625  millims.  At  8.15  a.m.  the  thermometer  on  the  snow  marked 
—  13°-9C.,  and  the  unveriGed  self-registering  minimiuu  — 17°-3C.  At 
11.30  A.if.  the  thermometer  in  the  shade  stood  at-3°-3C.  Thefollowing 
readings  of  sunshine  temperatures  were  made  with  the  blackened  bulb  tn 


Prof.  Frankland  on  aome  ffinter 


[M. 


eioudj]' 

0-30  *.«,. 
mn. 

g.45  A.H., 

»un  cl«ir, 
rest  of  iky 
cloudy. 

10.0  A.>I., 

olear. 

10.30  A-x, 
cloudj. 

ll^i-ii. 
cloudj. 

12.30  F 

oloud 

-1°-0G. 

30°'SC. 

43°-5C. 

44''-0  C. 

21*8  C. 

igo-so. 

ll°-5 

23° 
sino 

The  afternoon  anil  night  were  cloudy. 

At  Greenwich  the  i-eiidiijga  were,  with  blackened  bulb  in  vaem 
maiimum  19°-e  C.  ((iT'-S  Pahr.) ;  at  9  a.m.,  2°-8C.  (37°Fahr.);  at  i 
andat  3p.m.,  1!)=-0  C.  (fST'-S  Pahr.).  The  ma-iimom  in  the  shade 
S°-l  C.  (46'-'-6  Pfthr.),  and  the  minimum  on  gms«  in  the  shade  was  - 1°- 
(29'''9  Fahr.). 

January  2nd. — -A  cloudy  morning.  Sim  not  risible  nntil  ne 
9  a.m.;  afterwards  clear  and  calm,  except  at  about  1(1.40  Aii.,whea  a 
light  clouds  appeared.  Minimum  temperature  during  the  night 
measured  by  an  unverified  spirit  thermometer,  — 9^-2C,  At  8  A.ii, 
thermometer  on  the  snow  stood  at  —  G"-?  C. ;  atmoapberic  pres 
627'8  millims.  At  noon  the  thermometer  in  the  shade  stooc 
— o'C,  and  at  3  p.m.  it  registered —4°-6C.  The  following  obse 
tiona  were  made  with  the  blackened  bulb  in  naetio  : — 


9.0 

o.ir. 

... 

10.0 

10,30 

10.40 

Noon. 

12.30 

1.30 

3.0 

29°C.:3S°C. 

! 

40°  C 

41°  C. 

31°-5  C. 

43°  C 

40°  C. 

n-c 

2r-5  C. 

At  Greenwich  the  readings  were,  with  blackened  bulb  in  vacru 
maiimum  14''-2  C.  (57°-5  Fabr.) ;  at  i)  a.m.,  e°-3  C.  (48"-8  Fahr.) ;  at  i 
andata  P.M.,"14°'2C.  (Sr-oFahr.).  The  maximum  in  the  shade 
10'''4  0.  (50°-7  Fahr.),  and  the  minimum  on  grass  in  the  shade  was  2°- 
(36''-6  Fahr.). 

January  3rd. — A  calm  but  cloudy  morning.  At  snnrise  the  ti 
mometer  on  the  snow  registered  ~(l°-9  C.  The  unverified  spirit  minin 
showed  the  lowest  temperature  during  the  night  to  have  been  —11 
Barometer  624  millims.  At  11  a.m.  the  sun  was  just  risible,  and  in 
afternoon  the  clouds  became  still  thinner.  At  12.15  p.m.  the  tl 
mometer  in  the  shade  stood  at+0°'3C.  The  blackened  bulb  in  v; 
stood  at  9°  C.  at  9  A.M.  and  also  at  11  a.m.  Between  II  and  nooi 
rose  to  29°  0.  At  12. 15  p.m.  it  marked  IS^-S  C,  and  between  that  b 
and  2  p.m.  it  peached  28°  C,  whilst  at  2  p.m.  it  stood  at  25°  C. 


1871.]  Thermomelrie  Obtervationt  in  the  Alpt.  325 

At  Greenwich  the  readings  were,  with  blachenod  bulb  in  vacuo : — 
maSinmm  23°-8  C.  (74<'-9  Friir.) ;  at  9  a.m.,  7°-2  C.  (44°-0  Fahr.) ;  at 
noon  10°-4  C.  (50°-8  Fahr.) ;  and  at  3  p.m.,  33°-8  C.  (74<'-9  Fahr.).  The 
maximum  in  the  shade  was  9°'2  C.  (48°'6  Fahr,),  and  the  minimiun  ou 
grass  in  the  shade  was  -  •4°  C.  (Sl^-S  Fahr.). 

During  the  winter  of  1870-71  a  series  of  meteorological  observations 
were  made  at  Davos  by  Mr.  Arthur  Wm.  Waters,  F.G.9.,  but  I  am  not 
aware  whether  the  instruments  used  were  verified.  The  miniimiin 
temperatures  observed  with  a  Hennana's  metallic  spiral  thermometer 

A.  !>..«.  '^-ZTcKS" 

November,  1870 -10''-7  C.  -  5°-5C. 

December,  1870  -29°-5C.  -15'=-7C. 

January,  1871      -20*7C.  -11°-1C. 

February,  1871    -18°-7C.  -  5°-0C. 

The  maximnro  sun-t«mperatures  obaen'ed  with  n  blackened  bulb  tn 
vtteno  were  :— 

November,  1870 46°-3  C.  35°-l  G. 

December,  1870 46°-l  C.  26°-0  C. 

January,  1871      47='-3  C.  26''-6  C. 

February,  1871    52°-2  C.  SS^S  C. 

The  chief  remarkable  things  about  the  observations  made  lost  winter 
are,  first,  the  very  high  suu-temperaturea  prevailing  contemporaneously 
with  very  low  air-  or  shade-temperatures,  and  secondly,  the  compar&- 
tive  uniformity  of  the  solar  heat  from  sunrise  to  sunset.  Thus  on  the 
29th  of  December,  whilst  the  temperature  of  the  air  was  — 18°-1  C,  the 
sun-thermometer  stood  at  +37°  C,  and  on  the  following  day,  with  an  air- 
temperature  not  exceeding  — 12'''8  C,  the  suurtemperature  was  BS^'o  C 
Again,  the  sun-temperatures  observed  on  the  26th  of  December  illustrate 
the  comparative  uniformity  of  solar  radiation  during  the  day,  when  the 
sky  remains  cloudless.  Twenty-fire  minutes  aft«r  sunrise  the  solar 
thermometer  indicated  31°-8  C. ;  at  noon  it  stood  at  42''-5  C,  aud  at 
thirty-five  minutes  before  sunset  it  recorded  33°'l  C. 

Besides  the  intensity  of  solar  radiation  and  its  comparative  uniformity 
during  the  day,  the  rarity  and  calmness  of  the  air  are  important  factors 
amongst  the  causes  of  the  peculiar  climate  of  Davos.  With  the  baro- 
meter standing  at  615  millims.  the  weight  of  air  in  contact  with  a  given 
surface  of  the  skin  is  about  one  fiftli  less  than  it  is  at  the  sea-level.  Tho 
excessive  dryness  of  the  air  at  Davos  has  probably  but  little  special  influ- 
ence upon  the  sensation  of  heat  and  cold,  because  the  maximum  proportion 
of  aqueous  vapour  present  in  air  near  0°  C.  is  everywhere  small,  and  the 
specific  heats  of  equal  volumes  of  fur  and  aqueous  Tapoor  He  not  widely 

Tot.  ixii.  2  0 


386  Pror.  Fraiiklaiid  on  some  JVinfer  [Mi 

differeut.  On  thv  olbt^r  baud,  Ihc  absence  of  tmspeudL-il  watery  par 
ill  the  air  has,  no  doubt,  very  conaiderable  iaflueiico  in  preveiitiri| 
chilling  of  the  ekin.  Not  only  are  such  liquid  particles  present  ' 
there  is  visible  fog,  but  they  often  exist  in  great  numbers  when  th 
poBsesijeH  its  usuiil  trouspareut  appearauco.  Another  very  importan 
fluence  upon  the  sun-temperature  is  the  reflection  of  solar  mys  fron 
Miow.  The  valley  of  Davos  is  about  one  mile  wide,  and  has  prodp' 
sides  and  a  flat  sole.  The  liilages  of  Davos-Dorfli  and  Davos-Plat 
Bituated  on  the  north-west  slope  of  the  valley,  and  consequently  re 
the  scattered  solar  rayn  reflected  from  a  large  area  of  snow.  1  h&i 
doubt  that  the  sun-temperature  at  the  opposite  aide  of  the  vail 
markedly  lower  ;  but  having  no  second  sun-thermometer,  I  could  n< 
certain  this  by  the  compariflon  of  simultaneous  thermomctric  oba 
tions.  When  staying  at  Yentnor,  in  the  vrinter  of  1872-73,  I  no 
that  a  not  inconsiderable  proportion  of  the  total  solar  heat  fftlling 
a  house  on  a  cliff,  near  the  shore,  was  reflected  from  the  sea.  M.  Di 
has  Bince  observed  tlie  same  phenomenon  betweeu  Lausanne  and  "V 
on  the  Lake  of  Gi?neva*.  and  has  actually  measured  the  proportioi 
direct  and  reflected  heat  incident  at  five  different  stations  on  the  norl 
shore  of  the  lake.  He  fauud  that  ihe  proportion  of  reflected  beat  w 
much'  as  68  per  cent,  of  the  heat  directly  incident  from  the  son,  ■ 
the  sun's  altitude  was  between  4°  3B'  and  3°  34'.  At  about  7°  alt 
the  proportion  was  between  40  and  50  of  reflected  to  100  of  direct 
Even  at  about  16°  altitude  the  proportion  was  between  20  and  [ 
reflected  to  100  of  direct  heat ;  but  when  the  sun  was  higher  than 
the  reflected  heat  was  hardly  appreciable.  It  will  be  seen  that 
action  of  extensive  reflecting  surfaces  of  snow  or  water  must  exi 
powerful  influence  upon  the  maximum  temperature  of  places  fa' 
ably  situated  for  receiving  the  reflected  rays ;  and,  moreover,  v 
the  proportion  of  heat  reflected  varies  (as  it  has  been  proved  to  do  i 
case  of  water,  and  as  it  doubtless  also  does  in  the  case  of  enow)  inve 
as  the  angle  formed  by  the  incident  rays  and  the  reflecting  aurfaiCfl; 
action  nmst  materially  contribute,  especially  in  winter,  to  the  i 
tenancc  of  an  approHmately  uniform  sun -temperature  throughom 
day.  At  Davos  and  similar  elevated  stations,  however,  the  compai 
freedom  of  the  air  from  suspended  liquid  and  soUd  particlea 
obHousIy  contribute,  to  a  still  greator  extent,  to  such  a  result ;  for  as 
and  dry  nir  is  transcalent  and  reflects  light  but  slightly,  the  hor!& 
sunbeams,  passing  through  such  air,  would  be  nearly  as  powerful  as 
tical  rays. 

The  peculiar  winter  climate  of  Davos  appears,  therefore,  to  de 
upon  the  following  conditions  ; — 

1 .  Elfvatiott  abope  the  tm,  which  causes  greater  rarity  of  the  air. 
I  fjfoDceg   de    I'Acad^iiiie   de«    Bd 


1874.]  Thermometric  Obaervationa  in  the  Alps.  S27 

consequently  lesi  sbstnoHon  of  heat  from  the  body.  It  kIso  B««am 
greater  tnuucaleney  in  the  atmoaphere  by  a  pcnitdon  aboTS  the  chief  re^<ni 
of  aqueoufl  precdpit«tion,  and  which  is  compantiTely  out  of  the  reach  of 
the  diut  and  fuliginons  matters  that  poUute  the  lower  itiatmn  of  the 
air.  On  my  journey  from  Ixindon  to  Dares  I  never  eaw  the  sun  until  I 
had  arrived  neiirly  at  my  destination ;  and  during  the  greater  portion  of 
the  fortnight  of  brilliant  weather  recorded  above,  there  wai  a  dull  leaden 
sky  at  Zurich,  about  60  miles  distant. 

2,  Thick  and  {during  the  winter  montTtt)  ^nnanent  gitow,  which  reRects 
the  solar  beat  and  prevents  the  communication  of  warmth  to  the  air,  and 
consequently  the  production  of  atmospheric  currents.  In  still,  though 
cold,  air  the  skin  is  well  known  to  be  less  chilled  than  in  much  less  cold 
air,  which  impinges  with  considerable  velocity  upou  the  surface  of  the 
body.  The  effect  of  motion  through  the  air  upon  the  sensation  of  warmth 
and  cold  at  Davos  is  very  striking.  Sitting  perfectly  atiU  in  the  sunshine, 
the  heat  in  mid  winter  is  sometimes  almost  unbearable ;  on  rising  and 
walking  about  briskly,  a  delicious  feeling  of  coolness  is  experienced ;  but 
on  drii-ing  in  a  sledge,  the  cold  soon  becomes  painful  to  the  unprotected 
face  and  bands, 

3.  A  tfifltered  potition  favouraUe  for  retttving  both  the  direct  and  rt- 
jUctcd  solar  rnyt. — In  this  respect  Davos-Dorlli,  situated  opposite  to  the 

.  entrance  of  the  Dischma  valley,  has  the  advantage  over  DavoB-Plats,  two 
miles  lower  down  the  valley ;  for,  in  the  latter  village,  the  sun  rises  on 
the  21st  December  1^  S"  later,  and  sets  about  ten  minutes  earlier,  than  at 
Diirfli. 

All  these  conditions  contribute  not  only  to  a  high  sun-temperatnre 
during  the  winter  months,  but  also  to  a  comparatively  uniform  radiant 
heat  from  sunrise  to  sunset. 

In  conclusion  I  vrill  only  point  to  the  general  bearing  which  these  ob- 
servations have  upon  winter  refuges  tor  invalids.  While  the  primarf . 
conditions  to  be  secured  in  such  places  must  ever  be  fine  weather  and  a 
sheltered  position,  the  next  in  importance  is,  undoubtedly,  exposure  all 
day  long  to  reflected,  as  well  as  direct,  solar  radiation.  To  accomplish 
this,  a  southern  aspect  and  a  considerable  expanse  of  water,  or  nearly 
level  snow,  are  necessary ;  and  it  is  important  that  the  sanitarium  should 
be  considerably,  and  somewhat  abruptly,  elevated  above  the  reflectmg  sur- 
face, BO  that  it  may  receive,  throughout  the  entire  day,  the  uninterrupted 
reflection  of  the  sun's  rays.  At  the  sea-side,  for  instance,  only  those 
houses  which  command  such  an  uninterrupted  view  of  the  sea,  ranging 
from  H.E.  to  8.W.,  as  shows  the  reflection  of  the  sun  throughout  the 
entire  day,  enjoy  the  full  advantages  of  the  place.  At,  or  near,  the  se^ 
level,  however,  it  is  impossible,  owing  to  the  suspended  matters  in  the 
lower  regions  of  the  atmosphere,  to  enjoy  any  thing  approaching  to  a 
uniform  temperature  from  sunrin  to  sunset.  For  this  purpose  it  ia 
necessary  to  leave  the  grosser  air  of  the  plains  behind,  and  to  ascend 


•■i-M 


\U:  R.  Malli't  D,t  I'olci 


some  4001)  or  5oOO  feet  into  the  mouatains,  when,  in  these  lati 
least,  the  reflecting  surface  mnst  necessarily  be  snow. 

In  the  above  remarks  I  hare  confine;!  myself  strictly  to  the 
aspect  of  the  anbjei^t ;  hut  it  is  obvious  that,  in  seeking  an  alp 
tarium,  the  patient  comes  under  new  conditions  of  respint 
breathes  air  comparatively  free  from  rymotic  matter — circu 
which  nre  probably  nut  without  profonnil  influsnce  upon  hi?!  hei 


V 


III.  Addition  to  tlic  I'apcr,  "  Volcanic  Energy :  an  att' 
derelop  its  tvne  Origin  and  Cosinical  Relations" 
Robert  Mallet,  A.M.,  C.E.,  F.E.S.,  M.R.I.A.,  & 
ceivcd  April  3,  1874. 

(Abstract.) 

Eeferring  to  his  original  paper  (Phil.  Trans,  1873),  the  ai 
marks  here  that,  upoti  the  basis  of  the  heat  iftmnally  dissipated 
globe  being  equal  to  that  evolved  by  the  melting  of  777  cubic 
ice  at  zero  to  water  at  the  same  temperature,  and  of  the  expc 
datu  conlKiiied  in  his  paper,  he  had  demonstrated,  in  terms 
crushed  rock,  the  annual  supply  of  heat  derivable  from  the  tra 
tion  of  the  meehanical  work  of  contraction  available  for  volcanii 
and  had  also  estimated  the  proportion  of  that  amount  of  heat  i 
to  support  the  anmml  vulcanicity  now  active  on  our  globe  ;  bnt, 
want  of  necessary  data,  he  hod  refrained  from  making  any  cnlcu 
to  what  amount  in  volume  of  the  sohd  shell  of  our  earth  tmigl  \k 
annually,  in  order  to  admit  of  the  shell  following  down  after  ■ 

t])id]y  contracting  nucleus.  This  calculation  ho  now  makes 
sis  of  certaiJi  allowable  suppositions,  where  the  want  of  datn 
snch  to  be  made,  and  for  assumed  tiiicknesses  of  solid  shell  of  ] 
400,  and  BOO  miles  respectively. 

From  'the  cnn-e  of  total  contraction  (plate  x.  Phil.  Trane 
1873)  obtained  by  his  experiments  on  the  contraction  of  slag: 
now  deduced  partial  mean  coefficients  of  conlractiou  for  a,  redi 
temperature  of  1°  Fahr.,for  intervals  generally  of  about  500°  for  t 
scale,  between  a  temperature  somewhat  exceeding  that  of  tl 
furnace  and  that  of  the  atmosphere,  or  63°  I'ahr.  And  appl 
higher  of  these  cocfKcicnts  to  the  data  of  his  former  paper,  ao 
suppositions  of  the  present,  he  has  obtained  the  ahsolut*  eontr 
volume  of  the  nuclei  appertaining  to  the  respective  thicknesses 
shell  above  stated.  In  order  that  the  shell  may  follow  down  an 
in  contact  with  the  contracted  nucleus,  either  its  tiiickness  uiu. 
•  RcBd  June  2n,  1S72 :  Phil,  Trnn.,  for  iST-l,  p.  147. 


1874.] 


Presenli. 


crease<],  its  volume  remaiuiug  couataut,  or  the  thickuess  being  coostont, 
a  portion  of  the  volume  must  be  extruded.  The  former  supposition  is 
not  admissible,  ns  the  epoch  of  mountain-building  has  apparently  ceased ; 
adopting  the  secoud,  the  author  calculates  the  volume  of  matter  that 
must  be  crushed  and  extruded  from  the  shell  in  order  that  it  may  remain 
in  contact  with  the  nucleus.  He  tabulates  these  results  for  the  four 
assumed  thicknesses  of  shell,  and  shows  that  the  amount  of  crushed 
and  extruded  rock  necessary  for  the  heat  for  the  support  of  existing 
\'olcanic  action  is  supplied  by  that  extruded  from  the  shell  of  between 
600  and  800  miles  thickness,  and  that  the  volume  of  material,  heated  or 
molten,  annually  blown  out  from  all  existing  volcanic  cones,  as  estimated 
in  his  former  paper,  could  be  supplied  by  the  extruded  matter  from  a 
shell  of  between  200  and  400  miles  in  thickness. 

On  data  which  seem  tolerably  reliable  the  author  has  further  been 
enabled  to  calculate,  as  he  believes  for  the  first  time,  the  actual  amount 
of  annual  contraction  of  our  globe,  and  to  show  that  if  that  be  assumed 
constant  for  the  last  5000  years,  it  would  amount  to  a  little  more  than  s 
reduction  of  about  35  inches  on  the  earth's  mean  radius.  This  quantity, 
mighty  as  are  the  effects  it  produces  as  the  efficient  cause  of  volcanic 
action,  is  thus  shown  to  be  so  small  as  to  elude  all  direct  astronomical 
observation,  and,  when  viewed  in  reference  to  the  increase  of  density  due 
to  refrigeration  of  the  material  of  the  shell,  to  be  incapable  of  producing, 
during  the  last  2000  years,  any  sensible  effect  upon  the  length  of  the 
day.  The  author  draws  various  other  conclusions,  showing  the  support 
given  by  the  principal  results  of  this  entirely  independent  investigatioa 
to  the  verisimilitude  of  the  \  lews  contained  iu  his  previous  memoir. 


PmenU  r 


ii'frf,  Aj>rit  16,  1874. 


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Tome  m.  No.  2-4.  4to.  1874.  The  ficole. 

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Tome  U.  No.  1.  8to.  1874.  The  Society. 

Rome ; — Accademia  Fontificia  de'  Nuovi  Lincei.      Atti.    Anno  27. 

Sess.  1-3.  4to.  Soma  1874.  The  Academy. 

Utrecht : — Nederlandsch  Oosthuia  voor  Ooglijders.    Veerriende  Joar- 

lijksch  Verelag  door  .  .  .  F.  C.  Bonders.  8vo.   Ulreeht  1873. 

The  Hospital. 


B«port«,  &c. 
Melbourne: — StatisHcs  of  the  Colony  of  Victoria.   1871.   Index  and 
Part  9'.  1872.  Port  1,  3,  4,  5,  6.  foUo.  1871-72. 

The  B^strar^-Oeneral  of  Victoria. 

Montreal; — Geological  Suney  of  Canada.     Report  of  Progress  for 

1872-73,  by  A.  R.  C.  Selwyn.  8to.  1873.    Report  on  the  Fossil 

Pluits  of  the  Lower  Carboniferous  and  Millstone^rit  Fonno- 

tions  of  Canada,  by  J.  W.  Dawson,  F.E.S.  8to.   1873. 

The  Sun'ey. 
Turin : — Be^o  Osservatorio  dell'  tJniversiti.  BolIettinoMeteorologico 
ed  Astronomico.    Anno  7.    4to.    Torino  1873. 

The  Observatory. 
Wellington ;— Statistics  of  New  Zealand  for  1872.  folio.  1874. 

The  Be^strar-Geneiol  of  New  Zealand. 


331  I'rof,  A,  C.  Itnmsny  oh  Ccoioi/ictil  Ages 

"On  the.  Comparative  Value  of  eertaiii  Geological  Ages  (or  groups 
of  Formations)  considered  as  items  of  Geological  Time."  By  A. 
C.  Ramsay,  Lh.D.,  V.P.ft.S.  Received  December  16, 1873 
There  ore  several  metbod^  by  whicb  attempts  have  been  made  to  esti- 
mate the  value  of  luiuor  portious  of  geological  time,  one  of  whicb  18 
founded  on  calculations  of  the  probable  Age  of  delt&s,  deduced  froiii> 
eatimate«,  more  or  less  Accurate,  of  the  quantity  of  matter  ananolly 
ried  iu  8U8[>en3ion  in  rivers,  in  relation  to  the  area  occupied  by,  and  the 
thickness  of,  any  given  delta,  such  ns  that  of  the  ^Mississippi.  But  tut 
none  of  these  deltas  are  complet«d,  and  oa  it  ib  imkuown  when,  in  tlM 
course  of  terrestrial  changes,  such  completion  may  take  place,  no 
con,  as  yet,  successfully  attempt  to  apply  this  kind  of  knowledge  to  tbe 
amount  of  time  that  nas  occupied  in  the  formation  of  any  of  the  ancient- 
geological  deltas,  such,  for  instance,  as  that  of  tbe  Purbeck  and  Wealdea 
area. 

Mr.  Jame«  CroU  has,  tvith  considerable  success,  attempted  to  measura 
that  portion  of  geological  time  which  relates  to  the  last  gnsat  O-lacial 
epoch,  founding  his  conclusions  on  aBtronomieal  data  calculated  back- 
wards for  a  uiillion  of  years ;  but,  as  yet,  the  precise  beginning  o£  that 
epoch  has  not,  iu  my  opinion,  been  shomi ;  and  in  tbe  absence  of  precise 
data  respecting  the  number  of  lotnl  gladal  episodes  that  may  have  pre- 
ceded the  last,  and  the  complicated  calculations  that  would  be  necessary 
to  measure  these  inten'als,  even  iE  all  these  episodes  were  known,  no 
data  are  yet  accessible  for  the  application  of  Mr.  Croli's  method  to  the 
greater  part  of  geological  time. 

There  are  other  ways  in  which  the  subject  has  been  approached,  bat 
always,  of  necessity,  with  a  total  want  of  definitoneas  with  regard  to  their 
value  in  the  measurement  of  time.  The  relative  thickness  of  difEermt 
formations  gives  no  clue,  or  only  a  very  slight  one,  to  the  solution  of 
the  question.  Again,  when  in  great  and  thick  formations  that  spread 
over  wide  areas,  such  as  those  of  Silurian  age,  on  upper  part  of  the 
series  is  found  to  lie  quite  unconformably  on  the  lower  half,  it  requires 
but  little  experience  iu  geology  to  infer  that  the  imconformity  indicates 
a  long  lapse  of  unknown  time,  unrepresented  by  strata  over  a  given  area. 
When  we  link  such  phenomena  of  striking  unconformity  with  the  disap- 
pearance in  that  area  of  some  of  the  genera  and  most  of  the  species  in  the 
older  strata,  and  their  replacement  by  new  and,  to  a  great  extent,  generally 
of  closely  allied  forms,  this  addition  to  our  data  gives  no  c)e^  help  in  tiie 
absolute  measurement  of  time ;  for  no  one  aa  yet  has  even  dared  to  speculate 
on  the  length  of  time  that  may  have  been  necessary  for  the  producti(Hi 
of  results  so  remarkable  as  those  deduced  from  the  theory  of  evolution. 

I  am  well  aware  of  much  that  may  be  said  on  the  other  side  of  this 
particular  question,  such  as  that  the  incoming  life  of  the  later  epoch 
•  Beoa  Jan.  29,  1874.    See  nn«,  p.  145. 


at  itema  of  Geological  Ttme.  335 

may  be  merely  the  result  of  migration  from  aomo  other  area  or  areas, 
where  it  lived  contemporaneously  with  the  forma  imbedded  in  the  older 
gtrata ;  but  this  by  no  means  gets  rid  of  the  question  of  time,  with  those 
who  may  believe  in  an  hypothesis  so  uncertain,  if  it  so  happen  that  th^ 
also  uphold  the  doctrine  of  evolution.  Looked  at  in  this  light,  it  in 
obvious  that  the  balance  of  probability  is  largely  in  favour  of  the  greater 
proportion  of  the  specific  forms  in  a  new  formation  being,  iu  the  conun<Hi 
meaning  of  the  word,  of  later  date  than  those  of  an  older  formation,  on 
which  the  newer  strata  lie  unconformably. 

Neither  is  the  main  question  altered  by  the  circumstance  that  a  pro- 
portion of  PaliEOioic  genera  are,  in  some  parts  of  the  world,  occasionally 
and  nnezpectedly  found  along  with  Mesosoic  associates.  The  fact  remains, 
that  changes  in  life  have  been  produced,  during  lapses  of  time,  in  specific 
and  consequently  in  generic  forms,  and  that  such  contrasts  of  specific, 
and  often  of  generic,  forms  are  always  most  striking  where  marked  un- 
conformities are  found  of  a  kind  which  prove  that  the  lower  strata  had 
previously  been  much  disturbed,  and,  as  land,  had  suffered  much  denudiv* 
tion  before  being  again  submerged. 

Seeing  that  speculations  such  as  those  enumerated,  even  when  founded 
on  well-established  facts,  afford  but  little  help  in  the  absolute  measnre- 
ment  of  geological  time,  it  has  onxmrred  to  me  t«  look  at  the  question 
from  another  point  of  view,  and,  in  a  broad  manner,  to  attempt  to  esti- 
mate the  &>mparative  valut  of  long  and  distinct  portiona  of  geological 
time,  all  of  which  are  represented  by  important  series  of  formations. 

In  two  papers*  I  have  attempted  to  show  that  the  Old  Bed  Sandstone,  ■ 
Permian,  and  New  Eed  series  were  all  deposited,  not  in  an  open  sea,  but  in 
great  inland  lakes,  fresh  or  salt ;  and  this,  taken  in  connexion  with  the 
wide-spreading  terrestrial  character  of  much  of  the  Carboniferous  series, 
showed  that  a  great  continental  age  prevuled  over  much  of  Europe  and 
in  some  other  regions,  from  the  close  of  the  Upper  SOurian  epoch  to  the 
close  of  the  Trias.  The  object  of  the  present  memoir  is  to  endeavour  to 
show  the  value  of  the  time  occupied  in  the  deposition  of  the  formations 
alluded  to  above,  when  compared  with  the  time  occupied  in  the  deposi- 
tion of  the  Cambrian  and  Siluriui  rockx,  and  of  the  marine  and  fresh- 
water strata  which  were  deposited  between  the  close  of  the  Triasslc 
epoch  and  the  present  day. 

Partly  for  the  same  reasons  that  I  consider  the  Old  Red  Sandstone  to 
have  been  a  lake  formation,  so  I  think  it  probable  that  the  red  and 
purple  Cambrian  rocks  of  Scotland,  Shropshire,  and  Wales  were  also 
chiefly  deposited  iu  inland  waters,  occasionally  alternating,  as  at  St. 
David's,  with  marine  interstratifications,  generally  marked  by  grey  sla^ 
fossiliferous  shales,  somewhat  in  the  same  manner  that  several  bands  con- 
•  qiurterly  Jaumal  Geol  Soo.  1871  (toI.  iztiL  pp.  169-198  \  341-254),  "  On  the 
Fhyiiosl  BeUtioiu  of  thft  Nbw  Bad  SUrl,  Blustio  Beds,  and  Lower  Luu,"  and  "  On 
the  Bed  Bocks  of  Eaglsud  of  older  date  thsa  ths  Triaa.' 


336  Pi'of'.  A.  C.  Haiusay  oa  Gtologkiil  Age* 

tainiug  mariue  fossilti  are  iutertit ratified  amoug  the  freshw'ater  etrala  of 
the  Miocont?  rocks  of  SwilKerland.  The  probability  of  these  Cambriaa 
strata  being  partly  of  lacustrine  origin  is  increased  by  the  occurrence 
of  analogous  beds  beneath  the  Silurian  strata  of  the  Punjab.  There,  in 
what  is  kuown  as  the  Salt  Bauge,  I  am  informed  by  Professor  Oldhain, 
are  certain  red  marly  and  sandy  strata  believed  to  be  the  general  equi- 
valents of  our  piu-ple  Cambrian  rocks.  They  contain  several  thick  beds 
of  rock-salt,  such  as  could  only  have  been  deposited  by  supersatunitioD 
due  to  solar  evaporation,  in  the  manner  that  rotk-salt  seems  to  have 
been  formed  in  the  Keuper  Marl. 

If  the  red  Cambriaa  beds  of  Britain  were  partly  deposited  in  iuluid 
waters,  then  it  appears  likely  that  our  BDurian  formations,  from  the  b&- 
called  Mcnevian  and  Lingula  beds  upwards,  were  all  deposited  under 
marine  conditiona  between  two  continental  epochs,  the  close  of  the 
first  of  whicji  is  indicated  by  the  nature  of  the  Cambrian  rocks,  and  tho 
beginning  of  the  second  by  the  passage  of  the  Upper  Ludlow  beda  into 
the  base  of  the  Old  Bed  Sandstone. 

The  physical  conditioDs  and  lung  duration  of  the  second  contineat^ 
epoch  have  been  described  in  my  two  memoirs  on  the  Red  Eocks  of  £ng- 
land  •-  The  fimnas  of  tlie  Cambrian  and  Lingula-fli^  series  (which  pass 
conformably  into  each  otlier).  in  the  comparati\e  paucitj'  of  species  and 
their  fragmentary  character,  seem  partjy  to  indicate  occasional  inluid 
shallow  seas,  possibly  comparable  to  the  great  inlet  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy ; 
and  this  scanty  life  probably  gives  but  a  poor  idea  of  the  fuller  fauna  of 
the  period,  hints  of  which  we  get  from  the  equivalent  formations  of 
Sweden  and  Bohemia. 

In  the  '  Geology  of  North  Wales '  (IStJU)  I  haie  shown  that  there  is 
a  gradual  passage  between  the  Cambrian  rocks  and  that  portion  of  tho 
Lingula-flag  series  now  sometimes  called  Meneiian ;  and,  for  some  years, 
I  have  held  that  the  whole  series  of  formations,  from  the  lowest  known 
Cambrian  to  the  top  of  tho  Ludlow  beds,  mav,  in  Britain,  be  most 
conveniently  cUssed  under  three  groups :  Cambrian,  Linguk,  and 
Tremadoc  slates  form  the  lowest  group,  succeeded  niicoitfamuiblg  by 
the  second  group,  consisting  of  the  Llandeilo  and  Bala,  or  Caradoc, 
beds ;  above  these  we  have  the  Llandovery,  or  May  Hill,  beds,  over- 
laid by  the  Wenlock  and  Ludlow  series,  the  Llandovery  beds  lying 
quite  uneonfonnahhj  on  any  and  all  of  the  formatious  of  older  date,  from 
the  Cambrian  to  the  Caradoc  strata  inclusive.  With  each  unconformable 
break  in  stratigraphical  succession  there  is  a  corresponding  break  in  the 
succession  of  species,  very  few  (about  2|  per  cent,  out  of  68  known 
species)  passing  from  the  Tremadoc  slate  into  the  Llandeilo  beds,  while 

■  Abo  in  s  lecture  aubaequentlj  given  at  the  "RoyiA  Initltulion,  in  nliidi  this  pieca 
of  geological  liiatory  was  put  into  a  more  ooneecutive  form,  and  the  Bubatanoe  of 
which^inu  published  in  full  in  the  '  Can leoiporary  Iteriew '  Tor  Jnlv  IST3,  and  (in 
Paris)  in  llie  '  KeTue  Scientillqiie '  of  14th  June. 


a«  ilenu  of  Geological  Time.  337 

from  the  Coradoc  Sandstone  only  about  11  per  cent,  pass  onward  into 
the  Upper  Silurian  strata.  These  phenomena  indicate  gaps  in  geolo- 
gical time  unrepresented  in  the  Silurian  series  of  Britain  by  stratifled 
deposits,  and,^herefore,  also  unrepresented  by  genera  and  species,  that, 
did  we  know  them,  might  serve  to  link  together  the  life  of  the  uncon- 
formable formations  in  a  more  graduated  succession  of  fonns.  I  recapi- 
tulate these  opinions,  which  were  in  part  originally  giren  in  my  first 
Presidential  Address  to  the  Geological  Society  (1863),  because  they  bear 
on  the  arguments  that  follow. 

Like  the  Cambrian  and  Silurian  rocks,  the  Devonian  strata  have  also 
been  classified  in  three  divisions  by  paleeontologiste — Lower,  Middle,  and 
Upper.  In  Britain  the  Lower  Devonian  fauna  is  poor  in  numbers, 
while  it  is  rich  both  on  the  continent  of  Europe  and  in  North 
America.  In  England  both  the  Middle  and  Upper  Devonian  fossils  are 
plentiful  enough.  According  to  Mr.  Etheridge,  out  of  74  English  forms 
25  per  cent,  pass  from  the  Lower  into  the  Middle  division ;  while,  out  of 
268  forms,  25  per  cent,  pass  from  the  Middle  into  the  L'pper  Devonian 
strata.  No  one  has  yet  proved  that  these  breaks  in  poltcontological 
succession  in  the  Devonian  strata  are  accompanied  by  unconformable 
stratification ;  but  the  entire  region  has  never  been  accurately  mapped 
according  to  the  detailed  methods  of  modem  work.  However  this  may 
turn  out,  the  vast  thicknesses  of  these  strata,  characterized,  like  the  great 
SUurian  divisions,  by  three  marine  faunas,  of  which  the  species  are 
mostly  distinct,  would-  seem  to  indicate  that  the  time  occupied  in  their 
deposition  may  be  fairly  compared  with  that  occupied  in  the  accumula- 
tion of  the  Silurian  series. 

I  accept  the  view  that  the  Old  Hed  Sandstone,  as  a  whole,  is  the 
general  equivalent  in  time  of  the  Devonian  formations,  and  probably  of 
a  good  deal  more ;  for  our  Lower  Devonian  beds  have  no  defined  base, 
and,  therefore,  their  predse  relation  to  the  British  Upper  Silurian  rocks 
is  unknown,  whereas  the  Upper  Ludlow  rocks  of  Wales  and  its  borders 
pass  conformably,  and  somewhat  gradually,  into  the  Old  Bed  Sandstone. 
If  the  Devonian  rocks  be  the  equivalent  of  the  Old  Red  Sandstone,  it 
follows  that  the  tims  oeeupitd  in  iht  dtpoiition  of  iht  latter  niny  have  been 
oi  long  ai  that  lalcen  in  the  <Upo»itit>n  of  the  CanAriaa  and  Sihtriatt  series. 
This  position  is  greatly  strengthened  by  the  thorough  specific,  and  in 
great  part  generic,  differences  in  the  fossils  of  the  Upper  Ludlow  and 
those  found  in  the  marine  Carboniferous  series — differences  that,  to  my 
mind,  indicate  a  long  lapse  of  time,  represented  by  the  deposition  of  the 
marine  Devonian  strata,  during  which  time  the  Old  Bed  Sandstone  was 
being  elsewhere  deposited  in  the  large  lakes  of  an  ancient  continent. 
These  palsDontological  comparisons  seem  to  me  to  indicate  the  vast 
length  of  time  necessary  for  the  accumulaticm  of  these  old  lacustrine  strata. 

The  next  question  to  be  considered  is,  what  time  the  deposition  of 
the  Old  Bed  Sandstone  may  have  taken,  when  compared  with  the  time 


8t38  Prof.  A.  C.  Ramsay  on  Geological  AgeB 

occupied  in  the  deposition  of  certain  members  of  the  Mesoioic  series. 
This  maybe  attempted, partly  on  stratigraphical  and  partly  on  paUBonto-  ' 
logical  considerations. 

The  Lower  Lias,  at  its  junction  with  the  Middle  Lias,  ^or  Marlstoiie» 
passes  gradually  into  that  formation  on  the  coast-cliffs  of  Yorkshire, 
where  it  is  impossible  to  draw  a  boundary-Hue  between  them,  either 
lithologically  or  palsDohtologically.  Both  contain  beds  of  the  same  kind 
of  ironstone ;  and  the  marly  and  somewhat  sandy  clays,  through  about 
twenty  feet  of  strata,  are  similar  in  character,  while  a  good  proportion  . 
of  the  fossils  in  these  passage-beds  are  common  to  both  formations. 
Higher  up,  where  the  Marlstone  becomes  more  sandy,  a  suite  of  fossils, 
to  a  great  extent  new,  appears,  due  apparently  to  altered  conditions  of  the 
sea-bottom :  the  water  was  shallower  and  nearer  shore ;  and  the  topmost 
strata  of  sandstone  often  contain  many  stem-like  bodies,  sometimes  two  or 
three  feet  in  length,  lying  on  the  surfaces  of  the  beds  in  curved  lines,  the 
same  stems  sometimes  bending  and  crossing  each  other  in  a  manner  that 
strongly  reminds  the  observer  of  the  broken  stalks  of  Laminarian  seaweeds 
lying  on  a  sandy  shore,  within  close  reach  of  a  Laminarian  mne.  Taking 
these  thingsiuto  account,  there  seems  to  be  a  much  more  intimate  connexion 
l)etweeTi  th(^  Lower  and  Middle  than  there  is  between  the  sandv  beds  of 
the  Middle  Lias  and  the  ITi)j)er  Lias  clays  of  Yorkshire,  between  which, 
though  there  is  a  perfect  conformity,  yet  a  sudden  break  in  lithological 
character  occurs,  accompanied  by  a  nearly  complete  change  of  fossil 
species.  But  the  three  divisions  being  conformable  to  each  other,  the 
diversities  of  fossil  contents,  more  or  less,  seem  to  be  owing  to  changes 
in  the  physical  condition  of  the  sea,  caused,  in  the  case  of  the  Upper  Lias 
shale,  to  sudden  depression  of  the  area,  which  resulted  in  the  deposition 
of  the  muddy  sediments  of  the  L^pper  Lias  in  deeper  water  than  that 
which  received  the  uppermost  sediments  of  the  Marlstone.  In  the 
Midland  Counties,  however,  the  lithological  break  between  the  Middle 
and  Upper  Lias  is  not  so  sudden,  and,  in  that  region,  there  is  a  greater 
community  of  species. 

In  Yorkshire  the  strata  immediately  above  the  Lias  are  of  mixed  ter- 
restrial, freshwater,  and  marine  beds  ;  but  even  there  and  in  the  middle  of 
England,  as  shown  by  Dr.  Wright,  there  is  a  certain  community  of  fossils 
in  the  passage-lx^ds  that  unite  the  L^pper  Lias  to  the  Inferior  Oolite. 
There  is  no  perfect  stratigraphical  or  pahoontological  break  bet\i'eenthem; 
and  when  we  ])ass  in  succession  through  all  the  remaining  members  of  the 
truly  marine  Oolitic  series  of  Gloucestershire,  Somersetshire,  and  Dorset- 
shire,  no  real  unconformity  anywhere  exists.  The  same  species  of  fossils, 
in  greater  or  less  degree,  are  apt  to  be  common  to  two  or  more  formations ; 
for  example,  such  community  exists  between  the  fossils  of  the  Inferior 
Oolite  and  those  of  the  (^ombrash,  between  those  of  the  freestones  of 
the  Inferior  and  Great  Oolites,  of  the  Stonesfield  and  CoUyweston  flates, 
and  betwei.»n  those  of  the  Kimmeridge  and  Portland  Oolites. 


tu  item*  tff  Geological  Time.  339 

The  change  (&  life  in  the  tea-bottoms  vaa,  so  to  mj,  partly  local,  toA 
due  more  to  minor  acddental  physical  causes  than  to  tlyt  lai^er  kind  ot 
change  that  is  marked  by  great  diaturbance  of  a  lowir  set  of  stratm, 
long-continued  denudation,  and  the  subsequent  unconlprmable  depo^ 
tion  of  a  newer  set  of  beds  upon  them,  thus  clearly  indicating  a  long 
lapse  of  tdme  unrepresented  by  strati&ed  deposits  over  a  gi?en  area.  I 
therefore  infer  that  the  whole  of  the  Liassic  and  Oolitic  series  must  be 
looked  upon  as. presenting  the  various  phases  of  one  foctes  of  marine  life, 
belongbg  to  one  geological  epoch,  marked  by  boundaries  below  and  above 
which  depended  on  definite  physical  conditiuns  over  a  large  area.  Such 
a  state  of  things  in  this  Mesozoic  epoch  is  comparable  to  the  changes  in 
the  fossil  contents  of  the  various  subformations  of  the  Cambrian  and 
Ijngula-flag  series,  of  which  the  Tremadoc  slates  fonu'an  upper  qiember  ; 
and,  in  my  opinion,  the  comparison  holds  good  even  partly  in  the 
manner  of  their  deposition,  parts  of  both  series  having  been  locally 
deposited  in  waters  not  marine.  On  these  grounds,  therefore,  the 
Jurassic  formationa,  as  a  whole,  may  be  compared  with  these  early  Palso- 
Eoic  formations  in  tiie  length  of  time  octupied  for  the  depositum  of  taeh. 

If  this  inference  be  just,  then,  in  like  manner,  they  may  be  compared 
with  the  Lower  Devonian  strata — in  England  poor  in  fossils  as  far  as  is 
yet  known,  but  rich  on  the  continent  of  Europe  and  in  North  America ; 
and  this  (assuming  that  the  Devonian  and  Old  Bed  Sandstone  strata  are 
equivalents)  implies  that  a  lower  portion  of  the  Old  Red  Sanditone  may 
have  taken  at  long  for  it*  depoaitian  a»  the  ti'Jioh  of  iht  timt  occupied  in  the 
depoiition  of  the  Liauic  and  Oolitic  series. 

It  is  now  generally  allowed  that  the  Wealden  beds  of  England  are  the 
freshwater  and  estuarine  equivalents  of  the  Lower  and  Middle  Neo- 
comian  strata  of  the  Continent,  which,  in  a  paUeontological  sense,  may 
be  said,  in  some  degree,  to  be  related  to  the  uppermost  Jurassic  strata,  in 
so  far  that  a  certain  proportion  of  the  species  of  Mollosca  are  common 
to  both,  as  shown:  by  Forbes  and  Godwin-Austen ;  while,  in  our  own 
country,  from  the  Lower  Greensand  (Upper  Keocomian)  about  14  or 
15  per  cent,  of  the  fossils  pass  on  into  the  Upper  Cretaceous  strata. 
The  same  kind  of  proportion,  but  in  less  degree,  is  found  in  the  relations 
of  the  Tremadoc  to  the  Llandeilo  and  Bala  series,  and  of  the  latter  to 
the  Upper  Silurian  formations,  and  also  of  the  Lower  to  the  Middle,  and 
of  the  Middle  to  the  Upper,  Devonian  strata.  Those  last  named  being 
representatives  in  time  of  parts  of  the  Old  Bed  Sandstone,  it  follows 
that  the  whole  of  the  time  oeeupied  in  the  deposition  of  the  Old  Sed  Sand- 
stone may  Ttave  been  equal  to  the  wJuile  of  the  time  oeeupied  in  the  deposition 
of  all  the  Juraasie,  Parbeel;  Wealden,  and  Cretaeeoue  strata  collectively. 

The  next  term  of  the  continental  era  under  review  is  the  Carbonifer- 
ous epoch,  which,  in  its  various  conditions  and  numerous  local  subdivi- 
sions, may  with  considerable  propriety  be  compared  to  the  Eocene  period. 
The  d^ositfl  of  both  are  locally  of  marine,  estuarine,  freshwater,  and 


-I 


310  I'rof.  A.  C.  Ramsay  on  (ieohg'tral  Ages 

terrestrial  origin,  Aud  both  are  clearly  connected  tvith  long  t 
tioental  epochs. 

Next  come  thf  various  inembera  of  the  Penniftu  series,  whirit.tfj 
published  conehistous  are  correct,  were  partly  formed  in  great  i^ 
lakes,  analogous  to  the  Caspian  Sea  and  other  aak  lakes  of  C«iitnJi 
at  the  present  day.  Having  heen  depottiled  in  lakes,  thesv  sttbfM 
tions  may,  in  this  one  respect,  be  compared  to  the  lacustrine  Btntt 
Miocene  age  ;  and  if  0astaldi'e  conclusions  with  regard  to  pari  d.  I 
Italian  Miocene  beds,  and  my  own  opinions  respectuig  part  of  I 
Permian  strata,  be  correct,  each  series  Eihona  eiideuw  of  having  induJ 
a  glacial  episode. 

Ijater  than  the  Permian  comes  theNe»E€d,orTrias8ic,  Heries.n^ 
in  this  region,  is  not  directly  connected  with  the  Permian  strata,  ia 
far  that,  where  they  occur  in  contact,  the  New  Rod  Sandstone  u  ga 
rally  imconformable  to  the  Permian  bods.  Li  the  threefold  dinnon 
the  New  Ked  series  in  France  and  Germany,  the  marine  beda  of  i 
Muschelkalk  (unknown  in  England)  may  be  eomparetl  to  the  Lomt 
Coralline  Crag  strata ;  and,  though  the  Keuper  Marls  of  Britain  ajid 
much  of  the  Continent  were  evidently  deposited  in  inlaud  coDtina 
iftlt  lakes,  in  the  region  of  the  Alps  the  St.  Cassian  and  Hallsb 
marine  b«ls,  being  equivalent  to  the  Keuper  Marls,  may  in  this  nm 
be  compared  to  the  Red  Crag  series.  No  one  is,  I  think,  likely  to  ci 
aider  that  the  marine  strata  of  Triassic  age  took  a  shorter  time  in  th 
deposition  than  tlie  marine  beds  of  the  Crag  ;  and,  if  we  take  the  X 
Red  Sandstone  into  account,  the  probability  is,  that  the  whole  of  1 
Triassic  series  occupied  in  their  deposition  a  much  longer  time  than  tl 
taken  iu  the  deposition  ot  the  Plioceue  marine  straia. 

In  my  opinion,  a  great  Tertiary  continental  phase  began  with  t 
Eocene  strata ;  and  that  continent  having  undergone  many  phyaii 
changes,  has  continued,  down  to  the  present  day,  with  a  certain  amou 
of  identity;  and  an  analogous,  though  not  strictly  similar,  state  of  thin 
prevailed  for  an  older  continent,  during  the  deposition  of  a  large  part 
the  formations  treated  of  iu  this  memoir. 

Tf  the  method  founded  on  the  foregoing  comparisons  be  of  value  w 
then  arrive  at  the  general  conclusion,  ihal  the  (/reat  Ueal  contitifntal  tr 
tuhich  bcjan  with  the  Old  Rud  Sandstone  and  cloied  with  Ike  Ntiv  R, 
Marl,  is  oomparahU,  in  point  of  gmlogircd  time,  to  that  oeewpietl  in  ti 
drpotition  of  the  whole  of  the  Metozoie-,  or  Secandari/,  series,  later  tJta*  ti 
New  Bed  Marl,  and  of  all  the  Cainoioie,  or  Tertiary,  foifnaliong,  mu 
indeed,  of  all  the  time  that  has  elapsed  since  tlu  heginniiiQ  of  the  dtpou 
t!on  of  the  Lins  down  to  tht  present  da;/.  To  attempt  to  prove  thi 
theorem  is  the  special  object  of  this  paper  ;  .ind  if  I  have  been  sue 
cessful,  the  corollary  must  be  deduced  that  the  modem  continenta 
era  which  followed  the  oceanic  submersion  of  a  mde  area,  during  whid 
the  greater  part  of  the  Chalk  was  Ijeing  depo^itetl,  has  been  of  miicl 


as  items  of  Geological  Time,  341 

'  shorter  duration  than  the  older  contment  mentioned  above  in  italics ;  and 
^  which,  to  us,  seems  so  ancient,  when  we  think  that  the  Alps  and  the  Jura 

had  then  no  more  than  a  rudimentary  existence. 
*  There  are  other  points  that  bear  on  the  comparative  value  of 
different  epochs  of  geological  time.  During  the  older  local  continental 
epoch  there  flourished  four  distinct  floras,  those  of  the  Old  Bed  Sand- 
stone, Carboniferous,  Permian,  and  Triassic  series.  Of  these  the  first 
three,  notwithstanding  considerable  generic  and  complete  specific  differ- 
ences, may  yet  be  said  to  be  of  one  Palaeozoic  type.  The  Triassic  fiora, 
as  far  as  it  is  known,  is  of  a  mixed  character,  with  generic  affinities,  how- 
ever, that  unite  it  more  closely  to  the  Jurassic  fiora  than  to  that  of  the 
Permian  age.  The  whole  series  may  therefore  be  considered  as  resolving 
itself  into  two  types — the  first  extending  from  the  Old  Bed  Sandstone 
to  the  Permian  times,  and  the  second  belonging  to  the  Trias. 

During  the  later  period  that  elapsed,  from  the  beginning  of  the 
deposition  of  tlie  lias  down  to  the  present  day,  we  have  also  four 
distinct  floras — the  first  of  Jurassic  type,  embracing  the  little  we  know 
of  the  Neocomian  fiora ;  the  second.  Cretaceous,  which,  as  regards  the 
Upper  Cretaceous  strata  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  and  of  Greenland,  is  to  a 
great  extent  of  modem  type ;  third,  an  Eocene,  and,  fourth,  a  Miocene 
fiora — the  last  three  being  closely  allied,  and  the  Miocene  flora  of  Europe, 
in  its  great  features,  being  nearly  indistinguishable,  except  in  species, 
from  the  kind  of  grouping  incident  to  some  of  the  modem  floras  of  the 
northern  hemisphere.  The  whole  of  this  series  may,  therefore,  in 
European  regions,  be  also  considered  as  resolving  itself  into  two  types — 
the  first  Jurassic,  and  the  second  extending  from  the  later  Cretaceous 
times  to  the  present  day.  In  this  respect,  the  analogy  to  the  fioras  of 
two  types  of  the  more  ancient  continent  is  obvious ;  and,  in  both  epochs, 
this  kind  of  grouping  is  clearly  connected  with  the  lapse  of  time,  which, 
in  my  opinion,  may  for  each  be  of  approximately  equivalent  value. 

The  evidence  derived  from  terrestrial  Vertebrata  is  not  quite  so  simple. 
In  the  Old  Bed  Sandstone  none  are  yet  known.  In  the  Carboniferous 
rocks  all  the  known  genera  (fourteen  in  Britain)  are  Labjrrinthodont 
Amphibia.  The  same  is  the  case,  though  the  known  genera  are  fewer  in 
number,  with  the  Permian  rocks,  excepting  two  land-lizards  of  the  genus 
Proterosaurus,  Labyrinthodonts  seem  to  decrease  still  more  in  the  number 
of  species  in  the  Trias  ;  but  Crocodiles  appear,  together  with  seven  named 
genera  of  land-lizards,  ti^'o  genera  of  Anomodontia  {Dieynodon  and 
Rhynchosaurus),  three  genera  of  Deinosauria,  and  two  of  Marsupial  Mam- 
malia. As  far  as  we  yet  know,  therefore,  this  ancient  continental  fauna 
pretty  nearly  resolves  itself  into  two  types ;  and,  just  as  the  Triassic 
tspe  of  fiora  passed  into  Jurassic  times,  ko  the  Triassic  land-fauna 
docs  the  same.  The  oldest,  or  Palseozoic,  type  (Carboniferous  and  Per- 
mian) is  essentially  Labjrrinthodontian,  and  the  second,  or  Triassic  is, 
characterized  by  the  appearance  of  many  tme  land-lizards  and  other 
terrestrial  reptiles,  together  with  marsupial  mammslft  \  vcdi  >^\%  \:rs^>^ 

VOL.  XXTI.  *3LTk 


Prof.  A.  C.  Ramsay  on  Geological  Ages 

fauna,  as  regards  genera,  with  the  exceptioD  o(  LabvrinthodoatU  fl 
the  appearance  of  Pt«rosauria,  ia  represented,  pretty  equally,  througii 
[  members  of  the  Meaoioic  formations,  from  Jurassic 
Cretaceous  inclusive.  After  this  comes  the  great  Pachj-dermatoua  Ma 
maliau  Eocene  fauna,  and  after  that  the  Miocene  fauna,  which,  in 
a  characters,  is  of  modem  type. 

Tlie'guoeral  result  is  that,  from  .Turaasic  to  Cretaceous  timee  inclusi 
there  was  a  terrestrial  fauna  in  these  regions,  chiefly  Reptiliau,  Saurii 
and  Marsupial,  and,  in  so-caUed  Cainoioic  or  Tertiary  times,  cbie 
Reptilian  and  Piaeent-al.  In  brief,  the  old  continental  epoch  that  lasl 
from  the  beginning  of  the  Old  Bed  Sandstone  to  the  close  of  the  Tri 
locallv  embraces  two  typical  land-faunas — one  Carboniferous  and  Pi 
I,  and  one  Triassic ;  while  the  later  epoch,  from  the  beginning  of  I 
Lias  to  the  present  day,  also  locally  contained  two  typical  tand-faun 
the  latter  of  which  is  Bpeci*ily  Placental.     (See  Table.) 

I  am  aware  that  such  inferences  are  always  liable  to  be  disturbed 
later  discoveries,  and  I  therefore  merely  offer  the  above  suggestions 
being  in  accordance  with  present  knowledge. 

Auother  point  remains.  The  earliest  known  marine  faunas,  tb< 
of  the  Cambrian,  Liugula-flag,  and  Tremadoc  bods,  include  many 
the  eristing  classes  aud  orders  of  marine  life,  which  are  much  more  f« 
developed  in  the  succeeding  Llandeilo  and  Bala  strata,  such  as  Spon^i 
Annelida,  Echinoderroata,  C'riistacea,  Polyzoa,  Brachiopoda,  Lame) 
branchiata,  Pteropoda,  Nucleobranchiata,  and  Cephalopoda,  This  i 
portant  fact  was  insisted  on  by  Professor  Huxley  in  his  Anniverss 
Address  to  the  GeoSogical  Society  in  18G2.  The  inference  is  obvioi 
that  in  this  earliest  known  Taried  life*  we  find  no  evidence  of  its  havi 
lived  near  the  beginning  of  the  zoolo^cal  series.  In  a  broad  sense,  co 
pared  \iith  what  must  have  gone  before,  both  biologically  and  physical 
all  the  phenomena  connected  with  this  old  period  seem  to  my  mind 
be  quite  of  a  recent  description  ;  and  the  climates  of  seas  aud  lands  wt 
of  the  very  same  kind  as  those  that  the  world  enjova  at  the  present  day 
one  proof  of  which,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  existence  of  great  glacial  hould 
beds  in  the  Lower  Silurian  strata  of  Wigtonshire,  west  of  Loch  Ryanl 

This  conclusion,  not  generally  accepted,  has  since  been  confirmed 
Professor  Geikie  and  Mr.  James  Geikie,  both  with  regard  to  the  "Wigta 
shire  strata  aud  to  the  equivalent  beds  in  Ayrshire.  In  the  words 
Darwin,  when  discussing  the  imperfection  of  the  geological  record 
this  history,  "we  possess  the  last  volume  alone,  relating  only  to  two 
three  countries  ; "  and  the  reason  why  we  know  ao  Uttle  of  pre-Cambri. 
faunas,  and  the  physical  characters  of  the  more  ancient  formations 
originally  deposited,  is,  that,  below  the  Cambrian,  strata  we  get  at  on 
involved  in  a  sort  of  chaos  of  metamorphic  strata. 

■  EariioBt  known  oioept  the  Huroniiui  Arpidelia  Thranovica  and  the  Laorentj 
Bo  toon  Canodtnac. 

t  See  PhiloMipbical  Magudne,  vol  ixii.  p.  289,  186&. 


as  itenu  'of  Geoloffkal  Time, 


343 


The  conneuoD  of  this  queation  with  the  principal  subject  of  this 
paper,  that  of  the  comparative  value  of  di^^rtnt  geological  eras  as  if.-in*  of 
geological  time,  is  obvious.  I  feel  that  this  subject  is  one  of  great 
difficulty;  and,  as  far  as  I  know,  this  is  the  first  time  that  any  attempt 
of  the  kind  has  been  made  tc  solve  the  problem.  If  my  method  be  incor- 
*rect,  it  may  yet  help  to  suggest  a  better  way  to  some  one  else ;  and  iu  the 
meanwhile,  even  if  partly  heterodox,  I  hope  it  may  deserve  toleration. 
Classification  of  Faunas  (Terrestrial,  Freshwater,  and  Estuarine) 
into  Groups. 


Formation!.        |       Clan. 

Otdw. 

Number  o(  Oeaorn. 

No  Tertebrala  tnoim  eieept  fiah 

'                      r 

Permiaa i 

Amphibia... 

BepU'iiti  ... 

Amphibia... 
Beptilia   ... 

11  E. 
3  C. 
3  E. 

1  C. 

3E. 
1  B. 
4  E. 
3  C. 
1  E. 
2E. 

1  C. 

2  E. 

i 

Beptilut  ... 

Chelotiia 

CrooodLlift  

4  E. 
4  E. 

1  C. 
4E. 

2  E. 

pureMio  

:; 

Lnmrtilia    

Dcinomuria 

MammsUa  . 

Pleroaauria 

3  B. 
15  E. 
1  C. 

1 

W«dd  Md 

Septilia  ... 

Chelonia 

Crocodilia  

DeinoMuria    ... 
PteroBauris 

4  E. 
3  E. 

9E. 
1  B. 

''&..{ 

;; 

Crocodilia   

Lacertilia    

3B. 
1  E. 
9  E. 

Mammalia . 

Chelonia 

4  E. 
3  E. 

2E. 
U  E. 

Many  more  in  France. 
Ho  VerlebraU  certain  in  Eng- 

fauna  on  the  Continent.  chieBj 
of  modGni  t  rpe.  The  Pliocene 

fauna*  are  of  course  still  more 

Uiooene  

2 

TbB  letter  B.  meona  English,  O.  Continental  and  notknom  vi , 

phjsieal  phenomena  connected  with  the  CoDttnentaltltata  ia  vb\dittw^  i<s«tQun&*a 
the  main,  identjosl  wiH  (bote  that  afibot  the  Bn^th  looks.  ^u  &atn>wa.  Ccn^ 
^  /own  wiBauonfiii  £tuf21iU«, 


e  BngUth  lOoks,  ^n  Kvio^wu  OsTJomneM 


Mr.  H.  N.  Moseley  on  the  Structure  [Ma; 


May  21,  1874. 
WILLIAM    SPOTTISWOODE,    M.A.,    Treasurer    and    ■■ 
President,   followed   by  Dr.  SHARPEY,  Vice-Presiden 
the  Chair. 

The  Presents  received  were  laid  on  the  table,  and  thanks  ordei« 
The  following  Papers  were  read  : — 

I.  "On  the  Structure  and  Development  of  Peripalus  capen 
By  H.  N.  Moseley,  M.  A.,  Naturalist  to  the  '  ChaUec 
Expedition.  Coinmuuicated  by  Prof.  Wvville  Thoh 
F.R.S.  &c..  Director  of  the  Scientific  Civilian  Staff  of 
Expedition.  Received  April  9,  i874>. 
(Abe  tract.) 

The  author  corameneea  by  expressing  his  obligations  to  Prof 
Thomson,  who  gave  him  assistance  in  some  parts  of  his  work,  and  i 
eDcourage.ment  in  the  further  prosecution  of  it. 

Specimeaa  of  P^i-ipatus  were  collected  at  the  Cape  of  Good  ] 
during  the  stay  of  H.M.S.  '  CImlleuger'  at  Simon's  Bay,  with  a  vie 
the  investigation  of  the  development  of  the  animal.  A  specimen 
dissected  and  at  once  skqii  to  be  provided  wilh  trachere,  and  to  co 
far  developed  young.  This  led  to  ns  careful  iiu  esamioat ion  being  ma 
time  would  permit,  and  hence  the  present  paper.  The  moat  mc 
paper  on  Pcrijial'ia  h  that  of  Grube*.  Grube,  after  eiamining  the 
tomy  of  the  animal,  eame  to  the  condiisiou  that  it  was  hermaphrodite 
placed  it  among  the"  Bris'le- Worms"  iu  a  separate  order,  Ouychop 
Grube  has  been  followed  in  most  test-bool>s,  suth  as  those  of  I 
and  Schmarda;  but  uncertainty  on  the  matter  has  been  generally 
De  Qu^itiefageat  follows  Gervais  in  placing  P.njwfus  in  aflinity  wit 
Myriopods.  and  the  result  of  the  present  investigation  is  to  show  th 
is  no':  far  wrong. 

Tie  species  made  use  of  appears  to  be  Penpalus  capsniU.  desc 
by  Grub.;  in  the  Zoological  Seri-s  of  the  'Novara'  expedition, 
anin.al  has  invariably  ssventeen  pairs  of  ambulatory  members,  a 
of  oral  pnpillffi,  and  two  pairs  of  horny  hooked  jaws,  shut  in  by  t 
lips.  The  specimens  found  vnned  in  leiigvh  from  I'G  to  7  cenlim; 
the  contracted  condition.  About  thirty  specimens  were  found,  i 
^em  but  one  at  Wvnberg,  between  Simon's  Bay  and  Cnpe  Town, 
anijjals  appear  to  ba  somewhat  local  and  not  very  abundant ;  the; 
IB  damp  places  tinder  tr&es,  and  especially  frequent  rotten  willow-i 


•  ^lilki'i  Anhiv,  1S53. 


t  Hi&t.  des  A"""'"* 


1874.]  tmdDevelopmmiof'Ptnpd.UampaMB.  M6 

Tbsy  bed  on  rottoi  vood.  Th^  ue  noctunul  in  their  habiti.  Thsj- 
coll  themielves  ap  spir&lly  like  Inivt  when  injured.  The;  hareanmult- 
able  power  of  extension  of  the  body,  uid  when  walking  stretch  to  nearly 
twice  the  length  they  have  when  at  rest.  Tfac^y  can  move  with  consider- 
able rapidity.  They  walk  with  the  body  entirely  supported  on  their 
feet.  Their  gait  is  not  in  the  least  like  that  of  worms,  but  more  like  that 
of  caterpillars.  When  irritated  they  shoot  out  with  great  suddenneaa 
from  the  oral  papUlie  a  peculiarly  viscid  tenacious  fluid,  which  forme  a 
meshwork  of  fine  threads,  with  viscid  globules  on  them  at  intervals,  the 
whole  resembling  a  spider's  web  with  the  dew  upon  it.  The  fluid  is 
ejected  at  any  injuring  body,  and  is  probably  used  in  defence  against 
enemies,  such  as  insects,  which  would  be  held  powerless  for  some  time 
if  enveloped  in  its  meshes.  The  fluid  ia  not  irritant  when  placed  on 
the  tongue,  but  slightly  bitter  and  astringent ;  it  is  as  sticky  as  bird- 
lime :  flies,  when  they  Ugbt  in  it,  ore  held  fast  at  once.  lie  fluid  k 
structureless,  but  presents  an  appearance  of  fine  fibrillation  when  dry. 
The  animal  ia  beat  obtained  dead  in  an  extended  condition  by  drowning 
it  in  water,  which  operation  takes  four  or  five  hours. 

Only  those  points  in  anatomy  are  touched  on  which  appew  to  httre 
hitherto  been  wrongly  or  imperfectly  described. 

The  intestinal  tract  is  not  straight,  as  described  by  Qruba,  but  longer 
than  the  body,  and  usually  presents  one  vertical  fold  ;  it  presents 
BOmerous  irregular  sinuous  lateral  •folds,  but  is  not  enlarged  in  eveiT 
b^ment,  as  stated  by  (>rube.  Special  regions,  a  muscular  pharynx,  short 
(esophagus,  long  Stomach,  and  short  rectum  are  distinguished  in  the 
tract.  The  viscid  fluid  ejected  from  the  oral  papillie  is  secreted  by  a 
pair  of  ramified  tubular  glands  lying  at  the  sides  of  the  stomach  and 
stretching  nearly  the  whole  length  of  the  body.  These  glands  are  theae 
described  by  Grube  as  testes ;  they  show  a  common  glandular  structure, 
but  no  trace  of  testicular  matter.  A  pair  of  enlorgementa  on  the  ducts 
of  the  glands,  provided  with  spirally  arranged  muscles,  serre  as  ejaculA- 
tory  reservoirs.  The  lateral  elongate  bodies  lying  outside  the  nerve- 
cords,  considered  by  Qrube  to  bo  vessels,  show  a  fatty  structure,  vtrj 
much  in  extent,  and  are  probably  to  be  regarded  as  representing  the  fatty 
bodies  of  Tracheata. 

1^0  structure  like  that  of  the  heart  of  Myiiopods  waa  found  in  the 
dorsal  vessel. 

The  tracheal  system  consista  of  long  fine  tracheal  tubes,  which  reiy 
rarely  branch :  these  arise,  in  densely  packed  bunches,  from  short  com- 
mon tubes,  which  open  all  over  the  body  by  small  outlets  in  the  epi- 
dermis ;  these  outlets  have  no  r^ular  structure  and  are  difficult  to 
lae.  The  whole  of  the  tracheal  system,  very  conspicuoua  in  th»  fresh 
condition,  becomes  almost  invisible  when  the  animal  examined  has  been 
a  short  time  in  spirit,  and  the  air  has  been  thus  mmoved  from  th» 
tnoheo.     Haiuw  the  fiikxe  oi  Gnb*  to  m»  thua.     Tb«  tndee 


346  Mr.  H.  N.  Moseley  on  the  Structure  [May  21, 

are  dUtributed  in  niesliworks  to  aH  the  viscera.  The  Hpiral  filament 
IB  very  imperfectly  developed.  A  row  of  larger  oval  spiracles  esisfs 
along  the  middle  line  of  the  under  surface,  the  spiracles  being  placed 
opposite  the  interspaces  of  the  feet,  but  not  quite  regularly.  Other 
large  spiracles  exist  on  the  inner  sides  of  the  based  of  the  feet.  A 
large  supply  of  trachea  goes  to  the  rectum  and  muscular  pharDvx.  In 
many  points  the  structure  of  the  tracheal    system  resembles  that  in 

Peripatus  is  not  hermaphrodite.  Out  of  thirty  specimens  about  t«ii 
were  males.  No  outward  distiuetion  of  the  sexes  could  be  discovered.  The 
female  organs  consist  of  a  small  oblong  ovary  situate  behind  the  stomach, 
about  one  siith  of  the  length  from  the  end  of  the  bod?  ;  from  tlua  lead  a 
ptaJr  of  oviducts,  which,  at  their  terminations,  become  enlarged  and  per- 
form a  uleriue  function,  appearing,  when  filled  with  embryos,  like  a 
string  of  sausages.  In  nearly  all  cases,  even  when  the  embryos  were 
far  advanced,  two  large'  masaes  of  spermatozoa  were  found  in  the  ovary, 
and  others  attached  to  the  ovisacs  externally.  A  long  loop,  formed  by 
the  oviducts  on  each  side  being  quite  loose  in  the  body,  becomes  often 
thrown  into  a  knot  through  the  constant  protraction  and  retraction  of  the 
body-wull.  The  knot  i?  knoivii  to  =.iilors  fl5  im  overhand  knot  oq  a  bight. 
The  knot  sometimes  becomes  drawn  very  tight,  and  then  prevents  the 
passage  of  the  embryos  above  it.  A  case  was  met  with  in  which  thia 
had  occurred.  The  upper  parts  of  the  oviducts  were  mortified  off  at  the 
knot,  and  remained  attached  only  to  the  ovary.  The  ducts  were  dilated 
iiif«  large  single  sacs,  the  usual  constrictions  between  the  embryos  having 
disappeared,  and  were  full  of  decomposed  embryos  and  fatty  tissue.  The 
knot  was  met  with  in  many  specimens^in  some  cases  on  both  sides  of 
the  body,  in  others  (as  in  that  figured)  on  only  one.  The  oi-iducts  unite 
in  a  short  common  tube  to  open  at  the  simple  vulva.  The  male  orgaoB 
consist  of  a  pair  of  large  ovoid  testes,  surmounted  by  short  tubular 
prostates.  The  vasa  deferentia  are  long  and  tortuous,  forming,  near  the 
testes,  spiral  coils  in  which  the  ducts  are  enlarged,  and  which  may  he 
called  vesiculee  seminales.  A  muscular  ejaculatory  tube,  or  penis,  lies  on 
one  side  of  the  body — sometimes  on  one,  sometimes  on  the  other.  One 
vas  deferens  passes  across,  at  the  end  of  the  body,  under  both  nerve-cords 
to  join  the  penis  ;  the  other  takes  a  more  direct  course,  not  pasdug 
under  the  cords  at  all.  In  the  origbal  condition  both  ducts  probably 
passed  one  under  each  nerve-cord,  to  join  the  centrally  placed  common 
terminal  tube,  homologous  with  that  of  the  female  organs. 

The  spermatozoa  are  filamentary,  as  in  insects  and  in  Seohpendra,  but 
not  in  Iitlus.  Their  development  is  described.  They  are  very  long,  and 
their  tails  have  a  spiral  movement  as  well  as  an  undulatory  one.  They 
twist  into  all  sorts  of  loops. 

The  muscular  tissue  of  Peripatus  is  unstriated. 

The  development  of  Peripaius  was  only  partially  Followed.    As  a  rule, 


1874.]  and  Deveiopment  o/Peripatus  capensia.  347 

&U  the  embryofl  found  in  one  mother  are  of  the  same  age.  In  some 
cases  slight  differences  were  found,  which  were  very  valuable  for  detor- 
mimng  the  development  of  the  part«  of  the  mouth.  The  embryos  lie 
coiled  up  in  simple  hyaline  envelopes,  enclosing  an  ovoid  cavity,  within 
the  enlargements  of  the  uterine  tubes.  In  the  earliest  stage  observed 
the  embryo  had  large  round  cephalic  lobes  and  was  without  members,  but 
showed  distanct  segmentation  about  its  middle ;  it  was  coiled  up  spirally, 
the  head  being  free,  the  tail  in  the  axis  of  the  ceil.  Later  on  the  embryo 
becomes  bent  round  in  an  oval,  with  the  tip  of  the  tail  resting  between 
the  antenuee. 

The  front  members  are  formed  first :  they  arise  as  undulations  of  the 
lateral  wall  of  the  body,  which  become  pushed  further  and  further  out- 
wards, and  ore  at  first  hollow,  formed  of  two  layers  of  cells,  the  inner  of 
which  ia  reflected  over  the  intestine.  The  members  form  one  after 
another,  from  the  head  downwards.  A  line  of  segmentation  is  formed 
across  the  body  before  the  pair  of  members  swells  out,  but  disappears  as 
they  develop.  The  wall  of  the  digestive  tract  is,  in  the  early  condition, 
drawn  out  laterally  at  each  interspace  between  the  pairs  of  members,  to 
become  attached  there  to  the  body-wall.  The  cephalic  lobes  early  show 
traces  of  a  separation  into  two  s^ments,  anterior  and  posterior ;  from 
them,  anteriorly,  bud  out  the  antenuie,  which  gradually  become  more  and 
more  joint«d.     The  mouth  forms  before  the  anus. 

The  full  number  of  body-members  is  very  early  attained.  The  secoud 
pair  is  the  largest  at  first,  but  subsequently  become  the  small  oral 
papillee.  The  first  pair  turn  inwards  towards  the  primitive  mouth- 
opening,  and,  developing  their  claws  greatly,  form  the  pair  of  homy  jaws ; 
these  are  covered  by  processes  which  grow  down  from  the  lower  part  of 
the  head,  and  which  eventually  unite  with  the  tissues  at  the  bases  of  the 
oral  tentacles  and  form  the  tumid  lips,  which,  eventually  closing  in,  hide 
all  the  parts  of  the  mouth  in  the  adult.  The  head-processes  are  probably 
homologous  with  the  mandibles  of  higher  Tracheata,  the  homy  jaws  vrith 
the  maiillffi  and  the  oral  papillee  with  the  foot^jaws  of  Scolopendra ;  a 
regular  labrum  is  formed  by  a  downward  growth  from  the  front  of  the 
head,  but  is  eventually  shut  in  by  the  tumid  lips. 

It  is  uncertain  whether  a  corresponding  structure  beneath  the  mouth 
represents  the  second  under  lip  of  Scolopendra  or  a  true  labium.  The 
foot-claws  are  developed  in  invaginations  of  the  tips  of  the  ambulacral 
members.  The  young  members  develop  five  joints  each,  the  typical 
number  in  insects,  and  one  which  seems  to  be  retained  in  the  adult. 

In  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge  concerning  the  structure  of 
Peripattu,  the  most  remarkable  fact  in  its  structure  is  the  wide  di- 
varication of  the  ventral  nerve-cords.  The  fact  was  considered  re- 
markable and  dwelt  upon  in  all  accounts  of  Peripatu*  befco^  the  exist- 
ence of  trachea  in  the  animal  was  known,  and  wheii  it  was  thought 


Mr.  H.  N".  MoBcley  on  the  Structure 

to  be  hannnphrodite,  but  it  is  doubly  reaawtftble  now.  The  fact  sh 
oS  at  once  all  idsa  of  Peripntus  being  a  degenerate  Myriopod, 
evidance  against  whieb  poiaibility  is  overwhelm  Log.  The  bilateral  sj 
metry  and  duplicity  of  the  organs  of  the  body,  the  absence  of  sH 
tion  in  the  museles,  of  periodical  moults  of  the  larval  skin  in  de 
lopmeot,  aud  of  any  trace  of  a  primitive  thres-legged  condition,  tal 
in  eonjunetion  with  the  divarication  of  the  nerve-cords,  are  concliis 
The  parts  of  the  mouth  are  not  to  be  regardud  as  degraded  to  any  gt 
degree  ;  and  homologies  for  some  of  them,  at  least,  may  perbnps  be  foi 
amongst  the  higher  Annelnis.  The  structure  of  the  stiii  is  not  at 
unlikf  that  in  some  worms,  especially  in  its  chitinoua  epidermic  laj 
which  occasionally  strips  off  in  large  pieces  as  a  thin  transparent  pelli 
The  many  points  of  resemblance  of  Pcripaliu  to  Annelids  need  not  be  d* 
upon  :  they  led  to  its  former  placing  in  classification  ;  but  it  is  diffii 
to  understand  how  the  very  unann  el  id-like  structure  of  the  foot-cli 
did  not  lead  others,  beside  De  QuaToEages,  to  draw  a  line  bet«-een  P 
palui  and  the  Annelids.  In  being  uDiBexual,  Peripatus  is  like  the  big 
Annelids,  as  well  as  the  whole  of  the  higher  Traeheata.  To  Inw 
Peripatut  shows  affinities  in  the  form  of  the  spermatozoa,  and  the  ela 
ration,  structure,  and  bilateral  symmetry  of  the  generati*  6  organs,  thoi 
there  is  a  very  slight  ti^ndency  towards  the  unilaterality  of  Myriopodi 
the  male  organs. 

To  Insects,  again,  it  is  allied  by  the  five-jointing  of  the  feet  and  ( 
papilla)  and  the  form  and  number  of  its  claws.  It  should  be  remembe 
that  spiders'  feet  ore  two-clawed,  as  ore  those  of  some  Tardigrades,  i 
that  some  of  these  latter  forms  ha\e  two-clawed  feet  in  the  earlv  cot 
tion  even  when  they  possess  more  claws  in  the  adult  state.  In  Xevrpg 
well-known  figure  of  the  young  hdua  nith  three  pairs  of  limbs, 
tips  of  these  latter  are  drawn  with  tiuo  hair-like  claws;  these  are 
mentioned  in  the  Icit,  To  the  ordinary  lepidoplerous  larva  the  resi 
blauces  of  Ptripntus  are  striking — as,  for  example,  the  gait,  the  gla 
(so  like  in  their  function  and  position  to  silk-glandsl,  the  form  of 
intestine,  and  the  Jess  perfect  concentration  of  the  uervous  organs,  a; 
larval  insects.  To  Myriopods  Penp:itiL$  is  allied  by  the  great  Tari 
in  numberof  segments  in  the  various  species,  'v\  its  habits,  and  in  th 
especially  to  luhig.  The  parts  of  the  mouth  perhaps  show  a  form  on 
which  those  of  Scolopiitdra  were  derived  by  modification  ;  but  the  resi 
blance  may  bo  superficial.  Our  knowledge  is  not  yet  sufficient  to  dei 
mine  such  points.  The  usual  difficulties  occur  in  the  matter,  Segm* 
mar  have  dropped  out  or  fused,  and  their  original  coudition  may 
bo  represented  at  all  in  the  process  of  development.  In  structure  F 
patus  is  more  like  Scoli^endra  than  /uJiw,  viz,  iu  the  m.any  joints  to 
antennw  (in  CTiiiognaths  never  more  than  fourteen),  in  the  form 
spermatozoa,  and  in  being  viviparous,  as  are  some  Scnlopftulrcf ;  f 
ther,  in  tha  position  of  the  orifices  of   the  generatiro  glands  and 


1874.}  and  Develtpmmt  of  Feripatas  c&penBis.  848 

thd  less  perfvot  oOnmitntioa  meaially  of  the  netirs-corda  in  Btth- 
pentlra. 

PeripaUu  thus  shows  affinitiaa,  in  loina  poinN,  to  all  the  main  bntnchM 
of  the  family  tree  of  Tracheata ;  but  a  gulf  is  fixed  between  it  and  them 
by  thd  divarication  of  the  nerve-cords  :  tending  in  the  aame  direction  are 
Biicli  facta  as  the  nun- s  trial  ion  of  the  muscles,  the  great  power  of  extension 
of  the  body,  the  arrangeitieat  of  the  digestive  tract  in  the  early  stage,  the 
persis'.ence  of  metamorphosis,  and  the  nature  of  the  parts  of  the  mouth, 
the  full  history  of  the  manner  of  origin  of  these  being  reserved. 

There  are  many  speculations  as  to  the  mode  of  origin  of  thv  tracheo 
themselves  in  the  Tracheata.  Professer  Hackel  ('  Biologischs  Studien,' 
p.  491)  follows  Gegenbaiir,  wboss  opinion  is  e.ipresssd  in  his  '  Grundziige 
der  vergleichenden  Anatomie,!  p.  441.  Gegenbaur  concludsa  that 
trachex  were  d3veIoped  from  originally  clo3:!d  trachea!  systems,  through 
the  intervention  oE  the  tracheal  gills  of  primieval  aquatic  ioiscta  now 
repre32nt3d  as  larvie,  IE  Pjripitai  bs  as  ancieat  in  origin  u  is  ber» 
supposed,  the  qondijion  of  the  tracheal  system  in  it  throws  a  very 
diffjren^  light  on  the  ma^tar.  Pjripitai  is  the  only  Tracbeate  witb 
tracheal  stems  opening  diffusely  all  over  the  bodr.  The  Pro'racbeata  pro- 
bably had  their  tracheie  thus  diffused,  and  the  separate  small  nystems  after- 
wards became  concentrated  along  especial  lines  and  formed  into  wide  main 
branching  trunks.  Tn  some  forms  the  spiracular  openings  concentrated 
towards  a  more  ventral  line  {luliu);  in  others  ihey  took  a  more  lateral 
position  (LcpiJopt!?rou3  larvae,  Ac).  A  concentration  along  two  lines  of 
the  bodv,  ventral  and  lateral,  has  already  commenced  in  Peripatws.  The 
original  Protracheate  being  supposed  to  have  had  numerous  small  trachea 
diSused  all  over  it's  body,  the  question  as  to  their  mode  of  origin  ^aitL 
presents  itself.  The  peculiar  form  of  the  tracheal  bundles  in  Peripatva, 
which  consist  o£  a  number  of  fine  tubes  opening  into  the  extremity  of  a 
single  short  common  duct  leading  to  the  exterior  of  the  body,  seems  to 
give  a  clue.  The  traches  are,  very  probably,  modified  cutaneous  glands, 
the  homologues  of  those  so  abundant  all  over  the  body  in  such  forms  as 
Bipalium  or  Hirudo.  The  pumping  extension  and  contraction  of  the  body 
may  well  hare  drawn  a  very  little  air,  to  begin  with,  into  the  mouths  of  thfl 
ducts  ;  and  this  having  been  found  beneficial  by  the  ancestor  of  the  Pro' 
tracheate,  further  development  is  easy  to  imngine.  The  exact  mode  of 
development  of  thetracheie  in  the  present  form  must  be  carefully  studied; 
there  was  no  trace  of  these  organs  in  the  most  perfect  state  o£  Ptripatva 
which  I  obtained. 

Professor  Gegenbaur^s  opinion  on  the  position  of  Peripatxu  ('  Gmnd- 
ziige  der  vergleichendea  Anatomie,'  p.  199)  is,  that  its  place  among 
the  worms  is  not  certain,  but  that,  at  any  rate,  it  connects  ringed 
worms  with  Arthropods  and  flat  worms.  The  general  result  of  the  pro- 
sent  inquiry  is  to  bear  out  Professor  Gegenbaur's  opinion ;  but  it  poioti 
to  the  connexion  of  the  ringed  and  flat  womu,  by  means  of  this  inter* 


360  Mr.  John  Imray  on  the  [May 

mediate  step,  with  three  elftsses  only  of  the  Arthropods — the  Myriop 
Spiders,  and  Insects,  i.  e.  the  Tracheata,  From  the  primitive  conditio 
the  tracheffl  in  lulut,  and  the  many  relations  between  PeHpatua  and  Si 
pendra,  it  would  seem  that  the  Myriopods  may  be  most  nearly  alliet 
Peripatug,  and  form  a  distinct  branch  arising  from  it  and  not  pas: 
through  Insects.  The  early  three-legged  stage  may  turn  out  as  of 
BO  much  significance  as  supposed.  If  these  speculations  be  correct, 
Crustacea  have  a  different  origin  from  the  Tracheata.  Peripatus  it 
may  well  be  placed  amongst  Professor  Uackel's  Protracheata ;  Gni 
term  Onychophora  becomes  no  more  significant  than  De  Blainville'e  M 
copoda.  Some  notions  of  the  actual  history  of  the  origb  of  ftin/n 
itself  may  be  gathered  from  its  development. 

In  conclusion  I  would  beg  indulgence  for  the  many  defects  in 
paper,  due  to  the  hurry  with  which  it  was  written  (aU  available  time,  aln 
up  to  the  last  moment  of  our  sailing  for  the  Antarctic  regions,  ha' 
been  consumed  in  actual  examination  of  the  structure  of  PeripattLs), 
due,  further,  to  the  impossibility  of  referring  to  original  papers  in 
scientific  library.  At  all  events  it  is  hoped  that  Peripatua  has  been  sh» 
to  be  of  verv  great  eoologioal  interest,  as  lying  near  one  of  the  main  st< 
of  the  great  zoological  family  tree,  and  that  further  examination  of 
most  minute  character  into  the  structnre  of  this  animal  will  be  ' 
repaid. 

H.M.B,  ■  Challenger,'  Simnn'a  Bbj-,  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
December  17,  1873. 


II.  "  The  Uniform  Wave  of  Oscillation."  By  John  Ihoay,  M 
Memb.Iuat.C.E.  Communicated  by  W.  Frodde,  M.  A.,  F.I 
Received  April  11,  1874. 

(Abstract.) 

The  results  of  the  investigation  worked  out  in  this  paper  corresp 
with  those  previously  deduced  by  other  analysts,  particularly  by 
W.  Froude,  F.E.S.  The  paper  is  therefore  presented,  not  becaos 
discloses  any  novel  result,  but  rather  as  an  example  of  a  method  wl 
the  author  has  found  useful  in  the  discussion  of  other  dynamical  proble 

The  object  of  the  paper  ia  to  trace  the  conditions  under  which 
separate  molecules  of  a  liquid  such  as  water  move,  when  a  body  of  ' 
liquid  is  in  a  state  of  oscillatory  wave-movement.  It  is  assumed  that 
wave-movement  is  established  in  a  channel  of  uniform  width  am 
length  and  drpth  so  great  that  the  conditions  of  motion  are  not  affei 
by  the  interference  of  fixed  ends  or  a  Kxed  bottom. 

The  wave  treated  of  haa  as  its  characteristics  permanence  of  form 
uniformity  of  apparent  velocity. 

Ill  order  that  these  conditions  may  be  fulfilled,  it  is  Jie:  .iriied,  as  b. 


1874.]  Un^/brm.  Wave  of  OtciUatim.  S61 

cftpable  of  ready  geometiical  demoiiBtration,  that  idl  moIeculeB  which  in 
repoee  would  be  at  the  eame  leTel,  move  in  equal  and  aiuiilar  trsjectoriea, 
but  tliat  each  molecule  towards  the  one  hand,  aa  towards  the  right,  is  by 
a  certain  interval  of  time  in  advance  of  the  contiguous  molecule  on  the 
left.  It  b  also  taken  as  a  necessary  condition  of  the  wave-morement 
that  the  excursions  of  the  molecules  are  periodic,  and  effected  in  closed 
orbits  returning  into  themselves. 

With  these  general  postulates,  the  author  proceeds  to  investigate  first 
the  conditions  necessary  to  maintain  continuity  of  the  liquid,  or  the  con- 
stancy of  the  vertical  sectional  area  of  an  elementary  portion  of  the 
liquid,  in  all  parts  of  its  orbit.  He  then  traces  the  operation  on  such  an 
element  of  the  forces  to  which  it  is  subjected,  these  forces  being  gravity, 
or  the  weight  of  the  element  itself,  and  the  pressure  directed  on  it  by 
the  surrounding  liquid. 

The  liquid  in  repose  is  supposed  to  be  divided  into  numerous  hori- 
zontal strata,  each  stratum  forming  an  undulating  film  when  the  wave- 
movement  is  established.  The  length  of  any  such  stratum  ia  supposed 
to  be  divided  into  numerous  portions,  the  width  of  each  of  which  ia  the 
distance  apparently  traversed  by  the  wave  in  a  very  short  interval  of 
time.  By  taking  the  depth  of  a  stratum,  and  the  interval  of  time  which 
determines  the  width  of  one  of  its  diviaiona,  such  that  the  element  of 
liquid  may  be  conaidered  a  parallelogram  of  constant  area,  the  several 
differential  equations  expressing  the  continuity  of  the  liquid  and  the 
effect  of  the  forcea  on  the  element'are  developed  in  an  integrable  form. 

The  parallelogram  representing  the  liquid  element  is  determined  in  its 
form  and  position  by  the  position  of  the  points  at  its  four  angles. 

One  of  thoae  points,  namely  that  at  the  lower  lBft>'hand  angle,  is 
assumed  to  move  in  a  path  tjie  horizontal  and  vertical  coordinates  of 
which,  x  and  y,  are  referred  to  an  origin  situated  at  a  height  h  mea- 
sured from  the  bottom  of  the  liquid,  and  the  position  of  the  point  in  its 
path  ia  taken  at  a  time  (  reckoned  from  the  epoch  when  the  point  was 
verticaUy  under  its  origin.  The  point  at  the  lower  right-hand  angle  of 
the  parallelogram  is  referred  to  an  origin  on  the  same  level  with  the 
former,  but  separated  horizontally  from  it  by  a  space,  vAt,  where  v  is  the 
apparent  velocity  of  the  wave,  and  A(  is  the  short  interval  of  time  by 
which  the  one  point  is  in  advance  of  the  other  in  its  trajectory.  The 
coordinates  x  and  y  of  the  first  point  being  functions  of  A  and  i,  thoae 
of  the  other  point  are  the  same  functions  of  h  and  t+^t.  The  upper  left- 
hand  point  being  referred  to  an  origin  which  ia  at  a  height  AA  above  the 
level  of  the  former  origiiu,  but  being  taken  as  contemporaneous  in  ita 
movement  with  the  point  below  it,  ita  coordinates  are  functions  of 
A+AA  and  l;  and  in  like  manner  the  coordinates  of  the  upper  right- 
hand  point  are  functions  of  A+&A  and  t+At. 

As  it  does  not  d  priori  appear  that  the  oiigin  of  the  upper  point  must 
be  verticaUy  above  that  of  the  lower  (though  in  the  course  of  the  invea*. 


Mr.  John  Imray  on  the  [May  21, 

tlgation  it  is  tbcmi  that  this  innst  bo  tbe  case'),  the  author  has,  in  ths 
first  iDstance,  assumed  that  the  upper  origin  is  somenhat  in  advanee  of 
the  lou-er,  the  amount  of  such  advauce  being  a  quantity  of  the  order  Ah, 
which  he  has  taken  as  mAft  (it  being  afterwards  proved  that  m=0). 

With  this  nomenclatare,  the  equation  of  contiaaity  is  dedufed  in  the 
following  terms  r — 

(-J)(i4f)-(»+S)l-^ 

A  constant  area  independent  of  i. 

The  pressure  p  at  the  lower  leff-hand  angle  of  the  element  being  • 
fonotion  of  A  and  I,  equations  are  deduced  giving  values  for  the  horizontal 

accelerating  force,  --^,  and  the  vertical  accelerating  force  including 
gravity,  5  + -j^,  in  terms  of  the  diSerential  coefficients  of  j;,  y,  and^. 

From  these  equations  it  is  shown  that  -i:=^0,  or  that  the  pressura 

along  any  wave-stratum  is  uniform  ;  and  this  result  leads  to  the  simpli- 
fication of  the  differential  equations. 

From  the  integration  of  those  equations  it  is  shown  that  every  mole- 
cule of  the  liquid  revolves  with  uniform  velocity,  and  with  the  a&mft 
angular  velocity  at  all  depths,  in  a  truly  circular  orbit,  the  radius  of 
which  depends  on  the  depth  of  the  molecule  below  the  surface  of  th» 
liquid.  The  law  of  variation  of  the  radius  is,  that  while  the  depths 
increase  in  arithmetical  progression,  the  radius  diminishes  in  geometrical 
progression,  or  that  the  logarithm  of  the  reciprocal  of  the  radius  is 
directlv  proportional  to  the  depth  of  the  centre. 

The  resultant  of  the  forces  acting  on  a  molecule  is  shown  to  be  always 
normal  to  the  profile  of  the  wave-surface  of  which  the  molecule  forma  a 
part,  such  resultant  being  compounded  of  gravity,  a  constant  forca 
acting  vertically  downwards,  and  of  the  centrifugal  force  of  the  molecule, 
also  a  constant  force  acting  radially  outv*"ard3  from  the  centre  of  the  orbit;. 
The  direction  and  magnitude  of  this  resultant  are  represented  by  the 
position  and  length  of  a  line  drawn  from  any  point  in  the  orbit  to  a  fixed 
point  in  the  vertical  line  passing  through  the  centre  of  the  orbit.  The 
hquid  element  in  traversing  its  circular  path  varies  in  width  and  in 
height  to  suit  the  varying  direction  of  the  forces  acting  on  it,  its  greater 
height  giving  a  greater  hydrostatic  pressure  at  the  upper  part  of  the 
orbit,  where  the  centrifugal  force  is  opposed  to  gravity,  and  its  less 
height  giving  a  less  hydrostatic  pressure  at  the  loner  part  of  the  orbit, 
where  the  centrifugal  force  acts  along  nith  gravitv.  Thus  the  oni- 
formity  of  pressure  throughout  the  orbit  is  maintained. 

As  a  molecule  revolves  uniformly  round  the  centre  of  its  orbit,  this 
centre  is  the  mean  centre  of  gravity  of  the  molecule  during  a  complete 


18740 


Uniform  Wave  of  OMeillBiion. 


8S8 

period.  It  is  shown  that  daring  ware-morement  thia  centre  is  eleratod 
above  the  level  that  %roald  be  occupied  by  the  molecule  in  lepose,  a 
height  due  to  the  vit  viva  of  the  mole(>u1s. 

The  profile  of  anj  w&ve-stratum  ia  a  irochoid,  the  length  of  which  is 
the  distance  from  hollow  to  hollow  or  from  creat  to  crest,  and  the  height 
is  the  diameter  of  tbe  orbit  of  the  molecule  belonging  to  that  stratum. 
The  highest  possible  wave  is  that  where  tbe  trochoid  becomes  the 
cycloid,  or  where  the  length  of  the  wave  ia  equal  to  the  circumference  of 
the  orbit.  >'o  trochoid  of  greater  height  is  physically  posaible,  as  such 
a  curve  must  have  a  looped  creat,  where  the  liquid  molecules  would  have 
to  cross  the  paths  of  each  other,  producing  broken  water. 

The  velocity  and  period  of  a  wave,  and  the  angular  and  actual  velo- 
rities  of  the  liquid  molecules,  are  deduced  in  terms  of  the  length  of  th« 
wave. 

The  general  results  of  the  investigation  are  shown  by  the  following 
formulEB,  in  which  the  symbols  employed  are  : — 

L= length  of  wave  from  crest  to  crest. 

v= velocity,  or  distance  apparently  traversed  by  thewiTQ  in  a  giTan 
unit  of  time. 

T=tho  period,  or  time  occupied  by  the  passage  of  the  whole  wave. 

jf=gravity  (32  feet  per  second). 

B=  radius  of  the  orbit  of  a  molecule  at 

H=height  measured  from  bottom,  and 

p= radius  at 

A = height. 

jr=: horizontal,  and 

y= vertical  ordinate  of  molecule  in  stratum  at  height  h  and  at  time  t, 
from  the  epoch  when  the  molecule  is  at  its  lowest  point,  or  when 


27=0. 


Then 


origin  being  the  centre  of  orbit, 


?=anguj&r  velocity. 


Mr  W.  Spolliswoode  u 


[May 


III.  "  On  Combiuatioua  of  Colour  by  means  of  Polarized  Lig 
By  W.  Spottibwoode,  M.A.,  Treas.  &  V.P.R.S.  Eece 
April  8,  187-1. 

The  results  of  rombining  two  or  mare  colours  of  the  spectrum 
been  studied  by  Ht-lmholta,  Clerk  Maxwell,  Lord  Bayleigh.  and  oth 
and  the  combinations  have  been  effected  sometimes  by  causing 
spectra  at  right  angles  to  one  another  to  overlap,  and  sometituee 
bringing  images  of  various  parts  of  a  spectrum  simultaneously  upon 
retina.  Latterly  also  W.  v.  Bezold  has  successfully  applied  the  mei 
o£  binocular  combination  to  the  same  problem  (Poggendorff.  Jubelb 
p.  585).  Some  effects,  approximating  more  or  less  to  these,  may  be 
duced  by  chromatic  polarization. 

CompUmenl'irif  Coharg.—Firat  as  regards  complementary  colours. 
ve  use  a  Nicol'a  priam,  X,  as  polarixed.  a  plate  of  quartz,  Q,  cut 
pendicularly  to  the  axia.  and  a  double-image  prism,  P,  as  analyser, 
shall,  as  is  well  known,  obtain  tn'o  images  whose  colours  are  com 
mentary.  If  we  analyze  these  images  with  a  prism,  we  shall  find,  n 
the  quarts  is  of  suitable  thickness,  that  each  spectrum  contains  a  ( 
band,  indicating  the  extinction  of  a  certain  narrow  portion  of  its  lenj 
these  bniiJjt  will  simultaneously  shift  their  position  when  the  Nicol  \ 
turned  round.  Now,  since  the  colours  reraaiuing  in  each  spectrum 
complementary  to  those  in  the  other,  and  the  portion  of  the  sped 
extinguished  in  each  is  eomplemenlary  to  that  which  remains,  it  foD 
that  the  portion  eitinguiahed  in  one  speetrimi  is  complementary  to 
extinguished  in  the  other ;  and  in  order  to  determine  what  portiui 
the  spectrimi  is  complementary,  the  portion  suppressed  by  a  band  in 
position  we  please,  we  have  only  to  turn  the  Xicol  X  until  the  ban 
one  spectrum  occupies  the  position  in  question,  and  then  to  observe 
position  of  the  band  in  the  other  spectrum.  The  combinations  considi 
in  former  experiments  are  those  of  simple  colours  ;  the  present  c 
binations  are  those  of  mixed  tints,  vii.  of  the  parts  of  the  spectrum  i 
pressed  in  the  bands.     But  the  mixture  (.onaiits  of  a  prevailing  col 


corresponding  to  the  centre  of  the  band,  I 
of  the  spectral  colours  immediately  adjacent  to  it  t 
The   following  results,  giien  by  Hflmholt/    n 
verified : — 

LoinpleoientBrv  Ccloun 
Ked,  Groen^blue 

Orange,  Cj-anic  blui 

Yellow,  lodigo-blui 

Tellow-green.  Violet. 


ilight  admii 
each  side. 


"When  ij 
will  be  see 


le  spectrum  the  band  enters  the  green,  i 
3  the  outer  margin  of  the  red  and  a  seci 


L  the  other  a  I 
id  at  the  oppc 


1874>.]  Q>lour'CombiHatione  by  Polarized  L^hi.  855 

end  of  the  riolet — showiog  that  to  the  green  there  doea  not  comspond 
one  complementary  colour,  but  a  mLzture  of  violet  and  red,  >.  e.  a  reddish 
purple. 

Combination  of  two  Colowt. — Next  as  to  the  combination  of  two  partt 
of  the  apectrum,  or  of  the  tints  which  represent  those  parte.  If,  in 
addition  to  the  apparatus  described  above,  we  use  a  second  quarts  plate, 
Q,  and  a  second  doublo-image  prism,  P„  we  shall  form  four  images,  saj 
00,  0 E,  EG,  E E ;  and  if  A,  A'  be  the  complementary  tints  ex- 
tinguished by  the  first  combination  QP  alone,  and  B,  B'  those  ex- 
tinguished by  the  second  Q,  P,  alone,  then  it  will  be  found  that  the  fol- 
lowing pairs  of  tints  are  extinguished  in  the  various  images : — 
Imue.  Tint)  el 


OE  B'.A', 

EO       •  B',A, 

EE  B,  A'. 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  in  the  image  O  £  the  combination  Q,  P,  hu 
extinguished  the  tint  B'  inst«ad  of  B,  because  the  vibrations  in  the 
image  E  were  perpendicular  to  those  in  the  image  0  formed  by  the  com- 
bination QP.     A  similar  remark  applies  to  the  image  EE. 

The  total  number  of  tints  which  can  be  produced  by  this  double  com- 
bination Q  P,  Q,  P,  is  as  follows : — 

4  single  images, 
6  overlaps  of  two, 
4  oveHaps  of  three, 
1  overlap  of  four. 

Total..  15 
CoUattral  ConAinatiiyM. — The  tints  extinguished  in  the  overlap 
O  O  +  E  O  will  be  B,  A,  B',  A ;  but  since  B  and  B'  are  complementary, 
their  BUppression  will  not  affect  the  resulting  tint  except  as  to  intensity, 
and  the  overlap  will  be  effectively  deprived  of  A  alone  ;  in  other  words, 
it  will  be  of  the  same  tint  as  the  image  0  would  be  if  the  combination 
Q,  P,  were  removed.  Similarly  the  overlap  OE-(-E£  will  be  deprived 
effectually  of  A'  alone ;  in  other  words,  it  will  be  of  the  same  tint  as  E, 
if  Q,  P,  were  removed.  If  therefore  the  Nicol  N  be  turned  round,  these 
two  overlaps  will  behave  in  respect  of  colour  exactly  as  did  the  images 
O  and  E  when  QP  was  alone  used.  We  may,  in  fact,  form  a  Table 
Ans: — 

Imue.  Colours  eitjngnuhed. 

OO+BO  B  -l-A-hB'-l-A-B-l-B'-l-A-A 

OE-I-BE  B'-(-A'+B-|-A'=B+B'4-A'-=A'. 

And  since  the  tints  B,  B'  have  disappeared  from  each  of  these  formoln, 
it  follows  that  the  second  analyser  F  may  be  turned  round  in  Any  direo- 
'tion  without  altering  the  tints  of  the  overlaps  in  qnestion. 


S&6 


Mr.  VV.  Spottiswoode  o 


In  like  muiner  ws  maj  form  the  Table 

0  0  +  EE  B  +A+B+A'=B+A+A'-.B 

OE  +  EO  B'  +  A'  +  B'+A=B'+A+A'=K. 

Hence  if  the  Xicol  X  be  turned  round,  ttese  overlaps  will  retain  tlior* 

tints ;  while  if  the  analyzer  Pj  be  turned,  their  tints  will  vary,  although 

always  remaining  complementary  to  one  another. 

There  remains  the  other  pair  of  overlaps,  viz. : —  i 

00  +  OE  B+A+B'+A'  ■ 

EO+EE  B'+A+B-fA'.  M 

Each  of  these  is  deprived  of  the  pair  of  complement&ries  A,  A',  B,  fft 
and  therefore  each,  as  it  would  seem,  ought  to  appear  white  of  low  illumi- 
nation, i.  e.  grey.  This  eSect,  however,  is  partially  masked  by  the  fact  Ihat 
the  dark  bands  are  not  sharply  defined  like  the  Fraunhofer  lines,  but  bars 
a  core  of  minimum  or  zero  illumination,  and  are  shaded  off  gradually  on 
either  side  until  at  a  short  distance  from  the  core  the  colours  appear  in 
their  full  intensity.  Suppose,  for  inalance,  that  B' and  A'  were  bright 
tints,  the  tint  resulting  from  their  suppression  would  be  bright ;  on  the 
other  hand,  the  complementary  tints  A  and  B  would  be  generally  dim, 
and  the  imago  B+A  bright,  and  the  overlap  B  +  A+B'  +  A'  would  have 
M  its  predamintting  tint  that  of  B+A;  and  similarly  in  other  csset. 
Thero  are  two  cases  worth  remarking  in  detail,  viz.,  first,  tli&tit)  vhidl 
B=A',  B'=A, 
i.  e.  when  the  same  tints  are  extinguish^  by  the  combination  Q  F  and 
by  Q,  Pi'  This  maybe  verified  by  either  using  two  similar  quartz  plates 
Q,  Q,,  or  by  so  turning  the  prism  P,  that  the  combination  Q,  P,  used 
alone  shall  give  the  same  complementary  tints  as  Q  P  when  used  alone. 
In  this  case  the  images  have  for  their  formula)  the  following : — 
00  OEO  EO  EE 

A+A'  A+A'  2A  2A'; 

in  other  words,  0  0  and  E  0  will  show  similar  tints,  and  E  0,  £  E  com- 
plementary.   A  similar  result  will  ensue  if  B^A,  B'= A'. 

Again,  even  when  neither  of  the  foregoing  conditions  are  fulfilled,  wv 
may  still,  owing  to  the  breadth  of  the  iuterference-banda,  have  such  kn 
afEect  produced  that  sensibly  to  the  eye 

B+A=B'  +  A'j 
■ud  in  that  case 

B'+Ai=B+A-A'  +  A 

bbB  +  A'  +  2A-2A', 
which  imply  thkt  the  images  0  0  and  O  E  may  have  the  same  tint,  bilt 
that  EO  and  EE  need  not  on  that  account  be  complementary.  They 
will  di&r  in  tint  in  this,  that  E  E,  having  lost  the  same  tinta  u  £  0, 
vill  have  lost  also  the  tint  A,  aad  will  have  rccsived  beaidea  tlie  w^ditifm 
of  two  measures  of  ths  tint  A'. 


1874.]  ColouT'CambpiatiOM  by  Polarixtd  lAgkt.  857 

Effed  of  Comhmationt  of  two  Cohuri. — A  Bimilar  tntin  of  raaidning 

might  be  applied  to  the  triple  overlftps.  But  the  main  intereet  of  theu 
parte  of  the  figure  consists  in  this,  that  each  of  the  triple  overlaps  la 
complementary  to  the  fourth  single  image,  since  the  recombination  of 
all  four  must  reproduce  white  light :  hence  the  tint  of  each  triple  over- 
lap 19  the  same  to  the  eye  as  the  mixture  o£  the  two  tints  suppressed  in 
the  remaining  image  ;  and  since  by  suitably  turning  the  Nicol  N  or  the 
prism  P,,  or  both,  we  can  give  any  required  position  to  the  two  bands  of 
extinction,  we  have  the  means  of  exhibiting  to  the  eye  the  result  of  the 
mixture  of  the  tints  duo  to  any  two  bands  at  pleasure. 

Effect  of  ConUiintUiona  of  three  Cahuri. — A  further  step  may  be  made  in 
the  combination  of  colours  by  using  a  third  quartz,  Q,,  and  a  third  doublo- 
image  prism,  P,,  which  will  give  rise  to  eight  images  ;  and  if  C  C  be 
the  complement  ories  extinguished  by  the  combination  Q,P^  the  formula 
ior  the  eight  images  may  be  thus  written  :— 

000  C+B+A. 

00  E  C+B'  +  A'. 

OEO  C+B+A. 

OEE  C+B+A'. 

EOO  C+B+A. 

BOB  C+B'+A'. 

BEG  C+B'+A. 

EEE  G+B+A'. 

Th«  total  number  of  comUnations  of  tint  given  by  the  compartments 
of  the  complete  figure  will  be ; — 

Y         ■■     8  single  imagos. 
=  28  overlaps  of  two. 
thn*. 


.  10 


four. 


fflght. 


358  On  Cobmr-combmatiom  by  Polarized lAghi.     [May  SI, 

The  most  interesting  features  of  the  figure  oonsiBt  in  this,  that  the 
subjoined  pairs  are  complementary  to  one  another,  vie. : — 


000 

EOE 

C+B+A 

Cr+B'  +  A' 

EOO 

OOE 

C+B+A 

C+B+A' 

BEO 

OEE 

C+B'  +  A 

C'+B+A' 

SEE 

OEO 

C+B-hA' 

C  +  B'  +  A 

And  if  the  prisms  P,  P,,  P,  are  so  arranged  that  the  separations  due  to 
them  respectively  are  directed  parallel  to  the  sides  of  an  equilateral  tri- 
angle, the  images  will  be  disposed  thus  : — 

OEO  O 

EEO  EOO  OEE  OOE 


OEO 

000 

EOO 

OEE 

EEE 

EOE 

The  complementary  pairs  can  then  be  read  off,  two  horizontally  aaid 
two  vertically,  by  taking  alternate  pairs,  one  in  each  of  the  two  vertical, 
and  two  in  the  one  horizontal  row;  and  each  image  will  then  lepie- 
sent  the  mixture  of  the  three  tints  suppressed  in  the  complementary 
image. 

Low-tint  Colours. — A  slight  modification  of  the  arrangement  above  de- 
scribed furnishes  an  illustration  of  the  conclusions  stated  by  Helmholtz, 
viz.  that  the  low-tint  colours  (couleurs  degrades),  such  as  russet,  brown, 
olive-green,  peacock-blue,  &c.,  are  the  result  of  relatively  low  illumina- 
tion. He  mentioned  that  he  obtained  these  effects  by  diminishing  the 
intensity  of  the  light  in  the  colours  to  be  examined,  and  by,  at  the  same 
time,  maintaining  a  brilliantly  illuminated  patch  in  an  adjoining  part  of 
the  field  of  view.  If  therefore  we  use  the  combination  N,  Q,  P,  Pj  (t.  e, 
if  we  remove  the  second  quartz  plate),  we  can,  by  turning  the  prism  P 
round,  diminish  to  any  required  extent  the  intensity  of  the  light  in 
one  pair  of  the  complementary  images,  and  at  the  same  time  increase 
that  in  the  other  pair.  This  is  equivalent  to  the  conditions  of  Helm- 
holtz*s  experiments ;  and  the  tints  in  question  will  be  found  to  be 
produced. 


1874.]        On  E^perimenit  wiih  a  fU'eman'i  Re^nratet.  860 

rv,  "  Furtlier  Experiments  oa  the  Tranamissioii  of  Soand." 
By  John  Tyndall,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Natural 
Philosophy  in  the  Royal  Institution.  Received  May  21, 1874. 

The  author  describes  a  number  of  experiments  made  with  het«rogene- 
ous  atmospheres  obtained  by  saturating  alternate  layers  of  lur  with  the 
TRpoursof  variouH  \-olatile  Uquida.  Starting  from  hia  observation  on  the 
transmissian  of  sound  through  a  snow-storm  on  the  Mer  de  O-lace,  in 
the  winter  of  1859,  he  shows  the  extraordinary  power  of  sound  to  pass 
through  the  interstices  of  solid  bodies  as  long  as  the  continuity  of  the 
air  is  preserved.  Sound,  for  example,  penetrates  through  twelve  layers 
of  a  silk  handkerchief,  wh^e  a  single  layer  of  the  same  handkerchief 
dipped  into  water,  so  as  to  fill  the  interstices,  cuta  ofE  the  sound. 

He  also  describes  numerous  experiments  with  artificial  fogs  of  a 
density  so  great  that  a  depth  of  three  feet  suf&ced  to  intercept  the  con- 
centrated beam  of  the  electric  light ;  the  effect  of  such  fogs  on  sound 
was  sensibly  nil.  ^Experiments  were  also  executed  on  the  illumination 
of  such  fogs  by  sudden  flashes,  obtained  by  the  combustion  of  gun- 
powder or  gun-cotton,  or  by  the  alternate  extinction  and  revival  of  the 
electric  and  other  lights.  Such  flashes  promise  to  be  extremely  useful 
as  fog-signals. 

The  author  corrects  the  mistake  of  supposing  that,  in  the  experiments 
at  the  South  Foreland,  the  lower  trumpets  were  not  compared  with  the 
higher  onea.     This,  in  fact,  was  the  first  step  of  the  inquiry. 

He  also  communicated  an  extraordinary  instance  of  the  interception  of 
sound  during  one  of  the  battles  of  the  late  American  war. 

In  these  experiments  the  author  has  been  ably  aided  by  his  assistant, 
Mr.  John  Cottrell.  An  account  of  the  experiments  will  be  found  in  a 
paper  now  printing  for  the  Philosophical  Transactions. 


V.  "  On  some  recent  Experiments  with  a  Fireman's  Respirator." 
By  John  TStndall,  D.C.L.,  LL.D..  Professor  of  Natural 
Philosophy  in  the  Royal  Institution.    Received  May  21, 1874. 

In  vol.  cLx.  of  the  '  Philosophical  TransactionB,'  1670,  p.  337, 1  refer  to 
certain  experiments  on  the  "  floating  matter  of  the  air,"  which  were 
afterwards  considerably  expanded  and  in  put  described  in  my  '  Frag- 
ments of  Science.*  These  experiments,  in  which  my  object  was  to  obtain 
optically  pure  air  by  filtration  through  cotton-wool,  suggested  to  me  the 
notion  of  a  fireman's  respirator.  Cotton-wool  had  been  previously 
employed  by  Schroeder  and  Pasteur  in  their  experiments  on  spontaneous 
generation. 

I  had  heard  that  smoke  was  a  formidable  obstacle  to  the  fireman,  and 
that  cases  of  suffocation  were  not  rare ;  hence  the  desire  to  construct  a 

VOL.  xin.  2  g 


360  On  Experiments  with  a  Fireman^s  Retpirator.     [May  S9 

respirator.  My  first  trials  were  made  with  cotton-wool  alone,  Asw>^ 
ciated  «"itli  the  respirator  was  a  mouthpiece  with  two  valrea :  through 
one  the  inhaled  air  reached  the  lungs,  having  first  passed  through  the 
cottoa-wool,  while  through  the  other  the  exhaled  air  was  discharged  di- 
rectly into  the  atinoaphere.  The  smoke  was  generated  in  smaU  rooms. 
and  in  some  experiments  in  a  cupboard ;  but  though  the  irritation  of 
the  smoke  was  greatly  mitigated  by  the  cotton-wool,  it  was  unbearable 
for  any  considerable  time. 

The  cotton-wool  was  next  carefully  moistened  with  glycerine,  no  oJots 
which  couJd  intercept  the  wr  being  permitted.  The  respirator  was 
distinctly  improved  by  the  stickiness  of  the  fibres  of  the  wool ;  still,  when 
the  smoke  was  very  dense,  an  amount  of  irritation  continued,  which 
materially  interfered  with  the  usefulness  of  the  respirator.  Thinking  it 
certain  that  the  mechanically  suspended  matter  would  be  intercepted  by 
the  moistened  woo!,  1  concluded  that  this  residual  irritation  was  due  to 
the  TOporoua  hydrooirbous  generated  during  combustion  :  hence  tlie 
thought  oE  associating  with  the  cotton-wool  Dr.  Stenhouse's  exceUent 
device  of  a  charcoal  respirator.  The  experiment  was  suecessfiJ.  With 
this  combination  it  was  possible  to  remain  with  comparative  comfort. 
for  half  an  hour,  or  even  an  hour,  in  atmospheres  a  single  inhalation 
of  which  nntbout  the  rcspiralor  wotild  bo  infoleraljiy  painful. 

Qiptiin  Sluin',  of  the  Mt'tropoUtaa  Pire  £rigjidt>,  ha^  it'orkoil  ener- 
getically towards  the  completion  of  the  respirator  by  associating  with  it 
a  smoke-cap.  Mr.  Sinclair  has  done  the  same,  and  he  informs  me  that 
the  respirator  is  now  in  considerable  demuid. 

Having  heard  from  Captain  Shaw  that,  in  some  recent  very  trying 
experiments,  he  had  obtained  the  best  effects  from  dry  cotton-wool,  and 
thinking  that  I  could  not  have  been  mistaken  in  my  first  results,  which 
proved  the  dry  so  much  inferior  to  the  moistened  wool  and  its  associat«d 
charcoal,  I  proposed  to  Captain  Shaw  to  bring  the  matter  to  a  test  at  his 
workshops  in  the  city.  He  was  good  enough  to  accept  my  proposal,  and 
thither  I  went  on  the  7th  of  May.  The  smoke  was  generated  in  a  con- 
fined space  from  wet  straw,  and  it  was  certainly  very  diabolical.  At  this 
season  of  the  year  I  am  usually  somewhat  shorn  of  vigour,  and  there- 
fore not  in  the  beat  condition  for  severe  experinients  ;  still  I  wished  to 
teat  the  matter  in  my  own  person.  With  a  respirator  which  had  been 
in  use  some  days  previously,  and  which  was  not  carefully  packed,  I  fol- 
lowed a  fireman  into  the  smoke,  he  being  provided  with  a  dry-wo(d 
respirator.  I  was  compelled  to  quit  the  place  in  about  three  minotes, 
while  the  fireman  remained  there  for  six  or  seven  minutes. 

I  then  tried  his  respirator  upon  myself,  and  found  that  vrith  it  I  could 
not  remain  more  than  a  minute  in  the  smoke ;  in  fact  the  first  inhalalion 
provoked  coughing. 

Thinking  that  Captain  Shaw  himself  might  have  lungs  more  like  mine 
than  those  of  his  fireman,  I  proposed  that  he  and  I  should  try  the 


1874.]  SUcHon  ofFeUowa.  861 

respirators ;  but  he  informed  me  that  his  lunga  were  rerj  atrong. 
He  was,  howerer,  good  enol^^h  to  accede  to  my  request.  Poctdng  the 
respirator  with  greater  care,  I  entered  the  den  with  Captain  Shaw.  I 
could  hear  him  breathe  long,  slow  inhalatioDS ;  and  after  the  lapse  of 
seven  minutes  I  heard  him  cough.  In  seven  and  a  half  minutes  he 
had  to  quit  the  place,  thus  proving  that  his  lungs  were  able  to  endure 
the  irritation  seven  times  as  long  as  mine  could  bear  it.  I  continued 
in  the  smoke  with  hardly  any  discomfort  for  sixteen  minutes,  and  cer- 
tainly could  have  remained  in  it  much  longer. 

During  this  time  I  was  in  n  condition  to  render  very  material  assistance 
to  a  person  in  danger  of  suffocation. 

The  smoke-cap  1  wore  was  one  made  by  Mr.  Sincltur,  which  has  a 
mouthpiece  similar  to  that  used  in  the  inhalation  of  nitrous  oiide.  But, 
to  show  the  care  necessary  in  packing  the  respirator,  it  is  only  necessary 
to  remark  that,  with  the  packing  furnished  to  me  by  Mr.  Sinclair,  it 
was  not  possible  for  either  myself  or  Ur.  Cottrell  to  (x>ntinue  in  a  dense 
smoke  for  more  than  three  minutes ;  and  even  these  were  minutes  of 
laborious  breathing.  Flannel  disks  are  employed  in  these  respirators, 
but  I  cannot  recommend  them.  Cotton-wool  carefully  moistened  and 
teased  is,  in  my  opinion,  much  better. 

It  is  always  possible  to  associate  fragments  of  lime  with  the  respirator, 
thus,  if  necessary,  intercepting  a  portion  of  the  carbonic  acid.  But  in 
most  fires  we  have  a  more  or  less  free  circulation  of  air ;  and  I  venture 
to  think  that  not  in  one  case  in  n  thousand  of  actual  £res  would  the  com- 
bination of  smoke  and  carbonic  add  be  so  noisome  as  it  was  in  the 
experiments  here  described. 

The  Society  then  adjourned  over  the  Whitsuntide  Becess,  to  Thurs- 
day, Jime  11. 


Jme  4,  1874. 
The  Annual  Meeting  for  the  election  of  Fellows  was  held  this  day. 
JOSEPH  DALTON  HOOKER,  C.B.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

The  Statutes  relating  to  the  election  of  Fellows  having  been  read,  Sir 
James  Alderson  and  General  Boileau  were,  with  the  consent  of  the 
Society,  nominated  Scrutotors  to  assist  the  Secretaries  in  examining  the 
lists. 

The  votes  of  the  Fellows  present  having  boon  collected,  the  following 
cuididates  were  declared  duly  elected  into  the  Sodety : — 

2e2 


862        Messrs.  H.  E.  Boscoe  and  A.  Schuster  m  the      [June  11, 


Isaac  Lowthian  Bell,  F.G.S. 
W.  T.  Blanford,  F.Q.S. 
Henry  Bowman  Brady,  F.L.S. 
Thomas   Lauder  Brunton,  M.D., 

Sc.D. 
Prof.  W.  Kingdon  Clifford,  M.A. 
Augustus  Wollaston  Franks,  M.A. 
Prof.  Olaus  Henrici,  Ph.D. 
Prescott  a.  Hewett,  F.E.C.S. 


John  Eliot  Howard,  F.L.S. 
Sir  Henry  Sumner  Maine,  LL  J>. 
Edmund  James  Mills,  DJ3c. 
Bey.    Stephen     Joseph    Peny, 

F.B.A.S. 
Henry  Wyldbore  Eumsey,  M  J>. 
Alfred  E.  C.  Selwyn,  F.G.S. 
Charles   William  Wilson,    Major 

E.E. 


Thanks  were  given  to  the  Scrutators. 


June  11,  1874. 
JOSEPH  DALTON  HOOKER,  C.B.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

Mr.  William  Thomas  Blanford,  Dr.  Thomas  Lauder  Brunton,  Professor 
W.  Kingdon  Clifford,  Mr.  Prescott  Ot,  Hewett,  Mr.  John  Eliot  Howard, 
Dr.  Edmund  James  Mills,  the  Eev.  Stephen  Joseph  Perry,  and  Major 
Charles  William  Wilson  were  admitted  into  the  Society. 

The  Presents  received  were  laid  on  the  table,  and  thanks  ordered  for 
them. 

The  following  Papers  were  read  : — 

I.  "Note  on  the  Absorption-Spectra  of  Potassium  and  Sodium 
at  low  Temperatures.^'  By  H.  E.  Boscoe,  F.R.S.,  and  Arthur 
Schuster,  Ph.D.     Received  April  30, 1874. 

In  order  to  obtain  the  absorption-spectrum  afforded  by  the  well-known 
green-coloured  potassium  vapour,  pieces  of  the  clean  dry  metal  were 
sealed  up  in  glass  tubes  filled  with  hydrogen,  and  one  of  these  was  then 
placed  in  front  of  the  slit  of  a  large  Steinheil's  spectroscope  furnished 
with  two  prisms  having  refracting  angles  of  45°  and  60°.  The  magnify- 
ing-power  of  the  telescope  was  40,  and  was  sufficient  clearly  to  separate 
the  D  lines  with  one  prism.  A  continuous  spectrum  from  a  lime-light 
was  used,  and  that  portion  of  a  tube  containing  the  bright  metallic 
globule  of  potassium  was  gently  heated  until  the  green  vapour  made  its 
appearance.  A  complicated  absorption-spectrum  was  then  seen,  a  set  of 
bands  (a)  in  the  red  coming  out  first ;  whilst  after  a  few  moments  two 
other  groups  appeared  on  either  side  of  the  D  lines,  the  group  /3  (less 
refrangible)  being  not  so  dark  as  the  group  y.  These  bauds  are  all 
shaded  off  towards  the  red,  and  in  general  appearance  resemble  those  of 
the  iodine-spectrum.  In  order  to  assure  ourselves  that  the  bands  are  not 
caused  by  the  presence  of  a  trace  of  an  oxide,  tubes  were  prepared  in 


1874.]       Adsorption-Spectra  qf  Potttuwm  and  Sodium.  863 

which  thfi  metal  wu  melted  in  hydrogen  aeveral  times  on  succefldTe  dttys 
until  no  further  change  in  the  bright  charact«r  of  the  globule  could  be 
perceived.  On  vaporiEing  the  metal,  which  had  been  melted  dowu  to  a 
clean  portion  of  the  tube,  the  bands  were  seen  as  before,  and  came  out 
even  more  cleu'lj,  the  globnle,  after  heating,  exhibitiBg  a  bright  metallic 
surface.  An  analyda  of  the  potassium  used  showed  that  it  did  not  con- 
tfun  more  than  0*8  per  cent,  of  sodium,  although,  of  Course,  the  double 
line  D  was  always  plainly  seen. 

In  order  to  ascertain  whether  an  alteration  in  the  absorption-spectrum 
of  the  metal  tAkes  place  at  a  red  heat,  fragments  of  potassium  were 
placed  in  a  red-hot  iron  tube,  through  which  a  rapid  current  of  pure 
hydrogen  gas  was  passed,  the  ends  of  the  tube  being  closed  by  glass 
plates.  The  magnificent  green  colour  of  the  ^-apour  was  clearly  seen  at 
this  temperature,  on  looking  through  the  tube  at  a  lime-light  placed  at  tho 
other  end.  Owing,  doubtless,  to  the  greater  thicknees  or  increased  pres- 
sure of  the  vapour,  the  bands  seen  by  the  previous  method  could  not  be 
resolved  by  the  small  spectroscope  employed,  the  whole  of  the  red  being 
absorbed,  whilst  a  broad  absorption-bond  in  the  greenish  yellow  was  seen 
occupying  the  place  of  the  group  y. 

The  poutions  of  the  bands  obtained  by  the  first  method  were  measured 
by  means  of  a  telescope  and  distant  scale,  and  the  wave-lengths  obtained 
by  an  interpolation  curve,  for  vhich  well  known  air-lines  were  taken  as 
references.  The  following  numbers  give  the  wave-lengths  of  the  most 
distinct,  that  is,  the  most  refrangible  edge  of  each  band.  As  the 
measurements  had  to  be  made  quickly,  owing  to  the  npid  darkening 
of  the  glass  by  the  action  of  the  metallic  vapour,  these  numbers  do  not  lay 
claim  to  very  great  accuracy,  but  fably  represent  the  relative  positions 
of  the  band,  and  show  that  they  do  not  always  occur  at  regular  intervals, 
although  they  are  pretty  regularly  spread  over  the  field  and  all  are 
shaded  alike. 

Bands  of  potassium  shaded  off  towards  red.  Wave-lengths  in  tenth- 
metres  : — 


fiS44-l 

6459") 

67«H 

6430 

fi7l() 

6400 

6666 

1    6379  I 
r       6357  f 

6615 

6672 

6350 

6534 

6331 

6494  J 

6322) 

6311 1  5949 1  5763' 

6300  I  a  6930  I  j3  5745 

6275  J  5901 J  5732 

60591  6860  ■)  5712 

6033  6842 1 

6012  yp  6821  y 

5988  I  5802  '  ■  6674 

5964J  578lJ  5667 


5700 


The  bright  potassium-lines  in  the  red  and  violet  n'ere  not  seen  re- 
versed, the  intensity  of  the  lime-light  being  too  small  at  both  extremes  to 
render  an  observation  possible. 

In  order  to  ascertain  whether  the  vapour  of  sodium,  which,  when  seen 
in  thin  layers,  appears  nearly  colourless,  exhibits  similar  absorption-bands. 


864 


Frof.  Owen  an  the  alleged  EsMenee  qf        [Jime  llj 


tabes  contaming  the  pure  metal,  which  had  been  manufoctnred  and  pie- 
served  out  of  contact  with  any  hydrocarbon,  were  prepared,  the  metal  being 
obtained  free  from  oxide  and  the  absorptionnspectrum  being  obseryed  in  the 
manner  abeady  described.  As  soon  as  the  metal  began  to  boil,  a  series  of 
bands  in  the  blue  (Na  y)  made  their  appearance,  and  shortly  afterwards 
bands  in  the  red  and  yellow  (Na  a),  stretching  as  far  as  the  D  lines,  came 
out.  At  this  perjbd  of  the  experiment  the  D  lines  widened,  Uius  blotting 
out  a  series  of  fine  bands  occurring  in  the  orange  (Na  /3),  some  of  which, 
consequenly,  could  not  be  mapped.  All  the  bands  of  the  sodium-flpec- 
trum  shade  off,  like  th€r  potassium-bands,  towards  the  red. 

When  the  vapour  of  sodium  is  examined  in  a  red-hot  iron  tube,  the 
colour  of  the  lime-light,  as  seen  through  it,  is  a  dark  blue.  As  the  sodium 
is  swept  away  by  the  current  of  hydrogen  passing  through,  the  colour 
becomes  lighter,  and  the  transmitted  rays  can  be  analyzed  by  the  spectro- 
scope. At  first,  the  whole  red  and  green  and  part  of  the  blue  is  cut  out 
entirely.  The  D  lines  are  considerably  widened,  and  an  absorption-band 
is  seen  in  the  green,  apparently  coinciding  with  the  double  sodium-line, 
which  comes  next  in  strength  to  the  D  lines.  All  the  colours,  therefore, 
seem  to  be  shut  out,  except  part  of  the  orange,  part  of  the  green,  and  the 
ultra-blue.  As  the  sodium-vapour  becomes  less  dense,  more  light  passes 
through,  and  the  same  absorption-bands  are  seen  as  are  observed  in  the 
other  method.  The  vapour  then  has  a  slight  bluish-green  tint,  but  is 
nearly  colourless. 

The  following  numbers  give  the  wave-lengths  of  the  more  refrangible 
edge  of  the  sodium  absorption-bands  in  tenth-metres,  obtained  in  the 
manner  above  described: — 


6668"^ 

6616 

6552 

6499 

6450 

6405 


6361 T 
6272] 


>« 


6235 
6192 
6162 
6149 


>a 


6105^ 

6092 

6071 

6051 

6035 

6016 


>P 


y 


5999 

5150^ 

5129 

5082 
5038 
5002 


>y 


4964^ 

4927 

4889 

4863 

4832 

4810 


I 

I 


Plate  ly.  shows  the  general  appearance  of  the  two  absorption-spectra. 


II.  '^  Note  on  the  alleged  Existence  of  Remains  of  a  Lemming 
in  Cave-deposits  of  England.'^  By  Professor  Owen,  C.B., 
F.R.S.     Received  April  25,  1874. 

In  the  "  Report  on  the  Exploration  of  Brixham  Cave"  (Phil.  Trans. 
1873)  it  is  stated  (p.  560) : — "  With  the  appearance  in  the  cave  of  the 
smaller  common  rodents  now  living  in  this  country,  we  have  to  note  a 
remarkable  exception,  that  of  the  Lemming  {Lagomys  spdceus)^  And 
again,  in  the  list  of  animal  remains  as  determined  by  Dr.  Palconer  and  by 


7{oscoe  *  Sckii^tep. 


Proc-ItoY'^'-:ocVolXM2 


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f.tiifiitni/t  mfofftut,  untf  lit  Mfi-  llMhitli  MMMdiiff,  l<«<l  ifMi  aIimi  Uf  nmiArk  :— 
*'\ittii»-iA  M«/  '  o' <of«Mi«iif/i  M  iiM«o«liiif/  fl.H  fliiM'oviiry,  nor  any  rlittnud4;r 

fl«  «lo' 4lfl<'  ^MffM  ft*    mUoii    HI    «)fMfM<«it   nhilit,   IlifllrAlii   il.   to   Imi  fill   oMor 

Im.iiii)  llfMO  <lf<  |ii  "i«  *iu»\  \tt.\\i  of  lli«t  Hitn^H,  UiilfMU,  Kinlil  voliiN,  or 
VVifi* »  Y^J«  M  hImii'I/  <I'mmiIm<1  ,  yi  I.  if  iiJM|i<«:Hl)otiiilfly  uMi^nU  Uio  former 
i.aliiifiiM  io  I'/oi/Imo'I  of  II  it\it.t\t.n  of  I'oiliiiil,  wlionn  ffi^iiiiN  not  only  is 
MUM  )o*-' ol«<l  iif  lli'<  jHitK.iil  ijfiy  III  our  Mrllinli  fiiiiim,  but  hfut  long 
if.iftMMJ  Im  «-«|hI  Io  Noy  jMifl  ol  IIm.  roiiMiii>nl  of  Kiirfipn  "  (*  Hritmh  FosHii 
AIihmimiiIm,  |f  0  1/  llii-  lft.iiiiiiiii|iii  nUH  iliHliirli,  by  tlmir  multitudiuous 
iiil|iittloi  y  •«  •iiHiiM,  Hii«  biiMbifH'biiiiii  ol  hrMiiiliimviii. 


1874.]  i>iilinni^-T»»<iuw  in  Sngland.  865 

Mr.  Busk,  there  occurs  (p.  656): — "IQ.  Lagomyt  tpeVxia.  Lemming..!." 
Thia  is  throughoat  the  "  Beport "  treated  as  an  original  diacoTery, 
the  importance  of  which  ie  impressed  upon  the  Xloyal  Society  by  the 
remark : — "  This  cdrcumstance  tends  to  give  a  greater  antiquity  to  a  por- 
tion of  the  smaller  remains  than  from  their  condition  and  position  we 
might  have  been  disposed  to  assign  to  them"  (t6.  p.  560,  note).  These 
remains  are  referred  to  "  the  smaUer  common  rodenta  now  living  in  this 
country,"  viz.  "  Hare,  Babbit,  Water-rats,"  "  at  least  two  species  of  Ami' 
eokt"  (ib. -p.  548). 

The  auppoaed  existence  of  remains  of  a  Grisly  Bear  in  the  Brixham 
Cave  (Mr.  Busk  having  "  reason  to  believe  that  beai^remains  referred 
to  Crtiu  prUem  belong  in  fact  to  Unut  ferox" — an  "important  deter- 
mination") leads  to  the  remark: — "  The  presence  of  another  small  Korth- 
American  animal  has  been  ascertained,  viz.  the  Lemming  "  (i6.  p.  556). 

At  the  datd  of  publication  of  my  '  British  Fossil  Mammals,'  it  is  true 
that  no  fossil  evidence  of  a  Lenmiing  {Otoryehus,  Bliger  ;  Lemmua,  Link) 
had  come  to  my  knowledge ;  but  I  have  since  obtained  such  of  species 
of  both  Spermojphihit  and  Oeoryehtu,  the  latter  nearly  allied  to,  if  not 
identical  with,  the  Siberian  Lemming  (Oeon/ehm  aipalax),  from  a  deposit 
of  lacustriAe  brick-earth  near  Salisbury,  associated  with  Elephaa  primi- 
genias.  The  Lemmings,  I  may  remark,  belong  to  the  family  of  "Voles" 
{Arvkolida),  not  of  "Hares  "  (Leporidce) ;  but  the  fossil  from  "  the  sur- 
face of  the  cave-earth  far  in  the  Beindeer  gallery  "  of  the  Brixham  Cave 
(Beport,  p.  558)  appears  from  the  figures  (plate  xlvi.  figs.  12,  13)  to 
be  rightly  referred  to  Lagomys,  and  to  the  same  species  determined 
and  named  (p.  213,  figs.  82,  83,  84)  in  the  <  British  FosaU  Mammals  ' 
(1846).  The  specimen  submitted  to  me  by  Dr.  Buckland  was  found 
by  the  Bev.  Mr.  M'Enery  in  Kent's  Hole,  Torquay,  and  includes  a 
larger  proportion  of  the  skull  than  the  specimen  figured  in  the  "Beport" 
from  the  Brixham  Cave.  It  is  evidently  a  Pika,  or  tailless  Hare,  not  a 
Lemming.  And  the  determination  of  the  original  or  first  evidence  of 
Lagomys  gpdaiu,  now  in  the  British  Museum,  led  me  also  to  remark : — 
"  None  of  the  circumstances  attending  its  discovery,  nor  any  character 
deducible  from  its  colour  or  chemical  state,  indicate  it  to  be  an  older 
fossil  than  the  jaws  and  teeth  of  the  Hares,  Babbits,  Field-voles,  or 
Water-voles  already  described ;  yet  It  unquestionably  attests  the  former 
existence  in  Bngland  of  a  species  of  rodent,  whose  genua  not  only  is 
unrepresented  at  the  present  day  in  our  British  fauna,  but  has  long 
ceased  to  exist  in  any  part  of  the  Continent  of  Europe  "  ('  British  Fossil 
Mammals,'  p.  213).  The  Lemmings  stiU  disturb,  by  their  multitudinous 
migratory  awanns,  the  husbandmen  of  Scandinavia. 


806  Mr.  B.  Mallet  on  the  alleged  [Jonc  11^ 

in,  "  On  the  alleged  Expansion  in  Volume  of  various  Substancea  1 
in  passing  by  Kefrigeration  from  the  state  of  Liquid  Fusioa  i 
to  that  of  Solidification."  By  Robert  Mallet,  C.E.,  P.B.&.  | 
Received  April  28,  1874. 

(Abstract.) 

Since  the  time  of  Rijanmur  it  has  been  stated,  with  very  rarioc 
degreea  of  eridence,  that  certain  meta5a  expand  in  volume  at 
their  points  of  consolidation  from  fusion.  Bismuth,  cast  iron,  antimony-;; j 
flilver,  copper,  and  gold  are  amoDgat  the  number,  and  to  these  hare 
recently  been  added  certain  iron  fumace-slaga.  Considerable  physici" 
interest  attaches  to  this  subject  from  the  analogy  of  the  alleged  fat^ta  t 
the  well-known  one  that  water  expands  between  39°  F,  and  32°,  at  whi 
it  becomes  ice ;  and  a  more  extended  interest  has  been  given  to  it  quite 
recently  by  Messrs.  Nasmyth  and  Carpontor  having  made  the  suppc 
facts,  more  especiitlly  those  relative  to  cast  iron  and  to  s 
foundation  of  their  peculiar  theory  of  lunar  volcanic  action  as  devolop€ 
in  their  work,  '  The  Moon  as  a  Planet,  as  a  World,  and  a  SatoUito^ 
(4to,  London,  1874),  There  is  considerable  ground  for  believing  thal)^ 
bismuth  does  expand  in  volunie  at  or  near  consolidation ;  but  with 
reapeet  to  all  the  other  subBtancea  supposed  to  do  likewise,  it  ia  the 
object  of  this  paper  to  show  that  the  evidence  is  insufGcient,  and  that 
with  respect  to  cast  iron  and  to  the  basic  silicates  constituting  inm 
slags,  the  allegation  of  their  expansion  in  volume,  and  therefore  that 
their  density  when  molten  is  greater  than  when  solid,  ia  wholly 
erroneous.  The  determination  of  the  specific  gravity,  in  the  liquid, 
state,  of  a  body  having  so  high  a  fusing  temperature  ae  cast  iron  is 
attended  with  many  difficulties.  By  an  indirect  method,  however,  and 
operating  upon  a  sufficiently  targe  scale,  the  author  has  i^en  enabled  to 
make  the  determination  with  considerable  accuracy.  A  conical  vessel  of 
wrought  iron  of  about  2  feet  in  depth  and  1-5  foot  diameter  of  base,  and 
with  an  open  neck  of  6  inches  in  diameter,  being  formed,  was  accurately 
weighed  empty,  and  also  when  filled  with  water  level  to  the  brim  ;  the 
weight  of  its  contents  in  water,  reduced  to  the  specific  gravity  of  distilled 
water  at  60°  F.,  was  thus  obtained.  The  vessel  being  dried  was  now 
filled  to  the  brim  with  molten  grey  cast  iron,  additions  of  molten  metal 
being  made  to  maintain  the  vessel  full  until  it  had  attained  its  maximum 
temperature  (yellow  heat  in  dayhght)  and  maximum  capacity.  The 
vessel  and  its  content  of  cast  iron  when  cold  were  weighed  agaiu,  and 
thus  the  weight  of  the  cast  Iron  obtuned.  The  capacity  of  the  Teasel 
when  at  a  maximum  was  calculated  by  applying  to  its  dimensions  at  60° 
the  expansion  calculated  from  the  coefficient  of  hnear  dilatation,  as  given 
by  Laplace,  Biemann,  and  others,  and  from  its  range  of  increased  tem- 
perature ;  and  the  weight  of  distilled  water  held  by  the  vessel  thus  ex- 


1874.]     SxpanrioH  ofvariout  Stibtttmett  on  8oli^^fieaHm^.      867 

pandad  waa  calcalsted  from  tbfi  weight  of  its  contonte  when  the  Teeiel 
and  water  were  at  60°  F. 

We  have  now,  after  applying  some  sm^  correctionH,  the  elements 
necesBoiy  for  detemuning  the  specific  gravity  of  the  cast  iron  which  filled 
the  Tessel  when  in  the  molten  state,  having  the  absolute  weights  of  equal 
volumes  of  distilled  water  at  60°  aud  of  molten  iron.  The  mean  spe- 
cific gravity  of  the  cast  iron  which  filled  the  vessel  was  then  det^mined 
by  the  usual  methods.  The  final  result  is  that,  whereas  the  specific 
gravity  of  the  cast  iron  at  60°  F.  was  7*170,  it  was  only  6-650  when  in 
the  molten  condition ;  cast  iron,  therefore,  is  less  dense  in  the  molten 
than  in  the  solid  state.  Nor  does  it  expand  in  volume  at  the  instant  of 
consolidation,  as  waa  conclosively  proved  by  another  experiment.  Two 
similar  10-inch  spherical  shells,  1*5  inch  in  thickness,  were  heated  to 
nearly  the  same  high  temperature  in  an  oven,  one  being  permitted  to 
cool  empty  as  a  measure  of  any  permanent  dilatation  which  both  might 
sustain  by  mere  heating  and  cooling  again,  a  fact  weU  known  to  occur. 
The  other  shell,  when  at  a  bright  red  heat,  was  filled  with  molten 
cast  iron  and  permitted  to  cool,  its  dimensions  being  taken  by  accurate 
instruments  at  intervals  of  30  minutes,  until  it  had  returned  to  the 
temperature  of  the  atmosphere  (53°  F.),  when,  after  applying  various 
corrections,  rendered  necessary  by  the  somewhat  complicated  conditions 
of  a  spherical  mass  of  cast  iron  losing  heat  from  its  exterior,  it  was 
found  that  the  dimensions  of  the  shell,  whose  interior  surface  was  in 
perfect  contact  with  that  of  the  solid  ha^  which  filled  it,  were,  within 
the  limit  of  experimental  error,  those  of  the  empty  shell  when  that  also 
was  cold  (53°  F.),  the  proof  being  conclusive  that  no  expansion  in 
volume  of  the  contents  of  the  shell  had  token  place.  The  central  portion 
vras  much  less  dense  than  the  exterior,  the  opposite  of  what  must  have 
occurred  had  expansion  in  volume  on  cooling  taken  place. 

It  is  a  fact,  notwithstanding  what  precedes,  and  is  well  known  to  iron- 
founders,  that  certain  pieces  of  cold  cast  iron  do  float  on  molten  cast 
iron  of  the  same  quality,  though  they  cannot  do  so  through  their 
buoyancy.  As  various  sorts  of  cast  iron  vary  in  speciGc  gravity  at 
60°  F.,  from  nearly  7'700  down  to  6"300,  and  vary  also  in  dilatability, 
some  cast  irons  may  thus  float  or  sink  in  molten  cast  iron  of  different 
qualitiea  from  themselves  through  buoyancy  or  negative  buoyancy  alone ; 
but  where  the  cold  cast  iron  floats  upon  molten  cast  iron  of  less  specific 
gravity  than  itself,  the  author  shows  that  some  other  force,  the  nature 
of  which  yet  remuns  to  be  investigated,  keeps  it  floating ;  this  the  author 
has  provisionally  called  the  repellent  force,  and  has  shown  that  its 
amount  is,  casteris  paribus,  dependent  upon  the  relation  that  subsists 
between  the  volume  and  "effective"  surface  of  the  floati]]g  piece.  By 
"  effective  "  surface  is  meant  all  such  part  of  the  immersed  solid  as  is  in 
a  horizontal  plane  or  can  be  reduced  to  one.  The  repeUent  force  has 
also  relations  to  the  difference  in  tempentore  between  the  solid  and  tite 
molten  metal  on  which  it  floats. 


Dr.  B.  Sanderson  on  the  Excitation  of  the      [June 


1 


The  author  then  extendti  hu  experimeote  to  lead,  a  metal  known 
contract  greatly  in  solidifying,  and,  with  respect  to  which,  no  one  has  bi 
geflt«d  that  it  eipanda  at  the  moment  of  consolidation.  He  finds  that  piece* 
of  lead  having  a  epecific  gravity  of  11'361,  and  being  at  70°  I".,  float  or 
sink  upon  molten  lead  of  the  Bame  quality,  whose  calculated  specific 
grarity  was  11-07,  according  to  the  relation  that  aubsist-a  between  the 
volume  and  the  •'  effective  "  surface  of  the  solid  piece,  thin  pieces  with 
large  surface  always  floating,  and  vice  vend.  An  eiphmation  is  offered 
of  the  true  cause  of  the  ascending  and  descending  current*  observed  in 
very  large  "  ladlea  "  of  liquid  cast  iron,  ag  stated  by  Messrs.  Nasmvtfa 
and  Carpenter.  The  facts  are  shown  to  be  in  accordance  with  those 
above  mentioned,  and  when  rightly  interpreted  to  be  at  variance  with 
the  views  of  these  authors. 

Lastly,  the  author  proceeds  to  examine  the  statements  made  by  these 
writers,  as  to  the  floating  of  lumps  of  solidified  iron  fnmace-slag  upon 
the  same  when  In  a  luolten  state ;  be  examines  the  conditions  of  the 
alleged  fact«,  and  refers  to  his  ovm  experiments  upon  the  total  contrac- 
tion of  such  slags,  made  at  Barrow  Iron-works  (a  fuU  account  of 
which  he  has  given  in  his  paper  on  "  The  true  Nature  and  Origin  of 
Volcanic  Heat  and  Energy,"  print<;d  in  Phil.  Trans.  18T3 ),  as  eonclusivelT 
proring  that  such  rtl;ii;s  are  not  denser  in  Ike  molten  than  in  the  solid 
ettiin),  and  that  the  jloatiug  referred  to  is  due  to  other  causes.  The 
author  returns  thanks  to  several  persona  for  ^cilities  liberally  afforded 
him  in  making  these  experiments. 


IV.  "  Note  ou  the  Excitation  of  the  Surface  of  the  Cerehral  Hemi- 
spheres by  Induced  Currents,"     By  J.  Bubdon  Sanderson, 
M.D,,  F.R.S.,  Professor  of  Practical  Physiology  in  University 
College,  London.     Received  April  30,  1874. 
In  a  paper  recently  communicated  to  the  Boyal  Society  by  Dr.  Ferrieaf 
(Proceedings,  No.  151)  it  is  shown  that  when  two  ends  of  copper  wire 
distant  from  each  other  not  more  than  a  couple  of  millimetres,  and  in 
metallic  communication  vritb  the  terminals  of  the  secondary  coil  of  • 
Du  Bois's  induction-apparatus  in  action,  are  apphed  to  certain  spots  of  tike 
surface  of  either  hemisphere,  and  great  intensity  is  given  to  the  induced 
currents  thereby  directed  through  the  hving  tissue,  by  previously  bringing 
the  secondary  coil  into  such  a  position  that  it  is  very  dose  to  the  primUT 
coil  or  even  partially  covers  it,  characteristic  combined  movements  of  the 
opposite  side  of  the  body  are  produced. 

With  reference  to  these  effects,  it  was  observed  by  Dr.  Ferrier  (1)  that 
excitation  of  the  same  spot  always  produces  the  same  movement  in  the 
same  animal,  (2)  that  the  area  of  excitability  for  any  given  movement 
(or,  as  it  may  be  called  for  shortness,  tite  active  spot)  is  extremely  smalt 
and  admits  of  very  accurate  detiuition,  and  (3)  that  in  different  animals 


1874.]  Bram-tttiface  by  Induced  Current:  869 

ezcitatjona  of  anatomicallj  correflponding  spota  produce  Bimilar  or  corre- 
sponding results.  Prom  these  remark&ble  facts  and  from  otliers  similar 
to  them  relating  to  other  parts  of  the  brun  to  which  I  do  not  now  advert, 
it  was  inferred  that,  at  the  surface  of  the  hemispheres,  certain  "  centres  " 
are  to  be  found,  of  which  it  is  the  function  to  originate  combined  or  even 
purposive  movements. 

To  this  inference  objections  have  been  recently  raised  by  Dr.  Dupny, 
baaed  on  the  results  of  eiperiments  made  by  him,  in  which  he  found  that, 
after  the  ablation  of  those  parte  of  the  hemispheres  which  contain  the 
supposed  centres,  movements,  similar  to  those  described  by  Dr.  Ferrier,  can 
still  be  produced  by  electrical  exdtation  of  the  cut  surface.  In  com- 
menting on  these  counter  experiments.  Dr.  Ferrier  has  since  pointed  out 
that  the  effects  described  by  Dr.  Dupuy  are  entirely  different  from  those 
observed  by  himself,  and,  particularly,  that  the  movements  produced  in  his 
experiments  are  of  an  uncertain  character,  affecting  sometimes  one,  some- 
times several  groups  of  muscles. 

As  it  appeared  to  me  that,  although  Dr.  Dupuy  has  failed  to  prove  that 
the  movements  he  described  are  of  the  same  nature  with  those  described 
by  Dr.  Ferrier,  the  latter  has  not  proved  that  they  are  different,  I 
thought  it  necessary  to  make  a  series  of  eiperiments  for  the  purpose  of 
clearing  up  this  uncertainty.  With  this  view  I  determined  to  investigate 
the  most  chaiacteristic  of  the  comtnned  movements,  so  accurately  described 
by  Dr.  Ferrier  as  produced  by  excitation  of  particular  spots  on  the  anterior 
part  of  either  hemispliere,  by  comparing  them  with  those  produced  by 
excitation  of  deeper  ports.  The  results  of  my  experiment*,  in  which  cats 
were  employed,  are  as  follows : — 

1.  By  removing  the  integument,  skull,  and  dura  mater  to  an  extent 
corresponding  to  the  anterior  half  of  the  right  parietal  bone  and  the 
adjoining  thin  portion  of  the  frontal  bcme,  an  wea  of  the  surface  of  the 
bmin  is  brot^ht  into  view  which  comprises  several  spots  by  the  excita- 
tion of  which  the  following  charact«ristic  movements  can'be  produced: — 
(1)  Betraction  of  the  left  fore  paw,  with  flexion  of  the  carpus,  accom- 
panied by  similar  movements  of  the  left  hind  1^.  (2)  Closure  of  the 
left  eye  and  elevation  of  the  left  npper  lip.  (3)  Betraction  of  the  left 
ear.    (4)  Eotation  of  the  head  to  the  left  side. 

The  active  spots  for  these  several  movemente  are  as  foUows :— For  (1), 
a  point  immediately  behind  tiie  outer  end  of  the  crudal  sulcus ;  for  (2), 
the  Buri'ace  about  the  outer  end  of  a  sulcus  which  lies  immediately  behind 
(1);  for  (3),  the  surface  behind  the  sulcus  last  mentioned ;  for(4),aspot 
about  a  centim.  fori^her  back  on  the  same  convolution.  Movements  (1), 
(2),  and  (3)  can  be  produced  in  the  cat  with  very  great  certainty,  and  ttie 
active  spots  for  them  are  well  defined.  Their  limits  and  relations  are 
in  exact  accordance  vrith  the  statements  of  Dr.  Ferrier. 

2.  If  that  part  of  the  surface  of  the  ri^t  hemisphere  which  comprises 
the  active  spots  above  mentioned  is  severed  from  the  deeper  parte  by  a 


870  On  the  Excitation  of  the  Brain-»ur/ace.       [June  llj 

nearly  homoutal  incision  made  with  a  thin-bladed  knife,  ajid  the  iostni- 
ment  ia  at  once  withdrawn,  without  dialocatiou  of  the  severed  part,  and 
the  excitation  of  the  iictive  spots  thereupon  repeated,  the  residt  is  tho 
same  aa  when  the  surface  of  the  uninjured  oi^n  is  acted  upoD. 

If  a  Himiliir  incision  ia  made  in  a  parallel  plane,  but  at  a  lower  level, 
this  is  not  the  case  ;  but  on  removing  the  flap  and  applying  the  electrodes 
to  the  cut  surface,  it  is  found  that  there  are  on  it  active  spots,  which,  aa 
regards  the  effect  of  oscitation,  have  the  same  properties  as  the  actdve 
spots  previously  observed  on  the  natural  surface,  and  that  the  latter  hayo 
the  same  topographical  relation  to  each  other  as  the  fonuer. 

3-  In  a  brain  hardened  in  alcohol  a  needle  plunged  vertically,  t,  e.  at 
right  angles  to  the  surface,  from  the  active  spot  for  retraction  o£  the 
opposite  ear,  reaches  the  posterior  part  of  the  corpus  slriatnm  at  a 
depth  of  from  10  to  12  milluns.  If  a  horizontal  incision  is  made  in 
the  living  brain,  at  this  depth,  and  is  met  by  tu'O  others,  of  which  one  ia 
directed  antero-post«riorly  and  the  other  transversely,  and  the  part 
comprised  within  the  incisions  removed,  a  surface  of  brain  is  exposed  in 
the  deepest  part  of  the  n'ound  which  corresponds  to  the  outer  and  upper 
part  of  the  corpus  striaiicm'.  If  now  the  electrodes  are  applied  to  this  sur- 
face, the  movements  (I),  (2),  (3)  are  produced  in  the  same  way  aa  before, 
but  more  distinctly;  the  active  spots  are  ciiiitc  as  striclly  localized,  and 
their  relations  to  each  other  are  the  same  as  at  the  surface — the  spot  tor 
the  movement  of  the  extremities  being  in  front,  that  for  the  closure  of 
the  eye  and  retraction  of  the  upper  lip  being  to  the  outaide,  and  that  for 
the  ear  behmd. 

From  these  facts  it  appears  that  the  superRcial  convolutions  do  not 
contain  organs  which  are  essential  to  the  production  of  the  combinations  of 
muscular  movements  now  in  question.  They  further  make  it  probable 
that  the  doctrine  hitherto  accepted  by  physiologists,  that  the  centres  for 
such  movements  are  to  be  found  in  the  masses  of  grey  matter  which  lie  in 
the  floor  and  outer  wall  of  each  lateral  ventricle,  is  true. 

*  In  case  it  should  be  aecessar;  U>  repeat  Ihie  eiperimenC,  it  vill  be  found  best  (after 
having  noted  the  effects  of  exciting  the  surface  at  the  several  active  spots  and  MOar- 
taiDed  the  degree  of  eicitation  required  for  tbe  production  of  the  correepondiag  movB- 
ments)  to  proceed  to  remove  tbe  part  of  the  braio  containing  (bem,  bo  m  to  expose  tbs 
outer  aspect  of  ^e  sn1«rior  part  of  tbe  corpai  i/riatum  at  once ;  and  then,  as  aoon  M 
biemorrhage  bas  cessed.  to  investigate  tbe  relatiTe  positions  of  the  active  spots  on  the 
surfaoe  so  exposed.  [Since  tbe  attoie  paper  was  communicated.  I  have  ascertained  that 
at  the  lowest  part  of  this  aurfnce  there  is  a  spot,  of  nhich  eicitation  induces  opening  ot 
the  mouth  and  alternate  protrusion  aad  retraction  of  the  tongue — a  group  of  move- 
ments  vhich  Dr.  Ferrior  baa  localised  on  tbe  under  surface  of  tbe  brain,  in  front  of  the 
Sjlvion  fissure,— J.  B.  8.,  June  3,  1874.] 


I874.J      Mr.  J.  K.  Lockyer's  Speeinmopie  JVoiat.— No.  I.       871 

v.  "  Spectroscopic  Notes. — No.  I.  On  the  AbsorptioiL  of  great 
Thicknesses  of  Metallic  and  Metalloidal  Vaponrs."  By  J. 
NoKHAN  LocKyKK,  F.R.S.     Received  April  20,  1874. 

It  has  been  assuiued  hitherto  that  a  great  ihidcntu  of  a,  gas  or  rapour 
causes  its  radiation,  and  therefore  its  absorption,  to  assume  more  and 
more  the  character  of  a  continuous  spectrum  as  the  thickness  is 
increased. 

It  has  been  shown  by  Dr.  Frankland  and  myself  that  such  a  condition 
obtains  when  the  demity  of  a  vapour  is  increased,  and  my  later  researches 
have  shown  that  it  is  brought  about  in  two  ways.  Qenemlizing  the 
work  I  have  already  done,  without  intending  thereby  to  imply  necessarily 
that  the  rule  will  hold  universally,  or  that  it  exhauBts  all  the  phenomena, 
it  may  be  stated  that  metallic  elements  of  low  specific  gravity  approach 
the  continuous  spectrum  by  viidening  their  lines,  while  metallic  elementa  of 
high  epedJic  gravity  approach  the  continuous  state  by  increasing  the 
number  of  their  lines.  Hence  in  the  vapours  of  Ka,  Ca,  Al,  and  Mg 
we  have  a  small  number  of  lines  which  broaden,  few  short  lines  being 
added  by  increase  of  density ;  in  Pe,  Co,  Ni,  &c.  we  have  many  lines  which 
do  not  so  greatly  broaden,  many  short  lines  being  added. 

The  obsen'ations  I  made  in  India  during  the  total  solar  eclipse  of  1871 
were  against  the  assumption  referred  to ;  and  if  we  are  to  hold  that  the 
lines,  both  "fundamental"  and  "short,"  which  we  get  in  a  spectrum,  ore 
due  to  atomic  impact  (defining  by  the  word  atom,  provisionally,  that  mass 
of  matter  which  gives  us  a  line-spectrum),  then,  as  neither  the  quantity 
of  the  impacts  nor  the  quality  is  necessarily  altered  by  increasing  the 
thickness  of  the  stratum,  the  assumption  seems  also  devoid  of  true 
theoretical  foundation. 

One  thing  is  clear,  that  if  the  assumed  continuous  spectrum  is  ever 
reached  by  increased  thickness,  as  by  increased  density,  it  must  be  reached 
through  the  "  short-line  "  stage. 

To  test  this  point  I  have  made  the  following  experiments : — 

1.  An  iron  tube  about  5  feet  long  was  filled  with  dry  hydrogen; 
pieces  of  sodium  were  carefully  placed  at  intervals  along  the  whole 
length  of  the  tube,  except  dose  to  the  ends.  The  ends  were  closed  with 
glass  plates.  The  tube  was  placed  in  two  gas-furnaces  in  line  and 
heated.  An  electric  tamp  was  placed  at  one  end  of  the  tube  and  a 
spectroscope  at  the  other. 

When  the  tube  was  red-hot  and  filled  with  sodium-vapour  throughout, 
as  nearly  as  possible,  its  whole  length,  a  stream  of  hydrogen  slowly 
passing  through  the  tube,  the  line  D  was  seen  to  be  absorbed ;  it  was  no 
thicker  than  when  seen  under  similar  conditions  in  a  test-tube,  and  far 
thinner  than  the  line  absorbed  by  sodium-  vapour  in  a  test-tube,  if  the 
density  be  only  slightly  increased. 


1 


372     Mt.  J.  N.  Lockyer's  Spectrcseopic  Notea. — No.  II.    [June  1: 

OiJy  the  longest  "  fundamental "  line  was  abaorbed. 

Tht  line  liiat  thieker  than  the  D  line  in  the  solar jiperlrunt,  in  which  tptO" 
trum  all  the  thort  lint*  are  reversed. 

2.  As  it  was  difficult  largely  to  increase  either  the  temperature  or  tbe 
density  of  the  a  odium- vapour,  I  have  made  another  seriea  of  experiments 
with  iodine -vapour. 

I  have  already  pointed  out  the  differences  indicated  by  the  spectro- 
scope between  the  quality  of  the  vibrations  of  the  "  atom  "  of  a  metal 
and  of  the  "  subatom  "  of  a  metalloid  (by  which  t«rm  I  define  that  mas^ 
of  mntter  which  gives  us  a  spectrum  of  channelled  spaces,  and  builds  up 
the  continuous  Bpectnmi  in  it«  own  way).  Thus,  in  iodine,  the  short  lines, 
brought  about  by  increase  of  density  in  an  atomic  apectmm,  are  repre- 
sented by  the  addition  of  a  system  of  well-defined  "beats"  and  broad 
bauds  of  continuous  absorption  to  the  simplest  spectrum,  which  is  one 
exquisitely  rhythmical,  the  intervals  increasing  from  the  blue  to  the  red, 
and  in  which  the  beats  are  scarcely  noHeesble. 

On  increasing  the  density  of  a  very  small  thickness  by  a  gentle 
heating,  the  beats  and  bands  are  introduced,  and,  as  the  density  is  atill 
further  increased,  the  absorption  becomes  continuous  throughout  the 
whole  of  the  visible  spectrum. 

The  absorption  of  a  thickness  of  .')  feet  R  inches  of  iodine-vapour  at  a 
temperature  of  59'  F.  has  given  mo  no  indication  of  banda,  while  the 
beats  were  so  faint  that  they  were  scarcely  visible. 

VI,  "  Spectroscopic  Notes. — ^No.  II.  Ou  the  Evidence  of  Varia- 
tion in  Molecular  Structure."  By  J.  Norman  Lockyer,  F,R.S. 
Received  May  26,  1874. 

1.  In  an  accompanying  note  I  have  shown  that  when  different  degrees 
of  dissociating  power  are  employed  the  spectral  effects  are  different. 

2.  In  the  present  note  I  propose  to  give  a  preliminary  account  of  some 
researches  which  have  led  me  to  the  conclusion  that,  startiBg  with  a  mass 
of  elemental  matter,  such  mass  of  matter  is  continually  broken  up  as  the 
temperature  (including  in  this  term  the  action  of  electricity)  is  raised. 

3.  The  evidence  upon  which  I  rely  is  furnished  by  the  spectroscope  in 
the  region  of  the  visible  spectrum. 

4.  To  b^in  by  the  extreme  cases,  all  solids  give  us  continuous  spectrs; 
all  vapours  produced  by  the  high-tenslou  spark  give  us  line-spectra. 

5.  Now  the  continuous  spectrum  may  be,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  is, 
observed  in  the  case  of  chemical  compounds,  whereas  aU  compounds 
known  as  such  are  resolved  by  the  high-tension  spark  into  their  consti- 
tuent elements.  We  have  a  right,  therefore,  to  assume  that  an  element 
in  the  solid  state  is  a  more  complex  mass  than  the  element  in  a  state  of 
vapour,  as  it«  spectrum  is  the  same  as  that  of  a  mass  which  is  known  to 
be  more  complex. 


1874.]      Mr.  J.  N.  Lockyer*fl  Speciroscopie  Notea.—Vo.  II.      378 

6.  The  spectroscope  sapplies  as  with  intennediate  stages  between  these 
extremes. 

(a)  The  spectra  vary  as  we  pass  from  the  induced  current  ^dth  the 
jar  to  the  spark  without  the  jar,  to  the  voltaic  arc,  or  to  the  highest 
temperature  produced  by  combustiotL.  The  change  is  always  io  the  same 
directioD  ;  and  here,  agai^,  the  spectrum  we  obtain  from  elements  in  a 
state  of  vapour  (a  spectrum  characterized  by  spaces  and  bands)  is  similar 
to  that  we  obtain  from  vapours  of  whi<^  the  compound  nature  is  un- 
questioned. 

0)  At  high  temperatures,  produced  by  combustion,  the  vapours  of  some 
elements  (which  give  us  neither  line-  nor  channelled  space-spectra  at  those 
temperaturea,  although  we  undoubtedly  get  line-spectra  when  electridty  is 
employed,  as  stated  in  4)  give  us  a  continuous  spectrum  at  the  more 
refrangible  end,  the  less  refrangible  end  being  anaIEect«d. 

(y)  At  ordinary  temperatures,  in  some  cases,  as  in  selenium,  the  more 
refran^ble  end  is  absorbed ;  in  others  the  continuous  spectrum  in  the 
blue  is  accompanied  by  a  continuous  specfrum  in  the  red.  On  the 
application  of  heat,  the  spectrum  in  the  red  disappears,  that  in  the  blue 
remains ;  and  further,  aa  Faraday  has  shown  in  hu  researches  on  gold- 
leaf,  the  masses  which  absorb  in  the  blue  may  be  isolated  from  those 
which  absorb  in  the  red.  It  is  well  known  that  many  substances  known 
to  be  compounds  in  solution  give  uh  absorption  in  the  blue  or  blue  and 
red ;  and,  also,  that  the  addition  of  a  substance  known  to  be  compound 
(such  as  water)  to  substances  known  to  be  compound  which  absorb  the 
blue,  superadds  an  absorption  in  the  red. 

7.  In  those  cases  which  do  not  conform  to  what  has  bete  stated  the 
limited  range  of  the  visible  spectrum  must  be  borne  in  mind.  Thus  I  have 
little  doubt  that  the  simple  gases,  at  the  ordinary  conditions  of  tempera- 
ture and  pressure,  have  an  absorption  in  the  ultrn-violet,  and  that  highly 
compound  vapours  are  often  colourless  because  their  absorption  is  beyond 
the  red,  with  or  without  an  absorption  in  the  ultra-violet.  Glass  is  a 
good  case  in  point ;  others  will  certainly  suggest  themselves  as  opposed 
to  the  opacity  of  the  metals. 

8.  If  we  assume,  in  accordance  with  what  has  been  stated,  that  the 
various  spectra  to  which  I  have  referred  are  really  due  to  different  mole- 
cular aggregations,  we  shall  have  the  following  series,  going  from  the 
more  simple  to  the  more  complex  : — 

First  stage  of  complexity  1  Lin^„^trum. 

of  molecule    J 

Second  stage Channelled  space-spectrum. 

(Continuous  absorption  at  the  blue 
end  not  reaching  to  the  less  refran- 
gible end.  (This  absorption  may 
break  up  into  channelled  spaces.) 


374    Mr.  J.  N.  Lockyer's  Speclroseopic  Notet. — No.  III.   [Jane  l)j 

{Contitiiioua  absorption  ftt  the  red  end 
Dot  readuni;  to  the  mora  refr^iH 
gible  end.     (This  absorption  ia\j 
break  up  into  channelled  spaces.) 
Fifth  stage     Unique  continuous  absorption. 

9.  I  shall  coutput  myself  in  the  present  note  by  giving  one  or  fcwqr'l 
inatanceR  of  the  pnssti^  of  spectra  Erom  one  st^^  to  another,  beginmng^u 
at  the  fifth  stage. 

From  5  to  4. 

1.  The  absorption  of  the  vapours  of  K  in  the  red-hot  tube,  described 
in  another  uote,  is  at  first  continuoufi.  Ah  the  action  of  the  heat  ia  cou- 
tinned,  this  continuous  spectrum  breaks  in  the  middle ;  one  i>art  of  it 
retreats  to  the  blue,  the  other  to  the  red. 

From  4  to  3. 
1.  Faraday's  researches  on  gold-leaf  best  illustrate  this ;  but  1 1 
that  my  explanation  of  them  by  massen  of  two  degrees  of  complex 
only  is   nuificient  without  his  conclusion  ('  Besearches  in  Chemistryd 
p.  4171,  that  they  exist  "  of  intermediat«  sizes  or  proportions," 

From  3  to  y. 

1.  Sulphur-vapour  first  gives  a  continuous  spectrum  at  the  blue  end ; 
on  heating,  this  breaks  up  into  a  channelled  space-spectrum. 

2.  The  new  spectra  of  K  and  Na  (more  particularly  referred  to  in  the 
third  note)  make  their  appearance  after  the  continuous  absorption  in  t^e 
blue  and  red  vanishes. 

From  2  to  1. 

1.  In  many  metalloids  the  spectra,  without  the  jar,  are  channelled;  on 
throwing  the  jar  into  the  circuit  the  line-spectrum  is  produced,  while  tlie 
cooler  exterior  vapour  gives  a  channelled  absorption-spectrum. 

2,  The  new  spectra  of  K  and  Na  change  into  the  line-spectrum  (with 
thick  lines  which  thin  subsequently)  as  the  heat  is  continued. 


VII.  "  Spectroscopic  Notes.— No.  III.     On  the  Molecular  Stnic- 
hire  of  Vapours  in  connexion  with  their  Densities."     By  J. 
NoEMAN  LocKYER,  F.R.S.     Received  May  26,  1874. 
1.  I  have  recently  attempted  to  bring  the  spectroscope  to  bear  upon 
the  question  whether  vapours  of  elements  below  the  highest  tempera- 
tures are  truly  homogeneous,   and  whether  the  vapours  of  different 
chemical  elements,  at  any  one  temperature,- are  all  in  a  similar  molecular 
condition.   In  the  present  note,  I  beg  to  lay  before  the  Boyal  Society  the 
preliminary  results  of  my  researches. 


1874.]     Mr.  J.  N.  Lockyer's  SpectroteopicNotet.—tto.  III.      875 

2.  We  start  with  the  following  facts  : — 

I.  All  elements  driTen  into  vapour  by  tha  induced  current  give  line- 

Bpectra. 

II.  Most  elements  driven  into  vapour  bj  the  voltaic  arc  give  us  the 

III.  Many  metalloids  when  greatly  heated,  some  at  ordinary  tem- 
peratures, give  us  chaimelled-space  spectra. 

rV.  Elementa  in  the  solid  state  give  us  continuous  spectra. 

3.  If  we  grant  that  the  spectra  represent  to  us  the  vibratdons  of  dif- 
ferent molecular  aggregatioos  (this  question  is  discussed  in  Note  II.), 
spectroscopic  observations  should  furnish  us  with  facts  of  some  import- 
ance to  the  inquiry. 

4.  To  take  the  lowest  ground.  If,  in  the  absence  of  all  knowledge  on 
the  subject,  it  could  be  shown  that  all  vapours  at  all  stages  of  temperature 
had  spectra  absolutely  similar  in  character,  then  it  would  be  more  likely 
that  all  vapours  were  truly  homogeneous  and  similar  among  themselves, 
as  r^ards  molecular  condition,  than  if  the  spectra  varied  in  character,  not 
only  from  element  to  element,  but  from  one  temperature  to  another  in 
the  vapour  of  the  same  element. 

5.  At  the  temperature  of  the  sun's  reversing  layer,  the  spectra  of  all 
the  elements  known  to  exist  in  that  layer  are  apparently  similar  in  cha- 
racter— that  is,  they  are  all  line-spectra ;  hence  it  is  more  probable  that 
the  vapours  there  are  truly  homogeneous,  and  that  they  all  exist  in  the 
same  molecular  condition,  than  if  the  spectrum  were  a  mixed  one. 

6.  The  fact  that  the  order  of  vapour-densitiea  in  the  sun's  atmosphere, 
which  we  can  in  a  measure  determine  by  spectroscopic  observations,  does 
not  agree  with  the  order  of  the  modem  atomic  weights  of  the  elements, 
but  more  closely  agrees  with  the  older  atomic  weights,  led  me  to  take  up 
the  present  research.  Thus  I  may  mention  that  my  early  observations  of 
the  welling-up  of  Mg  vapour  all  round  the  sun  above  the  Na  vapour  have 
lately  been  frequently  substantiated  by  the  Italian  observers ;  so  that  it 
is  beyond  aU  question,  I  think,  that,  at  the  sun,  the  vapour-density  of  Mg 
is  less  than  that  of  Na. 

7.  The  vapour-densitdoa  of  the  following  elements  have  been  experi- 
mentally determined : — 

H 
K 


s    ... 

. . .     32  (at  1000°) 

I   ... 

..   127 

Hr..- 

. ..   100 

N    ... 

..     14 

0    ... 

..     18 

p  ... 

..     62 

a 

8.  To  pursue  this   inquiry  the  following    arrangements   have  been 
adopted ; — 
llie  first  experiment!  were  made  laat  December  upcm  Zn  in  a  glass 

TOL.  XXII.  2  4 


376    Mr.  3 .  ti .'Locii.yet'a  Spectroscopic Nolea. — No.  III.   [June  II, 

tube  biased  at  each  end  with  glass  platca  ;  and  I  have  to  express  my  ob- 
ligations to  Dr.  Kujiaell  for  allowing  them  to  be  conducted  in  his  labora- 
tory, and  for  miicU  usBistaucv  and  counsel  eonoorning  them. 

A  stream  of  dry  H  was  allowed  to  pass.  The  tube  was  heated  in  a 
Hofmann'e  gas-furnace,  pieces  of  the  metal  to  be  studied  having  previ- 
ously been  introduced.  It  was  found  that  the  glass  tube  melted  ;  it  was 
therefore  replaced  by  an  iron  one.  The  inconvenience  of  this  plan,  how- 
ever (owing  to  the  necessity  for  introducing  the  metal  into  the  end  of  the 
hot  tube  nhen  the  first  charge  had  volatiliEcd),  and,  moreover,  the 
insufliciency  of  the  heat  obt^nable  from  the  gas-furnace,  soon  obliged  ma 
to  replace  both  tube  and  furnace  by  others,  whicli  have  now  been  in  use 
for  manv  weeks,  and  which  still  continue  to  work  most  satisfactorily. 

The  iron  tube  is  4  feet  in  length,  nnd  is  provided  with  a  central  en- 
largement, suggested  lo  me  by  Mr,  Dewar.  forming  a  T-pieee  by  tha 
screwing  in  of  a  side  tube,  the  end  of  which  is  left  projecting  from  the 
door  in  the  roof  of  the  furnace.  Caps  are  screwed  on  at  each  end 
of  the  main  tube ;  these  caps  are  closed  by  a  glass  plate  at  one  end, 
BJid  have  each  a  small  side  tube  for  the  purpose  of  passing  hydro- 
gen or  other  gases  through  the  hot  tube.  The  furnace  is  supplied 
with  coke  or  charcoal ;  an  electric  lamp,  connected  with  thirty  Grove's 
cells,  is  placed  at  one  end  of  the  tube  and  a  one-prism  spectnwcope  at  the 
other.  The  temperatures  reached  by  this  furnace  may  be  conveniently 
divided  into  four  stages  :-:— 

I.  When  the  continuous  spectrum  of  the  tube  extends  to  the  sodium- 
line  D,  this  line  not  being  visible. 

II.  When  the  continuous  spectrum  extends  a  little  beyond  D,  this  line 
being  visible  as  a  bright  line. 

III.  When  the  spectrum  extends  into  the  green,  D  being  very  bright. 

IV.  "WTien  the  spectrum  extends  beyond  the  green  and  D  becomes  in- 
visible as  a  line,  and  the  sides  of  the  furnace  are  at  a  red  heat. 

I  may  add  (1)  that  I  have  only  within  the  last  few  days  been  able  to 
employ  the  third  and  fourth  stages  of  heat,  as  the  furnace  was  previously 
without  a  chimney,  and  the  necessary  draught  could  not  be  obtained ; 
and  (2)  that  I  was  informed,  a  little  time  ago,  by  Prof.  Roscoe  that,  with  a 
white-hot  tube,  he  had  obsen'ed  new  spectra  in  the  case  of  Na  and  K. 
These  spectra,  which  I  now  constantly  see  when  these  temperatnrea  are 
reached,  I  shall  call  the  "  new  spectra." 

9.  The  results  of  the  experiments,  so  far  as  the  visible  spectrum  is 
concerned,  between  the  stages  indicated  may  be  stated  as  follows  : — 
H.    No  absorption. 
N.    No  absorption. 

K.    I  have  observed,  either  separately  or  together  :— 
(a)  The  line  absorption-line  near  D. 

(/3)  Continuous  absorption  throughout  the  whole  spectrum. 
(7)  Continuous  absorption  in  red  and  blue  at  the  same  time, 


\ 


1874.]     Mr.  J.  N.  Lockyer'a  Spectroscopic  Nole».—No.  III.      377 

the  light  being  transmitted  in  the  centre  of  the  spectrum 
(as  by  gold-leaf). 
{S)  Continuous  absorption  clinging  on  oae  side  or  other  of 
the  line.     (This  phaaomenon,  which,  so  far  aa  I  know, 
is  quite  new,  will  be  described  in  another  note.) 
(t)  The  new  spectrum. 
Na,  1  have  observed,  either  separately  or  together : — 
(n)  D  absorbed. 

(/3)  ContiQuous  abeorption  throughout  the  whole  spectrum, 
(y)  Continuous  abearptian  clinging  on  one  side  or  the  other 

of  D. 
(i)  The  new  spectrum. 
Zn.  Continuous  absorption  in  the  blue.     (An  unknown  line  some- 
times appears  in  the  green,  but  certainly  no  line  of  Zn.) 
Cd.  Continuous  absorption  in  the  blue. 
Ah.    Xew  spectrum,  with  channelled  spaces  and  ^Morptiou  ii)  the 

blue. 
P.    The  same.   (Thia,  however,  in  consequence  of  the  extreme  deli- 
cacy of  the  spectrum,  requires  confirmation.) 
S.    Chonnelled-space  spectrum  (previously  observed  by  Salet). 
As.  Probable  channall^-space  spectrum.      (Observations  to  be  re- 
peated.) 
Bi.    Ko  absorption. 

I.      Channelled  spectrum  in  the  green  and  intense  bank  of  general 
absorption  in  tiie  violet,  where  at  the  ordinary  temperature 
the  vapour  transmits  light. 
Hg.  No  absorption. 
10.  These  results  may  be  tabulated  as  follows : — 


No  visible  absorption. 

Line  absorption. 

Probable  channelled-space  absorption. 

Continuous  absorption  in  the  blue. 

Channelled-space  absorption    +   band    of 

abeorption  in  violet. 
No  abeorption. 


62 

31 

(?) 

23 

Line  absorption. 

(?) 

65 

Continuous  absorption  in  the  violet. 

(?) 

122 

Channelled-space  spectrum  and  absorption 
in  the  blue. 

32 

32 

Channolled-apsce  spectrum. 

(?) 

SOS 

No  abiorptioD. 

26% 

J.N.  hockycr's  Spectroscopic  Notes. — No,  IV.    [June  llj 

11.  It  will  be  aeeu  from  the  foregomgatatement  that  if  similar  spectra 
be  taken  as  iudicatiug  aimilar  molecular  conditions,  then  the  ^'apours, 
the  densities  of  which  have  been  determinod,  have  not  been  in  the  same 
molecular  condition  among  thL>mselvcs.  Thus  the  vapours  of  K,  8,  and 
Cd,  at  the  fourth  stage  of  beat,  gave  us  line,  channelled-space,  and  con- 
tinuous absorption  in  the  blue  respectively.  This  is  also  evideni-e  that 
each  vapour  is  non-homogeneous  for  a  considerable  intc^^al  of  time,  t^ 
interval  being  increased  as  the  temperature  is  reduced. 

VIII.  "  Spectroscopic  Notea. — No.  IV.  On  ancwClassof  Absor]K 
tion  PhDnomena."  By  J.  Nokman  Lockykh,  P,R.S.  BecetredL' 
May  2G,  1874. 

1.  In  the  eiperiments  on  the  aba orpt ion-spectrum  oE  Na  and  K 
vapour  heated  in  a  red-hot  tube,  to  which  further  reference  ta  made  in 
aeparat«  notes,  I  have  observed  phenomena  quite  new  to  me,  some 
rough  drawings  of  which  1  lay  herewith  before  the  Boyal  Society.  As 
the  phenomena  are  only  momentary,  I  cannot  answer  for  the  final  accu- 
racy of  the  drawings,  nor  have  I  been  able  to  represent  the  softness  of 
the  gradations  of  shaile. 

2.  In  the  drawings,  the  red  end  of  the  spectrum  is  to  the  left ;  the  I> 
line  common  to  them  all  is  the  image  of  a  slit  about  half  on  inch  long, 
on  which  slit  the  light  falls  from  an  electric  lamp,  through  the  tube  and 
chamber  in  which  the  vapours  are  produced.  The  lower  part  of  the 
drawings  would  generally  represent,  therefore,  the  spectrum  of  the  Uat 
dense  vapours  were  the  vapours  at  rest. 

3.  One  of  the  phenomena  referred  to  consists  of  what  may  be  described 
as  a  unilateral  widening  of  the  line  D  :  the  side  absorption,  however,  is 
much  less  dense  than  that  of  the  line ;  it  is  bounded  by  D  on  one  side 
and  by  a  curved  tine  on  the  other.  Figs.  1,  2,  and  3  will  give  an  idea  of 
this  appearance  in  three  stages  as  it  is  frequently  actually  seen,  i.  t.  as 
the  absorption  travels  up  or  down  the  line  it  widens  as  shown. 


Fig.l. 


\ 


1874.]      Mr.  J.  N.  Lockyer's  Spectro$coi^c  Nolet.—'No.  IV.      870 


4.  Figs.  4  and  5  give  two  variations  sometimes  observed — fig.  4  showing 
the  darkeniug  in  the  sbsorptioa  and  an  increased  steepness  in  the  curve ; 
tig.  5  the  aimultaneouB  existence  o£  apparently  different  absorptions, 
all  boonded  by  D  on  one  side,  but  by  different  curves  ou  the  other,  and 
being  of  different  intensities. 


Kg.  4. 

_^^ 

Y 

Kg.S. 

|PB 

i 

5.  Altbongh,  in  the  preceding  drawings,  I  have  represented  this  uni- 
lateral widening  exclusively  on  the  more  refrangible  side  of  I),  I  have 
observed  it  on  the  other,  though  scarcely  so  frequently. 

6.  Accompanying  these  appearances,  but  generally  best  visible  when 
the  absorption  with  curved  boundary  Is  visible  on  both  sides  of  D,  is  a 
brilliant  boundary  replacing  the  mere  change  of  shade. 

7.  At  times  the  brilliant  boundary  is  continuous  across  D,  as  shown  in 
fig.  6 ;  but  I  append  figs.  7  and  8  to  show  that  the  phenomena  on  either 
side  of  I)  are  independent  of  each  other. 


I'ig.fll 


[June  18, 


Fig.  7. 


I^-l 


if 

•! '^^     ■ '1' 

r 

1 

8.  At  times,  D  puts  on  the  appearance  oF  the  limiting  line  of  a  cbaa- 
nelled-apace  spectrum,  the  "  easing  otE"  of  the  absorption  being  now  on 
one  aide  and  now  on  the  other. 

9.  Should  all  the^o  phenomena  be  ultimately  referred  to  the  cauBos 
which  produce  a  channelled-space  spectrum  (one  of  which  undoubtedly  is 
the  teucleiicv  to  a  unilateral  instrad  of  a  bilateral  widening),  a  line-spec- 
trum nil!  be  regnrdeil  as  a  sjvcial  ease  merely,  and  not  as  an  entirely 
different  spectrum,  as  it  has  been  hitherto  ;  and  the  range  of  molecular 
combinations  in  any  one  element  from  which  Une-spectra  may  be  pro- 
duced is  extended. 

10.  The  question  further  arises,  whether  many  of  the  short  lines  in 
spectra  are  not  remnants  of  channel led-space  spectra. 


JOSEPH  DALTON  HOOKER,  C,B.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

Mr.  Henry  Bowman  Brady,  Mr.  Augustus  Woilaston  Franks,  Prof, 
Olaua  Henrici,  Sir  Henry  Sumner  Maine,  and  Mr.  Osbert  Salvin  were 
admitted  into  the  Society. 

The  Presents  received  were  laid  on  the  table,  and  thanks  ordered  for 

The  following  Papers  were  read  : — 

I.  "  A  Contrihution  to  the  Anatomy  of  Connective  Tissue,  Nerve, 
and  Muscle,  with  special  reference  to  their  connexion  with  the 
Lymphatic  System."  By  G.  Thin,  M.D.  Communicated 
by  Prof.  Huxley,  Sec.  R.S.     Received  April  22,  1874* 

•  Tim  Paper  will  appear  in  Ko.  155. 


1874.]  On  the  Determmatim  of  a  Prime  Number.  881 

11.  "  Qiven  the  Number  of  Figures  (not  exceeding  100)  in  the 
Reciprocal  of  a  Prime  Number,  to  determine  the  Prime  itself." 
By  William  Shanks.  Commumcated  by  the  Rey.G.  Salmon, 
F.R.S.     Received  May  19,  1874. 

In  a  former  communication  (suprd,  p.  200)  I  gave  a  Table  showii^  the 
number  of  figures  in  the  period  of  the  reciprood  of  every  given  piime  up  to 
20,000.  The  Table  here  introduced  is  intended  to  solve  the  converse  pro- 
blem, and  to  show  what  primes  have  a  given  number  of  figures  in  their 
period.  It  appears  at  once,  from  the  ordinary  rule  for  converting  a  pure  cir- 
culatmg  decimal  into  a  proper  fraction,  that  if  the  reciprocal  of  a  prime  have 
n  figures  in  its  period,  that  prime  must  be  a  factor  in  the  number  formed 
by  writing  down  n  nines,  and  therefore  also,  generally,  in  the  number 
formed  by  writing  down  n  ones.  We  denote  that  number  by  n ;  that  is 
to  say,  5  (in  the  left  column),  for  example,  =11111,  except  where 
3, 3',  3' ... .  3'  are  concerned,  when  we  have  3,  for  example,  =899.  The 
problem  now  before  us  is  equivalent  to  that  of  breaking  np  n  into  its 
prime  factors ;  and  the  previous  Table  gives  us  great  facility  in  doing 
this,  for  it  exhibits  every  factor  of  n  which  is  less  than  20,000*  ;  and  if, 
after  accounting  for  all  these,  the  remaining  factor  of  n  is  less  than 
30,000',  we  may  be  sure  that  it  is  a  prime  number,  and  that  the  resolu- 
tion is  complete. 

If  we  have  to  deal  with  a  composite  number  mn,  this  may  obviously  be 
writt«n  down  either  as  nt  groups  of  n  ones  or  as  n  groups  of  m  ones.  It 
follows  that  mn  contains  m  and  n  as  factors.    We  may  also  state  here  that 

12,  besides  the  factor  9001,  obviouslyhas  all  the  factors  belonging  to  any 
submultiple  of  13,  e.g.  2,  3,  4,  6;  and  that  this  holdn  in  all  other  similar 
cases,  and  need  not  be  stated  again.  When  we  affirm  that  the  resolution 
in  any  case  is  complete  (and,  indeed,  throughout  the  Table),  it  is  to  be 
clearly  understood  that  the  snbmultiples  have  all  been  carefully  attended 
to,  and  thus  any  result  may  easily  be  verified.  The  high  factors  found 
(those,  we  mean,  above  30,000*)  have  involved  considerable  labour ;  and 
though  we  may  not  say  absolutely  that  they  are  primes,  yet  we  are 
certun  that,  if  composite,  their  component  factors  are  primes  each 
greater  than  30,000,  and  that  the  periods  of  their  reciprocals  have  readily 
been  found.  It  only  remains  to  add  here  that  the  left  column  contains 
the  given  number  of  figures  in  the  reciprocal  of  the  prime  or  primes 
found  and  placed  opposite  in  the  right  column,  or,  in  a  few  cases,  of  the 
second  powers  of  primes,  and  as  far  as  the  sixth  power  of  the  prime  3. 

If  the  number  of  figures  in  the  reciprocal  of  P  be  n,  then  the  general 
rulet,  which  may  be  drawn  from  particular  cases  such  as  the  following 
two,  is  that  the  number  of  figures  in  the  reciprocal  of  P"  is  nP,  of  P*  is 

'  In  point  of  tact  I  lutTS  ouried  on  the  ckloul&tion  up  lo  30,000. 

t  See  ■  MeManger  of  Ualhenutice,'  vol.  ii.  pp.  41-43  (1872),  tad  tuI.  iii.  pp.  52-55 
(1873), 


[June  18,    I 

ljiiii.%  the  period  of  —  =  18,  &□(!  siuue  the  remainders  I 

resultingfromdindinglS  suth  periods  successively  by  10  are,  iu  order,  15, 
11,  7,  3,  18,  H,  10,  6,  2,  17,  13,  ft,  6,  1,  16,  12,  8,  4,  U,  it  tdilows  that 

^  =  18x  19^342.     The  Iav  of  such  remainders,  after  the  first  hu 

been  obtained,  ie  simple  enough,  and  may  be  written  down  at  ones. 

Again,  since  the  period  of —r~^SI,  also  since  the  remainders  resulting 

from  dividing  163  such  periods,  each  of  81  figures,  sufceBsively  by  163 
are,  in  order,  148, 135,  V21, 107,  93,  79,  65,  51,  37,  23,  9, 158, 144. .  .  .0 
(the  series  consisting  of  IG3  terms,  of  which  tlie  last  is  0),  it  follows  that 
-i^  =  Six  163  =  13203.    The  law  of  the  above  series  is  evident,  and 

the  number  of  terms  is  easUy  foaud  to  be  1G3.  There  is  oa 
obvious  exception  when  P=3 ;  then  the  period  is  divisible  by  P, 
and  the  number  of  figures  in  the  reciprocal  of  3^  is  1,  of  3'  is  3,  and  of 
3"  is  3"~*.  There  are  other  exceptions  also,  or  at  all  events  one. 
Desmarest,  for  instance,  has  remarked  that  in  the  case  of  P=4S7,  the 
period  is  divisible  by  4S7 ;  and  therefore  the  number  of  fijfures  in  the 
redprocat  of  487"  is  the  same  as  that  in  the  reciprocal  of  487,  vis.  486. 
I  am  not  acquainted  with  the  general  theory  of  such  exceptions  ;  nor  do 
I  know  what  other  primes  (if  any)  besides  3  and  487  have  the  same 
peculiarity. 

With  these  explanations  the  following  Table  can  readily  be  under- 
stood. We  mark  with  an  asterisk  those  cases  in  which  the  resolution  ia 
complete,  tiiuB  28  I  29  .  281  .  12149  9449.  We  ore  to  be  understood 
as  affirming  that  12149  9449  is  a  prime  number. 


GHbd  nniDber  of 

PariaSofPrimei. 


Prime*,  Prime  Factori,  4o, 


3*.  333667. 
9091. 

11649.513159. 
9901. 

53,79,16537  1655. 
90909  I. 

,  ;  58813  53" 
Seems  prune. 

Seem  a  pnme. 
,  1796 '• 


1874.]  Determination  of  a  Pritae  Nvmber. 

V   -^Tli!  Prime*,  Prime  F»ctor»,  4o. 


99990  001. 

11401  .ijSoi  V*»S»   "130  01- 

*S9  ■  'os8j  '3049- 

l*.7S7-44"33  46547  77631. 

19  .  igi  .  11149  9449. 

J191  .  16761  .  io77i  ojooo  95917  10406  7. 

1791  .  39810  ioioi  04301  siS»'  73*75  »'■ 

353  .449  .  641  .  1409  .69857. 

67  .  13446  »giio  31119  8373. 

101  ■4°'3  ■  »'99J  *333'  9- 

71  ,  H676  18436  74776  043J3  511. 

99999  90000  01.    • 

90909  09090  90909  091. 

90090  09009  00990  99099  0991, 

99990  00099  99°°°  '- 

8j  .  1131  .  10874  80167  08045  »*7°»  4^77*  98379  31*30  ?■ 

7'.  IJ7.  1689  .45969  1. 

173  .  64"*  07578  67694  »!387  9*549  775*°  87347  46j07' 

89.  11114  70797  64156  19°9- 

99900  00009  99°o°  99999  90°!. 

47  .  139  .  1531  .  54979  71844  91917. 

SeemB  prime. 

99999  99900  00000  I. 

10000  ooioo  ooooi  00000  otooo  oooio  00000  loooo  001. 

151  .  5051  .  7887s  94147  1101. 

611.  14696  58891  i7i"»  7°96>  00994  9S9°7- 

511  .  19001  81976  77711  11417  8"- 

107  .  >o384  11599  '6916  17106  64589  81346  83181  41115  33748  70197  1. 

99999  99990  00000  001. 

1311  .  68130  8B570  01 514  75398  18144  S"09S  4'o»»  7"- 

7841  .  11751  looio  10150  50376  1, 

11319  .  41158  11190  53849  '0"o  5''7'°  59'44  89. 

59  .  15408  11049  30661  55778  iioiS  49. 

Seeme  prime. 

61  .  16557  16049  01641. 

733  ■  4637  ■  3*690   11186   55567   7B491  67785  60346   38966  63414  9811} 

99197  1391. 
90909  09090  90909  09090  90909  09091. 
10837  .  13111  .  19J45  15794  55591  00118  00680  443. 
19841  .  50400  68544  93111   10780  70661  761, 
90000  90000  90090  90090  90090  99090  99099  99099  991. 
10989  01098  S9010  98901  I. 
Seems  prime. 

99009  90099  00990  09900  99009  90099  01. 
*77  ■  J»S*3  498»»  74693  46601  91091  53758  090M  01S40  83. 
10999  88890  iiiio  08880  oooti. 
Seem>  prime. 
'      3 '.555  6; 

7153  .  iijii  99847  08511  86556  01114  01639  447. 

151  .4101  .  15763  98555  17191  91709  16417  09400  63151. 

99009  90099  00990  09900  99009  90099  00990  I. 

J137  .  I7'85  4"3"  1*439  7SS75  73°I9  °7S99  s8'8o  44493  01317  17«'! 

86404  43- 
13*  .  157  .  6397  ■  !4>«  49699  61 183  41- 

117  .  6163  .  10171   .   55371  39794  64587-10197  5075»  7i9»6  68846  3<07» 
31019  5*048  11389  153*6  15741  471. 


Mr.  W,  Shanks  on  the  Reciprocal  [June  18, 

'"  in  PriDiM,  Prime  Faclors,  4o. 

99999  91000  00000  99999  99100  00000  I. 

V  ■   >6j  .  9397  ■  "761  1557+  '7380  51978  03850  J93J4  1978J  10758  07<6l 

797- 
90909  09090  909o<}  09090  90909  09090  90909  09091, 
3«ema  prime- 

10099  9899°  "0099  9*990  ooioi. 
90000  90000  90000  9090Q  90900  90900  90909  90909  90909  90909  99909 

99909  9991. 
90909  09090  90909  09090  90909  09090  90909  09090  91. 
4,003  .11505  64319  00549  3iig6  55760  4319508116  66015  iSS*J  19000997. 
617.  16105  83484  *o'i9  67584  91708  16564  01106  953, 

19611  64119  50913  97453  00731  9. 

547  .  14197  .  I7l{37  .  64973  5B515  58148  78613  76371  1983!  67691  iiifi 

17693  73769  81738  03847  7. 
IZS9  .  76811  40495  741,80  7595'  11711  "8851  05500  46470  9. 
9j   90090  09009  00900  90090  09009  00900  99099  09909  90990  99099  09909 
90991, 

94  6199.  14+31  30517  mil  15905  84364  04046  81839  8]o»7  609. 

95  191  .  47110  89005  70681  09951  81717  69638  69115  1314J  30941  15*54 

39841  8S481  61817  "7801. 

96  97  .  10309  1783s  OJ154  61S86  59793  S1443  3. 

97  SeemB  prime. 

98  197  .  50761  41614  36553  19949  18781  71639  S9390  35533, 

99  '99  ■  397  ■  '1*57  74-717  *' S79  43369  I39I4  18173  61378  68181  11051  83191 

77751  TAIl*  67, 
loo   99999  99999  00000  00000  99999  99999  00000  ooooi. 

Note. — In  the  preparation  of  this  paper  valuable  assistance  wa 
received  from  the  Eev.  Prof.  Salmon,  F.E.S,,  both  in  the  way  of  suggea 
tioDB  and  otherwise. — W.  S. 

Houghton  -le-Sprin  g. 
April  18, 1874, 


III.  "  On  the  Number  of  Figures  in  the  Reciprocal  of  every 
Prime  between  20,000  and  30,000."  By  William  Shanks. 
Communicated  by  the  Rev.  Geohqe  Salmon,  F.R.S,  Received 
June  6,  1874. 

In  a  former  communication*  I  gave  the  number  of  figures  in  the 
reaprocal  of  every  prime  below  Srt.OOO ;  the  present  Table  is  simply  an 
extension  of  the  former,  and  has  been  calculated  by  the  same  method. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  former  Table,  liz.  opposite  the  prime  19841, 
ijittead  of  1984  read  64.  The  uihoh  of  the  former  Table  has  kindly  been 
verified  by  the  Eev.  Dr.  Salmon.  For  the  accuracy  of  the  following 
Table  I  am  entirely  responsible,  and  believe  it  is  free  from  error. 
•  Supra,  p,  200, 


1874.] 


0/  every  Prime  behoeen  20,000  and  80,000. 


In  the  laft-hsnd  oolumn*  of  TaUa  III.  ue  primM ;  in  the  ri^t-huid  oolumiu,  in 
diatel;  opposite,  U  the  Dumber  of  figuMa  in  Uie  period  <A  the  ndprooal  ot  eaoh  pi 


Table  III. 

continued). 

lOOtl 

6670 

io6ti 

10610 

nil, 

into 

1J<03 

.0901 

11409 

11104 

1540 

103. J 

4144 

1.8.6 

11433 

11431 

iooil 

«74 

10639 

10319 

11117 

.06.3 

.0910 

11441 

10O19 

6676 

10641 

ijSo 

11147 

1.146 

11839 

.0919 

11+47 

748* 

.0047 

10046 

10663 

10661 

11169 

11163 

1.84I; 

.0910 

"453 

56,3 

100s  ■ 

loop 

»o68. 

470 

11177 

.18. 

i.SS" 

1.850 

11469 

i,46i 

11:063 

10061 

10693 

739 

1.183 

3547 

1.859 

1.858 

114a. 

1810 

10071 

6690 

10707 

1479 

1.313 

ij68 

i,86j 

11861 

11483 

3747 

10089 

soil 

10717 

5"79 

11317 

.0658 

1.87" 

405 

1150. 

7500 

107.9 

34S3 

11319 

57 

11881 

1.88 

115.1 

..155 

335" 

10731 

4146 

11313 

.066. 

1.893 

.0946 

1153. 

75.0 

101.3 

10743 

10741 

11341 

4168 

i.9i> 

1095s 

1154. 

11540 

S019 

10747 

10373 

11347 

10673 

11919 

54S1 

11543 

75 1* 

""J 

10061 

10749 

69,6 

"377 

1.376 

1'937 

ii936 

11549 

,148 

101 19 

10064 

10753 

10751 

11379 

3054 

11943 

73'4 

11567 

11566 

10143 

10071 

10759 

10379 

1.383 

11381 

1.96. 

"57" 

45 '4 

10147 

'4)9 
lo.ji 

10771 

4>54 

1.391 

3565 

IJ977 

1I976 

11S73 

5643 

10149 

10773 

5'93 

11397 

■783 

1.991 

733 

11613 

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10789 

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116.9 

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1.407 

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1.419 

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11637 

1.318 

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10 1 81 

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10857 

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11467 

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11643 

1.311 

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1.481 

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10..  s 

10879 

10439 

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11669 

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1531 

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11073 

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1.503 

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116.3 

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11143 

11141 

11717 

11716 

11303 

11301 

11943 

11943 

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11148 

11737 

11736 

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1196. 

5740 

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11973 

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10175 

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11195 

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10199 

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sm 

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V  \i."s>-i\ 

Wr,  W.  Shanks  cw  Me  Reciprocal 
T*jtI.E  III.  {eentinutil). 


[June  1 


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13668 

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14970 

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15610 

33039 

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1,67. 

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of  every  Prime  between  20,000  and  30,00<). 
Tabu  III.  {eontiwud). 


aSafii 

16160 

16XS1 

3j6o 

17583 

17581 

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5642 

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16163 

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16890 

17611 

17610 

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18817 

18816 

16167 

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18218 

18837 

1602 

16193 

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16903 

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18277 

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17646 

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14.39 

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16916 

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16317 

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16947 

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9114 

18189 

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26547 

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17701 

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17733 

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16391 

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17743 

27741 

18393 

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18978 

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17748 

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164.7 

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l>r.  E,  Klein  on  the  Smallpox  of  Sheep. 
TiBLE  III.  (continued). 


[June  18, 


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.649 

IV.  "  Research  on  the  Smallpox  of  Sheep."  By  E.  Klein,  M.D., 
ABsistaiit  Professor  at  the  Laboratory  of  the  Brown  Institu- 
tionj  London.  Communicated  by  John  Simon,  F.R.S., 
D.C.L.,  Medical  Officer  of  the  Pri\7  Council,  &c.  Received 
June  II,  1874. 

Variola  ovina,  or  emallpox  of  sheep,  is  a  disease  which,  allbou^  it  is 
not  communicable  to  man,  and  possesses  a  specific  contagium  of  its  own, 
very  closely  resembles  human  smallpox,  both  as  regards  the  development 
of  the  morbid  process  and  the  anatomical  lesions  which  accompany  it. 
This  correapondence  is  so  complete,  that  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the 
pathogeny  pf  the  two  diseases  is  the  same.  The  present  investigation 
was  therefore  undertaken  in  the  confidence  that  the  application  of  the 
experimental  method  to  the  investigation  of  the  ovine  disease  would  not 
only  yield  results  of  value,  as  contributory  to  our  knowledge  of  the  infec- 
tive process  in  general,  but  would  throw  special  light  on  the  pathology 
of  smallpox. 

The  paper  consists  of  four  sections.  In  the  first,  the  author  gives  an 
account  of  his  experimental  method,  which  consisted  in  communicating 
the  disease  by  inoculation  to  a  sufficient  number  of  sheep,  and  in  investi- 
gating anatomically  (1}  the  pustules  produced  at  the  seat  of  inoculation, 
and  (2)  those  constituting  the  general  eruption.  The  lymph  employed 
was  obtained  by  the  kindness  of  Prof.  Chauveau,  of  Lyons,  and  tint. 
Cohn,  of  Breslau. 

In  the  second  section,  the  organisms  contiuned  in  fresh  lymph,  and  the 
organic  forms  derived  from  them  by  cultivation,  are  described.  The 
author  finds  that  fresh  lymph  contains  spheroidal  bodies  of  extreme 
minuteness,  which  correspond  to  the  micrococcus  of  Hallier  and  to  the 
spheroids  described  by  Cohn  and  Sanderson  in  vaccine  lymph.  It  also 
contains  other  forms,  not  previously  described,  which  in  their  develop- 
ment are  in  organic  continuity  with  the  micrococci. 

The  third  section  contains  a  complete  anatomical  description  of  the  skin 


1874.]  Dr.  E.  Klein  on  the  Smallpox  of  Shetp.  889 

of  the  sheep,  with  spei-ial  reference  to  those  puticulars  in  which  it  differs 
from  that  of  dud. 

The  reiDsinder  of  the  paper  b  occupied  with  the  investigation  of  the 
changes  which  occur  in  the  int^^ument  at  the  seat  of  the  inocnlation,  and 
with  the  anatomical  characters  of  the  secondary  pustules. 

The  most  important  results  are  the  following  : — 

1.  The  development  of  the  primary  pock  may  be  divided  into  three 
stages,  of  which  the  first  is  characterized  by  progressive  thickening  of  the 
integument  over  a  rapidly  increasing  but  well-defined  area ;  the  second,  by 
the  formation  of  vesicular  cavities  containing  clear  liquid  (the  "cells" 
of  older  authors)  in  the  rete  Molpigbil ;  the  third,  by  the  impletion  of 
these  cavities  with  pus-corpuacles  and  other  structures.  It  is  to  be 
noted  that  the  division  inl«  stages  is  less  marked  than  in  human  small- 
pox. 

2.  The  process  commences  in  the  rete  Malpighii  and  in  the  subjacent 
papillary  layer  of  the  corium — in  the  former,  by  the  enlargement  and  in- 
creased distinctness  of  outUne  of  the  cells,  and  by  corresponding  genui- 
native  changes  in  their  nuclei ;  in  the  latter,  by  the  increase  of  size  of  the 
papilUe,  and  by  germination  of  the  epithelial  elements  of  the  capillary 
blood-vessels. 

3.  It  is  next  seen  that  the  interfascicular  channels  (lymphatic  canali- 
culi)  of  the  corium  are  dilated  and  more  distinct;  that  the  lining  cells  of 
these  channels  are  enlarged  and  more  easily  recognized  than  in  the 
natural  state ;  and  that,  in  the  more  vascular  parts  of  the  corium,  the 
channels  are  more  or  less  filled  with  migratory,  or  lymph,  corpuscles.  At 
the  game  time,  the  lymphatic  vessels,  of  which  the  canaliculi  are  tribu- 
taries, can  be  readily  traced,  in  consequence  of  their  being  distended  with 
a  material  which  resembles  coagulated  plasma. 

4.  About  the  third  day  after  the  appearance  of  the  pock,  the  contents 
of  the  dilated  lymphatics  begin  to  exhibit  characters  which  are  not  met 
with  in  ordinary  exudative  processes.  These  consist  in  the  appearance, 
in  the  granular  material  already  mentioned,  of  organized  bodies,  which 
neither  belong  to  the  tissue  nor  are  referable  to  any  anatomical  type — 
viz.  of  spheroidal,  or  ovoid,  bodies  having  the  characters  of  micrococci  and 
of  branched  filaments.  These  last  may  be  either  sufGciently  sparse  to  be 
easily  distinguished  from  each  other,  or  closely  interlaced  so  as  to  form 
a  felt-like  mass. 

5.  The  process,  thus  commenced,  makes  rapid  progress.  After  one  or 
two  days,  the  greater  number  of  the  lymphatics  of  the  affected  part  of 
the  corium  become  filled  with  the  vegetation  above  described ;  and  on 
careful  examination  of  the  masses,  it  is  seen  that  they  present  the  cha- 
racters of  a  myceUum,  from  which  necklace-like  terminal  filaments  spring, 
each  of  which  breaks  off,  at  its  free  end,  into  conidia.  In  most  of  the 
filaments,  a  jointed  structure  can  be  made  out,  and,  in  the  larger  ones,  the 


390  Dr.  £.  Klein  on  the  Smallpox  ^  Sheep.       [  Juue  1 

contents  can  be  distiDguished  from  the  eocloaing  membrane  by  their  yd-^ 

lowisb -green  colour. 

0.  At  tbe  aame  tiin>?  that  tht^ae  appearances  present  themselves  hi  tbo  ' 
corium,  those  cbangea  are  beginning  in  the  non'  much  thickened  rete  Ma]- 
pighii  which  are  preparatory  to  the  formation  of  theiesieular  caritieo 
already  mentioned.  By  a  process  which  the  author  designates  homy 
transformation,  having  itB  seat  in  the  epithelial  cells  of  the  middle  layer  tJ 
the  rete  Malpighii,  a  homy  expansion,  or  stratum,  appears,  lying  in  a  plane 
paraUel  to  the  surface,  by  which  the  rete  Malpighii  is  divided  into  two 
parts,  of  which  one  is  more  superficial,  the  other  deeper  than  the  homy 
layer.  Simultaneously  with  the  formation  of  the  horny  layer  the  cells  of 
the  rete  nearest  the  surface  of  the  corium  undergo  very  active  germina- 
tion, in  consequence  of  which  the  interpapillary  processes  not  only 
enlarge,  but  intrude  in  an  irregular  manner  into  the  subjacent  corium. 
At  the  some  time,  the  cells  immediately  l>eIow  the  homy  stratum  begin  to 
take  part  in  the  formation  of  the  vesicular  cavities,  some  of  them  en- 
larging into  veaii^lca,  while  others  become  flattened  and  acaly,  so  as  to 
forai  the  septa  by  which  the  veaicolar  cavities  ape  separated  from  each 

7.  The  v£'s!cles,  oucp  formeil,  increase  in  form  and  nitmbfr.  Originally 
separate,  and  containing  only  clear  liquid,  they  coalesce,  as  they  get 
larger,  into  irregular  sinuses,  and  are  then  seen  to  contain  masses  of  vege- 
tation similar  to  those  which  have  been  already  described  in  the  lymphatic 
system  of  the  corium — with  this  difference,  that  the  filaments  of  which 
tbe  masses  are  composed  are  of  such  eitreme  tenuity,  and  the  conidia 
are  so  small  and  numerous,  that  the  nhole  possesses  the  characters  of 
Eoogltea  rather  than  of  mycelium.  However,  the  author  has  no  doubt 
that  these  ^gregations  are  produced  in  the  same  way  as  the  others,  viz. 
by  the  detachment  of  conidia  from  the  ends  of  filaments.  In  the  earlier 
stages  of  the  proi;eas  the  cavities  contain  scarcely  any  young  cells. 
Sooner  or  later,  however,  so  much  of  the  rete  Malpighii  as  lies  between 
the  horay  stratum  and  the  papillae  becomes  infiltrated  with  migratory 
lymph-corpuscles.  The  process  can  be  plainly  traced  in  the  sections.  At 
the  period  of  vesiculation,  t,  (.  at  a  time  corresponding  to  the  commence- 
ment of  the  development  of  the  vesicles  in  the  rete  Malpighii,  the  cutis 
(particularly  towards  the  periphery  of  the  pock)  is  infiltrated  with  these 
bodies.  No  sooner  has  the  coalescence  of  the  vesicles  made  such  progress 
as  to  give  rise  to  the  formation  of  a  system  of  intercommunicating 
sinuses,  than  it  is  seen  that  the  whole  of  the  deep  layers  of  the  rete  Mal- 
pighii become  inundated  (so  to  speak)  with  migratory  cells,  which  soon 
find  their  way  towards  the  cavities,  and  convert  them  into  microscopical 
eollections  of  pus-corpuscles,  the  formation  of  which  is  proved  to  be  due 
to  migration  from  the  corium,  not  only  by  the  actual  observation  of 
numerous  amoeboid  cells  in  trantiiu,  but  by  tbe  fact  that  the  corium  itself. 


1874.]  On  Orgatusmt  in  the  Liquor  SanffttintM.  891 

before  eo  crowded  with  t^ese  bodies,  bacomes,  as  the  postalaMon  ftdTanceSi 
entirely  free  from  them. 

8.  The  concluding  section  of  the  paper  ia  occupied  with  the  descrip- 
tioD  of  the  secondary  eruption,  the  anatomicftl  charscters  of  which  Torj 
closely  resemble  those  which  have  been  already  detailed. 


V.  "  Researcbes  in  Spectrum-Analysis  ia  connexion  with  the 
Spectrum  of  the  Sun." — No.  IV.  By  J.  Norman  Locktsb, 
F.R.S.     Received  May  11,  1874. 

(Abstract.) 

Maps  of  the  spectra  of  calcium,  barium,  and  strontium  hare  been  con- 
structed from  photographs  taken  by  the  method  described  in  a  former 
communication  (the  third  of  this  series).  The  maps  comprise  the  portion 
of  tfae  spectrum  extending  from  wave-length  3900  to  vave-length  4500, 
and  are  laid  before  the  Society  as  a  specimen  of  the  results  obtainable  by 
the  photographic  method,  in  the  hope  of  securing  the  cooperation  of  other 
observers.  The  method  of  mapping  ia  described  in  detail,  and  tables  of 
wave-lengths  accompany  the  maps.  The  vave-lengths  assigned  to  the 
new  lines  must  be  considered  only  as  approximations  to  the  truth.  Many 
of  the  coincidences  between  lines  in  distinct  spectra  recorded  by  former 
observers  have  been  shown,  by  the  photographic  method,  to  be  caused  by 
the  presence  of  one  substance  as  an  impurity  in  the  other;  but  a  certain 
number  of  coincidences  still  remain  undetermined.  The  question  of  the 
reversal  of  the  new  lines  in  the  solar  spectrum  is  reserved  till  better  pho- 
tographs can  be  obtained. 


VI.  "  An  Account  of  certain  Oi^nisms  occurring  in  the  Liquor 
Sanguinis."     By  "William  Oslzh,  M.D.     Communicated  by 
J.  BcBDON    SANnEBsoN,  M.D.,   F.R.S.      Received  May  6, 
1874. 
In  many  diseased  conditions  of  the  body,  occasionally  also  in  perfectly 
healthy  individuals  and  in  many  of  the  lower  animals,  careful  investi- 
gation of  the  blood  proves  that,  in  addition  to  the  usual  elements,  there 
exist  pale  granular  masses,  which  on  closer  inspection  present  a  corpus- 
cular appearance  (Plate  V.  fig.  1 ).    There  are  probably  few  observers  in  the 
habit  ot  examining  blood  who  have  not,  at  some  time  or  other,  met  with 
these  structures,  and  have  been  puixled   for  an  explanation  of  their 
e  and  nature. 

2n 


aeS  Dr.  W.  Osier  on  Organisms  [June  1«^ 

In  BiBe  they  varv  greatly,  from  lialF  or  quarter  that  of  a  wliittj  blood- 
corpuacle,  to  enormous  maaaes  occupnng  a  large  area  of  the  tleld  or 
avBii  slretthiaR  completely  across  it.  Thoy  usually  twsume  a  Bouie\(hat 
round  or  oval  form,  but  may  be  elongated  and  narrow,  or,  from  tint 
enetenee  of  numerous  projectiona,  offer  a  very  irregular  outline, 
bavc  a.  compact  solid  look,  and  by  focusing  are  seen  to  possess  eongideiM-.' 
able  depth  ;  wMIl'  in  specimens  examined  without  any  reagents  tbo  fila- 
ments of  0brin  adhere  to  them,  and,  entangled  in  their  interior,  while 
corpuscles  are  not  unfrequently  met  with. 

It  is  not  from  every  mass  that  a  judgment  can  be  formed  of  their  true 
nature,  as  the  larger,  more  closely  arranged  ones  have  rather  tlie  appear- 
ance of  a  granular  body,  and  it  ia  with  difficulty  that  the  individual 
elements  can  be  focused.  When,  however,  the  more  loosely  composed 
ones  are  chosen,  their  intimate  composition  can  be  studied  to  advantage, 
especially  at  the  borders,  where  only  a  single  layer  of  corpuscles  may 
exist;  and  when  esamined  with  a  high  power  (9  or  10  Hartnack)  the.se 
corpuscles  are  seen  to  be  pale  round  disks,  devoid  of  granules  and  with 
well-defined  contours.  Some  of  the  corpuaclea  generally  Hoat  free  in  tlie 
fluid  about  the  mass  ;  and  if  they  turn  half  over  their  profile  view  faes  the 
appearance  of  a  sharp  dark  line  (fig.  5,  n  &  6).  In  water  the  individual 
corpuscles  composing  the  mass  swell  greatly ;  dilute  acetic  acid  renders 
them  more  distinct,  while  dilute  potash  aolutiona  quickly  dissolve  them. 
Measurements  give,  for  the  large  proportion  of  the  corpuscles,  a  diameter 
ranging  from  one  8000th  to  one  in,U00th  of  an  incb  ;  the  largest  are  as 
much  as  one  5000th,  and  the  smallest  from  one  15,000th  to  one  24,000th 
of  an  inch ;  so  that  they  may  be  said  to  be  from  ^J  the  size  of  a  red 
corpuscle.  In  the  blood  of  eata,  rabbila,  dogs,  guineapigs,  and  rats  the 
aiasses  are  to  be  found  in  variable  numbers.  New-bom  rata  are  specially 
to  be  recommended  as  objects  of  study,  as  in  their  blood  the  masaea  ar© 
commonly  both  numerous  and  large.  They  occur  also  in  the  blood  of 
foetal  kittens. 

Considering  their  prevalence  in  disease  and  among  some  of  the  lower 
uiimals,  they  have  attracted  but  little  notice,  and  possess  a  comparatively 
acaoty  literature.  The  late  Prof.  Max  Schultze  •  was  the  first,  as  far  as 
I  can  ascertain,  to  describe  and  figure  the  masses  in  question.  lie  speaks 
of  them  as  constant  constituents  of  the  blood  of  healthy  individuals,  but 
concludes  that  we  know  nothing  of  their  origin  or  destiny,  suggesting, 
however,  at  the  same  time  that  they  may  arise  from  the  degeneration 
of  granular  white  corpuscles.  Schuhie'a  observations  were  confined  to 
the  blood  of  healthy  persons,  and  he  seemed  of  the  opinion  that  no 
pitthological  significance  was  to  be  attributed  to  them. 

By  far  the  most  systematic  account  is  given  by  Dr.  Riess  t,  in  an 
•  Archiv  f.  mik.  Anat.  Bd.  i. 
t  Reichert  u.  Du  Bois-Reymoud's  Archiv,  1872, 


1874.]  in  _tli€  I4qw>r  Sanguinis.  898 

article  in  which  be  records  the  results  of  &  long  leiies  of  obtervatiotM  on 
their  presence  in  various  acnte  and  chronic  diseases.  His  invest^ticau 
of  the  blood  of  piatients,  which  were  much  more  eitensiye  than  an^ 
I  have  been  able  to  undertake,  show  that,  in  all  exonthems  and  chronic 
affections  of  whatever  sort,  indeed  in  almost  all  coses  attended  with 
disturbance  of  function  and  debility,  these  masses  ore  to  be  found.  He 
concludes  that  their  number  is  in  no  proportion  to  the  severity  of  the 
disease,  and  that  they  ore  more  numerous  in  the  latter  stages  of  on 
affection,  after  the  acute  symptoms  have  subsided.  The  former  of  theM 
propositions  is  undoubtedly  true,  as  I  have  rarely  found  masses  lai^r  or 
more  abundant  than  I,  at  one  time,  obtained  from  my  own  blood  when  in 
a  condition  of  perfect  health.  These  two  accounts  may  be  said  to  com- 
prise every  thing  of  any  importance  that  has  been  written  concerning  these 
bodies.  The  following  observers  refer  to  them  cursorily : — £rb  *,  in  a 
paper  on  the  development  of  the  red  corpuscles,  speaks  of  their  presenc* 
under  both  healthy  and  diseased  conditions ;  he  hod  hoped,  in  the  be^in- 
ning  of  his  research,  that  they  might  stand,  ae  Zimmerman  supposes  (set 
below),  in  some  connexion  with  the  origin  and  development  of  the  red 
coVpuscles ;  but,  as  he  proceeded,  the  fallacy  of  this  view  became  evident 
to  him.  Bettelheim  t  seems  to  refer  to  these  corpuscles  when  hd  spMka 
of  finding  in  the  blood  of  persons,  healthy  as  well  as  diseased,  small 
punctifonn,  or  rod-shaped,  corpuscles  of  various  sizes.  ChristoL  and 
Kiener  t  describe  in  blood  small  round  corpuscles,  whose  measurements 
^ree  with  the  ones  under  consideration ;  and  they  also  speak  of  their 
exhibiting  slight  movements.  Biess  §,  in  a  criticism  on  a  work  of  the 
next-mentioned  author,  again  refers  to  these  masses,  and  reiterotdS  hil 
statements  concerning  them.  Birsch-Hirschfeldjl  had  noticed  them  and 
the  similarity  the  corpuscles  bore  to  micrococci,  and  suggests  that  under 
some  conditions  Bacteria  might  develop  from  them.  Zimmerman  ^  has 
described  corpuscular  elements  in  the  blood,  which,  with  referancd  to  ths 
bodies  in  question,  demand  a  notice  here.  He  let  blood  flow  directly  into 
a  solution  of  a  neutral  salt,  and,  after  the  subsidence  of  the  coloured 
elements,  examined  the  supernatant  serum,  in  which  he  found,  in  extra- 
ordinary numbers,  small,  round,  colourless  corpuscles  with  weak  contours, 
to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  "  elementary  corpuscles."  Theee  he  met 
vrith  in  human  blood  both  in  health  and  disease  and  in  the  blood  of  the 
lower  animals;  and  he  found  gradations  between  the  smaller(alwaytcoloui> 
less)  forms  and  full-sized  red  corpuscles.  He  gives  measurements  (for  tha 
smaller  ones,  from  one  1000th  to  one  800th  of  a  Una ;  the  largest,  one 

*  Tirchow'i  An^v,  Bd.  mir. 

t  Wiener  med.  Frene,  1868,  No,  li 

J  Comptei  BeDdoB,  liru.  1034.    Quotod  in  '  Caotrolhlatt^'  1869,  p.  06. 

§  Centnlblatt,  1673,  No.  34. 

I  Oentralblatt,  1873,  So.  Sa 

^  Virebam't  Ardiiv,  Bd.  xriii. 


894  Dr.  W.  Osier  on  Organisms  [June  18, 

sooth  to  one  400th  of  n.  line),  and  speaks  of  them  also  as  occurring  in 
dumpa  and  groups  of  globules.  It  is  dear,  on  reading  his  account, 
that  in  part,  at  any  rat^,  he  refers  to  the  eorpusclea  above  described, 
GradatioQfl  such  as  he  noticed  between  these  and  the  coloured  ele- 
ments I  have  nerer  met  with,  and  undoubtedly  he  was  dealing  with  the 
latter  in  a  partially  decolourised  condition,  I.ostorfer's  •  corpuscles, 
which  attracted  such  attention  a  few  years  ago  from  the  assertion  of  the 
discoverer  that  they  were  peculiar  to  the  blood  of  syphilitic  patients, 
require  for  their  production  an  artificial  culture  in  the  moist  chamber 
extending  over  several  dnya.  They  appear  first  after  two  or  three 
days,  or  even  sooner,  as  small  bright  corpuscles,  partly  at  rest,  partly  in 
motion,  which  continue  to  increase  in  size,  till,  by  the  sixth  or  seventh 
day,  they  have  attained  the  diameter  of  a  red  corpuscle,  and  may  possess 
numerous  processes  or  contain  vacuoles  in  their  interior.  Blood  from 
healthy  individuals,  as  well  as  from  diseases  other  than  syphilis,  has 
been  shown  to  yield  these  corpuscles  ;  and  the  general  opinion  at  present 
held  of  them  is  that  they  are  of  an  albuminoid  nature. 

The  question  at  once  most  naturally  arose,  How  is  it  possible  for  such 
masses,  some  measuring  even  one  400th  of  an  inch,  to  pass  through  the 
tapillfiries,  unless  suppowd  to  posocss  a  degree  of  e^tensiliititj'  and 
elasticity  euch  as  their  composition  hardly  warranted  attributing  to 
them  ?  Neither  Max  Schultze  nor  Biess  offer  any  suggestion  on  this 
point,  though  the  latter  thinks  that  they  might,  under  some  conditionB, 
produce  embolism. 

During  the  examination  of  a  portion  ot  loose  connective  tissue  from 
the  back  of  a  young  rat,  in  a  large  vein  which  happened  to  be  in  the 
specimen,  these  same  corpuscles  were  seen,  not,  however,  aggregated 
together,  but  isolated  and  single  among  the  blood-corpuscles  (fig.  S);  and 
repeated  observations  demonstrated  the  fact  that,  in  a  drop  of  blood 
taken  from  one  of  these  young  animals,  the  corpuscles  were  always  to 
be  found  accumulated  together ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  in  the  vessels 
(whether  veins,  arteries,  or  capillaries)  of  the  same  rat  they  were  always 
present  as  separate  elements,  showing  no  tendency  to  adhere  to  onfi 
another.  The  masses,  then,  are  formed  at  the  moment  of  the  withdrawal 
of  the  blood,  from  corpuscles  previously  circulating  free  in  it. 

To  proceed  now  to  the  main  subject  of  my  communication.  If  a  drop 
of  blood  containing  these  masses  is  mixed  on  a  slide  with  an  equal  quan- 
tity of  saline  solution,  J-|  per  cent.,  or,  lietterstill,  perfectly  fresh  serum, 
covered,  surrounded  with  oil,  and  kept  at  a  temperature  of  about  37°  C, 
a  remarkable  change  begins  in  the  masses.  If  one  of  the  latter  is  chosen 
for  observation,  and  its  outline  carefully  noted,  it  is  seen,  at  first,  that 
the  edge  presents  a  tolerably  uniform  appearance,  a  few  filaments  of 

•  Wiener  med.  PresM,  1872,  p.  93,  Wienermed.  Woohenschriil,  1872,Ho.8.  Articlo 
in  Arcbiv  f.  Dermatolog.  1872, 


1874.]  t»  the  lAgtior  Sanfftdnit.  895 

fibrin  perhaps  adhering  to  it,  or  a  few  email  corpuBcles  lying  free  in 
the  vicinity.  These  latter  Boon  exhibit  appareat  Browaian  mOTetnenta, 
frequently  turning  half  over,  and  showing  their  dark  rod-like  border 
(£g.  5,  a,  h).  After  a  abort  time  an  alteration  ia  noticed  in  the  presence 
of  fine  projections  from  the  margins  of  the  mass,  which  may  be  either 
perfectly  straight,  or  eaoh  may  present  an  oval  swelling  at  the  free  or 
attached  end  or  else  in  the  middle  (fig.  2,  b).  It  is  further  seen  that 
the  edges  of  the  mass  are  now  less  dense,  more  loosely  arranged,  or,  if 
small,  it  may  have  a  radiated  aspect.  Sometimes,  before  any  filaments 
are  seen,  a  loosening  takes  place  in  the  periphery  of  the  mass,  and  among 
these  semifree  corpuscles  the  first  development  occurs.  The  projecting 
filaments  above  mentioned  soon  begin  a  wavy  motioa,  and  finally  break 
off  from  the  mass,  moving  away  free  in  the  fluid.  This  process,  at  first 
limited,  soon  becomes  more  general ;  the  number  of  filaments  which  pro- 
ject from  the  mass  increases,  and  they  may  be  seen  not  only  at  the  lateral 
borders,  but  also,  by  altering  the  focus,  on  the  surface  of  the  mass,  as 
dark,  sharply  defined  objects.  The  detachment  of  the  filaments  proceeds 
rapidly ;  and  in  a  short  time  the  whole  area  for  some  distance  from  tbe 
margins  ia  alive  with  moving  forms  (fig.  2,  e,  and  fig.  3),  which  spread 
themselves  more  and  more  peripherally  as  the  development  continues  in 
the  centre.  In  addition  to  the  various  filaments,  swarming  granules  are 
present  in  abundance,  and  give  to  the  circumference  a  cloudy  aspect, 
making  it  difficult  to  define  the  individual  forms.  The  mass  has  now 
become  perceptibly  smaller,  more  granular,  its  borders  indistinct  and 
merged  in  the  swarming  cloud  about  them  ;  but  corpuscles  are  still  to  ba. 
seen  in  it,  as  well  as  free  in  the  field.  A  variable  time  ia  taken  to  arrive 
at  this  atage  ;  usually,  however,  it  takes-  place  within  an  hour  and  a  half, 
or  even  much  less.  The  variety  of  the  forms  increases  as  the  develop- 
ment goea  on  ;  and  whereas,  at  first,  spermatozoon-hke  or  spindle-ahaped 
corpuscles  were  almost  exctuaively  to  be  seen,  later  more  irregular  forms 
appear,  possessing  two,  three,  or  even  more  tail-like  processes  of  extreme 
delicacy  (fig.  5,  it).  The  more  active  ones  wander  towards  the  periphery, 
pass  out  of  the  field,  and  become  loat  among  the  blood-corpuscles.  The 
process  reaches  its  height  within  2j  hours,  and  from  this  time  begins 
almost  imperceptibly  to  decline ;  the  area  about  the  mass  is  less  densely 
occupied  by  the  moving  forms,  and  by  degrees  becomes  clearer,  till  at 
last,  after  six  or  seven  hours  (often  less),  scarcely  an  element  ia  to  be  seen 
in  the  field,  and  a  granular  body,  in  which  a  few  corpueclea  yet  exist,  ia 
all  that  remains  of  the  maas.  The  above  represents  a  typical  develop- 
ment from  a  large  maas  in  serum,  such  as  that  seen  in  fig.  3*. 

We  have  next  to  study  more  in  detail  the  process  of  development 
and  the  resulting  forms.     Commonly,  the  first  appearance  of  activity  is 

*  Tbe  man  from  which  thii  aketchwu  taken  wu  seen  in  fuU  development  bjnTsrkl 
of  the  foreign  viaitor*  to  tbe  British  Medial  Anociatioa  lut  year. 


[June  1^' 

displayed  by  the  small  free  corpuscles  at  the  mai^ins,  whidi,  previoiulf  i 
qmeacent,  begin  a  species  of  jerky  irregular  moiemeot,  at  one  time  wiA 
tbeir  pale  disk-aurfsces  uppennost,  at  another  presenting  their  dark 
linear  profiles  (fig.  5,  a  &  b).  Not  imfrequently,  some  of  these 
with  a  larger  or  smaller  segment  of  their  circumfereuce  thicker  and' 
darker  tbau  the  other  (fig.  5,  c). 

EarUest,  and  perhaps  the  most  plentiful,  of  the  forms  are  those  of 
a  flpermatttsoon-like  shape  (fig.  5,  d),  attached  to  the  mass  either  by  the 
head  or  tail ;  while,  simultaneously,  long  bow-shaped  lilameuts  appear 
(fig.  5, «),  haling  an  enlargement  in  the  centre.  Straight  hair-like  filaments 
(fig.  5,/)  may  also  be  seen,  but  they  are  not  very  numerous.  The  time 
which  elapses  before  they  begin  the  wavy  moTcmeut  is  very  variable,  as 
is  also  the  time  when  they  break  away  after  once  beginniug  it.  Filar- 
ments  may  be  seen  perfectly  quieewnt  for  more  than  half  an  hour  before 
ttiey  move,  and  others  may  be  obserTed  quite  as  long  iu  motion  before 
they  succeed  in  breaking  away  from  the  mass.  Commonly  it  is  in  tho 
smaller  masses,  and  where  the  development  is  feeble,  that  filameJits  re- 
main for  any  time  adherent.  The  spermatozoon-like  forms  appear,  at  the 
head,  on  one  \iew  flattened  and  pale,  on  the  other  dark  and  linear 
(fig.  5,  rf|:  consequently  the  head  is  diseoid,  not  splieroidai.  The  bow- 
■baped  filaments  also  present  a  dark  straight  aspect  when  they  turn  orer 
(fig-  6,  '},  and  are  by  far  the  longest  of  the  forms,  some  measutdng  aa 
much  as  one  900th  of  an  inch.  Many  intermediate  fo^a  between  the 
round  discoid  corpuscles  and  those  with  long  tails  are  met  with  in  the 
field,  and  are  figured  at  fig.  5,  g. 

Small  rod-ahaped  forms  are  very  numerous,  most  of  which,  however, 
on  one  aspect  look  corpuscular ;  but  in  others  this  cannot  be  detected,  or 
only  with  the  greatest  difficulty ;  slight  enlargements  at  each  end  may 
also  be  seen  occasionally  in  these  forms  (fig.  5,  h). 

TJaually  late  to  appear,  and  more  often  seen  in  the  profuse  develop- 
ments from  large  masses,  are  the  forms  with  three  or  more  tail-like  pro- 
oesses  attached  to  a  small  central  body  (fig.  5,  Ic).  Amtmg  the  granule* 
it  is  eitremoly  difficult  to  determine  accurately  the  number  of  these  pro- 
cesses, the  apparent  number  of  which  may  also  vary  in  the  different  posi- 
tions assumed  by  the  element.  As  to  the  ultimate  destiny  of  the  indi- 
Tidual  forms,  I  have  not  much  to  offer  ;  I  have  \vat«hed  single  ones,  with 
this  view,  tor  several  consecutive  hours  without  noticing  any  material 
alteration  iu  them.  The  one  represented  at  fig.  6  was  watched  for  four 
hours,  that  at  fig.  7  for  five,  and  the  changes  sketched.  The  diffi- 
culty of  following  up  individual  filaments  in  this  way  is  very  great,  not 
only  from  the  ensuing  weariness,  but  from  the  obstacle  the  red  corpuscles 
offer  to  it. 

With  regard  to  the  movement  of  the  filaments,  this,  at  first  sight, 
bears  some  resemblance  to  that  known  as  the  Brownian,  exhibited  bjr 


I 


1874.]  in  ths  Liquor  Smigmtit.  897 

granules  in  the  field,  or  Bometimes  by  the  red  corpasclea ;  but  m  evident 
diSerende  is  soon  noticed  in  the  fact  tb&t,  while  the  former  (also  th« 
small  corpuscles)  undergo  a  change  of  place,  the  latter  remain  constant 
in  one  posidoD  or  vary  but  little. 

Movements  like  those  of  the  ordinary  rod-shaped  SacUria  are  not 
exhibited  by  them, 

Circumstanca  which  inflatnce  the  deuelopmsnt, — In  blood,  without 
the  Addition  of  saline  solution  or  serum,  no  change  takes  place  in  the 
masses  even  after  prolonged  warming.  A  temperature  of  about  37°  C. 
is  nece38ary  for  the  process ;  none  occurs  at  the  ordinary  temperature, 
with  or  without  the  addition  of  fluid.  Fresh  scrum  is  the  medium  most 
favourable  to  the  process,  added  in  quantity  equal  to  the  amountof  blood. 
Not  every  mass  develops  when  placed  under  conditions  apparently 
favourable  ;  but  fur  this  no  good  reason  can,  at  present,  be  offered. 

P'ig.  8  represents  the  corpuscles  among  the  red  ones  while  in  the 
vessel  \  and,  as  is  there  seen,  they  appear  somewhat  more  elliptical  on  the 
profile  view,  and  more  elongated,  than  in  blood  after  withdrawal,  but 
present  the  same  disk-like  surfaces  when  they  roll  over.  On  adding 
saline  solution  or  serum,  and  warming  the  preparation,  development 
proceeds,  but  not  to  such  an  extent  as  from  the  masses.  The  individutd 
corpuscles  become  elongated,  some  tailed,  and  they  move  about  in  the 
vessel.  At  fig.  9  they  are  seen  iu  the  vessel  after  three  hours  on  th« 
warm  stage :  the  remarkable  form  seen  at  a  was  one  1300th  of  an 
inch  in  length,  and  had  moved  up  from  the  opposite  end  of  the  vessel. 

It  must  still  be  confessed,  with  Mai  Schultze,  that  we  know  nothing 
of  the  origin  or  destiny  of  these  corpuscles ;  and  once  admit  their  exist- 
ence as  individual  elements  circulating  in  the  blood,  his  suggestion, 
and  Biess's  assertion  that  the  masses  arise  from  the  disintegration  of 
white  corpuscles,  becomes  quite  untenable.  We  must  also  confess  the 
same  ignorance  of  the  reasons  of  their  increase  in  disease ;  nor  do  we 
know  at  all  what  influence  they  may  exert  in  the  course  of  chronic 
affections. 

Finally,  as  there  is  no  evidence  that  these  bodies  are  in  organic  con- 
tinuity with  any  other  recognized  animal  or  vegetable  form,  or  possess 
the  power  of  reproduction,  nothing  can  at  present  be  said  of  their  nature 
or  of  their  relation  to  Bacteria. 

These  observations  were  carried  on  in  the  Physiological  Laboratory  of 
University  College,  and  my  thanks  are  due  to  Prof.  Sanderson  and  Mr. 
Schafer  for  advice  and  valuable  assistance. 

EXPLAHATION  OP  THE  PLATE. 


Fig.  1.  Common  fonni  of  (he  msuM  from  hedthy  blood.    (OcuUr  3,  ObjeotiTe  6,) 
Fig.  2.  A  man  from  healthy  blood,  in  nlina  BolutioD,  ahowjag  itagea  of  dsrelopment: 
a,  at  10  i.M. ;  b,  at  10.30  *,*, ;  o,  at  11  kjt.    (Onikr  8,  OtigeatiTe  7.) 


Messrs.  Tiemann  and  Haarmann  on 


n  on  [June  IS^rfl 

slopment,  kfter  twa  lunu^H 

a  show  the  nUtire  «m>S 


'.  Mossfrotn  blood  of  jo\mg  rat  | 

warming.     (Ocular  3,  Objeotiva  7.) 
Fig.  4.  Masa  (joung  ral)  witb  blood-coipiucles  about 

{Ocular  3,  Objertire  5.) 
Pig.  5.  SoniB  of  the  developed  forms  as  wen  with  No.  II  Harinaek.  (Sea  teit) 
Kg.  6.  Form  watched  for  four  lioura.  (Oculnr  3,  Objectiie  9.) 
Fig.  7.  Form  watched  for  five  hours.  (OcuUr  3,  Objective  6.) 
Pig.  8.  Small  Tein  in  oonnoi'tise  tiaaue  from  the  back  of  o  foung  rat,  ahowing  the  oor- 

puacles  fr«e  aitiDng  the  red  ones.     (Ocular  3,  Objeclire  7.) 
Fig.  9.  Small  Tein  from  the  connectire  tissue  of  a  rat  (in  serum),  abawing  corpuadn  and 

deieluped  forms.    (Ocular  3,  Objective  9.) 


VII.  "  On  Conifcrine,  and  its  Conversion  into  the  Aromatic  Prin- 
ciple of  Vanilla,"  By  Fzbd.  Tiemans  and  Wilh,  Haarmann. 
Communicated  by  A.  W.  Hofmann,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.     Received 

May  11,  18?4. 

The  asp  of  the  cumbiuiu  of  coniferous  trees  contains  a  beautiful  crystal- 
line glucoaide,  coniferine,  which  was  discovered  by  Kartig  and  eiamined 
some  years  ago  by  Kubel,  who  arrived  at  the  formula 

C,,  H„  0„  +  3aq. 

A  minute  atudy  of  this  compound  leads  us  to  represent  the  molecule 
of  coniferine  by  the  expression 

C,„H„0, +  2aq, 

the  percentages  of  which  nearly  coincide  with  the  theoretical  values  of 
Xubel's  formula. 

Submitted  to  fermentation  with  emulsine,  coniferine  splits  into  sugar 
and  a  splendid  compound,  crystallizing  in  prisms  which  fuse  at  73°> 
This  body  is  easily  soluble  in  ether,  less  so  in  alcohol,  almost  insoluble 
in  water ;  its  composition  is  represented  by  the  formula 

The  change  is  represented  by  the  equation 

'  C„  H„  0.  +  H,  0  =  C.  H„  0,  +  Cj,  H„  0,. 

.  Under  the  influence  of  oxidizing  agents  the  product  of  fermentatdoD 
undergoes  a  remarkable  metamorphosis.  On  boiHng  it  with  a  mixture  of 
potassium  bichromate  and  sulphuric  acid,  there  passes  with  the  vapour 
of  water,  in  the  first  place  ethylic  aldehyde,  and  subsequently  an  acid 
compound  soluble  in  water,  from  which  it  may  be  removed  by  ether.  On 
evaporating  the  ethereal  solution,  crystals  in  stellar  groups  are  left 
behind,  which  fuse  at  81°.  These  crystals  have  the  taste  and  odour  of 
vanilla.  An  accurate  comparative  examination  has  proved  them  to  be  idea- 


,tJt.,rScr.iV.IXI!.I'iy. 


%       •       • 


%  'm 


o      o 

o   o 

io 
o 


p    ^v    Ov  (^     ii; 


.  ;),vy  ■-■ 


'"'"    ^&M'Mfl 


O  V    1  o 


1874.]  Coniferine  and  ita  Comermm.  899 

tdcftl  with  the  ciystaUme  Bnbstkuce  which  constdtates  the  aroma  of  Tuiillft, 
and  which  is  often  Been  covering  the  surface  of  vanilla-rods. 
On  analysis,  the  crystals  we  obtained  were  found  to  cantais 

This  is  exactly  the  composition  which  recent  researches  of  Carles  have 
established  for  the  aromatic  principle  of  vanilla.  The  transformation  of 
the  crystalline  product  of  fermentation  into  vanilline  is  represented  hy 
ttie  following  equation  :— 

C„  H„  O,  +  0  =:  C^  H.  O  +  C.  H,  0,. 

To  remove  all  doubt  regarding  the  identity  of  artificial  vanilline  with 
the  natural  compound,  we  have  transformed  the  former  into  a  series  of 
salts  which  have  the  general  formula 

C,H,MO., 
and  into  two  substitution-products, 

C.H^BrO, 
and 

C.H,IO„ 

both  of  which  had  previously  been  prepared  by  Carles  from  the  natural 
compound. 

In  order  further  to  elucidate  the  nature  of  vsnillinu,  we  have  submitted 
this  body  to  fusion  with  alkali.  The  product  of  this  action  is  a  well- 
known  add  discovered  by  Strecker,  and  described  by  him  as  proto- 
catechuic  acid, 

C,H.O„ 
which  is  thus  formed — 

C,H,0,  +  40  =  C,H.O.  +  H,0  +  CO.. 

We  have  identified  this  substance  by  analysis,  by  the  study  of  its 
reactions,  and  also  by  transforming  it  into  pyrocatechine,  C,  H,  0„ 
C,  H,  0,  =  C,  H.  O,  +  CO.. 

The  transformation  into  protocatechuic  add  fixes  the  constitution  of 
vanilline.  This  compound  is  the  methylated  aldehyde  of  protocatechuic 
add ;  its  composition  referred  to  benzol  is  represented  by  the  formula 

/OCH. 
NOOH. 


On  Coniferine  and  Us  Conversion. 


[June  18, 


Indeed,  (ubmitted  under  pressure  to  the  action  of  hydrochloric  add, 
raoiiline  splits  into  chlorido  of  methjl  and  proto«it«ohuic  aldehyde, 


/OCH. 

/OH 

C.H 

^OH 

+  Ha 

=  CH,C1  +  C.H.^0H 

NCOH 

^COH. 

A  cmrespondiDg  action  takea  place  with  hjdriodic  add ;  but  in  this 
case  the  aldehyde  is  destroyed. 

An  additioDsJ  proof  o£  the  correctnesa  of  our  view  regarding  the  con- 
etitution  of  vanilline  is  obtained  by  treating  this  siibstanee  with  acetic 
anhydride  and  benzoyl  chloride. 

The  action  does  not  go  beyond  the  formation  of  the  compounds 

/OCH, 
C.H,^OC,H,0 
NCOH. 

r  yOCH. 

\  C,H,^OC,H,0  ^ 

■  MTOH, 

showing  that   vanilline   does  not   contain   more  than   one  hydroxylic 
group. 

The  constitution  of  vanilline  being  thus  made  out,  there  could  be  no 
doubt  regarding  the  structure  of  the  product  of  fermentation  from  which 
vanilline  arises.     This  compound  is  the  ethylio  ether  of  vanilline, 

/OCH, 

C,H,^OC,H, 

NCOH. 

That  such  is  the  constitution  of  the  body  is  proved  by  the  simultaneous 
formation  of  ethylic  aldehyde  when  vanilline  is  formed.  We  obtained, 
however,  an  additional  confirmation  of  this  conception  by  submitting  the 
product  of  fermentation  to  the  action  of  hydriodic  acid  under  pressure, 
when  an  alcohol  iodide  was  formed,  which  we  succeeded  in  separating 
into  the  iodides  of  methyl  and  ethyl, 


/OCH, 
C,H,^OC,H. +  2HI 
NCOH 


/OH 
=  CHJ  +  C,H,H-C,H,^OH 

NCOH. 


The  experiments  we  have  described  in  this  note  were  performed  in  the 
laboratory  of  Professor  A.  W.  Hofmann,  to  whom  we  are  deeply  indebted 
for  the  advice  and  assistance  he  has  given  us  in  the  course  of  these 
researches. 


1874.]  On  Swface-EvaportUum  and  Cotuktuation.  401 

VIII.  "  On  the  Forces  caused  by  Evaporation  from,  and  Conden'. 
sation  at,  a  Surface."  By  Prof.  Osbobne  Reynolds^  of 
Oweus  College,  Maucbester.  Communicated  by  B.  Stewakt, 
F.R.S.     Received  May  16,  1874. 

It  has  beeD  noticed  by  several  philosophers,  and  particularly  by  Hr. 
Crookes,  that,  under  certain  circumstances,  hot  bodies  appear  to  repel  and 
cold  ones  to  attract  other  bodies.  It  is  my  object  in  tbis  paper  to  point 
out,  and  to  describe  experiments  to  prove,  that  these  effects  are  the 
results  of  evaporation  and  condensation,  and  that  they  are  valuable 
evidence  of  the  truth  of  the  kinetic  theory  of  gas,  viz.  that  gas  consists 
of  separate  molecules  moving  at  great  velocities. 

The  experiments  of  which  the  explanation  will  be  given  were  as 
follows : — 

A  light  stem  of  glass,  with  pith-balls  on  its  ends,  was  suspended  by  a 
sUk  thread  in  a  glass  flask,  so  that  the  balls  were  nearly  at  the  same 
level.  Some  water  was  then  put  in  the  flask  and  boiled  until  aU  the  air 
was  driven  out  of  the  flask,  which  was  then  corked  and  allowed  to  cool. 
When  cold  there  was  a  partial  vacuum  in  it,  the  gauge  showing  from 
^  to  j  of  an  inch  pressure. 

It  was  now  found  that  when  the  flame  of  a  lamp  was  brought  near 
to  the  flask,  the  pith-ball  which  was  nearest  the  flame  was  driven  away, 
and  that  with  a  piece  of  ice  the  pith  was  attracted. 

This  experiment  was  repeated  under  a  variety  of  drcum  stances,  in 
different  flasks  and  with  different  balances,  the  stem  being  sometimes  oi 
glass  and  sometimes  of  platinum ;  the  results,  however,  were  the  same  in 
all  cases,  except  such  variations  as  I  am  about  to  describe. 

The  pitb-bdls  were  more  sensitive  to  the  heat  and  cold  when  the  flask 
was  cold  and  the  tension  within  it  low  ;  but  the  effect  was  perceptible 
until  the  gauge  showed  about  an  inch,  and  even  after  that  the  ice  would 
attract  the  ball. 

The  reason  why  the  repulsion  from  heat  was  not  apparent  at  greater 
tensions,  was  clearly  due  to  the  convection-cument«  which  the  heat  gene- 
rated within  tbe  flask.  When  there  was  enough  vapour,  these  current! 
carried  the  pith  with  them ;  they  were,  in  fact,  then  sufficient  to  over- 
come the  forces  which  otherwise  moved  the  pitb.  This  was  shown  by 
l^e  fact  that  when  the  bar  was  not  quite  level,  so  that  one  ball  wag 
higher  tJum  tbe  other,  the  currents  affected  them  in  different  degrees ; 
also  that  a  difEerent  effect  could  be  produced  by  raising  or  lowering  the 
positiou  of  the  flame. 

The  condition  of  the  pith  also  perceptibly  affected  tbe  sensitiveness  of 
the  balls.  When  a  piece  of  ice  was  placed  against  the  side  of  the  glass, 
the  nearest  of  the  pith-balle  would  be  drawn  towards  the  ioe,  and  would 
eventually  stop  op{>oeite  to  it.  If  allowed  to  remain  in  this  condition 
for  some  time,  the  vapour  would  ccmdense  on  the  ball  near  the  iee. 


402  Prof,  O.  Reynolds  on  Surface- Forces  [June  18, 

while  the  other  ball  would  become  dry  (this  would  be  seen  to  be  tha 
case,  and  waa  aUo  shown,  by  the  tipping  of  the  balance,  that  ball  ogaiost 
the  ice  gradually  gettijig  lower).  It  was  then  found,  wheu  the  ic«  waa 
removed,  that  the  dry  ball  u'as  insensible  to  the  heat,  or  nearly  so,  while 
that  ball  which  had  been  opposite  to  the  ice  was  more  than  ordinarily 
Knaitive. 

If  the  flask  were  dry  and  the  tension  of  the  vapour  reduced  with  tha 
pump  until  the  gauge  showed  |  of  a.n  inch,  then,  although  purely  steam, 
the  vapour  was  not  in  a  saturated  condition,  and  the  pith-balls  which 
were  dry  were  no  longer  sensitive  to  the  lamp,  although  they  would  still 
approach  the  ice. 

From  these  last  two  facts  it  appears  as  though  a  certain  amount  oi 
moisture  on  the  balls  was  necessary  to  render  them  sensitive  to  the  heat. 

In  order  that  these  results  might  be  obtained,  it  u'as  necessary  that 
the  vapour  should  be  free  from  air.  If  a  small  quantity  of  air  was 
present,  although  not  enough  to  appear  in  the  gauge,  the  eflocts  rapidly 
diminished,  particularly  that  of  the  ice,  until  the  cony ect ion-currents  hud 
it  all  their  own  way.  This  agrees  wifh  the  fact  that  the  presence  of  a 
small  quantity  of  air  in  st«am  greatly  retards  condensation  and  evea 
evaporation. 

With  a  dry  flask  and  an  air-vacuum,  neither  the  lamp  nor  the  ice 
produced  their  effects ;  the  convection-currents  reigned  supreme  even 
when  the  gauge  was  as  low  as  j  inch.  Under  these  circumstances  the 
lamp  generally  attracted  the  balls  and. the  ice  repelled  them,  i.e.  the 
currents  carried  them  to^'ards  the  lamp  and  from  the  ice  ;  hut,  by  placing 
the  lamp  or  ice  very  low,  the  reverse  effects  could  be  obtained,  which 
goes  to  prove  that  they  were  the  effects  of  the  currents  of  air. 

These  eiperiments  appear  to  show  that  evaporation  from  a  surface  ia 
attended  with  a  force  tending  to  drive  the  surface  back,  and  condensa- 
tion with  a  force  tending  to  draw  the  surface  forward.  These  effects 
admit  of  explanation,  although  not  quite  as  simply  as  may  at  first  sight 
appear. 

It  seems  easy  to  conceive  that  when  vapour  is  driven  off  from  a  body 
there  must  be  a  certain  reaction  or  recoil  on  the  part  of  the  body ;  Hero's 
engme  acts  on  this  principle.  If  a  sheet  of  damp  paper  be  held  before 
the  fire,  fi'om  that  side  which  is  opposite  to  the  fire  a  stream  of  vapour 
will  be  drawn  off  towards  the  fire  with  a  perceptible  velocity  ;  and  there- 
fore we  can  readily  conceive  that  there  must  be  a  corresponding  reaction, 
and  that  the  paper  will  be  forced  back  with  a  force  equal  to  that  which 
urges  the  vapour  forwards.  And,  in  a  similar  way,  whenever  condensa- 
tion goes  on  at  a  surface  it  must  diminish  the  pressure  at  the  surface, 
and  thus  draw  the  surface  forwards. 

It  is  not,  however,  wholly,  or  even  chiefly,  such  visible  motions  as  these 
that  afford  an  explanation  of  the  phenomena  just  described.  If  the  only 
forces  were  those  which  result  from  the  perceptible  motion,  they  would 


i 


1874.]  cmuei  by  Evaporation  tmd  CondeiuaHoa.  408 

be  insensible,  except  wben  tbe  heat  on  the  iurEsce  was  sufficiently 
intense  to  drive  the  vapour  off  with  considerable  velocity.  This,  indeed, 
might  be  the  case  if  vapour  had  no  particles  and  was,  what  it  appears  to 
be,  a  homogeneous  elastic  medium,  and  if,  in  changing  from  liquid  into 
gas,  the  expansion  took  place  gradually,  bo  that  the  onlj  velocitj  acquired 
by  the  vapour  was  that  necessary  to  allow  its  replacing  that  which  it 
forcea  before  it  and  giving  place  to  that  which  follows. 

But,  although  it  appears  to  have  escaped  notice  so  far,  it  follows,  aa  a 
direct  consequence  of  the  kinetic  theory  of  gases,  that,  whenever  evapo- 
ration takes  place  from  the  surface  of  a  solid  body  or  a  liquid,  it  must 
be  attended  with  a  reactionary  force  equivalent  to  an  increase  of  pressure 
on  the  surface,  which  force  is  quite  independent  of  the  perceptible 
motion  of  the  vapour.  Also,  condensation  must  be  attended  with  a  force 
equivalent  to  a  diminution  of  the  gaseous  pressure  over  the  condensing 
surface,  and  likewise  independent  of  the  visible  motion  of  the  vapour. 
This  may  be  shown  to  be  the  case  as  follows  : — 

According  to  the  kinetic  theory,  the  molecules  which  constitute  the 
gas  are  in  rapid  motion,  and  the  pressure  which  the  gas  exerts  against 
the  bounding  surfaces  is  due  to  the  successive  impulses  of  these  molecules, 
whose  course  directs  them  gainst  the  surface,  from  which  they  rebound 
with  unimpaired  velocity.  According  to  this  theory,  therefore,  whenever 
a  molecule  of  liquid  leaves  the  surface  henceforth  to  become  a  molecule 
of  gas,  it  must  leave  it  with  a  velocity  equal  to  that  with  which  the 
other  particles  of  gas  rebound — that  is  to  say,  instead  of  being  just 
detached  and  quietly  passing  off  into  the  gas,  it  must  be  shot  off  with  a 
velocity  greater  than  that  of  a  cannon-ball.  Whatever  may  be  the  nature 
of  the  forces  which  give  it  the  velocity,  and  which  consume  the  latent 
heat  in  doing  so,  it  is  certain,  from  the  principle  of  conservation  of 
momentum,  that  they  must  react  on  the  surface  with  a  force  equal  to 
that  exerted  on  the  molecule,  just,  as  in  a  gun  the  pressure  of  the  powder 
on  the  breech  is  the  same  as  on  the  shot. 

The  impulse  on  the  surface  from  each  molecule  which  is  driven  off 
by  evaporation  must  therefore  be  equal  to  that  caused  by  tlie  rebound 
of  one  of  the  reflected  molecules,  supposing  all  the  molecules  to  be  of 
the  same  siie  ;  thai,  is  to  say,  since  the  force  of  rebound  will  be  equal  to 
that  of  stopping,  the  impulse  from  a  ptulicle  driven  off  by  evaporation 
wilt  be  half  the  impulse  received  from  the  stopping  and  reflection  of  a 
particle  of  the  gas.  Thus  the  effect  of  evaporation  will  be  to  increase 
the  number  of  impulses  on  the  surface;  and  although  each  of  the  new 
impulses  will  only  be  half  as  effective  as  the  ordinary  ones,  they  wiU  add 
to  the  pressure. 

In  the  same  way,  whenever  a  molecule  of  gas  comes  up  to  a  surface 
and,  instead  of  rebounding,  is  caught  and  retained  by  the  surface,  and  is 
thus  condensed  into  a  molecule  of  liquid,  the  impulse  which  it  will  thus 
impart  to  the  surface  will  only  In  one  halt  h  great  as  if  it  had  rebounded. 


404  Prof.  0..  Reynolds  on  Surface-Forces  [June  18, 

Hence  coadensntioD  will  reduce  the  magnitude  of  some  of  tbe  impulsea, 
Bnd  therefore  will  reduce  the  pressure  on  the  condensing  surface. 

For  instance,  if  there  were  two  surfaces  in  the  same  vapour,  ooe  of 
which  was  dry  and  the  other  evaporating,  then  the  pressure  would 
be  greater  on  the  moist  surface  than  on  that  which  was  dry.  And, 
■gain,  if  one  of  the  surfaces  was  dry  and  the  other  condensing,  thea 
the  pressure  would  be  grejil^r  on  the  dry  surface  thpn  on  that  which 
was  eondenaing.  Hen^e,  if  the  opposite  sides  of  a  pith-baU  in  vapour  were 
in  such  different  conditions,  the  ball  would  bo  forced  towards  the  cold^ 

These  effects  may  be  expressed  more  definitely  as  follows : — 
Let  1/  be  ihe  velocity  with  which  the  molecules  of  the  vapour  move, 
P  the  pressure  on  a  unit  of  eurfM'e, 
d  the  weight  of  a  unit  of  volume  of  the  I'apour, 
v  the  weight  of  liquid  evaporated  or  condensed  in  a  second  ; 
'then   the   weight   of   vapour  which    actually   strikes  the   unit   of    dry 
fluifftce  in  a  second  will  be         • 

~^'  \ 

mnd  the  pressure  ji  ^^■i]]  be  given  by 

and  /  (the  force  arising  from  evaporation)  will  be  given  by 


Thus  we  have  an  expression  for  the  force  in  terms  of  the  quantity  of 
water  evaporated  and  the  ratio  of  the  pressure  to  the  density  of  the 
vapour ;  and  if  the  heat  necessary  to  evaporate  the  liquid  (the  latent 
heat)  is  known,  we  can  fuid  the  force  which  would  result  from  a  given 
expenditure  of  heat. 

Applying  these  results  to  steam,  we  find  that,  at  a  temperature  of  60°, 
the  evaporation  of  1  lb.  of  water  from  a  surface  would  be  sufficient  to 
maintain  a  force  of  65  Iba.  for  one  second. 

It  ia  also  important  to  notice  that  this  force  will  be  proportional  to  the 
square  root  of  the  absolute  temperature,  and,  consequently,  will  be 
approximately  constant  between  temperatures  of  32°  and  212°. 

If  we  take  mercury  instead  of  water,  we  find  that  the  force  ia  only 
6  lbs.  instead  of  66  lbs. ;  but  the  latent  heat  of  mercury  is  only  -^  that  of 
water,  so  that  the  same  expenditure  of  heat  would  maintain  nearly  three 
times  as  great  a  force. 

It  seems,  therefore,  that  in  this  way  we  can  give  a  satisfactory  ex-   ' 
■  See  Maiwsll,  '  Theory  of  Heat,'  p.  504. 


1874.]  catued  by  Svaporalion  and  QmdentaliotL  40S 

plsoation  of  the  experiments  previouslj  desciibed.  When  the  radutted 
heat  from  the  lamp  falls  on  the  pith,  ita  tempenture  will  rise,  and  sa^ 
moisture  od  it  will  begin  to  evaporate  and  to  drive  the  pith  from  the 
lamp.  The  evaporation  will  be  greatest  on  that  ball  which  ia  nearest  to 
the  lamp ;  therefore  this  ball  will  be  driven  away  until  the  force  on  the 
other  becomes  equal,  after  which  the  balls  will  come  to  rest,  unless 
momentum  carries  them  further.  On  the  other  h&nd,  when  a  piece  of 
ice  is  brought  near,  the  temperature  of  the  pith  wUl  be  reduced,  and  it 
wiH  condense  the  vapour  and  be  drawn  towards  the  ice. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  same  explanation  may  be  given  of  Mr.  Grookes's 
experiments  ;  for,  although  my  experiments  were  made  on  water  and  at 
compamtively  high  pressures,  they  were  in  reahty  undertaken  to  verify 
thu  explanation  as  I  have  given  it.  I  used  water  in  the  hope  of  finding 
{at  I  have  found)  that,  in  a  condensable  vapour,  the  results  could  be 
o  1  lined  with  a  greater  density  of  vapour  (that  is  to  say,  with  a  much  less 
pi<:-.  'ct  vacuum),  the  effect  being  a  consequence  of  the  saturated  condition 
ot  the  vajKiur  rather  than  of  the  perfection  of  the  vacuum. 

Mr.  Crookes  only  obtained  his  results  when  his  vacuum  was  nearly  as 
perfect  as  the  Sprengel  pump  would  make  it.  Up  to  this  point  he  had 
nothing  but  the  inverse  effects,  viz.  attraction  with  heat  and  repulsion 
with  cold.  About  the  cause  of  these  he  seems  to  be  doubtful;  but  I 
venture  to  think  that  they  may  be  entirely  explained  by  the  expansion  of 
the  surrounding  gas  or  vapour,  and  the  consequent  convection-currents. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  whenever  the  air  about  a  boll  is  expanded, 
and  thus  rendered  lighter  by  heat,  it  will  exercise  less  supporting  or 
floating  power  on  the  ball,  which  will  therefore  tend  to  sink.  This  ten- 
dency will  be  in  opposition  to  the  lifting  of  the  ascending  current,  and  it 
will  depend  on  the  shape  and  thickness  of  the  ball  whether  it  will  rise 
or  fall  when  in  an  ascending  current  of  heated  gas. 

The  reason  why  Mr.  Crookes  did  not  obtain  the  same  results  with  a 
less  perfect  vacuum  was  because  he  had  then  too  large  a  proportion  of 
air,  or  non-condensing  gas,  mixed  with  the  vapour,  which  also  was  not  in 
a  state  of  saturation.  In  his  experiments  the  condensable  vapour  was 
that  of  mercury,  or  something  which  required  a  still  higher  temperature, 
and  it  was  necessary  that  the  vacuum  should  be  very  perfect  for  such 
vapour  to  be  any  thing  like  pure  and  in  a  saturated  condition.  As  soon, 
however,  as  this  state  of  perfection  was  reached,  then  the  effects  were 
more  apparent  than  in  the  corresponding  case  of  water.  This  agrees 
well  with  the  explanation ;  for,  as  previously  shown,  the  effect  of  mercury 
would,  for  the  same  quantity  of-  heat,  be  three  times  as  great  as  that  of 
water;  and,  besides  this,  the  perfect  state  of  the  vacuum  would  allow 
the  pith  (or  whatever  the  ball  might  be)  to  move  much  more  freely  than 
when  in  the  vapour  of  water  at  a  considerable  tension. 

Of  oonrse  this  reasoning  is  not  confined  to  mercury  and  water;  any 
gas  which  is  condensed  or  absorbed  by  the  balls  when  cold  in  greater 


406  Prof.  0.  Reynolds  on  Sitrface-Forcet  [June  18, 

quantitiea  than  when  warm  would  give  the  same  results ;  and,  as  this 
property  appears  to  belong  to  all  gaBe%,  it  is  cmlii  a  question  of  bringing 
the  vacuum  to  the  right  degree  of  tensicn. 

There  was  one  fact  connected  with  Mr,  Crookea's  experiments  which, 
independently  of  the  previous  consideration?,  led  me  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  result  was  due  to  the  heating  of  the  pitb,  and  was  not  a  direct 
result  of  the  radiated  heat. 

In  one  of  the  experimeuta  exhibited  at  the  Soirtfe  of  the  Boyal  Society, 
a  candle  was  placed  cloee  to  a  flask  containing  a  bar  of  pith  suspended! 
from  the  middle  ;  at  first,  the  only  thing  to  notice  was  that  the  pith  waa 
osciJUting  considerably  under  the  notion  of  the  candie  i  each  end  ot  the 
bar  alternately  approached  and  receded,  showing  that  the  candle  exercised 
an  influence  similar  to  that  which  might  have  been  exercised  by  the  torsion 
of  the  thread  had  this  been  stiff.  After  a  few  niimites'  observation, 
however,  it  became  evident  that  the  oscillations,  instead  of  graduaUr 
diminishing,  as  one  naturally  expected  them  to  do,  continued  ;  and,  more 
than  this,  thev  actually  increased,  until  one  end  of  the  bar  passed  the  light, 
after  which  it  seemed  quieter  for  a  little,  though  the  oscillations  again 
increased  until  it  again  passed  the  light.  As  a  great  many  people  and 
lights  were  moving  aboat,  it  seemed  possible  that  this  might  be  doe  to 
external  disturbance,  and  so  its  full  importance  did  not  strike  me. 
Afterwards,  however,  I  saw  that  it  was  only  to  be  explained  on  the 
ground  of  the  force  being  connected  with  the  temperature  of  the  pith. 
During  part  of  its  swing  one  end  of  the  pith  must  be  increasing  in  tem- 
perature, and  during  the  other  part  it  must  be  cooling.  And  it  is  easily 
seenthatthe  ends  will  not  be  hottest  when  nearest  the  light,  or  coldest  when 
furthest  away  ;  they  will  acquire  heat  for  some  time  after  they  have  begun 
to  recede,  and  lose  it  after  they  have  begun  to  approach.  There  will,  in 
fact,  be  a  certain  lagging  in  the  effect  of  the  heat  on  the  pith,  like  that 
which  is  apparent  in  the  action  of  the  sun  on  a  comet,  which  causes  the 
comet  to  be  grandest  after  it  has  passed  its  perihelion.  From  this  cause 
it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  mean  temperature  of  the  ends  will  be  greater 
during  the  time  they  are  retiring  than  while  approaching,  and  hence  the 
driving  force  on  that  end  which  is  leaving  will,  on  the  whole,  more  than 
balance  the  retarding  force  on  that  which  is  approaching ;  and  the  result 
will  be  an  acceleration,  so  that  the  bar  will  swing  further  each  time  until 
it  passes  the  candle,  after  which  the  hot  side  of  the  bar  will  be  opposite 
to  the  light,  and  will  for  a  time  tend  to  counteract  its  effect,  so  that  the 
bar  will  for  a  time  be  quieter.  This  fact  is  independent  evidence  as  to 
the  nature  of  the  force ;  and  although  it  does  not  show  it  to  be  evapora- 
tion, it  shows  that  it  is  a  force  depending  on  the  temperature  of  the  pitfa, 
and  that  it  is  not  a  direct  result  of  radiation  from  the  candle. 

Since  writing  the  above  paper,  it  has  occurred  to  me  that,  according  to 
the  kinetic  theory,  a  somewhat  similar  effect  to  that  of  evaporation  must 
result  whenever  heat  is  communicated  from  a  hot  surface  to  gas. 


1874.]  camad  by  Evi^xtrtUim  and  Condensation.  407 

The  particles  which  impinge  on  the  surface  will  rebound  with  a  greater 
velocity  than  that  with  which  they  approached ;  and  consequently  the 
effect  of  the  blow  must  be  greater  than  it  would  hare  been  had  the  sur&ce 
been  of  the  some  temperature  as  the  gas. 

And,  in  the  same  way,  whenever  heat  is  communicated  from  a  gas  to  a 
surface,  the  force  on  the  surface  will  be  less  than  it  otherwise  would  be, 
for  the  particles  will  rebound  with  a  less  velocity  than  that  at  which  they 
approach. 

Mathematically  the  result  may  be  expressed  as  follows — the  symbols 
having  the  same  meaning  as  before,  e  representing  the  energy  communi- 
cated in  the  form  of  heat,  and  Su  the  alteration  which  the  velocity  of  the 
molecule  undergoes  on  impact.    As  before. 


_dv(v  +  lvf—v'     dtt^hv 


Therefore,  in  the  case  of  steam  at  a  temperature  of  60°, 

■^^2000' 

and  in  the  case  of  air 

■'^lioo' 

It  must  be  remembered  that  c  depends  on  the  rate  at  which  cold 
particles  will  come  up  to  the  hot  surface,  which  is  very  slow  when 
it  depends  only  on  the  difiuaion  of  the  particleB  of  the  gas  inter  te  and 
the  diffusion  of  the  heat  amongst  them. 

It  will  be  much  increased  by  convection-cnrrents ;  but  these  will  (as 
has  been  already  explained),  to  a  certain  extent,  produce  an  oppoBit« 
effect.  It  would  also  seem  that  this  action  cannot  have  had  much  to  do 
with  Mr.  Crookes's  eiperimenta.  as  one  can  hardly  conceive  that  much 
heat  could  be  communicated  to  the  gas  or  vapour  in  such  a  perfect 
vacuum  as  that  he  obtained,  unless,  indeed,  the  rate  of  diffusion  varies 
inversely  as  the  density  of  a  gas*.  It  will  be  interesting,  however,  to 
see  what  light  experiments  will  throw  on  the  question. 

*  June  10. — Frohanor  Huwell  has  ahown  that  the  diffution  both  of  heat  and  of 
tba  gaa  Tiriei  invenely  m  the  detudCy ;  therefore,  excepting  for  conTectionHnirrentB, 
the  amount  of  b««,t  oonmunioted  IVom  a  mitfaoe  to  a  gas  would  be  independent 
of  the  denait;  of  the  gat,  and  benee  the  force  /  would  be  indopendent  of  the  demit; ; 
that  is  to  sa;,  thia  foroe  would  remain  constant  aa  the  Tacuum  improTed,  while  the 
canTectiOD.ourrents  and  ooonteracting  foroe*  would  gradoallj  diminish.  It  seema 
probable,  therefore,  that  Hr.  CrookM'a  reeolta  are,  at  least  in  part,  due  to  tbia  foroe. 

VOL.  ZZIt.  2  I 


408  Capt.  Noble  and  Mr.  F.  A.  Abel  [June  18, 

IX.  "  Rcaearcbes  on  Explosives, — Fired  Gunpowder."     By  Capt. 
NonLE,  late  Royal  Artillery,  F.R.S.,  F.R.A.S.,  FX.S.,  and 
F.  A.  Abel,  F.r'.S.,  Treas.  C.S.* 
(Abstract.) 

After  an  historical  review  of  the  investigations  and  theoretical  viewa 
relating  to  the  resalts  produced  upon  the  explosion  of  gunpowder,  flrhieh 
have  been  published  during  the  last  150  years,  the  authors  proceod  to 
describe  the  chief  objects  contemplated  by  their  researches,  which  are  in 
continuation  of  some  commenced  by  Captain  Nobie  in  186S,  and  dd- 
scribed  in  a  lecture  delivered  at  the  Boyal  Institution  in  I87I. 

These  objects  were  as  follow : — 

Firtt.  To  ascertiun  the  products  of  combustion  of  gunpowder,  fired 
under  circumstances  similar  to  those  which  eiiflt  when  it  is  exploded  in 
guns  or  mines. 

Sftond.  To  ascertain  the  tension  of  the  products  of  cwnbustion  at  the 
moment  of  eiploaiou,  and  to  determine  the  law  according  to  which  the 
tension  varies  with  the  gravimetric  density  of  the  powder. 

Third.  To  ascertain  whether  any,  and,  if  so,  what  well-defined  variation 
in  the  nature  or  proportions  of  the  products  accompanies  a  change  in  the 
density  or  size  of  grains  of  the  powder. 

Fourth.  To  determine  whether  any,  and,  if  so,  what  influence  is  eierted 
on  the  nature  of  the  metamorphosis  by  the  pressure  under  which  the  gun- 
powder is  fired. 

Fifth.  To  determine  the  volume  of  permanent  gas  liberated  by  the 
explosion. 

Si-rth.  To  compare  the  explosion  of  gunpowder  fired  in  a  close 
Teasel  with  that  of  simUar  gunpowder  when  fired  in  the  bore  of  a  gun. 

Seventh.  To  determine  the  heat  generated  by  the  combustion  of  gun- 
powder, and  thence  to  deduce  the  temperature  at  the  instant  of  ex- 
plcio.. 

Eighth,  To  determine  the  work  wbich  gunpowder  is  capable  of  per- 
forming on  a  shot  in  the  bore  of  a  gun,  and  thence  to  ascertain  the  total 
theoretical  work,  if  the  bore  be  supposed  of  iudeflnite  length. 

The  several  methods  of  experiment  adopted  by  the  authors,  and  the 
most  important  apparatus  employed  in  their  researches,  are  next  described 
in  detail.  The  experimental  operations  include: — 1,  Measurement  of 
pressure  developed ;  2.  Measurement  of  volume  of  permanent  gases ; 
3,  Measurement  of  heat  developed  ;  4.  Collection  of  gases  ;  5.  Collection 
of  solids ;  6.  Analysis  of  the  gaseous  and  solid  products. 

*  We  have  to  eiprcce  our  scknowlcdgrncnts  of  the  valuable  assistance  ne  bavo 
rereiTed  rrnm  Mr.  Charles  Hutchinson  in  making  the  yfrj  laboriaiie  calculations,  from 
Mr.  Q«Drge  Stuart  in  the  mechanical  arranf^iente  and  in  carrying  out  tbeeiperimentn 
thsiQMlm,  and  from  Dr.  Kellner  and  MeRsrs.  Deariag,  Dodd,  and  Hobler  in  the  ana- 
lytical portion  of  thew  raaearohes. 


1874.] 


on  Fired  Giagmwder. 


409 


The  g^unpovder  operated  upon  in  the  experiments  includes  five  kiudj, 
viz.  pebble  powder,  rifle  large-grain  (cannon)  powder,  fine-grain  powder, 
and  rifle  fine-grain  powder  (all  of  Waltham -Abbey  manufacture),  and  also 
a  apherical  pellet  powder  of  Spanish  manufacture,  specially  selected  for 
experiment  as  prcaenting  considerable  difference  in  composition  from 
the  English  powders.  The  composition  of  the  powders  is  shown  in  the 
folJowiug  Table : — 

Table  I. 
lUsulli  of  AnaltfHU  of  Gunpowder*  mnplayed. 


Componeoti, 
i             per  wnt. 

Pebble  - 

Waltbam 

Abbey. 

RiRe 

WBUham 

Abbej. 

Rifle 

Waltham 

Abbej, 

Waltham 

Abbey. 

Spanish 
powder. 

7487 
0^ 

74Wi 

0'15 

75-M 
0-14 

0-36 

Pola^Kiiini  aulpliHte  ... 

0-27 

low 

1212-1 

?11  "-^ 

O-23J 

0-05 

10-27 

low 

0-25  J 

MI 

993 
10-«7 

^■'~     1400 
2(irt     '*™ 

0-24 

0-80 

10«2 

11-38-1 

»:|?  .459 

0-17  J 

1-48 

!        ^            Carbon     ... 
ChsrooJ    "Jdrogen.. 

Wator 

0«3              1 

The  qnantiticB  of  gunpowder  exploded  in  the  several  operations  ranged 
from  750  grammes  to  100  grammes.  The  following  is  a  description  of 
the  apparatus  in  which  the  charges  were  exploded : — 

The  apparatus  consisted  of  a  mild  steel  ve-ssel,  of  great  strength,  care- 
fully tempered  in  oil,  in  the  chamber  of  which  the  charge  to  be  exploded 
was  placed.  The  main  orifice  of  the  chamber  was  closed  hy  a  screwed 
plug,  called  the  firing-plug,  fitted  and  ground  into  its  place  with  great 
exactness. 

In  the  firing-plug  itself  was  a  conical  hole,  stopped  by  a  plug,  also 
ground  into  its  place  with  great  accuracy,  and,  for  purposes  of  insulation, 
covered  Tiith  the  finest  tissue-paper.  Two  wires  (one  in  the  insulated 
cone,  the  other  in  the  plug)  were  inserted,  arad  joined  by  a  very  fine 
platinum  wire  passing  through  a  small  glass  tube  filled  with  mealed 
powder.  By  completing  connexion  with  a  Daniell's  battery,  the  charge 
could  be  fired. 

There  were  two  other  apertures  in  the  chamber — one  communicating 
with  the  arrangement  for  letting  the  gases  escape,  the  other  containing 
the  crusher^pparatuB  For  detennlning  the  tension  at  the  moment  tA. 
explosion. 

The  pressures  actually  observed  with  the  apparatos  juflfc  described 

2i2 


410  Capt.  Noble  and  Mr.  F.  A.  Abel  [June  18, 

varied  from  over  36  tons  on  the  square  Incli  to  about  1  ton  on  the  square 

The  dangerous  nature  of  the  operations  of  explosion,  carried  out  on  ao 
considerable  a  scale  as  m  these  investigations,  rendered  great  precautions 
necessary.  Unless  the  explosion-cylinder  was  most  perfectly  closed,  the 
violent  escape  of  gas  resulted  in  its  immediately  cutting  a  way  out  for  itself, 
destroying  the  arrangement  for  closing  the  apparatus. 

Special  obserralHonB  vere  made  to  ascertain  how  long  a  period  elapsed 
after  explosion  before  the  non-gaseous  products  assumed  the  solid  form. 
They  appeared  to  do  this  a  little  within  two  minutes  after  explosion,  when 
a  charge  nearly  filling  the  vessel  was  used. 

The  method  employed  for  collecting  the  gaseous  products  as  soon  as 
possible  after  the  explosion  presented  no  special  feature  of  novelty.  On 
opening  the  esplos ion-vessel  after  the  gases  bad  been  allowed  to  escape, 
the  solid  products  were  found  collected  at  the  bottom,  there  being  gene- 
rally an  exceedingly  thin  (in  fact,  with  lai^e  charges,  quite  an  inappreciable) 
deposit  on  the  sides.  The  surface  of  the  deposit  was  generally  perfectly 
smooth  and  of  a  very  dark  grey,  almost  black,  colour.  This  colour,  how- 
ever, was  only  superficial,  and  through  the  black  could  be  perceived  what 
was  probably  the  real  colour  of  the  siirfaci?,  a  dark  olive-green.  Tho  siir- 
£ace  of  the  deposit,  and  the  sides  of  the  cylinders,  had  a  somewhat  greasy 
appearance,  and  were  indeed  greasy  to  the  touch.  On  the  smooth  surface 
were  frequently  observed  very  minute  particles,  in  appearance  lite  soot, 
but  of  the  greasy  t«xture  to  which  allusion  has  been  made. 

The  remo^-al  of  the  deposit  was  generally  attended  with  great  difficulty, 
aa  it  formed  an  exceedingly  hard  and  compact  mass,  which  always  had  to 
be  cut  out  with  steel  chisels.  Lumps  would  frequently  break  ofE,  but  a 
considerable  portion  flew  off  before  the  chisel  in  fine  dust.  In  various 
experiments,  on  examining  the  fracture  as  exhibited  by  the  lumps,  the 
variation  in  physical  appearance  was  very  striking,  there  being  marked 
differences  in  colour,  and  also,  frequently,  a  marked  absence  of  homo- 
geneity, patches  of  different  colours  being  interspersed  with  the  more 
nniform  shade  of  the  fracture.  There  was  no  appearance  of  general  crya- 
tolline  structure  in  the  deposit ;  but,  on  examination  with  a  microscope, 
and  sometimes  with  the  naked  eye,  shining  crystals  of  metallic  lustre 
(sulphide  of  iron)  were  observed.  On  the  whole,  the  general  appearaace 
of  the  deposit  was  attended  with  such  considerable  variations,  that,  for 
minut«  details,  reference  must  be  made  to  the  account  of  the  experiments 
themselves.  The  deposit  always  smelt  powerfully  of  sulphuretted  hy- 
drogen, and,  frequently,  strongly  of  ammonia.  It  was  always  exceedingly 
deliquescent,  and  after  a  short  exposure  to  the  lur  became  black  on  the 
surface,  gradually  passing  over  into  an  inky-looking  pasty  mass.  As  in 
physical  appearance,  bo  in  behaviour,  when  removed  from  the  cylinder, 
there  were  considerable  differences  between  the  experiments.  The  de- 
posit was  transferred  to  thoroughly  dried  and  warm  bottles,  and  sealed 


1874.]  on  Fired  Gvapowder.  411 

tip  as  rapidly  as  possible.  In  most  cases,  during  the  very  short  time  that 
elapsed  while  the  transfeieace  was  being  made,  no  apparent  change  took 
place }  but,  in  some,  a  great  tendency  to  development  of  heat  was  appa- 
rent ;  and  in  one  instance,  in  which  a  portion  of  the  deposit  (exhibiting 
this  tendency  in  a  high  degree)  was  kept  exposed  to  the  action  of  the  ur, 
the  rise  of  temperature  was  so  great  that  the  paper  on  which  it  was 
placed  became  charred,  and  the  deposit  itself  changed  colour  with  great 
rapidity,  becoming  a  bright  orange-yellow  on  the  surface. 

This  tendency  to  heat  always  disappeared  when  the  deposit  was  con- 
fined in  a  bottle  and  fresh  access  of  air  excluded. 

The  methods  employed  in  the  analysis  of  the  gaseous  and  solid  products 
of  explosion  differed  only  in  a  few  respects  from  those  adopted  by 
Bunsen  and  SchischkoS  in  their  investigatdon  of  the  products  of  explosicm 
of  powder. 

As  regards  the  proportions  of  total  solid  and  gaseous  products  fur- 
nished by  the  several  powders,  remarkable  oniformity  was  ezhituted  by 
the  results  of  explosion  of  the  same  powder  at  different  preesuiea,  and  no 
very  considerable  difference  existed  between  the  proportions  furnished  by 
the  three  powders  chiefly  used  in  the  researches.  The  lai^eet  gnun,  or 
pebble  powder,  yielded  most  gas ;  the  quantity  furnished  by  &.  L.  G. 
powder  was  not  greatly  inferior,  but  was  decidedly  more  considerable 
than  that  yielded  by  the  smallest  powder  (F.  Q.). 

The  composition  of  the  gat  furnished  by  the  explosion  of  all  the  Eng- 
lish powders  was  throughout  remarkably  uniform,  but  presented  certain 
apparently  well-defined  small  variations,  regulated  by  the  pressure  under 
which  the  products  were  developed,  the  chief  being  a  steady  increase  in 
the  proportion  of  carbonic  anhydride,  and  decrease  in  that  of  carbonic 
oxide,  in  proportion  as  the  pressure  was  increased.  The  composition  <d 
the  solid  products  exhibited  much  greater  variations,  cbiefiy  in  regard  to 
the  state  of  combination  in  which  the  sulphur  existed.  These  variatimu 
were  exhibited  not  merely  by  the  products  obtained  from  the  different 
powders,  but  also,  and  to  as  great  an  extent,  by  those  which  one  and  the 
same  powder  furnished  at  different  pressures,  and  apparently  vrithont 
reference  to  the  pressure,  excepting  in  the  case  of  the  very  lowest 
(the  powder  occupying  10  per  cent,  of  the  total  space  in  the  chamber). 

The  authors  institute  a  comparison  between  the  composition  of  the 
products  oE  explosion  obtained  in  their  experiments  and  the  analytical 
results  published  by  Bunsen  and  Schischkoff  and  other  recent  experi- 
menters, and  proceed  to  a  critical  examination  of  the  methods  pursued  by 
these  for  obtaining  the  products  of  the  compcmtion  of  gunpowder,  giving 
reasons  why  the  results  which  those  methods  of  operation  have  furnished 
cannot  be  accepted  as  representing  the  changes  which  powder  undergoes 
when  exploded  in  a  closed  space. 

The  authors  further  proceed : — It  is  evident  that  the  reactions  which 
occur  among  the  powder-constdtuents,  in  addition  to  those  which  result 


412  Capt.  Noble  and  Mr.  F.  A.  Abel  [June  18, 

in  the  deTeJopment  of  gas,  of  fairly  uniform  compositioa  (and  very  uni- 
form na  regards  the  proportions  which  it  K-ars  to  the  solid),  from  powders 
not  differing  widely  in  coDBtitution  from  eiieh  other,  ore  susceptible  o£ 
very  eousidurable  rariations,  regarding  the  causes  of  which  it  appearti  only 
possible  to  form  conjtK'tureB.  Any  attempt  to  express,  even  in  a  com- 
paratively complicated  chemical  equation,  the  nature  of  the  met&mor- 
phosis  whieh  a  gun|)owder  of  as^erage  composition  may  be  considered  to 
undergo  when  esploded  in  a  oonlined  space  would  therefore  only  be 
calculated  to  convey  an  erroneous  inipresaiou  ns  to  the  simplicity,  or  the 
definite  nature,  of  the  chemical  results  and  their  uniformity  under  dif- 
ferent conditions,  while  it  would,  in  reality,  posBess  no  important  bearing 
upon  the  elucidation  of  the  theory  of  explosion  of  gunpowder. 

The  extensive  experiments  which  the  Committee  on  Explosive  Sub- 
stances has  instituted,  with  English  and  foreign  giuipowdersof  very  vaiioua 
composition,  have  conclusively  demonstrated  that  the  influence  exerted 
upon  the  action  of  fired  gunpowder  by  comparatively  very  considerable 
variations  in  the  coimtitution  of  the  powder  (except  in  the  case  of  small 
charges  apphed  in  firearms)  is  often  very  small  as  compared  vritb  (or 
even  more  than  counterbalanced  by)  the  modifying  effects  of  variations  in 
the  imrchiinic'il  aaAjihi/aUrd'  properties  of  the  powder  (i,  c  in  its  density, 
hardness,  the  size  and  form  of  the  grains  or  individual  masses,  &c.). 
Hence  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  that  a  fine-grain  gunpowder,  which 
differs  much  more  in  mechanical  than  in  chemical  points  from  the  larger 
powder  (E.  L.  G.)  used  in  these  experiments,  should  present  decided  dif- 
ferences, not  only  in  regard  to  the  pressures  which  it  develops  under 
similar  conditions,  hut  also  aa  regards  the  proportions  and  uniformity  of 
the  products  which  its  explosion  furuiKhes,  On  the  other  hand,  the  dif- 
ferences in  regard  to  size  of  individual  masses,  and  other  mechanical  pe- 
culiarities, between  the  It.  L.  G.  ond  pebble  powders  are,  comparatively, 
not  so  considerable,  and  are  in  directions  much  less  likely  to  affect  the 
results  obtained  by  explosions  in  perfectly  closed  spaces. 

Again,  the  analysis  of  solid  residues  furnished  by  various  kinds  of  gun- 
powder, which  presented  marked  dissimilarity  in  composition,  did  not  esta- 
blish points  of  difference  which  could  be  traced  to  any  influence  exerted 
by  such  variations ;  indeed  the  proportions  of  the  several  products  com- 
posing residues  which  were  furnished  by  one  and  the  same  powder,  in 

•  The  desirability  of  BppljiDg  Ihesa  menna  to  effecting  modifi cations  in  the  action  of 
flred  gunpowder  wns  poinlcd  out  bj  Colonel  (now  General)  Boier  in  a  rafmorandum 
aubraitted  M  tlieWar  Office  in  ISTtd;  and  Ibe first  Quvemmcnt  Comoiillee  on  Gunpowder. 
BOOH  afterwards  appoint^  (of  which  Ooneral  Boier  niid  Mr.  Abel  were  membera),  ob- 
tained Buceej^ful  results,  which  werB  reported  officially  ill  18IJ4.  by  limiting  thealtera- 
tionein  the  manufacture  of  gunpowder  intended  for  use  in  licnvy  guns  to  tiiudification^ 
in  the  form,  siie,  density,  and  hardness  of  the  individiml^raitiB  or  uiaBs«e,  tile  compoBitioii 
of  the  powder  remainiog  unaltered.  The  Committee  on  Biplo^ito  Sulwtaneea  bavo 
adhered  to  this  system  in  producing  gunpowdersuitable  for  the  largest  Otdnanca  of  ttw 
pieaentday. 


1874.]  OR  fired  Gm^wder.  418 

distinct  experiments  made  at  varied  presauree,  differed,  in  sevenl  in- 
stances, quite  as  greatly  as  those  found  iu  some  of  the  residueB  of  powders 
which  presented  decided  differences  in  composition. 

Although,  for  the  reaeouB  already  given,  the  authors  cannot  attempt 
to  offer  emj  thing  approaching  a  precise  expression  of  the  chemical 
changes  which  gunpowder  of  average  composition  undergoes  when  ex- 
ploded in  a  confined  space,  they  feel  warranted,  by  the  results  of  their 
experiments,  in  stating,  with  confidence,  that  the  chemical  theory  of  the 
decomposition  of  gunpowder,  as  based  upon  the  results  of  Bunsen  and 
Schischlioff  and  accepted  in  recent  text-books,  is  certainly  as  far  from 
correctly  representing  the  general  metamorphosis  of  gunpowder  as  was 
the  old  and  long-accepted  theory,  according  to  which  the  primary  products 
were  simply  potassium  sulphide,  carbonic  anhydride,  and  nitrogen. 
Moreover,  the  following  broad  tacts  regarding  the  products  furnished  by 
the  explosion  of  gunpowder  appear  to  them  to  have  been  established  by 
the  analytical  results  arrived  at. 

1 .  The  proportion  of  carbonic  <Kcide  produced  in  the  explosion  of  a  gun- 
powder in  which  the  saltpetre  and  charcoal  exist  in  proportions  calculated, 
according  to  the  old  theory,  to  produce  carbonic  anhydride  only  ia  much 
more  considerable  than  hitherto  accepted. 

2.  The  amount  of  potaitium  carhonatt  fonned,  under  all  conditions 
(as  regards  nature  of  the  gunpowder  and  pressure  under  which  it  is  ex- 
ploded), is  very  much  larger  than  has  hitherto  been  considered  to  be  pro- 
duced, according  to  the  results  of  Bunsen  and  Schischkoff  and  more  recent 
experimenters. 

3.  The  j^otoMium  tulpkaU  ia  very  much  smaller  in  wnount  than  found 
by  Bunsen  and  Schischkoff,Linck,  and  Karolyi,  even  in  the  highest  results 
obtained  in  the  authors'  experiments. 

4.  Pataisium  iutphide  is  never  present  in  very  considerable  amount, 
though,  generally,  in  much  larger  proportion  than  found  by  Bunsen  and 
Schischkoff ;  and  there  appears  to  be  strong  reason  for  believing  that,  in 
most  instances,  it  exists  in  Iar^«  amount  as  apn'ntory  result  of  the  explo- 
sion of  gunpowder. 

5.  Potassium  Aifposulphite  is  an  important  product  of  the  decomposi- 
tion of  gunpowder  in  closed  spaces,  though  very  variable  in  amount.  It 
appears  probable  (the  reasons  being  fully  discussed  in  the  paper)  that  its 
production  is  in  SMne  measure  subservient  to  that  of  the  sulphide ;  and  it 
may  perhaps  be  regarded  as  representing,  at  any  rate  to  a  considerable 
extent,  that  substance  in  powder-residue — i. «.  as  having  resulted,  partially 
and  to  a  variable  extent,  from  the  oxidation,  by  Uberated  oxygen,  of  sul- 
phide which  has  been  formed  in  the  first  instance. 

6.  The  proportion  of  sa^hur  which  does  not  enter  into  the  primary 
reaction  on  the  explosion  of  powder  is  very  variable,  being  in  some 
instances  high,  while,  in  apparently  exceptional  results,  the  whole  amount 
of  sulphur  contmned  in  the  powder  becomes  involved  in  the  metamor- 


414  Capt.  Noble  and  Mr.  F.  A.  Abel  [June  18, 

phosis.     In  the  case  oF  pebble  powder,  the  mechiuucal  coadition  (size  and 

regularity  of  grain)  of  which  is  perhaps  more  favourable  to  uniformity  ot 
decomposition,  under  varied  eonditiooB  as  regards  pressure,  than  that  of 
the  smalier  powders,  the  amount  of  sulphur  which  remains  aa  potassium 
pol}%ulphide  is  very  uniform,  eioept  in  the  producta  obtained  at  the  lowest 
pressure  ;  and  it  is  noteworthy  that  with  E.  L,  G.  powder,  under  the 
same  conditions,  contparntiTely  little  sulphur  escapes  ;  while  in  the  case  of 
P,  Q.  powder,  under  corresponding  circumstances,  there  is  no  free  sulphur 
at  all. 

7.  But  little  can  be  said  with  regard  to  those  producta,  gaseous  and 
solid,  which,  though  almost  always  occurring  in  small  quantities  in  the 
products,  and  though  apparently,  in  some  instances,  obeying  certain  rules 
with  respect  to  the  proportion  in  which  they  are  formed,  cannot  be 
regarded  as  important  results  of  the  eiplosion  of  powder.  It  may,  how- 
ever, be  remarked  that  the  regular  formation  of  such  substances  as 
potassium  sulphocyanate  and  ammonium  carbonate,  the  regular  escape 
of  hydrogen  and  aulphydric  acid  from  ondation,  whiJe  oxygen  is  occa- 
sionally coexistent,  and  the  frequent  occurrence  of  appreciable  proportions 
of  potassium  nitrate,  indicate  a  comptesity  as  well  as  an  incompleteness 
in  the  metamorphosiH,  Such  complexity  and  incompleteness  are,  on  the 
one  hand,  a  natural  result  of  the  great  abruptness  as  well  as  of  the  com- 
parative diiEculty  with  which  the  reactions  between  the  ingredients  of 
the  mechanical  mixture  take  place ;  on  the  other  hand,  they  favour  the 
Tiew  that,  even  during  the  exceedingly  brief  period  within  which 
chemical  activity  continues,  other  changes  may  occur  (in  addition  to  the 
most  simple,  which  follow  immediately  upon  the  ignition  of  the  powder) 
when  explosions  take  place  at  pressures  such  as  are  developed  under 
practical  conditions. 

The  tendency  to  incompleteness  of  metamorphosis,  and  also  to  the 
development  of  secondary  reactions,  under  favourable  conditions,  appears 
to  be  fairly  demonstrated  by  the  results  obtained  in  exploding  the  different 
powders  in  spaces  ten  times  that  which  the  charges  occupied  (Experi- 
ments 8,  1,  and  16).  It  appears,  however,  that,  even  under  conditions 
apparently  the  moat  favourable  to  uniformity  of  metamorphosis  (namely, 
in  explosions  produced  under  high  pressures),  accidental  circumstances 
may  operate  detrimentally  to  the  simplicity  and  completeness  of  the 
reactions.  But  the  fact,  indisputably  demonstrated  in  the  course  of 
these  researches,  that  such  accidental  variations  in  the  nature  of  the 
changes  resulting  from  the  explosion  do  not,  even  when  very  consider- 
able, affect  the  force  exerted  by  fired  gunpowder,  as  demonstrated  by  the 
recorded  pressures,  &c.,  indicates  that  a  minute  examination  into  the 
nature  of  the  products  of  explosion  of  powder  does  not  necessarily  con- 
tribute, directly,  to  a  comprehension  of  the  causes  which  may  operate  in 
modifying  the  action  of  fired  gunpowder. 

In  illustration  of  the  analytical  results  obtained  in  these  investigations 


1874.]                        on  Fired  Gunpowder.  416 

the  following  etatement  u  given  of  the  percent^e  composition  of  the 
products  of  explosion,  under  one  or  two  different  pressures,  of  the  three 
principal  powders  used. 

Table  II. 
Sh/>wi>iff  iUuttrative  Examples  of  the  Analytical  Raultt  obtaitud. 

Pebble.                 B.  L.  6.  F.  O. 

'"ST."'?'"'"'!!!.''"!}  "''^  *»"    "'^  ='■"  »"  ™-™ 

'JSfuT.T*!'!!*.'''.'^!"}  «■*"  «*=    •^'"  *'»  "«>  "i*! 

PercenUge  weights  of  solid  product!  □[  eiploaioQ ; — 

Potassium  carboiutte 65-50    6615        62-56    65-71  68-39    43-03 

Bulphsto    15-02    11-03        20-47      8-52  24-22    21-00 

hyposulphite    20-73      6-12        20-37      8-69  530    32-07 

monosulphida 7-41     19-12          4-02      7-23  512     

sulphocnnale  0-09      0-23         traoe      0'3S  0-02      023 

nitrate  O'iS      0-20          0-56      0-19  0-06      0-19 

oDde 2-98 

AmmoniDm  sesquicsrbonate 0-16      0-08          0-06      0-18  0-15      0-03 

Sulphur  0-61      617          1-25      9-22  5-72      0-47 

Carbon trace      tnwe         0-71      tnoe     tnoe 

Percentage  volumee  of  gaseous  producW : — 

Carbonic snlivdride  46-66    49-83        48-99    6179  4741     5302 

Carbonic oiida   14-76    1336          8-96      8-32  12-35      7-91 

Nitrogen 32-75    3219        S5-60    34-64  32-35    3420 

Sulphvdric  acid 313      1-96          4-06      2-61  3-76      2-03 

Harsh-gas   0-68  029      041         0-60 

Hjdrogen    2-70      206          2-07      2-04  413      213 

Oiygen   0-18       0-15 

Table  m. 

Shoviiag  the  eompoailion  by  weight  of  the  prodwit  of  explosion  of  a  gramme 

of  powder  atfumi^ted  by  Ae  above  examples. 

Pebbla.              B.  L.  O.  F.  Q. 

Potassium  carbonate   -3115    -SfSJi        -Sot    -OT56  -^H    ^d 

hjpoidlpWte -1163    -0338 

sulpbab) -0843    -0658 

sulphide -0416    -1055 

«ulphocTBnat«    -0005    -0013 

nitrate -0027    -0011 

Anunonium  sesquicarbonate  -0009    -0004 


ToCalsolid -5612  -5517 

SulphTdric  aoid    -0134  -0064 

Oxygen 

Carboaiooiide -0519  -0473 

Carbonic  anhydride -2577  -2770 

Marah-g«s -0012 

Hydrogen -0007  "0005 

Nitrogen   1161  -1139 

Total  guMM* •4388  -4483       -^78    -4286 


■Ufift 

■0*91 

■0308 

■1863 

■1171 

■0487 

■1409 

■1220 

-tWMO 

•0413 

■0298 

■0110" 

•0021 

•0001 

■00  3 

■0032 

■0011 

■0006 

■00  1 

-0009 

-0333 

0027 

■5722 

-6714 

■5817 

-6808 

■0166 

0077 

-0154 

■ooei 

•0006 

■0303 

■0356 

■0*16 

•0258 

■2597 

■2760 

■2512 

'0006 

■0015 

■0009 

-(HKlfi 

■0003 

■0010 

■0005 

■1201 

■1085 

■1091 

■1117 

416 


Capt.  Noble  and  Mr.  F.  A,  Abel 


[June  18, 


Aa  it  was  oue  of  the  principal  objects  of  the  authors  to  del«rmiiie, 
with  as  muL'h  aceurafj'  as  posaible,  not  oiilv  t/ie  Unston  o/Jired  yutijiowder 
vv'beu  tilling  I'oiiipWieiy  the  space  in  whii'h  i(  was  expladetl,  but  ulso  to 
dettrmiue  the  lam  acconiiiuj  to  which  the  Unaion  varied  with  the  deruiti/,  the 
esperimetitB  tnBtitutad  to  ascertain  these  important  points  were  both 
A-aried  and  complete.  The  goneral  results  obtained  are  given  in  ibe 
annexed  Tabl&. 

Table  IV. 
Shotfinif  the  pressure  eorreaponding  to  a  given  density  of  Ae  products  of 

exphaion  of  F.  C/.,  S,  L.  O,,  and  pebble  powders,  at  deduced  Jiwn  actual 

observation,  in  a  close  vessel. 


III 

<to™p™di»g 

Ilea  ifvmtr 

VllWC  Md 

Vi;s:' 

pToTlJtnrfer. 

tgwd«.. 

iwwdcn. 

Ton.p<r 

«SSfKi. 

Taiupr 

^^.SL 

■10 

1^47 

1-47 

•60 

i4'3y 

•20 

3-26 

3-26 

■70 

1909 

18-31 

■30 

5-33 

5-33 

■80 

25-03 

23-71 

■40 

7-75 

7-74 

■90 

32-40 

30-39 

■50 

lO'CiU 

10'59 

1^00 

41-70 

38-52 

The  determination  of  the  heat  developed  by  the  explosion  was  alao 
made  the  subject  of  careful  direct  experiment,  and,  from  the  mean  of 
several  closely  concordant  results,  it  was  found  that  the  combustion  of  a 
gramme  of  the  powders  experimented  with  generated  about  705  gramme- 
units  of  heat.  Bunsen  and  Schischkoff's  assumption,  that  the  specific 
heats  of  the  solid  products  remain  invariable  over  the  great  range  of 
temperature  through  which  they  pass,  is  considered  by  the  authors 
untenable;  they  have,  however,deduced  the  temperature(about3800''C.) 
upon  this  hypothesis,  both  to  facilitate  comparison  of  their  results  with 
those  of  Bunsen  and  Scbischkoff,  and  to  giie  a  high  limit,  to  which  the 
temperature  of  explosion  can  certainly  not  attain. 

The  vohmui  of  solid  products  obtained  from  a  gramme  of  powder  is 
fixed  by  the  authors  at  about  -3  cub,  cent,  at  ordinary  temperatures. 

A  comparison  is  next  instituted  of  the  pressures  actuaUy  observed  to 
enat  in  a  close  vessel  with  tliat  calculated  upon  the  assumption  that,  at 
the  moment  of  explosion,  about  57  per  cent,  by  weight  of  the  products  of 
explosion  are  non-gaaeoua,  and  43  per  cent,  in  the  form  of  permanent 
gases.  The  relation  between  the  pressure  and  the  density  of  the  pro- 
ducts of  combustion  may  be  expressed  by  the  following  equation, 


_p = const.  > 


(3) 


(a  being  a  constant  determined  from  the  experiments) ;  and  a  compariBon 
of  the  results  is  given  in  the  following  Table :— 


1874.] 


•n  Fired  Gtmpowder, 
Table  V. 


Sliounng  the  totmparima,  in  Urns ptr  square  iiuh,  between  At  prettaret  aetaallg 
observed  in  a  close  veetet  and  those  ealculated  from  Hie  formula  (3). 


DnwiilT  or 

Vilu  of  p 
diceutobwi. 

HS 

liinwtoUcf- 

.1^^'lJL 

-^^"'- 

■M 

■^I^f*^ 

1-50 

•GO 

1439 

14-39 

■20 

3-26 

3-30 

■70 

19^09 

18-79 

■30 

5-3^ 

5-45 

■80 

25^03 

24^38 

■4U 

1-7  o 

7^9 1 

■90 

32-46 

31-73 

■50 

10-0S> 

H)^S4 

1-00 

41-70 

41^70 

The  authors  couaider  that  the  accordance  of  this  compamon  with 
observed  results  fully  establiahea  the  accuracy  of  their  vieirs. 

The  data  furnished  by  the  foregoing  enable  the  authors  to  detenuiud 
theoretically  the  temperature  of  exploaiou  of  gunpowder,  which  they  find 
to  be  about  2200°  0,  The  con-ectnesa  of  this  theoretical  eatimate  they 
confirm  by  eiperimenta!  observationa  on  the  behaviour  o£  platinum  when 
exposed  to  the  temperature  of  explosion.  In  all  instances  thin  platinum 
wire  or  foil  showed  signs  ot  fusion,  but  actual  fusion  took  place  only  in 
one  instance. 

The  mean  specif  heal  of  the  iion-gaseous products  and  theirprobable  expan* 
eion  between  0°  C.  and  the  temperature  of  explosion  are  next  discussed. 

The  means  of  obtaining  the  tensions  of  the  products  of  explosion  in 
the  bores  of  ordnance,  aud  the  results  obtained  in  this  direction  by  the 
Committee  on  Explosives,  are  then  examined,  as  far  as  regards  the 
particular  powders  with  which  the  authors  have  experimented. 

The  correctness  of  the  view  propounded  by  Eobins,  that  the  work 
obtainable  from  gun[>owder  is  not  importantly  increased  by  increments 
to  the  weight  of  the  shot,  is  confirmed  by  the  authors,  and  the  influence 
upon  the  tension  of  fired  gunpowder  exert«d  by  the  existence  of  water  in 
powder  is  illustrated. 

The  extent  of  communication  of  heat  to  the  enrelope  (or  gun)  in  which 
the  powder  is  exploded  is  next  considered,  and  experiments  and  calcu- 
lations are  given  to  show  that  such  communication  of  heat  varies  from 
about  35  per  cent,  of  the  total  heat  generated  in  the  case  of  a  small 
arm  to  about  3  per  cent,  in  the  case  of  an  18-ton  gun. 

A  comparison  is  instituted  between  the  pressures  actually  found  to 
exist  in  the  bores  of  guns  and  those  which  would  follow  from  the  facta 
established  by  these  researches.  It  is  pointed  out,  on  the  one  baud, 
that  the  assumption,  that  all  the  products  of  combustion  are  iu  the 
gaseous  state,  is  irreconcilable  with  the  pressures  actually  observed ;  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  Bunsea  and  SchischkoS's  hypothesis  that  the  work  on 
the  projectile  is  accomplished  only  \>j  the  permanent  gases,  without 
addition  or  subtraction  of  heat,  is  shown  to  be  equally  irreconcilable  with. 


414  Capt.  Noble  and  Mr.  F.  A.  Abel  [June  18, 

phosU.  In  the  case  of  pebble  powder,  the  mechanical  condition  (sixe  and 
regularity  of  grwn)  of  which  is  perhaps  more  favourable  to  nnif ormitr of 
decomposiriou,  uader  i-aried  conditions  as  regards  pressure,  tfaim  that  of 
the  smaller  powders,  the  amount  of  sulphur  which  remains  as  potassium 
polyeulphide  is  veiy  uniform,  except  in  the  products  obtiuned  at  the  lowest 
preBsure ;  and  it  is  noteworthy  tiiat  with  E.  h.  0,  ])owder,  under  the 
same  conditions,  comparatively  little  sulphur  escapes  ;  while  in  the  case  of 
P.  G.  powder,  under  corresponding  uircumstances,  there  is  no  free  sulphur 
ataU. 

7.  But  little  can  be  said  with  regard  to  those  products,  gaseous  and 
solid,  which,  though  almost  always  occurring  in  small  quantities  in  the 
products,  and  though  apparently,  in  some  instances,  obeying  certain  rules 
with  respect  to  the  proportion  in  which  they  are  formed,  cannot  be 
r^arded  as  important  results  of  the  explosion  of  powder.  It  may,  how- 
ever, be  remarked  that  the  regular  formation  of  auch  substances  aa 
potassium  sulpbocyanate  and  ammonium  carbonat«,  the  regular  escape 
of  hydrogen  and  sulphydric  acid  from  oxidation,  while  oxygen  is  occa- 
siooally  coexistent,  and  the  frequent  occurrence  of  apprecjable  proportions 
of  potassium  nitrate,  bdicate  a  eomplesity  as  well  as  an  incompleteneas 
in  the  metamorphosis.  Such  complexity  and  incompleteness  are,  an  the 
one  hand,  a  natural  result  of  the  great  nhnipfnesa  m  wi'l!  as  of  the  cora- 
parative  difficulty  with  which  the  reactions  between  the  ingredients  of 
the  mechanical  mixture  take  place ;  on  the  other  hand,  they  favour  the 
Tiew  that,  even  during  the  exceedingly  brief  period  within  which 
chemical  activity  ccntinues,  other  changes  may  occur  (in  addition  to  the 
most  simple,  which  follow  immediately  upon  the  ignition  of  the  powder) 
when  eiplosions  take  place  at  pressures  such  as  are  developed  under 
practical  conditions. 

The  tendency  to  incompleteness  of  metamorphosis,  and  also  to  the 
development  of  secondary  reactions,  imder  favourable  conditions,  appears 
to  be  fairly  demonstrated  by  the  results  obtained  in  exploding  the  different 
powders  in  spaces  ten  times  that  which  the  charges  occupied  (Experi- 
ments 8,  1,  and  16).  It  appears,  however,  that,  even  under  conditions 
apparently  the  most  favourable  to  uniformity  of  metamorphosis  (namely, 
in  explosions  produced  under  high  pressures),  accidental  circumstances 
may  operate  detrimentally  to  the  simplicity  and  completeness  of  the 
reactions.  But  the  fact,  indisputably  demonstrated  in  the  course  of 
these  researches,  that  such  accidental  variations  in  the  nature  of  the 
changes  resulting  from  the  explosion  do  not,  even  when  very  consider- 
able, affect  the  force  exerted  by  fired  gunpowder,  as  demonstrated  by  the 
recorded  pressures,  &c.,  indicates  that  a  minute  examination  into  the 
nature  of  the  products  of  explosion  of  powder  does  not  necessarily  con- 
tribute, directly,  to  a  comprehension  of  the  causes  which  may  operate  in 
modifying  the  action  of  fired  gunpowder. 

lu  illustration  of  the  analytical  results  obtained  in  these  investigations 


1874.]  on  Fired  Gunpowder.  416 

the  following  etatoment  ii  given  of  the  percentage  composition  of  the 
products  of  explosion,  under  one  or  two  different  pressures,  of  the  three 
principal  powders  used. 

Table  II. 
Shottiing  iUuMrative  Exampltt  of  the  Analytical  RwdU  obtained. 
Pebble.  E.  L.  G.  F.  G. 


Frenuro  of  eiploaion  ia  (otuI      ,  . 
per  »qu»re  inch    / 

Percentage  weight  of  gueous  I   ^.gg    ^^.g, 

producW   J 

Percentage  weights  of  lolid  products  of  eiploaioD 


uiArbonata 0-16      0<I8 


Sulphur   0*1       617 

Carbon traoo      ttaco 

Percentage  volumee  of  gassoiu  products :- 


1-6 

35-6 

37 

ie-2 

67-22 

57-14 

68-I7 

58-09 

42-78 

4286 

41-83 

41-92 

52-56 

65-71 

69-39 

43-03 

20-47 

e'52 

24-22 

21-00 

20-37 

869 

630 

32flT 

4-02 

7-23 

612 

tWOB 

0-36 

002 

0-23 

0-66 

{H9 

0-06 

0-19 

OiK 

0-18 

0-16 

0-03 

126 

9-22 

6-72 

traoB 

tRWW 

48-99 

6179 

47-41 

S3-09 

8-ie 

8-32 

12-35 

32-35 

34'20 

3-76 

4-13 

0-15 

HitroBBn 32-75    32-19 

Sulphjdrio  acid 313      1-96 

Hanh-gu   058 

Hjdro^    2-70      2-06 

O^gen    

Table  lU. 

Showing  the  atmpoiition  by  vieight  of  the  producU  of  explosion  of  a  gramme 

of  powder  atfarnithed  bg  the  above  examplei. 

Pebble.  B.  L.  G.  P.  Q. 

Potasaium  carbonate   -3116    -30W  -»IOT    -3^  '34H  ^a 

hypMulphite -lies    -0338  -1166    -0491  -0308  -1863 

Bubdiaki -0843    -Oa-iS  -1171    -0*87  -1409  "1220 

■ulphide -0416    -1055  -0230    -0*13  -0298  

(ulphocranale    -0006    -OOIS  -0000    -0021  -0001  -OOIS 

nitrate "0027    -0011  -0032    -0011  -0006  -0011 

ojide  -0173 

Ammonium  KHquicubonate  -0009    -0004  -0003    -0009  -0009  -0002 

carbon -0072      

aulpbur    -0034    "0340  "0041    -0527  -0333  -0027 

Total  Kilid -6612    -6517  -5722    -6714  -6817  6808 

Sulphjdrio  add    -0134    -006*  -0166     0077  -0164  -0081 

Oijgen -0006 

Carbonic  oiide -0619    -0473  -0308    -0366  -0416  -0256 

Carbonic  anhjdride -2677    -2770  -2597    -2750  -2512  -2718 

Marsh-aaa..... "0012  -0006    -0015         -0009 

Hydrojwn -0007    -0006  -0006    -0003  iMlO  -0006 

Nitrogen  1161    -1138  1201    -1066  -1091  1117 

Total  pMoos -4368    •4488  -^78    -^86  -AISS  -4192 


420  Dr.  Bninton  and  Mr.  H.  Power  on  Digitalis.      [June  18, 

X.  "  Oa  the  Diuretic  Action  of  Digitalh."  By  T.  LAroER 
Bkoxton,  M.D.,  D.Sc,  and  IIesrv  Power,  M.B.,  F.R.C.S. 
Communicated  by  Dr.  Sanderson,  F.R.S.  Received  June  1, 
1874. 

It  has  been  shown,  by  Mas  Herrmann  and  Ludwig,  that  the  rapidity  of 
the  urinary  secretion  depends  on  the  difference  in  pressure  between  the 
blood  in  the  renal  glomeruli  and  the  urine  in  the  urinary  tubulea. 

At  present,  it  is  generally  assumed  that  the  diuretic  action  of  BigitalU 
is  not  caused  by  any  specific  influence  of  the  drug  upon  the  kidney,  but 
is  due  exclusively  to  ita  power  of  increasing  the  blood- pressure  in  the 
arterial  system.  . 

The  resiilts  of  some  experiments  made  by  us  nearly  a  year  ago  show 
that  this  is  not  the  fact.  On  injecting  a  considerable  dose  of  digitalin 
(1-2  centigrammes)  into  the  veins  of  .in  etheriKed  dog,  we  have  observed 
that  the  secretion  of  urine  was  either  greatly  diminished  or  ceased  alto- 
gether, while  the  blood-pressure  rose,  occasionally  to  a  considerable 
extent.  After  some  time  the  blood-pressure  ^;ain  fell ;  and  in  some  of 
the  experiments  the  secretion  of  urine  recommenced  at  the  instant  the 
fall  began.  In  other  instances  it  did  not  reeouimence  till  the  hlood- 
pressure  had  sunk  bflow  the  iiormdl.  Occasionally  the  sei'retiim  did  not 
flow  with  its  original  rapidity,  but  in  others  it  was  poured  forth 
copiously,  even  although  the  blood-pressure  had  suni  considerably  below 
the  normal. 

If  Dii/itnlis  acted  as  a  diuretic  only  by  nusing  the  blood-pressure,  the 
flow  of  urine  should  have  been  greatly  increased  immediately  after  the 
injection,  and  should  have  diminished  with  the  fall  of  arterial  teasioD. 
Instead  of  this  the  secretion  was  least  when  the  blood-pressure  w^s 
highest,  and  most  copious  when  the  tension  had  fallen  below  the  normal. 

The  explanation  we  would  offer  of  these  phenomena  is,  that  Bi^italU 
probably  stimnlat«s  the  vaso-motor  nerves  generally,  but  affects  those  of 
the  kidney  more  powerfully  than  those  of  other  parts  of  the  body.  Thus, 
it  causes  a  moderate  contraction  of  the  systemic  vessels,  and  raises  the 
blood-pressure  in  them,  but,  at  the  same  time,  produces  excessive  contrac- 
tion of  the  renal  vessels,  so  as  to  stop  the  circulation  in  the  kidneys  and 
arrest  the  secretion  of  urine. 

As  the  action  of  the  drug  on  the  systemic  vessels,  passes  ofi  they  relax, 
and  the  blood-pressure  falls  ;  but  the  renal  arteries  probably  dilato  more 
quickly  and  to  a  greater  extent  than  the  others.  The  pressure  of  blood 
in  the  glomeruli  may  thus  be  increased  above  that  normally  present  in 
them,  although  the  tension  in  the  arterial  system  generally  may  have 
fallen  below  the  normal. 

Additional  evidence  in  favour  of  this  explanation  is  afforded  by  the  fact 
that  the  urine  collected  after  the  reestablishment  of  secretion  contains 
albumen,  just  as  Herrmann  found  it  to  do  after  mechanical  arrest  of  the 
circulation  through  the  renal  art«ries< 


1874.]        Dr.  A.  GSnther  m  Gigantic  Land-Tbrtoi$e».  421 

We  do  not  overlook  the  possibility  that  the  alteration  in  secretion  may 
be  partly  due  to  the  direct  action  of  the  drug  on  the  secreting  elements 
oE  Uie  kidneys,  and  we  ore  still  engaged  in  experiments  on  this  subject. 


XI.  "  Description  of  the  Living  and  Extinct  Races  of  Gigantic 
Land-Tortoiaes. — Parts  I.  and  II.  Introduction,  and  the  Tor- 
toises of  the  Galapagos  Islands."  By  Dr.  Albert  Guntheb, 
r.R.S.     Received  June  4,  1874. 

(Abstract.) 

The  author  having  had  the  opportunity  of  examining  a  considerable 

collection  of  the  remtuns  of  Tortoises  found  in  the  islands  of  Mauritius 

and  Bodriguen  aB30ciat«d  with  the  bones  of  the  Dodo  and  SoUtaire,  has 

arrived  at  the  foil  owing  conclusions  : — 

1.  These  remains  clearly  indicate  the  former  existence  of  several 
species  of  gigantic  Land-Tortoises,  the  Rodriguez  species  differing  more 
markedly  from  those  of  the  Mauritius  than  these  latter  among  them- 
selves. All  these  species  appear  to  have  become  extinct  in  modem 
times. 

2.  These  extinct  Tortoises  of  the  Mascarenes  are  distinguished  by  a 
fiat  cranium,  truncated  beak,  and  a  broad  bridge  between  the  foramina 
obturatoria. 

3.  All  the  other  examples  of  gigantic  Tortoises  preserved  in  our  mu- 
seums, and  said  to  have  been  brought  from  the  Mascarenes,  and  likewise 
the  single  species  which  is  known  still  to  survive,  in  a  wild  state,  in  the 
small  island  of  Aldabra,  have  a  convex  cranium,  truncated  beak,  and  a 
narrow  bridge  between  the  obturator  foramina  ;  and  therefore  ue 
specifically,  if  not  gonerically,  distinct  from  the  extinct  ones. 

4.  On  the  other  hand,  there  exists  the  greatest  afRnity  between  those 
contemporaries  of  the  Dodo  and  SoUtaire  and  the  Tortoises  still  inhabit- 
ing the  Galapagos  archipelago. 

These  unexpected  results  induced  the  author  to  subject  to  a  detailed 
examination  all  the  available  material  of  the  gigantic  Tortoises  from  the 
Mascarenes  and  Galapagos  which  are  still  living,  or  were  believed  to  be 
living,  and  are  commonly  called  Tettudo  indiea  and  Teituda  elephantopiu, 
and  to  collect  all  the  historical  evidence  referring  to  them.  Thus,  in  the 
JirH  {introductory)  part  of  the  paper  a  selection  from  the  accounts  of  tra- 
vellers is  given,  by  which  it  is  clearly  shown  that  the  presence  of  these 
Tortoises  at  two  so  distant  stations  as  the  Galapagos  and  Mascarenes 
cannot  be  accounted  for  by  the  agency  of  man,  at  least  not  in  historical 
times,  and  therefore  that  these  animals  must  be  r^arded  as  indi- 
genous. 

The  Kcond  part  consists  of  a  description  of  the  Galapagos  Tortoises. 
The  author  shows  that  the  opinion  of  some  of  the  older  travellers,  m. 


422         Dr.  A.  Gunther  on  Gigantic  Land-Toriohes.        [June  18, 

that  the  different  islands  of  the  group  are  inhabited  by  different  mcea,  is 
perfectly  correct ;  and  he  distingiushes  four  species,  the  adulfa  oE  wtiii-li 
are  characterized  aa  follows  : — 

A.  Shell  broad,  with  more  or  Jess  corrugated  plat«9.  Sl-nlt  with  the 
palatal  region  concave ;  outer  pterygoid  edge  sharp  in  its  entire  length 
or  for  the  greater  part  of  ita  length  ;  a  deep  receas  in  front  of  the  occi- 
pital condyle  ;  anterior  wall  of  the  entrance  of  the  tympanic  cavity  con- 
etricted.     One  of  the  two  species  is  from  James  iHland. 

1.  SheU  depressed,  with  the  upper  anterior  profile  subhorizoatal  in  the 
male,  and  with  the  striie  of  the  plates  not  deeply  sculptured :  sternum 
truncated  behind,  Shdl  with  the  facial  portion  very  short,  and  with  an 
immensely  developed  and  raised  occipital  crest.  Teatado  flepliantopia 
(Harlan). 

2.  ShfU  much  higher,  with  the  upper  anterior  profile  declivous  in  the 
male,  aud  with  the  stria;  deeply  scuiptured ;  sternum  excised  behind. 
Shdl  with  the  facial  portion  much  longer,  and  with  low  occipital  crest. 
Tatudo  nigrita  (Dum.  &  Bibr.). 

B.  Sfull  oblong,  smooth.  Sf^U  with  the  palatal  region  shallow  ;  the 
outer  pterygoid  edge  expanded  in  its  whole  length  ;  no  deep  recess  in 
front  of  the  occipital  condyle  ;  anterior  wall  of  the  tympanic  cavity  not 

3.  Shell  with  some  traces  of  former  concentric  striie,  compressed  ante- 
riorly into  the  form  of  a  "  Spanish  saddle  "  in  the  male ;  sternum  trun- 
cated behind.  ;SJ:uZI  with  the  tympanic  cavity  much  produced  backwards. 
Testudo  ephippium  (0-thr.),  from  Charles  Island.     Kvtinet. 

4.  SJull  perfectly  smooth,  with  declivous  anterior  profile  in  the  male, 
and  with  truncated  posterior  extremity  of  the  sternum.  Slntll  resem- 
bling that  of  the  young  of  the  larger  species,  with  the  tympanic  case  not 
produced  backwards.  The  smallest  species,  Tatwdo  microphyet  (Qthr.), 
from  Hood's  Island. 

Part  III.  will  contain  the  account  of  the  still  existing  Tortoises  of  the 
Mascarenes, and  Fart  lY.  that  of  the  extinct  species. 

Received  June  9,  1874. 
PS.  The  author  has  just  received  from  Professor  Huxley  the  carapace 

and  skeleton  of  anotheradult  male,  which  evidently  helongs  to  a  fifth  species 
of  Galapagos  Tortoises.  With  regard  to  the  form  of  the  carapace,  it 
resembles  much  that  of  T.  eUphantopw,  the  dorsal  shell  being  depressed, 
broad,  with  the  upper  profile  nearly  horizontal.  Strie  distinct,  broad. 
However,  the  skull  differs  widely  from  that  of  T.  elephantopia,  and  has 
all  the  characteristics  of  that  of  T.  ephippium,  from  which  it  differs  in 
having  a  circular  tympanic  opening.  The  form  of  the  sternum  is  quite 
peculiar,  the  gular  portion  being  much  constricted  aud  produced  forwards, 
whilst  the  opposite  end  is  expanded  into  the  large  anal  scutes  and  deeply 
excised.     This  species  may  be  named  Ttstado  ftcina. 


1874.]  On  Dredffinga  and  Deep-tea  Soundings,  423 

XII.  "  Od  Dredg^iii^  and  Deep-sea  Soandinga  in  the  South  At- 
lantic, in  a  Letter  to  Admiral  Richards^  C.B.,  F.R.S."  By 
Prof.  Wyvillb  Thomson,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  Director  of  the 
Civilian  Staff  on  board  H.M.S.  '  Clialleuger.'  Received 
May  25,  1874. 

Melbourne,  March  17, 1674. 

Sear  Admiral  RicnARna, — 1  have  the  pleasure  of  informing  you 
that,  during  our  voyage  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  Australia,  all 
the  necessary  observations  in  matters  bearing  upon  my  department  have 
been  made  most  auccessfully  at  nineteen  prindpal  stations,  suitably 
distributed  over  the  track,  and  including  Marion  Island,  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  Crozets,  Kerguelen  Island,  and  the  Heard  group. 

After  Icaviug  the  Cape  several  dredgings  were  taken  a  little  to  the 
southn'ard,  at  depths  from  100  to  150  fathoms.  Animal  life  was  very 
abundant ;  and  the  result  was  remarkable  in  this  respect,  that  the  general 
character  of  the  fauna  was  very  similar  to  that  oE  the  North  Atlantic, 
many  of  the  specia  even  being  identical  with  those  on  the  coasts  of  Great 
Britain  and  K^orway.  The  first  day's  dredging  was  in  1900  fathoms, 
125  miles  to  the  south-westward  of  Cipe  Agulhas ;  it  was  nut  very 
successful. 

Marion  Island  was  visited  for  a  few  hours,  and  a  considerable  collec- 
tion of  plants,  including  nine  flowering  species,  was  made  by  Mr.  Mose- 
loy.  These,  along  with  collections  from  Kergnelen  Island  and  from 
Yong  Island,  of  the  Heard  group,  are  sent  home  with  Mr.  Moseley's 
notes,  for  Dr.  Hooker's  information. 

A  shallon-water  dredging  near  Marion  Island  gave  a  large  number  of 
spu'cies,  again  representing  many  of  the  northern  types,  but  with  a  mix- 
ture of  southern  forma,  such  as  many  of  the  characteristic  southern 
Bryozoa  and  the  curious  genua  Serolis  among  Crustaceane.  Off  Prince 
Kdward's  Island,  the  dredge  brought  up  many  large  and  striking  speci- 
mens of  one  or  two  species  of  Alcyonarian  zoophytes,  allied  to  ifojum 
and  Tiis. 

The  trawl  was  put  down  in  1375  fathoms  on  the  29th  Decemtwr,  and 
in  IGOO  fathoms  on  the  30th,  between  Prince  Edward's  Island  and  the 
Crozets.  The  number  of  species  taken  in  these  two  hauls  was  very  large ; 
many  of  them  belonged  to  especially  interesting  genera,  and  many 
were  new  to  science.  I  may  mention  that  there  occurred,  with  others,  the 
well-known  genera  EupUctella,  Hyalonema,  UinhilluUiria,  and  FUAellum  ; 
two  entirely  new  genera  of  stalked  Crinoids  belonging  to  the  Apio- 
criuidtG ;  I'ourtaleitia ;  several  Spatangoids  new  to  science  (allied  to  the 
extinct  genus  .ilnan<Ai/(M);  SaUiiia;  several  remarkable  Crustaceans;  and 
a  few  fish. 

We  were  unfortunately  unable  to  laud  on  PoBseBsiou  Island  on  account 
VOL.  on.  2  K 


Prof.  W.  Thomson  on 

of  the  weather  ;  but  we  dredged  iu  210  f&thoms  and  ooO  fftthoms,  about 
18  miles  to  the  8.W.  o£  the  ishmd,  with  a  satisfactory  result.  We 
reached  Kerguelen  li^laiid  on  the  7th  of  January,  and  remained  there 
until  the  1st  of  February.  During  that  time  Dr.  v.  WiUemijes-SuLm 
was  cbieHy  occupied  in  working  out  the  land-fauna,  Mr.  Moseley  col' 
lected  the  plants,  Mr.  Buchanan  made  obsenations  on  the  geology  of 
those  parts  of  the  island  which  we  visited,  and  Mr.  Murray  and  I  rarriod 
on  the  shallow-water  dredging  in  the  steam-pinnace.  Many  observations 
were  made,  and  large  collections  were  stored  in  the  difEereut  departments. 
We  detected  at  Kerguelen  Island  some  peculiarities  iu  the  reproduction 
of  sevei'al  groups  of  marine  invertebrates,  and  particularly  in  the  Echino- 
dermata,  which  I  have  briefly  described  in  a  separate  paper. 

Two  days  before  leaving  Kerguelen  Island,  we  trawled  off  the  entrance 
of  Christmas  Harbour ;  and  the  trawl-not  came  up,  on  one  occasion,  nearly 
filled  with  large  cup-sponges  belonging  to  the  genua  lUiasella  of  Carter, 
and  probably  the  species  dredged  by  Sir  James  Clark  Boss  near  the  ice- 
barrier,  RosseUii  aiitarelica. 

On  the  2nd  of  February  we  dredged  in  150  fathoms,  140  miles  south  of 
Kerguelen,  and  on  the  7th  of  February  off  Tong  Island,  in  both  cases  with 

We  reached  Corinthian  Bay,  in  Tong  Island,  on  the  evening  of  the  6th, 
and  had  made  all  arrangements  for  examining  it,  as  far  as  possible,  on 
the  following  day ;  but,  to  our  great  disappointment,  a  suddeu  change  of 
weather  obliged  us  to  put  to  sea..  Fortunately  Mr.  Moseley  and  Mr. 
Buchanan  accompanied  Captain  Nares  on  shore  for  an  hour  or  two  on 
the  evening  of  our  arrival,  and  took  the  opportunity  of  collecting 
the  plants  and  minerals  vithin  their  reach.  A  cast  of  the  trawl 
taken  in  lat.  CO"  52'  8.,  long.  80°  20'  S.,  at  1260  fathoms,  was  not  very- 
productive,  only  a  few  of  the  ordinary  deep-sea  forms  having  been  pro 

Our  most  southerly  station  was  on  the  14th  of  February,  lat.  65°  42'  S., 
long.  79°  49'  E.  The  trawl  brought  up,  from  a  depth  of  1C75  fathoms, 
a  considerable  number  of  animals,  including  Sponges,  Alcyonariana, 
Fchinids,  Brj'ozoa,  and  Crustacea,  all  much  of  the  usual  deep-sea  cha- 
racter, although  some  of  the  species  had  not  been  previously  observed. 
On  February  26th,  in  1975  fathoms,  I'mhtUularics,  HolotAuna,aai  many 
examples  of  several  species  of  the  Anaiuhytida  were  procured  ;  and  -we 
found  very  much  the  same  group  of  forms  at  1900  fathoms  on  the  3rd  of 
March.  On  the  7th  of  March,  in  1800  fathoms,  there  were  many  animal 
forms,  particularly  some  remarkable  starfishes,  of  a  large  size,  of  the 
genus  Hymmaster :  and  on  the  13th  of  March,  at  a  depth  of  2600  fathoms, 
with  a  bottom-temperature  of  0°-2  C,  Hololhurm  were  abundant,  there 
were  several  starfishes  and  Adinia,  and  a  very  elegant  little  Brochiopod 
occurred  attached  to  peculiar  concretions  of  manganese  which  came  up 
iu  numbers  iu  the  trawl. 


1874.]  Dredffit^s  and  Deep-tea  Soundingt.  425 

In  nine  successful  dredgings,  at  depths  beyond  1000  fathoms,  between 
the  Cape  and  Australia : — 

Sponges  were  met  with  on 6  occasions. 

Anthozoa  Octactiuia    7 

Fol^tinia 0 

Crinoidea 4 

Asteroidea    8 

Ophiuridea    0 

Eehinidea 

Holothuridea     8 

Bryozoa     C 

Tiinicata   5 

Sipimculacea    3 

Nematodes    I 

Annelida  8 

(JUyaafomum) 2 

Balanoglossiu 1 

Cirripedia 4 

Ostracoda 1 

Isopoda 7 

Ampbipoda  3 

Slchizopoda    5 

Decapoda  Macrura G 

Brocbyura   2 

Pycnogonida 2 

Lamellibranchiata     5 

Brachiopoda 3 

Gasteropoda 4 

Cephalopoda 3 

Teleostei  0 

It  ia  of  course  impossible  to  determine  the  speciee  with  the  books  of 
reference  at  our  command  ;  but  many  of  them  are  new  to  science,  and 
some  are  of  great  interest  from  their  relation  to  groups  supposed  to  be 
extinct,  This  is  particularly  the  case  with  the  Echinodermata,  which 
arc  here,  as  in  the  deep  water  in  the  north,  a  very  prominent  group. 

During  the  present  cruise  special  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  nature 
of  the  bottom,  and  to  any  facts  which  might  throw  light  upon  the  source 
of  its  materials. 

This  department  has  been  chiefly  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Murray  ;  and  I 
have  pleasure  in  referring  to  the  constant  industry  and  care  which  he  has 
devoted  to  the  preparation,  examination,  and  storing  of  samples.  I  ex- 
tract from  Mr.  Murray's  notes : — 

"  In  the  soundings  about  the  Agulhas  bank,  in  100  to  ISO  fathoms, 
the  bottom  was  of  a  greenish  colour,  and  contained  many  crystalline  par- 

2k2 


42(i  Prof.  W.  Thomson  on  [June  18, 

ticIi'H  (soiuQ  clai-k-colourod  (iiiJ  noiuo  cltar)  ol  I'oraniiiiifera,  spei.-ii>§  of 
Orhidina,  Ohbu/frina,  and  Pulvinuiina,  n  pretty  species  of  Uvigtrina, 
Plmiorbalinn,  MilioUna,  Bulimiiia,  and  A'ummulina.  There  were  y&ry 
fpw  Diatoms. 

"In  the  dflep  soundings  and  dredgings  before  reaching  the  CroEets,  in 
1000,  ]570,  and  1375  fathoms,  the  bottom  waB  composed  entirely  of 
O/'biUhia,  GlohUjtrina,  and  Palviniditui,  the  same  species  wliich  we  get  on 
the  aurfaco,  but  all  oE  a  white  colour  and  dead.  Of  Fonimiuifera,  which 
we  have  not  got  on  the  surface,  I  noticed  one  Rotalia  and  one  Fohjato- 
mtlla,  both  dead.  Wome  Coccoliths  and  Rhabdoliths  were  also  found  in 
the  samples  from  these  soundings.  On  the  whole,  these  bottoms  were,  I 
think,  the  purest  carbonate  of  lime  we  have  ever  obtained,  AVhen  the 
soundings  were  placed  in  a  bottle  and  shaken  up  with  water,  the  whole 
looked  like  a  quantity  of  sago.  The  Pulviiiulimr.  were  smuller  than  in 
the  dredginga  in  the  Atlantic.  We  had  no  soundings  between  the  Cro- 
zets  and  Kerguelen. 

"  The  specimens  of  the  bottom  about  Kerguelen  were  all  from  depths 
from  120  to  20  fathoms,  and  consisted  usually  of  dark  mud,  with  an 
offensive  sulphurous  smell.  Those  obtained  furthest  from  land  were  made 
up  almost  oniirely  of  matted  spooge-spieules.  In  these  soundings  one 
species  of  B^laliivi  and  one  other  Foraminifer  occurred. 

"  At  150  fathoms,  between  Kerguelen  and  Heard  Island,  the  bottom 
was  composed  of  basaltic  pebbles.  The  bottom  at  Heard  Island  was  much 
the  same  as  at  Kerguelen. 

"The  sample  obtained  from  a  depth  of  12C0  fathoms,  south  of  Heard 
Island,  was  quite  different  from  any  thing  ^e  had  previously  obtained. 
It  was  one  mass  of  Diatoms,  of  many  sjiecies ;  and,  mixed  with  these, 
a  few  small  Glohirffrina  and  Eadiolariana,  and  a  very  few  crystalline  par- 

"The  soundings  and  dredgings  while  we  were  among  the  ice  in  1G75, 
1800, 1300,  and  1975  fathoms,  gave  another  totally  distinct  deposit  of  yel- 
lowish clay,  with  pebbles  and  small  stones,  and  a  considerable  admixture  of 
Diatoms,  Badiolarians,  and  Gtobifferinc.  The  clay  and  pebbles  were 
evidently  a  sediment  from  the  melting  icebegs,  and  the  Diatoms,  Badio- 
larians,  and  i'oraminifera  were  from  the  siirfato-walers. 

"  The  bottom  from  1D5U  fathoms,  on  our  way  to  Australia  from  the 
Antarctic,  was  again  exactly  similar  to  that  obtained  in  the  1200-fathoin3 
sounding  south  of  Heard  Island.  The  bottom  at  1800  fathoms,  a  little 
further  to  the  north  (lat.  50°  1'  8.,  long.  123°  4'  E.),  was  again  pure 
'  Globiijerina-ocaf:,'  COTnposed  of  Orhuliua',  Globujerino',  and  Piilvinuliiife. 

"The  bottom  at  2150  fathoms  (lat.  47°  25'  S.,  long.  130'  32'  E.)  w-as 
similar  to  the  last,  with  a  reddish  tinge  ;  and  that  at  2GO0  fathoms  (Int. 
42°  42'  8.,  long  134"  10'  E.)  was  reddish  clay,  the  same  which  we  got  at 
like  depths  in  the  Atlantic,  and  contained  manganese  nodules  and  much 
decomposo<l  Foraminifera." 


'  IS/i.]  Dree^inga  and  Deep-tea  Somdings.  427 

Mr.  Murray  hni  been  induced,  by  the  observatiouB  which  have  been 
mode  in  the  Atlantic,  to  combine  the  use  of  the  towing-net,  at  various 
depths  from  the  surface  to  150  fathoms,  with  the  esamination  of  the 
samples  from  the  aoundings.  And  this  double  work  has  led  him  to  a 
conclusion  (in  which  I  am  now  forced  entirely  to  concur,  although  it  is 
certainly  contrary  to  my  former  opinion)  that  the  bulk  of  the  material  of 
the  bottom  in  deep  water  is,  iu  all  cases,  derived  from  the  surface. 

Mr.  Murray  has  demonstrated  the  presence  of  Globigerinct,  Palvinu- 
liiim,  and  OrbuUna  throughout  all  the  upper  layers  of  the  sea  over  the 
whole  of  the  area  where  the  bottom  consists  of  "  Olohiyenna-ooze  "  or  of 
the  red  clay  produced  by  the  decomposition  of  the  shells  of  Foraminifera ; 
and  their  appearance  when  living  on  the  surface  is  so  totally  difEerent 
from  that  of  the  shells  at  the  bottom,  that  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  that 
the  latter,  even  although  they  frequently  contain  organic  matter,  are  all 
dead.  I  mean  thia  to  refer  only  to  the  genera  mentioned  above,  which 
practically  form  the  ooze.  Many  other  Forainlnifera  undoubtedly  live  in 
comparatively  sm^  numbers,  along  with  animals  of  higher  groups,  ou  the 
bottom. 

In  the  extreme  south  the  conditions  were  eo  severe  as  greatly  tointer- 
fere  with  all  work.  %Vo  had  no  arrangement  for  heating  the  work-rooms ; 
and  at  a  temperature  which  averaged  for  some  days  25°  F.,  the  instru- 
ments became  so  cold  that  it  was  unpleasant  to  handle  them,  and  the 
vapour  of  the  breath  condensed  and  froze  at  once  upon  glass  and  brass 
work.  Dredging  at  the  considerable  depths  which  we  found  near  the 
Antarctic  Circle  became  a  severe  and  somewhat  critical  operation,  the  gear 
being  stiffened  and  otherwise  affected  by  the  cold,  and  we  could  not  repeat 
it  often. 

The  evening  of  the  23rd  of  February  was  remarkably  fine  and  calm, 
and  it  was  arranged  to  dredge  on  the  following  morning.  The  weather 
changed  somewhat  during  the  night,  and  the  wind  rose.  Captain  Nares 
was,  however,  moat  anxious  to  cany  out  our  object,  and  the  dredge  was 
put  over  at  5  a.m.  "We  were  surrounded  by  ieebei^,  the  wind  continued 
to  rise,  and  a  thick  snow-storm  come  on  from  the  south-east.  After  a 
time  of  some  anxiety  the  dredge  was  got  in  all  right ;  but,  to  our  great 
disappointment,  it  was  empty, — probably  the  drift  of  the  ship  and  the 
motion  had  prevented  its  reaching  the  bottom.  In  the  mean  time  the 
wind  had  risen  to  a  whole  gale  (force=10  in  the  squalls),  the  thermo- 
meter fell  to  21°-5F.,  the  snow  drove  in  a  dry  blinding  cloud  of  ex- 
quisite star-like  crystals,  which  burned  the  skin  as  if  they  had  been 
red-hot,  and  we  were  not  sorry  to  be  able  to  retire  from  the  dredging- 
bridge. 

Careful  obsenations  on  temperature  are  already  in  your  han<l8,  reported 
by  Captain  Nares.  The  specific  gravity  of  the  water  has  been  taken  daily 
by  Mr.  Buchanan ;  and,  during  the  trip,  Mr.  Buchanan  has  determined 
the  amount  of  carbonic  acid  in  24  different  samples— 15  from  the  surface, 


428  On  Dredffings  and  Deep-Sea  Soundings.        [Juiie  1 

7  from  the  bottom,  and  2  from  interraediato  depths.  The  srirJIe 
Binoiint  of  carbonic  acid  was  found  in  surface-water  on  tbe  27th  Jaaoai 
near  Kei^elen  ;  it  araounted  to  0'0373  gramme  per  litre.  The  large 
amount,  0-0829  gramme  per  litre,  vroa  found  in  bottom-water  on  the  14 
February,  when  close  to  the  Artarctic  ice.  About  the  same  latitude  t 
Rmount  of  carbonic  acid  in  aurfape-wat«r  rose  to  the  unusual  amount 
0-0651  gramme  per  litre;  in  all  other  latitudes  it  ranged  betw© 
0'044  and  0-054  gramme  per  litre.  From  the  greater  number 
these  samples  the  oxygea  and  nitrogen  were  exfci-aoted,  and  sealed  up 

The  considerations  connected  with  the  distribution  of  tcmperohire  a 
specific  gravity  in  these  aouthem  waters  are  so  very  complicated,  that 
prefer  postponing  any  general  reiamc  of  the  roaults  until  there  has  bo 
time  for  full  consideration. 

While  we  were  among  the  ice  all  possible  observations  were  made  i 
the  structure  and  composition  of  icebergs.  "We  only  regretted  great 
that  we  had  uo  opportunity  of  watching  their  birth,  or  of  observing  t 
continuous  ice-barrier  from  which  most  of  them  have  the  appearance 
having  been  detached.  The  berg-  and  iloe-iee  was  examined  with  t 
microscope,  and  found  to  contain  the  usual  Diatoms.  Careful  drawin 
of  the  different  forma  of  icebergs,  of  the  positions  which  they  assume 
melting,  and  of  their  intimate  structure  were  made  by  Mr.  Wild,  a 
instantaneous  photographs  nf  se^ornl  were  taken  from  the  ship. 

Upwards  of  15,000  observations  in  meteorology  have  been  record 
during  the  trip  to  the  south.  Most  of  these  have  already  been  tabulal 
and  reduced  to  curves,  and  otherwise  arranged  for  reference  in  considi 
ing  the  questions  of  climate  on  which  they  bear. 

Many  specimens  in  natural  history  have  been  stored  in  about  seven 
packing-cases  and  casks,  containing,  besides  dried  sijocimens,  upwards 
600  store-bottles  and  jars  of  specimens  in  spirit, 

I  need  only  further  add  that,  so  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge,  the  espei 
tlon  is  fulfilling  the  object  for  which  it  was  sent  out.  The  naval  and  t 
civilian  staff  seem  actuated  by  one  wish  to  do  the  utmost  in  their  powi 
and  certainty  a  large  amount  of  material  is  being  accumulated. 

The  experiences  of  the  last  three  mouths  have  of  course  been  somen"! 
trying  to  those  of  us  » ho  were  not  accustomed  to  a  sea-life ;  but  t 
health  of  the  whole  party  has  been  pxcellent.  There  has  been  so  much 
do  that  there  has  Ijeen  little  lime  for  weariness  ;  and  the  arrangemei 
I'lmtinue  to  work  in  a  pleasant  and  satisfactory  way. 

^Signed)        CuAiiLEa  WirvxtLE  Thomson, 


w 


1874.]     Mr.  J.  L.  Tupper  on  the  Centre  qf  Motion  in  the  Eye.     429 

XIII.  "  On  the  Centre  of  Motion  in  the  Human  Eye."  By  J.  L. 
Topper.  Conuntmicated  by  S.  J.  A.  Salter,  F.B.S.  Receired 
May  15,  1874. 

(AbBtraet.) 
The  paper  of  which  this  is  a  short  abstract  premises  that  its  argu- 
ment is  conditional,  that  it  adopts  all  the  fuudamental  optical  conditions 
&a  they  are  receiyed,  that  the  received  centre  of  motion  is  not  one  o£ 
these,  but  is  supposed  to  be  legitimately  derived  from  them,  and  that  tho 
author  disputes  this  and  proposes  ; — 

1st.  To  show  that  this  conclusion  is  inconsistent  with  its  premises, 
and  that  a  different  though  indefinite  conclusion  is  thence  derivable ; 

2nd.  By  experiment,  to  develop  and  reduce  that  conclusion  to  a  de< 
finite  form ; 

3rd.  To  verify  it  by  anatomical  induction. 

The  latest  investigations  (those  of  Prof.  Donders)  have  placed  the 
centre  of  motion  nearly  two  millimetres  behind  the  centre  of  the  globe, 
and  in  the  cornea's  axis.  The  process  of  proof  assumed  that  the  centre 
of  motion  is  equidistant  from  the  out«r  and  inner  margins  of  the  cornea, 
and,  moreover,  that  the  eye's  visual  line  (ordinarily  at  6°  with  the 
cornea's  axis)  will,  by  mere  rotation,  in  turn  coincide  with  three  or  more 
radii  of  the  same  circle ;  or  that,  without  moving  the  head,  we  can  suc- 
cessively sight  the  lines  on  a  graduated  circular  arc,  seeing  them  as  so 
many  points. 

The  paper  first  proves,  by  a  geometrical  diagram,  that  if  the  eye,  by 
simple  rotation,  can  thus  see  the  radii  of  a  circle,  the  centre  of  motion 
must  be  in  the  visual  line,  not  in  the  cornea's  axis,  as  hitherto  supposed ; 
proves  next,  by  pairs  of  sights  set  up  on  the  radii  of  a  circle,  and  actually 
Been  as  so  many  points,  that  the  centre  of  motion  is,  in  fact,  in  the  visual 
line  ;  and  proves,  lastly,  by  measuring  (mechanically)  how  far  the  front 
of  tbe  cornea  is  from  the  converging  point  of  the  radii  thus  sighted,  that 
the  centre  of  motion  is  about  ^  of  an  inch,  instead  of  ^  of  an  inch,  be- 
hind the  cornea's  anterior  surface. 

Then  follows  a  twofold  anatomical  corroboration  of  these  conclusions 
by  examination, 

Ist,  of  the  living  eye ; 

2nd,  of  tbe  dissected  eye. 

(Ist)  If  the  eye  rotated  on  a  point  in  the  antero-posterior  diameter  (or 
cornea's  axis),  then  any  two  points  equidistant  from  tho  cornea's  centre 
would  in  turn  occupy  the  some  point  in  apace,  as  assumed  by  Prof. 
Donders.  The  first  experiment  shows  that  two  such  corresponding  points 
will  not,  OS  the  eye  turns,  fall  into  the  same  place ;  whilst  other  examina- 
tions of  the  living  eye  show  not  only  that  symmHriejdhj  situated  points 
move  asymmdricalhj,  but  movo  asvmmetrically  in  such  a  way  as  would 
occur  if  the  centre  of  motion  were  externa!  Ut  the  antero-posterior  aas, 


430    Mr.  J.  L.Tiipperon /Ac  C'«!(reo/Jtfo/ion in  (Ae£ye.  [June  18, 

or  somewhere  in  the  visual  line  behind  Ihe  nodal   point,  a  position 
which  ngreea  with  thftt  aeaigned  to  the  centre  of  motion  by  the  preceding 

(2iid)  The  tUssected  organ  exhibits  an  asymmetrical  attiwhuieiit  of 
the  recti  muacles,  so  that  a  vertical  plane  cutting  these  attachments 
ia  further  from  the  external  than  from  the  internal  margin  of  the 
cornea. 

The  circumference  of  this  plane  would  he  a  drele,  and  the  attachment 
of  the  globe's  suspensory  ligament,  that  resists  the  backward  traction  of 
these  muscles,  is  found  also  to  be  a  circle  parallel  to,  and  one  line  further 
back  than,  the  former  circle.  The  latter  may  be  considered  the  base  of 
a  cone,  whose  vertex  is  the  optic  foramen,  in  the  surface  of  which  cono 
the  recti  muscles  are  sitiuite.  The  base  is  therefore  kept  in  equipoise 
by  the  symmetrical  arrangement  of  the  contracting  muscles  behind 
and  the  resisting  suspensory  hgameut  in  front ;  so  that  the  contnic- 
tdou  of  a  single  rectus,  as  it  draws  back  the  ligament  on  one  side, 
increases  its  fonsard  traction  on  the  other  side,  and  moves  any  two 
opposite  points  of  the  cone's  base  equally  in  opposite  direcliona,  or 
rotates  it  on  its  centre,  a  centre  which  is  thua  the  anatomical  centre  of 
motion. 

But  however  the  recti  are  situate  (and  act)  symmetrically  with  the  base 
of  this  cone,  the  base  is  oblique  with  respect  to  the  coroea  (not  at  right 
angles  to  its  axis),  and  consequently  its  centre  will  be  on  one  side  of  the 
cornea's  axis  ;  and  again,  since  Ihe  cone's  base  is  further  from  the  outer 
than  from  the  inner  margin  of  the  cornea,  its  centre  will  Iw  ouuide 
the  ci)mea's  a\is.  Kow  that  part  of  the  visual  line  where  the  preceding 
experiments  have  placed  Ihe  centre  of  motion  is  outside  the  cornea's  axis, 
while  the  base  of  the  cone,  whose  centre  has  thus  proved  to  bo  the  ana- 
tomical centre  of  motion,  is  found  to  pass  through  the  visual  line  -^  of  an 
inch  behind  the  coruea,  exactly  in  accordance  with  the  results  of  the 
experiment  with  sightt'd  radii  of  a  circle 

Lastly,  the  obliquity  of  the  cone's  base  with  the  base  of  the  conieji 
proves  to  be  a  consequence  of  the  hitherto  unexplamed  want  of  lateral 
symmetry  in  the  attachment  of  Ihe  recti  muscles,  thus  explained  ns 
a  moat  important  means  of  tidjusting  the  e\e*s  Miual  line  to  the  ob- 
ject ;  while  some  further  pocuharilies  in  (he  insertion  of  the  recti, 
demonstrated  in  Ihe  author's  disseclions,  conspire  to  attam  the  earn* 

The  author's  thanks  for  valuable  atsisianec  are  due  to  Mr  J.  ^'alter 
F.H.8.,  to  Mr.  II.  G.  llowso,  Demonstrator  of  Aiiatumv  to  Guv'a  Hos- 
pitjil,  aud  lo  the  Eev.  Geo.  F.  Wright,  of  OversliHlc,  liugby. 


L^ 


1874.]  TAt.J.Y.Biuihmm  on  Sea-water  Ice.  431 

XIV.  "  Some  Observations  on  Sea-water  Ice."  By  J.  Y.  Bdchanaw, 
Chemist  on  Board  H.M.S.  '  Challenger.'  Communicated 
by  Professor  A.  W.  Williamson,  For.  Sec.  R.S.  Received 
June  9,  1874. 

Many  different  opinions  have  been  expressed  as  to  the  nature  of  ice 
resulting  from  tbe  freezing  of  sea-water,  oil  freeing,  however,  in  one 
point,  that,  when  nieltod,  the  water  is  uoflt  to  drink.  During  the 
antarctic  eriiise  o£  H.M.S.  '  Challenger '  I  took  an  opportunity  of  exa- 
mining some  of  the  broken  pack-ice,  into  which  the  ship  made  an 
excursion  on  the  moruing  of  the  25th  of  February,  and  also  some  ice 
which  had  formed  over  nigbt  in  a  bucket  of  sea-water  left  outside  the 
laboratory  port. 

The  piece  of  pack-ice  which  I  examined  was,  in  substance,  clear,  with 
many  air-bells,  most  of  them  rather  irregularly  shaped.  Two  portions 
of  this  ice  were  allowed  to  melt  at  the  temperature  of  the  laboratory, 
which  ranged  from  2°  C,  to  7°  C,  The  melting  thus  took  place  very 
slovtlv,  aod  made  it  possible  to  examine  the  wal^r  fractionally.  My 
experiments  consisted  in  determining  the  chlorine  in  the  water  by  means 
of  tenth-normal  uitrate-of-BUver  solution,  and  observing  the  temperature 
of  the  ice  when  melting. 

A  lump,  which,  when  melted,  wa^  found  to  measure  625  cub.  centims., 
was  allowed  to  melt  gradually  in  a  porcelain  dish.  When  about  100 
cub.  centime,  had  melted,  50  cub.  centims.  were  taken  for  the  determi- 
nation of  the  chlorine;  they  required  IS'O  cub.  centims.  silver  solution, 
corresponding  to  0'0483  gramme  chlorine.  When  500  cub.  centims. 
had  melted,  50  cub.  centims.  were  titrated,  and  required  1-6  cub,  centim. 
silver  solution,  corresponding  to  0'0067  gramme  chlorine.  The  remainder 
(05  cub,  centims,)  of  the  ice  was  then  melted  and  00  cub.  centims.  titrated ; 
they  required  0'3!>  cub.  centim,  silver  solution,  corresponding  to  0"0014 
gramme  chlorine.  Wo  have  then  in  the  first  50  cub.  centams.  0-0483 
gramme  chlorine,  in  the  next  510  cub,  centims,  0'067d  gramme,  and 
in  the  last  do  cub.  centims.  O'OOIS  gramme.  Hence  the  whole  lump 
(025  cub.  centims.)  coattuued  0'1077  gramme  chlorine,  or,  on  an  average, 
U-1723  gramme  chlorine  per  litre,  A  qualitative  analysis  of  the  water 
showed  lime,  magnesia,  and  sulphuric  acid  to  be  present. 

Another  piece  of  the  ice  was  pounded  and  allowed  to  melt  in  a  beaker. 
When  about  half  was  melted,  the  water  was  poured  off  and  found  to 
measure  05  cub.  centims. ;  75  cub.  centims.  were  titrated  with  silver 
solution,  and  required  I'O  cub.  centim.  The  remainder,  when  melted, 
measured  130  cub.  centims.,  and  required  09  cub.  centim.  silver  solution. 
Henco  the  first  fraction  of  95  cub.  centims.  contained  0'0085  gramme 
chlorine,  and  the  second  of  130  cub.  centims.  00032  gramme  chlorine. 
The  whole  quantity  (225  cub.  centimB.)of  ice  therefore  contained  O'OIl  7 
gramme  cbloriite,  or,  on  on  average,  0-0520  graipme  per  litre. 


432  Messrs.  J.  G.  M'Kendrick  and  J.  Dcwar  on      [June  ISM 

From  these  rPBults  it  is  evident  that  the  ico  under  exaiainatioa  y 
very  far  from  being  an  homogeneous  body ;  and,  indeed,  nothiug  else 
could  be  expected,  when  it  is  bome  in  mind  that  the  ice  in  question 
owes  its  existence,  not  only  to  the  Inmd  fule  freesving  of  sea-water,  but 
abo  to  the  snow  which  falls  on  its  surface  and  is  congealed  into  a 
oompact  mass  by  the  salt-water  spray  freeKing  amongst  it. 

The  ice  formed  by  freezing  sea-water  in  a  bucket  was  found  to  bare 
formed  all  round  the  bottom  and  sides  of  the  bucket,  and  formiug  a 
pellicle  on  the  surface,  from  which  and  from  the  sides  and  bottom  the  ice 
had  formed  in  hexagonal  planes,  projecting  edgewise  inio  the  water. 
The  water  was  pourcvd  off.  the  crystals  collectod,  washed  with  distilled 
water,  pressed  between  filteriog-paper,  and  one  porliou  melt«d.  It 
measured  9  cub.  centims.,  and  required  4  cub.  ceutiins.  silver  solution, 
corresponding  to  0'0142  gramme  chlorine,  or  1-57S0  gramme  per  litre. 
The  other  portion  was  used  for  determining  the  melting-point.  The 
thermometer  used  was  one  of  Geissler's  normal  ones,  divided  into  tenths 
of  a  degree  Centigrade,  whose  zero  had  been  verified  the  day  before  in 
melting  snow.  Tho  melting-point  of  the  ice-crystals  was  found  to  be 
— 1°'3.  Tho  temperature  of  the  melting  mass  was  observed  to  remain 
constant  for  twenty  minutes,  after  whii-li  no  further  observations  were 
•  made. 

In  the  same  way  the  melting-point  of  the  pack-ice  was  determined. 
The  fresh  ice  began  to  melt  at  ~1° ;  after  twenty  minutes  the  ther- 
mometer had  risen  to  — 0°-9,  and  two  hours  and  a  half  afterwards  it 
stood  at  —0°-3,  having  remained  constant  for  about  an  hour  at  — 0°'4. 
Another  portion  of  the  ice  rose  more  rapidly ;  and  when  three  fourths  of 
the  ice  was  melted,  the  thermometer  stood  at  0°. 

These  determinations  of  the  temperature  of  melting  sea-water  ice 
show  that  the  salt  is  not  contained  in  it  only  in  the  form  of  mechanically 
enclosed  brine,  but  exists  in  the  solid  form,  either  as  a  single  crystalline 
substance  or  as  a  mixture  of  ice-  and  salt-crystals.  Common  salt,  when 
separating  from  solutions  at  temperatures  below  0",  crystallizes  in 
hexagonal  planes ;  sea-water  ice,  therefore,  may  possibly  have  some 
analogy  to  the  iaomorphous  mixtures  occurrbg  amongst  minerals. 


XV.  "On  the  Physiological  Action  of  the  Chinoline  and  Pyridine 
Bases."     By   John   G.    M'Kendrick   and    James   Dewar, 
Edinburgh.     Communicated  by  Professor  J.   Bukdon   San- 
derson, M.D.,  F.11.S.     Eeceived  June  11,  187i. 
(Abstract.) 
It  is  well  known  that  quinine,  cinchonine,  or  strychnine  yield,  when 
distilled  with  caustic  potash,  two  homologous  series  of  bases,  named  the 
pyridine  and  chinoline  ffiries.    Bases  isomeric  with  these  may  »Iso  be 


1874.]      the  Action  of  the  ChinoUne  and  Pyridine  Bases.  4S3 

obtained  by  the  deBtructive  distillation  of  coal,  or  from  Dippel's  oil,  got 
from  bone.  Qreville  Williams  has  pointed  out  that  chinoHoe  obtuned 
from  coal-tar  differs  in  some  respects  from  that  yielded  by  cinchonine. 
In  this  research  the  authors  endeavoared  to  ascertain  (1)  the  physio- 
logical actdon  of  the  various  members  of  the  series;  (2)  whether  there 
was  any  difference  in  this  respect  between  the  members  of  the  series 
obtained  from  cincbonine  and  those  got  from  tar ;  and  (3)  whether,  and 
if  so,  how,  both  as  regards  extent  and  character,  the  physiological  action 
of  these  bases  differed  from  that  of  the  original  alkaloidal  bodies. 

The  bases  in  both  series  are  difGcult  to  separate  from  each  other ;  hut 
this  has  been  done  as  far  as  possible  by  repeated  fractional  distillation. 
The  salt  employed  was  the  hydrochlorate.  This,  dissolved  in  water,  was 
introduced  by  a  fine  syringe  under  the  skin  of  the  animal.  The  action  of 
chinoline  was  tested  on  frogs,  mice,  rabbits,  guineapigs,  cats,  dogs,  and 
man ;  but  ss  the  effects  were  found  to  be  similar  in  all  of  these  instances, 
the  majority  of  the  observations  were  made  on  rabbits.  The  experi- 
ments with  the  other  substances  were  mode  on  rabbits  and  frogs.  The 
physiological  action  of  hydrochlorate  of  chinoline  was  first  eiarained. 
Its  action  was  then  compared  with  that  of  the  hydrochlorates  of  the 
chinoline  series  of  bases  distilling  at  higher  temperatures,  including 
such  as  lepidine,  dispoline,  tetrahiroltne,  &c.  In  the  next  place,  the 
physiological  action  of  the  pyridine  aeries  was  studied,  beginning  with 
pyridiuo  itself,  and  passing  upwards  to  bases  obtained  at  still  higher 
boiling-points,  such  as  plcoline,  lutidine,  &c.  lastly,  the  investigation 
was  directed  to  the  action  of  condensed  bases,  such  as  dipyridine,  porapi- 
coline,  &c. ;  and  the  effects  of  these  substances  were  compared  with  those 
produced  by  the  members  of  the  chinoline  series  and  among  themselves. 

The  following  are  the  general  conclusions  arrived  at : — 

1.  There  is  a  marked  gradation  in  the  extent  of  physiological  action  of 
the  membors  of  the  pyridine  series  of  bases,  but  it  remains  of  the  same 
kind.  The  lethal  dose  becomes  reduced  as  we  rise  from  the  lower  to  the 
higher. 

2.  Tho  higher  members  of  the  pyridino  series  resemble  in  physiologi- 
cal  action  the  lower  members  of  the  chinoline  series,  except  (1)  that  the 
former  are  more  liable  to  cause  death  by  asphyxia,  and  (2)  that  the 
lethal  dose  of  the  pyridines  is  less  than  one  half  that  of  the  chinolines. 

3.  In  proceeding  from  the  lower  to  the  higher  members  of  the  chino- 
line series,  the  physiological  action  changes  in  character,  inasmuch  as  the 
lower  members  appear  to  act  chiefly  on  the  sensory  centres  of  the 
cncepholon  and  the  reflex  centres  of  the  cord,  destroying  the  power  of 
voluntary  or  reflex  movement;  while  the  higher  act  less  on  these  centres, 
and  chiefly  on  tho  motor  centres,  first,  as  irritants,  cansing  violent  con- 
vulsions, and  at  length  produdng  complete  paralysis.  At  the  same  time, 
while  the  reflex  activity  of  the  centres  in  the  spinal  cord  appear  to  be 
inactive,  they  may  be  readily  roused  to  action  l^  stiychnine. 


434     Rev.  H.  F.  C.  Logan  on  the  Calcuba  qf  FacloriaU.     [June  18, 

4.  On  comparing  the  action  of  aueh  coinpouuds  as  C,  RjN  (clunoline^ 
with C,  H„  N  (panoline &c.),  or  C, H„  N  (collidine)  w-ith  C. H„ N  (conia' 
from  hemlock),  or  C„  H,,  N,  (dipyridine)  with  C„  U,,  N,  (nicotine,  from 
tobacco),  it  is  to  be  obsetred  that  the  physiological  actiritj  o£  the  sub- 
stance is,  apart  from  chemical  etmcture,  greatest  in  those  bases  con- 
taining the  larger  amount  of  hydrogen. 

f).  Those  artificial  bases  which  approximate  the  percentage  composition 
of  natural  bases  are  much  weaker  physiologically,  bo  far  as  can  be  esti- 
mated by  amount  of  dose,  than  the  natural  bases  ;  but  the  kittd  of  action 
is  the  same  in  both  coses. 

6.  When  the  bases  of  the  pyridine  series  are  doubled  by  condensation, 
producing  <lipyridine,  parapicoline,  &c.,  they  not  only  become  more 
active  physiologically,  but  the  action  differs  in  kind  from  that  of  tte 
simple  bases,  and  resembles  the  action  of  untuml  bases  or  alkaloids 
hating  a  similar  chemical  constitution. 

7.  Ail  the  substances  examined  in  this  research  are  remarkable  for 
not  possessing  any  specific  paralytic  action  ou  the  heart  likely  to  cau^e 
syncope ;  but  they  destroy  life  either  by  ojthaustive  convulsions,  or  by 
p^ual  paralysis  of  the  centres  of  respiration,  thus  causing  asphyxia. 

8.  There  is  no  appreciable  immediate  ai-tion  on  the  sympathetic  system 
of  nenes.  There  is  probably  a  secondary  action,  because  after  lar^ 
doses  the  vasomotor  centre,  in  common  with  other  centres,  becomes 
involved. 

9.  There  Is  no  difference,  so  far  as  could  be  discovered,  between  the 
physiological  action  of  bases  obtained  from  ciuchoniue  and  those  derived 
from  tar. 


XVI.  "On  the  Calculus  of  Factorinls."  By  the  Rev.  H.  F.  C. 
LoGANj  LL.D.  Comraunicatcd  by  Professor  Cavley,  P.R.S. 
Received  November  10,  1873. 

(Abstract.) 

Our  present  knowledge  of  what  is  called  pure  analysis  has  for  its  con- 
crete basis  the  general  theory  of  powers. 

This  science  the  author  might,  after  Wroiiski,  sanctioned  by  Lagrange, 
have  called  algorithmic,  but  he  prefers  giving  it  the  designation  Caleutu* 
of  Powers. 

The  simple  functions  whose  properties  and  relations  it  is  the  object 
of  this  latter  calculus  to  determine  are,  first,  the  three  direct  functiona 
or  algorithms,  r",  «',  sin  x ;  secondly,  their  three  inverse  functions  or 
algorithms,  ^  (or   v  ;),  log„  r,  sin"':. 

The  author  ]>ropose8  to  establish  a  new  brjiuch  of  analysis  or  algo- 
rithinie,  which  is  based  upon  the  general  theory  of  factorials,  aud  in 
which  s"^^^ replaces  z". 


1874.]  On  the  Meteorological  Use  of  a  Plmimeter.  435 

The  simple  functions  or  algorithms  whose  properties  and  relatione  it 

ia  ttie  province  of  this  new  calculus  to  determine  are  a"''=^,  (1+K)I, 

{I— A)*,  (1+A)~*,  (1— i)~*.  Bin  =  sin  ;,  and  their  inverse  functioiu, 

s"        ^or     a/  '/.  1*^  =1  ft  logarithm  taken  to  the  Imiho  (l+7i)*>or 

(1— A)~iand  sLn-'a  sin-' s. 

The  calcalns  so  founded  the  author  propoaes  to  call  the  Calculiiq  of 
Factorials. 

The  branches  of  the  subioct  treat«d  of  in  the  present  memoir  will  bo 
understood  from  the  following  list  of  the  contents  of  the  various  sections 
into  which  it  is  divided  : — 

Ch,  1,  §  1.  Definition  and  properties  of  s"/''^,  or  more  generally 
(fl +;)"/ Til,  when  M  ig  a  whole  positive  number. 

§  3.  Factorials  with  a  negative  whole  index. 

§  3.  Factorials  of  which  the  index  ia  a  positive  fraction. 

§  4.  Factorials  of  which  the  index  is  a  negative  fraction. 

§  5.  Factorial  radicals. 

Ch.  II.  §  1,  Application  of  the  theory  of  finite  differences  to  fac- 

§  2.    Differenciation  *    of    factorial    exponentials    and    factorial    lo- 
garithms. 
§  3.  Development  of  the  various  simple  functions  into  factorial  scries. 


XVII.  "On  the  Employment  of  8  Planimcter  to  obtain  Mean 
Values  from  the  traces  of  contiunoualy  Self-recording  Meteoro- 
logical Instnimentfi."  By  Kobert  H.  Scott,  M.A.,  F.R.S. 
Received  May  23,  1874. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  remind  the  Fellows  that  the  self-recording 
instruments  employed  by  the  Meteorological  Committee  at  their  Obser- 
vatories for  the  continuous  registration  of  pressure  aud  temperature 
furnish  their  results  in  the  form  of  photographic  traces.  The  usual 
method  of  dealbg  with  these  barograms  and  thermograms,  as  they  are 
respectively  called,  ia  to  measure  them  at  certain  intervals  by  appropriate 
scales,  and  to  treat  the  numerical  values  so  obtained  by  arithmetical 
processes  so  as  to  arrive  at  moan  results. 

This  method  is  naturally  very  laborious,  and  its  accuracj'  is  to  some 

■  The  author  usM  thts  word  t«  denote  that  trliirh  in  the  colciilusof  Unite  difltrcnen 
takes  the  plaoa  of  diffamtistioD  in  the  difTsrenlUI  ooloulu*. 


Mr.  R.  H.  Scott  6»  Ifie  [June  1 

extent  affected  by  certain  peculiarities  found  to  be  very  commonly  pr 
Bent  in  euch  photogruphic  curves,  and  of  whiob  no  satisfactory  explan 
Hon  has  as  yet  been  discovered.  The  most  important  of  these  is  what 
t-enned  by  us  "  bagging,''  tho  result  of  which  ia  that  the  base  or  fiduci 
line  of  the  ciurve  is  no  longer  a  struight  line,  but  exhibits  a  certain  d 
gree  of  curvature,  ao  that  the  difficulty  of  determining  the  hourly  i 
other  values  by  means  of  au  engraved  scale,  bearing  parallel  etraigl 
lines,  is  very  considerable. 

At  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Francis  Gallon,  tho  Meteorological  Con 
mittee  gave  instructions  that  measurements  should  be  made  of  tho  cutti 
by  means  of  the  ijistmmeut  called  Amsler's  Plaaimeter,  of  which  a  ft 
description,  by  Mr.  V.  J.  Bramwell,  F.B.S.,  ia  printed  in  the  'Heport  • 
the  British  Association '  for  1872.  The  object  of  this  invention  is  d 
fined,  in  the  paper  quoted,  to  be  "  that  the  area  of  any  figure,  howeri 
irregular,  can  be  recorded  iu  deflnit*  standard  units  of  measurement  I 
the  mere  passage  of  a  tracer  along  the  perimeter  of  that  figure." 

It  ia  perfectly  ob\*ioua  that  the  measurement  of  the  area  of  the  curv 
if  it  can  be  executed  with  sufficient  accuracy,  must  give  a  far  more  sati 
factory  mode  of  ascertaining  the  value  of  the  meau  ordinate  of  the  cut 
than  the  calculation  of  the  average  of  any  number  of  measured  individn 
ordinafcB,  while  the  economy  of  time  ensured  by  the  use  of  the  plaoimet 
forms  a  moat  important  recommendation  for  its  use. 

Tho  mode  of  employing  the  instrument  is  as  follows  ; — The  enti 
perimetar  of  the  ciure,  down  to  the  base-liue,  ia  measured,. and  the  vali 
noted.     Then  wing  the  same  base-lint,  a  rectangle  of  known  height, 
units  of  the  scale  of  the  curve,  is  next  measua-d  in  the  same  way,  ni 
the  vahie  noted  again. 

The  ratio  of  these  two  values  is  the  mean  value  of  the  ordinate  of  tl 
cun-e,  or  the  meau  pressure  or  temperature  for  the  interval  embraced  1 
the  curve. 

It  may  bo  remarked  that  I  have  learnt  within  the  last  few  days  th 
the  present  occasion  is  not  the  first  on  which  a  planimeter  has  been  us, 
for  the  deduction  of  meteorological  means.  Mens,  van  Rysselbergli 
Professor  at  tho  School  of  Navigation,  Ostend,  has  employed  it  in  co 
nesion  with  his  new  electrical  Meteorograph. 

The  subjoined  Table  shows  for  a  period  of  eight  months  the  mc^ns 
temperature  for  Kew  Observatory  obtained  by  the  planimeter,  as  well 
those  yielded  by  the  old  method,  both  for  daily  and  for  fivLMiay  mean 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  difference  in  242  determinations  of  daily  meai 
oidy  amounted  to  0''-5  on  six  occasions,  and  to  C>°-0  in  one  instance  ;  nLi 
out  of  49  cases  of  five-day  means  tho  greatest  difference  was  only  0°- 
and  this  was  only  ouce  attoiijed. 

At  the  end  of  the  Table  the  column  headed  "  "Wr.  Eep.  Plates  "  gl\'i 
the  values  obtained  by  measurement  of  tho  pJatea  published  in  (1 
'  Quarterly  "Weather  Report '  for  the  period  embraced  by  the  measun 


1874.]  Meteorological  Vte  of  a  Plammeter.  4fi7 

ments  to  which  I  have  just  alluded.  It  will  be  seeit  from  it  that  tha 
five-da7  mean^  bo  obtained  hardly  difEer  from  those  which  are  yielded  by 
the  direct  meaBurement;  of  t^e  photographic  curve  by  means  of  the  plani- 
meter. 

The  plates  in  question  are  obtained  by  the  use  of  Mr.  Franda  Galton't 
Pantograph,  which  transfers  the  records  at  a  reduced  time-scale  to  zinc 
plates,  which  plates  are  subsequently  further  reduced  and  transferred  to 
copper  by  Wagner's  Fantagraph,  as  explained  in  the  Beport  of  the  Com- 
mittee for  1870. 

1  therefore  hope  that  the  Society  will  allow  me  to  remark  that  sach^a 
test  03  this  afEords  a  satisfactory  proof  of  the  accuracy  of  the  reproduc- 
tions of  our  automatic  records  which  are  executed  in  the  Meteorological 
Office, 

The  result  of  these  preliminary  experiments  is  that  the  planimeter 
means  are  practically  identical  with  those  obtained  by  treatment  of  the 
values  of  the  hourly  ordinates. 

It  is  found  that  the  mean  from  the  photographic  record  at  temperature 
for  one  day  can  be  obtained  in  about  the  same  time  as  is  required  for  the 
calculation  of  the  hourly  values ;  while  in  the  case  of  pressure  the  saving 
of  time  would  be  considerable.  In  both  cases  the  hourly  values  are 
supposed  to  have  been  preriously  measured.  If,  however,  the  five-day 
mean  from  one  of  the  plates  <rf  the  '  Quarterly  Weather  Beport '  be 
admissible,  the  economy  of  time  would  be  very  great  indeed. 

It  does  not  appear  that  the  liability  to  error  in  following  the  course  of 
the  cur^'c  with  the  tracer  of  the  planimeter  is  greater  than  that  of  mea- 
suring the  ordinates  of  the  curve  by  a  glass  scale ;  while  we  escape  one 
serious  cause  of  uncei^tainty  in  the  latter  operation,  the  difficulty  of 
assigning  the  exact  ordinate  to  the  hour  at  a  period  of  rapid  change  of 
temperature,  Ac. — a  case  of  frequent  occurrence ;  and  we  almost  entirely 
dispense  with  arithmetical  calculations. 

It  is  very  unfortunate  that  the  use  of  the  planimeter  will  not  enable 
us  to  dispense  with  the  necesBity  of  biking  hourly  readings,  inasmuch  as 
it  affords  us  no  means  of  averaging  any  but  consecutive  values,  and  so 
renders  us  no  assistance  in  any  determination  of  the  march  of  meteoro- 
logical phenomena. 

A  further  series  of  planimeter  measurements,  for  pressure  and  dry- 
aud  wet-bulb  temperature,  for  all  the  observatories  for  three  months  ia 
now  in  progress ;  and  if,  as  we  hope,  the  results  will  prove  as  satisfactory 
as  those  which  I  have  the  honour  to  submit  to  the  Society  on  the  pre- 
sent occasion,  it  would  appear  that  there  is  no  further  reason  why  plani- 
met«r  means  should  not  be  published  in  future  by  the  Office. 


Mr.  R.  H.  Scott  on  the 


Dute. 

Finit  Diy. 

Sec<.ndD.j. 

Third  Dv- 

SroaiaorFivcDiijr*. 

'i!Ss^ 

PUni- 

Diff,^ 

Tibuls- 
liot... 

Plmi- 
mrCcr. 

Difcr- 

"^^ 

S 

DIEfl 

1872. 

April  ...     1-  6. 

6M 

50-4 

+  1 

47-1 

47-6 

+■5 

41-3 

411 

+■4 

O-IO. 

43-2 

43-5 

+"3 

47-3 

47-5 

+  ■» 

523 

fi2S 

+•« 

IMS. 

53-3 

B3-2 

50-1 

56-4 

+■3 

511 

51-4 

+•3 

1(1-20. 

497 

W'O 

+  ■3 

45-7 

40-0 

+■3 

42-7 

430 

+■3 

2l-3i. 

43-5 

435 

47-4 

47-7 

+  ■3 

40'4 

49-2 

28-30. 

B3-3 

530 

+  "3 

57-5 

57-0 

+  ■■ 

51-6 

&2-0 

+■4 

Mbt    ...     1-  S- 

53-2 

529 

—  '3 

50-2 

503 

+■1 

54-8 

55-2 

+■4 

C-10. 

47tf 

483 

+■4 

604 

50-8 

+■+ 

47-3 

47-8 

+-S 

U-li. 

410 

410 

45'2 

45-3 

+-I 

47-0 

477 

+•1 

]l(.-3). 

530 

53-C 

48-9 

492 

■f  3 

42^) 

42-3 

+-J 

21-25. 

50-1 

50'2 

+■1 

491 

40-4 

+  'i 

50O 

501 

+  1 

20-30. 

M-1 

600 

61-3 

60-8 

—  S 

61-1 

61-3 

+  ■* 

31-4. 

530 

534 

+  "4 

fi3-4 

532 

.'i3-4 

53-C 

+  ■» 

Juno   ...    5-0. 

5(!'2 

60-3 

+  1 

545 

651 

+■6 

50-8 

50-8 

lo-U, 

&4-4 

54-7 

■f' 3 

54-0 

64-5 

567 

56-S 

+•1 

15-11). 

047 

640 

+■» 

08-7 

08-7 

71-4 

71-1 

20-at. 

04-3 

M8 

+-S 

61-7 

61-9 

+  -» 

59-a 

59^1 

+  ■3 

a-i-sj. 

01-9 

(Ki3 

+  "4 

57-3 

574 

+  1 

579 

57-0 

,    30-4. 

60-7 

flO-8 

+■1 

61-5 

61-7 

+-1 

624 

027 

+  J 

July   ...     5-  0. 

69-5 

69-8 

+■3 

67-7 

C8-0 

+■3 

70fl 

70-0 

mil. 

024 

62-6 

+  ■1 

G7-0 

07-0 

ft^-2 

051 

15- W. 

58-3 

58-4 

+■' 

02-1 

02-O 

59-3 

50^ 

+  1 

20-2*. 

r.7-2 

07-O 

72-4 

72-6 

+■» 

09-8 

09-9 

+  1 

25-L>). 

761 

75-9 

73-2 

73-2 

68-4 

OS'5 

+■' 

30-3. 

020 

022 

+  1 

57-0 

57-7 

+  ■' 

GO'8 

00'8 

August       4-  S. 

M-1 

.'ia-2 

+  ' 

n9-2 

501 

612 

01-3 

B-13. 

Ml-7 

.MI6 

62-1 

G21 

60-2 

004 

+■» 

14-IS. 

CO'O 

:Ai-o 

58-7 

i*-8 

+■■ 

fS-0 

(i2-9 

19-2ri. 

04-4   [  64tJ 

+  ■* 

6.-)0 

04-0 

675 

677 

+■» 

24-2S. 

61-4  I  ni-3 

04-8 

64-8 

61 -2 

fil-3 

-I--1 

a)- 3. 

OO'O 

001 

+  ■1 

M-r. 

:<8-7 

+  -1 

50-7 

5»17 

Rppl.  ...    3-  T. 

030 

08-11 

fW-3 

(W-4 

+  ■1 

(k>-4 

(»■.-. 

+"i 

8-12. 

tIO-4 

60-3 

Olfl 

fll-8 

+  1 

.->9-7 

59(i 

13-17. 

(W-3 

65-0 

^■3 

6:j-7 

63-7 

03-4 

037 

+■3 

18-22. 

673 

57-5 

+  ■3 

52-5 

:.2-7 

+  i 

407 

400 

+  ■» 

23-27. 

472 

47-5 

+  ■3 

47-8 

47-7 

Ot.    ...  28-  2. 

53-3 

030 

+  ■3 

51 '4 

51-3 

I»73. 

Jnn.    .„  31-  4. 

avo 

ar5 

+■5 

30-9 

313 

+■4 

29-8 

30-1 

+  ■3 

Fvb.    ...     r.-  !).  ;  33-2 

33-4 

+■» 

330 

331 

+  ■1 

37-0 

37-2 

+■> 

111-11.     a')-8 

359 

+■■ 

340 

339 

38-2 

38-4 

+  x 

l.Vli).  1  W'S 

40-9 

+■1 

38-9 

39'2 

+  ■3 

.■)5-2 

av5    1  -j-3 

L1I-21.     32-0 

32-2 

+  1 

309 

31-2 

+■3 

372 

37-3    '  +-I 

:i>-  I.     375 

374 

40-3 

4ti-j 

+  * 

40-3 

40-0    1  +-3 

March...    2-  li.  1  42-7 

42-9 

+  z 

429 

42  8 

49-0 

liO-O    \  +-1 

T-ll.     U-C, 

44-8 

+  ■» 

42-1 

422 

+  ■1 

44-9 

45'!)      -f-i 

]-2-hi  !  ;fii-3 

S!)-.-) 

+  1 

a->-5 

av8 

+  ■3 

347 

348       --I 

17-21.  1  41-3 

41-5 

+*» 

40-5 

4U'0 

+  ■1 

38il 

39H)      +-I 

:!2-2ii.  1  3.0-0 

39-7 

4-1 

43-0 

433 

+■3 

4,-.-4 

457      -I--J 

27-31.     44-4 

44-5 

+■' 

45-2 

45-5 

+  ■3 

4rl 

47-3      +-I 

+■!» 

ItanC 

e^KBi 

+  ■'4 

Uanr 

iflVp™*     +t4 

1874.] 


Meteorological  Uie  of  a  Planimeler. 


Fourth  Day. 

PiEUiD»y. 

Uemt  ot  the  Fi»e  Daja. 

T^i-^ 

PU»i- 

Diir™- 

TilmU- 

Pkni- 

Dilttr- 

TibnU- 

Photo. 

Pi^"^ 

PhoJ 

oSi'.. 

+TUm- 

+  Wr. 

ti^p-FU 

412 

41-4 

+■. 

44-3 

44-5 

+■» 

44-8 

46-1 

44-9 

+■3 

+  ■» 

48'2 

48-6 

49-5 

49-7 

+  ■1 

48'1 

48-4 

48-0 

+■3 

+■4 

50' 1 

50-2 

53-5 

53-6 

-+■■1 

52-8 

52  7 

62-9 

—  1 

41-1 

41-4 

+  3 

40-6 

40-7 

+'" 

43-9 

44-3 

440 

+  3 

+■1 

487 

487 

51-4 

010 

+■» 

48-0 

48-1 

47-7 

+■' 

+  4 

51  G 

514 

52-7 

53-0 

+  ■3 

53-3 

635 

530 

■f» 

53'2 

52-3 

+■■ 

51-1 

514 

+■3 

53-5 

536 

834 

+■> 

+  ■» 

47-8 

48-0 

+■» 

47-0 

474 

+  4 

4S-1 

46'5 

47-9 

+  4 

+  ■6 

490 

50-1 

+■» 

506 

504 

46'9 

469 

47-0 

44-4 

44-G 

+■» 

47-6 

475 

473 

47-4 

473 

+  ■1 

+  ■1 

f>l-7 

51-8 

53-2 

63-1 

50-8 

60-9 

60-8 

+  ' 

+■' 

61)'l 

50-2 

+■"  • 

58-0 

585 

4--5 

69-1 

604) 

69-1 

640 

543 

+  ■3 

53-2 

633 

+■1 

534 

53-5 

537 

+■' 

63-3 

r,s-3 

641 

54-4 

+■3 

53'8 

54-0 

639 

+■1 

fil'8 

82-0 

+  1 

623 

634 

+■» 

58-0 

58-1 

67'8 

+  ■1 

+■3 

70-7 

70-1} 

67-8 

681 

+'3 

087 

087 

68-fl 

S07 

GO-6 

Ofl-4 

666 

+■' 

63-6 

627 

02-5 

+■' 

61-6 

61  9 

+  ■3 

58-7 

58'« 

+■1 

59-5 

597 

59-5 

+  ■1 

625 

G2'U 

+  1 

86-9 

658 

02C 

027 

62-6 

+  't 

C3fl 

C2-2 

+■» 

61-0 

61 '2 

+  ■» 

06-0 

86-3 

66-3 

+  •3 

50-4 

60-5 

+■■ 

5»-l 

69-1 

02-6 

627 

62-7 

+■> 

Gl-0 

fll-2 

+  ■» 

«3 

64'3 

010 

61-0 

61-2 

B8-3 

684 

+  ■» 

70-9 

711 

+  i 

697 

69-8 

69'8 

+  1 

fMl-6 

OGD 

+  3 

68-1 

664 

+  ■3 

70-1 

70'2 

70-2 

+  ■1 

57-9 

58-0 

+■' 

58'5 

58-5 

59-3 

594 

69-3 

+  ■1 

+  ■1 

SI -3 

61-0 

•f'3 

aa-8 

59-6 

59fl 

80-0 

600 

+  ■" 

60-0 

59-1 

+■' 

577 

677 

59-7 

60-8 

697 

+  ■1 

+■- 

GOO 

fiG-1 

+  ■> 

654 

05'5 

+  ■' 

024 

62'6 

624 

+  ■1 

+  ■1 

65-6      CJ'7 

+  ■1 

63-7 

OS'S 

+;' 

063 

05'1 

65-3 

57-2   1  ft7-4 

+  1 

68-3 

58-1 

60-6 

00-6 

60-6 

+  ' 

56-9 

56-5 

-4 

B6-2 

659 

80-7 

59-6 

69-8 

63'3 

(B-4 

+  ■> 

63-0 

62-8 

657 

65-7 

60-6 

■f  1 

6(J'4 

664 

65-0 

654 

+  4 

62-6 

627 

628 

S7-1 

57-3 

+■» 

013 

60-9 

62-2 

63'1 

633 

43'D 

439 

44-0 

65-8 

44-0 

560 

+■» 

48-8 

49-0 

49-3 

+•1 

-"3 

54'8 

5fri 

+■3 

68' 1 

68-2 

+■' 

33-2 

33-3 

+  ■1 

36-G 

357 

4--1 

329 

332 

33-3 

+  ■3 

o 

35-5 

36-n 

+'S 

347 

34-9 

+  ■» 

347 

34fl 

349 

+  ■» 

37-7 

37-y 

+  ■» 

40-2 

40'3 

+■' 

37-2 

373 

37-0 

+  1 

+  ■3 

338 

+■1 

336 

33-9 

+  "3 

364 

367 

36-3 

+  ■1 

+■4 

35-fi 

35-9 

+■] 

28-9 

29'3 

+  ■4 

32-0 

33-2 

33-8 

+  '3 

+4 

34-7 

348 

+*' 

39-8 

397 

39-7 

39-8 

39-8 

+  1 

4S-3 

45-6 

+  '3 

4fr6 

40-8 

+  -a 

44-3 

444 

44-3 

+  ■1 

3B-8 

40-1 

+  ■3 

40-3 

40-6 

+  ■3 

42-3 

426 

42'2 

+  ■1 

+■3 

386 

386 

38-0 

38-9 

374 

375 

374 

+■> 

+■" 

30'9 

40-2 

+  '3 

369 

36-9 

39-5 

397 

39-3 

+  ■» 

+4 

45-3 

46  ■« 

+■3 

440 

46-3 

+'4 

43-0 

438 

437 

+■» 

+■> 

505 

5<W 

f 

49-0 

49-2 

+■» 

473 

474 

47-3 

+  ■1 

-f-i 

)fMPl>iSa>iiM 

+  1* 

II«E 

•»kr«M 

+■" 

Hon 

Diftm 

+  " 

+  09 

440  Magnetic  Ob^ervalinns  at  Zi-Ka-Wei.  [June  1* 

XVIII.  "  Magnetic  Observations  at  Zi-Ka-Wei."  By  M.  Dechev 
RENa,  Director  of  the  Obseiratoiy.  Communicated  by  th 
RcT.  S.  J.  Peerv,  F.R.S.     Received  Jane  15,  1874. 


Mi  deab  .Sib, — I  enclose  a  report  of  aome  magnetic  observatioDs  mad' 
at  the  New  Observatory  of  Zi-Ka-Wei  with  instrumenta  which  I  sen 
from  England  some  time  sinc^.  A  complete  set  of  self-recording  mag 
netograpbs  have  just  been  completed  for  the  wime  observatory  by  Ml 
Adie,  and  will  be  forwarded  to  their  destination  this  week.  The  Direeto 
of  the  Observatory  of  Zi-Ka-Wei,  as  well  as  his  first  assistant,  have  botl 
received  full  instructions  in  the  use  of  these  instruments,  so  we  may  rea 
eonably  hope  that  the  science  of  terrestrial  inftgnetism  will  be  mucl 
advanced  by  the  foundation  of  this  new  establishment. 

Tours  sincerely, 

S.  J.  Pkbrt. 

O.  a.  Stokfi,  Esq.,  See.R.S. 

Premiers  resultats  roneernaiit  la  Variation  diume  de  la  DAi'linaison 

k  Zi-Ka-Wei  (Chine). 

Observations  faites  le  23-24  et  le  29  Mars,  1874,  le  6  et  le 

12  Avril,  1874. 


DktM. 

Point 

d,d.V.rt. 

M 

1.^. 

»• 

xi^u.. 

Voi 

U-^U 

A«,p.Ut. 

h,urr 

D*din. 

h..„ 

DMin. 

btor. 

-"■ 

hence 

D&liB. 

)SMr.ia 

""J?, 

i  li  M 

",;"■ 

!si  in 

-;'■ 

teiwiB 

fi.M 

l^i-i-n 

fsi^i-a. 

H^      - 

« 

,.,..,. 

,. 

,.„.,. 

' 

IHll-TS 

' 

1  so  *e■^9 

1  £3  33-3 

<  «-m    s 

llril  < 

s 

1  fil  M'S 

9 

I  49  19-3 

3 

IHSOfl 

fi-« 

]M3£« 

iMM-ia 

B-3       9 

6.« 

162  27, 

s..n 

"■•■' 

' 

5.« 

idosi-s 

IBIWW 

S.40-3       fi 

[The  above  Table  is  acrompanied  by  a  figure  with  the  resulta  pro 
jeeted,  and  is  foUowed  by  a  magnetic  bulletin  for  March  1874,  froi 
which  the  following  mean  results  are  extracted  : — 

Declination     1°  53'  59"-8  W. 

Vertical  intensity 7'22996 

Indination 4fi'^  13'  13"-7 

Horizontal  intensity 6'92833 

Total  intensity ]0-0ia7 

G.  a.  S.J 


1874.] 


Mr.  W.  Galloway  on  Sqfetj/-Lamp». 


441 

XIX.  "Experimenta  with  Safety-Lamps."  By  William  Galloway, 
Inspector  of  Mines.  Communicated  by  R.  H.  Scott,  F.R.S. 
Received  May  4,  IS74. 

MtBT  the  occurrence  of  a  great  colliery-explosion  It  b  asnally  rery 
difGcult,  and  BometimeB  impossible,  to  arrive  at  a  satisfactory  conclusion 
as  to  what  wRre  the  causes  which  probably  led  to  the  catastrophe,  and 
when  safety-lamps  have  been  exclusively  used  by  the  workmen  its  origin 
seems  to  be  shrouded  in  mystery.  The  explosions  which  happened  at 
Bisca,  Morfo,  Cethin,  High  Brooks,  and  Pelton  Collieries  between  the 
Ist  of  March,  1860,  and  the  Slat  of  October,  1866,  appeared  to  be  alto- 
gether inexplicable  ;  and,  in  the  last  t\i-o  cases,  when  all  the  safety-lampa 
were  found  lacked  after  the  accident,  no  attempts  were  made  to  explain 
the  phenomena. 

On  the  12th  of  December,  1866,  however,  the  great  explosion  took 
place  at  the  Oaks-  Colliery,  and  fortunately  several  of  the  men  who 
survived  could  give  an  account  of  some  of  the  circumstances  which 
immediately  preceded  it.  A  atone  drift  had  been  cut  from  near  the 
bottom  of  the  downcast-shafts  to  within  a  few  feet  of  one  of  the  intake- 
airways,  and  shori^Iy  before  the  accident  a  shot-hole  was  drilled  at  its 
inner  end,  and  chared  with  a  considerable  quantity*  of  gunpowder;  the 
men  who  were  about  the  pit-bottom  were  warned  into  a  sheltered  place ; 
the  shot  was  fired,  and  in  a  few  seconds  afterwards  the  shock  of  the 
explosion  was  felt.  It  was  ascertained  subsequently  that  a  part  of  the 
rock  at  the  bottom  of  the  shot-hole  had  been  blown  into  the  intake-airway, 
leaving  the  tamping  intact,  so  that  the  concussion  of  the  air  would  be 
almost  as  great  as  if  the  tamping  alone  had  been  blown  out. 

A  coincidence  so  remarkable  as  this  attracted  considerable  attention, 
and  after  every  great  explosion  which  has  happened  since  the  Oaks'  a 
search  has  evidently  been  made  for  some  evidence  of  recent  shot^firing. 
The  followiog  Table  will  give  on  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  the  important 
explosions  which  have  happened  within  recent  years,  and  of  some  of  the 
circumstances  under  which  they  occurred. 

Synopsis  of  great  explosions  since  1860. 


Diileor 

Etplosion. 

Name  of 
CoUieij. 

Nurobrt 
of  men 
killed. 

Bemwki 

ISflO. 

76 
142 

47 

26 

dent  ventilation. 
TStked  lighta  snd  nfety-lnmpe.    Ou 
from  the  goavoi  oame  apon  the  naked 
ligbte. 

1862. 

Mr,  W.  Galloway  on  Safity-Ltmja. 


[Jane] 


Date  of 

Ntmeot 

Hutnb«r 
of  men 
killed. 

CoUiery. 

Bemar 

1663. 

October  17 

1865. 

30 

Safetr-Iampe ;  all  wer«  found  in  goo 

June  16 

Bedireltr   

26 

D«Mnibar20.. 

Cothin    

34 

1866. 

OD.    Cause  unknown. 

jBniuT7  23   ., 

Eigb  Brook) 

30 

Looked  wfety-Urape;  aU  were  foun. 
looked.   Cause  unknown. 

June  14 

Dukinfleld 

38 

Naked  lighta  and  aafety-Iampe.    Defl 

Octob«r21 

Felton    

24 

cient  Tenlilation. 
Locked  mfety-Umpe ;  all  wore  fount 
lockediiOiot-Bruig  corned  on.  Cauai 

December  12.. 

Oak.  

334 

Safety-lamps.  A  heSTily  diarged  sho 
was  inA  in  pure  air  ■  few  Moondi 

IWko'tfHiU.. 

01 

Safe^-lanipa  ;    Bhot-Oring  carried  on 

1867. 

Augu»t20 

OanwoodPark.. 

14 

8afety-larop«.  A  .hot  had  Uown  out 
the  tamping. 

Femdale    

178 

Safety-lamp*  ;    .hot-firing  carried  on 

Two  dirtinct  eiplodona  took  pLu< 

eating  only  by  two   paamgea.  and 

1868. 

November  25.. 

Hindlej  Greet. .. 

C2 

Safety-lamps.     A  shot  bad  blown  out 

tlie  lamping. 

Haydock    

26 

Safety.lampB.     A  shot  had  blown  out 

lesQ. 

the  tamping. 

April  1 

ITighBrooka 

37 

Bafely-larnpe.    A  Aot  bad  blown  out 

the  tamping. 

June  10 

Ferndolo    

63 

59 

Caiue  unknown. 

Julj21 

Ilnjdock    

Sftfelylanips?  An  empty  shot-hole  was 
found  from  which  it  wm  supposed 

the  tamping  had  been  blown;   two 

or  more  explosion,  took  place  siroul- 

tanpously  in  distant  partsof  the  mine. 

NoremberlS,, 

Low  Hall  

27 

SafetT-kmns.     A  shot  had  blown  out 

the  tamping;  there  appew  1«  haT< 

1      been  two  Hmultaneom  and  *ery  Tio- 

1870. 

lenteiploeionB. 

Febriurj4   .. 

0    1  Safety-lamps?    A  shot  bud  Mown  out 

1      the  lamping. 

Febriu»Tl4.. 

Morfa 

30    1  Giu  from  a  hirred-off  eoaf  iiinit«d  at  ■ 

10    1  Lamm?   Cause  unknown. 
1»    i  Naked  lialilH. 

Ju1t7    

SilTcrdal?  . 

July  23 

Cliai-leaPit   

Au«™tl9 

BiynnHaU   

20      Safety-la.npe?    A  abot  had  blown  ont 

1871. 

the  tamping. 

Jsnuarj  10   ... 

26 

Safety-lamps.  AshotwanAred  with  an 
plosion.  ? 

F.b™»i7  2    ... 

38 

Locked  safclT-lampe ;  shot-Bring  carried 
on.     A  blower  is  euppoacd  to  hare 

made  the  return  air  so  eiplosiro  that 

it  ignited  at  the  tentilating-fumsce. 

M»rch2 

Victoria  Pit, 

19      Qao  in  a  xt^ill  worked  with"  a  aifety 

1      lamp :  it  is  asuumed  tbat  a  naked 

light  was  rarried  into  it. 

1874.] 


Mr.  W.  Galloway  on  Sqfisly-Lampi. 


Bite  of 

M>me  of 
Colliery. 

Number 

of  men 
kiUed. 

Bemarki. 

1871. 

October  25 

1872. 
February  11  ., 
March  &  

October  7 

70 
26 

n 

27 

Safctj-l&mps.  An  empty  ghot-holedie- 
coTercd  after  the  pits  were  reopened. 
Csme  unkuoim. 

S<Jetj.l»nips.  Aihotwaeflredinpiire 
■ir:  one  eiploeion  of  flredunp  wu 
aimultaneouswith  the  Bhot;  another 
followed  after  a  short  intarral  ? 

Safetj-Umpa.    A  xhot  wiu  fired. 

Sofely-lainpl  f  A  abot  had  blown  out 
the  tamping. 

CauM  unknown. 

LoTer'eUne 

Uorlef  Mnin 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  data  given  ^xive  that  shot-liriag  was  carried 
oa  in  17  o£  the  22  coliieries  at  which  important  eiplosions  took  place 
aft«r  the  12th  of  December,  1866;  safety-lamps  were  certainly  used  in 
12,  and  probably  also  in  the  5  which  are  marked  doubtful ;  in  8  cases  it 
was  ascertained  that  a  shot  had  blown  out  the  tamping  at  or  about  the 
time  of  the  explosion ;  in  2  an  empty  shot^hole  was  found,  from  which  the 
tamping  is  supposed  to  have  been  blown ;  and  in  3  r  shot  had  been  fired 
bringing  down  the  coal  or  rock;  finally,  at  Bisca,  Temdale  (1867),  Hay- 
dock  (1869),  Low  Hall,  Benishaw  Park,  and  Seaham,  two  or  more  explo- 
sions appear  to  have  taken  place  simultaneously  in  different  partrs  of  the 
mine  unconnected  by  a  train  of  explosive  gas.  The  Seaham  explosion  is 
a  remarkable  one  :  a  heavily  charged  shot  was  fired  in  pure  air  in  one  of 
the  intake-aircourses,  and,  according  to  the  statement  of  three  men  who 
survived,  the  explosion  of  firedamp  followed  the  shot  immediately  ;  one 
of  the  men  further  asserted  that,  in  several  minutes  more,  he  heard  the 
distinct  report  of  another  explosion. 

Two  methods  of  accounting  for  the  simultaneousness  of  the  explosion 
of  firedamp  with  the  firing  of  the  shot  have  been  snggested  in  the 
Keports  of  the  Inspectors  of  Mines :  one  of  them  supposes  that  the  fire- 
damp is  ignit«d  directly  by  the  shot ;  the  other,  that  the  concussion  of 
the  air  caused  by  the  explosion  of  gunpowder  dislodges  gas  from  cavities 
in  the  roof  and  from  goaves,  and  that  this  gas,  passing  along  in  the  air- 
currents,  is  ignit«d  at  the  lamps  of  the  workmen.  In  some  instances, 
when  it  has  been  known  to  be  highly  improbable  that  uiy  gas  existed 
nearer  to  the  shot-hole  than  10,  20,  or  even  40  feet,  the  advocates  of  the 
former  hypothesis  have  taken  it  for  granted  that  the  gases  issuing  from 
the  shot-hole  were  projected  through  the  air  as  far  as  the  accumulation  of 
firedamp,  retaining  a  sufficiently  Idgh  temperature  to  ignite  it  on  their 
arrival.  On  the  other  hand,  the  advocates  of  the  latter  hypothesis  have 
not  attempted  to  show  how  the  gas,  which  they  assumed  could  be  ^s- 
lodged  in  quantity  by  a  sound-wave  and  its  refiections,  could  be  ignited 


444  Mr.  W.  Galloway  on  Safety-Lamps.  [June  ISn 

in  those  caaes  in  which  safety-laraps  only  were  used.     It  is  no  dou 
highly  probable,  however,  that  when  once  an  exptoaion  of  firedamp  h 
been  initiated  in  one  way  or  another,  and  large  bodies  of  air  ore  driveat>'| 
through  the  passages  of  a  mine  with  great  velixrity,  explosive  accumula- 
tions will  be  dislodged  from  cavities  and  goavea,  and  pressed  through  t^ 
Bafety-lamps  with  the  velocity  requisite  U>  pass  the  flame. 

In  the  beginning  of  ihe  year  1872,  when  I  was  giving  attention  to  thia 
Buhject,  it  appeared  to  me  to  be  probable  that  the  sound-wave  originftted 
by  a  b!own-out  shot,  in  passing  through  a  safety-lamp  burning  in  an 
explosive  mixture,  viould  carry  the  flame  through  the  roesiiiia  of  the  wire 
gauze,  in  virtue  of  the  vibration  of  the  molecules  of  the  explosive  gas. 
It  had  long  been  known*,  indeed,  that  if  an  explosive  current  w 
to  impinge  upon  a  lighted  aafety-lamp  in  ft  direction  perpendicular  to  its  J 
axis,  and  with  a  velocity  of  8  to  14  feet  per  sei-ond,  the  flame  would  p 
through  the  meahcs  after  a  abort  tiuie,  and  ignit«  the  explosive  mixtui 
on  the  outside ;  but  it  does  not  seem  to  have  been  suspected  that  t 
same  result  might  be  produced  by  the  passage  of  an  iulense  eound-v 
through  a  safetv-lnmp  burning  quietly  in  an  explosive  mixture. 
explosion  at  Cothin  Colliery  in  1865  is  a  good  example  of  one  that  n 
have  be<'n  caused  iu  this  way,  by  the  firing  of  a  shot.  Several  days  aft*a^  1 
the  explosion  the  safety-lamp  of  the  overman  was  found,  securely  locked 
and  uninjured,  lying  at  the  distance  of  a  few  yards,  within  an  abandoned 
stall  which  was  known  to  ha\'e  contained  firedamp :  shot^firing  was 
carried  on  in  this  mine,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  a  sound-wave  from 
an  overcharged  or  blown-out  shot  had  passed  through  this  lamp  and 
ignited  the  explosive  mixture  shortly  after  the  overman  bad  ent«red  it : 
moreover  the  Inspector  of  Mines  says  t  he  has  no  hesitation  in  stating 
that,  in  his  opinion,  the  gas  in  this  stall  had  been  ignited,  and  was  there- 
tore  the  o'rigin  of  the  explosion  ;  but  he  is  unable  to  state  by  what  means 
it  was  fired. 

It  is  certain  that,  in  every  fiery  mine,  safety-lamps  are  placed  in  an 
explosive  mixture  from  time  to  time,  either  by  accident  (as  when  men 
retire  hurriedly,  perhaps  into  disused  places,  after  the  fuse  of  a  shot  has 
been  ignited)  or  by  design  to  test  Ihe  quality  of  the  air,  as  the  overman 
at  Cethin  Colliery  may  have  been  doing ;  and  it  is  equally  certain  that 
shots  are  fired,  occasionally,  «hieh  blow  out  the  tamping  and  cause  a 
violent  concusaion  of  the  air.  if,  therefore,  the  explanation  which  is 
brought  forward  in  this  paper  to  account  for  the  relation  between  explo- 
sions and  shot-firing  be  the  true  one,  then  the  question  as  to  how  often 
explosions  of  this  kind  are  likely  to  occur  would  resolve  itself  into  one  of 
probability  as  to  how  often  an  ordinary  Davy  or  Clanny  lamp,  burning  in 
an  explosive  mixture,  would  be  traversed  by  a  sound-wave  of  a  certain 
amphtude  of  vibration. 

*  TransactionB  of  Korth  of  England  Instiliitp  or  Mining  Engincem,  voU.  i.  &.  x*ij, 

t  Kuporis  of  \Yk  Impectore  of  Mince,  1W5,  r-  '  If^- 


1874.]  MT.yf,0&aovB.y  on  Sqfetp-Lampt.  415 

Od  the  16th  of  Januuy,  1872, 1  made  the  first  experimmt  in  oonnezion 
with  this  subject  in  the  Fhysicftl  Laboratory  of  TJniTernty  College,  London : 
Profeesor  G.  C.  Foster  waa  present  and  co-operated  with  me.  A  sheet 
of  wire  gauee,  1  foot  square,  woa  inclined  at  an  angle  of  70°,  and  a  slow 
current  of  gas  and  air  from  a  Bunsen  burner  was  directed  against  its 
under  surface.  Fart  of  the  explosive  mixture  thus  formed  passed  tJirough 
the  meshes,  and,  when  ignited,  produced  a  fiat  fiame  on  the  upper  surface 
3  in.  long  by  1  in.  wide,  and  symmotricaDy  situated  in  regard  to  the 
sides  of  the  sheet.  A  glass  tube,  3  ft.  4  in.  long  by  3 j  in.  diamet«r,  was 
placed  with  one  end  at  a  distance  of  1;^  in.  irom  the  upper  sur£ace, 
of  the  Hheet  of  wire  gauze;  its  ans  was  horizontal,  passed  through 
the  middle  point  of  the  fiat  flame,  and  was  at  right  angles  to  the 
line  of  intersection  of  a  horizontal  plane  with  the  sheet.  At  the  end  of 
the  tube  furthest  from  the  wire  gauze,  a  vessel,  3^  in.  diameter,  containing 
a  solution  of  soap  in  water  was  placed  i  the  point  at  which  the  axis  of 
the  tube  cut  the  perpendicular  from  the  centre  of  the  liquid  was  2^  in, 
from  the  end  of  the  tube,  and  at  the  same  distance  above  the  surface  of 
the  liquid.  An  explosive  mixture  of  coal-gas  and  oxygen  was  forced 
into  the  solution  of  soap  until  bubbles  contaiuing  about  2  cub.  inches 
had  formed  on  the  surface.  A  light  was  then  applied  to  the  gas 
at  the  upper  surface  of  the  wire  gauze,  and  immediately  afterwards 
to  the  bubbles ;  and  after  the  explosion  it  was  found  that  the  flame  had 
vanished  from  the  upper  surface,  and  that  the  gas  issuing  from  the 
Bunsen  burner  was  on  fire. 

In  December  1872, 1  made  a  number  of  experiments  similar  to  the 
foregoing  in  the  Laboratory  of  the  Boyal  College  of  Chemistry,  when  I 
was  much  indebted  to  Dr.  Frankland  for  his  valuable  suggestions.  The 
glass  tube  of  the  first  experiment  was  replaced  by  two  tin-plate  tubes, 
each  2  in.  diameter  (one  10  ft.  11  in.,  the  other  9  ft.  7  in.  loiig) ;  they 
were  joined  to  form  a  continuous  tube  20  ft.  6  in.  long.  The  vessel 
containing  the  solution  of  soap  was  small  enough  to  be  placed  just  inside 
of  one  end  of  the  tube,  and  the  sheet  of  wire  gauze  was  at  a  distance  of 
1  in.  from  the  other  end.  The  same  explosive  mixtures  were  again 
employed,  and  the  same  result  was  obtained  as  before.  A  diaphragm, 
consisting  of  four  sheets  of  brown  paper  of  ordinary  thickness,  was  now 
inserted  at  the  junction  of  the  two  tubes ;  the  centre  of  the  diaphragm 
was  bulged  to  a  distance  of  about  half  an  inch  towards  the  origin  of  dis- 
turbance. Aft«r  the  passage  of  the  sound-wave,  it  was  found  that  the 
flame  bad  shifted  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  wire  gauze,  and  the  dia- 
phragm was  bulged  to  about  the  same  extent,  but  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion. A  quantity  of  loose  cotton-wool,  aufHcient  to  fill  the  end  of  the 
tube  completely  for  a  length  of  three  inches,  was  then  pushed  into 
the  end  of  the  one  furthest  from  the  wire  gauze,  at  its  junction  with 
the  other.  After  the  sound-wave  had  passed,  the  flame  was  again 
found  to  have  removed  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  wire  gauze,  and  the 


.Irau 


\illi  a  iietw()rk  of   ^ 

OV.T    tlu'    f;l^h'uill! 


I  lubnl. 
ill.  Ifiu 


lill     lllL' 


Till'  piirl  of  tlie  n])])!iratus  whifh  is  surmoi 
the  foilawing  cODBtructioa  : — A  round  shi 
meter,  rests  on  four  Bhort  lega ;  above  this, 
chnmher./.  fanned  of  two  concentric  tubu 
ita  eitcrior  Jiameter  is  2|  in.,  its  interior 
top  ring  there  are  twenty-four  email  equid 
drele  of  2  in,  diameter.    The  Bcrew  which  i 
wire  gauze  u  carried  upon  projections  inwi 
of  the  chamber  /.    The  wire  gause  of  an 
betn-een  two  rings  in  the  nsnal  manner,  inch 
gas-jot  oocujiies  the  position  of  the  nick  in 
into  its  place  above  the  chamber  /;  the  th 
upper  and  lower  rings  are  omitted  in  the  fig 
the  plate  ;/,  carries  a  short  narrow  plate  at 
the  tube  h  ^^'hich  rests  on  it ;  there  is  a  strip 
on  eikch  sidi)  of  this  support,  to  prevent  it 
rplalivelj  to  the  lamp.    The  part  of  the  ti 
gauEo  is  cut  out,  so  ae  to  leave  a  clear  space  < 
the  paswige  of  the  explosive  mixture.     The 
chamber  /,  aad  the  pipe  k  supplies  the  jet  in  1 
the  i^iiaotitv  is  regulated  by  screw-clips  on  tl 
The  experiment  b  made  in  the  following  \( 
barrel  is  ^  Id.  bore  and  6  in.  long,  is  loaded 
powder,  and  several  pieces  of  paper  are  ra 
■  chargo ;  the  firing  is  done  by  a  cap.     The  gas 
iighttxl  anil  the  wire  gauze  screwed  ■"<■"  ••■ 


;  'i^-  --pie,-  ^ 


t  >l 


l> 


*  ■! 

■  ■! 


.  ( 


'l| 


/ 


V^V^  ^^H         -.-a^.-U^^H^ai^ 


i^  %  Sac.  VolJOai  PL  Til 


i^^gSB»pB.^M«ggg 


Il 


ll 


1874.]  Mr.  W.  Galloway  on  Safety-Lampt.  4A7 

oa  the  outside  oE  the  lamp*.  If  the  charge  of  gunpowder  be  increased 
to  '272  gramme,  or  be  decreased  to  '136  gramme,  the  experiment  does 
not  succeed ;  and  if  the  wire  gauze  has  become  smoked  by  the  flame  of 
the  inner  jet  being  too  large,  the  flame  cannot  be  passed  through. 

In  the  apparatus  represented  in  fig.  2,  there  are  again  two  tin-plate 
tubes,  each  10  ft,  long  by  8  in.  diameter,  but  they  are  joined  to  form  one 
continuous  tube  20  feet  long.  At  the  end  o  there  is  a  disk  of  wood, 
I  in.  thick,  with  a  hole  in  the  centre  for  the  mussle  of  the  pistol.  The 
tube  h  (figs.  2  &  3),  of  tin  plate,  12  in.  long,  has  its  interior  isolated  by 
an  india-rubber  sheet  tied  over  the  end  e,  and  a  sheet  of  paper  tied  over 
the  end  h.  A  ring,  with  a  network  of  wires  ^  in.  thick,  and  with  meshes 
\  in.  square,  is  drawn  over  the  diaphragm  in  the  same  way  as  in  the 
apparatus  already  described.  Two  short  tubes,  of  6  in.  diameter,  ore 
joined  to  fi  to  form  a  chamber  lai^e  enough  to  receive  a  safety-lamp ; 
they  are  closed  by  flat  ends,  with  the  exception  o£  a  hole  3  in.  diameter 
in  the  upper  one,  opening  into  a  chimney  e,  and  an  opening  of  2  in. 
diameter  into  the  tube  /in  the  lower  one.  The  upper  end  of  the  tube 
/  opens  into  a  flat  round  chamber,  with  holes  \  in.  diameter  and  j  in.  apart 
round  about  its  outside ;  it«  position  is  indicated  by  the  dotted  line  in 
fig.  3.  At  the  top  of  the  chimney  e  there  is  a  draught  regulator,  g, 
which  can  be  raised  or  lowered  by  means  of  the  screwed  spindle  which 
supports  it.  The  safety-lamp  to  be  tested  is  placed  on  the  discoid 
chnmber,  with  its  top  projecting  into  the  chimney  if  it  is  so  long.  Gas 
is  supplied  by  a  Bunsen  burner  at  the  bottom  of  the  tube  /,  and,  mixing 
with  air,  it  flows  upn'ards  through  the  discoid  chamber  into  the  isolated 
space  around  the  lamp.  The  products  of  combustion  pass  upwards 
through  the  chimney. 

The  experiment  is  mode  thus  : — ^The  pistol  is  loaded  with  '41  grommet 
of  gunpowder  in  the  same  way  as  before :  an  ordinary  Davy  or  Clonny 
lamp  is  lighted  and  put  into  the  space  d,  which  is  afterwards  closed  at 
the  ends.  Gas  is  then  made  to  flow  into  the  tube  /;  the  lamp  is  observed 
through  the  window  h,  and  as  soon  as  it  is  seen  that  the  atmosphere  in  the 
space  (/is  explosive,  the  shot  is  fired  at  o.  The  paper  at  it  is  blown  out  and 
set  on  fire ;  and  the  flame  of  the  explosive  mixture,  passing  backn-ards 
down  the  tube/,  ignites  the  gas  escaping  from  the  Bunsen  burner. 

The  lamps  which  were  tested  with  this  apparatus  are  those  known  as 
the  Davy,  Ganny,  (Stephenson,  Mueseler,  and  Eloin.  The  fiame  was 
easily  passed  through  the  Davy  lamp,  with  rather  more  difficulty  through 
the  Clanny,  and  not  at  all  through  any  of  the  others. 

The  first  experiments  with  firedamp  were  made  in  No.  7  Pit,  Barleith, 
near  Glasgow.    A  wooden  plug,  with  a  small  pipe  through  it,  was  driven 

*  ThiH  experiment  wu  ahoWD  bj  Mr.  Spottisvoode  at  tlie  Bojal  iDstitution  on  fiw 
evening  of  the  17Ui  of  Januu^,  I6TS,  with  the  apparahu  I  bare  deacribed.  The  aame 
apperatuB  na  sflerwardi  oaed  at  on«  of  the  Cantor  LeetnrM  of  the  Societj  of  Arts. 

t  If  the  charge  be  in*de  greater  or  lea»  than  thia  b^  -15  gramme  Vbe  experiment 
doe*  not  u«uallj  succeed. 


448  Mr.  W.  ti&Uoway  on  Safely'Lampa.  [Juue  18, 

into  a  horiEoutal  borehole  which  had  struck  a  blower,  and  the  firedamp 
was  conducted  in  tubes  to  a  colkctiag  vessel  at  a  short  distAnce.  I  soon 
found  that  this  firedamp  was  very  impure,  as  a  mixture  of  one  part  of  it 
with  thirteen  parts  of  nir  was  not  explosive  ;  however,  I  made  a  number 
of  eiperiments  in  the  mine  with  both  set-s  of  apparatus  (tigs.  1  &  2, 
Plate  VI.),  but  did  not  succeed  in  passing  the  flame,  except  perhaps  in  one 
doubtful  instance  with  the  larger  apparatus,  when  the  gaa  issuing  froni 
the  Bunsen  burner  was  not  set  on  fire. 

l^he  nest  experiments  with  firedamp  were  made  in  the  C  Pit.  Hebbom 
Colliery,  near  Newcastle-on-Tyne.  The  gas,  which  issued  Erom  a  bore- 
hole similar  to  that  in  the  Borleith  Pit,  va&  coIlect«d  in  the  same  way, 
and  conveyed  in  the  collecting  vessel  to  a  convenient  place  near  tlie 
etablea,  where  naked  lights  could  bo  used.  The  experiments  with  both 
sets  of  apparatus  were  quite  successful,  the  quantity  of  gunpowder 
required  being,  in  each  case,  the  same  as  when  coal-gas  was  used.  The 
Davy  lamp  employed  in  the  experiments  with  the  larger  apparatus 
belonged  to  the  colliery,  and  was  in  constant  use  below  ground.  At  the 
fifth  trial  (when  I  had  ascertained  the  quantity  of  gunpowder  required) 
the  flame  passed  through  the  wire  gauze,  set  fire  to  the  paper  tied  over 
the  end  k,  and  passing  backwards  down  the  tube  /,  kindled  the  ga« 
iasuiug  from  the  Bunsen  burner.  My  brother,  Mr.  B.  L.  Galloway,  who 
was  the  resident  viewer  of  the  colliery  at  that  time,  waa  observing  the 
lamp  through  the  window  A  when  the  shot  by  which  the  flame  waa 
passed  was  fired.  The  flame  of  the  wick,  which  was  of  ordinary  dimen- 
sions before  it  waa  surrounded  by  the  explosive  mixture,  had  sent  up  a 
long  smoky  point  to  near  the  top  of  the  gauze,  which  showed  that  the 
explosive  mixture  was  composed  of  about  1  part  of  firedamp  to  12  or  13 
parts  of  air.  The  lamp  was  carefully  examined  after  the  trial,  tmd  was 
found  to  be  in  good  order. 

The  Directors  of  the  Company  to  whom  the  colliery  belongs  were  un- 
willing to  allow  any  further  experiments  to  be  made  in  the  mine,  so  that 
this  series  had  to  he  abandoned  before  any  more  results  had  been  obtained. 

Following  are  the  analyses  of  the  firedamp  used  in  the  foregoing 
experiments.  The  sample  of  gaa  from  the  Barleith  blower  was  collected 
by  myself  at  the  time  the  experiments  were  being  made,  and  analyzed  by 
Dr.  T.  E.  Thorpe,  of  Glasgow;  that  from  the  Hebbum  blower  waa 
collected  by  my  brother  several  weeks  before  the  experiments,  and  woe 
aualyEed  by  Dr.  Wright,  of  St.  Mary's  Hospital,  London. 

Barleith.  Hebbum. 

Light  carburetted  hydrogen 7586  85-22 

Carbonic  add 1-31  3-27 

Olefiant  gas    traces 

Carbonic  oxide    1-36 

Oxygen    2-17 1,.-, 

22-83  7-98j^^^ 

100-00  100-00 


1871.]  Mr.  W.  Galloway  m  8afety-Langu.  449 

The  next  experiments  were  oa  a  larger  scale.  Through  the  kindaess 
of  Mr.  Carrick,  the  City  Architect  of  Glasgow,  part  of  a  new  sewer  in 
North  Woodside  Bead  was  placed  at  my  disposal ;  and  Mr.  Foulis,  the 
manager  of  the  Corporation  Gas-Works,  caused  a  pipe  to  be  led  into  it, 
and  provided  a  liberal  supply  of  gas.  Figs.  4,  6,  &  6,  Plate  YII.,  are 
sections  of  the  part  of  the  sewer  ia  which  the  eitperiments  were  made ; 
fig.  4  is  a  plaa  section  through  the  widest  part,  fig.  6  is  a  vertical  cross 
section  showing  the  dimensions  of  the  sewer  (0  ft.  x  4  ft.  are  the  greatest 
measurements),  and  fig.  6  is  a  vertical  longitudinal  section  through  the 
highest  part.  Part  of  the  sewer  is  a  tunnel  in  solid  rock  (the  diagonal 
shading  in  fig.  0  shows  the  position  of  the  rock),  and  part  of  it  is  built  in 
brickwork  through  the  surface-drift.  The  length  that  was  available  for 
the  eiperimenta  is  comprised  between  the  point  A,  where  there  was  a 
wide  shaft  to  the  surface,  and  the  point  C,  where  I  caused  a  wooden 
partition  to  be  set  up  to  prevent  the  draught  of  air  from  affecting  the 
lamp.  B  is  a  manhole,  3  ft.  6  in.  x  3  ft.  9  in.  at  the  bottom,  and  23  in. 
square  at  the  top ;  it  was  covered  by  two  stones,  each  about  2  in,  thick, 
with  a  space  about  I  in.  wide  between  them  across  the  middle  of  the  top 
of  the  manhole.  The  safety-lamp  part  of  the  apparatus  (fig.  1,  Plate  YI.) 
was  set  upon  a  board  fixed  across  the  sewer  at  the  point  L,  at  a  height  of 
2  ft.  8  in.  from  the  deepest  point. 

I  made  a  large  number  of  experiments  here,  but  it  will  be  sufBcd^it  to 
give  only  the  principal  results.  The  shots  were  fired  from  the  same 
pistol  that  was  employed  in  the  former  experiment«  at  the  distances  from 
the  lamp  indicated  by  the  figures  below  fig.  0,  Phte  YII. ;  they  were 
nearly  all  fired  towards  the  position  of  the  manhole  B.  Each  measure 
of  gunpowder  weighed  '273  gramme  (  =  4-213  grains).  The  number 
of  measures  given  below,  corresponding  to  the  distances  from  the 
lamp  at  which  the  shots  were  fired,  are  those  by  which  the  flame 
was  passed ;  uid  it  is  to  be  understood  that  at  each  distance  a  charge 
contuning  one  measure  less  was  generally  insnfBdent  to  effect  the 
purpose. 

(1)  Between  C  and  L  :— 

At    37  ft.    6  measures  =  1*365  gramme 
S4  ft.    8         „         =  2-184  grammes 
81  ft.  10         „         =  2-730 
96  ft.  12        „         =  3-278 
109  ft.  14         „         =  3-822 

One  experiment  was  made  with  the  pistol  pointing  towards  the  roof  at 
an  angle  of  70°  to  the  axis  of  the  sewer ;  the  distance  was  109  ft.,  the 
charge  20  measures,  =  6~460  grammes ;  the  muule  of  the  pistol  was 
1  ft.  6  in.  from  the  floor,  and  the  firing  was  eSect«d  by  drawing  a  cord. 
The  flame  passed  through  the  wire  gause,  and  ignited  the  gas  on  the 
outside. 


Mr.  W.  Galloway  on  Sa/efg-Lamjis. 

(2)  Between  A  aud  L  :— 

At  33  ft.  8  measures  =  ^-134  gnmmea  ^M 

HI  ft.  a         „         ^  2-184  ^M 

GO  ft.  8         „         =  2-184  ^ 

It  18  remarkable  that,  iu  these  latter  erperinients,  it  was  not  necessary 
to  iDfreflse  the  quanlityof  guiipowiler  as  the  distance  from  the  lamp  was 
increoeed.  The  large  uhargu  required  at  the  first  station  seema  to  have 
been  owing  to  the  presence  of  the  manhole  between  the  lamp  and  the 
point  at  which  the  shot  was  fired  ;  but  this  waste  of  enei^  haTing  been 
provided  for,  no  further  addition  to  the  charge  was  required.  It  would 
Beem  as  if  part  of  the  energy  of  the  sound-wave  was  expended  in  the 
space  C  L  iu  shaking  the  brickwork  and  a  narrow  wooden  gangway 
supported  on  cross-pieces  at  a  height  of  1  ft.  Ti  in.  from  the  sole ; 
whereaa  in  the  space  A  L,  in  which  no  gangn*ay  had  been  laid  down,  it 
was  conveyed  through  the  tunnel  in  the  solid  rock  without  much  lc«8  of 
intensity. 

The  temperature  of  the  air  in  the  sewer  was  55''-56°  Fahrenheit ;  and 
there  was  generally  a  current  travelling  in  the  direction  C  to  A  at  the 
mt«  of  5  to  10  ft.  per  minute. 

These  are  the  last  experiments  from  which  important  results  have  been 
oljtamcd i   they  were  cuucludcd  iu  KuvemljiDr  Ibi'J. 

After  this  I  made  some  experiments  with  firedamp  in  a  Btone-mine  in 
No.  2  Pit,  Douglas,  near  Glasgow.  1  filled  a  sheet-iron  box  of  18  cub.  ft. 
capacity  with  firedamp  at  the  borehole  in  the  C  Pit  of  Hehhum  Colliery, 
and  brought  it  to  this  mine.  As  the  gas  appeared  to  have  become  mixed 
with  MT  through  leakage  during  the  transport,  and  would  not  bum 
satisfactorily  in  the  lamp  of  the  apparatus  (fig.  1,  Plate  VI,),  the  apparatus 
shown  in  fig.  7,  Plate  VII,,  was  constructed.  Two  boards,  each  |  of  an 
inch  thick,  and  of  the  shape  and  dimensions  of  the  top  of  the  apparatDs, 
are  joined  together  by  iron  rods  |  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  one  at  each 
angle.  A  sheet  of  india-rubber,  ^j  of  an  inch  thick,  is  then  fastened 
round  the  frame  thus  formed  by  nailing  it  to  the  boards,  and  an  isolated 
space  of  the  form  d,  fig,  7,  is  obtained.  An  opening,  1|  inch  in  diameter, 
in  the  upper  board  senes  as  an  outlet  for  the  product*  of  combustion ; 
and  a  similar  opening  in  the  lower  board  sen-es  as  an  inlet  for  fresh  air 
and  the  firedamp  from  a  Bunseu  burner.  This  apparatus  is  placed  on 
two  legs  fastened  to  one  of  the  sleepers  in  the  roadway,  and  it  is  stayed 
tightly  before  and  behind  by  four  stout  wires  in  positions  analogous  to  t, 
the  only  one  that  can  be  seen  in  the  figure. 

A  Davy  lamp  was  lighted  and  placed  in  the  inside  of  d,<mA  block  of 
wood  3  inches  high  by  3  inches  in  diameter,  so  as  to  have  its  vrire  gauce 
as  near  as  possible  to  the  centre  of  the  space  i  firedamp  was  then  admitted 
at  the  lower  opening,  and  the-draught  was  regulated  at  a.  The  appear- 
"  ances  presented  by  the  lamp  were  observed  through  a  glass  window,  h, 
fastened  in  the  sheet  of  india-rubber ;  and  as  soon  as  the  flame  showed 


1874.]         Ob  the  Adiabatica  and  Itothertnelt  of  Water.  451 

thftt  the  mixture  Buirounding  it  was  explosive,  shota  were  fired  from  » 
gun  at  a  distante  of  30  Tarda.  The  barrel  of  the  gun  which  was  used  is 
\^  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  it  is  rifled  for  a  length  of  3  ft.  with 
seven  grooves ;  the  breech  which  received  the  charge  is  smooth-bored, 
and  4^  inches  long.  Each  measure  of  gunpowder  weighed  3-822  grammes 
(  =  59  grains),  and  the  charges  fired  ranged  between  1  and  9  measiu«s ; 
paper  tamping  was  rammed  down  tightly,  and  the  charge  was  fired  by  a  cap. 

The  gun  was  tied  to  a  prop  in  the  middle  of  the  mine,  with  its  barrel 
at  an  angle  of  about  35°  upwards,  pointing  towards  the  apparatus  ;  tho 
muKzte  was  18  inches  from  the  floor.  At  the  part  where  the  experimenta 
were  made,  the  si7.es  of  the  mine  are; — width  at  top,  4  ft.;  width  at 
bottom,  6  ft. ;  height,  5  ft.  6  in. 

The  sound-wave  from  a  shot  of  two  measures  extinguished  the  flame 
of  the  Davy  lamp  when  it  was  placed  on  the  outside  of  the  apparatus  ; 
but  when  it  was  placed  in  the  inside  of  d,  the  flame  could  not  be  estin^ 
guiahed  nor  passed  through  the  meshes,  even  when  the  quantity  of  gun- 
powder was  raised  to  nine  measures.  However,  after  the  lamp  had  been 
allowed  to  bum  in  the  isolated  space  for  a  few  minutes  (the  supply  of 
fresh  air  not  being  very  good),  its  flame  could  be  extinguished  by  the 
eound-wave  from  a  shot  of  four  measures.  The  whole  quantity  of  fire- 
damp was  so  small  that  there  was  no  opportunity  for  enWging  or  varying 
the  apparatus. 

These  experiments,  and  one  which  I  made  formerly  in  the  sewer  with 
the  b  tube  of  the  apparatus,  fig.  2,  Plate  VI.,  show  that  a  very  slight 
obstacle  n-ill  interfere  with  the  action  of  the  sound-wave.  They  were 
concluded  in  March  1874, 

I  woiUd  add,  in  concluding,  that  the  liberal  grant  of  money  which  I 
received  from  the  QoTemment-Grant  Committee  of  this  Society  has  been 
of  great  value  in  enabling  me  to  carry  out  these  experiments. 

1  have  also  been  much  indebted  for  assistance  to  each  of  the  following 
gentlemen: — Mr.  Eobert  H.  Scott,  F.B.S.;  Professor  A.  C.  Bamsay, 
F.E.S. ;  Professor  "W,  W.  Smyth,  FJi.S. ;  Professor  Marreco,  of  the 
College  of  Physical  Science,  Newcastle-on-Tyne ;  Mr.  John  Galloway,  of 
Barleith  and  Dollars  Collieries ;  Mr.  J.  B.  Simpson,  of  Kewcastle-on- 
Tyne;  Mr.  Charles  Shute,  of  Hebbum  Colliery;  and  to  Mr.  William 
Kirkwood,  of  the  lukerman  Mines,  near  Glasgow. 

XX.  "  On  the  Adiabatica  and  Isothermalfl  of  Water."  By  A.  W. 
Rocker,  M.A.,  Fellow  of  Braaenose  College,  Oxford.  Com- 
mtuiicated  by  R.  B.  Clifton,  M.A.,  F.R.S.,  Professor  of 
Experimental  Philosophy  in  the  Umversity  of  Oxford. 
Received  June  4,  1874. 
M.  Verdet,  in  his  work  on  Thermodynamics  ('  (Euvres,'  vol.  vii.  p.  184), 

enunciates  the  proposition  "  Deux  courbes  de  nulle  transmission  ne  peu- 


452  Mr.  A.  W.  Rucker  m  the  [Ji 


1 1 


.  r  '■ 

I  ■ 

I  ■■  • 


rent  se  couper,''  and  offers  a  proof  which  rests  upon  the 
that  if  a  body  could  undergo  a  series  of  operations  repreaeiiiftad  ■■  ti' 
changoR  of  pressure  and  volume  by  PQMP  (where  FQ  is  an  ima/fkm 
and  PM,  QM  two  adiabatics),  no  heat  would  be  gained  or  lost  ttfc  aaf) 
of  the  cycle  except  PQ. 

It  is,  however,  evidently  impossible  that  the  body  oouldy  at  tha  jgl 
M,  pass  from  one  adiabatic  to  another  without  absorbing  or  enSMMigik 
i.  e,  while  fulfilling  the  very  condition  that  it  should  not  paaa  fnmj 
adiabatic  to  another ;  and  the  question  as  to  the  poesifailitj  of 
section  of  two  adiabatics  must  therefore  be  submitted  to  a 
investigation,  as  it  is  certainly  conceivable  that  heat  might  be 
lost  during  the  passage  from  the  point  M  considered  as  lying  on 
curve  to  the  point  M  considered  as  belonging  to  the  second, 
took  place,  as  supposed  by  M.  Yerdet,  without  any  accompanying 
of  pressure  or  volume,  or  whether,  as  we  shall  see  would  be  gensralfy 
case,  it  could  only  be  accomplished  if  the  body  were  caused  to 
scries  of  intermediate  states  involving  such  changes. 

The  question  admits  of  an  easy  answer  if  we  consider  tlie 
bodies  which  can  exist  in  two  distinct  states  under  the  same 
of  pressure  and  volume ;  and  for  the  present  we  may  confine  oar 
tion  to  water,  which  is  the  most  conspicuous  representative  of  the  A 
and  which,  at  the  ordinary  atmospheric  pressure  and  at  tempenata 
between  0°  C.  and  4^  C,  exists  in  a  series  of  states  in  which  the  Tolm 
I  are  the  same  as  those  which  it  assumes  if  heated  at  the  same  ■ 


from  4°  C.  to  about  8^  C. 

Hence  whereas  for  higher  temperatures  all  the  properties  of 
|.  at  atmospheric  pressure  are  completely  defined  if  we  know  the  Yolni 

niich  is  not  the  case  between  the  limits  above  indicated ;  but  each  poi 
on  the  line  of  constant  pressure  given  by  jf>=l  atmosphere  between 
intersections  A^-ith  the  isothermals  0°  C.  and  4°  C.  corresponds  to  t 
states  of  the  water,  or  rather,  since  if  the  water-substance  be  oonyerl 
into  ice  it  will,  if  cooled  suiRciently,  again  pass  through  the  same 
of  volumes,  each  point  corresponds  to  three  states  and  is  the  in 
of  three  isothermals  ;  and  as  a  similar  remark  may  be  made  ^^ith  respi 
to  neighbouring  lines  of  constant  pressure,  it  follows  that  there  ii 
rcj^ion  in  the  plane  of  pi'  such  that  three  states  of  the  water-subatau 
correspond  to  each  point  within  it,  and  that  therefore  the  values  oi 
and  V  given  by  any  such  point  do  not  define  the  state  of  the  water. 

If,  however,  from  every  point  in  the  plane  of  pv  we  draw  perpendic 
Lars  to  that  plane,  proportional  to  those  values  of  some  other  property 
the  wiiter  (say,  in  this  ease,  its  temperature)  which  correspond  to  t 
conditions  'of  pressure  and  volume  represented  by  the  points  from  whi 
tliey  are  drawn,  the  extremities  of  such  ordinates  will  form  a  suzfii 
which  will  be  met  once,  or  more  than  once,  by  any  particular  ordinal 
according  as  the  water  can  exist  under  the  circumstances  of  pressu 


and  Tolnme  defined  by  the  point  in  the  plane  of  pv  tmm  « 
drawn  in  only  one  or  in  sevOTal  states. 
This  Burfoce  will  be  represented  by  the  equation 

uid  curres  may  be  drawn  on  it  showing  the  relations  between  ' 
preasnre,  volume,  and  temperature  when  the  state  of  the  water  ta  alto 
in  any  determinate  manner,  tho  prajeirtions  on  the  plane  af  jw  of  th 
represented  by  the  equation  to  the  surface,  combined  with 

forming  the  boundaries  of  the  region  from  all  points  in  which  ordiiu 
can  be  drawn  parallel  to  the  axis  of  t  vhich  intersect  the  sar&ce  in  t 
or  more  paints.  The  ordinary  adiabatics  drawn  on  the  plane  at  ftv  : 
the  orthogonal  projoctiona  of  curves  on  the  surface,  each  of  which 
defined  by  the  condition  that  the  water  in  passing  through  the  series 
states  indicated  by  its  successive  points  neither  gains  nor  loses  heat,  i 
which,  to  avoid  confusion,  will  be  called  complete  adiabatics. 

Let  now  the  line  LM  in  the.plaDeo£^(fig.  l)bethelinej>=il  atx 
sphere.  Draw  an  ordinate  frran  L  meeting  the  snrEace  in  A  and 
then,  if  different  complete  adiabatics  pass  through  A  and  B,  their  p 
jections  on  the  plane  of  pu  will  intersect ;  and  the  only  hypothesis 
which  we  cau  avoid  the  assumption  of  the  intersection  of  adiabatdcf 
,  that  the  coraplnte  adiabatice  are  the  intersections  of  the  cbanicteris 
surface  _fl[|;)u()='^  wilh  cylindrical  surfaces,  the  director  eur^-es  of  wk 
are  the  plane  adiabatics,  and  the  generating  lines  parallel  to  the  a 
of  I.  In  tliis  case  the  saine  complete  adiabatic  would  pass  tbrou 
every  such  pair  of  points  as  A  and  B,  which  is  eiideutly  impossible, 
in  performing  the  cycle  AQBPA  the  water  would  absorb  beat  alo 
AQB  without  at  any  time  emitting  it,  and  yet  would  neither  increase 
internal  energy  nor  perform  any  external  work,  since  the  cycle  proje 
into  a  straight  line  and  a  diacontinuoua  curve  meeting  it  in  only  one  poi 
As,  therefore,  a  complete  adiabatic  cannot  pass  through  A  and  B,  and 
a  similar  tram  of  reasoning  would  hold  for  the  third  point  in  which  J 
meets  the  surface,  three  adiabatics  as  well  as  three  isothermals  pi 
throAigh  the  point  on  the  plane  of  pv,  tthich  is  the  common  projection 
these  points. 

As  this  conclusion  disproves -M,  Verdet'a  theorem,  we  may  proceed 
consider  a  few  simple  propositions  based  on  the  hj^iothesis  of  the  po£ 
bility  of  the  intersection  of  adiabatics  ;  and  in  so  doing  it  will  be  advisa 
to  use  a  new  term  to  distinguish  between  two  classes  oE  ])oint*  of  int 
section  of  the  projections  on  the  plane  of  pv  of  curves  on  the  surfac 
and  reserving  the  usual  expressions  (intersect,  cut,  meet,  &e.)  for  the  p: 
jections  of  points  of  intersection  on  the  surface,  we  shall  say  that  two  cun 
erou  one  another  when  they  meet  in  a  point  which  does  not  correspo 


1874.]  AdiabaticM  and  laolhermah  <^  Water.  455 

to  an;-  Buch  point  of  intersection,  but  is  only  the  common  projection  of 
two  separate  points  on  the  surface. 

In  the  first  place,  tben,  \re  know  that  if  water,  starting  from  an  initial 
state  eueh  that  addition  of  heat  at  constant  pressure  is  accompanied  b^ 
dimlnutioa  of  volume,  be  allowed  to  expand  without  receiving  or  emitting 
heat,  its  temperature  will  rise;  t. «.  it  will  at  the  same  time  be  doing 
work,  solely  at  the  expense  of  its  internal  energy,  and  rising  in  tempera- 
ture— a  process  which  cannot  go  on  indefinitely,  as  at  lost  all  the  internal 
energy  would  be  due  to  the  temperature  alone,  and  any  further  per- 
formance of  «ork  would  necessarily  involve  a  fall  in  temperature. 

Hence  there  must  be  a  point  of  maximum  temperature  on  the  complete 
odiabatic  dranni  through  the  point  representing  the  initial  state  ;  and  the 
isothermals  through  all  other  points  on  the  same  curve  which  lie  within 
the  region,  in  which  addition  of  heat  involves  contraction,  must  meet  it 
twice.  The  projections  of  these  curves  will  also  necessarily  intersect  in 
two  points ;  and  since  when  on  odiabatic  and  isothennal  meet  the 
tangent  to  the  former  always  makes  the  larger  acut«  angle  with  the  axis 
of  V  (Maxwell,  '  Theory  of  Heat,'  p.  130),  it  follows  that  the  two  curves 
must  also  cross  at  some  point  between  their  points  of  intersection,  and 
will  thus  form  two  loops. 

This  result  holds  however  near  the  points  of  intersection  may  be 
together ;  and  when  they  coincide  the  curves  on  the  characteristic  surface 
touch  one  auother,  and  their  projections  on  the  plane  of  ^ir  have  contact 
of  the  second  order,  since  three  points,  i.  €.  the  two  points  of  intersection 
and  the  crossing  point,  are  coincident ;  and,  further,  the  isothermal  which 
thus  touches  the  adiabatic  is  evidently  that  which  corresponds  to  the 
iDaximum  temperature  above  mentioned ;  and  the  point  of  contact  lies  on 
the  curve  which  is  the  boundary  between  the  regions  in  which  elevation 
and  depression  of  temperature  are  respectively  the  results  of  compression, 
for  at  neighbouring  points  on  the  adiabatic  the  temperature  is  lowered 
«  hen  the  volume  is  either  increased  or  ^minished. 

All  the  points  of  maximum  temperature  on  the  complete  adiabatics  lie 
on  the  curve  defined  by  the  condition 


(I)-' 


and  since  at  all  points  on  this  curve  the  tangent  planes  to  the  surface  arc 
perpendicular  to  the  plane  of  ^w,  therefore  the  projections  on  that  plane 
of  all  curves  intersecting  it  touch  its  projection,  because  their  tangents 
lie  in  a  plane  perpendicular  to  that  of  pv,  aud  are  projected  into  one 
line. 

Hence  the  projection  of  any  curve  which  meets  this  curve  must  at  the 
projection  of  the  point  of  section  touch  an  adiabatic. 

But  the  ordinary  interpretatbn  put  upon  contact  of  an  odd  order  with 
an  adiabatic  is  that  tha  body  passing  through  the  cycle  of  operations 

VOL.  XXII,  2  N 


466  Mr.  A.  W.  Biidter  on  tke  [Jmia  1 

represented  by  the  curre,  at  the  point  of  contact  ceaMS  to  emit  a 
begms  to  absorb  heat,  or  vice  vertd ;  and  that  therefore  tiwrj  elo) 
cycle,  if  a  continuous  cnire,  must  hare  2n  pointi  of  contact  of  an  0 
order  nith  adiabatics,  and  if  a  discontinuous  cune,  2m— r  such  pointa 
contact  and  r  points  of  discontinuity  at  which  the  carve  does  not  eat  1 
adiabatics  passing  through  them. 

This,  however,  evidently  does  not  hold  for  a  carve  whidi  meetg  1 
curve  in  the  plane  of  pv,  defined  by 


(^}- 


which  is  the  projection  of  the  curve  in  space,  whose  eqaatioiu  are 

/(^.0=0,(f)=0. 

For  since  it  does  not  follow  that  the  cones  in  space  have  contact  becai 
their  projections  touch,  we  see  that  the  curve  in  the  plane  of  pv  ni 
touch  an  adiabatic  without  any  change  taking  phtce  in  the  ahaorpHaa 
emission  of  heat ;  and  such  a  curve  may,  o>~en  if  continuous,  hav«  conti 
of  an  odd  order  with  an  odd  number  of  adiabatics.  The  pointof  conia 
for  instance,  of  a  cune  which  touches  but  does  not  intersect  the  llmiti 

curve  at  nil  points  on  which  | -^  1=0,  projects  into  a  point  of  contact 

the  third  order  at  least ;  and  therefore  the  projected  curve  must 
entirely  between  the  adiabatic  and  projection  of  the  limiting  curre,  whi 
only  have  contact  of  the  first  order^ — i.  t.  it  has  n  single  point  of  conti 
of  an  odd  order,  with  an  adiabatic  whirh  does  not  correspond  to  a  char 
in  the  absorption  or  emission  of  heat,  and  therefore  on  the  whole  it  1 
an  odd  number  oE  points  of  contact  of  an  odd  order  with  adiabatics. 

Let  us  now  suppose  that  ABB' A'  and  afifi'a'  are  two  adiabatics  (fig. 
which  meet  the  curve  l-f-f  =  O.andlet  two  isothermals.Aao'A' and  8^30" 

meet  the  first  in  AA'  and  BB'  and  the  second  in  aa  and  ffP"  respective 
We  can  now  make  the  water  go  through  Camot's  cycle  of  operatic 
between  the  same  temperatures  in  four  different  wavs,  of  which  we  nt 
only  consider  the  cycles  o'A'B'/3'  and  a'X'Bfl.  In  each  of  these  the  qui 
tities  of  heat  received  along  o'A'  are  the  same,  therefore  the  quantities 
work  done  must  be  the  same,  i.  c 
area  a' A'B'/3'a' =  area  o'A'E/3a' 

=nrea  a'A'B'|Sa'+area  /3'B'B;3/3' ; 
.-.  area/a'BTJ/^/B^O. 
But  this  area  is  composed  of  the  two  B'(3'ir  and  B/3i[,  and  they  are 
opposite  signs  ;  for  in  going  round  the  closed  curve  M^'B'M,  th©  wt 
done  on  the  body  is  greater  than  the  work  done  by  it,  while  in  the  la 
MB/3M  the  contrary  is  the  case ;  whence  wo  conclude  that  the  tm 
B'i3'AI  aad  B/3M  ai-e  equal. 


1874.]  AdiabaHct  and  ItotkermaU  cf  Water.  467 

In  the  figure  the  point  0'  is  represented  u  farther  from  C  than  M  is ; 
if,  hotraTer,  ff  lies  between  M  and  C,  then  the  croasing  point  of  the 
isothermal  and  adiabatic  inaBt  be  substituted  for  that  of  the  two  adi»- 
batics ;  and  in  any  case  the  areas  of  the  two  loops  formed  by  two  adia- 
baticB  and  an  isothermal  which  meets  each  of  them  twice  are  equal. 

This  result  will  still  hold  if  we  suppose  that  the  two  points  of  inter- 
section with  one  of  the  adiabatics  coincide,  t.  e.  that  it  is  that  one  which 
has  contact  of  the  second  order  with  the  isothermal ;  whence  it  follows 
that  the  areas  of  the  loops  formed  by  any  adiabatic  and  an  isothermal 
which  meets  it  twice  are  equal ;  or,  in  other  words,  that 

If  a  body  perform  a  cycle  of  operations  which  can  be  represented  by 
an  adiabatic  and  an  isothermal,  it  will  on  the  whole  do  no  useful  work. 

If  we  now  proceed  to  consider  the  shapes  of  the  adiabatics  and 
isothermals  of  water  near  their  points  of  section  ^vith  the  curve  which 
is  the  second  boundary  between  the  regions  in  which  addition  of  heat 
causes  respectively  increase  and  diminution  of  volume,  and  which  corr*- 
eponds  for  any  given  pressure  to  a  local  maximum  as  that  already  dis- 
cussed does  to  a  minimum  volume,  the  applications  of 'several  of  the 
above  remarks  are  too  obvious  to  need  any  special  comment ;  but  there  ia 
one  isothermal  the  relations  of  which  to  the  adiabatics  which  intersect  it 
are  of  a  very  complex  order,  and  to  which  therefore  it  may  be  well  to 
draw  attention.  The  isothermals  of  wat«r  may  be  divided  into  two 
classes,  according  as  the  pressure  corresponding  to  the  freezing-point  is 
or  is  not  less  than  the  maximum  tension  of  aqueous  vapour  at  the  given 
temperature. 

As  a  type  of  the  first  we  may  take  the  isothermal  corresponding  to 
0°  G.,  which  is  represented  in  fig.  2.  The  maiimum  tension  of  8t«am  at 
this  temperature  is  4-6  millims. ;  and  as  this  is  less  than  the  pressure  at 
the  f  reedng-point,  the  vapour  will  be  directly  precipitated  into  ice,  which 
ndll  in  turn  be  converted  into  water,  when  the  pressure  amounts  to  760 
millims.,  the  solid  being  thus  intermediate  between  the  gaseous  and 
liquid  states. 

An  isothermal  of  the  second  class  is  repreBent«d  in  fig.  3.  In  thia 
case  the  vapour  is  precipitated  in  the  form  of  water ;  and  as  the  possii 
biiity  of  the  existence  of  water  at  the  given  temperature  and  pressure 
proves  that  the  freesing-point  for  the  given  pressure  is  below  the  tempe- 
rature proper  to  the  isothermal,  and  as  any  further  increase  o£  pressure 
will  tend  still  further  to  depress  it,  it  is  evident  that  the  water-substance 
can"  never  exist  in  the  solid  state  at  the  given  temperature  unless  at  very 
great  pressures  contraction  instead  of  expansion  accompanies  solidifica- 
tion. There  must,  therefore,  be  some  isothermal  which  is  at  once  the 
boundary  and  limiting  form  of  these  two  classes ;  and  if  considered  as 
belonging  to  the  first,  it  will  be  that  for  which  the  portion  CD  disappears, 
I.  f.  for  which  the  pressorea  corresponding  to  the  freeong-  and  boiling- 
points  ore  the  some. 

2it3 


458  Mr.  A.  W.  Rucker  on  i/ie  [June  18, 

The  form  o{  this  curve  will  therefore  be  that  of  an  isothermal  of  the 
second  class ;  but  for  the  pressure  corresponding  to  B'C  the  water-sulH 
stance  can  exist  in  all  three  states ;  and  as  the  portion  of  the  cuire  in 
space  corresponding  to  B'C  is  a  line  perpendicular  to  the  plane  of  pt^ 
its  projection  on  that  plane  is  the  triple  point  of  Professor  James 
Thomson ;  and  if  we  assume,  with  him,  that  ice,  water,  and  steam  can  all 
exist  together  at  the  temperature  and  pressure  in  question,  it  follows 
that  this  line  is  both  an  isothermal  and  adiabatic ;  for  if  we  suppose  the 
water-substance  to  exist  at  the  same  time  in  all  three  states  in  a  vessel 
impermeable  to  heat,  we  can  evidently  by  diminishing  the  volume  con* 
vert  some  of  the  steam  into  water,  and  employ  the  heat  so  set  free  in 
melting  a  portion  of  the  ice,  during  which  operation  the  state  of  the 
mixture  will  always  correspond  to  a  point  on  B'C. 

Not  only,  however,  is  a  single  adiabatic  coincident  with  the  isothermal, 
but  all  the  adiabatics  within  certain  limits  pass  through  each  point  on 
B'C,  and  are  for  a  certain  distance  coincident  with  it,  and  therefore 
with  each  other ;  for  as  the  conversion  of  ice  into  water  is  accompanied 
by  contraction,  and  that  of  water  into  steam  by  expansion,  we  can  keep 
the  volume  and  pressure  of  a  mixture  of  ice,  water,  and  steam  constant, 
while,  by  supplying  or  subtracting  heat,  we  alter  their  relative  proportions. 

The  mixture  can  thus  be  made  to  go  through  Camot's  cycle  wiUiout 
any  change  either  in  the  pressure  or  temperature,  the  result  always 
being  that  no  useful  work  is  done ;  and  as  in  the  earlier  portion  of  this 
paper  it  has  been  shown  that  it  is  possible  for  two  adiabatics,  drawn  as 
plane  curves,  to  intersect,  so  now  we  have  an  instance  of  the  intersection 
of  complete  adiabatics,  all  three  variables  ^>,  v,  and  t,  to  which  points  on 
these  curves  are  referred,  being  insufticient  to  determine  the  state  of  the 
water-substance  along  the  line  B'C.  . . 

It  is  easy  to  determine  the  points  at  which  the  adiabatic  corresponding 
to  any  given  mixture  enters  and  leaves  B'C. 

Let  (T,  «,  and  2  be  the  specific  volumes  of  the  ice,  water,  and  steam, 
r  and  p  the  latent  heats  of  cod  version  of  ice  into  water  and  steam  respec- 
tively, and  V  the  volume  of  a  kilogramme  of  the  water-substance,  when 
the  proportions  by  weight  of  steam,  water,  and  ice  are 

We  have  then,  as  the  temperature  is  constant, 

and  r=2{+«.v+Kl-^'-i)- 

If  no  heat  is  supplied  or  abstracted, 

dq=0  and  /.(.v-.r,)+p({-£,)=0. 

If  we  consider  .v^  and  f^  to  belong  to  the  initial  state,  two  eases  arise 
according  as 

E^  is  or  is  not  >(1— .r^)  -, 


187i.]  Adiabatics  and  ItothermaU  of  Water.  459 

i.  e.  according  as  there  is  or  is  not  enough  steam  to  supply  by  its  conden- 
sation a  Buificient  quantity  of  heat  to  melt  all  the  ice ;  and  as 

which  is  always  positive,  as  i  —  v  is  negative,  we  hare  the  largest  and 
smallest  volumes  given  by  the  limits 

.r=Oand  l-a:-J=0, 
or  x=0  and£=0. 

The  maximum  volume  is  therefore  in  any  case  given  by 

P 
and  the  minimum  volume  is 

(I-O  ^l-^.)-pf.+,  in  the  first 
r-p 

and  ((-ff)!^al!l?*?+ff  in  the  second  case; 

and  the  differences  between  these  quantities  give  the  range  of  volumes 
for  which  the  adiabatic  belonging  to  the  initial  values  x^,  £,  coincides  with 
the  isothermal. 

In  conclusion  it  is  only  necessary  to  point  out  that  some  of  the  results 
in  the  earlier  part  of  the  paper  follow  immediately  from  the  ordmary 
fonauliD  of  thermodynamics. 

If  Cp  and  C,  are  the  specific  heats  at  conslaut  pressiure  and  constant 
volume  respectively,  and  if,  to  avoid  confusion,  we  write  the  qti&ntity 
which  Is  supposed  to  remain  constant  as  a  subscript  to  a  partial  differ- 
ential coefficient,  wo  have  the  well-known  expressioDS 

""■  (S),-&;(l)/ 

where  Q  is  consbmt  for  any  adiabatic.    From  the  first  it  follows  that 


■(I)  =«. 


Ha  touch  one  anotb 


i.  t.  the  adiabaticB  and  isothermals  touch  one  another  at  points  of  maxi- 
mum or  minimum  volume. 
Aiso  by  differentiation, 


460  On  the  Adiabaticf  and  Isothemals  of  Water.       [Jnoe 

whence  for  all  points  on  the  ciure  ■-j-=^<  ^^  ^^^  '^ 

and  therefore  the  contact  is  of  the  Becond  order. 

P.S.  Since  the  above  waa  written,  a  paper  has  been  publisbed  in 
'Annales  do  Cbimie  et  de  Physique'  for  ALwch  1S7-1,  iu  which 
author,  M.  J.  Moutier,  is  led,  from  thermodynaniical  considerations. 
the  coneiusiou  that  it  is  impossible  for  aqueous  vapour  in  contact  vi 
ice  to  have  the  same  tension  as  when  it  is  in  eontjict  with  water  at 
same  temperature ;  and  as  some  conclusions  have  been  pointed  out  in 
preceding  pages  which  follow  on  the  assumption  that  at  the  triple  p( 
the  tension  of  the  \'apour  is  the  same  in  each  case,  it  may  be  well  to  sb 
that  his  arguments  do  not  really  touch  the  question  as  to  which  of 
two  hypotheses  is  the  true  one. 

M.  Moutier  discusses  the  case  of  a  body  which  can  exist  in  two  < 
ferent  states,  M  and  M',  such  as  the  soHd  and  liquid  ;  and  supposing  t' 
the  tension  of  the  vapour  ia  different  otcording  as  it  is  in  contact  w 
the  first  or  second,  he  obtjiins  a  general  formula  for  the  heat  of  trai 
formation  from  M  to  M',  from  a  consideration  of  the  quantities  of  h' 
gained  or  lost  if  the  body  is  compelled  to  undergo  a  definite  series 
changes  constituting  a  closed  cycle  (p.  34S). 

The  second  operation  in  this  cycle  is  that  the  body  M'  passes  from  ' 
pressure  m  to  the  pressure  ji' ;  and  in  the  application  of  the  gene 
formula  to  the  case  of  wat«r,  M  is  taken  to  represent  ice  at  0°  C, 
liquid  water  at  the  same  temperature,  w  tho  atmospheric  pressure,  and 
the  tension  of  aqueous  vapour  over  liquid  water  at  0°C.  (p.  362). 

If,  however,  the  symbols  have  these  meanings,  the  prescribed  operat 
is,  in  the  ease  of  water,  impossible ;  for  as  water  cannot  ciiat  at  0° 
in  the  hquid  state  at  less  than  the  atmospheric  pressure,  the  body 
would  be  converted  into  M  aa  soon  as  the  pressure  m  was  diminish 
and  no  conclusions  can  be  dran'U  from  the  cycle  in  question  in  the  c 
of  water. 

M.  Moutier  employs  a  second  ai^nment  which  can  be  shown  to  h: 
no  greater  weight  tlian  that  already  discussed,  and  which  may  be  sta 
as  follows  r — 

If  Q  is  the  latent  heat  of  conversion  of  ice  into  water,  and  L  and 
the  latent  heats  of  conversion  of  ico  and  water  respectively  into  stes 
then  at  the  triple  point  we  must  havo 

Q=L-L'. 
L  and  L'  are  given  by  the  well-knomi  fomiidje 


L=AT{f-«);J 


rfi' 


I'_AI(.'-»')*', 


1874.}  CtmtributionM  to  TerretMal  Magnetiam.  461 

where  u  and  u'  are  the  specific  volumes  of  ice  and  wat«r,  and  p,  p',  v, 
and  u'  the  pressorea  oad  specific  volumes  of  steam  over  ice  aad  water 
respectively. 

At  the  triple  point  v = v'  and  p  =p' ;  and  M.  Moutier  further  assumes 

that  ^  =  —,  and  therefore  obtains  by  subatitution 
ilt     lit 

Q=AT(,.'— )f ; 

and  aa  -^  is  positive,  being  derived  from  f ormulte  which  have  reference 

to  the  iTiftTimiim  teusiou  of  the  vapour,  and  u'  —  u  is  negative,  it  follows 
that  Q,  or  the  latent  heat  of  water,  is  negative,  a  result  which  shows  that 
some  of  the  premises  must  be  false. 

The  erroneous  assumption,  however,  is  not  the  possibility  of  the 
existence  of  the  triple  point,  but  is  contained  in  the  equation 

dt  ^  ~dt  ' 
for  Professor  James  Thomson  has  recently  shown  (Proc.  Boyal  Society, 
Dec.  11, 1873)  that  M.  Begnault's  experiments,  on  the  whole,  favour  ths 
conclusion,  which  ho  draws  from  theoretical  considerations,  that 

dt  dt 

and  if  this  equation  be  tnte, 

\dp- 
I  dt 


Q  =  AT    («-w)M3-(^-u') 


=AT  j  0-13u-l-13tt+u'  I  !^ ; 

whence,  as  at  0°  C,  f  =210-66,  while  u  and  »'  differ  little  from  O'OOl, 
it  is  evident  that  for  a  temperature  so  near  lero  as  that  of  the  triple 
point,  the  expression  within  the  brackets  must  be  positive,  and  Q  is,  aa 
it  should  be,  positive  also. 


XXI.  "  Contributions  to  TerreBtrial  Magnetism." — No.  XIV.  By 
OeDeral  Sir  Edwakd  Sabine,  B.A.,  K.C.B.,  F.R.S,  Be* 
ceired  June  18,  1874. 

(Abstract.) 
This  paper  is  presented  by  the  author  as  No.  XIV.  of  his  "  Contri- 
butions to  Terrestrial  Magnetism,"  completing  the  magnetic  survey  of 
the  northern  hemisphere  (of  which  No.  XHI.  comprised  the  higher  lati- 
tudes). It  consists  of  a  very  brief  explanatory  introduction,  followed  by 
Tables,  in  which  (as  in  No.  XIII.)  the  three  magnetic  elements  are 
arranged  in  Eones  of  latitude.  These  Tables,  which  form  the  body  of  the 
work,  are  accompanied  by  three  maps,  presenting  tlie  resvdts  graphicail;/ , 
in  isogonic,  isoclinal,  and  isodynomio  lines. 


463  Mr.  J.  Frcetwich  m  Tablet  ^f  [June  1 

XXII.  "  Tables  of  Temperatures  of  the  Sea  at  various  Depths  bdc 
the    Surface,  taken  between  1749  and  1868;   collated  ai 
reduced,  with  Notes  and  Sections."     By  Josbfh  Pbbsiwic 
F.R.S.,  F.G.S.     Received  June  A,  1874. 
(Abstract.) 

This  paper  was  commenced  b^  the  author  more  than  twenty  yea 
since,  with  a  view  to  the  geological  bearing  of  the  subject,  but  was  f 
some  years  unavoidably  interrupted.  It  has  now  been  broifght  dov 
to  1888,  the  date  of  the  '  Lightning '  expedition,  when  the  subject  w 
taken  up  by  Dr.  Carpenter,  by  whom  it  has  since  been  so  ardently  ai 
ably  carried  on.  Nevertheless,  aa  Dr.  Carp^^^^r's  work  relatm  abnv 
solely  to  recent  investigations,  the  author  considers  that  there  is  yet  co 
siderable  interest  attached  to  the  work  of  the  earlier  obsenera  from  17i 
to  1868,  though  he  feels  that  much  of  it  is  ncceMsarily  superseded  by  t 
great  and  more  exact  work  subsequent  to  18GS.  He  is  aware  that  t 
older  observations  have  also  not  been  deemed  reliable  on  account  of  t 
error  caused  by  pressure  on  the  thermometers  at  depths  ;  but  this  is  1 
from  applying  to  the  whole  of  them,  as  that  error  was  taken  into  accou 
so  early  as  lH3fJ,  if  not  twfore,  and  a  large  number  of  these  observatio 
are  equally  reliable  with  the  more  nrceut  ones,  while  the  greater  part 
the  others  admit  of  corrections  nbich  r(.'uder  them  sufEicieutly  availablt 

In  1830,  Gehler  gave  a  list  of  22(1  obsenations,  and  D'UnQle,  in  18C 
tubulated  421  experiments  according  to  depths.  The  present  paj 
cootaiiH  ft  record  of  about  1300  obsurvntions,  which  are  arranged  occoi 
ing  to  the  degrees  of  latitude: — Ist,  for  the  northern  hemisphere;  2r 
the  southern  hemisphere ;  3rd,  iuland  si-as.  They  are  all  reduced 
common  scales  of  tUermometer,  measure  of  depth,  and  meridian.  Thi 
position  is  given  on  a  map  of  the  world,  and  the  bathymetrical  isothen 
from  the  Poles  to  the  Equator,  based  on  the  correct  and  corrected  obsi 
vatious,  are  given  in  a  series  oE  ten  sections.  The  author  does  not  cla 
for  those  obsenations  the  exact  value,  or  the  unity  and  completeness 
plan,  of  the  more  recent  ones,  while,  ns  compared  iiitli  them,  the  depths 
which  tlicy  were  made  are  on  the  whole  very  limited ;  still  they  inelu 
a  few  at  gR-ut  depths  ;  and  as  they  extend  over  much  ground  that  1 
not  been  covered  by  the  expiHlitions  of  the  '  Lightning,'  '  Porcupine,'  a 
'  Challenger,'  he  trusts  that  tliesn  Tables  m.ty  be  of  souie  use  as  comp 
mental  to  these  later  ivsenrihi's.  and  as  bringing  together  and  reducing  t 
conniion  slnndard,  observations  st-alleri'd  through  a  large  iuuuIrt 
works  and  memoir.".  At  the  same  time,  the  author  would  observe  that 
thinks  it  due  to  our  many  distinguished  foreign  eolle:igues  who  have  be 
engaged  in  the  inquiry,  and  whose  work  seems  but  little  known,  that  1 
results  of  their  reseuR-hes  should  be  undersfuod  in  this  conntr)'.  Th 
couelusions,  w  hicli  art*  in  close  agivemont  with  those  funned,  entirely 


1874.]  Temperalurea  of  the  Sea  at  variau$  Deptha.  463 

dependently,  upon  recent  and  better  data  by  Dr.  Carpenter,  acquire, 
from  this  concordance,  additional  force  and  value.  Theauthor  was  notat 
all  aware  himself,  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  inquiry,  how  much  had  been 
done,  and  often  found  himself  framing  hypotheses  which,  on  further 
examination,  he  found  had  been  long  before  anticipated  by  others. 

The  first  part  of  the  paper  consists  of  an  "  Historical  Xarrattve," 
which  embraces  an  account  of  the  character,  number,  and  position  of  the 
observations  made  by  Ellis  (1749),  Cook  and  Forster  (1772),  Phipps 
(1773),  Saussure  (1780),  Pcron  (1800).  Krusenatem  (1803),  Scoresby 
(1810  and  1822),  Kotzebue  (1815),  "Wauchope  (1816  and  1836),  John 
Eoss  and  Sabine  (1817  and  1822),  Abel  (1818),  Franklin  and  Buchan 
(1818),  Parry  (1819, 1821, 1827),  Sabine  (1822),  Kotzebuo  and  Lenz 
(1823),  Beechey  (1825),  D'Urville  (1826),  FitiEoy  (1826),  Blossville 
(1827),  Graah  (1828),  B^rard  (1830),  Vaillant  (1836),  Du  Petit  Thonara 
(1836),  MartinB  and  Bravais  (1838),  Wilkes  (1839),  James  Eoss  (1839), 
Belcher  (1843  and  1848),  Aimo  (1844),  Kellett  (1845),  Spratt  (1845- 
1861),  Dayman  (1846),  Armstrong  (1850),  Maury,  S<^rs,  Bache  (1854- 
57),  Pullen  (1857),  Wullerstorf  (1857),  Kiind8on(1859),  E.Leni!  (1861), 
Shortland  (1868),  Chimmo  (1868). 

The  second  part  relates  to  the  "  Method  and  Value  of  the  Observations ." 
Wanting  a  reliable  self-registering  thermometer,  the  early  observers,  for 
a  considerable  time,  used  a  machine  contrived  by  Dr.  Hales  to  bring  up 
water,  by  means  of  a  bucket  with  valves,  from  the  depth  at  which  the 
temperature  was  to  be  taken.  This  was  used  by  Ellis,  Cook,  Scoresby, 
Wauchope,  and  Franklin,  and  one  of  a  form  improved  by  Parrot  was  em- 
ployed by  Lenz.  Scoresby's  observations  in  the  seas  around  Spitsbergen  are 
oE  much  interest.  He  showed  that  while  at  the  surface  the  temperature 
varied  from  about  29°  to  42°,  the  temperature  at  depths  of  from  2000  to 
4000  feet  was  generally  about  34°  to  36° ;  and  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that,  with  the  very  slight  corrections  suggested  by  Lens's  subsequent 
researches,  most  of  them  are  correct  mthin  a  fraction  of  a  degree. 

The  most  remarkable  readings,  however,  token  with  this  apparatus  were 
those  obtained  by  Leus  in  Kotzebue's  expedition  of  1823.  He  applied  to 
the  observations  a  correction  founded  on  Blot's  law  of  the  variations  of 
temperature  experienced  by  bodies  in  passing  through  mediums  of  different 
temperature,  and  determined  the  lowest  temperatures  hitherto  noted  in 
ijitertropical  seas.  Thus,  one  souuding  in  mid- Atlantic,  7°  21'  N.  lat.,  at  a 
depth  of  3435  feet,  gave  a  corrected  reading  of  35°'8  F.,  and  another  at  a 
depth  of  5835  feet,  in  mid-Pacific,  21°  14'  N.  lat.,  gave  36°-4  F.,  the  sur&co 
temperatures  being  78°'5  and  7fl°'5.  His  observations  on  the  specific 
gravity  of  sea-water  are  also  valuable- 

SauBsure  and  Pcron  used  thermometers  surrounded  with  non-conduct- 
ing substances,  so  that  they  might  pass  through  the  warmer  upper  strata  of 
«  ater  with  little  change.  Saussure's  experiments  deserVe  notice,  inasmuch 
as,  after  applying  ft  correction,  they  recorded,  at  that  early  period,  for 


464  Ml.  J.  PrcBtwichott  TaAfeio/  [Juue  18, 

the  Mediterranean,  at  a  depth  o£  1000  to  2000  feet,  a  teiuperaturo,  w 
nearly  right,  of  ob°-5. 

Sir  iTuhQ  Boaa  and  Admiral  Spratt  sometimes  used  SiVe  thermomeitera, 
ftud  at  others  took  the  temperature  of  the  silt  brought  up  from  the  bottom. 
The  former  obtained  readings  of  28°-5  F.  for  Baffin's  Bay,  and  the  Utter 
of  about  55°  for  the  Grecian  archipelago,  agreeing  therefore  closely  with 
good  thermometrical  observations. 

Phipps  used  adiSerentJal  orerHow  thermometer  invented  by  Cavendish, 
but  it  was  not  found  to  answer.  This  form  of  instrument  remained  in 
abeyance  until  a  greatly  improved  form  of  it  was  contrived  by  Wal- 
ferdin  (lArt-inomeir*  d  deeeriemmt)  in  183ti.  It  was  used  by  Mar- 
tins and  BravuB  in  the  Arctic  sens,  and  by  Aime  in  the  Medit«rnmean, 
&nd  was  said  to  give  very  satisfactory  results.  Aim<5  also  used  aoother 
BOmewbat  simiTar  instrument,  which,  at  a  given  depth,  was  reversed  and 
then  hauled  up.  These  instnunents  have  the  great  advantage  of  being 
free  from  errors  arising  from  the  shifting  or  immobility  of  the  iiidei. 
It  is  not  clear  why  their  use  was  abandoned,  except  that  they  were  diffi- 
cult to  construct  and  not  generally  known. 

Six  described  his  thermometer  in  1782 ;  but  the  first  person  to  use  it 
was  Krusenstem,  in  1803.  It  did  not  come  into  general  use  for  deep- 
sea  observations  until  the  ArL-tit-  \oyagi's  of  Koss  iiiiil  I'nrry,  iifti'r 
which  date  it  was,  with  the  exception  of  Leni's  and  Aim^s,  employed 
for  that  purpose  on  all  the  expeditions  sent  out  by  foreign  govemmenta, 
as  well  as  by  our  own.  The  necessity  of  protecting  the  instrumeat 
against  pressure  was  early  insisted  upon  by  Lenz,  Arago,  Biot,  and 
others  ;  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  protected  thermometers  were 
used  by  D'Urville  and  Berard,  for  their  observations  in  the  same  Medi- 
terranean area  show  a  remarkably  close  agreement  with  those  recently 
made  by  Dr.  Carpenter,  with  protected  instruments,  at  and  below  depths 
of  about  200  fathoms,  the  results  being : — 
D'Urville  (May  1826).       Berard  (Nov.  1830).     Carpenter  (Aug.  1870). 

Surface , ...  64°- 1 F.        Surface  ....  67*-l  F.     Surface , , . .  73°-5  F. 

1062  ft 54''-2  31 89  ft 55''-4  2958  ft 55°-5 

3180  ft 54°-7  6377  ft 55''-4  79GS  ft 54°-7 

It  was,  however,  on  Du  Petit  Thouars's  voyage  of  1830  that  the  firat 
special  steps  were  taken  to  protect  the  thermometer  against  pressure. 
For  that  purpose  an  improved  instrument  of  Bunten"s  was  provided, 
and  this  was  eacloecd  in  a  strong  bross  cylinder.  Fifty-nine  obser^-ations 
were  made,  of  which  Arago  reported  that  21  might  be  considered  perfectly 
good.  Temperatures  of  36°,  37°,  and  38°  F.  were  recorded  at  depths 
(900  to  1100  brassta)  in  both  the  mid-Atlantic  and  mid-Pacific;  while 
in  one  case,  in  taking  a  sounding  at  a  depth  of  12,271  feet  near  the 
equator  in  the  Pacific,  the  instrument  came  uj)  crushed,  but  with  th©  index 
fixed  at  34^-8  F.  (l^-S  or  l"-?  C).    In  a  certain  number  of  cases  (24)  tiw 


1874.]  Temperutwret  of  the  Sta  tti  varwu$  Depth*.  466 

pressure  forced  water  into  the  cylinder.  For  these  corrections  were 
made. 

In  1839,  UM.  Ujuiins  and  Bravais  made  a  series  of  observations  in 
the  sea  between  Norway  and  Spitzbergen  with  iofitrumenta  carefiillf 
protected  against  pressure  hj  means  of  glass  tubes  or  metal  cylinders, 
Tbey  used  both  self-registAring  thermometers  (thermom^rographet) 
and  Walierdin's  self-registering  overflow  thenuometers,  sending  down 
two  to  four  of  each  in  every  sounding,  and  taking  the  mean  of  the  readings. 
These  probably  are  amongst  the  most  accurate  observations  on  record. 
To  a  great  extent  they  confirm  t^ose  of  Scoresby;  and  they  further 
showed  that  the  bottom -temperature  near  the  Spitsbergen  glaciers  was 
about  29°  P.     None  of  the  soundings  exceeded  3000  feet. 

In  1857,  the  lat«  Admiral  Fit^Boy  furnished  Capt&in  Pullen  with  ther- 
mometers specially  constructed  to  resist  pressure,  and  some  very  intereet- 
ing,  though  somewhat  variable  results,  were  obtained  thwewith.  On  two 
occasions  a  temperature  of  35°  F.  was  recorded — one  in  the  Atlantic, 
26°  46'  8.,  at  a  depth  of  16,200  feet,  and  the  other  in  the  Indian  Ocean, 
at  a  depth  of  13,980  feet. 

With  regard  to  the  many  observations  made  with  unprotected  instru- 
ments, they  mostly  admit  of  correction,  which  renders  them  availaUe. 
Such  corrections  have  been  independently  computed,  with  little  difference, 
by  Du  Petit  Thouars,  Martins,  AJme,  and  the  late  Br.  Miller.  The 
author,  taking  the  mean  of  their  estimates,  uses  as  a  coefficient  —  1°  F.  for 
every  1700  feet  of  depth. 

In  the  third  part  of  the  paper  the  author  shows  the' "  State  of  the 
Question  at  the  date  of  the  Lightning  Expedition."  Ellis,  Forster, 
Peron,  and  others  early  remarked  on  the  decrease  of  temperature  at  depths 
in  temperate  and  tropical  seas,  but  it  was  not  until  1823  that  Lens 
showed  that  a  temperature  of  35°  to  36°  existed  at  greater  depths  in 
those  seas.  Notwithstanding  this,  D'Urville  in  1826,  misled  by  incorrect 
readings  obtained  by  previous  observers  with  uncorrected  instruments,  and 
in  the  absence  of  sufficiently  deep  observations  of  bis  own,  was  led  to 
believe  that  the  temperature  in  open  seas  at  and  below  a  depth  of  3214 
feet  (600  brcutet)  was  nearly  uniform  at  39°'8  F.  (4°-4  C),  and  that  be- 
tween the  latitudes  of  40°  and  60°  there  is  a  belt  of  a  like  nearly  uniform 
temperature.  A  few  years  later,  Arago,  discussing  the  results  obtained 
by  Du  Petit  Thouars,  insisted  that  they  effectually  disproved  this  hy- 
pothesis. Nevertheless,  in  1830,  Sir  Jamea  Boss  made  the  same  mis- 
take as  D'Urville,  and  unfortunately  obtained  for  ,it  a  wider  circulation, 
which  seems,  however,  to  have  been  almost  altogether  restricted  to  this 
country.  Still,  Boss's  numerous  ohsen-ations,  when  viewed  uuder  coi^ 
rection,  are  of  considerable  value,  though  the  author  cousiders  that  some 
error  has  occasionally  crept  into  that  uniform  reading,  so  often  recorded, 
of  exactly  39°'5.  Both  D'Urville  and  Boss  wrote  under  the  opinion  that 
sea-vrater,  lik«  fresh  water,  attaioed  it«  maumum  d^isity  at  a  tempers- 


Mt.  J.  i'rcBtwicli  on  Tabien  uj  [|Jmic  18 

tiire  of  between  39°  and  40°, — a  point  that  had  been  investigaled  ani 
disproved  by  Marcet  in  1819,  a-pprosimately  determined  by  Ermaan  ii 
1822,  and  which  was  finally  settled  by  Deapreta,  in  1837,  at  'ia°-\  Y. 

While  the  law  of  the  decrease  of  temjjerature  «-ith  the  depth,  in  botJ 
the  great  oceaus,  to  a  point  but  little  above  the  zero  of  Centigrado  wa 
being  estabHshed,  experiments  had  been  carried  on  in  polar  seas  showiac 
on  the  contrary,  that  the  temperature  at  depths  was  higher  than  tJu 
average  Burfetce-temperature.  The  careful  experiments  of  St-oresby  wu 
of  Martins  fully  established  this  for  the  Arctic  seas,  and  those  of  Boss 
after  correction,  establish  the  same  fact  for  the  Antarctic  Ocean.  Ii 
one  part,  however,  of  the  Arctic  seas  this  rule  has  not  been  found  t< 
hold  good ;  for,  in  Baffin's  Bay,  the  eiperime.nta  of  John  Boss,  Sabine,  and 
Parry,  at  depths  of  from  600  to  6000  feet,  agree  in  showing  a  decrease 
of  temperature  of  from  30°  to  32°  near  the  surface,  to  20°  and  28'''5  al 
the  greatest  depths  attained.  There  are  also  two  instances  given  of  yel 
lower  temperatures. 

Nor  were  observations  wanting  in  inland  seas.  Those  of  SaussuK, 
DTJrvillo,  and  Bcrard  had  indicated  generally  that,  in  the  Mediterranean, 
the  temperature  decreased  to  a  depth  of  about  1200  feet,  after  whicJi  it  re- 
mained uniform  at  from  54°  to  55"  F.;  and,  in  lS44,Aime  instituted  a  series 
of  experiineuts  which  resulti^d  in  showing  that  the  cliunial  iiifluciice  ceased 
to  be  sensible  at  a  depth  of  from  16  to  18  metres,  and  the  annual  variation 
at  a  depth  of  from  300  to  400  metres,  below  which  the  temperature 
remained  constant  at  12°-C  C.  (54°-0)  ;  and  this  he  showed  to  be  the  mean 
winter  temperature  of  the  area  of  the  Mediterranean,  over  which  his 
observations  extended.  These  obser\  alioiia  were  confirmed,  for  the 
Eastern  Mediterranean,  by  those  of  Admiral  Spratt.  His  first  experiments 
in  the  Grecian  archipelago  shoned,  ata  depth  of  1200  feet,  a  temperature 
of  54°-5  to  55°  F.,  while  the  later  ones,  at  greater  depths  in  the  open  aea, 
give,  after  correction,  a  temperature  of  about  55°.  In  the  Bed  Sea, 
Captain  Pullen  found  that  while  the  surface-temperatnre  varied  from  77° 
to  86°  F.,  it  fell  to  70°  or  71°F.  at  1200  to  1400  feet,  below  which 
it  remained  uniformly  the  same  to  the  greatest  depth  he  attained  of 
4068  feet.  Some  curious  results  were  obtained  in  1803-6  by  Dr.  Homer 
in  the  Sea  of  Okhotsh.  The  surface-temperature  was  40°-4  F. ;  and  the 
author  finds  (after  correcting  the  original  readings)  at  360  feet  a  tempeia- 
tureof  28°,aud  at  600  feet  of  28°-0,  which  is  almost  exactly  that  determined 
by  Despreta  as  the'  temperature  of  sea-water  at  the  moment  of  congelation. 
The  cause  of  the  decrease  of  temperature  with  the  depth  in  the  great 
oceans  was  early  investigated  by  physicists.  Humboldt  concluded  that 
"  the  existence  of  these  cold  layers  in  low  latitudes  proves  the  existence 
of  an  undercurrent  flowing  from  the  poles  to  the  equator."  l>'Aubuisson 
and  Pouillet  took  the  same  vie«-.  D'Urville  went  further,  and  remarked 
that  "  it  is  rather  a  transport  uearly  in  mass,  and  very  stow,  of  the  deep 
ivaters  of  high  latitudes  towards  the  e<iuator,"  and  that  from  his  xone  of 


1874.]  Temperatures  of  Vie  Sea  at  verioug  Deptfu.  467 

40°  to  60°  lat.  there  are  two  inseniible  cuirentB — a  lower  one  towards 
the  equator,  (tnd  an  upper  one  towards  the  poles.  Arago  saw  no  other 
explanation  than  "  the  existence  of  submarine  currents  uurying  to  the 
equator  the  bottom  waters  of  the  icy  seas," 

We  are,  however,  indebted  to  Lens  for  a  full  and  philosophical  review 
of  tlie  whole  subject  in  1847.  After  showing  that  all  the  facts  proved  the 
existence  of  a  temperature  of  from  34°  to  35°  F.  at  depths  in  the  tropical 
seas,  and  that  this  could  only  be  maintained  by  a  constant  slow  under- 
current from  the  poles  to  the  equator  (which,  on  the  other  hand,  must 
necessitate  the  transfer  by  an  upper  current  of  the  equatorial  waters  to 
the  poles),  he  proceeds  to  show  by  a  series  of  observations,  chiefly  those 
of  Kotzebue,  and  by  a  diagram,  that  a  belt  of  cooler  water  existed  at  the 
equator,  and  that  the  temperature,  at  equal  depths,  was  lower  there 
than  a  few  degrees  to  the  north  and  south  of  it ;  and  he  concluded 
that  this  arose  &om  the  circumstance  that  the  deep-seated  polar  watera 
there  met  and  rose  to  the  surface.  As  corroborating  this  view,  he 
showed  that  the  waters  in  the  same  zone  were  of  lower  specific  gravity, 
a  fact  that  had  been  before  noticed  by  Humboldt. 

The  author  then  proceeds  to  consider  some  "  General  ConelusionB." 
Some  of  these  have  now  been  bettor  established  by  the  more  recent 
expeditions  and  by  the  researches  of  Dr.  Carpenter,  Taking,  however, 
other  areas,  he  shows  that  in  the  Arctic  Ocean  the  batbymetrical  isotherm 
of  35°  is  deepest  on  the  west  of  Spitzbergen,  while  nearer  Greenland  and 
again  nearer  Norway  the  desp  waters  are  colder.  The  several  isothermal  ' 
planes  of  40°,  50°,  60°,  70°,  and  80°  are  then  traced  southward,  attaining 
their  maximum  depth  between  50"  and  40°  lat.,  and  rising  thence  towards 
the  equator.  Section  Ko.  2,  from  Baffin's  Bay  to  the  equator,  shows  that 
the  higher  isotherms  are  not  prolonged  so  far  north  as  on  the  first  line, 
and  that  the  water  at  the  bottom  of  the  bay  is  colder  than  in  the  Spit»- 
bcrgen  seas,  approaching  much  nearer  that  of  its  maximum  density  and 
of  its  point  of  congelation;  whence  he  concludes  that  this  is  the  main 
source  of  supply  of  the  deep-seated  cold  waters  in  the  Atlantic,  which, 
after  attaining  their  greatest  depths  between  latitudes  40°  to  50°  N., 
are  found  3000  to  4000  feet  nearer  the  surface  on  approaching  tho 
equator, 

In  the  South  Atlantic,  the  bathymetrical  isotherms  show  lesser  curves ; 
and  while  the  isotherm  of  40°  crops  out  between  the  l»t.  of  60°  and  55°, 
that  of  35°  is  prolonged  into  high  southern  latitudes  on  a  nearly  imifonn 
plane  of  7000  to  8000  feet  deep. 

In  the  Pacific,  the  sections  show  that,  notwithstanding  there  is  no 
appreciable  polar  current  through  Behring's  Straits,  the  bathymetrical 
isotherms  of  60°,  50°,  and  45°  do  not  extend  so  far  north  as  in  the 
Atlantic,  while  that  of  35°  is  apparently  not  prolonged  beyond  00°  N.  lat. 
As  the  presence  of  temperatures  lower  than  those  which  prevail  in 


470  Mr.  J.  A.  Broim  on  the  [June  18, 

is  the  escesa  or  defect  of  spot-area  for  the  same  period  of  time,  aud  /  is 
a  constant  to  be  deduced  from  the  observations. 

Harittg  obtained  the  mean  spot-area  for  each  year  from  1832  to  18GT, 
from  Table  VII.  of  the  paper  on  this  subject  by  Messrs.  De  La  Rue, 
Sten"are,  and  Loen'y",  the  meau  for  three  periods  of  11  years  (1832  to 
1864)  was  fouod  etjual  to  G43  millionths  of  the  snn's  visible  aurfaoe  ;  with 
this  quantity  the  values  of  +4 A  (iu  millionths  of  the  sim'a  surface)  for 
each  year  were  obtained. 

Mr.  Meldrmn's  conclasion  depends  chiefly  on  observations  during  these 
periods  in  Great  Britain  ;  and  oa  he  has  dedueed  the  rainfall  for  the  first 
period  of  minimum  spots  from  obaep\*ations  at  three  stations,  Green^»-ich, 
Carbeth  (near  Glasgow),  and  Aberdeen,  I  first  examined  the  observations 
nt  these  places  together  with  simultaneous  observations  at  Makerstoun 
for  the  two  periods  183i3  to  1853t.  Applying  the  above  equatii 
these  observations,  the  folloning  results  were  obtained  :— 


Greenwich 4R= -0-00092  AA  ; 

Malfcratoun    ...  .iR=— 0-00020  AA  ; 

Carbeth AE=s  +O-0O158  AA  ; 

Aberdeen    AR= +0-00128  AA. 


I 


Greenwich  and  Mokerstoun  are  thus  opposed  to  the  conclusion,  and 
Carbeth  and  Aberdeen  are  more  strongly  in  its  favour.  It  should  be 
remarked,  however,  that  the  result  for  Aberdeen  depends  wholly  on  the 
rainfall  given  for  that  place  in  1834  (12-3  in.)  being  exact.  Aa  it  is 
12  inches  less  than  the  mean,  while  at  the  other  three  stations  the  defi- 
ciency is  only  from  0-6  in.  at  Greenwich  and  Makerstoun  to  1-2  in.  at 
Carbeth,  this  may  be  due  to  a  leaky  rain-gauge  or  to  a  clerical  error  of 
10  inches.  In  any  case  no  great  weight  can  be  given  to  the  conclusion 
from  these  four  stationsj, 

I  now  sought  for  an  approximation  to  the  mean  fall  of  rain  for  Great 
Britain,  and  for  this  end  have  employed  the  quantities  deduced  by  Mr. 
Symons  from  ten  stations  (British  Association  Report,  1865,  p.  203; 
1871,  p.  102).  The  differences  of  spot-area  from  the  mean,  in  millionths 
of  the  sun's  surface,  and  of  the  nunfall  for  each  year  are  given  in  the 
following  Table  :— 

•  Phil.  Trans.  1870,  p.  309. 

1  The  meonB  for  Makeretoun  during  the  jenra  1832  to  1849  will  be  found  in  T™ns. 
"Roj.  Soc.  Edinb.  vol.  lii.  pt.  ii.  p.  108*  the  fnlla  for  the  other  yean  are— 1850, 
21-40in.;  1851,  25*57  in, ;  1852,32-20in.  ;  1853,  2354  in. 

}  It  may  here  be  noted  that  the  sum  of  the p2ui  and  mi'niw  differences  of  Band  tlw 
mean  rainfall  for  the  four  BtalionB  during  the  twenty-two  years  irore — 

Qreenwich.    Makeratoun.       Corbetb.         Aberdeen. 

Meanfall S4-4  in.  20'2in.  43-G  in.  24-2in. 

SiimsofAR 100-lin.  C7-8in.  02-4in.  94-3in. 

It  nill  be  sesn  that  the  sums  of  differences  bare  no  relation  to  the  mean  fall  of  rain. 


1874.] 


Sun^ot  Period  and  the  BjunfaU. 


Difierences  of  Baiufall  for  Great  Britaiii  and  of  Sim-spot  a 
1832  to  1867. 


i     Ml     ' 

r«ir.    AA.  1     iR.     Year.    AA.  j    AB.     lYBat.'dA.       aS. 

Means. 

1       ^     i     1       1 

dA.      AB. 

i     in       1           '          '     in        '          '               in 

in.      1 

1832.-359  -Vbi  '  l843.'-640' +2-66.1 1654. -501   -6-36 

-467  -1-41 

1833,'-558i  +1-97.   1844 '-465|  -4-02  ]  1855.1-5661  -4-47  '  -5401  -2-17 

1834.  -506,  -3-22     1846,  -232  +0-13i.,  1856.  -619'  -1'85  ,  -452!  -!■«* 

183o.'+lTl'  +0-82  ,  1846.  -     5  +1-83.  ■  1857.  -428  -2-04  |  -  87,  +0-20 

I836.'+746'  +5-75  .  1847.  +46S'  -1-»4.|  1858.  +177!  -4-95.||+444  -0-38 

1837, +556, -3'20.:  1848.' +395  +824  '  1859. +756| +l>79  : +569I  +1-94 
1838.1+2931  -0-63.!  1849.  +203'  +0-77  ,  1860.;+666!  +5-60  ]|+384i  +1-91  ! 

1839.l  +  164i+3-53 

1850.'-123  -1-39  '11861.1+659: -0'76.: +2671 +046 

1840.;-  46,  -3-07 

1861.,+  40  -l-Oi.,,  1862.|+530|  +2-63   ,+  174  -049 

1841. -306! +5-77. 

'l852.-  92 +7-7e.l|  1863.  -   15] -0-81    1-138 +4'26 

1842.' -429, -2-21 

1 1863.  -263'  -0-36  „  1864.1+245  -563»!  -146'  -2-73 

i 

'                     ,              II  1865.1-187! +l-9O.|!-409l -0-27 

'           1 

1                     !              ||1866.|-342  +3'26«  -458'-l-74 

!!  1807. -468  +070. 

-440|_(^34( 

If  we  seek  the  value  of  /  for  the  mean  of  the  three  periods  of  eleven 
years  commencing  1832  and  1835,  ire  find  the  following  equations  i — 

1832  to  1864 AE=  +00019  iA  ; 

1835  t«  1867 4E=+00011iA. 

These  results,  then,  are,  as  we  expected,  in  conformity  with  Mr.  Mel- 
drum's  conclusion ;  bo  that  if  we  compare  the  year  of  largest  with  that  of 
smallest  spot^area,  the  difference  of  rainfall  should  amount  to2'61in.  by 
the  first  and  to  1'5I  in.  by  the  second  value  of/.  If  we  take  the  mean 
spot-area  for  the  years  1834,  1844,  1856,  and  1866,  and  for  1836,  1848, 
and  1861,  wc  find  that  the  mean  difference  of  rainfall  for  these  years 
should  be  2-06  in.  by  the  first  and  120  in.  by  the  second  value  of  /,  in- 
stead of  8'45in.  as  found  by  Mr.  Meldrum. 

It  will  be  seen  also  that  the  greatest  mean  differeace  of  rainfall  is  that 
for  the  years  1841,  1852,  and  1863,  and  this  was  an  excess  of  rain  for 
years  of  spot-area  deficiency  ;  were  another  such  opposite  difference  to 
present  itself,  it  would  neutralize  the  conclusion  derived  from  these 
means.  It  should  also  be  observed  that  while  the  first  and  third  periods 
of  eleven  years  are  in  favour  of  the  connexion,  the  second  (1843  to  1853) 
is  opposed  to  it  (this  is  also  the  case  for  the  eleven  years  1857  to  1867). 

It  will  be  seen,  then,  that  from  this  discussion  a  probable  difference  of 
about  2  inches  of  rain  may  be  expected  betwixt  years  of  greatest  and 
least  spot-area. 

This  result  is  derived  from  observations  at  ten  stations,  distributed 

over  a  very  small  pat«h  of  the  earth's  surface ;  and  it  is  evident  that  for 

any  serious  investigation  a  much  larger  series  of  observations  represeDt- 

ing  the  rainfall  over  a  great  extent  of  country  would  be  essential. 

*  Indieatea  oppoaita  aigni  of  AA.  and  AB. 


I 


472  On  the  Sun-stpot  Period  and  the  Rainfall.  [June 

I  now  examined  observations  made  at  diSerent  stations  in  India  ; 
this  esamination  showed  the  extreme  difficulty  of  otitaining  a  sattafac 
result,  either  way,  from  a  few  stations  in  that  country,  when,  in  ccr 
yeara,  Ihe  accidental  excess  of  raiafall  at  some  of  the  statjcms  tii»< 
4<j  iacbes,  even  though  de'ficiencies  at  some  stations  may  diminiah 
amount  of  the  error. 

Fri>m  my  ouii  experience  of  rainfall  on  the  Indian  ghats,  I  sin 
doubt  that  a  mountain -station,  such  as  Mussoorte.  Ih  well  fitted  U. 
employed  in  this  diseussioD.  If  a  single  station  could  he  taken  to  w 
Beat  any  tract  of  countrv,  it  ought  to  he  one  least  liable  to  local  auuM 
variation.  Among  the  mountains  a  slight  change  in  the  nrerage  di 
tion  of  the  wind  will  cause  great  differences  in  the  rainfall  at  stat 
but  little  distant  from  each  other,  and  to  eliminate  accidental  variat 
of  40  or  80  inches  would  require  observations  during  a  very  loug  m 
of  years. 

The  foUowing  Table  w-ill,  however,  show  the  quantities  which  may  ' 
to  be  dealt  with  at  an  Indian  hill-station  t : — 

Valnet  of  AB  for  Mahabuleahwar,  4600  feet  above  the  sea,  vrith  i 
corresponding  values  of  AA. 


Y«r. 

AA. 

AB. 

Y«», 

AA. 

OB. 

1832. 

-359 

in. 
-261 

1843- 

-640 

in. 

+32-7» 

1833. 

-558 

-49-3 

1844. 

-465 

+  9  3* 

1834. 

—506 

+  443' 

1845. 

-232 

-  3-1 

1835. 

+  171 

-26-3' 

1846. 

-   5 

+35-3» 

1836. 

+746 

-  9-4*| 

1847. 

+  469 

-34-2* 

1837. 

+556 

+  14-8 

1848. 

+  395 

—  8-0* 

1838. 

+  293 

-72-8' 

1849. 

+  203 

+  85-4 

1839. 

+  1C4 

-I9-8- 

1840. 

-  46 

+31-4- 

1841. 

-306 

+  28-0" 

1842. 

-429 

+  51-&- 

V 


From  this  Table  we  derii'e  the  equation 

aH=-0-02in.  AA, 
Of  that  26  inches  mart  rain  falls  for  the  year  of  lf<iit  than  for  thi 
grenlest  spot-area.     The  examination  of  many  series  of  ohservationa 
shonn  how  difficult  it  will  be  to  arrive  at  a  conclusion  for  a  quantifr 
small  as  2  iuches  of  rain. 

It  is  evident  that  a  larger  tract  of  country  than  Great  Britain  sbi 
be  chosen,  and  the  approximate  rainfall  be  deduced  from  the  grea 

t  For  tlie  rainfal!  nt  MBhabulfBhwar,  6«e  Colonel  SjkM'8  paper  on  Indian  obsi 
lions,  Pbil.  TraiiB.  1850,  p.  3li7.     Ths  mean  fall  is  2530  inches. 
Indicate!  oppoutB  ngiu  o[  ^A  uul  ^"B^ 


1874.]  Pretents.  478 

poasible  number  of  stations.  O^rmany  and  France  may  give  sufBcieut 
dftfft  for  such  a  trial.  Were  the  result  well  marked,  there  would  be 
reason  to  seek  for  its  confirmation  in  other  oountrieB ;  but  to  undertake 
this  labour,  better  grounde,  I  think,  must  be  found  than  I  ha^e  hitherto 
been  able  to  obtain.  The  admirable  series  of  observations  which  Mr. 
Symons  is  obtaining  will  sufGce  for  the  future,  as  for  the  past,  ten  years 
to  give  a  very  near  approximation  to  the  excess  or  deficiency  of  rainfall 
in  Great  Britain. 


XXIV.  "  Oa  the  Mechanism  of  Stromboli."    By  Robert  Mallht, 
M.A.,  P.R.S.     Received  May  17,  1874*. 


The  Society  then  adjoomed  over  the  Long  Tacation,  to  Thursday, 
Norember  19. 


IWttnta  received  May  21, 1874. 
Transactions. 

Berlin : — Physikaliscbe  Gesellscbaft.    Die  Fortschritte  der  Physik  im 

Jahre  1869,  redigirt  von  Dr.  B.  Schwalbe.   Jahrgang  25.   8vo. 

Berlin  1873.  The  Society. 

Birmingham  : — Institution  of  Mechanical  Engineers.      Proceedinga, 

October  30,  1873.  8vo.  The  Institution. 

London  : — Pharmaceutical    Society.       Pharmaceutical    Journal    and 

Transactions.  Februaryto  May  1874.  8yo.    Calendar.  8vo.  1874. 

Catalogue  of  the  Library.  8vo,  1874.  The  Society. 

Royal  United  Service  Institutiwi.      Journal.  Vol.  XVn.  No.  74, 

75,  and  Appeudii.  8to,  1873-74,     Lectures  addressed  to  Officers 

of  Volunteer  Corps.  8vo.  1873.  The  Institution. 

Manchester: — Geo! ogical  Society.      Transactions.  Vol.  XIU.  Part  3. 

8vo.  1874.  The  Society. 

Montreal : — Natural  History  Society.     The  Canadian  Naturalist  and 

Quarterly  Journal  of  Science.  VoI.VII.  No.  2-4.  8vo.  1873-74. 

The  Society. 

Toronto: — Canadian  Institute.  Canadian  Journal.  Vol.  XIV.  No.  1,2. 

8vo.  1873-74.  The  Institute. 


Reports  &c. 

Basel  : — Zoologischer   Garten.      Erst«r  Geschiiftabencht   des  'V&t' 
waltungarathes.  4ta.  1874.  Kerr  A.  MiiUac. 

*  Thii  F^wF  will  app«w  m  ^o.  \&(>, 


474  Presents.  [J 

Beports  &c.  {continued). 

Berlin  : — Konigliche  mBtistische  Bureau.  PreussischeStatistik  ] 
Monatliche  Mittel  des  Jahrganges  1872,  fiir  Dnick,  Tetn] 
Feuchtigbeit  und  Niederschlage  imd  funftiigige  Wiirm 
4to.  1873.  Herr  H.  W.  Dore,  For.  Me 

Birmingham  : — Twelfth  AtmuftI  Report  of  the  Free-Librarie 
miilee.  1873.  Sto.  1874.  The  Con 

Paris: — Depot  de  ia  Marine.     Annales  Kvdrographiques.   ISJ 
meatre  3—1.  8to.     Note  Bur  la  Regulation  de§  Compaa, 
Caspari.  8vo.  1S73.     Instructions  Nautiques   siir   iee    O 
Chili  et  de  la  Bolivie.  par  F.  Chardonneau.  8vo.  1873. 
de  rAustrolie,  par  A.  Le  Gras.    Deuii^me  Partie,    Vol. 

1873.  Les  Cotea  du  Brt^ail,  par  E.  Mouchee.    1'  Section 

1 874.  Pilote  de  la  Maneie,  Cotes  Nord  de  France,  par  The 
2*  Partie.  8to.  1874.  Catalogue  CTironologique  des 
Plftiis.  M^moires,  Ac.  8to.  1873.     Fifty-four  Maps  and  1 

The  Depot  de  la  : 


Abria   (— )      Etudes   de  Double   Refraction.      V^rifioation    de 

d'Huyghens.  8to.  Paris  1874.  TLe  . 

Cahonra  (A.)  Traits  de  Chimie  Gen^rale  Sl^mentaire :  Chimie  Org 

Tome  I.   12ino.  Paris  1874. 
Ellis  (A.  J.),  F.E.S.     Algebra  identified  with  Geometry,  in  a  bi 

five  Tracts.   t*vo.  London  1874.  The  . 

Luvini  (G.)     Di  un  Nuovo  Strumento  Meteorologico-Geodeticc 

nomico  :   il  Dieteroacopio,   Svo.   Torino  1874.  The  . 

Schlote!   (W.)      Die  Berliner  Akademie  und  die  Wisaenachaf 

Htidflhfrg  1874.  The  . 


June  11,  1874. 
Transactions. 

Bordeaux  ; — Societe  de  Mtlderine  et  de  Chirurgie.     M^oireis 

letins.  1B73.  Faacicule  3,  4.  Svo.  1873.  The! 

Societi^  des  Sciences  Phyai(]ues  et  Naturelles.  Tome  IX.  Ca 

TomeX.  Cahier  1.  Svo.  1874.  The  i 

Boston  (U.8.) ; — American  Academy  of  Arts  aod  Sciences.     P 

inga.  Vol.  Vm.  Sheets  64^S4.     The  Complete  Works  of 

Rumford.  Vol.  11.  8vo.  Boxion  1873.  The  Ac 

Buffalo  Society  of  Natural  Science*.      Bulletin.    Vol.  I.    Xo,  ■ 

Buffaio  1874.  The  i 


1874.]  Preaenta.  475 

Transactions  {continued). 

Cambridge  (U.S.): — Buasey  Institution,  Harvard  UniTersity.    Bul- 
letin, 1874.  8vo.  1874.  The  Inatitution. 
Copenhagen  : — Academie  Boyale.      Bulletio   pour  1873  (Overeigt). 
No.  2.  8vo.  Kjobenhaun  1873  (2  copies).  The  Academy. 
Florence : — E.  Comitato  Geologico  d'ltalia.    Bollettino,  1873.  No.  9, 
10  i  1874.  No.  1-4.  8vo.  Firenze  e  Boma  1873-74. 

The  Institution. 
B.  Istituto  di  Studi  Superiori.    Memorie  del  B.  Osservatorio  ad 
Arcetri.  Tomo  I.  No.  1.  4to.  Firtnze  1873.  The  Institution. 

Kazan  : — Imperial  University.  Izvyeatiya  i  XJchenuiya  Zapiski  (In- 
telligences or  Scientific  Notes).  1873.  No.  4-6.  8vo. 

The  University. 
Madison  : — Wisconsin  Stat«  Agricultural  Society.     Transactions.  Vol. 
X.,  XI.  8to.  1872-73.  The  Society, 

Modena : — Begia  Accademia  Modeneae  di  Scienze,  Lettere  ed  Arti. 
Componenti  per  U  pubblica  solenne  Adunanza  tenutasi  nel  di  21 
Ottobre,  1872,  a  celebrare  la  ricorrenza  del  secondo  centenario 
dalla  Nascita  di  Ludonco  Antonio  Muratori.  4to.  1873. 

The  Academy. 

NewTork: — Lyceum  of  Natural  History.   Annals.  Tol.X.  No.8-11. 

8vo.  1872.    Proceedings.  Vol.  I.  Sheets  16-19.    Second  Series. 

Vol.  I.  pp.  1-32.  8vo.  1871-73.  The  Lyceum. 

Paris  : — Society  de  Geographic.     Bulletin,  Janvier-Mars  1874.  8vo. 

The  Sodety. 

Society  Entomologique  de  France.     Annales.   6*  S^e.   Tome  III. 

8vo.  1873.  The  Society. 

Society  G^ologique  de  France.     Bulletin.  S'S^rie.  Tome  U,  No.  2, 

8vo.  1874.  The  Society. 

Philadelphia  : — American  Philosophical  Society.     Transactions.  New 

Series.    Vol.  HI.;    XIV.  Part  2;    XV.   Parti.   4to.    1830-73. 

Proceedings.  Vol.Vn.  No.  62;  XII.  No.  88, 89;  XIII.  No.  90, 

91.  8vo.  1859-73.  The  Society. 

Fmnklin  Institute.  Journal.  No.  574-e80.  8vo.  1873-74. 

The  Institute. 

Bome  : — Accademia  Fontifida  de'  Nuovi  Lincei.  Atti.  Anno  27,  Sess.  4. 

4to.  1874.  The  Academy. 

St.  Petersbui^ : — Academie  Imp^riale  des  Sciences.     M^moires.  Tome 

XIX.  No.8-10;  XX.;  XXI.  No.  1-5.  4to..  1873-74.    Bulletin. 

Tome  XVni.  No.  3-5 ;  XIX.  No.  1-3.  4to.  1873-74. 

The  Academy. 

Salem:— Essex Instituf*.     Bulletin.  Vol.V.  1873.  8vo.  Salem,Ma*t. 

1874.  The  Institute. 

Peabody  Academy  of  Science,    fifth  Annual  Beport  of  the  Trusteea 


476 


Presents. 


[June  11, 


TraiisacticmB  {Kntintud). 

for  the  year  1872.  Svo,  SaUm  1873.     The  American  Natoraliat. 
Vol.  TI.  No.  12 ;  TU. ;  VUI.  No.  1.  8vo.  1S72-74. 

The  Academy. 

Warwick  : — Warwickshire  NaturaUsts'  and  Archffiologists'  Field  Club. 

Proceedings.  1873.  8to.  The  Club. 


Beports  &c. 

LeedB : — Philosophical  and  Literary  Society.  Annual  Report  for 
1873-73.  8vo.  1873.  The  Society. 

Loodon  : — Salmon  Fisheries  (England  and  Wales).  Thirteenth  An- 
nual Report  of  the  IiiBpectors.   8to,    1874. 

Frank  Buckland,  Esq. 

Manchester: — Owens  College.  Essars  and  Addresses  by  the  Pro- 
fessors and  Lecturers.  8vo.  London  1874. 

The  Council  and  Senate  of  the  CoUf^. 

New  Orleans ;  ^Supplementary  and  Final  Report  of  a  Geological  He- 
connaissanee  of  the  State  of  Iionisiana,  by  E.  W.  Hilgard.  8to. 
1873.  "  The  Author. 

St.  Louis: — Geological  Survey  o£  Missouri.  Eeporfa,  1855-1871.  Sto. 
Jefferson  City  1873.  Preliminary  Report  on  the  Iron  Oi«8  and 
Coal  Fields,  from  the  Field  Work  of  1872.  Svo.  New  Tork  1873. 
Atlas,  folio.  The  Survey. 

Washington  : — United    States    Commission    of   Fish  and    Fisheries. 
Report  on  the  Condition  of  the  Sea  Fisheries  of  the  South  Coast 
of  New  England  in  1871  and  1872,  by  S.  F.  Baird.  8vo.   1873. 
The  ConuniasioD. 


Deacon  (H.)  On  the  Modem  Hypotheses  of  Atomic  Matter  and  Lumi- 
niferons  Ether.  8vo.  London  1874.  The  Author. 

Jackson  (B.  D.)  A  Sketch  of  the  Life  of  William  Sherard.  8vo.  London 
1874.  The  Author. 

Lucas  (J.)  Horizontal  Wells.  A  new  application  of  Geological  Princi- 
ples to  effect  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  supplying  London  with 
pure  Water.  4to.  London  1874.  The  Author. 

Packard  (A.  S.)  The  Ancestry  of  Insects.  8vo.  Salem  1873.  Third 
Annual  Report  on  the  Injurious  and  Beneficial  Insects  of  Massa- 
chusetts. 8vo.  1873.  Catalogue  of  the  Pyralidas  of  0»liforma.  8vo. 
1873.  Catalogue  of  the  Phalienidte  of  California.  No.  2,  Sto. 
Botton  1874.  The  Author. 

Schilling  (N.)  Die  Bestandigen  Stromungen  in  der  Luft  und  im  Ueere. 
8to.  Berlin  1874.  The  Auttior. 

Toner  (J.  M.)  Dictionary  of  Elevations  and  Climatic  Register  of  the 
United  States.  8vo.  Jfew  Fork  1874.  The  Author. 


1874.] 


June  18,  1874. 


TraoaactionB. 

Berlin ; — Konigl.  PreuBsisclie  Akademie  der  Wissenechaften.     Mo- 

natsbericht.    Jan.,  Feb.,  Mara  1874.    8vo,  The  Academy. 

Berwickshire  Naturalists'  Oub.     Proceedinga.  Vol.  Til.  No.  1,  8vo. 

Alntoidc  1874.  The  Club. 

Birmingham  ; — Institution  of  Mechanical  Engineers.      Proceedings. 

2&  January,  1874.  8vo.  The  Institution. 

Bordeaux  : — Acad^mie  Rationale  des  Sciences,  Beiles-Lettres  et  Arts. 

Actea.  3'  Serie.  34*  ann^,  3-^  trimeatre.  8vo.  Paris  1873-74. 

The  Academy. 

Brussels  : — Acad^mie  Eoyale   des   Sciences.      Bulletin.    43*  ann^. 

2*S^ne.  TomeXXXTn.  No.  4.  8vo.  SrttwHM  1874. 

The  Academy. 

Acad^mie  Boyale  de  M4decme.    .Bulletin.  Ann^  1874.   3*  S^rie. 

TomeVUI.  No.  4, 5.  8vo.  Braxella.  The  Academy. 

Calcutta  T — Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal.     Journal.  Part  1 .  No.  4.  8vo. 

1873.    Proceedinga.  1873,  No.  10 ;  1874,  No.  1.  8vo. 

The  Society. 
Edinburgh : — Geological  Society.    Transactions.  Vol,  II.  Part  2.  8vo. 

1873.  The  Society. 
Frankfurt-on-Main : — Senckenbergische  Naturforschende  Gesellschaft, 

Abhandlungen.  Band  IX.  Heft  1,  2.  4to.  1873.  The  Society. 
Hobart  Town: — Eoyal  Society  of  Tasmania.      Monthly  Notices  of 

Papers  and  Proceedings  for  1872.  8yo.  1873.  The  Society. 

London : — East-India  Association.      Journal.   Vol.  VII.   No,  2,  3  ; 

Vol,  VIU.  No.  1.  8to.  1873-74.  The  Association. 

Geological  Society.     Quarterly  Journal.  Vol.  XXZ.  Part  2.  Svo. 

1874.  The  Society. 
Linnean  Society.    Journal.  Botany.  Vol.  XIV.  No,  75,  Svo.  1874. 

Proceedinga.  March,  April  1874.  8to.  The  Sodety. 

London  Institution.    Journal.  Vol.  III.  No.  21.  8to.  1873. 

The  Society. 

Meteorological  Society,     Quarterly  Journal.  New  Series.  Vol.  II. 

No.  10.  Svo.  1874.  The  Society. 

Odontological  Society.    Tranaactionfl.  Vol.  VI.  No.  3-7.  Svo.  1874. 

The  Society. 

Pharmaceutical  Society.     Pharmaceutical  Journal  and  Tranaactiona. 

No.  200-207.  8to.  1874.  The  Society. 

Photographic  Society.     Photographic  Journal.  No.  243-250.  Svo. 

1873-74.  The  Society. 

Quekett  Microscopical  Club.    Jonnial.  No.  S6.  Svo,  1874. 

The  Caub. 


H(,\ 


1  Mr, 


LUK    llll 


5VO.  1S74,    Adaiiioii-U>tli 
lioval  Uiiiied  Service  Institu 

8vo.  1874. 
Sodetf  of  Arts.     JoumaJ.  Ju 

roy.  8vo. 
Victoria  Institute,     Journal  ol 

8vo.  1873.    TheEulesoEE' 

of  History,  by  W.  Forsyth. 
Mancheat«r  ; — Geological  Society. 

2,  4.  8vo.  1873-74. 
Literary  and  Philosophical  Socie 

8to.  1874. 
MauritiuB  : — Meteorological  Societ 

Dec.  6 ;  1873,  Jan.  16,  Feb.  : 

teoralogical  Observations  take 
Melbourne  : — Boyal  Society  of  Vic 

ings.  Vol.  X.  8vo.  1874. 
Milan  ; — Society  Italiana  di  Scienf/ 

8vo.  1872. 
Moscow  L — SooieW  ImperiaJe  des  X; 

No.  3.  8to.  1874. 
Neuchatel : — Society  des  Sciences  > 

1873. 
Kewcastle-upon-Tyne  : — Chemical 

pp.  161-204.'8vo.  1873-74. 
Iron  and  Steel  Institute.     Joun 


n-f—' 


1874.]  Praentt.  479 

Transactiona  (continued). 

Vienna  :^Anthropologische  GeBellachaft.      Mittheilungeu.  Band  IT. 

Nr.  1,  2.  8vo.   Wien  1874.  The  Society. 

Kaiserliche  Akademie  der  Wisaenachaften.   AnEeiger.  Jahrg.  1874. 

K"!".  1-14,  8to,  The  Academy. 

K,  k,  Geologieche  Beichsanatalt.     Jahrbucb.  Jahrg.  1874.  Nr,  1. 

roy.  8vo.    Verhandlungen.  1874,  Nr.  1-6,  roy.  8vo, 

The  Inatitution. 

OaterreichiBcheGesellschaftfurMeteorologie.   Zeitschrift.  Band  IX. 

Xr.  6-12.  roy.  8vo.  1874.  The  Society. 

Warwick  : — Warwickahire  Natural  History  and  Archaeological  Society, 

Thirty-seventh  Annual  Beport.  8vo.  1873,  The  Society. 


ilcporta,  Obaervations,  &c. 

Berlin  : — Kaiserliche  Admiralitat,  Hydrographische  Bureau,  Die 
tirundl^ien  der  Gauaaischen  Theorie  und  die  Erscheinungen  des 
Erdmagnetiamua  im  Jahre  1829,  von  A.  Erman  und  H.  Petersen. 
4to.  1874.  The  German  Admiralty. 

Eigebniase  der  Beobachtungeetationen  an  den  deutschen  Kiiaten 
iiber  die  physikalischen  EigeDschaften  der  Oataee  und  Nordaee 
und  die  Fiacherei,  1873,  Heft  1-6,  4to.  1874.  Tafeln,  von  G. 
Karaten.  8vo.  Kiel  1874,  The  German  Commiaaion. 

Boston,  U.S.  r— Public  Library,  Bulletin.  No.  18-27.  roy.  8vo.  1871- 
73.  The  Library. 

Calcutta: — Vital  Statiatics  of  the  Bengal  Preaidency,  by  Dr.  J,  L. 
Bryden.  3  vols,  folio.  1871-74  (2  copies). 

The  Sanitary  Commission. 

Cronstadt : — Compass  Observatory.  Morskoi  Sbomik  (Marine  Collec- 
tions).  1873,  No.  3-12  ;  1874,  No.  1-4.  8vo.  St.  Petertburg. 

The  Observatoiy. 

Dublin ;— Weekly  Eetums  of  Births  and  Deaths.  Vol,X.  No.  25-44, 
46-53  ;  Vol.  XI.  No.  1-6,  8,  9,  11-23.  8vo,  1873-74.  Quar- 
terly Eetums.  No.  37-41.  Svo.  1873-74. 

The  £egistrap.Oeneral  of  Ireland. 

Gieasen  : — TTniversitiit.  Theses  by  L.  Boehme,  H.  Braun,  B.  Uasert;, 
A,  Laubenheimer,  L.  Lemcke,  E,  Luebbert,  A.  Streng.  8vo<!fc4to. 
1872-73.  The  University. 

London : — British  Museum.  Guide  to  Felix  Slade's  Collection  of 
Prints,  12ino.  1874.  Guide  to  the  Oneco-Boman  Sculptures. 
12mo.  1874.  Guide  to  the  First  and  Second  Egyptian  Booms. 
12mo.  1874.  The  Trustees. 

Melbourne : — Begiatrar-Gtoneral'B   Office.      Patents    and   Patentees. 
Vol,  I.  to  VI.  4to.  1878.     Absteacts.  Vol.  I,  U.    Abstracts  of 
TOL.  im.  9.  o 


473  On  the  Sun-spot  Period  and  the  HainfaU.         [June  18, 

I  now  eiamined  observftHous  made  at  different  stations  in  India  ;  but 
this  examination  showed  the  extreme  difficulty  of  obluiniug  a  Batiafactorr 
result,  either  way,  from  a  few  statious  in  that  country,  when,  in  certain 
yearB,  the  aci-ideuta!  excess  of  rainfall  at  some  of  the  ataliona  may  be 
40  inches,  even  though  deficiencies  at  some  stations  may  diminish  the 
amount  of  the  error. 

From  my  own  experience  of  rainfall  on  the  Indian  ghats,  I  ahould 
doubt  that  n  monntain-statioa,  such  as  Muasoorie,  is  well  fitted  to  be 
employed  in  this  discussion.  If  a  single  station  could  be  taken  to  repre- 
Bent  any  tract  of  country,  it  ought  to  be  one  least  liable  to  local  causes  of 
TariatioQ.  Among  the  mountains  a  slight  change  in  the  average  direc- 
tion of  the  wind  will  cause  great  differences  in  the  rainfall  at  stations 
but  little  distAnt  from  e«ch  other,  and  to  eliminate  accidental  varUtionB 
of  40  or  80  mches  would  require  observationB  during  a  very  long  seriea 
of  years. 

The  following  Table  will,  however,  show  the  qoantitieH  which  may  hxn 
to  be  dealt  with  at  an  Indian  hill-statioiit : — 

Tataes  of  A£  for  Mahabuleshwar,  4500  feet  above  the  sea,  with  the 
corresponding  values  of  AA. 


Year. 

AA. 

AE. 

Tear. 

di. 

AK. 

1832. 

-359 

in. 
-26-1 

1843. 

-540 

+^2--:» 

1833. 

-658 

-49-3 

1844. 

-466 

+  9-3* 

1834. 

—506 

+  44-3* 

1845. 

-232 

-  3-1 

1835. 

+  171 

-26-3" 

1846. 

-   5 

+35-3" 

1836. 

+  746 

-  9-4* 

1847. 

+  469 

-34-2" 

1837. 

+  556 

+  14-8 

1848. 

+  396 

-  8-0" 

1838. 

+  293 

--2-8- 

1849. 

+  203 

+  85-4 

1839. 

+  164 

-19-8" 

1840. 

-  46 

+31-4* 

1841. 

-306 

+28-0* 

1842. 

-429 

+51-9* 

From  this  Table  we  derive  the  equation 

AE=-002in.  AA, 
or  that  26  inches  more  rain  falls  for  the  year  of  leatt  than  for  that  of 
greatest  spot-area.     The  examination  of  many  series  of  obsen'ations  baa 
shown  how  difficult  it  will  be  to  arrive  at  a  conclusion  for  a  quantity  so 
small  as  2  inches  of  rain. 

It  is  evident  that  a  larger  tract  of  country  than  Great  Britain  should 
be'  chosen,  and  the  approximat*  rainfall  be  deduced  from  the  greatest 

+  For  the  rainfa!!  Ht  Mabsbuleahwar,  «ee  Colonel  Sjkea's  paper  oo  Indian  oboerta- 
tions,  Phil.  TraoB.  1850,  p.  367,    The  mean  M  is  WSO  inche*. 
IndicaUa  oppoaiU  signl  of  AA  and  AB, 


1874.]  Preaentt.  478 

possible  number  of  Btations.  Oennacj  and  France  msy  give  enfficient 
data  for  such  a  trial.  Were  the  result  well  marked,  there  would  be 
reason  to  seek  for  its  confirmation  in  other  countries ;  but  to  undertake 

this  labour,  better  grounds,  I  think,  must  be  found  than  I  have  hitherto 
been  able  to  obtain.  The  admirable  series  of  observations  which  Mr. 
Symons  is  obtaining  will  sufBce  for  the  future,  as  for  the  past,  ten  years' 
to  give  a  very  near  approximation  to  the  excess  or  deficiency  of  rainfall 
in  Great  Britain. 


XXIY.  "  Oq  the  MechaDism  of  Stromboli."    By  Robert  Mallbt, 
M.A.,  P.R.S.     Received  May  17,  1874*. 


The  Society  then  adjourned  over  the  Long  Yacation,  to  Thursday, 
November  19. 


Prttenta  reetived  May  21,  1874. 
Transactions. 

Berlin  i — Physikalische  Gesellschaft.     Die  Fortschritte  der  Physik  im 

Jahre  1869,  redigirt  von  Dr.  B.  Schwalbe.   Jabrgang  25.   8vo. 

Berlin  1873.  The  Society. 

Birmingham: — Institution  of  Mechanical  Engineers.      Proceedings, 

October  30,  1873.  8vo.  The  Institution. 

London  : — Pharmaceutical    Society.       Pharmaceutical    Journal    and 

Transactions.  February  to  May  1874.  8vo.   Calendar.  Svo.  1874. 

Catalogue  of  the  Library.  Svo.  1874.  The  Society. 

Eoyal  United  Service  Instituti(Mi.     Journal.  Vol.  XVII.  No.  74, 

75,  and  Appendix.  Svo.  1873-74.     Lectures  addressed  to  OfBcers 

of  Volunteer  Corps.  Svo.  1873.  The  Institution. 

Manchester : — Geological  Society.      Transactions.  Vol.  XIII.  Part  3. 

Svo.  1874.  The  Society. 

Montreal : — Natural  History  Society.     The  Canadian  Naturalist  and 

Quarterly  Journal  of  Science.  Vol.  VII.  No.  2-4.  8vo.  1873-74. 

The  Society. 

Toronto: — Canadian  Institute.   Canadian  Journal.  Vol.  XIV.  No.  1,2. 

Svo.  1873-74.  The  Institute. 


Beports  Ac. 
Basel : — Zoologischer   Garten.      Erater  Geschaftsbericht   des  Ver- 
waltungsrathes.  4to.  1874.  Heir  A.  Uiiller. 

•  This  Fqptr  will  ^pear  iu  Ko.  169. 


482  Present.  [June  18. 

Hogg  (.Tabez)     The  Pathological  relations  of  the  Diphtheritic  Membrane 
and  the  Croupoua  Cast.  8vo.  London  1873.  The  Author. 

Lartet  (E.)  and  H.  Christy.     Eeliquiaj  Aquitanics,  edited  by  T.  Eupert 
Jones,  F.R.S.  Part  14.  4to.  1873. 

The  Eieoutora  of  the  late  H.  Christy,  Esq. 
JLea  (Isaac)     Not*B  on  Microacopical  Cryatals  included  in  some  Minerals 
&c.  8vo.  Philadelj>hia  1874.  The  Audior. 

M'Cosh  (J.)     On  a  new  Floating  Breakwater.  Svo.  Londm  1874. 

The  Author. 
Menabrea  (L,  F.)     Un'  ultima  Lettera  Bulle  Peripeiie  dcUa  Serie  di  La- 
grange. 4to.  Roma  1874.  The  Author. 
Onialius  d'Halloy  (J,  J.)     Sur  le  Tranafonnisme,  Svo.  Bruxella  1873. 

The  Author. 
Pablos  y  Sancho  )iros^  de)     Memoria  de  la  Cuadratura  del  Circulo.  4tfl. 
Manilla •\i'i2-T-i.     Memoria  del  ducvo  proeedimiento  para  hallsr 
la  Baiz  Cuadrada  a  toda  Cantidad.    4to.    Binonda  1873. 

The  Author. 
Pitt«i  (C.)     Ricordo  del  Prof.  G.  B.  Donati.  8vo-  Firen^  1873. 

The  Author. 

Poey  (A.)     Eapports  pntrc  If!)  taches  aolaires,  les  tremblcmr-nts  dv  t<?rre 

aux  Antilles  et  au  Meiique  et  lea  Eruptions  volcaniqnes  sur  tout  le 

Globe.  4to.  Paris  1874.  The  Author. 

■   Bysselberghe  (F.  \*an)     Notice  Bur  un  SyatSme  M^t&rographique  Uni- 

versel.  8to.  B,it3:ellis  1873.  The  Author. 

Schiaparelli  (G.  V.)     8ul   Calcolo  di  Laplace  intoma  alia  probability 

delle  Orbite  Cometarie  Iperboliche.    Svo.    Milano  1874. 

The  Authw. 

Schrauf  (A.)  und  E.  Dana.     Notiz  iiber  die  thermoelektrischen  Eigen- 

schaften  von  Mineral  varietaten.  Svo.    Wien  1874.        The  Authors. 

Settimanni   (C.)      Supplement  k  la  Kouvelle  Th^orie   des   principaos 

^l^meatB  de  la  Lune  et  du  Soleil.    4to.    Florence  1874. 

The  Author. 

Waterhouae  (J.),  F.R.S.    Eight  Tears'  Meteorology  of  Halifax,  being  a 

Becord  of  Observations  taken  at  Well  Head  during  the  years  1868 

to  1873  inclusive.  4to.  Halifax  1874.  The  Author. 


Photographs  of  Absorption -apectra  of  Didymiuma  and  other  Solutions. 

W.  N.  Hartley. 


Oh  the  Absorption  of  Carbonic  Acid.  483 

"On  the  Abaorptiou  of  Carbonic  Acid  _ by  Saline  Solutions." 
By  J.  Y.  Buchanan,  Chemist  on  board  H.M.S.  '  Challenger.* 
Conununicated  by  Professor  A.  W.WiLLiAMBONj  For.  Sec,  R.S. 
Eeceived  December  11, 1873  *. 

In  the  ezamination  of  sea-water,  whether  it  be  regarded  from  a  chemical 
or  from  a  zoological  point  of  view,  the  determination  of  and  the  varift- 
tious  in  the  amount  of  carbonic  acid  in  different  parts  of  ocean  must 
always  be  an  object  of  importance.  This  is  more  especially  so  when  a 
parallel  aeries  of  observations  on  the  quantity  of  oxygen  present  is 
carried  out.  At  the  surfaoe  we  should  expect  to  find  the  quantities  of 
these  gases  following  the  law  of  partial  pressures ;  at  greater  depths, 
however,  where  the  water  for  long  periods  only  comes  in  contact  with 
water,  we  should  expect  to  find  the  quantity  of  oxygen  decreasing  and 
that  of  carbonic  acid  increasing  with  the  amount  of  animal  life.  The  in- 
vestigation from  this  point  of  view  of  the  bottom-water,  at  greater  and 
smaller  depths,  presents  perhaps  a  more  interesting  field  of  observation 
than  that  of  intermediate  depths.  Down  to  nearly  2000  fathoms  life  is 
still  abundant ;  below  this  depth,  however,  the  amount  rapidly  decreases 
till,  at  about  2800  fathoms,  it  is,  for  carbonic-acid  producing  purposes, 
practically  extinct.  We  have,  then,  to  settle  the  variation  of  the  car- 
bonic acid  with  latitude  and  longitude,  with  depth,  with  nature  of  bottom, 
and  with  nature  of  atmosphere. 

In  order  to  solve  these  problems,  it  is  before  all  necessary  to  have  a 
reliable  method  for  the  determination  of  the  carbonic  acid.  For  the 
discovery  of  a  cause  of  error  in  the  old  method,  and  for  the  invention 
of  a  new  one,  we  ore  indebted  to  Dr.  Jocobsen,  of  Kiel.  Dr.  Jacobsen 
found  that  sea-water  could  not,  as  had  been  till  then  assumed,  be 
thoroughly  freed  from  its  dissolved  carbonic  add  by  merely  boiling  in 
vacuo  f.  He  found  that  it  was  necessary  to  boil  down  almost  to  dryness 
before  the  last  traces  of  carbonic  acid  could  be  expelled.  Being  parti- 
cularly interested  in  the  matter,  I  immediately  commenced  a  series  of 
experiments  to  determine,  if  possible,  the  salt  or  salts  to  which  sea-water 
owes  this  peculiar  property.  A  short  resume  of  the  results  of  these  ex- 
periments have  been  published  as  an  appendix  to  Professor  Wyville 
Thomson's  '  Depths  of  the  Sea.' 

I  purpose  here  to  give  a  detailed  account  of  the  experiments  performed. 
They  consisted  of  two  series — the  one  analytical,  the  other  synthetical. 
In  the  former  I  was  ably  assisted  by  Mr.  George  Macdougald,  in  the  latter 
by  Mr.  Bobert  Bomanes,  junior  assistant  in  Professor  Cnun  Brown's 

*  Read  Febnuuj  19,  1674.    See  anii,  p.  192. 

t  Dr.  Andrsfra  informB  me  that  be  lud  observed  a  iimilor  pbenomODon  vhen  at- 
tempting to  determiiie  the  amount  of  atmoipberic  gaaea  in  seo-wator,  b;  boiling  it  in 
tbe  Torrioelliaa  vscuum  after  Uw  manner  of  nponr-denii^  detorminatioiu. 

VOL.  XZU,  %  -& 


484  Hr.  jr.  T.  Bnehanan  on  ik$  MmffHm  tf 

laborfttoTf  in  the  tTniverritjr  of  Edinburgli,  ud  I  ^adDj  ftTail  iii j  Milf  of 
thia  oppoituQitj  to  tlunk  thnu  botii. 

The  analytic  series  connsted  of  ezperinuoifs  oa  HlatuKu  of  tfcs 
different  salts  saturated  with  carbonic  ftcid.  A  oeriam  qiunUly  <rf  «Mi 
ms  distilled  almost  to  dTyness,  tlw  steam  being  condaoBed  in  an  ordmiy 
Liebig's  condenser,  to  which  was  fitted  a  tnbnlated  TeoelTer,  faAvii^  a 
bulbed  T-tube  attached  containing  baiTta-water.  The  dutillaliaa  «M 
intermpted  and  the  baiTta^wster  changed  after  the  iwii^Bo  of  amf 
eighth  of  the  distillate,  the  amount  of  carbonio  add  paaaed  bsbig  rong^ 
estimated  bjr  the  apparent  turbidity  of  the  bar]rt»>wit«r.  The  objpet  of 
these  experiments  being  to  find  ont  which  of  anuroberofuliiis  Mlnlii^ 
had  the  property  of  retaining  carbonic  add,  and  to  aaontain  roogfalj'wkit 
length  of  time  one  most  btnl  in  order  thoroughly  to  expel  it,  an  amm  ite 
determination  of  the  carbonic  add  actually  passing  during  t^  intanali 
would  hare  been  superflooui.  Besides  these,  a  number  of  qnanfitalin 
determinations  were  made  of  the  amount  of  cubonio  acid  actually 
absorbed  by  different  solutions. 

The  synthetical  series  consisted  of  experiments  for  the  detemunatioB 
of  the  absorption-coeffidenta  of  two  solutions — the  one  of  mlpliato  <( 
magnesia,  the  other  of  sulphate  of  lime. 

Let  us  take  the  analytical  series  first.  As  before  remarked,  it  ia  sub- 
divided into  two  sets,  which  we  shall  treat  in  their  order,  "in.  the  one 
observations  were  made  on  the  elimination  of  the  carbonic  add  as  the 
distillation  proceeded ;  in  the  other  nn  attempt  was  made  to  determine 
how  much  carbonic  acid,  in  a  saline  solution  saturated  with  the  gas,  was 
actually  retained  or  bound,  or  at  least  kept  from  freely  exercuing  its 
properties  as  a  gas,  by  the  presence  of  the  salt  in  the  solution. 

Finl  Exptnment. — In  order  to  have  a  certain  standard  of  comparisoo 
in  judging  the  retardation  caused  by  salts  in  the  escape  of  carbonic  add 
from  solutions  on  boiliog,  distilled  water  was  saturated  with  the  gas  and 
distilled  in  the  manner  indicated  above.  During  the  passage  of  the  first 
eighth  of  distillate  the  gas  evolution  was  of  course  abundant,  during  the 
second  a  perceptible  quantity  passed,  after  which  no  more  could  be  de- 
tected. It  may  be  assumed,  then,  that,  in  the  experiments  which  followed, 
the  carbonic-  add  held  simply  in  toliUion  by  the  water  passes  almost 
entirely  in  the  first  eighth  part  of  the  distillate,  and  that  whaterer 
passes  afterwords  has  been  retained,  in  some  way  or  other,  by  the  salt 
in  solution.  In  conducting  these  experiments  no  baryt»-wat«r  ms 
put  in  the  reedver  itself,  but  only  in  the  V-tube,  The  water  collected 
was  always  tested  with  baryta-water,  and  with  the  general  result  that 
in  the  firet  fraction  carbonic  acid  was  present  in  abundance,  while  in 
the  latter  ones  there  was  rarely  a  trace  to  be  detected.  That  the  dis- 
tillate consisting  of  pure  water  should  contain  not  a  trace  of  the  ga*, 
whose  presence  in  the  atmosphere  above  it  is  attested  by  the  precipitate 


Carbonic  Acid  by  Saline  Solulunu,  485 

in  the  exit-tube,  shows  that,  at  feeble  preasarea,  the  Bolntion  of  carbonic 
acid  requires  conaiderable  time  for  its  completion. 

Second  Experiment, — A  chloride-of-sodium  solution  contfiiniiig  2  per 
cent.  Ifa  CI  had  a  strong  stream  of  CO,  passed  through  it  for  abont  ten 
minutes  and  waa  then  distilled.  During  the  passage  of  the  second* 
eighth  there  was  still  a  conaiderable  quantity,  during  that  of  the  tdiird  a 
Tcry  slight  trace,  and  after  that  none. 

Third  JExperimtnt. — A  chloride-of-magnesium  solution  contMuiug  0-25 
per  cent.  Mg  CI,  vas  treated  in  the  same  way  as  the  chloride-of-sodium 
solution,  when  the  whole  of  the  CO,  passed  in  the  first  fraction, 

Fovrlh  ffirpeWnwnt. — A  solution  containing  4  per  cent.  Mg  C),  and  10 
per  cent.  Xa  01  was  saturated  with  CO,  and  allowed  to  stand  in  a  closed 
■  vessel  over  night.  On  distilling,  it  was  found  that  carbonic  add  con- 
tinued to  be  given  off  in  perceptible  but  gradually  decreasing  quantities 
until  the  end. 

Fi/lh  Experiment. — For  this  and  the  three  following  experiments  a 
solution  containing  12-3  grammes  crystallixed  sulphate  of  magnesia  (in 
a  litre?)  was  used.  Carbonic  acid  was  passed  through  some  of  this 
solution  for  about  10  minutes,  and  the  liquid  allowed  to  stand  in  a 
closed  vessel  over  night.  On  distillation  there  passed  during  the  second 
fraction  very  little,  during  the  third  and  fourth  fractions  decidedly 
more,  during  the  fifth  again  much  less,  and  afterwards,  to  the  end,  slight 
but  perceptible  traces  of  carbonic  add. 

Sixth  Experiment. — The  solution  was  heated  to  neiurly  boiling,  and  CO, 
passed  into  it  until  it  was  cold,  the  whole  being  allowed  to  stand  over 
night.  During  the  passage  of  the  second,  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  frao- 
tions,  the  amount  of  gas  was  about  constant  and  small.  It  increased 
greatly  during  the  sixth,  falling  away  again  during  the  seventh. 

Seventh  Experiment.— "^^q  conditions  were  exactly  the  same  as  those 
of  the  fifth  experiment ;  and  the  results  in  the  two  cases  agreed  weU  with 
each  other,  the  amount  of  gas  coming  ofE  increasing  slightly  about  the 
middle  of  the  operation.  In  order  to  see  if  the  rise  of  temperature  con- 
sequent on  concentration  had  any  thing  to  do  with  the  phenomena  under 
consideration,  a  thermometer  was  immersed  in  the  Iwiling  liquid.  It  read 
at  the  end  of  the  second,  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  fractions  102°-5, 102°-9, 
103°,  and  103°-2  respectively. 

Eigfiih  Experiment. — The  conditions  were  the  same  as  in  the  last, 
only  that  the  solution  stood  two  days  before  dlltillation.  In  the  re- 
sults there  was  this  peculiarity,  that  in  the  fourth  fraction  the  cai^ 
bonic  odd  disappeared  altogether,  reappearing,  however,  agitin  in  the 
fifth. 

*  It  is  unneetMMj  in  the  eases  wliere  no  means  were  (sken  to  free  the  solution 
from  simplj  dinolred  cartmnjo  scid  to  repeat  in  esoh  one  tbst  tlie  first  rnction  con- 
tained abuudsnoo. 


Mr.  J.  Y.  Bucliannn  on  the  Abnorption  of 

Ninth  KrjperiiitftU. — Sea-wal«r  from  the  Firth  of  Forth  waa  dutillwl. 
Here,  iw  in  the  rase  of  the  sulphate  of  ma^esia,  the  amount  coming  off 
incrc&sed  about  the  middle,  falhDg  away  again  in  the  fifth  fraction.  In 
the  siith,  howerer.  It  experienced  a  slight  increase,  falling  off  again 
towards  the  end  of  the  operation. 

From  these  eiperimenta  we  may  conclude  that,  alone  and  in  the 
degree  of  eonceatratiou  in  which  they  occur  in  the  sea,  the  two  moxl 
abundant  salts,  namely  chloride  of  maguesium  and  chloride  o£  sodiuni, 
Bsercisc  no  retarding  influence  on  the  liberation  of  carbonic  acid  on  boil- 
ing. When  mixed,  however,  as  in  the  fourth  eiperiment,  they  appear 
to  hare  thia  effect.  Whether,  if  sufficiently  diluted  to  represent  sen- 
water,  they  would  continue  to  do  so  I  was  unable  to  ascertain,  »a  the 
investigation  of  the  sulphates  occupied  all  the  time  at  my  disposal. .  It 
is  further  evident  that,  in  the  sulphatenaf-magnesia  solution  experimenteJ 
on,  wo  have  a  solution  wliich  behaves  towards  carbonic  acid  in  the  same 
way  as  sea-water. 

Let  us  pass  now  to  the  second  set  of  the  analytical  series — namely,  the 
estimation  of  the  amount  of  carbonic  acid  retained  in  cousoqnence  of  tha 
presence  of  the  salts  in  (luostion.  The  apparatus  used  was  the  same  as 
that  in  the  last  set,  baryta -water  being  contained  both  in  the  receiver 
and  in  the  V-tube. 

Experiments  were  made  on  solutions  of  sulphato  of  magnesia,  of  lol- 
phat«  of  magnesia  and  chloride  of  sodium,  and  of  sulphate  of  lime,  to 
which  were  added  some  on  sea-water  itself.  In  every  erperioieiit  the 
quantity  of  solution  operated  on  was  300  c.  c.  The  carbooic  add 
coming  off  was  retained  by  baryta-water  of  known  strength,  the  re- 
maining free  baryta  being  afterwards  determined  by  means  of  oxalic 
acid.  Eosolic  acid  was  used  to  determine  the  point  of  neutralizataon. 
The  oxalic  acid  was  rather  stronger  than  tenth-normal ;  it  contained 
6'478  grras.  C,H,0,H-2H,0  in  the  litre,  which  is  equivalent  to  2-259 
grms.  carbonic  acid.  1000  c.  c.  baryta-water  required  3235  c.  c.  oxalic 
add  for  neutralization. 

The  method  of  conducting  the  operation  was  as  follows  :— Carixmie 
add  was  passed  through  tfc'  solution  until  it  could  be  assumed  to  be 
saturated.  Six  to  seven  littes  of  air  were  then  drawn  through  it  cold, 
after  which  it  was  heat«d  to  boiling,  and  allowed  to  boil  for  from  two  to 
three  minut«s  in  a  current  of  air.  The  receiver  \vith  the  baryta-sol uticai 
was  then  attached,  fed  the  distillation  continued  in  a  stream  of  air, 
until  the  contents  of  the  flask  were  nearly  dry.  The  baryta-water  then 
remaining  imneutrolized  was  titrated,  and  from  it  the  amount  of  ctirbaaic 
add  ascertained. 

Experimenti  on  tulphate-of-magMiia  solution  containing  12*3  fframnut ' 

eryttallized  talt  per  litre. — As  all  were  conducted  in  precisely  the  same 

■kay,  it  wiU  be  sufSdent  to  give  the  results  in  a  tabular  form.    The  first 


Carbmie  Acid  by  Salme  Sobiiiotu.  4S7 

three  expenmentB  were  m&de  with  portions  of  one  uid  tiie  Bame  Bolu- 
tion ;  for  the  last  two  &  fresh  eolution  (prepared,  to  all  appearance, 
in  exactly  the  same  way  as  the  previous  one)  was  aaed.  The  differ- 
ence in  the  results  obtained  show  the  precarious  nature  of  the  com- 
bination:— 


Volume 

of  eolution 

lued. 

Volume 
ofberytB- 
water. 

Volame 

of  oialio 

add. 

GrunmM 
in300o.c 

oirboDioidd 
inllUre. 

300  0.C 

25c.c. 

78  96  e.  0. 

0O043 

(KI143 

300     „ 

10    „ 

30-0     „ 

0-0053 

OflI65 

300     „ 

10    .. 

30-9     „ 

l>0033 

o-ono 

300     „ 

15    „ 

47-5     „ 

01)023 

0<I077 

300     „ 

10    „ 

31-32  „ 

0<I023 

0-0077 

Two  experiments  were  made  with  a  solution  prepared  as  follows : — 
The  quantity  of  sulphuric  acid  necessary  for  the  formation  of  12-3 
grammes  crystallized  sulphate  of  magnesia  was  diluted  to  a  litre,  and 
pulverized  carbonate  of  magnesia  suspended  in  it.  Although  the  mixture 
was  allowed  to  stand  over  night,  shut  off  from  the  influence  of  the 
atmosphere,  the  solution  was  still  exceedingly  acid.  It  is  well  known 
that  carbonate  of  m^nesia  is  dithcultly  soluble  in  cold  dilute  acids.  To 
have  heated  the  solution  would  have  frustrated  the  object  of  the  experi- 
ment, which  was,  by  bringing  nascent  sulphate  of  magnesia  together 
vith  nascent  carbonic  acid  at  ordinary  temperatures,  to  give  them  the 
best  opportunity  of  combining. 

Two  experiments  were  made  with  a  similarly  prepared  solution  of  sul- 
phate of  lime.  In  this  case  sulphuric  add  was  added  to  the  water  in 
quantity  sufficient  to  form,  with  lime,  more  salt  than  was  necessary  for 
the  production  of  a  saturated  solution  of  g3rpBum.  Here  neutralization 
took  place  without  difficulty,  and,  as  might  have  been  expected,  the 
amount  of  carbonic  acid  formed  was  considerably  greater  than  in  the 
case  of  the  magnesia  salt. 

Two  experiments  were  made  with  an  ordinary  sulphate-of-magnesia 
solution  containing  2-05  grammes  crystallised  salt  per  litre. 

Two  further  experiments  were  made  with  a  solution  containing  3-05 
grammes  sulphate  of  magnesia  and  20  grammes  chloride  of  sodium  per 
litre.  All  were  conducted  in  the  way  described  above,  and  the  results  are 
given  in  the  following  Table,  The  experiments  n-ith  the  carbonates  of 
magnesia  and  lime  were  made  at  a  considerably  later  date  than  the 
othen ;  the  value  of  10  c.  c.  baryta-water  had  in  consequence  become 
equivalent  to  32  c.  c.  instead  of  32*34  c.  c.  oxalic  acid. 


Mr.  J.  Y.  Buchanan  on  the  Absorption  of 


JTnturo 

of 
■olulion. 

Volume 

of  (olulion 

Voliuue 
oflmrrta- 

ToluRio 
of  oxolio 

Mid. 

carbonioadd 
in  300  0.  <:. 

Tn  1  liU*. 

H,SO,      1, 

300  0.0. 

10  0.0. 

30-6  0.C 

OiKBS 

001J)7 

300    „ 

10    „ 

30-9     „ 

O-OO'JS 

"     OflOSS 

0. ».    1 

H,  SO,       \ 

'300    „ 

10    ,. 

275     ,. 

0-1014 

0-3380 

300    ., 

10    „ 

2T'6    „ 

0-lOH 

0-3380 

2^)o  gm>«,      ( 

MgSO^-t-TH,  0-^ 

per  litre,       \ 

3O0    ., 
300    „ 

10    „ 
10    „ 

ai'3    „ 
31-3    ., 

O0026 
O'0O23 

twwei 
0-oon 

Ugao.+7n,0| 

300    „ 

10    „ 

318    .. 

O-OOIU 

tH3053 

Nta      1 

3fX)    ,. 

10    „ 

31-4    „ 

0-00£l 

OOOTO 

Five  cxperimenta  were  made  ivith  Gca-water  taken  at  tlie  end  of 
Portobello  Pier,  on  the  Firth  of  Forth.  In  t!ie  first  three  it  w»s  sub- 
mitted immodiately  to  the  same  treatment  as  the  saline  solutions ;  in  tba 
Isst  two  carbonic  Bcid  was  first  passed  through  it  for  some  time.  As  the 
results  given  in  the  folloning  Table  are  idontieal,  it  u  evident  that,  in 
its  natunil  slate,  the  water  iu  question  was  saturated  with  carbonic  odd 
in  this  peculiar  state  of  combination. 


Experiments  < 


I  Soa-water. 


Volume 

ofwntCT 
UMd. 

Volumfi 

of  barjU- 

water. 

Volume 

of  OMlio 

acid. 

carbonic  acid 
m300o.c. 

Orammes 
carbon  io  acrid 
in  1  litre. 

300  e.0. 

15  a  0. 

3*75  0.0. 

0^)108 

0<XiOO 

300    „ 

10    „ 

23-0     „ 

0-0211 

0-0703 

300    ,. 

10    „ 

M15   „ 

00-208 

0OC03 

300    „ 

10    „ 

23-34   ., 

0K)at3 

0H)677 

300    „ 

10    „ 

23-34   „ 

0-0203 

00677 

Subsequent  experiments  inade  at  sea,  on  water  from  mid-ocean  and 
from  various  depths,  have  shown  me  that  the  above  quantities  are  very 
much  in  excess  of  the  quantities  usually  contained  in  ocean-water.  From 
the  large  quantity  of  organic  matter  poured  into  the  Forth,  not  for  from 
Portobello,  there  must  be  an  abundant  production  of  carbonic  acid  in  the 
wat«r  itself,  and  we  have  seen  above  the  efEect  of  bringing  sulphate  <£  lime 
and  carbonic  together  in  the  nascent  state.  Sea-water  containn,  on  an 
average,  about  8  parts  sulphate  of  lime  in  10,000.  A  satorated  aolntion 
of  the  some  salt  in  diHtilLed  Nvabei  contains  at  15°  C.  24  parts  iu  10,000. 


Carbonie  Acid  by  Saline  Solutions, 

Under  the  most  favour^le  ciTcumBtenDei,  than,  one  voold  expect  aear 
water  to  bind  about  one  third  of  the  quantity  retained  \>y  an  equal 
volume  of  sulphate-of-lime  aolation.  We  hare  seen  that  a  litre  of  this 
solution  us  capable  of  retaining  0*338  grm.  CO,,  while  the  same  Yolume 
of  aea-wator  contained  only  007  grm.,  or  consideiably  leas  than  the  third 
of  that  held  bj  the  sulphate  of  lime.  In  ocean-water  I  have  never  yet 
found  more  than  0'064  gnn.  CO,  per  litre,  including  both  the  simply 
diuolved  and  the  half  hound.  We  have,  then,  in  the  sulphate  of  lime  alone, 
an  agent  capable  of  retaining  much  more  carbonic  acid  than  is  uaually 
found  to  exist  in  sea-water.  Besides  this  there  is  also,  at  least,  the  sulphate 
of  magnesia  possessing  this  properly.  How  much  it  would  be  capable  of 
absorbing  if  the  carbonic  acid  were  presented  in  a  nascent  state  in  a 
neutral  solution  we  do  not  know ;  it  would  be  interesting  to  detennino 
the  amount  of  carbonic  acid  retained  by  a  solphate-of-magnesia  solution 
in  which  organic  matter  had  been  allowed  to  decay. 

The  practical  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  the  preceding  eiperiment« 
is  that,  as  the  carbonic  acid  is  retmned  by  the  presence  of  certain  sul- 
phates, the  gas  will  be  more  easUy  boiled  out  if  we  get  quit  of  these 
sulphates.  For  this  purpose  I  always  add  to  the  sample  of  sea-wat«r, 
in  which  the  CO,  is  to  be  det«rmined,  a  sufficient  quantity  of  a  saturated 
ehloride-of -barium  solution  to  precipitate  all  the  sulphuric  acid  present. 
The  effect  has  answered  my  expectations.  Aft«r  the  first  fifth  of  dis- 
tillate haB  passed,  there  is  rarely  a  perceptible  turbidity  in  fresh  baryta- 
water.  In  practice,  however,  and  as  it  costs  but  little  trouble,  I  always 
distil  oS  from  three  quarters  to  seven  eighths,  and  often  quito  nine 
tenths  of  the  solution. 

The  determination  of  the  carbonic  acid  in  sea-water  is  carried  on  on 
board  the  'Challenger'  by  means  of  an  apparatus,  a  very  slightly  mo- 
dified form  of  the  one  deacribed  by  Dr.  Jacobsen  in  the  '  Annalen  der 
Chemie  und  Pharmacia,'  a  drawing  and  description  of  which  he  was  good 
enough  to  give  me  when  the  '  Challenger '  was  fitting  out, 

A  flask  with  a  capacity  of  about  500  c.  c.  receives  the  se^-water  to  be 
operated  on,  uaually  from  200  c.  c.  to  250  c,  c.  It  is  closed  by  an 
india-rubber  cork,  through  which  pass  two  tubes ;  one,  reaching  to  the 
bottom,  communicates  with  the  condenser,  a  cylindrical  copper  vessel, 
10  in.  high  by  b\  in.  diameter,  with  a  block-tin  w<ffin.  The  lower  end 
of  the  worm  ia  attached  to  the  receiver  by  a  bent  glass  tube  with  a 
flexible  joint,  from  which  a  glass  tube  leads  to  the  bottom  of  the 
receiver.  The  flexibility  thus  obtained  is,  in  practice,  of  the  greatest 
use,  enabling  the  operator,  by  shaking,  to  expose  constantly  fresh  sur- 
faces of  baryta-water  to  the  passing  gases.  The  receiver  ia  connect«d  by 
an  india-rubber  tube  with  two  bulbed  V-tubes.  An  aspirator  enables  a 
stream  of  air  to  be  drawn  through  the  apparatus,  a  soda-lime  safety-tube 
being  interposed  between  it  and  the  T-tubes.  The  water  running  from 
the  aspirator  is  conducted  outside  the  port  by  a  tube  which  passes 


490  Mr.  J.  Y.  Suchauau  on  the  AbtorpHoa  of 


through  a  hole  in  the  eaeh.  The  flask  coDtuoiag  t 
ported  on  u  ring,  b;  a.  clasp  hoiding  its  neck.  Both  oi  these,  along 
the  spirit-lamp  underneath  the  fiaak,  are  attached  in  the  usual  vaj  1 
iron  rod,  which  is  attached  to  the  projectiiig  side  of  the  ship  1^  an 
bolt,  in  which  it  has  a  plaj-  of  rather  more  than  an  inch  in  the  dure 
of  its  length.  The  lower  end  of  the  rod  sits  Becurelf  in  a  htde,  let 
the  t«p  of  the  working-table.  When  the  apparatus  is  dismounted  t^ 
is  pushed  up,  tiU  its  lower  end  has  freed  itself  from  the  hole  and 
flat  along  the  roof,  being  supported  at  one  end  bf  an  eje-lKdt,  al 
other  by  a  hook.  The  aspirator  and  the  condenser  are  retained  in 
places  by  wooden  blocks,  which  fit  in  between  them  and  the  ship's  ni 
the  battens  on  the  bench. 

The  water  in  which  the  carbonic  acid  is  to  be  determined  is  introd 
into  the  flask  by  means  of  a  tube  reaching  to  the  bottom.  Whei 
carbonic  acid  ia  to  be  determined  in  a  specimen  of  water,  the  apparat 
first  put  together  and  a  current  of  air,  free  from  carbonic  add,  di 
through,  care  having  been  taken  to  see  that  it  Is  tborooghly  dry  in  ■ 
parts.  The  corks  in  the  receiver  and  V-tubes  are  then  eased, 
from  15  c.  c.  to  20  c.  c.  baryta-water,  usually  of  about  -^  no 
strength,  run  into  them.  The  water  to  be  examined  is  introduced 
the  flaak  through  a  tube  reaching  to  the  bottom ;  10  e.  c,  of  a  n 
saturated  solution  of  chloride  of  barium  are  then  added,  the  appai 
closed  and  heat  applied.  "When  the  liquid  begins  to  boil,  care  mui 
taken  to  lower  the  (lame  to  aioid  frolhing  over.  A  gentle  eurrei 
air  is  now  conducted  through  the  boiling  liquid,  and  the  receiver 
stantly  agitated.  After  half  an  hour's  boiling,  about  100  c.  c,  ^ 
have  distilled  over,  and  at  the  same  time  all  the  carbonic  acid, 
the  latter  is  the  case,  I  ascertained  by  changing  the  baryta-water  at 
point,  and  continuing  the  distillation,  when  no  turbidity  waa  prodi 
Tliat,  at  any  rate,  no  appreciable  amount  of  carbonic  acid  passes  ; 
even  the  first  60  c.  c.  water  have  been  distilled  over,  may  be  very  e 
seen  by  tho  liquid  iu  the  receiver  passing  from  a  (nrbid,  some 
frothy  solution,  to  a  clear  one,  in  which  a  well-defined  precipitate  is 
peuded,  and  whose  amount  does  not  visibly  alter  as  the  distdlh 
proceeds.  Although  such  is  the  case,  I  liave  usually,  as  it  costs 
little  more  time  and  trouble,  carried  on  the  distillation  until  s 
eighths  hai'e  passed,  and  indeed,  in  many  cases,  until  crystallization 
commenced.  "When  proper  attention  ia  paid  to  the  agitation  of 
receiver  during  the  first  part  of  the  distillation,  the  amount  of  oarl: 
acid  reaching  the  first  T-tube  is  quite  insignificant,  and  the  bai 
water  in  the  second  remains  perfectly  clear.  When  this  operatic 
finished,  the  contents  of  the  V-tubes  are  washed  into  the  receiver 
boiled  water,  aud  the  remaining  alkalinity  determined  with  hydroch 
acid  of  known  and  convenient  strength.  The  jioint  of  ncutralizatit 
indicated  hy  rosolic  acid. 


Carbonic  Acid  by  SaUtie  Solvtiom.  491 

Syntheiieal  Experimentt. — In  order  to  cbeck  the  &bove  experimentB,  it 
appeared  to  me  to  be  of  importance  to  determine  the  absorption-coeffi- 
cients of  one  or  more  of  the  solutions  for  carbonic  acid.  Before  knowing 
any  thing  of  the  retention  of  carbonic  acid  by  sea-w&tor,  I  had  determined, 
if  possible  before  the  sailing  of  the  '  Challenger,'  to  investigate  the  solu- 
tions of  some  of  the  salts  occurring  in  sea-water,  with  reference  to  their 
power  of  absorbing  the  atmospheric  gases.  It  was  well  known  that 
sea-water,  in  common  with  most  other  salt-solutions,  absorbed  a  smaller 
quantity  of  sir  than  distilled  water  would  do  under  the  same  circum- 
stances ;  but  it  had  never,  to  my  knowledge,  been  attempted  to  find  out 
whether  this  diminution  of  absorptive  power  was  distributed  equally 
over  the  three  gases,  or  was  exhibited  mora  etroi^ly  in  the  case  of  one 
gas  than  in  that  of  another.  From  a  preliminary  experiment  in  which  a 
2  per  cent,  solution  of  Na  CI  in  distilled  water  was  saturated  with  air  and 
the  air  then  expelled  and  analyzed,  it  appeared  that  the  oxygen  was 
present  in  slightly  greater  quantity  relatively  to  the  nitrogen  than  would 
have  been  the  case  if  the  liquid  had  been  distilled  water.  Of  course,  this 
being  the  result  of  only  one  experiment,  no  conclusion  can  be  drawn  from 
it ;  but  it  shows  the  necessity  of  the  investigations  which  I  had  proposed 
to  myself.  'U'nfortunat«ly,  the  time  at  my  disposal  was  l«o  short  to  allow 
of  any  thing  being  done,  except  a  few  experiments  with  carbonic  add  and 
solutions  of  sulpluite  of  magnesia  and  of  sulphate  of  lime. 

For  this  purpose  I  made  use  of  a  Bunaen's  absorptiometer,  and  fol- 
lowed his  method,  with  the  modifications  rendered  necessary  by  having 
to  do,  not  with  a  simple  liquid,  but  with  a  saline  solution.  The  carbonic 
acid  was  introduced  into  the  absorption-tube  and  measured,  not  in  the 
mercurial  trough,  but  in  the  absorptiometer  itself,  the  lid  being  left  open. 
This  is  a  much  more  expeditious  way,  inasmuch  as  the  gas  quickly 
assumes  the  temperature  of  the  water  of  the  absorptiometer ;  and  as  the 
readings  after  absorption  are  all  done  in  this  way,  there  can  be  no 
object  in  reading  the  gas  alone  in  another  way.  After  absorption,  the 
instrument  is  always  read  with  the  lid  shut,  so  that  what  corresponds 
to  the  height  of  mercury  in  the  trough  is  given  by  the  height  of  it  in  the 
outside  graduated  leg  of  the  absorptiometer.  In  all  of  the  determinations 
this  height  is  given,  not  in  the  reading  on  the  leg  itself,  but  in  the  cor- 
responding reading  on  the  absorption-tube,  which  can  be  directly 
observed  with  sufficient  accuracy  with  the  ordinary  telescope  used  in  gas- 
analysis.  As  after  shaking  the  instrument  and  opening  the  stopcock 
connecting  the  leg  with  the  body  of  the  instrument  some  of  the  water 
frequently  passed  into  the  former,  we  have  generally  a  reading  marked 
"  water  in  outer  leg,"  which  forms  a  factor  in  estimating  the  tension  of 
the  gas. 

The  solutions  experimented  on  were,  one  containing  1-23  per  cent, 
crystallized  eulpfaato  of  magnesia  and  one  containing  0*205  per  cent, 
gypsum.    It  was  neceesary  that  the«6  solutions,  before  \>wa%  Ssixs^Asisaii. 


493  Mr.  J.  Y.  Buchanan  on  the  Absorption  of 

into  the  absorption -tube,  should  be  deprived  of  air  tvithout  off' 
their  state  of  concent  ration.  This  was  cffoctad  in  tbo  following 
A  flask  fl*aa  filled  up  to  a  mark  in  the  nock  with  the  solutaon,  Iialf 
was  then  emptied  into  another  flask  and  the  two  boiled,  while  di 
water  was  kept  boiling  in  a  third.  When  the  boiling  had  been  ke 
for  about  half  an  hour,  the  contents  o£  the  sMoud  flask  were  en 
into  the  first  and  woBhed  out  witb  tho  hot  distilled  water,  the  volui 
the  Holution  being  brought  in  this  way  up  tu  the  mark,  and  bo  for 
it  as  was  equivalent  to  the  expansion  of  the  solution  for  the  differci 
temperatures.  A  glass  syringe  of  convenieut  size  was  now  filled 
the  boiling  liquid  and  passed  hot  into  the  abaorjition-tube.  This  mi 
may  be  objected  to  on  two  grounds ;  iirst,  tiiat  there  is  some  unoert 
a!:>out  the  exact  concentration  of  the  solution  when  introduced  iat 
absorption-tube  ;  and,  second,  that  some  air  may  have  been  absorbc 
the  liquid  in  ila  passage  through  the  syringe  to  the  tube.  Aa  ti 
first  objection,  when  the  operation  is  carried  out  in  tho  way  I 
described,  the  possible  diSereuee  between  the  actual  and  assumed 
c«ntration  is  ho  small  that  it  would  be  extremely  imlikely  to  haT« 
influence  on  the  coefficient  o£  absorption  of  the  bquid.  Ab  to  the  ao 
if  the  manipulations  be  expeditiously  carried  out,  there  is  but  little 
that  tlie  liquid  at  so  high  n  temperature,  and  exposed  to  the  sui»U  q 
tity  of  air  of  diminished  tension  in  the  syringe,  should  be  contamii 
in  an  appreciable  way.  However  much  or  little  importance  one 
attach  to  these  possible  sources  of  error,  they  probably  explain  wh 
whole  subject  has  been  left  almost  entirely  untouched. 

Our  object  in  these  experiments  is,  not  to  determine  the  abaorp 
coedicient  for  a  standard  pressure  such  aa  7G0  miUims.,  but  to  deter 
it  for  various  pressures,  the  temperature  being  kept  as  luiiform  as 
cumstances  will  permit,  and  to  compare  the  results  obtained  with  I 
calculated  for  distilled  water. 

Let  V=volume  of  gas  (at  0°  and  700  niillims.)  beiore  introdui 
of  solution, 

V,=yolume  (reduced  to  0'^)  of  gas  after  absorption, 

Pj^pressure  of  this  gas, 
then  the  volume  of  gas  absorbed  will  be 

'  7ti0 

And  if  A  be  the  volume  of  the  solution,  we  have  for  tho  coefflcieu 
absorption  at  pressure  P,  and  tho  temperatiure  of  obserratiou. 


Two  series  of  experiments  were  made  on  solution  of  eulpliati 
magnesia  contnining  1*23  per  cent,  cry staliieed  salt,  and  one  aeriet 
Bulphate-of -lime  solution  containing  0'20j  per  cent,  of  CaS0j+2t 


Carbotue  Acid  by  SaJmc  Sohtioiu. 

Tbe  detailed  results  are  given  in  four  T&blei.  In  the  Grat  are  given  the 
original  volumes  of  the  carbonic  add  used  in  esch  series,  n-ith  the  data 
for  finding  the  same.  In  columns  1  and  2  are  found  the  volumes  used 
in  series  I.  and  II.  reapectivelj  for  sulphate  of  magnesia ;  in  columu  3 
ia  the  volume  for  the  BulphateK)f-lime  experiments. 
Tabu  I. 
Table  giving  the  original  volumes  of  carbonic  acid  used  in  the  three 
series  of  experiments  I.,  II.,  and  III. 


1. 

2. 

8. 

2 

? 

T 
P 

V 

741-6 
694 
323 
271 

562 

40-7 

10'8 
9-665 
001-5 

73-267 

48-509 

741-5 
561 
322 
259 
544 
40-15 

e-8 

9046 
618-a 
73-039 
47-600 

738-5 

686 
331 
255 
058 

4118 

10-8 
9-866 
513 

75-09 

48-759 

Height  of  water  column  in  oaUir  crlinder... 

Tapour-leniion  for  (° 

HeactingprMurefi-ii+s-T)  

Volume  in  c.  o.  of  b,  from  calibration  Table 
Volume  (v)  reduced  to  0°  and  760  millinu. 

In  series  III.  (Table  IV.)  with  sulphate  of  lime,  and  in  series  I. 
(Table  II.)  with  sulphate  of  magnesia,  the  readings  were  made  without 
loss  of  time,  the  pressure  being  successively  increased  for  each  experi- 
ment. In  series  II.  (Table  III.}  particular  attention  was  paid  to  the 
length  of  time  this  gas  and  solution  were  in  contact  at  the  different 
pressures,  and  for  each  experiment  the  pressure  was  successively 
diminished.  They  were  left  in  contact  for  nine  days  at  the  highest 
pressure  (column  1)  before  reading;  No.  2  wos  read  twenty-two  houn 
later,  No.  3  forty-one  hours  later  than  No.  2,  No.  4  twenty-five  hoiin 
later  than  No.  3,  and  No.  5  aft«r  the  lapse  of  some  days. 

Haslb  II. 
SeterminatioDa  of  the  absorption-coefGcient  of  a  1*23  per  cent,  solutioa 
of  crystallized  sulphate  of  magnesia  for  carbcmic  acid  at  the  tem- 
peratures and  pressurea  indicated.    Te-46'609  o.  c. 


BaromeUx  

ThemiomeUr 

Outer  lerel  of  merouTj 

Inner  lerel  in  abtorption- 

tubo 

Upper  lerel  of  lolulion  in 

anorption-tube  

Upper  leTol  of  miter  in  outer 

Bee^tant    mtter    column 


741-5 

120 
568-7 

314-2 


293-0 

234-0 


2420 
-104-0 


102fl 
352-0 

-106-0 


736-0 
119 
1825 

199-0 

395 

123-0 

-loo-o 


Mr.  J.  Y.  iiuchanan  on  the  Abtorplion  qf 
Tabie  II .  (wniinwrf.) 


1. 

a. 

3u 

4. 

Tapour-lemion  torC 

BesultAnt  preuure  on   gu 

VolumB  in  c.  c.  of  c,  from 

odibration  T.blB    

VoluiQB  B  reduced  to  0°  and 

i 

P, 
V, 

*; 

-  11-3 

10-457 

476-M 

36043 

22-100 
71-218 
M-275 

O-7O05 

O'fiWB 

-    7-68 
10-120 

C627 

ifrin 

1»343 

50«7a 

0-9562 
(H)631 

-    7-07 
10-389  . 

68114 

33-481 

17-206 
67-S«8 

31-487 

0*496 
0-W55 

-    7-S8 
lfr3» 

736-73 

9*18 

8-983 
4a^&l 

l-UMS 
10718 

Volume  of  solution  iv,-t)  . 

,ureP,«illiu«.I;i.„. 

tiil«l*™£br  for  same  Uin- 
penture  and  pressnw  ... 

Table  III. 
Determinaticins  of  the  absorption-coefRcieiit  o(  a  1"23  per  cent,  solntiaa 
of  ciystoIliEed  sulphate  of  iDOgneaia  for  the  tcmperaturea  and  pres- 
surea  indicated,  the  duratioii  of  the  reKtion  being  taken  into  a<xrouiit. 
V=:  47-650  c.  c. 


I. 

2.          1        3. 

4. 

h. 

/. 

w 

i 

V, 

*: 

736-5 
U-l 
630 

174-5 

40« 

30 

-73'0 
-  r,-4fi 
9-867 

8-327 

0-905 

]0'439 
3D-761 
20-8S6 

I -2467 

1-3052 

737-0 
II-O 

257-0 

2305 

95-8 

196-0 

-72-7 
-  5-37 
9-793 

695-3 

22106 

19-441 

52-337 
30-231 

00331 

1-0145 

747-0 
10-45 
446-5 

265-6 

131-4 

383-0 

-GO-7 
-  515 
9-443 

551-5 

30-07 

21-016 
60-256 
30-186 

08823 
0-M61 

742-0 
11-1 
B06-0 

277-0 

143-0 

440-0 

-68-0 
-  5-03 
9-857 

498-1 

32-G7 

20-.WB 
62-841 
30171 

0-S974 

0-7456 

OuUt  IbtbI  of  mercury  

553-5 

Upper  leral  of  solution  in 

Upper  Ipvel  of  wsler  column 

Bcsultant     water   ccliinm 
{a     f     i,+c,}      . 

-  Stt 

9«SI 

468-fl 

36-32 

23«l 
88-73 
3(W0) 

O-Sffl 

O-TClt 

Exultant  pressure   on   gru 

VtSumo  in   0.  r.  ot  c,  from 

Volume  t-  reduocd  lo  0°  and 

t 

Volume  of  BoluKonfs.-^)... 

Coelllrient  of  ubsorption  for 
Umperaturo  (°  and  prr-s- 
«urBP,niimn.B.I^.,, 

tilled  waUT  for  same  Iflm- 
peroturo  and  preesiirB 

Carbonic  Acid  by  Saline  Soltiiiona. 

Table  IV. 
Determinationa  of  tbe  absorptioii-coefBdeDt  of  a  0-205  per  cent,  solation 
of  gypsum  for  carbonic  acid  at  the  temperatures  and  presBurea 
iadieated.     V=48-75fl  c.  c. 


tarolneter    

[hermameter  

)ulor  IbtbI  of  mercury 
Iddbt  1«vel  in  absorp- 


Jpper  leTel  of  water 
ID  outer  leg 

iMultont  watflr 

column 

!«,-/,-',+<,}.. 

IquiTalent  mereurj- 

column 

rapour-temion  for  (° 
iMultaoC  pre»ure  on 

gM 

calibration 


rolnme' 

TMe 
Tolnme  f  reduced  to  0  ° 

and  760millime. ... 
Volume  in  a.  o.  of  6, 
Tolume   of    solution 

.. (".--;) ■■•■:■•■:■ 


4305 
274-5 

163-6 
43G-0 


5M-S7 
35-02 


47-73 
27-90 


-  B-86 
9-867 

770-8 

15-42 

15-028 
43-80 


-745 

-  5-5 
0-857 

805-2 

13-87 


eeO'S 

10-43 


Ibsorption-cocfficient 
of  distilled  water 
tor  same  («nipem- 
ture  and  preoure... 


Comparison  of  the  results  of  series  I.  and  II,  shows  the  effect  whicli 
these  sulphates  have  in  tJtering  the  power  of  absorption  of  water  for 
carbonic  acid,  -when  they  aie  allowed  sufficient  time  for  the  reaction. 
The  subject  of  the  abaorption-power  of  saline  solutions  is  one  of  much 
importance,  and  affords  aa  almost  inexhaustible  field  for  research,  when 
the  effect  of  varying  the  natiuv  of  the  salt,  the  strength  of  the  solution, 
the  temperature,  tiie  pressure,  and  the  duration  of  the  action  of  the  solu- 
tion on  the  gas  are  taken  into  account.  I  hope,  at  some  future  time,  to 
be  able  to  resume  this  interesting  inquiry. 

U.M.S.  '  ChaUengttr,'  Simoa'i  Bay,  Not.  4,  1873. 


4M  Mr.  U.  Mallet  on  the 

"  On  the  Mechanism  of  Stromboli."     By  Robert  Mallet,  MJL, 
F.R.S.     Received  May  17,  1874*. 

Stromboli  and  Slaaaya  stand  oloue,  so  far  as  observation  has  vet  gone, 
amongst,  the  volcanic  vents  of  our  planet,  in  the  remarkable  charactoristic 
of  having  a  distinctly  rhytbmical  intermittence  and  recurrence  in  their 
eruptive  action.  Masaya,  though  known  for  about  300  years,  has  been 
but  little  obBerved,  so  that  some  doubt  may  exist  as  to  whether  it«  adicm 
be  truly  int«rmilt«at  and  recurrent  or  not ;  and  if  we  leave  it  sside  for 
future  observation,  Stromboli  stands  unique  amongst  terrestrial  volcnnoe* 
in  the  rhythmical  character  of  its  eruptions,  more  or  less  accurate  obser- 
Tfttions  as  to  which  are  upon  record  for  above  2000  years.  Every  vol- 
canic vent  is  indeed  intermittent,  and  often  recurrent,  in  its  action,  whioh 
has  been  properly  denominated  paroxysmal,  but  no  law  can  be  traced  in 
the  inten-ala  of  time  elapsing  between  the  paroxysms.  A  vent  may  sud- 
denly open  and  a  cone  be  thrown  up,  as  in  the  case  o£  Mont©  Nuovo,  and 
after  this  burst  volcanic  effort  may  cease  there,  perhaps  permanently  j  or, 
as  in  the  case  of  Vesuvius,  prior  to  A.n.  7fl,  a  period  of  repose  mav  exist 
in  a  volcanic  cone  already  formed,  exceeding  human  local  tradition,  to  bo 
Bueoeeded  by  paroxysmal  efforts,  rarvinp  eimrmously  in  intensitv,  and 
with  intiLTvals  in  lime  bi:-(:«r"'ri  ~i]rri<si\i>  criiplion^  \:irvi]np  from  hours  to 
centuries.  In  all  tliese  there  ia  no  rhytbmical  recurrence,  or  at  least  none 
that,  upon  the  narrow  scale  open  to  our  observation,  can  be  viewed  ■■ 
such.  In  Stromboli,  on  the  contrary,  there  is  a  distinctly  rhythmical  inter- 
mittence  and  recurrence,  so  regular  in  time,  and  preserving  for  centnriM 
such  a  general  uniformity  in  energy,  and  of  such  sbght  violence,  as  to 
point  to  some  distinct  train  of  mechanism  as  producing  it — that  me- 
chanism, whatever  be  its  nature,  being  comprehended  vithin  a  moderate 
distance  from  the  surface,  and  not  referable  to  the  more  mighty  and  deep- 
seated  forces  which  determine  the  uncertain  and  altogether  unpredictable 
paroxysms  of  volcanoes  generally.  Not  that  the  rhythmic  intervals  of 
Stromboli  are  precisely  the  same  at  all  times,  as  has  been  erroneously 
stated  by  many  travellers,  nor  the  i-iolence  of  its  outbursts  at  all  times 
aUke ;  but  both  vary  within  narrow  limits  during  the  immense  historic 
period  that  it  has  been  observed.  No  satisfactory  explanation  has  yet 
been  given,  so  far  as  the  author  is  aware,  of  the  physical  and  mechanical 
condition  constituting  the  mechanism  upon  which  this  extremely  curioos 
rhythmical  action  depends  ;  and  it  is  the  object  of  this  paper  to  point  ont 
what  appears  to  be  its  real  nature.  It  is  the  more  worthy  of  attentive 
study,  as  Strombob  is  in  reality  the  link  thateonnects  two  widely  different 
phenomena — namely,  the  ordinary  cone  of  eruption  and  the  geyser. 
Stromboli  is,  in  fact,  a  volcano  and  a  geyser  united  and  acting  together 
in  the  same  vent,  the  rhythmical  action  which  characterizes  the  geyser 
"  Bead  Juno  18, 1874.    See  anti,  p.  473. 


Mechanism  of  Siromboli.  497 

being  thtiB  commnnicated,  within  certun  limits,  to  the  otherwise  irregular 
and  accidental  activity  of  the  volcano. 

Passing  ancient  accounts,  Stromboli  has  been  viaited  in  modem  days, 
amongst  men  of  science,  by  SpallanEani,  Dollomiea,  Hoffman,  Scrope, 
Daubeny,  and  several  others ;  but  no  very  full  or  exact  description 
of  tbe  crater  and  its  adjuncts,  much  less  any  adequate  explanatioa 
of  the  curious  mechanism  of  its  action,  has  been  given  hj  any  of  thesA 
writers. 

Hoffman's  account  of  the  phenomena  witnessed  by  him,  though  far 
from  clear  or  satisfactory,  is  curious  enough  to  deserve  translation 
here  : — "  The  volcano  appeared  to  have  changed  into  a  hot  mineral 
spring ;  then  at  irregular  times  we  observed  that  the  continually  deve- 
loping steam  be(!hme  stationary,  and,  with  a  jerking  uncertain  motion, 
rushed  back  into  the  mouth  of  the  crater.  At  the  same  time  we  felt  a 
terrifying  trembling  of  the  ground,  accompanied  by  visible  oscillationB  of 
the  loose  crater-sides.  Then  followed  a  hollow  roar,  and  a  volume  of 
steam  shot  out  of  the  crater,  accompanied  by  a  shrill  crackling.  Thou- 
sands of  laTar-fn^ments,  which  had  been  carried  up  with  the  steam,  spread 
in  the  air  like  sheaves,  and  then  fell  back,  either  into  the  mouth  or  on 
the  surrounding  cinder  and  sand  walls.  "We  could  distinctly  see  (parti- 
cularly on  this  occasion)  the  boiling,  seething  lava  dash  against  the  sidei 
of  the  shaft,  separate  into  two  streams,  and  then  fall  back ;  but  the  lava 
ejected  in  bubbles  flew  far  through  the  air,  twisting  and  tearing  along, 
foaming  drops,  bright  as  cooled  glass,  clattering  as  they  rolled  down  the 
declivity." 

Mr.  Scrope  makes  the  following  remarks  in  his  '  Yolcanos '  (second 
edition,  pp.  332-334)  :— 

"  The  remarkable  circumstance  in  this  small  but  interesting  volcano  is 
that  the  column  of  lava  within  its  chimney  is  shown,  by  the  constant  ex- 
plosions that  take  place  from  its  surface  at  intervals  of  from  five  to  fifteen 
minutes,  casting  up  fragments  of  scoriform  lava,  to  remain  permanently 
at  the  same  height,  level  with  the  lip  of  the  orifice  at  the  bottom  of  the 
crater,  and  therefore  some  2000  feet  abore  the  seo-level.  It  is  evident 
from  this  thot  nearly  a  perfect  equilibrium  is  preserved  between  the  ex- 
pansive force  of  the  intumescent  lava  in  and  beneath  the  vent,  and  the 
repressive  force,  consisting  in  the  weight  of  this  lofty  column  of  melted 
matter,  together  with  that  of  the  atmosphere  above  it ;  consequently  a 
very  small  addition  to  or  subtraction  from  the  latter,  such,  for  instance, 
as  a  change  in  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere,  must  to  tome  extent,  how- 
ever small,  derange  the  equilibrium.  It  need  not  therefore  surprise  ns 
that  the  inhabitants  of  the  island,  chiefly  fishermen,  who  ply  their  perilous 
trade  day  and  night,  within  sight  of  the  volcano,  declare  that  it  serves  - 
them  in  lieu  of  a  weather-glass,  warning  them  by  its  increased  activity  of 
a  lightening  of  the  atmospheric  pressure  on  the  volcano — equivalent  to  s 
fall  of  the  mercury — and  by  its  sluggishness  giving  them  assurance  ol  ^Vi.% 


Mr.  R.  Mnllet  o 

reverse.  It  is  the  tension  of  heated  steam  or  water  lUsiieuiiiiated  through 
the  lava  in  and  beneath  the  vent  which  occasioas  its  eruptive  action,  and 
the  boiJing-point  of  every  drop  or  bubble  must  be  sensibly  affeclod  by 
every  barometric  variation 

"  In  (lie  foul  weather  of  winter  I  was  assured  by  the  inhabitants  that 
the  eruptions  are  sometimes  very  violent,  and  that  the  whole  flank  of  the 
mountain  immediately  below  tho  cr«t«r  is  then  ^jccaaionally  rent  by  a 
fissure,  which  dischajgea  lava  into  the  sea,  but  must  be  very  soon  sealed 
up  again,  as  the  lava  shortly  afterwards  finds  its  way  once  more  to  the 
summit,  and  boils  up  there  as  before.  Captain  Smyth  found  the  sea  in 
front  of  this  talus  unfathomable,  which  aceounts  for  the  remarkable  fact 
that  the  constant  eruptioua  of  more  than  2000  years  have  failed  to  fill  up 
this  deep-sea  hollow." 

Dr.  Daubeny  ('  Vole-anos,'  second  edition,  p.  248)  appears  to  hai'e 
given  but  a  cursory  examination  to  the  crat-er ;  and  in  his  observations  ou 
its  phenomena  only  repeats  SpalhuiKani,  Hofim&n,  and  Mr.  Scrope,  as 
(oUowa  : — 

"  The  unremittent  character  of  tbe  eruptions  of  Stromboli  appears  to 
arise,  as  Mr.  Scrope  has  suggested,  from  the  exact  proportion  maintained 
between  the  expansive  and  repressive  force.  The  expansive  arises  from 
the  generation  of  a  certain  amount  of  aqueous  vapour  and  of  elastic 
fluids  ;  the  repressive  from  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere,  and  from  the 
weight  of  the  Buperincumbent  volcanic  products." 

The  mechanism,  as  imagined  by  Mr.  Scrope,  fails,  in  the  author's  opi- 
nion, to  account  either  for  the  rhythmical  character  of  the  eruptions  or 
for  the  alleged  connexion  between  them  and  the  state  of  the  weather. 
No  equilibrium  between  the  "  expansive  "  and  the  "  repressive  "  forces  can 
possibly  exist  at  the  moment  of  an  outburst,  the  circumstances  of  which 
prove  an  excess  of  pressure  of  many  atmospheres,  which  has  been  gradually 
increasing  since  the  last  outburst  became  quiescent. 

To  account  for  the  actual  facts,  we  must  have  sucli  a  train  of  natural 
mechanism  as  shall  cause  a  gradual,  though  rapid,  iacreaso  of  steam- 
pressure  within  or  beneath  the  vent  or  tube  of  the  volcano,  imtil  the  ac- 
cumulated pressure  suffices  to  overcome  whatever  obstacles  it  may 
encounter,  solid  or  liquid,  and  by  blowing  these  away  release  the  pressure 
itself  in  a  burst  of  steam,  stones,  dust,  &c.  The  conditions  producing 
this  gradual  increase  of  steam-pressure  must  be  such  as  shall  give  rise  to 
the  rhythmical  recurrence,  at  comparatively  short  intervals,  of  fbe  pheno- 
mena. These  conditions  are  certainly  not  to  be  found,  either  in  the 
general  nearness  of  balance  of  any  eipanaii'e  and  repressive  forces  alone, 
or  in  any  conceivable  relation  between  these  and  variations  of  atmospheric 
pressure. 

Mr.  Scrope  has,  as  the  author  believes,  greatly  overrated  the  altitude  of 
the  fundus  of  the  crater  in  stating  it  at  2000  feet  above  the  sea.  But  let  as 
suppose  the  height  of  the  column  of  liquid  lavs,  between  the  level  of  the  sea 


Mechaninn  qf  StromboH.  499 

and  the  fundus  of  the  crater,  to  be  one  fourth  of  this,  and  the  expanidve 
and  repressive  ftgencies  in  the  nicely  balanced  equilibrium  assumed,  what 
effect  could  any  variation  of  barometric  pressure,  within  the  limits  ever 
experienced  on  any  part  of  our  globe,  produce  in  disturbing  such  equi- 
librium ?  A  rise  or  fall  o£  the  barometer  at  the  rate  of  a  tenth  of  an  inch 
per  hour  is  known  only  to  occur  in  connexion  with  the  most  violent  hur- 
ricanes. A  fall  of  half  an  inch  in  the  mercury  within  three  or  four  hours 
exceeds  probably  the  utmost  that  occurs  in  connexion  with  the  most  vio- 
lent Mediterranean  storms.  But  let  us  suppose  a  fall  of  two  inches  in 
the  barometer  to  take  place  instantaneously,  how  far  would  that  affect  the 
equilibrium  supposed  of  such  a  column,  however  supported,  and  whether 
free  from  aeriform  matter  or  containing  vesicles  thereof  ?  Two  inches  of 
mercury  are  equivalent  to  about  -^  of  the  usual  pressure  of  the  atmo- 
sphere, or  to  less  than  one  pound  to  the  square  inch  at  the  sea-level.  The 
liquid  lava  supposed  to  fill  the  column  may  be  allowed  to  have  a  specific 
gravity  of  at  least  2-000 ;  a  rise  or  fall,  therefore,  of  a  single  foot  in  the 
top  surface  of  this  column  would  equilibrate  this  exaggerated  amountand 
rapidity  of  barometric  change.  But  the  head  of  the  column  itself  is  de- 
scribed by  Hoffman  as  continually  in  oscillation  upwards  and  downwards 
through  several  feet.  It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  changes  of  atmo- 
spheric pressure  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  mechanism  pro- 
ducing the  recurrent  action  of  this  volcano. 

"Whatever  reality  there  may  be  iu  the  notion,  long  handed  down, 
of  some  connexion  between  the  degree  of  activity  of  this  volcano  and 
changes  of  weather  appears  to  be  merely  superficial,  and  the  true  inter- 
pretation will  be  referred  to  further  on.  In  any  case  this  notion  of 
equilibrium  within  the  chimney  of  this  particular  volcano,  and  its  dis- 
turbance by  changes  of  atmospheric  pressure,  would  be  equally  applicable 
to  every  volcanic  vent  in  the  world,  and  fails  to  throw  any  light  upon  the 
special  phenomena  which  characterize  Stromboli,  viz.  the  quasi  regular 
recurrence  of  its  bursts  forth.  The  geysers  of  Iceland  belch  forth  water 
and  steam,  and  occasionally  stones,  agd  the  order  of  recurrence  is  the  same 
whichcharacterizeatboHeof  StromboH.  The  latter  does  not  send  forth  water  . 
en  maste,  its  ejecta  being  steam  mixed  with  some  gases,  carrying  up  con- 
siderable masses  of  solidified  lava,  chiefly  iu  angular  blocks,  mixed  occa- 
sionally, but  not  always,  with  torn  shreds  and  lumps  of  half-solidified 
lava,  in  a  more  or  less  plastic  state,  together  with  a  preponderant  volume 
of  dusty  pulverulent  matter.  It  is  highly  probable  that  water,  not  in  the 
state  of  steam,  but  in  that  of  solid  drops,  is  frequently  blown  from 
Stromboli,  and  such  may  be  felt  falling  to  leeward  after  some  of  the  bursts 
forth,  though  not  after  all.  It  may  be  doubtful,  however,  whether  or  not 
these  drops  may  arise  from  steam  condensed  in  the  (ur. 

We  thus  have,  to  the  same  succession  of  phenomena  as  those  of  the 
geyser,  superadded  in  Stromboli  some  of  those  of  a  volcanic  vent,  of  feeble 
but  lung-continued  activity. 
VOL.  zxn.  ^  ^ 


&00  Mr.  R.  Maliet  on  the 

The  phenomena  of  geysers  were  for  n  long  time  suppoeed  peculiar  to 
Iceland ;  sad  although  they  are  now  known  to  exist  elsswliere,  their 
characteristics  are  nowhere  better  observable  than  in  Iceland. 

The  recurrence  of  their  outbursts,  their  duration  and  iutervnls,  wem 
very  well  described  by  Von  Troil  in  his  '  Lettei^  on  Iceland '  in  1 772,  and 
have  been  further  described  by  Sir  George  Mackeniie  in  1810. 

Henderson  had  ascertained  that  atones,  or  other  obstacles,  thrown  into 
the  geyser-tube  influenced  the  interval  between  two  outbursts  generally 
by  increasing  it,  and  gave  rise  to  augmented  violence  in  the  outburst  when 
it  came,  the  stones  being  projected  back  along  with  the  water,  and  rising 
much  higher  than  the  latter,  as  might  have  been  predicted  from  dynamic 
considerations .  Sir  John  Herschel  suggest-ed  an  explanation  of  gersei^ 
phenomena,  based  upon  modifications  of  the  mechanism  iong  previously 
proposed  to  account  for  those  of  intermittent  springs.  His  explanation, 
though  tenable,  certainly  does  not  apply  to  all  observed  cases,  and  issearoely 
likely  to  be  the  true  one,  because  a  much  simpler  mechanism  has  been 
since  pointed  out :  and  it  may  be  taken  as  certain  that,  in  eiplainiog  all 
natural  phenomena,  the  simplest  is  the  true  one.  This  was  discovered 
by  Bunsen  and  Des  Cloizeaux,  who  in  1846  esamined  the  geysers  of  Ice- 
land, and  ascertained  the  fact  that  towards  the  bottom  of  the  tube  of  the 
Great  Geyser,  at  a  depth  of  78  feet  from  the  lip  of  the  basin,  a  thermo- 
meter immersed  in  the  rising  column  of  water  rose  to  206°  Pahr.,  or  to 
more  than  50°  above  the  boiling-point  of  water,  under  atmospheric 
pressure  only ;  and  these  authors  conclude  that,  as  the  flow  of  water  which 
replenishes  the  tube  after  an  outburst  causes  the  aqueous  column  gradually 
to  rise  to  the  lip  of  the  basin,  the  temperature  of  the  water  at  the  lowest 
part  of  the  column  continues  to  rise  ;  and  whether  it  receives  its  acceesiou 
of  beat  from  the  sides  of  the  tube  or  from  jets  of  superheated  Bt«am 
issuing  into  it,  no  considerable  volume  of  steam  can  be  generated  until 
the  boiling-point  has  been  reached  at  the  bottom  of  the  column,  as  due 
to  its  insistent  pressure  there,  when  a  sudden  and  large  outburst  of 
steam  takes  place,  and  the  whole  column  of  water  is  belched  forth  from 
the  tube,  succeeded  by  the  blowing-oft  of  the  pent-up  steam  which  ex- 
pelled it,  and  with  steam  evolved  from  the  column  of  water  as  it  rises, 
until  that  falls  back  to  atmospheric  pressure.  The  curious  facts  ascer- 
twned  by  Professor  Donny,  of  Ghent,  that  water  absolutely  free  in^ 
combined  air  may  be  heated  to  even  275°  Fahr.  before  it  boils,  and  then 
bursts  into  st«am  explosively,  have  been  appealed  to  as  auxiliary  to  the 
phenomena,  but  seem  unnecessary,  even  were  it  certain  that  the  water  of 
geysers  is  absolutely  air-free.  Were  it  so,  however,  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  the  rise  in  the  boiling-point  of  such  water,  under  atmospheric 
pressure,  would  also  take  place  in  the  same  water  under  a  head  of  78  feet, 
or  equal  to  more  than  two  atmospheres,  and  thus  would  still  further  aug- 
ment the  temperature  at  the  bottom  of  the  tube,  and  further  increase  the 
yiolence  of  the  outburst. 


Mechaniam  of  Stromboli. 

Bunsen  is  of  opinion  that  the  above  is  simply  the  mechamsm  of  the 
Great  Oeyeer ;  but  that  to  account  for  some  of  the  minor  phenomena  of 
the  second,  or  Strokur  QeyBer,  some  additional  mechamsm,  not  videly 
differing  from  that  suggest«d  by  Herschel,  may  be  necessary.  Some  of 
the  relatioDB  which  subsist  between  geyser-phenomena,  as  thus  explained, 
and  those  which  he  supposes  to  occur  at  yarious  depths  in  the  tubes  of 
active  volcanic  vents,  have  been  well  discerned  by  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  and 
are  described  in  his  '  Principles  of  Geology,'  10th  edit,  toI.  ii,  p.  220  ;  but 
he  has  not  applied  them  in  explanation  of  the  rhythmic  recurrence  of  the 
outbursts  of  Stromboli.  From  Bunsen's  explanation,  as  above  sketched, 
it  follows  that  tho  interval  between  two  outbursts  depends  mainly  on 
three  conditions — the  depth  and  capacity  of  the  tube,  the  rate  at  which 
the  water  that  fills  it  is  supplied,  and  the  rate  at  which  heat,  from  what- 
ever source,  is  transmitted  to  the  water.  'Were  these  three  all  perfectly 
constant,  the  interval  between  two  successive  outbursts  would  be  always 
the  same,  but  it  must  vaiy,  more  or  less,  as  any  one  of  these  three  conditions 
may  be  altered.  Again,  the  duration  of  the  outburst,  or  time  occupied 
in  the  expulsion  of  the  column  of  water,  and  the  height  to  which  it  is 
sent,  as  well  as  the  volume  of  the  jet,  depend  upon  the  capacity  of  the 
tube  and  the  height  to  which  the  water  rises  within  it  before  the  blow-out 
commences,  and  mftt  therefore  vary  in  time  with  these  conditions.  The 
depth  and  capacity  of  the  tube  may  vary  secularly  or  be  deranged  sud- 
denly ;  the  tempierature  of  the  infiltrated  water  may  vary,  and  therefore 
the  time  of  its  boLJing  under  given  conditions  may  alter  mth  the  season ; 
and  the  temperature  of  the  sides  of  the  tube,  and  of  the  steam  blown  into 
it  from  fissures,  must  vary  with  the  intensity  of  neighbouring  volcanic 
action  whence  these  are  drawn. 

Before  proceeding  to  connect  the  circumstances  presented  by  Strom- 
boli with  the  above  facts  in  relation  to  geysers,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
adduce  some  facts  in  relation  to  the  former,  derived  from  personal  obser- 
vation. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1864  I  examined  the  whole  of  the  Lipari 
Islands,  with  the  exception  of  Felicudi  and  Ahcuda,  which  the  lateness 
of  the  season  rendered  impossible.  Starting  from  CSape  Mellazo  (SicUy) 
in  a  "well-found"  eperonala,  with  a  crew  of  eight  men,  which  I  retained 
throughout  the  voyage  amongst  the  group  of  islands,  I  had  the  pleasure 
and  advantage  of  being  accompanied  for  some  days,  and  as  far  as  Lipari 
Island,  Panaria,  and  Stromboli,  by  my  friend  Colonel  H,  Yule,  B.E.,  well 
known  for  his  embassy  to  Siam,  and  recently  for  his  noble  edition  of 
Mai«o  Polo's  travels,  and  by  various  other  works.  Our  landing  at 
Stromboli  was  difficult,  from  the  high  surf  running  in ;  and  after  our 
arrival  the  weather  became  so  much  more  tempestuous  as  to  detain 
us  there  some  time.  We  enjoyed  the  hospitality  of  Padre  Capellano 
GiuBseppe  Bonsa,  whose  house  is  situated  not  far  from  the  central  parts 
of  the  island,  and  whence  a  steep  but  not  diEEcult  walk  leads  up  to  the 


503 


Mr.  E.  Mallet  on  the 


crater  and  to  the  highest  point  of  the  island.  The  statexnents  which 
have  been  made  as  to  the  relative  heights  of  different  points  of  this  island 
■  appear  to  be  only  derived  from  giiess,  and  are  greatly  in  error,  as  I  am 
enabled  to  show,  although  I  am  not  in  a  position  to  give  heights  which  are 
rigidly  correct,  my  hypsometric  mensnrements  haiiug  been  made  by 
means  of  a  single  aneroid. 

Diagram  TCo.  1. 


The  pergola  of  Padre  Banza'e  house  (marked  A,  Ragnun  No,  1)  wh 
found  to  be  211  feet  above  the  sea  at  St.  Vincenzo,  and  the  highest  point 
of  the  island  (marked  B)  is  2843  feet  thus  measiu^d.  Captain  Smrth, 
however,  gives  the  height  as  only  2576  feet :  this  was  probablv  taken 
by  him  by  the  usual  nautical  methods  of  triangulation,  and  if  so,  may  not 
be  more  exact  than  my  own  rough  barometric  measurement.  The  height 
of  the  ridge  overhanging  the  crater,  marked  C,  was  in  like  manner  found 
to  be  1200  feet.  We  were  enabled  to  clamber  down  from  this  over  crags 
of  lava,  whose  irregular  terraces  and  ledges  were  capped,  more  or  less 
deeply,  with  black  volcanic  sand,  containing  immense  quantities  of  crys- 
tals of  augite,  down  to  a  point  oi'erhanging  the  landward  wall  of  the 
crater,  and  at  no  great  distance  from  its  verge,  from  whence  we  witnessed 
the  phenomena  of  eruption.  This  point,  marked  C,  I  found  to  be  904  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  I'rom  this  point  the  great,  irregular,  and 
somewhat  oval  funnel-shaped  crater  was  before  us  ;  and  looking  seaward 
the  highly  irregular  walls  bounding  its  edges  sloped  towards  the  sea,  and 
were  united  transversely  by  the  sharp  irregular  edge  or  summit  of  the 
mass  of  broken  and  in  great  part  wholly  discontinuous  and  angular 
ejected  fragments,  which  form  a  slope  down  to  the  sea,  between  the  oppo- 
site sides  or  jaws  of  the  cove  or  reentrant  angle  in  the  coast-line  called 
the  Scbiairazza.  From  the  point  where  we  stood  this  edge  (D  on  Diagram) 
was  estimated  by  the  eye  and  clinometer  at  about  300  feet  below  us  ;  and 
the  narrower  width  of  the  crater  thus  seen  across  at  its  brim  I  estimated 
at  from  300  to  400  feet.  The  form  of  the  crater  as  described  by  Smyth 
('  SicUy  and  its  Islands,'  p.  255)  in  1824  was  staled  lo  be  circular,  and 


Meehanitm  of  Stromboli.  608 

ita  diameter  about  510  feet.  This  statement  con  ooly  be  received  aa 
approximate,  aa  at  that  date  the  brim  of  the  crater  cannot  have  been 
extremely  different  from  what  it  was  in  1864 ;  and  the  bounding  walls, 
which  are  of  material  the  greater  part  of  which  is  as  ancient  as  is  the 
island  itself,  can  scarcely  admit  of  its  ever  having  been  circular,  or  much 
different  from  the  irregular  gulf  it  presented  when  I  saw  it.  From  our 
position  of  observation,  every  thing  around  us  was  of  the  sable  colouring 
of  black  hiva  and  volcanic  sand.  We  could  not  see  with  any  distinctness 
the  fundus  or  bottom  of  the  crater,  a  cloud  of  vapour  issuing  from  its 
bottom,  and  in  places  from  its  sides,  nearly  filling  the  cavity,  and  obscur- 
ing the  bottom  even  between  the  outbursts.  This  vapour  smelted  strongly 
of  hydros ulphuric-acid  gas.  At  all  the  lower  part,  as  well  as  I  could 
discern,  the  steep  and  solid  walls  of  the  crater  merged  into  a  very  at«ep 
funnel-shaped  talus  of  loose  materials,  at  the  centre  and  bottom  of  which 
was  the  aperture  of  the  tube  or  "  chimney  "  of  the  volcano.  This  has 
been  described  by  Hoffman  as  entering  the  funnel  by  three  apertures. 
Judging  from  the  form  of  the  column  of  steam,  dust.  Stones,  <&c.,as  seen 
at  the  first  moment  of  ejection,  the  aperture  appeared  to  me  to  be  a  single 
one,  irregular  in  form,  and  with  its  longest  dimension  in  the  directiou  of 
the  greatest  width  of  the  crater  itself.  Looking  down  from  our  position 
over  the  foreshortened  slope  of  black  d^ria  which  plunged  into  the  sea 
900  feet  below  us,  the  two  jaws  of  the  Schiarrazza  are  seen  to  be  com- 
posed of  huge  broken-ofi  beds  of  lava,  which  dip  to  seaward  at  various 
depths  below  the  surface ;  these,  partly  by  superficial  decomposition, 
partly  by  being  covered  with  serpulie  and  corallines,  are  of  a  nearly  white 
colour ;  and  as  we  stood  with  the  sun  at  our  backs,  the  sea  above  these 
beds,  at  either  side  of  the  Schiarrazza,  on  which  the  sun  was  shining,  pre- 
sented the  most  glorious  tints,  varying  with  the  depth  of  tbe  wat«r  from 
golden-yellow  to  the  purest  emerald-green,  while  between  these,  and  look- 
ing right  dotvn  over  the  black  slope  of  debris,  th^  deeper  sea  was  of  an 
intense  indigo,  passing  off  into  blackness.  Nothing  in  the  way  of  natural 
colouring  and  wild  outline  combined  could  exceed  the  weird  horror  and 
intense  beauty  of  contrast  when  a  burst  from  the  volcano  sent  forth  in 
the  midst  its  volumes  of  white  st«am  and  dust,  which,  seen  by  the 
reflected  light  of  the  sunbeams  shining  through  it,  appeared  of  every  tint 
of  ruddy  brown  or  blood-red.  From  what  precedes,  and  by  reference  to 
Diagram  No.  1,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  bottom  of  the  crater-funnel  can- 
not be  more  than  300,  or  at  most  400  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea  where 
the  tube  or  tubes  enter  it,  and  that  the  statement  made  by  Mr.  Scrope 
('  VoieanoB,'  p.  332,  2nd  edition),  viz.  "  the  lip  of  the  orifice  at  tho 
bottom  of  the  crater  is  some  2000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,"  is 
largely  in  excess  of  the  truth.  Were  that  a  fact,  the  brim  of  the  crat«r, 
which  is  300  to  400  feet  above  the  bottom,  would  be  situated  within  a  height 
of  about  176  feet  according  to  Smyth's  measurement,  or  within  about 
300  to  400  feet  according  to  my  measurement  of  the  hi^st  igoint  of.  tW 


504  Mr.  B.  Mallet  on  the 

island,  either  of  which  is  pbysieally  imposflible.  flTiiie  «-e  remained  oti- 
aerring,  the  outburst*  from  the  bottom  of  the  crater  were  found  to  be 
very  irregular  as  to  time,  rarying,  aa  timed  by  the  watch,  from  a  iDioiraum 
of  two  minutea  iuterral  to  a  maximum  of  thirty  minutes,  and  in  one  case, 
after  we  had  commeaced  our  descent,  to  forty  minutes.  I  could  not  trace 
a  very  distinct  correspondent'e  between  the  largeness  of  this  interval  and 
the  violence  and  volume  of  the  outbursts  following  it,  although  the  ten- 
dency seemed  to  be  to  such  a  correspondence :  and  the  dnnitiou  of  the 
outburst  was  eertaiuiy  greater  as  the  iulerval  between  two  was  bo.  At 
each  outburst  a  hnge  volume  of  dust  and  small  mati^rial,  and  with  moiv 
or  less  of  large  fragments  of  solidified  lava,  aU  angular  or  subangular,  and 
with  a  few  fragments  and  shreds  of  different  sizes  of  tava  still  hot  enough 
to  be  slightly  plastic  while  falling,  were  ejected  ;  none  of  the  fragments 
were  of  any  great  size,  none  appearing  to  exceed  in  weight  about  500  or 
600  pounds,  and  none  of  the  pieces  of  plastic  lava  reaching  half  this 
weight.  The  light  wijid  blew  from  us  towards  the  sea,  out  over  which 
a  portion  of  the  finer  dust  was  wafted  after  each  outburst ;  bat  the  great 
mass  of  the  dust  and  fragments,  whether  small  or  large,  fell  back  into 
the  crat«r  upon  its  bottom  and  steeply  sloping  funnel,  a  few  only,  and 
generally  of  the  iargest  fragmeuta,  being  thrown  out  over  the  crest  of  the 
crater  at  its  sea  side,  and  landing  amidst  the  deliris  of  the  elope,  down 
which  they  clattered.  It  was  obvious  that  the  orifice  of  the  tube  at  the 
bottom  of  the  crater  was  greatly  obstructed  by  the  loose  material  forming 
the  funnel  above  it,  which  seemed  after  each  outburst  to  be  continuaUy 
slipping,  more  or  less  en  ituute,  and  so  blocking  up  the  tube,  along  with 
the  mass  of  ejected  material  which  dropped  hack  upon  the  orifice ;  for 
it  was  easily  remarked  that  successive  outbursts  apparently  took  place 
from  different  points,  distant  occasionally  some  yards  from  each  other,  in 
the  bottom  of  the  crater — the  main  axis  of  the  column,  or  ita  greatest 
thickness,  varying  thus  in  position,  and  also  more  or  less  diverging 
slightly  from  the  vertical,  sometimes  one  way  and  sometimes  another,  as 
though  the  ajutage  of  discharge  was  through  loose  material  of  partly 
large  and  entangled  blocks,  mixed  with  finer  material,  the  positiona 
of  which  were  more  or  less  altered  after  each  discharge.  None  of 
the  large  fragments  which  we  saw  thrown  out  rose  higher  than  the  posi- 
tion at  which  we  stood,  and  few  even  bo  high — that  is,  they  did  not  rise 
more  than  400  to  500  feet  above  the  orifice  at  the  bottom  of  the  crater; 
but  occasionally  the  height  of  projection  must  a  good  deal  exceed  this,  aa 
I  found  many  angular  fragments  and  large  shreds  of  lava,  which  bad 
fallen  in  a  leathery  or  plastic  state,  to  the  landward  and  eastward  sides  of 
the  brim  of  the  crater,  150  feet  or  more  above  the  level  of  our  point  of 
observation.  The  black  sand  and  dust  and  crystals  of  augito  are  found 
in  large  masses  still  higher  and  further  from  the  crater  on  the  land  side; 
but  much  of  the  latter  are  blown  inland  by  the  strong  winds  from  the 
northward  that  prevail  in  winter.    The  solid  mural  precipices  which  form 


JUeehamtm  of  StromboU.  505 

the  walls  of  the  enter  above  the  funnel  of  loose  material  consiBt  of  beds 
of  Bolid  lavas  and  agglomerated  fragments,  and  appear  to  dip  more  or  less 
towards  the  sea,  or  away  from  the  centre  of  the  isUnd,  and  were  no 
doubt  formed  by  one  of  its  great  early  and  more  central  craters  at  a  period 
excessively  remote.  Svffioni  of  steam  isaiie  in  some  spots  from  between 
these  beds,  and  the  percolation  of  water  waa  seen  in  places  not  far  below 
the  brira  of  the  crater.  There  is  a  perennial  spring  of  percolated  water 
much  higher  *up  upon  the  island,  and  under  the  steeps  that  mark  the 
posit  ion  of  an  ancient  crater,  so  that  it  is  highly  probable  that  rain-water, 
in  greater  or  less  quantity,  finds  its  way  into  the  funnel,  and  even  the 
tube,  of  the  volcano,  although  the  percolation  of  sea-wat«r  is  no  doubt 
the  chief  source  of  the  supply,  which  is  blown  out  as  steam,  and  perhaps 
in  part  as  pulverized  water.  Each  outburst,  while  we  continued  to 
observe  them,  was  preceded  by  several  distinct  low  detonations,  with  in- 
tenals  between  each  of  from  4  or  5  seconds  to  as  much  as  80  seconds : 
these,  though  of  a  far  deeper  tone,  greatly  resembled  the  cracking 
noises  that  are  heard  when  steam  is  blown  into  the  water  of  a  locomotive 
tender  for  the  purpose  of  heating  it.  These  detonations  sensibly  shook 
the  rock  beneath  our  feet. 

The  outburst,  when  it  comes,  does  not  rush  forth  quite  instantaneously 
or  like  that  of  exploded  gunpowder.  It  begins  with  a  hollow  growl  and 
clattering  sound  of  breaking  or  knocking  together  of  fragments  of  hard 
material,  which  very  rapidly  increases  to  a  roar  at  its  maximum,  continues  at 
about  the  same  tension  for  a  period  varying  from  a  few  seconds  to  a  minute 
or  two,  and  then  rapidly  declines,  but  less  rapidly  than  the  augmentation 
took  place.  At  the  lirst  instant  of  the  outburst,  the  rock  on  which  we 
stood  was  very  sensibly  shaken,  the  vibrations  being  both  vertical  and 
more  or  less  horizontal ;  at  the  end,  and  after  the  fragments  have  ceased 
to  fall  and  the  dust  has  cleared  away,  all  tension  of  vapour  in  the  tube 
seems  for  the  moment  at  an  end,  uid  the  funnel  'A  seen  filled  merely  with 
rolling  clouds  of  vapour.  The  noise  produced  by  the  outburst  is  not  very 
loud,  and  more  resembles  that  of  the  rush  of  a  heavy  railway-train  over 
an  iron-^rder  bridge,  when  heard  at  some  distance  off,  than  any  other 
sound  to  which  I  can  compare  it,  but  more  fluffy  and  flat.  Ou  examin- 
ing the  existing  surface  of  the  island,  it  is  easily  discerned,  by  an  eye 
educated  to  the  observation  of  extinct  volcanic  r^ons,  that  successtTe 
craters  have  been  formed,  shifting  their  positions  posterior  to  the  pro- 
duction of  that  great  and  nearly  central  one  from  which  the  main  mass 
of  the  island  was  thrown  up.  The  existence  of  three  such  craters  may 
be  traced  ;  and  the  existing  little  crater  is  situated  at  the  landward  or 
south-eastern  side  of  a  vastly  larger  crater,  all  the  north-western  or  sea 
side  of  which  has  been  destroyed  and  buried  in  deep  water,  and  of  which 
the  heavy  beds  of  lava  seen  under  water  at  both  sides  of  the  Schiarraraa 
are  the  only  remaias  to  seawards  of  the  existing  slope  of  d^ris.  This  is 
represented  by  the  Diagram  No.  2,  copied  from  my  note-book,  in.  mtisfci. 


506 


Mr.  R.  Mallet  on  the 


the  diagoaally  shaded  portion  represents  an  ideal  eectioD  of  the  ibLmd  » 
it  now  staads,  taken  through  its  highest  point  and  the  existing  crater  at 
Stromboli,  while  the  lines  beyond  indicate  the  probable  outlines  of  the 
island  when  the  gruat  crater  was  active,  of  which  the  Stromboli  of  to-dajr 
may  be  viewed  as  Uttle  more  than  a  famnrole. 

Diagram  No.  2. 


I  way  add  here,  in  reference  to  the  Lipan  group  generally,  that  all  the 
islands  present  more  or  less  distinctly  these  chanicf  en  sties  of  craters 
whose  axes  have  shifted  and  formed  new  ones  at  imtneusely  ancient 
epochs,  and  with  vast  intervals  of  time  intervenmg 

The  entire  group  presents,  though  in  various  degrees  m  the  different 
islands,  the  general  character  of  great  decadence  of  a  once  far  more 
powerful  volcanic  activity ;  and,  in  every  case,  as  the  cone,  or  rather  mound, 
of  each  island  increased  in  mass  and  height,  the  original  vent  thus  in- 
creasingly obstructed  tended  to  move  off  and  open  new  and  easier  venta 
in  directions  approaching  the  coast-lines,  just  as  in  the  ca«e  of  very  old 
and  massive  volcanoes  on  land,  such  as  Etna,  migrations  have  occurred  of 
their  most  ancient  great  craters,  and,  in  more  recent  times,  new  ones  have 
opened  low  down  upon  their  flanks,  such  as  Monte  Bosso  &c.  The  epoch 
of  primordial  activity  was  far  from  contemporaneous  in  all  the  islands ; 
»nd  we  find  in  them  now  the  most  varied  stages  of  volcanic  decadence. 
In  the  island  of  Vulcauo,  we  have  an  empty  crater  of  enormous  capacities 
and  depth  (1100  to  1200  feet),  the  bottom  of  which  reaches  to  within  a 
few  feet  of  the  eea-level,  and  is  only  separated  from  the  shore-line  at  the 
north-east  of  tie  island  by  an  extremely  steep  bank  of  compact  tufa. 
The  oldest  craters  having  been  situated  much  more  centrally  and  far  to 
the  south-west,  while  the  little  crater  of  Vulcanello  was  thrown  up  to 
seaward  of  the  ancient  coast-line  and  between  it  and  the  deep  crater  just 
spoken  of,  boiling  springs  and  boiling  streams  of  superheated  vapours 
issue  below  the  sea-water,  and  a  thermometer  sunk  amongst  the  pebbles 
of  the  beach  in  many  spots  rises  to  above  300°  Fahr.  In  the  bottom  of 
the  deep  crater  the  principal  "  bocca,"  which  is  several  feet  in  diameter, 
And  though  only  blowing  out  superheated  steam  and  goaes  with  a  men- 


Mechanism  of  Slromboli.  507 

Hured  Bort  of  rise  and  fall  in  its  snorting,  is  red-hot  to  the  lips,  which 
are  of  hard  lava ;  and  the  temperature  at  the  mouth  I  found,  in  1864, 
was  sulficient  to  melt  brass  wire,  but  not  sufficient  to  fuse  a  similar  wire 
of  bronze  (i.  e.  copper  with  about  5  per  cent,  of  tin). 

The  fftlling-in  of  any  eonsideroble  proportion  of  the  walls  of  this  grand 
crater,  which,  on  the  landward  side,  consist  of  nearly  horizontal  beds  of 
volcanic  rock  and  conglomerate,  forming  at  that  side  a  vast  mural  preci- 
pice, though  almost  wholly  of  compacted  tufa  for  the  remainder  of  its 
periphery,  would  easily  gire  rise  to  a  renewal  of  volcanic  energy,  such 
as  nowhere  exists  now  in  the  Lipari  group. 

Stromboli  is  the  nest  to  this  in  existing  energy ;  but  though  the  per- 
sistence and  character  of  its  activity  excite  much  more  attenttOD,  the 
actual  evolution  of  volcanic  heat  is  greatly  inferior  to  that  constantly  going 
on  from  the  unobstructed  "  bocea  "  of  Vulcano,  which,  if  again  obstructed, 
would  produce  very  violent  effects.  In  lipari  Island  we  have  the  traces 
of  several  great  craters  of  extreme  antiquity,  the  most  recent  being  that 
which  evolved  the  mountainous  masses  of  pumice  and  the  enormous 
stream  of  pumice  and  obsidian  which  falls  into  the  sea  at  the  north-east 
of  the  island ;  but  the  greatest  sign  of  present  activity  is  found  on  the 
shore  at  the  opposite  side  of  the  island,  at  II  Stufl,  where  innumerable  jet« 
of  hot  w^ter  and  superheated  steam  with  sulphurous  acid  issue  from  the 
heavy  beds  of  trachyte,  which  they  rapidly  decompose  and  convert  into 
clays  and  hyaLte. 

In  others  of  the  islands,  such  as  Fanaria  and  Saline,  no  sign  of  activity 
remains,  and  the  most  practised  eye  with  difficulty  seeks  to  recover  the 
positions  or  outlines  of  the  very  ancient  craters.  Lastly,  in  the  small 
islands  of  Dasiluzzo,  in  the  low  rocks  of  Liscanera  and  Liscabianca,  and 
in  the  huge  spire  of  Datola,  formed  of  vertically  parted  and  splintery 
trachyte  of  the  most  obdurate  character,  we  have  but  the  last  shreds  of 
one  or  more  great  volcanic  islands  which  once  occupied  the  shallow  sea- 
spaces  between  all  these  islands,  and  probably  connected  them  into  a 
single  vast  cone.  A  hot  spring  still  rises  in  water  of  4  or  5  fathoms 
deep  between  Liscanera  and  Liscabianca,  which  possibly  mark  the  site  of 
one  of  the  moat  recent  of  the  craters  at  this  spot,  the  islands  which  they 
formed,  at  a  period  too  distant  for  imagination,  having  here  almost  disap- 
peared under  the  eroding  influence  of  the  comparatively  tranquil  aud 
tideless  waters  of  the  Mediterranean,  aided  perhaps  by  local  subsidence, 
but  of  which  there  is  little  or  no  evidence.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the 
change  in  position  and  decadence  in  energy  ascribed  to  the  existing  crater 
of  Stromboli,  although  for  2000  years  its  energy  has  seemed  to  be  constant 
or  not  greatly  diminished,  are  circumstances  in  complete  accordance  nith 
the  facts  presented  generally  by  the  volcanic  islands  of  the  whole  group. 
The  existing  tube  of  Stromboli,  like  that  which  leads  to  the  "  bocca  "  of 
Vulcano,  has  but  a  lateral  and  indirect  and  very  much  choked-up  com- 
munication with  those  great  central  ducts  which  oas»  ^^^  -^vtA.  'vra 


BOS  Mr.  B.  Mallet  en  the 

the  products  of  the  great  craters.  Lava  from  these,  genenkUv  imp«r- 
foctly  melted,  but  occaaionally  in  a  coroflete  st-ate  of  fusion,  still  finds  ii» 
way  from  these  into  the  upper  parts  of  the  existing  lube  of  StromboU. 
but  in  comparatively  very  small  quantity. 

On  leaving  St.  Vincenzo  we  circumnavi^ted  the  island  of  StromboU, 
nnd  examined  the  slope  of  debris  in  Schjarrazza  cove :  the  actual  average 
angle  of  slope  is  much  overrated  by  Mr.  Kcrope  at  50°  ('Volcano*,' 
page  32).  By  the  clinometer  it  proved  to  be  from  34°  to  36°  with  the 
hori7X)ntal.  The  slope  consists  almost  wholly  of  angular  fragments, 
averaging  but  a  few  hundredweight  each,  and  of  shreds  and  tails  of  lata 
that  have  fallen  in  a  semifused  condition.  Mixed  with  these,  in  a  wholly 
irregular  manner,  are  here  and  there  siauouH  and  twittted  flakes  of  lava. 
These  have  been  oft«n  taken  for  dykes  of  lava  forced  out  by  hvdrostatic 
pressure  through  the  bank  of  debris,  when  the  crater  has  boen  assiuoed 
brim-full  of  liquid  lava;  but  I  am  not  aware  of  any  endonce  whatever 
in  support  of  the  notion  that  this  crater  ever  has  been  so  fUled.  It* 
steep  walls  present  no  traces  of  the  contact  of  liquid  lava  at  any  time 
eaatx  their  formation  ;  and  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  had  the  crater 
ever  been  filled  with  liquid  la^-a  to  the  brim,  the  loose  and  incohereut 
slope  of  dobna  would  have  boea  utterly  uuuhle  to  sustain  tho  protaure, 
and  must  have  been  forced  bodily  into  the  sea,  into  which  tbb  mass  of 
liquid  lava  must  have  followed  it.  The  base  of  the  slope  appears  to  con- 
sist of  solid  and,  no  doubt,  comparatively  water-tight  beds  of  lava,  like 
those  described,  as  seen  from  above,  at  both  sides  of  the  Schiarraaza ;  and 
but  for  these  the  existing  crater  could  have  never  been  formed,  or  its 
activity  preserved,  for  it  must  have  been  drowned  out  by  the  inroad  of  the 
sea,  as  so  many  other  and  recent  craters  in  the  other  islands  prove  to 
have  been.  The  sinuous  masses  of  lava  seen  at  various  parts  of  the  slope 
of  debris  appeared  to  me  no  more  than  huge  splashes  of  very  liquid  lavs, 
which,  in  outbursts  of  greatly  more  than  usual  intensity  (such  aa  was  one 
of  those  witnessed  by  Hofiman)  and  with  a  larger  supply  of  lava  than 
usual,  were  blown  out  over  the  crest  of  the  slope  and  fell  amongst  the 
blocks  of  debris.  Fresh  deposits  of  debris  obscure  the  features  of  most 
of  these  plashes ;  but  I  observed,  in  some  cases,  that  the  lava  had  distinctly 
moulded  itself,  like  a  mantle,  to  the  sinuosities  between  and  the  forms  of 
the  blocks  upon  which  it  fell.  Within  a  yard  or  two  of  the  base,  or 
water-Une,  of  the  slojie  were  tuo  blocks  of  ltcv&  of  exceptional  magnitude, 
the  larger  having  a  volume  of  8  or  10  cubic  yards.  These  blocks  wwe 
confidently  affirmed  to  us  to  have  been  projected  during  some  violent 
burst  forth  and  thrown  clean  over  the  crest  of  the  slope,  and  to  be  in  fact 
bloet  rtjelit  thrown  from  the  bottom  of  the  crater ;  examination  proved 
that  they  could  be  nothing  of  the  sort.  They  were  sharply  angular,  and 
all  the  surfaces  had  the  crystalline  texture  of  dark  pyroxenic  lava  ntrt 
very  long  fractured,  except  in  some  places,  where  distinct  signs  of  wea- 
thering were  evident  in  tbe  larger  block.      Had  they  been  bloet  rgeUt 


Mechanian  qf  SlromboU. 


509 


thej  would  lUTe  presented  on  all  their  surfaces  and  edges  the  more  or  leu 
rounded  outlines  and  eitreme  induration  and  closenesB  of  grain  due  to 
long-continued  torrifaction,  which  are  the  invariable  characteristicB  of  such 
blocks.  The  true  history  of  these  great  blocks  is,  that  they  had  been 
detached  by  the  shakings  of  the  outbursts  from  one  of  the  steep  cliffs  of 
the  ancient  crater-walls  which  overhang  the  crests  of  the  slope,  and  had 
thence  rolled  down  to  the  position  in  which  we  found  them  at  about  F  in 
Diagram  No.  3,  which  is  a  section  of  the  slope  of  debris  and  of  the  sea- 
bottom  in  line  extending  from  its  base.  In  this  line  we  took  a  few  sound- 
ings at  distances  from  the  water-line  at  the  base  of  the  slope,  which  we 
had  to  guess.  These  distances,  as  guessed  by  me,  exceeded  those  guessed 
by  Colonel  Tule,  though  not  very  greatly ;  and  I  have  preferred  to  adopt 
those  derived  from  his  military  experience  in  guessing  distances  t^  the 
eye  rather  than  my  own. 

Diagram  No  H. 


It  will  be  seen  from  these  soundings  that  the  statements  made  by  the 
islanders,  and  wroi^ly  attributed  to  Captain  Smyth  (see  his  '  Sicily '  in 
loco),  that  the  sea  outside  Schiarrazza  cove  is  unfathomable,  and  hence 
swallows  up  the  d^ris  of  mora  than  2000  years,  is  wholly  erroneous. 
Indeed8myth'ssoundings('SicilyanditBlBlands'),aB  well  oa  the  Admiralty 
Chart,  sufficiently  indicate  that  for  some  miles  in  the  offing  here  the 
Mediterranean  does  not  exceed  100  fathoms  in  depth.  The  bottom  along 
which  I  took  these  soundings  consists  of  huge  irregular  and  ovoidal 
masses,  of  10  to  20  tons  in  weight,  of  volcanic  rock,  old  and  water- 
rounded.  What,  then,  does  become  of  the  d^ris  ?  Its  quantity,  in  reality, 
is  extremely  small  in  a  given  time.  A  very  large  proportion  of  it  consists 
of  mere  dust  and  glassy  or  angular  lapillEe,  and  these,  if  blown  seaward, 
hil  at  a  considerable  distance  away,  and  are  lost  in  the  depths ;  those 
which  &tU  nearer,  including  the  fragments  th&t  totm  \!ti&  v)«tMisa  111&B&  <fi- 


510  Mr.  R.  Mallet  on  the  V 

the  slope,  ue  slowly  r^mov^d  and  carried  out  iuto  deeper  vrat^r  br  Iti^  - 
uodur  ton  of  the  heavy  ee&s  in  winter,  sod  are  loet  in  the  cUnks  and 
cre*ices  between  the  huge  blocks  at  the  bottom,  which  I  found  to  be  m 
deep  &nd  tortuous  as  often  to  render  the  extraction  of  the  BOUDding-Ipad 
wiiich  bad  entered  tbem  difficult.  The  lara  ejected  by  Stromboli,  whelluT 
in  the  floUdified  or  half-melted  state,  is  eitremelr  dark-coloured,  ktaost 
black.  It  IB  highly  pyroieuic  and  crystalline,  and  its  fusibility  is  greatly 
in<:re&sed  by  an  intin)At«  iutennisture  of  d&rk  obaidianii:  g:las9,  of  which 
portideH  as  well  as  Hlrings  are  met  uith  ererywhere.  It  is  still  lastjtnr 
or  plastic  at  a  temperature  considerably  below  a  rc-d  heat,  risible  in  day- 
light, and  is  probably  in  tolerably  liquid  fusion  at  a  temperature  not 
much  exceeding  1200°  Fahr.  Ita  compoaitioo  is  by  no  tDeotis  invariable. 
BB  may  be  seen  on  the  slope  of  dftnis ;  and  when  the  glassy  material  ia 
very  abundant,  as  from  time  lo  time  secma  to  be  the  ease,  or  from 
any  of  the  cauMes  which  inHuence  periodically  the  flticluations  of  t^mf*- 
rature  more  or  leas  observableat  all  volcanic  vents,  this  lava  would  become 
extremely  liquid  and  be  blown  about  by  the  outbursts  in  the  way  some- 
what obscurely  described  by  Hoffman,  as  well  as  urged  in  liquid  flaken 
over  the  brim  of  the  crater,  Thecrystals  of  augitv  which  are  deposited 
ill  such  abuiiJaiK'i,'  with  the  dust  blown  out  may  preexist  in  the  lai-a,  but 
appear  to  me,  more  probably,  to  be  mainly  formed  by  the  disintegration  of 
the  hot  lava  by  contact  and  churning  up  with  water,  under  a  considerable 
pressure  and  therefore  high  boiling-point,  and  perhaps  by  separation  and 
recombination  from  solution  of  its  constituents.  The  crystals,  which 
are  often  an  inch  or  more  in  length  and  frequently  macled  or  cuneiform, 
have  scarcely  any  lustre ;  and  when  the  surfaces  are  closely  examined  n^th. 
a  lens,  they  aro  oft«n  seen  to  be  minutely  pitted  with  microscopic  cavities. 
We  now  come  to  collect  and  correlate  our  facts  and  draw  such  conclusions 
as  they  warrant  iu  explanation  of  the  mechanism  which  produces  the 
phenomena  of  Stromboli.  The  supply  of  wat^r  producing  the  immense 
volumes  of  ateam  constantly  blown  off  at  the  rate,  on  the  average,  of  three 
or  four  outbursts  per  hour  may  be  derived  in  part  from  percolated  fresh 
water ;  but  this  source  alone,  derived  from  the  small  gathering  area  of 
the  island,  would  be  wholly  insufficient;  and,  were  that  the  sole  source,  it 
would  almost  wholly  fail  towards  the  end  of  the  dry  season,  so  that  a 
marked  annual  change  in  the  volcanic  phenomena  must  result,  and  could 
not  fail  to  be  observed.  The  supply  of  water,  honever,  is  manifestly 
regular,  and  very  nearly  constant  at  all  times,  and  therefore  is  derived 
from  the  sea,  and  thus  must  enter  the  tube  «f  the  volcano  below  the  sea- 
level^that  is  to  say,  more  than  400  feet  below  the  lip  of  the  tube  at  the 
bottom  of  the  crater-funnel.  Whatever  be  the  source  of  supply  of  the 
lava,  therefore,  it  can  never  fill  the  tube  as  a  solid  column  of  melted  mat- 
t«r  reaching  up  to  its  lip ;  for  in  that  case,  whatever  be  the  mechanism 
of  the  volcano  at  each  outburst,  the  whole  of  this  immense  column  of 
melted  matter  of  more  than  400  feet  in  height  must  be  blown  completely 


Mechamna  of  StromboU,  511 

out  of  the  tube,  which  actually  is  emptied,  at  the  end  of  each  outburst,  of 
evervthiog  but  gaaes  and  vapours,  and  these  at  a  tension  not  greatly  ex- 
ceeding that  of  the  atmosphere.  We  do  not  know  the  average  section 
of  the  tube,  and  therefore  cannot  calcuhite  the-volumeof  tavathat  would 
be  propelled  thus  out  of  the  tube,  if  previously  filled  by  each  outburst ; 
but  it  is  manifestly  so  great  that  it  would  wholly  change  the  character  of 
the  phenomena  exhibited  by  the  Tolcano,  and  must,  during  the  last  2000 
years,  have  produced  a  mass  of  ejected  matter  of  enormous  magnitude 
instead  of  the  insignificant  amount  of  mixed  lava  and  debris  which  alone 
are  to  be  seen. 

Liquid  or  semiliquid  lava  does,  however,  continually  make  its  way  into 
the  bottom  of  the  crater-funnel  and  amongst  the  fragments  collected  there, 
which  it  more  or  less  solders  together,  and  along  with  which  it  is  blown 
out  at  the  outburst.  Some  may  ooze  into  the  tube  lower  down,  and  may 
more  or  leas  obstruct,  but  can  never  completely  fill  it.  The  walls  of  the 
tube,  and  those  of  all  the  fissures  or  cavities  below  the  level  at  which  the 
more  or  less  fused  lava  reaches  them,  can  scarcely  have  a  lower  tempera- 
ture, and  are  most  probably  at  a  higher  one  than  the  lava  itself.  If  the 
tube  of  the  volcano  were  the  main,  or  only,  ajutage  through  which  the 
liquid  lava,  as  well  as  the  steam  to  blow  it  out,  were  supplied — if,  in  fact, 
the  tube  were  the  main  duct  into  the  lowest  depths  of  which  both  the 
liquid  and  vaporous  matters  entered — then,  at  irregular  intervals,  the  tube, 
and  even  the  crater,  must  become  filled,  and  the  whole  phenomena  of 
eruption  would  not  differ  in  character  from  the  highly  irregular  paroxysmal 
efforts  of  any  common  volcano  of  like  energy.  The  tube,  then,  here 
plays  a  different  part  from  what  it  usually  does,  and  constitutes  an  addi- 
tional element  in  its  machinery,  upon  whose  action  in  producing  expulsion 
the  rhythmical  recurrence  of  the  outburst  depends. 

We  can  now  discern  the  very  simple  mechanism  by  which  the  actual 
phenomena  are  produced,  a  description  of  which  will  be  rendered  more 
intelligible  by  reference  to  the  ideal  Diagram  No.  4,  in  which  A  is  the 
lower  part  of  the  funnel  of  the  crater,  filled  more  or  less  with  the  frag- 
mentary mass  which  has  fallen  back  into  it  from  the  preceding  outbursts. 
B  is  a  lateral  duct  conveying  more  or  less  liquid  lava  into  the  bottom  of 
the  crater.  C  is  the  tube  leading  to  the  bottom  of  the  funnel  from  a 
depth  considerably  below  the  sea-level,  supposed  to  be,  at  the  line  L,  at 
about  400  feet  below  the  upper  lip  of  the  tube.  D  is  a  duct  communica- 
ting with  the  sea,  and  enabling  sea-water  to  find  access  to  the  interior  of 
the  tube,  and  to  rise  therein^if  otherwise  unimpeded,  to  the  aea-level. 
E  is  either  a  lateral  duct  or  a  continuation  of  the  tube  itself,  through 
which  steam  at  a  high  temperature  and  tension  enters  the  tube  at  some 
point  much  below  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  lava-  and  steam-ducts,  B 
and  E,  may  be  supposed  to  come  from  the  ancient  great  volcanic  channels 
still  remaining  under  the  more  central  parts  of  the  island,  and  which 
supplied  its  great  ancient  craters.     The  duct  D  may  consist  of  manY 


All  of  the  three  ducts,  £,  G,  aD< 
vaHed  to  ahntrnt  any  extent,  provic 
poaitions,  And  these  only  within 
Diagram  No.  4.     Suonosinn  »-  — 


Mechanism  of  Stromboli.  513 

d^ris  shall  have  some  sort  of  landing-place  and  support  for  the  l&i^r 
portion  of  the  mass,  ho  as  not  all  to  drop  into  and  permanently  block  the 
tube.  The  lava  oozing  from  the  duct,  or  ducts,  B,  escaping  amongst  these 
fragments,  solders  them  more  or  less  together ;  and  in  proportion  as  its 
rate  of  supply  is  greater  or  less,  some  of  it  may  overflow  and  drop,  in  a 
more  or  less  liquid  stat«,  into  the  tube  C  and  into  whatever  water  it  may 
contain.  The  tube,  however,  is  emptied  at  the  outburst  of  nearly  all 
that  it  contains,  and  the  tension  therein  being  that  of  the  atmosphere,  or 
little  more,  the  sea-water  again  begins  to  fill  it  by  the  ducts  D.  This 
water  is  already  probably  considerably  warmed  in  the  d,uct«  D ;  it  receives 
accessions  of  warmth  from  the  sides  of  the  tube  and  from  the  continual 
blowing  into  it  of  superheated  steam  and  vapours  through  the  ducts  £, 
whose  temperature  is  probably  not  far  different  from  that  of  the  lava  at  B. 
The  column  of  sea-water  rises  in  the  tube  to  a  level,  we  will  suppose  S,  by 
which  time  the  boiling-point  has  been  reached  at  the  lowest  point  of  the 
column,  namely,  that  due  to  the  stetical  head  of  water,  and  to  all  such 
obstructions  above  the  lip  of  the  tube  as  tend  to  hinder  the  escape  and 
so  increase  the  tension  of  the  vapours  and  gases  occupying  the  otherwise 
empty  upper  part  of  the  tube.  At  such  on  instant,  the  whole  column 
may  be  lifted  through  a  few  inches  or  feet  vertically  by  the  steam  locally 
generated  at  the  bottom  of  the  tube ;  and  as  this  incipient  evolution  of  steam 
escapes  upwards  the  whole  column  of  liquid  will  be  suddenly  dropped 
back  upon  the  bottom  of  the  tube,  to  be  again  similarly  lifted,  and  so  on 
until  every  portion  of  the  column  of  water  has  acquired  the  full  boiling- 
point  due  to  its  depth,  Ac.  This  is  the  cause  of  the  detonations  heard 
before  the  outburst.  As  soon  as  this  has  been  reached,  the  whole  mass 
of  water  below  S  is  driven  violently  upwards,  and  partly  by  its  impulse, 
but  mainly  by  actual  steam-tension,  drives  before  it  the  mass  of  obstructing 
matter  filling  the  bottom,  of  the  funnel  at  A,  and  the  whole  is  driven 
forth  together  in  a  mingled  cloud  of  dust,  stones,  shreds  of  half-melted 
lava,  steam,  and  pulverized  water.  When  the  tube  is  left  empty,  and 
after  the  fall  back  of  the  fragments,  the  whole  apparatus  is  ready  for  a 
repetition  of  the  process.  It  is  obvious  that  the  depth  of  the  tube  below 
the  level  of  the  sea,  and  the  temperature  of  its  sides  and  that  of  the 
steam  entering  at  £,  determine  the  force  of  the  outburst,  that  the  rate 
of  supply  of  water  and  steam  determine  the  intervals  between  the  out- 
bursts, and  that  the  proportion  between  the  volume  of  steam  and  that 
of  pulverized  water,  at  each  outburst,  depends  upon  the  capacity  (that  is, 
the  greater  or  less  section)  of  the  tube  C.  If  that  be  narrow  in  proportion 
to  its  total  depth,  as  is  probaBly  the  fact,  then  very  little  water  will  be 
ejected  in  any  state  but  that  of  st«am.  It  is  not  necessary  that  the 
temperature  of  the  column  of  wat«r  in  any  part  of  the  tube  G  should 
ever  reach  the  tension  due  to  a  temperature  equal  to  that  of  the  lava 
escaping  from  B ;  it  only  needs  to  be  such  as  shall  raise  it«  own  column 
to  the  lip  of  the  tube  and  overcome  the  obstructions  there  encountered 
with  ft  sufBdent  residual  tension  left  to  blow  tbmft  &  ^[KAite'E  <n  \•!Aft^liet^^^ 


51-i  Oh  the  Mechanism  qf  Slroniboli. 

into  the  air.  The  «ugite  tTyotals  are  probably  formed  within  the  tnbe, 
from  small  portiona  of  lava  dropping  la  a  liquid  state  into  the  wat*r  it 
contains, 

Bfverling  uow  to  the  remarks  mad(-  at  the  beginning  npon  the  relation* 
trnditionally  Bind  to  exist  between  the  phenomena  of  tliis  -volcano  anil 
the  state  of  the  weather.  It  ia  obvious  that  the  notions  of  nieely  balani'wl 
equilibrium  in  a  tube  always  filled  to  the  lip  with  liquid  lava  can  no 
more  act^ount  for  any  such  relation  with  the  weather  thau  it  can  exploiji 
the  rhythmical  recurrence  of  the  outburats  themBelves ;  and  if  euppused 
relations  with  changes  of  weather,  as  alleged  to  be  indicated  by  Stromboli. 
could  be  thus  explained,  every  constantly  active  volcano  in  the  world 
would  be  equaUy  a  "  weafher-glaas.''  Kilama,  for  example,  mnst  present 
upon  an  o.vaggerated  scale  all  the  weather-prognostics  attributed  to 
Stromboli.  In  examining  the  v^ue  statements  mado  upon  thia  subject, 
we  should  hear  in  mind  the  extreme  incapacity  of  ignorant  peoples  to 
observe  phenomena  with  accuracy,  their  proneuess  to  exaggeration,  and 
the  readiness  with  which  they  accept  traditional  statements,  however 
improbable.  The  statements  made  to  me  by  several  of  the  more  intelU- 
gent  people  of  Stromboh  as  to  the  height  to  which  stones  were  alleged  to 
be  thrown,  viz.  far  above  the  highest  point  of  the  island,  as  to  the  filling 
of  the  crater  hri Ill-full  vith  liquid  kv.i  (wliii  Ii.  b<i«i-v^r.  no  orn.-  had  ;iftu:illv 
himself  seen),  and  the  forcing  through  the  slope  of  deTiris  of  vertical  dykes 
thereof,  as  well  as  the  projection  of  the  huge  blocks  we  saw  at  the  bottom 
of  the  slope,  and  such  hke,  should  be  home  in  mind  before  we  attempt  to 
square  theoretic  views  with  statements  of  facts  that  probably  have  no 
real  existence.  The  only  intelligible  statements  that  I  could  gather  from 
the  inhabitants  of  Stromboli  as  to  relations  between  the  weather  and 
their  volcano  resolved  themselves  really  into  two  propositions  :  firat,  that 
in  fine  weather  the  light  reflected  upwards  from  the  crater  was  more 
brilliant,  and  apparent  at  a  greater  distance,  than  in  windy  or  uncertain 
weather ;  secondly,  that  in  cold  and  broken  weather  the  light  waa  dimi- 
nished, and  a  heavy  cloud  of  vapour  hung  more  or  less  over  the  crater. 

These  are  intelligible  facts,  and  admit  easily  of  being  accounted  for  on 
well-known  meteorological  principles.  A  tendency,  though  not  a  marked 
one,  to  the  production  of  sea-  and  land-breezes  in  the  morning  and  even- 
ing is  observable  in  these  islands,  the  sun-heat  during  the  day  being 
often  very  great,  as  alao  the  nocturnal  radiation.  These,  taken  in  con- 
nexion with  the  prevailing  direction  of  the  wind  at  a  given  time,  vii. 
whether  it  sweeps  over  the  island  and  over  the  highest  points  from  the 
southward  and  eastward,  or  blows  against  its  steep  north-western  feee 
and  into  the  crater,  will,  by  altering  the  state  of  the  atmosphere  above 
the  latter,  tend  to  produce  changes  both  in  the  light  and  in  the  vapour' 
cloud  of  the  volcano.  But  that  there  is  any  real  connexion,  in  the  way 
of  direct  cause  and  effect,  between  the  energy  or  frequency  of  the  out- 
bursts and  the  state  of  the  weather,  or  fluctuations  oi  barometric  presaure, 
or  vice  versd,  seemB  de\oii  ol  «fi^  ^ovmiB.'nnQ.-vta.tftTer- 


On  Omneetive  Tissue,  Nerve,  and  Muscle.  515 

"  A  Contribution  to  the  Anatomy  of  Connective  Tissue,  Nerve, 
and  Muscle,  with  special  reference  to  their  connexion  with 
the  Lymphatic  System."  By  O.  Thin,  M.D.  Conmiani> 
cated  by  Professor  Hoilet,  Sec.  R.S.  Beceived  April  22, 
1874* 

I  pnblialied  in  the  '  Lancet '  of  the  14th  February  of  this  year  a  paper 
entitled  "  On  the  Lymphatic  System  of  the  Cornea,"  in  which  I  endea- 
voured to  show  that  the  canals  in  that  structure  in  which  the  nerves  lie 
communicate  with  the  lacuna),  that  the  straight  canals  and  lacunte  are 
connected  by  means  of  a  continuous  layer  of  flat  cells,  the  margins  of 
which  are  indicated  by  the  well-known  action  of  nitrate  of  silver,  and 
that  these  cells  are  not  the  anastomosing  so-called  comea-corpuscles,  but 
that  the  flat  cells  line  the  lacuna,  while  the  branched  cells  fill  the  cavity. 

I  have  lately  undertaken  a  series  of  further  Investigations  on  the  same 
subject. 

In  order  to  corroborate  the  results  yielded  me  by  the  nitrate  of  silver, 
I  availed  myself  of  the  well-known  property  which  hiematoxylin  pos- 
sesaes  of  specially  staining  the  nuclei  of  cells.  I  allow  the  cornea  to 
remain  in  the  solution  until  it  is  perfectly  saturated.  Subsequent  mace- 
ration In  acetic  acid  removes  the  luematoi^tin  from  the  fibrillary  sub- 
stance before  it  bleaches  the  nuclei.  On  comparing  a  cornea  so  treated 
with  successful  preparations  of  the  comea-corpuscles  as  obtained  by 
chloride  of  gold,  it  is  fouud  that  the  number  of  cells  demonstrated  by 
the  hfematoxylin  exceeds  by  several  times  that  found  in  the  gold  prepara- 
tion, affording  direct  proof  of  the  existence  of  other  cells  in  the  cornea 
than  those  known  as  the  comea-corpuscles. 

If  a  vertical  section  of  the  cornea  is  so  treated  by  hematoxylin  and 
acetic  add,  in  many  of  the  clefts  in  the  fibrillary  substance,  in  which,  as 
is  well  known,  the  comea-corpuscles  are  situated,  several  nuclei  are  seen, 
proving  in  another  way  the  existence  of  a  greater  number  of  cells  than 
those  hitherto  accepted  by  anatomists. 

But  in  addition  to  the  proof  afforded  by  staining  the  nuclei  of  the 
cells,  I  have,  by  the  application  of  a  new  method,  been  able  to  isolate 
(and  thus  demonstrate  beyond  all  further  possibiUty  of  doubt  their  exist- 
ence in  the  cornea)  a  large  number  of  cellular  elements,  the  varied  size 
and  shape  of  which  distinguish  them  not  only  from  the  comea-corpuscles, 
but  from  any  anatomical  structures  that  have  been  as  yet  described. 

If  a  cornea  is  placed  in  a  saturated  solution  of  caustic  potash,  at  a 
temperature  between  105°  and  llo°  Fahrenheit,  it  is  reduced,  iu  a  few 
minutes,  to  a  white  granulated  mass  of  about  a  fourth  of  its  previous 
bulk.  In  a  small  piece  of  the  diminished  comea,  broken  down  with  a 
needle  and  examined  under  the  microscope  in  the  same  fluid,  it  is  found 
that  the  only  visible  elements  are  a  great  number  of  cells.  If  the  con- 
•Scad  June  IS.  1874.    SMantl.^.^n. 

TOL,  xni,  4 -a. 


516  Dr.  G.  Tliin  on  the  Analomy  of 

jundiTftl  epitheliiun  of  the  comca  hae  not  been  previoaely  remored,  lb* 
cells  o£  that  structure  cau  be  recognized  amongst  the  others  ;  and  if  tha 
mass  under  eiamination  has  not  been  too  much  broken  up  in  manipii- 
lating,  groups  of  them  may  bo  aoeu  in  direct  anatomical  continuity  with 
Icmg  narrow  flat  cells,  which  belong  to  the  elements  that  have  been  for 
the  first  time  brought  to  light  by  tho  potjish  solution. 

But  the  cells  of  the  anterior  or  siirfoce-epithelium  form  a  very  Bnull 
proportion  of  the  number.  The  sniaUest  piece  that  can  be  removed  by 
the  needle  frwm  a  cornea  which,  before  being  put  into  the  solution,  haa 
had  this  epithelium  scraped  off  and  Deacemet's  membrane  remored,  shows 
nnder  the  microscope  a  multitude  of  cells.  Of  the  branched  corpU9c3e»i 
the  fibrillary  substance,  and  nerves,  not  a  trace  ia  visible. 

The  form  of  these  cells  ia  so  various  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  con- 
struct a.  scries  of  types  under  which  every  individual  cell  could  1» 
brought.  They  seem  in  their  development  to  have  assumed  any  modifi- 
cation of  form  that  ia  necessary  to  enable  them  to  fit  accurately  tb* 
cavities  and  fibrUlary  bundles  to  which  they  are  applied. 

Those  whose  outlines  do  not  permit  their  being  accurately  described  as 
belonging  to  a  strictly  defined  type,  are  many  of  them  somewhat  qiu- 
draiiguiar  or  triangnlar  in  form,  or  club-shaped,  with  a  short  or  long 
projecting  process.  Of  fixed  niid  iHlnite  1\-po>J  are  Jong  narrow  rod.*, 
ending  obliquely  at  the  point,  and  oblong  cells  intersected  at  one  end  by 
a  notch,  which  receives  the  extremities  of  two  of  the  long  cells  tbalt  lie 
parallel  to  each  other. 

I  do  not  attempt  to  give  an  eshauBtive  account  of  the  varioiu  fonu 
aasumed  by  these  ceUs.  A  better  idea  than  can  be  given  by  any  dfr 
scription  will  be  got  by  an  examination  of  figs.  1,  2,  3,  Plate  TUX,  bt 
vhich  many  of  them  are  represented ;  but  an  examination  of  the  first 
prepared  cornea  will  show  that  there  are  many  forms  and  modiflcatiail 
which  have  not  been  drawn. 

The  cells  are  granular  in  appearance,  with  sharp  clear  outlines.  The 
terminal  surfaces  of  the  long  cells  can  often  be  seen  to  be  finely  BOTTBted ; 
and  so  closely  do  they  fit  each  other-  at  these  points,  that  sometimes  a 
high  magnifying-power  is  necessary  to^  discover  the  suture-like  line  by 
which  the  junction  is  indicated. 

The  nuclei  of  all  the  cells  have  nearly  the  same  length,  but  in  tiie 
narrower  cells  the  nucleus  is  oft«n  much  compressed  transversely. 

The  long  cells  are  many  of  them  OOQ  millim.  long  and  from  0'006- 
0-003  nuUJm.  broad ;  the  shorter  cells  are  broader.  Those  0-06  millim. 
long  are  generally  about  0-009  millim.  broad.  A  length  of  039  milliiiin 
with  a  breadth  of  about  0-015  millim.  is  common ;  others  are  0-03  milliffl. 
long  and  O'OIS  millim.  broad. 

I  hare  chiefly  examined  the  cells  in  the  cornea  of  the  ox,  sheep,  and  fro^ 
and  have  found  no  important  differences  either  in  shape  or  arrangranetit. 

In  ezamining  ^rtioiu  ol  t^«  cotroaa  ^frUch.  hare  been  as  little  dif 


Connective  Tinue,  Nerve,  and  Mtucle.  517 

turbcd  as  ie  consistent  vitfa  the  nutintenaQce  of  traDsparency,  groups  of 
cells  are  found  massed  together  ih  sttu,  as  they  have  been  left  hj  the  di»< 
solving  out  of  the  fibrillarj  aubetuice  by  the  potash;  these  are  found 
chiefly  in  tvo  forms,  TransTerse  tnasses  of  the  anterior  epithelium  are 
found  sutured  to  long  narrow  cells,  which  sometimeB  seem  to  join  them 
at  an  angle. 

Further,  flat  quadrangular  masses  of  a  single  layer  of  cells  are  found 
formed  in  the  following  manner : — Of  two  opposite  sidee  the  external 
rows  are  formed  of  more  or  less  rounded  and  angular  cells,  to  which  are 
joined  long  narrow  cells  that  lie  parallel  to  each  other.  Those  from  each 
side  respectively  meet  in  the  centre,  where  they  join.  The  remaining 
sides  of  the  quadrangle  are  formed  by  a  side  view  of  these  vaipeus  cells, 
where  they  have  been  detached  from  the  adjoining  ones  in  the  breaking 
down  of  the  cornea  mass. 

The  coincidence  between  the  breadth  of  the  long  narrow  cells  and  the 
fibrillary  bundles  of  the  cornea-substance,  as  seen  when  prepared  by  the 
ordinary  methods,  is  evident,  the  continuous  planes  formed  by  their  junc- 
tion indicating  that  they  form  layers  between  which  it  is  enclosed. 
According  to  this  view,  the  ground-snbstance  is  everywhere  encased  in 
a  sheath  of  cellular  elements. 

Bowman's  corneal  tubes  I  believe  to  include  both  the  straight  canals 
described  in  the  paper  above  referred  to  and  the  spaces  between  the 
long  cells  widened  by  injection,  chiefly  the  latter. 

Although  I  have  nothing  to  add  to  the  description  of  the  mode  of  pre- 
paration which  I  have  already  given,  I  must  state  thatthere  are  conditions 
of  success,  as  to  the  nature  of  which  I  have  not  yet  come  to  a  definite  con- 
clusion. Sometimes  the  same  solution,  applied  at  the  same  temperature 
to  different  comece,  succeeds  in  one  and  fails  in  another,  and  sometimes 
a  solution  prepared  with  every  precaution  has  failed  to  afford  me  any 
result.  The  two  essentia  conditions  to'  success  are  complete  saturation 
and  temperature.  I  have  never  succeeded  with  a  temperature  above 
120°,  nor  with  one  below  102° ;  and  so  sensitive  is  the  solution  to  mois- 
ture, that  preparations  sealed  in  it  with  asphalt  seldom  keep  longer  than 
one  or  two  days,  except  in  rery  dry  weather.  On  a  damp  day  I  have 
known  a  successful  preparation  left  on  the  object-glass  disappear  in  six 
hours.  The  c(»neal  mass  may  be  kept  unaltered  for  at  least  some  weeks 
in  the  solution  by  running  sealing-wax  round  the  stopper  of  the  bottle, 

A  perfectly  successful  preparation  shows  nothing  but  the  cells.  Un- 
successful preparations,  especially  those  prepared  with  too  hot  solution, 
show  globular  masses  unlike  any  anatomical  element ;  others,  especially 
those  prepared  at  too  low  a  temperature  or  with  imperfect  saturation, 
show  masses  of  hexagonal  crystals  like  those  of  cystin. 

To  sum  up,  I  believe  that  there  exists  in  the  cornea  : — 

I.,  the  fitnillary  ground-substance,  which  is  pierced  by  straight  canals 
and  honeycombed  with  csyitiee ; 


51*8  Dr.  Gt.  Thin  on  the  dkatm^  ^ 

XL,  ist  cells,  which  evexywheie  cover  flia'  fibrilhurjr  bandka  of  Ab 
former  and  line  the  entire  system  of  the  latter ; 

I£L,  the  comea-corpufldes  of  Toynbee  and  Yiidunr ;  and, 

iy.y  the  nerve-structures  of  the  tissue. 

The  cornea-corpuscles  and  the  nerves  lie  free  intbeoanab  andeavitis^ 
and  between  them  and  the  epithelium  there  is  a  fluid-filled  apaoe  irUch 
permits  the  passage  of  lymph-corpusdee. 

It  is  therefore  proper  to  r^ard  the  canals,  cavitjes,  and  intw^ 
fibrillary  spaces  as  forming  a  continuous  and  integral  part  of  the  lyoh 
j^hatic  system,  the  latter  having  to  the  fdnner  the  same  rdatioa  tint 
blood-capillaries  have  to  the  veins. 

The  junction  of  the  flat  cells  of  the  flbriUary  subBtanoe  iviCh  die 
epithelium  of  the  surface  justifies  the  inference  tiiat  the  interoeDiiltr 
spaces  in  the  anterior  epithelium  of  the  cornea  omimmuoate  with  die 
lymph-spaces  in  the  ground-substance,  and  that  tiie  position  of  nene- 
fibrilla  between  the  epithelium  is  a  continuation  of  the  Bimilar  nlatioa 
that  has  been  demonstrated  in  the  substance  of  the  structure. 

# 

It  is  a  reasonable  hypothesis  that  what  can  be  definitelj  eataUished 
for  the  cornea  holds  good  for  the  other  forms  of  connectiTe  tisane. 

I  have  accordingly  submitted  tendon  to  an  examination  bj  differsnt 
methods,  with  the  view  of  obtaining  evidence  of  the  existence  in  tiist 
structure  of  cells  other  than  those  arranged  longitudinally  between  the 
bundles,  the  nature  of  which  has  lately  been  carefully  investigated  bj 
Boll,  Spina,  Ranvier,  and  others. 

If  the  tcndo  Achillis  of  a  frog,  or  the  tendons  of  a  mouse's  tail,  fixed 
according  to  the  ingenious  method  described  by  Ran\ier  in  his  first 
paper*,  are  treated  by  nitrate  of  silver,  care  being  taken  to  avoid  friction 
of  any  kind,  it  is  found  that  every  part  of  the  free  surface  of  the  bundles 
is  covered  by  a  continuous  epithelium.  In  the  tendo  Achillis  of  the  frog 
I  have  seen  lymphatic  capiUaries  distributed  over  this  surface ;  and  the 
epithelial  markings  can  be  traced  from  the  cells  covering  the  bundles 
into  those  of  the  vessels.  A  preparation  from  the  tail  of  the  mouse, 
showing  this  epithelium,  is  represented  in  fig.  4,  Plate  IX. 

If  sections  of  tendon  are  placed  for  several  hours  in  a  strong  solution 
of  extract  of  logwood  and  alum,  and  the  dye  then  washed  out  bv  concen- 
trated acetic  acid,  it  is  found  that  while  the  fibrillary  substance  becmnes 
clear  and  transparent,  the  nuclei  retain  their  colour.  This  is  best  done 
under  a  cover-glass  and  under  the  microscope,  as  the  effect  of  the  add, 
if  kept  too  long  in  contact  with  the  preparation,  is  to  discolour  the 
nuclei  also ;  the  weight  of  the  covering-glass  is  sufficient  to  prerent  the 
otherwise  invariable  distortion  of  the  preparation  by  the  acid.  If  the 
preparation  is  intended  to  be  permanent,  all  traces  of  the  acid  must  be 
removed  bv  a  current  of  distilled  wat-er. 

The  effect  of  this  treatment  is  to  show  that  there  exists  in  tendon  a 

*  Archives  de  Physiologie,  1869. 


Connective  Ti»»ue,  Nerve,  iotd  Mutcle.  610 

£ar  greater  number  of  cells  than  can  be  seen  in  the  most  sncceesful  gold 
preparations.  The  figures  illustrating  the  structure  of  tendon  usually 
given  by  investigators  account  for  only  aportion  of  the  cells  whose  exist- 
ence is  thus  proYed — that  portion,  namely,  which  consists  of  the  rows  of 
cells  occupying  the  stellate  spaces,  and  which  colour  easOy  in  gold  and 
carmine.  In  longitudinal  sections,  prepared  by  the  method  I  have  above 
deacribed,  not  only  are  the  nuclei  much  crowded  together,  but  two  are 
frequently  seen  on  the  same  level,  and  applied  to  the  opposing  surfaces 
of  contiguous  bundles.  In  transverse  sections  a  similar  arrangement 
is  found.  The  nuclei  between  the  bundles  are  very  numerous;  two  are 
often  found  together  on  opposite  bimdles  ;  and  in  one  stellate  space  three 
and  four  nuclei  can  often  be  found  at  the  same  level. 

This  is  clearly  a  condition  to  which  the  so-called  division  of  the 
nucleus  is  not  applicable. 

If  we  believe  that  each  of  these  nuclei  represents  a  cell,  the 
conclusion  is  inevitable  that,  in  addition  to  the  cells  hitherto  de- 
scribed and  occupying  the  centre  of  the  stellat«  spaces,  thei«  exists 
another  and  very  numerous  class  of  cells  applied  to  the  surface  of  the 
bundles. 

This  effect  of  tuematoxylin  and  subsequent  action  of  acetic  acid  on 
sections  of  tendon  is  perfectly  analogous  to  that  similarly  produced  in 
sections  of  cornea. 

The  treatment  of  tendon  by  the  potash  solution  has  seldom  yielded  me 
satisfactory  results ;  but  when  it  has  succeeded,  I  have  found  confirmation 
of  the  inferences  I  draw  from  the  effect  of  the  saturated  solution  of 
htematosylin.  A  reference  to  figure  7  (Plate  IX.)  shows  that  while  many 
of  the  cells  isolated  by  the  potash  correspond  to  those  found  on  the  sur- 
face, others  are  similar  to  the  long  narrow  cells  that  cover  the  fasciculi 
of  fibrillary  tissue  in  the  cornea,  and  do  not  resemble  in  shape,  even 
approximately,  the  superficial  elements  defined  by  nitrate  of  silver.  Al- 
though I  have  not  succeeded,  as  in  the  cose  of  the  cornea,  in  reducing 
tendon  to  a  mass  of  these  ceUs,  I  consider  it  a  fair  inference  that  the 
long  narrow  cells  I  have  seen  are  samples  of  cells  that  invest  the  fas- 
ciculi of  fibrillary  tissue. 

The  comparative  difficulty  in  successfully  treating  tendon  by  potash 
is  probably  due  to  the  denseness  of  its  structure. 

It  is  in  regard  to  the  branched  cells,  which  I  hold  to  be  the  analogues 
of  the  branched  eomea-cells  (corpuscles),  that  the  important  fact  demon- 
strated by  Spina,  that  it  is  on  the  surface  of  the  cells  that  the  fibres  of 
elastic  tissue  are  formed,  specially  applies. 

In  the  centrum  teudineum  of  the  rabbit  the  continuity  of  the  flat 
cells,  which  in  silver  preparations  are  considered  to  indicate  lymphatic 
vessels,  with  cells  covering  the  fibrillary  substance  can  be  shown  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent,  according  to  the  success  which  has  attended  this 
difficult  manipulation.    That  it  often. succeeds  in  patches,  is  shown  by 


5:iii  Dr.  G.  Thiu  on  Ike  Anatomy  of 

tbo  plates  that  illustrat*  worta  on  this  aubject,  although  the  mfluenrr 
of  Von  EecklinghftueeQ'B  doctrine  (namely,  tliat  wherever  au  epithelium 
is  found  n  lymphatic  capillary  must  be  supposed  to  exist)  haa  led  to  wbtt 
I  believe  to  be  their  tnio  nature  being  overlooked. 

From  a  similar  cause  to  that  eocountered  in  tendon.,  the  complete  re- 
duction of  the  dense  corium  of  maminals  by  potssU  is  rery  diflicalf  ;  but 
by  treating  thin  sections  of  fresh  cutis,  isolated  flat  cells  aj«  found. 

In  the  cutis  of  the  frog,  the  bundles  oE  fibrillary  tissue  are  arranged  in 
parallel  layers,  and  the  corium  being  thin,  the  demonstmlion  of  flat  wll» 
is  ejisier.  And  here  the  continuity  of  these  eeliB  with  those  of  the  rvte 
Malpighi  is  erident,  in  the  same  way  as  the  cells  of  the  anterior  epithe- 
lium of  the  cornea  ore  continuous  nith  the  flat  cells  of  the  interior  of 
the  structure. 

Figures  11  and  12,  Plate  X.,  represent  flat  cells  from  the  skin  of  die 
01  and  frog. 

I  make  the  same  inference  in  regard  to  the  communication  of  ihe 
spaces  between  the  cells  o£  the  rote  Malpighi  with  the  lymph-spaces  ("f 
the  corium,  that  I  make  in  regard  to  the  similar  arrangement  in  the  cornea, 
both  AS  regards  anatomical  continuity  and  in  regard  to  the  position  of 
the  nerves  in  the  spaces,  Langerhans  has  described  the  network  of 
nerve-fibres  in  the  rcte  Malpighi,  and,  in  that  of  Ihe  cutis  of  the  rabbit, 
tlio  rii'h  iiftMiDrk  in  the  sjiaces  between  the  cells  is  not  very  difficult  lo 
demonstrate.  In  the  skin  of  the  finger,  I  hare  traced  a  medullated  mm 
as  high  OB  the  third  layer. 

Eanvier,  in  that  part  of  his  essay  which  treats  of  the  element!  mB»- 
laires  du  tissu  conjonctif  l&die,  describes  an  entirely  different  an&tomiot 
element  from  that  on  which  the  authorities  with  whom  he  is  in  contro- 
versy had  fixed  their  attention.  The  cells  figured  by  him*  are  the  aame 
as  those  isolated  by  potash  when  very  thin  pieces  of  skin  or  areolar  tissos 
are  operated  on.  As  described  by  him,  they  are  applied  closely  to  tlw 
bundles.  But  when  he  attempts  to  show  that  the  conQectdve-tisaue  cor- 
puscle of  Virchow  does  not  exist,  and  that  the  appearances  by  whit^  it  ii 
distinguished  depend  on  an  optical  delusion,  I  believe  him  to  be  nustaken. 
In  skin  and  subcutaneous  tissue  the  chloride  of  gold  brings  out  in  tbe 
clearest  manner  the  existence  of  nucleated  ceUs  with  long  projecting  pro- 
cssses  stretching  between  and  around  the  bundles,  the  whole  of  tha 
eeUs  being  connected  by  the  anastomoses  of  their  processes.  So  com- 
plete is  the  analogy  between  skin  and  tendon,  that  it  would  be  easy  to 
find  parts  of  a  successful  gold  preparation  of  akin  where  the  diagnooia 
between  skin  and  tendon  might  be  difficult. 

Figures  13  and  14,  Plate  X.,  illustrate  the  appearances  presented  by 
the  branched  cells  in  skin. 

A  history  of  the  opinions  held  regarding  the  structure  of  the  con- 
nective tissues  since  the  time  of  Schwann  is  equally.beyond  the  scope  (rf 
^  •  L,e.  p.  483. 


Coimective  Tistug,  Nerve,  and  Mtucie. 

thii  paper  and  my  acquamtanoe  with  the  Utoratme  of  the  subject.  It 
is,  however,  well  known  that  while  twenty  years  ago  the  so-called  con~ 
nectivfr-tJBSue  oorpnacles  weA  believed  to  be  concerned  in  the  formation 
of  elastic  tissue,  with  the  development  of  Virchow's  doctrine  of  cel- 
lular pathology,  this  opinion  seems  to  have  been  gradually  abandoned, 
even  by  those  who,  like  Vinbow  himself,  had  originally  maintained  it. 
Banvier,  whose  investigations  seem  to  have  been  conducted  in  singular 
independence  of  contemporary  theories,  holds  that  the  first  step  in  the 
appearance  of  elastic  tissue  is  the  formation  of  "granulaiumt  ri/nngenta" 
traceable  in  the  fully  developed  fibres. 

In  the  spring  of  1673,  while  investigating  the  structure  of  the  touch- 
corpuscles  of  the  finger,  I  found  that  the  much-discussed  cellular  ele- 
ments of  these  bodies,  which  colour  in  gold  and  carmine,'  anastomose  with 
each  other  by  means  of  fibres  that  resist  prolonged  maceration  in  con- 
centrated acetic  and  dilute  mineral  acids,  and  I  described  them,  in  the 
account  I  gave  of  the  results  of  my  investigation,  as  "  elastic  tissue  fibres." 
At  the  same  time  I  found  that  similar  cells  and  fibres  form  a  thick  net- 
work in  the  cerium.  Simultaneously,  Spina  made  his  exhaustive  study 
of  the  connexion  of  the  elastic  fibres  in  tendon  with  the  walla  of  the 
cell,  to  which  I  have  already  referred. 

Since  that  time,  I  have  continued  to  subject  the  skin  and  subcutaneous 
tissue  to  treatment  by  different  methods,  and  the  results  have  been  con- 
firmative of  those  I  obtained  in  Vienna.  Shortly  expressed,  the  con- 
clusion I  have  come  to  is,  that,  in  skin,  all  the  branched  cells  form  elastic 
tissue  on  their  surface  and  on  their  processes,  and  that  there  is  no  elastic 
tissue  anywhere  that  is  not  so  formed. 

The  cells  found  in  connective  tissue  are  divisible,  as  I  believe,  into  two 
distinct  classes.  There  are,  first,  the  flat  cells  which  never  branch,  and 
which,  when  treated  by  nitrate  of  silver,  present  appearances  identical 
with  those  produced  when  the  flat  cells  of  serous  membranes  are  simi- 
larly treated ;  secondly,  there  is  the  system  of  branched  cells  in  its  va- 
rious forms.  As  contrasted  with  each  other,  they  may  be  described  simply 
as  the  flat  and  branched  ceUs  of  connective  tissue*.  Between  these 
two  classes  of  cells  there  is  no  transition  and  no  anatomical  continuity. 
The  forms  of  the  branched  cells  embrace  all  the  gradations  between  the 
fine  network  of  a  lymphatic  gland  and  the  anotitomoHLng  network  of  the 
strong  fibres  in  skin  and  tendon.  They  are  distinguished  by  their  pro- 
cesses, their  capacity  to  form  a  substance  that  resists  acetic  acid — the 
power,  namely,  of  forming  the  resisting  element  specially  characteristic 
of  elastic  tissue.  That  they  do  not  all  exercise  this  latter  power  to 
the  same  degree,  does  not  constitute  a  sufficient  difference  to  make 
it  necessary  to  regard  them  as  separable  into  classes  essentially  distinct. 

The  ligunentum  nucha  may  be  taken  as  the  type  of  the  stronger  forms 

■  To  flst  sells  Om  Urm  plaeotdt  hs*  bem  applied  b;  Dr.  Burdon  Ssndsrxm,  Oit 
e^nbalent  <rf  ths  QsnnsofbAm, 


522  Dr.  O.  Thin  m  ike  Jbi&tamf  ^ 

of  elastic  tissue ;  and  I  select  it  fortius  reason  to  proffe  tiie  ^"^"n^  ooffk 

tit  its  fibres. 

If  a  thin  piece  of  the  ligamentnm  nnchiB  is  Strang^  ookmred  bj  cUorids 
of  gold  and  genti j  teased  in  gljcenne,  tiiero  will  be  fodnd  a  «"»"b^  cf 
otbI  nuclei  lying  loose  amongst  the  fibres^  Bat  careful 
shows  similar  nuclei  stiU  adhering  to  manj  of  the  latter;  and'in 
instances  the  remains  of  the  protc^lasm  of  tiie  cdl  can  be  seen  aromd 
the  nucleus  and  adherent  to  the  fibre.  The  nndeos  and  oeDriemaina  an 
often  found  at  the  point  of  the  division  of  a  fibre  into  two,  and  nwliffilft 
the  original  processes  of  the  cell  in  the  embryonic  state. 

If  a  portion  of  the  same  gold-stained  ligament  is  farther  placed  in  a 
very  strong  solution  of  hsDmatoxylin  and  alum  for  twelve  boiirs^  and 
then  carefully  spread  out  for  examination,  the  appearances  will  be  fbond 
to  have  considerably  changed.  If  the  preparation  has  not  been  lOD^dy 
handled,  the  astringent  effect  of  the  latter  solution  has  caosed  the  dear 
outiines  of  the  individual  fibres  to  disappear,  and,  in  tiieir  stead,  then  are 
flat  bluish  bands  in  which  fine  dark  lines  connecting  oval  swelliiigB  are 
seen.  The  latter  are  the  nuclei,  and  the  lines  are*  permeable  canals  in 
the  elastic  fibres,  which  have  become  filled  witii  the  hematoxylin  aoloEtioiL 
Both  these  conditions  are  depicted  in  figures  15, 16,  and  17,  Plate  X. 

The  formation  of  the  elastic  substance  on  the  surface  of  the  cell,  as 
described  by  Spina  in  tendon,  applies  universally,  and  also  holds  good  for 
the  cell-processes.  But  the  part  of  the  cell-body  that  does  not  enter  into 
the  formation  of  this  resisting  substance,  so  far  from  sharing  the  strength 
of  the  new  tissue,  becomes  more  easily  disintegrated  than  at  an  earher 
period  of  its  development,  and  can  be  found  only  when  the  tissue  is 
cautiously  manipulated.  But  sufficient  staining  with  gold,  and  care  in 
operating,  will  demonstrate  the  cellular  origin  of  elastic  fibres  in  whatever 
tissue  they  occur. 

Virehow,  as  is  well  known,  vindicates  for  his  connective-tissue  corpus- 
cles the  character  of  a  connected  chain  of  plasmatic  canals,  and  I  have  re- 
marked above  regarding  the  tubular  nature  of  the  fibres  of  the  ligamentum 
nuchsD.  That  every  elastic  fibre  is  permeable  to  fluid  is  highly  probable, 
though  not  yet  proven.  This  tubular  nature  of  the  larger  fibres  has  pro- 
duced one  of  the  difficulties  of  the  recognition  of  the  connexion  of  the 
fibre  with  the  cell.  The  chloride  of  gold  colours  the  protoplasm  of  a  cell, 
with  which  a  fully  developed  fibre  is  continuous,  a  faint  purple ;  and  when 
the  tinting  is  continued  into  the  process,  it  is  the  contents  of  the  tubular 
space  that  are  coloured.  The  elastic  fibre,  unless  carefully  examined  in 
a  good  light,  is  apt  either  to  escape  observation,  or  seems  to  run  past  the 
cell  without  being  in  continuity  with  it. 

This  difficulty  has  been  increased  by  a  chemical  difference  between  the 
cell  and  the  elastic  tissue  to  which  it  gives  origin,  so  that  many  reagents 
and  modes  of  treatment,  that  by  potash-lye  for  instance,  dissolve  the  cell 
but  leave  the  fibre  untouched.     Hence  the  methods  that  have  been  most 


Connective  TUtw,  Nerve,  and  AfmcU.  623 

used  for  establieluDg  the  mdividiul  ch&ractarB  of  elaatio  tissne  hftT«  been 
instrumental  in  producing  eironeouB  notiona  as  to  its  origin. 

Thus  we  have  in  skin,  as  in  tendon,  bundles  of  fibrillary  tissue  eveiy-' 
where  corered  with  flat  cells,  and,  in  the  interstices  of  the  bundles,  the 
analogues  of  the  brani^ed  cells  of  the  cornea,  producing  a  ramifying  net- 
work of  elastic  tissue. 

In  gold  preparations  of  the  skin,  the  blood-vessels  and  nerves  can  be 
followed  between  the  larger  fasciculi,  analogously  to  the  position  of  the 
nerves  in  the  cornea. 

Fascia  differs  from  skin  and  tendon  only  in  so  far  as  its  flatness  permits 
and  necessitates  a  change  of  forin  in  the  flat  ceUs,  and  the  easy  study  of 
their  arrangement  and  nature  by  nitrate  of  silver.  If  a  half  per  cent, 
solution'is  injected  under  the  skin  of  a  mouse's  back  and  the  animal  killed 
.  in  from  five  to  ten  minutes  afterwards,  and  the  skin  of  the  back  disBect«d 
off,  the  fascia  which  has  been  in  contact  with  the  silver  is  recognised  by 
its  milky  whiteness  and  (edematous  condition.  If  spread  out  car«fully 
on  the  object-glass  in  glycerine  and  exposed  to  sunlight,  it  is  seen  to  be 
plated  over  with  oblong  or  slightly  rounded  cells  with  large  nucla. 
Figure  8,  Plate  TS..,  is  a  sketch  from  a  part  of  a  preparation  so  obttuned. 
The  cells  separated  from  the  same  structure  by  potash  are  represented 
in  figure  9,  Plate  IX. ;  it  will  be  observed  that  they  are  identical  in 
appearance.  Figure  10,  PUite  IX.,  illustrates  the  very  lai^  flat  cells, 
with  their  nuclei,  that  cover  the  fascia  of  the  muscles  of  the  thigh  of  the 
frog. 

Frequently,  bat  not  so  constantly,  the  branched  cells  are  also  stained 
by  the  silver,  and  they  are  generally  found  at  a  different  focus. 

Kanvier  ('Archives  de  Physiologie ')  has  described  flat  cells  on  the 
sheaths  of  nene-fasciculi  and  the  investing  membrane  of  nerve-bundles 
as  constituting  a  lymphatic  sheath. 

By  means  of  the  saturated  potash  solution  I  have  been  able  to  satisfy 
myself  that,  not  only  are  the  nerve-bundles  surrounded  by  lymphatic 
sheaths,  but  that  each  meduUated  nerve-fibre  is  invested  with  a  layer  ' 
of  flat  cells.  This  layer  is  closely  applied  to  the  medulla,  and  is 
internal  to  the  sheath  of  Schwann,  It  is  composed  of  eitremely  fine 
and  delicate  cells,  and  their  demonstration  by  potash  succeeds  less  fre- 
quently than  does  that  of  the  cornea-cells ;  they  are  (as  far  as  I  have 
seen)  without  exception  long  and  narrow,  often  tapering  to  an  exceedingly 
fine  point.  In  the  finest  forms  their  cellular  nature  is  only  to  be  distinctly 
made  out  by  a  magnifying-power  of  700  or  800  diameters.  Figure  18, 
Plate  X.,  represents  varieties  of  these  cells  and  their  relation  to  the 
medulla.  Their  length  varies  from  0'075  to  0'036  millim, ;  many  of  them 
are  not  more  than  O'OOld  mdlim.  broad.  Appearances  are  sometimes  seen 
that  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  sheath  of  Schwann  (tubular  mem- 
brane) is  lined  by  a  layer  of  flat  cells,  distinct  frofn  that  covering  the 
medulla  (white  substance).  Themedulla,^heati«eft«&\y3'$^:^MSb,^'wt«SQhb 


624  Dr.  O.  Thin  m  the  JtmHrng  ^ 


%  leriet  of  bulgiiigs,  so  thsfc  its  kteml  (optiofti)  bordeif  am  dM^gaaloily 
irregolarlj  waYing  lines.  One  set  ctf  deUcste  oeDi  euL  ba  aaen  nloislj 
f  oOo wing  tiie  unnosities  ctf  the  snhstuuse,  while  another  eat^  mosia  ^"Tlwrd, 
lie  in  a  straight  direction  parallel  to  the  longitadinal  axia  of  tiia  fibn^ 
Where  the  medulla  is  constricted,  tiiere  is  a  dear  apaoa  botwai  tkHi 
two  sets  of  cells,  which  are  in  contact  at  the  conTantiaa  ^nn^^  \fj  ^ 
bolgings. 

B7  adhering  to  the  broad  principle  that  wherever  tfaeia  ia  a  nndew 
there  is  a  cell,  the  eidstence  of  a  great  number  of  cellfl  aurrotmding  ths 
medulla  of  a  nerve-fibre  can  be  demonstrated  in  another  wa^.  If  a  nerve 
is  placed  in  absolute  alcohol  for  twentj-f our  hours  and  then  Tavj  ymfly 

dimtangled  from  the  sheath  in  glycerine,  a  oover-glass  pat  on  and  aoliitiflB 
of  hematoxylin  drawn  through  the  field  by  filter-paper,  tibe  nooiki  of  the 
fibres  stain  first,  and  their  number  soon  becomes  yety  stxildng.  IE  ths 
field  is  allowed  to  become  saturated  and  obscuro  with  ilie  dje,  and  tlMn 
subsequently  deared  up  by  aoeiic  add,  those  fibres  whidi  have  not 
suffered  by  the  manipulation  are  literally  dotted  over  witii  nndaL  Hw 
number  is  so  great  as  at  once  to  dispd  the  idea  that  they  can  be  aoooonted 
for  by  the  sheath  of  Schwann.  The  nudd  of  the  sheath  oan  oftsn  hs 
distinguished  from  the  others  by  their  more  external  poaituin  rdathne  to 
the  nerve  and  a  deeper  tint.  Figuro  19,  Plate  X.,  is  drawn  from  a  pre- 
paration made  in  this  way. 

The  ring  which,  as  Eanvier  was  the  first  to  show,  snares  the  medullaM 
fibre  is  well  seen  when  the  nerv^e  is  treated  by  absolute  alcohol  or  tiw 
saturated  potash  solution,  both  of  which  leave  the  medulla  untouched. 
As  at  the  seat  of  this  constrictioQ  the  medulla  is  deficient,  and  as  the 
nerve-fibre  is  bathed  in  lymph,  it  is  evident  that  there  must  be  at  these 
points  a  very  intimate  connexion  between  the  lymph-fluid  and  the  axis- 
cyliuder  of  the  nerve.  This  has  been  already  indicated  by  Banvier  in  his 
essay  on  the  lymphatic  nature  of  the  nerve-sheaths,  and  receives  greater 
force  now  that  we  know  that  flat  cells,  indicative  of  lymphatic  structures, 
are  situated  on  the  fibres  themselves. 

The  use  of  hsDmatoxylin  is  as  advantageous  in  demonstrating  the  large 
nuclei  of  the  flat  cells  of  the  nerve-sheaths  as  it  is  in  showing  those  of 
tendon. 

Banvier  has  observed  that  in  transverse  sections  of  nerves  the  sheaths 
and  connective  tissue  surrounding  the  fibres  stain  more  deeply  \i'ith  car- 
mine than  the  surrounding  tissue  does.  1  have  made  a  similar  observation 
in  the  nerv'es  of  the  skin  in  gold  preparations  which  had  been  macerated 
in  acetic  acid.  In  this  dMB  the  concentrically  arranged  connective  tissue 
of  the  nerves  is  conspicuous  by  its  pearly  whiteness.  But  as  we  know 
that  the  surrounding  corium  is  equally  rich  with  the  nerve  in  lymphatic 
structures,  the  cause  of  the  difference  in  colour  must  be  sought  elsewhere, 
and  will  probably  1^  found  in  relative  differences  in  regard  to  the  ar* 
xangement  of  the  elastic  tissue* 


Cmmeettet  Tbtne,  Nerte,  and  Mtuck.  625 

By  comtniiing  sevenl  m^ods  of  inTettagaiion,  I  beliere  I  hare  suc- 
ceeded in  cleftring  up  some  points  in  the  anatomy  of  muiciUar  fibre, 
by  which  it  will  be  seen  that,  as  regards  the  lymphatic  system,  muscle 
occupies  a  position  almost  identical  with  tendon  and  connectiTe  tissue 
generally. 

If  fresh  muscle  is  deeply  stained  with  hicmatoxyliu  and  then  treated 
by  acetic  acid  and  gently  teased,  the  perimysium  of  the  bundles  and  it«  vary 
fine  continuation  around  each  fibre  are  seen  to  be  studded  with  hu^  round 
nuclei,  which  are  far  more  numerous  than  those  of  the  branched  cells, 
which  are  also  seen.  The  round  nuclei  belong  to  the  flat  cells  of  the 
perimysium. 

I  have  been  able  to  demonstrate  the  character  of  the  cells  ^j  teasing 
the  living  muscle  of  the  frog  Id  aqueous  humour,  and  thence  truuferring 
the  separated  fibres  to  the  nitrate-of-silver  solution.  The  usual  sinuous 
lines  are  then  seen  both  on  the  general  and  special  perimysium.  This  is 
represented  in  figures  5  and  6,  Plate  XZ. 

When  muscle  is  treated  by  the  saturated  solution  of  potash,  as  above 
described,  the  fibres  are  found  unaltered,  the  striated  appearance  being 
well  marked.  There  is  no  vestige  left  of  the  perimysium.  On  the  naked 
surface  of  the  sarcolemma,  a  number  of  round  distinct  nuclei  aro  seen ;  and 
when  they  happen  to  be  on  the  edge  of  the  fractured  fibre,  it  is  seen  that 
they  are  situated  on  its  outer  surface. 

If  the  saturated  potash  solution  in  which  the  muscle  is  placed  is  kept 
for  about  an  hour  at  a  temperature  of  110°  Fahrenheit,  and  then  allowed 
to  cool  gradually,  we  find  a  further  effect  has  been  produced.  ' 

On  breaking  down  a  piece  of  the  muscle  into  its  individual  fibres,  we 
find  that  although  some  of  these  are  unaltered,  others  have  lost  all  their 
nuclei,  and  present  the  appearance  of  a  coarse  granular  cylinder.  But 
there  is  sometimes  a  transition  stage  seen  of  peculiar  interest.  On  the 
surface  of  the  fibre  the  outlines  of  a  series  of  quadrangular  cells  make 
tbemselrea  visible,  each  cell  having  a  distinct  nucleus  ;  and  it  is  easy  to 
satisfy  one's  self  that  the  nuclei  of  the  cells  are  identical  with  the  nuclei 
seen  previously  distributed  over  the  surface  of  -4ihe  sarcolemma.  These 
cells  are  sometimes  also  seen  free  in  the  solution,  in  which  case  they  are 
generally  more  or  less  broken  up,  but  sometimes  they  are  seen  isolated 
in  perfect  condition.  Figure  21,  Plate  XI.,  shows  the  ct^Ue  becoming  de- 
marcated on  the  fibre,  and  figure  22,  Plate  XI.,  their  appearance  when 
isolated  entire.  The  sarcolemma  is  sometimes  seen  freed  both  from  the 
'  cella  and  th^  contents ;  and  in  this  case  the  striped  cylinder  which  may  be 
seen  near  it  is  beset  with  small  perforations.  - 

The  aarcolemmaof  muscle  is  thus  covered  with  flat  cells,  regular  in  appear- 
ance and  outline,  which  resist  the  action  of  a  saturated  solution  of  potash. 

But  the  action  of  the  potash  teaches  us  something  more.  A  fibre  is 
flometimes  found  apparently  un^tered,  smooth  in  it«  c«mt<mr,  and  atill 
showing  ftomething  of  the  striated  appeaiamoa,  \»A  ibsrarSs^  -&»  Tfo&ssk. 


526 


Br.  0«  Thin  m  the  JMMtmnif  4/ 


One  or  more  rgimd  holes  are,  however,  seen  on  (lie  pieces  of  brok^ 
cylinder,  the  more  conspicnous  becftuse  the  nndei  are  wimmA  ;  the] 
about  the  size  o£  the  blood-corpasde  of  the  frog.  Bj  dumgiiig  the  t 
it  is  seen  that  each  hole  is  only  on  one  side  of  the  fibre.  The  1 
deamess  of  their  outline  shows  they  are  not  artefiu^,  bat  spaoee  in  n 
the  sarcolemma  is  wanting  (figure  23,  Plate  XL).  A  forttier  rndk 
potash  is  seen  when  a  muscular  fibre  is  found  channelled  with  one  or  i 
canals  parallel  to  the  long  axis  of  the  fibre.  The'  canals  thoa  seen 
imif onn  in  breadth ;  they  are  formed  by  rows  of  vacnoles,  whidi  oc 
spond  in  shape  and  size  to  the  nuclei  of  cells.  (I  had  observed  in  sti 
ing  the  cornea  that  the  first  stage  of  the  destruction  of  the  flat  oeUsy  in 
potash  solution,  is  a  vacuole  taking  the  place  of  the  nucleus.)  By  chaoj 
the  focus,  it  is  seen  that  these  channels  are  in  the  substance  o£  the  fi 
Smaller  channels  and  single  vacuoles  are  seen  in  di£Eerent  planes. 

A  more  extended  degree  of  the  action  of  potash  on  a  fibre  is  when 
central  canal  has  no  longer  sharp  outlines  and  is  seen  to  contain  gran 
ddbris.  - 

Treatment  of  muscular  fibre  by  hiematoxylin  gives,  as  regards  nn 
results  confirmatory  of  those  got  by  potash,  in  so  far  as  a  still  gre 
number  of  nuclei  are  seen  internal  to  the  sarcolemma  than  is  indict 
even  by  that  method.  To  obtain  the  best  results  from  hsematoxylin, 
fibres  should  be  isolated  before  being  dyed.  The  excess  of  colour  \x 
removed  by  acetic  acid,  the  nuclei  become  distinct ;  they  are  seen  t 
arranged  in  long  rows,  those  of  one  row  being  in  the  same  plane.  Isob 
nuclei  are  seen  in  different  planes.  An  idea  of  their  number  is  1 
formed  from  the  appearance  presented  by  the  broken  end  of  a  fibre  w 
it  is  turned  upwards,  giving  a  view  equivalent  to  a  transverse  sect 
The  whole  thickness  of  the  fibre  is  then  seen  to  contain  nuclei,  in  the 
rangement  of  which  something  of  a  concentric  disposition  can  gener 
be  observed.  The  nuclei  are  large  and  oval,  and  contain  one  or  1 
distinct  nucleoli.  If  the  substance  of  the  fibre  has  been  teased,  it  is  s 
that  the  fibrillae  are  arranged  in  bundles  which  have  an  equal  thickn< 
and  isolated  nuclei  are  seen  adhering  to  their  surface. 

The  inferences  that  are  irresistible  from  these  appearances  prepare 
way  to  readily  understanding  the  more  decided  effects  of  an  appropri 
treatment  by  chloride  of  gold.  The  conditions  of  a  successful  exami 
tion  of  a  muscular  fibre  by  gold  include  the  detachment  of  the  perimysi 
from  the  fibre  without  injuring  the  latter,  the  obtaining  good  transvc 
views  in  the  preparation,  and  the  requisite  degree  of  colouring.  As  it  is : 
possible  to  ensure  beforehand  a  combination  of  these  favourable  con 
tions,  it  is  evident  that,  with  equal  care,  success  is  not  uniform.  1 
results  which  I  now  give  were  obtained  by  teasing  the  muscles  of 
thigh  of  the  frog  in  aqueous  humour  before  staining  with  gold. 

Li  the  most  perfect  preparations  thus  obtained,  the  structure  of  a  mi 
cular  fibre  is  seen  to  be  almost  identical  with  that  of  a  fasciculus 


Cottnective  Tiuue,  Nerve,  and  Mutele.  627 

teudun.  Longitudmally  the  fibre  ie  Been  to  couHist  of  parallel  buadles 
of  uniform  width,  separated  by  apAces  thftt  are  indicated  by  distinct  lines  ; 
and,  distributed  at  intervals  in  the  lines,  are  oblong  naolei,  the  long  axis 
of  which  ia  parallel  to  that  of  the  fibre.  The  breadth  of  the  bundles  is 
aboat  the  same  as  that  of  a  secondary  bundle  in  tendon  ;  their  surface 
is  smooth  and  bomogeneoos  (figure  25,  Plate  XI.). 

A  transverse  view,  corresponding  to  that  of  a  cross  section  of  tendon, 
shows  tbe  muscular  substance  intersected  by  stellate  spaces,  in  some  of 
which  nuclei  are  seen,  and,  branching  out  from  the  spaces,  a  rich  anasto- 
mosing network  of  fine  dark  lines  divides  tbe  substance  of  the  fibre  into 
a  number  of  compartments.  Between  the  appearance  I  have  just  described 
and  that  of  a  cross  section  of  tendon  similarly  prepared,  the  only  difference 
is  that,  in  muscle,  the  fields  enclosed  by  the  dark  lines  are  dotted  over  by 
minute  points,  which  may  indicate  the  fibriUee. 

Nuclei  are  always  seen  in  fibres  successfully  stained  with  gold,  and 
especially  when  the  fibre  is  separated  by  teasing  into  the  bundles  of 
fibrillffi ;  but  their  number  is  much  less  than  that  seen  when  htematoxylin 
is  used.  We  have  seen  how,  in  the  cornea,  gold  when  it  has  deeply  stained 
the  nucleus  of  the  branched  cells  leaves  that  of  the  flat  cell  invisible, 
while  hiematoxylin  colours  them  both.  So  it  is  generally  in  tbe  capil- 
laries of  blood-vessels'.  I  have  found  that,  in  the  capillaries  of  the  muscles 
of  the  frt^,  these  invariably  consist  of  two  layers — an  internal  epitholial 
layer,  the  outlines  of  whose  cells  are  defined  b;  nitrate  of  silver,  and  an 
external  layer,  into  whjch  a  fine  system  of  branched  cells  enters.  Uaimn- 
toxylia  brings  out  the  nuclei  of  the  cells  of  both  layers.  The  deep  stain- 
ing with  gold,  while  it  differentiates  the  kyora  by  staining  the  internal 
(epithelial)  more  intensely  than  it  does  the  outer  (adventitious)  layer,  shows 
no  nuclei  in  the  epithelium,  while  the  nuclei  in  the  outer  layer  are  well 
marked. 

In  applying  to  muscular  fibre  the  experience  thus  acquired,  we  ore 
warranted  in  concluding  that  the  nuclei  coloured  in  gold  are  those  of  cells 
that  belong  to  the  branched  system,  and  which  are  the  characteristic 
nuclei  seen  in  the  transverse  view  of  a  gold-stiuned  muscle,  while  the 
great  majority  of  those  stained  by  btematoxylin  belong  to  the  flat  cells  of 
the  lymphatic  system. 

The  isolation  of  these  cells  is  surrounded  by  difficulties,  which  are,  how- 
ever, surmountable.  In  fibres  deeply  stained  by  gold  I  have  isolated  long 
thin  flat  cells,  lying  amongst  the  fibrillce,  which  are  identical  in  shape 
with  similar  cells  in  the  cornea.  They  were  coloured  uniformly  deep 
purple,  and  a  distinct  nucleus  was  not  visible.  They  are  represented  in 
figure  27,  Plate  XI. 

Immediately  investing  the  bundles  composing  a  muscular  fibre  is  the 
sarcolemma,  which  is  externally,  as  I  have  shown,  covered  with  flat  cells. 
The  property  possessed  by  this  membrane  of  resisting  acetic  acid  is  the 
cause  of  a  characteristic  appearance  presented  by  a  muscular  fibre  under 


528  Dr.  G.  Thin  m  ike  Jtialmi^  tf 

its  influence.  From  the  hroken  end  a  krge  nneifen  vmm  pEofandM  vitt 
thick  eyerted  lips,  bending  back  over  the  memtanne  wfaidi  taanm  a  atiaa 
gukting  band  round  the  neck  of  the  protmiioin.  When  thia  ahoath  ii 
ruptured  at  difbrent  parts,  the  gehitmous  snbstanoe,  nUeh  Conna  alaigs 
proportion  of  the  contents  of  the  fibre,  bulges  out  in  inasina  aa  tt  avrik 
The  fibrill»,  which  do  not  swell  under  the  add,  and  wUdi  an  im- 
bedded in  this  mass,  can  be  often  seen,  in  teased  gold  or  hsainalmjlin 
preparations,  lying  unaltered  at  one  part  of  tiie  field,  irkQe  displaesl 
masses  of  gelatinous  substance  are  seen  at  another.  (It  is  the  diapoHfn 
of  this  gelatinous  substance  in  parallel  bundles  which  is  the  caoae  of  Aa 
peculiar  effect  of  chloride  of  gold,  represented  in  figure  25,  Plata  XL) 

The  astringent  effect  of  chloride  of  gold  on  the  sarool«mna  prodnflesa 
Terj  characteristic  appearance.  In  manipulating  a  fibre,  as  aprelinrinaiy  ts 
its  being  hardened  by  gold,  it  sometimes  happens  that  the  menilnaiia  nd 
the  layer  of  musdeHBubstanoe  adhering  to  it  is  rent  longttadinally  froai 
the  sur&ce  to  the  centre.  In  the  gold  solution  it  loses  ita  cjliadiiied 
form,  and  spreads  itself  out  as  a  broad  band.  This  perfectly  flat  hand  is 
marked  longitudinally  with  parallel  lines,  which  are  straight  and  aqin* 
distant  from  each  other.  The  prolonged  action  of  acetic  aeid  doea  nofc 
alter  the  appearance  of  these  lines  or  their  mutual  relations,  but  it  makes 
visible  a  not  very  thick  layer  of  gelatinous  substance,  which  protrudes 
from  imder  the  edges  of  the  band. 

Without  comparing  this  peculiar  appearance  in  its  most  exquisite  forms 
with  the  transition  stages  sometimes  seen,  in  which  one  end  of  a  fibre 
still  retains  its  cylindrical  form  while  the  other  end  is  flattened  out,  the 
observer  might  certainly  doubt  that  he  was  looking  at  a  muscular  fibre. 
Interstices  between  the  lines,  and,  in  them,  occasictnal  oblong  nuclei  are 
sometimes  visible. 

The  loiigitudinal  lines  are  the  optical  expression  of  the  septa  between 
the  bundles,  which  are  seen  through  the  transparent  sheath ;  and  that 
the  fibres  in  these  septa  are  formed  by  elastic  tissue,  is  shown  by  thdr 
persistence  when  treated  by  acetic  acid. 

They  differ  in  no  respect  from  the  septa  and  their  contained  nuclei, 
which  are  seen  in  muscular  fibres  that  have  retained  their  cylindrical  form 
when  the  chloride  of  gold  has  produced  that  appearance. 

Another  occasional  effect  of  the  astringent  action  of  gold  is  an  exag- 
geration of  the  dimensions  of  the  central  canal.  The  upturned  end  of  a 
fibre  is  sometimes  seen  in  which  there  is  the  appearance  of  a  wide  central 
cavity,  around  which  the  contents  of  the  sarcolemma  form  a  thick  rim. 
The  mechanism  of  this  appearance  is  explicable  by  the  assumption  that 
the  sarcolemma  becomes  sufficiently  unpelding  to  form  an  immovable 
surface,  towards  which  the  more  yielding  substance  is  drawn  as  the 
shrinking  caused  by  the  gold  proceeds. 

The  sarcolemma  is  probably  in  very  intimate  connexion  with  the  elastic 
network,  the  more  superficial  cells  of  which,  with  their  prolongations,  are 


Conntetive  TUatte,  Nerve,  md  MutcU.  629 

situated  directly  under  uid  apptuentiy  in  contact  with  it ;  and  the  nn- 
meraiu  foramina  seen  in  the  cylindrical  rod  left  by  the  potash  solution, 
vhen  the  membrane  has  been  loosened  from  it,  ue  probably  the  pcsnts 
vhere  the  elastic  fibres  penetrate. 

A  muscular  fibre  is  thus  composed  of  a  number  of  bundles  resembling 
those  of  tendon,  arranged  parallel  to  each  other,  each  bundle  giring 
shelter  to  a  number  of  fibrillte,  and  separated  from  the  neighbouring  bundles' 
by  a  space  lined  with  flat  cells.  In  the  larger  spaces  lie  tnnnched  ceDs, 
and  in  the  smaller  the  projecting  processes  vt  the  elastic  fibres  given  out 
by  the  latter. 

The  large  holes  I  have  described  in  the  elastic  sheath  afford  passage  to' 
the  nerves.  When  these  have  been  traced,  it  is  reasonable  to  infer  that, 
here  as  well  as  elsewhere,  they  will  be  foimd  to  follow  the  lymph-channel i. 
These  holes  not  only  permit  the  passftge  o£  nerves,  but  allow  free  com- 
muuitution  between  the  lymphatic  spaces  within  the  fibre  and  those 
between  the  perimyBium  and  the  sarcolemma. 

The  abundance  of  gelatinous  sabstance  in  a  muscular  fibre  accounts, 
for  the  phenomenon  known  as  transverse  cleavage,  which  is  produced  by 
the  action  of  very  diluted  hydrochloric  acid.  I  regard  it  as  essentially 
equivalent  to  the  effect  produced  in  tendon  when  by  similar  treatment  a 
bundle  divides  transversely  into  the  flat  plates  known  as  the  "  Sonde- 
rische  Bander,"  after  the  distinguished  histologist  who  first  described 
them. 

To  sum  up  these  views  regarding  the  structure  of  muscle  in  a  few 
words,  it  might  be  said  that  a  muscular  fibre  is  a  fasciculus  of  tendon  in 
the  bundles  of  which  the  primitiTe  fibrillffi  ore  imbedded  longitudinally. 

The  small  spaces  a^  the  points  of  junction  of  flat  cells  which  colour 
deeply  in  silver,  and  to  which  allusion  has  been  made  by  histologists,  are 
seen  in  all  tissues.  They  are  always  present  when  the  colouring  has  been 
intense,  and  should,  I  believe,  be  regarded  as  playing  an  important  part  in 
the  mechanism  of  the  lymphatic  system.  They  are  especially  well  defined 
in  the  rete  Malpighi  of  the  fn^,  where  it  would  be  impossible  to  regard 
them  as  artefacts. 

It  is  evident  from  the  various  anatomical  facts  above  detailed,  that  the 
tissues  inay  be  said  to  be  in  an  almost  unbroken  continuity  with  the 
lymph-system*.  "When  a  blood-corpuscle  escapes  from  a  capillary  it  is 
into  the  cell-lined  spaces  of  this  system  that  it  directly  passes,  and  there 
is  manifestly  no  obstacle  to  the  passage  of  the  contents  of  the  lymph- 
channel  into  the  blood  other  than  that  formed  by  the  <A'all  of  the  capil- 
laries, which  alone  separates  the  fluids  of  the  lymphatic  and  vascular 
systems.    We  know  that  white  blood-corpuscles  can  make  their  way 

*  In  this  eonnezian  I  quote  from  Rsnvier'i  etuj  {I.  e.  p.  486)  the  following  tea- 
tence  : — "  L'eti«l«iiM,  duis  le  tiiiu  csllulnire  >om-cutuii,  de  cei  cellules  plates,  div 
po*£«s  I  U  Boriice  dw  biaoeans,  ns  notu  toggjre-t-elle  paa  l'id£e  de  voic  dans  le 
tinu  eonjonetif  nn  vsste  espsce  doisotml,  analogue  aox  caniUt  ttnuMb'V'' 


530  Dr.  G.  Thin  o«  (Ac  Analogy  of 

through  at  the  points  of  junctiou  of  the  angles  of  the  capillary  cells*,  wd 
it  is  reasouable  to  suppose  that  these  points  &k  always  permeable  te 
fluids. 

We  have  seen  that  thpre  is  a  rich  supply  o£  lymphatic  channela  ia  the 
interior  of  a  muscnkr  fibre,  and  that  the  axia-cyliuder  of  a  nerve  ia  pro- 
bably in  free  eommunication  with  the  lyraph.  Tho  term  "  inv^ination, 
aa  applied  to  the  relation  of  the  nerves  and  blood-vesseU  of  particular 
organa  to  the  lymphatics,  has  no  special  physiological  meaning,  as  it  only 
impUea  that  at  certain  parts*  condition  that  is  unirersal  can,  by  special 
modes  of  procedure,  be  made  capable  of  more  easy  demonstration.  Every 
nerve-fibre  and  every  blood-vessel  is  invaginated  in  lymphatics. 

That  there  ia  a  plasmatic  circulation  infinitely  more  comprehenaire 
than  that  expounded  by  Tirchow.  ia,  as  has  been  already  remarked  by 
Eanwer,  a  fact  which  anatomy  has  placed  on  an  incontroverlible  basi?. 

EXPLANATION  OF  THE  PLATHa. 

The  Drawings  were  eicciitfd  by  Mr.  J.   C.  Ewirt  from  mj  prepanlions.     The 

obj»:tivcs  and  ocular  glusn  n>ferred  to  sa  indicating  the  luagnirjing-powBri 

I  are  thow  of  Hartnarli,  with  the  eiceplion  o[  the  TUd.  XII.  imniersion-leiu 

I  Uied  in  >  few  instance*,  whieh  win  nmde  by  Virict,  nnd  bu  the  potter 

assigned  lu  tliat  tminber  in  his  BcnK..      Tlius  3.  Vllt.  n>«uis  eippiew  No  3 

and  objeotiTe  So.  VIII. 

Pmib  vm. 

Kg.  1.  Cells  from  the  oomsa  of  a  frog  which  wu  treated  by  the  saturated  lolatiaD  of 

potash.    3.  Tm.    Tube  out. 
Vi%.  2.  Cetla  from  the  oomea  of  (he  ox  treated  by  «olution  of  potaah,     3.  Till. 

Tube  out.  

Fig.  S.  Cells  from  tbe  cornea  of  the  sheep  treated  by  iolulton  of  potash.     3.  nil. 

Tub©  oul 

Platr  IX. 
Fig.  4.  Tendon  from  a  mouse's  tail  coloured  by  nitrate  of  silver.    3.  TIL    Tnbe  out. 
Fig.  5.  Perimysiumof  muioleof  frog.    Silver  preparation.    3.  Vn.    Tube  out. 
Fig.  6.  Perimysium  of  a  muscular  fibre  of  frog.  Silver  preparstioii.   3.  TTL  Tube  out 
Fig.  7.  Cells  from  tendo  Achillis  of  frag  by  solution  of  potash.    3.  Tm.    Tube  ouL 
Fig.  e.  Fascia   from  dorsal   musclea  of  the  mouse.     Nitrate-of-silrer  preparation. 

3.  Tin.    Tube  out.  • 

F^.  9.  Cells  isolated  from  the  fascia  of  the  dorsal  muscles  of  the  mouse  by  ebtution  of 

potash.    3.  Tnr.    Tube  out. 
F^.  10.  Continuous  layer  of  flat  cells  investing  the  fWicia  of  the  muscles  of  the  thigh 

of  the  frog.    Nitrate-of-mlver  preparation.     3.  Till.    Tube  oat. 

Plate  X. 

Fig.  II.  Cells  of  ths  cutis  of  Ihe  frog  isolated  by  solution  of  potash.    3.  TTTT,     Tube 

Fig.  12.  Cells  isolated  from  the  skin  of  the  01  by  solution  of  potaah.  3.  TIH.   Tobeout. 
Fig.  13.  The  anastomosis  of  the  cells  by  means  of  the  elastic  fibre*.     Gold  preparation 
from  finger,  macerated  in  acetic  acid.    3.  XII. 

*  EndolheUum  en  Emigratie  door  Dr.  Laidlaw  Furves.    Utrw^t,  1873. 


'c^'^M.wawi.i^M 


.'C  Ei.»T  i^  -l\-MW,tU,tuh 


:■/  .vji.  r:  V. 


JCXwaitM..  wmi^iUjUth. 


Proc.  Ray  Sac.  VolJXII.  R  XI. 


JC£imHj4L  WSIfa'tr'A 


Connective  Tietue,  Nerve,  and  Mtucle.  581 

Fig.  14.  Elaatdo  flbrra  irith  oelU.    Section  ttom  guld  praparatioQ  of  (kill  of  adult 

rabbit  treated  by  oonoentnted  aoetio  odd.    Si  Tin.    Tube  oat- 
Fig.  15.  Fibna  from  the  ligsmentum  nucbiB  of  a  three-dajsHild  foal.    Gold  prepan- 

tion.    The  noclei  and  remuns  of  the  protoplaon  of  the  cell  ■tained.  3.  TUL 

Tube  out. 
Kg.  16.  Ligamentum  nQch»  of  tbree-daji-old  foal  stained  in  gold  and  hiematoijlin. 

The  central  oanal  of  the  fibres  indicated  by  the  haematorrtin.    3.  Till. 

Tube  out      ■ 
Fig.  17.  Fibre  from  the  same  pi^pantion  aa  fig.  15.     1,  XQ.    Tube  out. 
Fig.  18.  Cetla  from  the  fibm  of  the  sciatic  oerre  of  the  frog.    Isolated  by  the  eaturated 

solution  of  potash,     3.  VU.     Tube  out. 
Fig.  10.  IferTO-Sbre  from  the  sciatic  nerre  of  the  moiue.    Treated  by  absolute  alcohol, 

djed  irith  hiematoiylin,  and  the  ercess  of  Colour  removed  by  acetic  acid. 

3.  Tin.    Tube  out. 

PtATB  XI. 

Fig.  2tX  Ferimysiam  of  a  musoular  fibre  of  frog  stained  in  luEmatoiylin.  Flat  oelli 
seen.    3.  Til.    Tube  out. 

Fig.  21.  Muscle  of  mouse  subjected  to  prolonged  action  of  warm  potash  solutJOD.  The 
cells  on  the  sarcolemma  indicated.     3.  Till.    Tube  out. 

Fig.  22.  Flat  cells  from  the  sarcolemma  of  muscuLu-  fibre  of  oi.  Isolated  by  pro- 
longed action  of  warm  potash  solution.    3.  Till,    Tube  out. 

Fig.  23.  Muscular  fibre  of  mouse  treated  by  solution  of  potash.  The  boles  in  the  sar- 
colemma seen.    3.  Tin.    Tube  ouL 

Fig.  24.  Muscular  Glire  of  frog  trmtsd  by  eotulion  of  potash.  Canals  indicated  by 
nuclear  vacuoles.    3.  Tni.    Tube  out. 

Fig.  25.  Muscular  fibre  of  frog.  Gold  preparation.  Sarcolemma  rent  longitudinally 
and  flattened.    Sepia  diriding  muscular  subatanco  risible.     3.  Til.    Tube 

Fig.  28.  End  lieir  of  musoular  fibre  of  frog.    Gold  preparation.    Stellate  spaces  with 

nuclei  and  processes  of  branched  cells,  haTing  the  signification  of  elastic 

fibres,  between  the  bundles.    3.  Til.    Tube  out. 
Fig.  27.  Muscular  fibre  of  frog.    Qold  preparation,    Tho  fibrillEe  separated  by  leasing 

into  bundles,  betweenwhich  long  narrow  fiatcellearescen.  3.  Til.  Tubeout. 
Fig.  28.  Muscular  fibre  of  frog.    Oold  preparation.    The  central  cavity  seen  mueh 

enlarged  by  the  astringent  action  of  the  gold.    3.  TH.    Tube  oat. 


"  On  the  Refraction  of  Soond  by  the  Atmosphere."     By  Prof. 
OsBORME  Revnoldb.     Communicatcd  by  Prof.  G.  G.  Stokes, 
Sec.E.S.     ReceiTcd  March  18,  1874*. 
My  object  in  tbie  paper  is  to  offer  eiplanatioDB  of  aome  of  the  mora 
common  phenomena  of  the  transmission  of  sound,  and  to  describe  the 
results  of  experiments  in  support  of  these  eiplanations.     The  first  part 
of  the  paper  is  devoted  to  the  actvm  of  wind  upon  touitd.     In  this  part  of 
the  subject  I  find  that  I  have  been  preceded  by  Professor  Stoies,  who 
in  1857  gave  precisely  the  same  explanation  as  that  which  occurred  to 
me.    I  have,  however,  succeeded  in  phuring  the  truth  of  this  explanation 
upon  an  experimental  basis ;  and  this,  together  with  the  fiwt  that  my 
work  upon  this  part  of  the  subject  is  the  cause  and  foundation  of  what 
>•  Bead  April  23, 1W4.    Bee  onM,  p.  295. 
TOL.  xxn.  2  B 


682  Prof.  O.  Beynolds  on  Ike 

I  have  to  saj  on  the  s30ond  part,  most  be  my  ezouse  for  introduciiig  it 
here.  In  the  second  part  of  the  subject  I  have  dealt  with  the  eflbct  of 
the  atmosphere  to  refract  sound  upwards,  an  effect  which  is  due  to  tlie 
yariation  of  temperature,  and  which  I  beHeve  has  not  hitherto  been 
noticed.  I  have  been  able  to  show  that  this  le&actioii  explaina  the 
well-known  difference  which  exists  in  the  distinctneBS  of  sounds  bj  day 
and  by  night,  as  well  as  other  differences  in  the  transmiiwtion  of  sound 
arising  out  of  circumstances  such  as  temperature ;  and  I  have  applied 
it  in  particular  to  explain  the  very  definite  results  obtained  by  Profeasor 
Tyndall  in  his  experiments  off  the  South  Foreland. 

The  Effect  of  Wind  upon  Sound 

IB  a  matter  of  common  observation.  Oases  have  been  known  in  which, 
against  a  high  wind,  guns  could  not  be  heard  at  a  distance  of  550  yards*, 
although  on  a  quiet  day  the  same  guns  might  be  heard  from  ten  to 
twenty  miles.  And  it  is  not  only  with  high  winds  that  the  efEect  upon 
sound  is  apparent ;  every  sportsman  knows  how  important  it  is  to  enter 
the  field  on  the  lee  side  even  when  the  wind  is  very  light.  In  lig^ 
winds,  however,  the  effect  is  not  so  certain  as  in  high  winds ;  and  (at  any 
rate  so  far  as  our  ears  are  concerned)  sounds  from  a  small  distance 
seem  at  times  to  be  rather  intensified  than  diminished  against  very  light 
viinds.  On  all  occasions  the  effect  of  \iind  seems  to  be  rather  against 
distance  than  against  distinctness.  Sounds  heard  to  windward  are  for 
the  most  part  heard  with  their  full  distinctness ;  and  there  is  only  a 
comparativoly  small  margin  between  that  point  at  which  the  sound  is 
perceptibly  diminished  and  that  at  which  it  ceases  to  be  audible. 

That  sound  should  be  blown  back  by  a  high  wind  does  not  at  first 
sight  appear  to  be  unreasonable.  Sound  is  kno\ni  to  travel  forward 
through  or  on  the  air ;  and  if  the  air  is  itself  in  motion,  moving  back- 
wards, it  will  carry  the  sound  with  it,  and  so  retard  its  forward  motion — 
just  as  the  current  of  a  river  retards  the  motion  of  ships  moving  up  the 
stream.  A  little  consideration,  however,  ser^'es  to  show  that  the  effect 
of  wind  on  sound  cannot  be  explained  in  this  way.  The  velocity  of 
sound  (1100  feet  per  second)  is  so  great  compared  with  that  of  the 
highest  wind  (50  to  100  feet  per  second),  that  the  mere  retardation  of  the 
velocity,  if  that  were  all,  would  not  be  apparent.  The  sound  would 
proceed  against  the  wind  with  a  slightly  diminished  velocity,  at  least 
1000  feet  per  second,  and  with  a  but  very  slightly  diminished  intensity. 

Neither  can  the  effect  of  wind  be  solely  due  to  its  effect  on  our  hear' 
ing.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  during  a  high  wind  our  power  of 
hearing  is  damaged ;  but  this  is  the  same  from  whatever  direction  the 
sound  may  come ;  and  hence  from  this  cause  the  wind  would  diminish 
the  distance  at  which  sounds  could  be  heard,  whether  they  moved  with 
it  or  against  it,  whereas  this  is  most  distinctly  not  the  case.     Sounds  at 

*  Proc.  Boy.  Soc.  1874,  p.  62. 


Refraclion  of  Sound  by  the  Atmosphere.  533 

r^ht  angles  to  the  wind  ore  but  little  affected  by  it ;  uid  in  moderate 
winds  aounds  can  be  heard  further  with  the  wind  than  when  there  is 
none. 

The  same  msj  be  said  against  tbeoriea  which  would  explain  the  effect 
of  wind  aa  causing  a  heterogeneous  nature  iu  the  air  so  that  it  might 
reflect  the  sound.  M\  such  effects  must  apply  with  equal  force  with  and 
against  the  wind. 

This  question  has  bafBed  investigators  for  so  long  a  time,  because  they 
have  looked  for  the  cause  in  some  direct  effect  of  the  motion  of  \he  air, 
whereas  it  seems  to  be  but  incidentally  due  to  this.  The  effect  appears, 
after  all,  not  to  be  due  simply  to  the  wind,  but  to  the  difference  in  the 
velocity  tcith  which  the  air  trarels  at  the  surface  of  the  ground  and  at  a 
height  above  it;  that  is  to  say,  if  we  cotild  have  a  perfectly  smooth 
snrface  which  would  not  retard  the  wind  at  all,  then  the  wind  would  not 
obstruct  sound  in  the  way  it  does,  for  it  would  all  be  moriug  with  an 
equal  velocity ;  but,  owing  to  the  roughness  of  the  surbce  and  the  ob- 
structions upon  it,  there  is  a  gradual  diminution  in  the  velocity  of  the 
wind  aa  it  approaches  the  surface.  The  rate  of  this  diminution  will 
depend  on  the  natiu«  of  the  surface;  for  instance,  in  a  meadow  the 
velocity  at  1  foot  above  the  surface  is  only  half  what  it  is  at  an  ele- 
vation of  8  feet,  and  smaller  still  compared  with  what  it  is  at  greater 
hnghts. 

To  understand  the  way  in  which  this  variation  in  the  velocity  affects 
the  sound,  it  is  Qecessary  to  consider  that  the  velocity  of  the  waves  of 
sound  does  depend  on  the  velocity  of  the  wind,  although  not  in  a  great 
degree.  To  find  the  velocity  of  the  sound  with  the  wind  we  must  add 
that  of  the  wind  to  the  normal  velocity  of  sound,  and  against  the  wind 
we  must  subtract  the  velocity  of  the  wind  from  the  1100  feet  per  second 
(or  whatever  may  be  the  normal  velocity  of  the  sound)  to  find  the 
actual  velocity.  Now  i£  the  wind  is  moving  at  10  feet  per  second 
at  the  surface  of  a  meadow,  and  at  20  feet  per  second  at  a  height  of 
8  feet,  the  velocity  of  the  sound  against  the  wind  will  be  1090  feet 
per  second  at  the  surface  and  1080  feet  per  second  at  8  feet  above 
the  surface  ;  so  that  in  a  second  the  same  wave  of  sound  will  have 
travelled  10  feet  further  at  the  surface  than  at  a  height  of  8  feet.  This 
difference  of  velocity  would  cause  the  wave  to  tip  up  and  proceed  in  an 
upward  direction  instead  of  horizontally.  For  if  we  imagine  the  front 
of  a  wave  of  sound  to  be  vertical  to  start  with,  it  will,  after  proceeding 
for  <mc  second  against  the  wind,  be  inclined  at  an  angle  of  more  than  46% 
or  half  a  right  angle ;  and  since  sound-waves  always  move  in  a  direction 
perpendicular  to  the  direction  of  the  front  (that  is  to  say,  if  the  waves 
are  vertical  they  will  move  horizontally  and  not  otherwise),  after  one 
second  the  wave  would  be  moving  upwards  at  an  angle  of  46°  or  more. 
Of  course,  in  reality,  it  would  not  have  to  proceed  for  one  second  before 
it  began  to  move  upwards :  the  least  forward  motion  would  ba  {K>'i!t.<y««& 


534  Prof.  O.  BeynoldB  on  the 

by  an  inclination  of  the  front  backwards,  and  by  an  upward  motion  d 
the  wave.  A  similar  effect  would  be  produced  in  a  direction  opposite  to 
that  of  the  wind,  only  as  the  top  of  the  wave  would  then  be  moving 
fiister  than  the  bottom,  the  vr^\es  would  incline  forwards  and  move 
downwards.  In  this  way  the  effect  of  the  wind  is  to  lift  the  waves 
which  proceeded  to  Mindward,  and  to  bring  those  down  \i'hich  move 
with  it. 

Thus  the  effect  of  wind  is  not  to  destroy  the  sound,  but  to  raise  the 
ends  of  the  wave,  which  would  otherwise  move  along  the  ground,  to  such 
a  height  that  they  pass  over  our  heads. 

When  the  ends  of  the  waves  are  raised  from  the  ground  they  vidll 
tend  to  diverge  down  to  it,  and  throw  off  secondary  waves,  or,  as  I  shall 
call  them,  divenjiny  waves,  so  as  ]:o  reconstitute  the  gap  that  is  thiu 
made.    These  secondary  waves  N\ill  be  heard  as  a  continuation  of  the 
sound,  more  or  less  faint,  after  the  primary  waves  are  altogether  above 
our  heads.     [This  phenomenon  of  divergence  presents  many  difRculties, 
and  has  only  as  yet  been  dealt  vi-ith  for  particular  cases.     It  may,  how- 
ever, bo  assumed,  from  what  is  known  respecting  it,  that  in  the  case  of 
sound  being  lifted  up  from  the  ground  by  refraction,  or,  what  is  neariy 
the  same  thing,  passing  directly  over  the  crest  of  a  hill  so  that  the 
ground  falls  away  from  the  rays  of  sound,  diverging  waves  would  be 
thrown  off  very  rapidly  at  first  and  for  a  considerable  distance,  depending 
on  the  wave-length  of  the  sound ;  but  as  the  sound  proceeds  further  the 
diverging  rays  would  gradually  become  fainter  and  more  nearly  i)arallel 
to  the  direct  niys,  until  at  a  sufTicient  distance  they  would  pnictically 
ceas(?  to  exist,  or,  at  any  rate,  ho.  no  greater  than  those  which  cause  the 
diffnu't ion-bauds  in  a  ])encil  of  light*.     The  divergence  would  introduce 
bands  of  diffraction  or  interference  within  the  direct  or  geometrical  path 
of  the  sound,  as  in  the  case  of  light.     These  efftu'ts  would  also  be  com- 
plicated by  the  rellection  of  the  diverging  waves  from  the  ground,  which, 
crossing  the  others  at  a  small  angle,  would  also  cause  bands  oi  inter- 
ference.    The  results  of  all  these  causes  would  1h'  very  conij)licated,  but 
their  general  eff(H't  \^ould  be  to  caus(^  a  rapid  weakening  of  the  sound 
at  the  ground  from  the  point  at  which  it  was  first  lifted :  and  as  the 
sound  became  weaker  it  would  be  crossed  bv  bands  of  still  fainter  sound, 
after  which  the  diverging  rays,  as  \\  ell  as  the  direct  rays,  would  he  lifti-d, 
and  at  the  ground  nothing  would  be  heard. — Sej^tUmher  1874.] 

If  we  leave  out  of  consideration  the  divergence,  then  we  mav  fonn 
some  idea  as  to  the  path  which  the  bottom  of  the  sound,  or  the  rays  of 
sound  (considered  as  the  rays  of  light),  would  follow.  If  the  variation 
in  the  speed  of  the  \\ind  were  uniform  from  the  surface  upwards,  then 

*  Taking  sound  of  1  foot  wave-length,  and  comi^aring  it  v^ith  light  whose  wave- 
length is  the  5().0()0th  part  of  an  inch,  then  tlio  divergence  of  the  sound  at  a  mile  from 
the  point  at  which  it  left  tlie  ground  would  bo  compai-alively  the  same  as  that  of  the 
light  at  ,\,  of  an  inch  from  tlie  aperture  at  which  the  pencil  was  fomied. 


R^aetimo/Soand  by  the  Atmotphere,  536 

the  rays  of  aound  would  at  firet  move  upwards,  very  nearly  in  circles. 

The  radii  of  these  circles  may  be  abown  to  be  1100  x .  where 

V,  and  f,  are  the  velocities  of  the  wind  in  feet  per  second  at  elevations 
differing  by  h  feet.  In  fact,  however,  the  variation  is  greatest  at  the 
ground,  and  diminishes  as  we  proceed  upwards,  so  that  the  actual  path 
would  be  more  that  of  a  parabola. 

Also,  owing  to  this  unequal  variation  in  the  velocity,  those  parts  of  the 
waves  immediately  adjacent  to  the  ground  will  rise  more  rapidly  than 
the  part  immediately  above  them ;  hence  there  will  be  a  crowing  of  the 
waves  at  a  few  feet  from  the  ground,  and  this  will  lead  to  an  intensifying 
of  the  sound  at  this  point.  Hence,  notwithstanding  the  divergence,  we 
might  expect  the  waves  to  windward  to  preserve  their  full  intensity  so 
long  as  they  were  low  enough  to  be  heard.  And  this  is  in  accordance 
with  the  fact,  often  observed,  that  sounds  at  short  distances  are  not 
diminished  but  rather  intensified  when  proceeding  against  the  wind. 

It  will  at  once  be  perceived  that  by  this  action  of  the  wind  the  dis- 
tance to  which  sounds  can  be  heard  to  windward  must  depend  on  the 
elevation  of  the  observer  and  the  sound-producing  body.  This  does  not 
appear  to  be  a  fact  of  general  observation.  It  is  difBcult  to  conceive  how 
it  can  have  been  overlooked,  except  that,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  sounds 
are  not  continuous,  and  thus  do  not  afford  an  opportunity  of  comparing 
their  distinctness  at  different  places.  It  has  often  astonished  me,  how- 
ever, when  shooting,  that  a  wind  which  did  not  appear  to  me  to  make 
the  least  difference  to  the  directiou  in  which  I  could  hear  small  sounds 
most  distinctly,  should  yet  be  sufficient  to  cover  one's  approach  to  par- 
tridges, and  more  particularly  to  rabbits,  even  until  one  was  within  a  tew 
feet  of  them — a  tact  which  shows  how  much  more  effectively  the  wind 
obstmcte  sound  near  the  ground  than  even  a  few  feet  above  it. 

Elevation,  however,  clearly  offered  a  crucial  teat  whether  such  an  action 
as  that  1  have  described  was  the  cause  of  the  effect  of  wind  upon  sound. 
Having  once  entertained  the  idea,  it  was  clearly  possible  to  put  it  to 
the  test  in  this  way.  Also,  if  the  principles  hold  in  sound,  something 
analt^us  must  hold  in  the  case  of  waves  on  the  surface  of  a  running 
stream  of  water — for  instance,  waves  made  near  the  bank  of  a  river. 

I  had  just  reached  the  point  of  making  such  tests  when  I  discovered 
that  the  same  views  had  been  propounded  by  Professor  Stokes  so  long 
ago  as  1857*.  Of  course,  after  such  a  discovery,  it  seemed  almost  un- 
necessary for  me  to  pursue  the  matter  further ;  but  as  there  were  one 
or  two  points  about  which  I  was  not  then  quite  certain,  and  as  Prof. 
Stokes's  paper  does  not  appear  to  be  ao  well  known  as  it  might  be  (I 
do  not  know  of  one  writer  on  sound  who  has  adopted  this  explanation), 
it  still  seemed  that  It  might  be  well,  if  possible,  to  put  the  subject 
on  an  experimental  basis.  I  therefore  made  the  experiments  I  am 
•  Brit  Amoo.  Beporl,  18&7.  Tmot.  of  Beat.  p.  83. 


Sae  Fn>£.  O.  Beyuolda  on  the 

(bout  to  deseribe ;  nd  I  am  glad  that  I  did  not  iwt  eontent  wiOont 
them,  for  they  led  me  to  what  I  beliere  to  be  tjw  dbcoroy  of  Ntnc- 
tion  of  sound  bf  the  atmoephere. 

Fig.l. 


The  results  of  my  first  obserration  are  shown  in  fig.  1.  Hiis  repe- 
sents  the  shape  of  the  wares  aa  they  proceeded  outwards  from  a  pouit 
near  the  bonk  of  a  stream  about  12  feet  wide.  Had  the  water  bean  at 
rest  there  would  have  been  semicircular  rings ;  as  it  was,  the  front 
of  the  waves  up  the  stream  mode  an  obtuse  angle  nith  the  wall,  which 
they  gradually  left.  The  ends  of  the  waves,  it  will  be  observed,  gradually 
died  out,  showing  the  effect  of  divergence.  The  waves  proceeding  down 
the  stream  were,  on  the  other  hand,  inclined  to  the  wall,  which  they 
aji  preached. 

1  was  able  to  make  a  somewhat  better  observation  in  the  Medlock, 
near  the  Oxford  Rood  Bridge,  !Maii(.'hestt5r.  A  pipe  sent  a  succession 
of  dro[)s  into  the  water  at  a  few  inches  from  the  wall,  which,  falling 
from  a  considerable  height,  made  very  definite  n-aves.     Fig.  2  represents 


a  sketch  of  these  waves,  made  on  the  spot :  the  divcrgii^  vaves  from  the 
entU  of  the  dire.-t  waves,  and  also  the  bands  of  interference,  are  very 


Befraction  of  Sound  by  the  Atmoaphere.  537 

clearly  seen.  Both  these  figures  ngtee  with  what  has  been  explained 
as  the  effect  of  wind  on  sound. 

In  the  next  place  I  endeavoured  to  ascertain  the  effect  which  eleva- 
tion has  on  the  distance  to  which  sound  can  be  heard  against  a  wind. 
In  making  these  eiperiments  I  discovered  some  facts  relating  to  the 
transmission  of  sound  over  a  rough  surface,  which,  although  somewhat 
obvious,  appear  hitherto  to  have  escaped  attention. 

My  apparatus  consisted  of  an  electrical  bell,  mounted-  on  a  case  con. 
tuning  a  battery.  The  bell  was  placed  horizontally  on  the  top  of  the 
case,  so  that  it  could  be  heard  equally  well  in  all  directions ;  and  when 
standing  on  the  ground  the  bell  was  1  foot  above  the  surface.  I  also 
used  an  anemometer. 

These  experiments  were  made  on  four  different  days,  the  6th,  9th, 
10th,  and  11th  of  March.  On  the  first  of  these  the  wind  was  very  light, 
on  the  others  it  was  moderately  strong,  strongest  on  the  second  and 
fourth  ;  on  all  four  the  direction  was  the  same,  vis.  north.  On  the  two 
last  days  the  ground  was  covered  with  enow,  which  gave  additional  in- 
terest to  the  experiments,  inasmuch  as  it  enabled  me  to  compare  the 
effect  of  different  surfaces.  On  the  first  two  days  I  was  alone,  but  on 
the  last  two  I  had  the  assistance  of  Mr.  J.  B.  Millar,  of  Owens  College, 
whose  ears  were  rather  better  than  mine,  although  1  am  not  aware  cJ 
any  deficiency  in  this  respect.  The  experiments  were  all  made  in  the 
same  place,  a  flat  meadow  of  considerable  extent. 

The  Qraeral  Raalts  of  the  Eit^periiMiUt. 

De  La  Eoche*,  in  his  experiment,  found  that  the  wind  produced  least 
effect  on  the  sound  at  right  angles  to  its  direction,  t.  e.  sounds  could  be 
heard  furthest  in  this  direction.  His  method  of  experimenting,  however, 
was  not  the  same  as  mine.  He  compared  the  sounds  from  two  equal 
bells,  and  in  aU  cases  placed  the  bells  at  such  distances  that  the  sounds 
were  equally  distinct.  I,  on  the  other  hand,  measured  the  extreme 
distance  at  which  the  sounds  could  be  heard,  the  t«8t  being  whether  or 
not  the  observer  noticed  a  break  in  the  continuity  of  sound,  a  stoppage 
of  the  beU.  The  difference  in  our  method  of  experimenting  accounts  for 
the  difference  in  our  results.  I  found  in  every  case  that  the  sound  could 
be  heard  further  with  the  tvind  than  at  right  angles  to  its  direction;  and 
when  the  wind  was  at  all  strong,  the  range  with  the  wind  was  more  than 
double  that  at  right  angles.  It  does  not  follow,  however,  nor  was  the 
fact  observed,  that  at  comparatively  short  distances  the  soimd  with  the 
wind  was  more  intense  than  at  right  angles. 

The  explanation  of  this  feet,  which  was  fully  borne  out  by  all  the  ex- 
periments, is  that  the  sound  which  comes  in  immediate  contact  with  the 
ground  is  continually  destroyed  by  the  rough  surface,  and  the  sound  from 
above  is  continually  diverging  down  to  replace  that  which  has  been 
*  Annalea  de  Chimie,  vol.  i.  p.  Ml  QlftV^V 


688  Profi  O.  Beynoldi  m  the 

destroyed.  These  diyerging  waves  are  in  tiieir  torn  destroyed ;  80  that 
there  is  a  gradual  weakening  of  the  intensity  of  the  waYes  near  tlw 
ground,  and  this  weakening  extends  upwards  as  the  waYes  piooeed. 
Therefore,  under  ordinary  drcumstanoes,  when  there  is  no  wind  the 
distant  sounds  which  pass  above  us  are  more  intense  than  those  wliieh 
wo  hear.  Of  this  fact  I  have  abundant  evidence.  On  the  6th,  when  the 
wind  was  light,  at  all  distances  greater  than  20  yards  from  the  bell  the 
sound  was  much  less  at  the  ground  than  a  few  feet  above  it ;  and  I  was 
able  to  recover  the  sound  after  it  had  been  lost  in  every  direction  fay 
mounting  on  to  a  tree,  and  even  more  definitely  by  raimng  the  bell  on  to 
a  post  4  feet  high,  which  had  the  effect  of  doubling  the  range  of  the 
sound  in  every  direction  except  with  the  wind,  although  even  in  this  the 
range  was  materially  increased. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  rate  at  which  the  sound  is  destroyed  by  the 
ground  will  depend  on  the  roughness  of  its  surface.  Over  grass  we 
might  expect  the  sound  at  the  ground  to  be  annihilated,  whereas  over 
water  it  would  hardly  be  affected.  This  was  shown  to  be  tiie  case  fay 
the  difference  in  the  range  at  right  angles  to  the  wind  over  grass,  and 
over  the  same  ground  when  completely  covered  with  snow.  In  the 
latter  case  I  could  hear  the  sound  at  200  yards,  whereas  I  could  only 
hear  it  at  70  or  80  in  the  former. 

Now,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  sound  is  greater  over  our  heads  than 
at  the  ground,  any  thing  which  slowly  brings  dowTi  the  sound  will 
increase  the  range.  Hence,  assuming  that  the  action  of  the  wind  is  to 
bring  down  the  sound  in  the  direction  in  which  it  is  blowing,  we  see 
that  it  must  increase  its  range  in  this  direction.  And  it  must  also  be 
seen  that  in  this  direction  there  will  be  less  difference  in  the  intensity  of 
the  sound  from  the  ground  upwards  than  in  other  directions.  This 
was  observed  to  be  the  case  on  all  occasions.  In  the  direction  of  the 
wind,  when  it  was  strong,  the  sound  could  be  heard  as  well  with  the  head 
on  the  ground  as  when  raised,  even  when  in  a  hollow  with  the  bell  hidden 
from  view  by  the  slope  of  the  ground ;  and  no  advantage  whatever  was 
gained  either  by  ascending  to  an  elevation  or  raising  the  bell.  Thus, 
with  the  wind  over  the  grass  the  sound  could  be  heard  140  yards,  and 
over  snow  360  yards,  either  with  the  head  lifted  or  on  the  ground ; 
whereas  at  right  angles  to  the  wind  on  all  occasions  the  range  was 
extended  by  raising  either  the  observer  or  the  bell. 

It  has  been  necessary  to  notice  these  points  ;  for,  as  will  be  seen,  they 
bear  directly  on  the  question  of  the  effect  of  elevation  on  the  range  of 
sound  against  the  wind. 

Elevation  was  found  to  affect  the  range  of  sound  against  the  wind  in 
a  much  more  marked  maimer  than  at  right  angles. 

Over  the  grass  no  sound  could  be  heard  with  the  head  on  the  ground 
at  20  yards  from  the  bell,  and  at  30  yards  it  was  lost  with  the  head  3  feet 
from  the  ground,  and  its  full  intensity  was  lost  when  standing  erect  at 


i 


Refraction  of  Sound  by  the  Atmosphere.  539 

30  Tarda.  At  70  yards,  wlien  standing  erect,  the  sound  was  lost  at  long 
intervaJs,  and  waa  only  faintly  heard  even  then  ;  but  it  became  continuaua 
again  when  the  ear  was  raised  9  feet  from  the  ground,  and  it  reached  its 
full  intensity  at  an  elevation  of  12  feet. 

Over  the  snow  similar  efEecta  were  observed  at  very  nearly  equal 
distances.  There  waa  this  diSerence,  however,  the  sound  was  not 
entirely  lost  when  the  head  was  lowered  or  even  on  the  ground.  Thus 
at  30  yards  I  could  still  hear  a  faint  sound.  Mr.  Millar  could  hear  this 
better  than  I  could;  he,  however,  experienced  the  same  increase  on 
raising  his  head.  At  90  yards  I  lost  the  sound  entirely  when  standing 
on  the  ground,  but  recovered  it  again  when  the  ear  waa  9  feet  from  the 
ground.  Mr.  Millar,  however,  could  hear  the  sound  very  faintly,  and  at 
intervals,  at  160  yards  ;  but  not  with  his  head  on  the  ground.  At  this 
point  1  was  utterly  unable  to  hear  it ;  and  even  at  an  elevation  of  25  feet 
I  gave  it  up  as  hopeless.  However,  as  Mr.  Millar  by  mounting  10  feet 
higher  seemed  to  hear  it  very  much  better,  I  again  ascended ;  and  at  an 
elevation  of  33  feet  from  the  ground  I  could  hear  It  as  distinctly  as  I 
had  previously  heard  it  when  standing  at  90  yards  from  the  bell.  I 
could  not  hear  it  5  feet  lower  down  ;  so  that  it  was  the  last  5  feet  which 
had  brought  me  into  the  foot  of  the  wave.  Mr.  Millar  experienced  the 
same  change  in  this  5  feet.  As  the  sound  could  now  bo  heard  as  strong 
as  at  a  corresponding  distance  with  the  wind,  we  thought  we  had  reached 
tiie  full  intensity  of  the  waves.  This,  however,  was  not  the  case  ;  for 
the  least  raising  of  the  bell  was  followed  by  a  considerable  intensifying 
of  the  sound ;  and  when  it  was  raised  6  feet  I  could  hear  each  blow  of  the 
hammer  distLoctly,  although  just  at  that  time  a  brass  band  was  playing 
in  the  distance.  It  seemed  to  me  that  I  could  hear  it  as  distinctly  as  at 
30  yards  to  leeward  of  the  bell.  All  these  results  were  repeated  on 
both  days  with  great  uniformity. 

When  more  than  30  yards  to  the  windward  of  the  hell,  the  raising  of 
the  bell  was  always  accompanied  by  a  marked  intensifying  of  the  sound, 
and  particularly  over  the  grass,  I  could  only  hear  the  boil  at  70  yards 
when  on  the  ground  ;  yet  when  set  on  a  post  5  feet  high  I  heard  it 
160  yards,  or  more  than  twice  the  distance.  This  is  a  proof  of  what  I 
previously  pointed  out,  that  the  waves  rise  faster  at  the  ground  than  they 
do  high  up,  and  crowding  together  they  intensify.  In  all  cases  there  was 
an  unmistakable  greater  distinctness  of  the  sound  from  short  distances  to 
windward  than  to  leeward  or  at  right  angles. 

Except  when  the  sound  was  heard  with  full  force  it  was  not  uniform. 
The  bell  gave  two  sounds  (the  beats  of  the  hammer  and  the  ring)  which 
could  be  easily  distinguished  ;  and  at  times  we  could  hear  only  the  ring, 
and  at  others  the  beats.  The  ring  seemed  to  preserve  itself  the  longest ; 
whereas  near  the  ground  at  short  distances  the  ring  was  lost  first.  This 
is  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  rate  at  which  sound-waves  divei^ 
depends  upon  t^eir  note :  the  lower  the  note  the  moce  wULt^iK^  4K4<b-c^. 


640  Prof.  O.  Reynolds  m  the 

Thus  the  beats  diverge  more  rapidly  than  the  ring,  and  conaequentiy 
out  sooner ;  whereas  when  the  head  is  on  the  ground  near  the  bell  it  is 
only  the  diverging  waves  that  are  heard,  and  here  the  beats  have  the 
best  chance.  The  intensity  of  the  sound  invariably  seemed  to  waver ; 
and  as  one  approached  the  bell  from  the  windward  side,  the  sound  did 
not  intensify  uniformly  or  gradually,  but  by  fits  or  jerks ;  this  was  the 
result  of  crossing  the  rays'  interference,  such  as  those  shown  in  fig.  2. 

During  the  observations  the  velocity  of  the  wind  was  observed  &om 
time  to  time  at  points  1  foot  and  8  feet  above  the  sur&oe. 

On  the  9th,  that  is  over  grass,  it  varied  from  4  feet  per  second  at 
1  foot  and  8  feet  per  second  at  8  feet,  to  10  feet  at  1  foot  and  20  feet  at 
8  feet,  always  having  about  twice  the  velocity  at  8  feet  that  it  had  at 
1  foot  above  the  ground. 

•  Over  the  snow  there  was  not  quite  so  much  variation  above  and  below. 
On  the  10th  the  wind  varied  from  3  feet  at  1  foot  to  4  feet  at  8  feet*.  On 
the  11th  the  variation  was  from  12  at  1  foot  and  19  at  8  feet  to  6  at  1  foot 
and  10  at  8  feet.  Thus  over  snow  the  variation  in  the  velocity  was  only 
about  one  third  instead  of  half. 

Since  the  foregoing  account  was  written,  I  have  had  an  opportunity  of 
experimenting  on  a  strong  west  wind  (on  the  14tii  of  March) ;  and  the 
results  of  these  experiments  are,  if  any  thing,  more  definite  than  those  of 
the  previous  ones.  The  wind  on  this  occasion  had  a  velocity  of  37  feet 
per  second  at  an  elevation  of  12  feet  and  of  33  at  8  feet  and  17  at  1  foot. 
The  experiments  were  made  in  the  same  meadows  as  before,  the  snow 
having  melh^d,  so  that  the  grass  was  bare. 

With  the  wind  I  could  h(jar  the  boll  at  120  yards,  either  with  the  bell 
on  the  ground  or  raised  4  feet  above  it.  At  right  angles  to  the  direction 
of  the  wind  it  ranged  about  60  yards  with  the  bell  on  the  ground,  and 
80  yards  when  the  bell  was  olovat(?d. 

To  windward,  with  the  hell  standing  on  the  ground  (which,  it  must  be 

rememliered,  means  that  the  bell  was  actually  1  foot  above  the  surface), 

the  sound  was  hoard  as  follows  : — 

Full.  Lost. 

AVith  the  head  close  to  the  ground. .   At  10  yards.     At  20  yards. 

Standing    >»  30     „  ,»  40      „ 

At  an  elevation  of  25  feet   Not  heard  at  90  yards. 

With  the  bell  at  an  elevation  of  4  feet  G  inches  : — 

Full  Lost 

Head  to  the  ground At  18  yards.  At  30  yards. 

Standing  up »,  40     „  „  60      „ 

At  an  elevation  of  12  feet »i  90      „ 

At  an  elevation  of  18  feet  „  90     „ 

These  results  entirely  confirm  those  of  the  previous  experiments  ;  and 
the  intensifying  of  the  sounds  to  windward  by  the  raising  of  the  bell  was 

*  The  wind  fell  rapidlj  towards  the  close  of  Ihe  obserrations  on  this  day. 


Refraction  qf  Sound  bp  the  AtmotpHere.  641 

erea  more  marked  than  before ;  for  at  90  yards  to  windward,  with  the 
bell  raised,  I  could  bear  it  much  more  dintiactly  thau  at  a  corresponding 
distance  to  leeward.  This  tact  calls  for  a  word  of  special  explanation  ;  it  is 
clearly  doe  to  the  fact  that  the  variation  in  the  velocity  of  the  air  is  much 
greater  near  the  ground  than  at  a  few  feet  above  it.  When  the  bell  is 
on  the  ground  all  the  sound  must  pass  near  the  ground,  and  will  all  be 
turned  up. to  a  nearly  equal  extent ;  but  when  the  bell  is  raised,  the  rays 
of  sound  which  proceed  horizontally  will  be  much  less  bent  or  turned  up 
tttan  those  which  go  down  to  the  ground  ;  and  consequently,  after  pro~ 
oeeding  some  distance,  these  raya  will  meet  or  cross,  and  if  the  bead  bi 
at  this  point  tbey  will  both  fall  on  the  ear  together,  causing  a  sound  of 
double  intensity.  It  is  this  crossing  of  the  rays  also  which  for  the  most 
part  causes  the  interference  seen  in  fig,  2. 

These  experiments  establish  three  things  with  regard  to  the  transmia- 
aion  of  sound  : — 

1.  That  when  there  is  no  wind,  sound  proceeding  over  a  rough  surface 
is  more  intense  above  than  below. 

2.  That  as  long  as  the  velocity  of  the  wind  is  greater  above  than 
below,  soimd  is  lifted  up  to  windward  and  is  not  destroyed. 

3.  That  under  the  same  drcumstauces  it  is  brought  down  to  leeward, 
and  hence  its  range  extended  at  the  surface  of  the  ground. 

These  experiments  also  show  that  there  is  less  variation  in  the  velocity 
of  the  wind  over  a  smooth  surface  than  over  a  rough  one. 

It  seems  to  me  that  these  facta  fully  confirm  the  hypotheses  propounded 
by  Prof.  Stokes,  that  they  place  the  action  of  wind  beyond  question,  and 
that  they  aSord  explanations  of  many  of  the  anomalous  cases  that  have  been 
observed  ;  for  instance,  that  sounds  can  be  heard  much  further  over  wat«r 
than  over  land,  and  also  that  a  light  wind  at  sea  does  not  appear  toaffect 
sound  at  aU,  the  fact  being  that  the  smooth  water  does  not  destroy  either 
the  Bound  or  the  motion  of  the  air  in  contact  with  it.  When  the  wind 
and  sea  are  rough  the  case  is  different. 

The  Effect  of  Variations  of  Temperature. 

Having  observed  how  the  wind  acts  to  lift  the  waves  of  sound  by 
diminishing  their  velocity  above  compared  with  what  is  below,  it  was 
evident  to  me  that  any  other  atmospheric  cause  which  would  diminish 
the  velocity  above  or  increase  that  below  would  produce  the  same  effect, 
viz.  would  cause  the  waves  to  rise. 

Such  a  cause  must  at  certain  times  exist  in  the  variation  in  the  condi- 
tion of  the  air  as  we  proceed  upwards  from  the  surface. 

Although  barometric  pressure  does  not  affect  the  velocity  of  sound, 
yet,  as  is  well  known,  the  velocity  of  sound  depends  on  the  temperature', 

*  It  THieauUi«*qtuirerootof  K- — tt—,  and  ooTueqiMnUy  u  the  square  root  of  tJie 


642  Pnrfl  O.  Bejmoldi  m  tke 

and  everj  degree  of  tempentuie  between  SSPand  70^  adds  mpfproxanaUif 
1  foot  per  second  to  the  yelodtjr  of  sound.  This  vdocity  also  increases 
with  the  quantity  of  moistore  in  the  air;  bnt  the  quantity  is  at  all  times 
too  small  to  produce  an  appreciable  result.  This  yapomr  nererthdess 
plays  an  important  part  in  the  phenomena  under  consideratioii ;  for  it 
gives  to  the  air  a  much  greater  power  of  radiating  and  absorbing  heat^ 
and  thus  renders  it  much  more  susceptible  of  changes  in  the  acCaoo  of 
the  sun. 

If,  then,  the  air  were  all  at  the  same  temperature  and  equally  satorated 
with  moisture,  the  yelocity  of  sound  would  be  the  same  at  all  elevations; 
but  if  the  temperature  is  greater,  or  if  it  contains  more  water  below  than 
above,  then  the  wave  of  sound  will  proceed  quicker  below  than  above, 
and  will  be  turned  up  in  the  same  way  as  against  a  wind.  This  action 
of  the  atmosphere  is,  strictly  speaking,  knalogous  to  the  refraction  of 
light.  In  light,  however,  it  is  density  which  retards  motion ;  temperaturs 
and  pressure  have  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  it ;  and  since  the  density 
increases  downwards,  the  rays  of  light  move  slower  below  Uma  they  do 
above,  and  are  therefore  bent  downwards,  and  thus  the  distance  at  whidi 
we  can  see  objects  is  increased.  With  sound,  however,  since  it  is  tempo* 
roture  which  afiPects  the  velocity,  the  reverse  is  the  cose ;  the  rays  are 
bent  upwards,  and  the  distance  from  which  we  can  hear  is  reduced. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  temperature  of  the  air  diminishos  as 
we  proctH?d  upwards,  and  that  it  also  contains  less  vapour.  Hence  it 
follows  that,  as  a  rule,  the  waves  of  sound  must  travel  faster  below  than 
they  do  abovo,  and  thus  be  refracted  or  turned  upward. 

The  variation  of  temperature  is,  however,  by  no  means  constant,  and  a 
little  consideration  serves  to  show  that  it  will  be  greatest  in  a  quiet 
atmosphere  when  the  sun  is  shining.  The  sun's  rays,  acting  most 
powerfully  on  that  air  which  contains  the  most  vapour,  warms  the  lower 
wtrata  more  than  those  above  them ;  and  besides  this,  they  warm  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth,  and  this  warmth  is  taken  up  by  the  air  in  contact  with 
it.  It  is  not,  however,  only  on  such  considerations  as  these  that  we  are 
in  a  position  to  assert  the  law  of  variation  of  atmospheric  temperature. 
Mr.  Glaisher  has  furnished  us  with  information  on  the  subject  which 
places  it  beyond  the  region  of  siumise. 

I  extract  the  following  from  his  "  Eeport  on  Eight  Balloon  Ascents  in 
18()2"  (Brit.  Assoc.  Rep.  18(;2,  p.  402)  :— 

"  From  these  results  the  decline  of  temperature  when  the  sky  was 

cloudy 

For  the  first    300  feet  was  0°-5  for  every  100  feet. 

From  300  to  3400         „       0°-4 

„   3400  to  5000         „        0°-3         „  „ 

"  Therefore  in  cloudy  states  of  the  sky  the  temperature  of  the  air 
decreased  nearly  uniformly  with  the  height  above  the  surface  of  the  earth 
nearly  up  to  the  cloud. 


Refiaction  of  Sound  by  the  Atmotphere.  548 

"  When  the  akj  was  putiallj  cloudj  the  decline  of  tfimpenture 
In  the  frat         100  feet  was  0°'9 

From  2900  to  5000         „        0°-3  for  every  100  feet. 

"The  decline  of  temperature  near  the  earth  with  .a  partially  clear  sky 
is  nearly  double  that  with  a  cloudy  sky, 

"  In  some  cases,  as  on  July  30th,  the  decline  of  temperature  in  the  first 
100  feet  was  as  large  as  l"-!." 

"We  may  say,  therefore,  that  when  the  sky  is  clear  the  variation  of 
temperature  as  we  proceed  upwards  from  1  to  3000  feet  will  be  more 
than  double  what  it  is  when  the  skyis  cloudy.  And  since  for  such  small 
variations  the  variation  in  the  velocity  of  sound,  that  is  the  refraction,  is 
proportional  to  the  temperature,  this  refraction  will  be  twice  as  great  with 
a  clear  sky  as  when  the  sky  is  cloudy. 

This  is  the  mean  difference,  and  there  are  doubtless  exceptional  caaes 
in  which  the  variations  are  both  greater  and  less  than  those  given ;  during 
the  night  the  variations  are  less  than  during  the  day,  and  again  in  winter 
than  in  summer. 

This  reasoning  at  once  suggested  an  explanation  of  the  well-known 
fact  that  sounds  are  less  intense  during  the  day  than  at  night.  This  is  a 
matt«r  of  common  observation,  and  has  been  the  subject  of  scientific 
inquiry.  F.  De  La  Boche  discusses  the  subject,  and  exposes  the  fal- 
lacies of  several  theories  advanced  to  account  for  it.  Amongst  others 
there  are  some  remarks  by  Humboldt,  in  which  he  says  that  the  dif- 
ference is  not  due  to  the  quietness  of  the  night,  for  he  had  observed 
the  same  thing  near  the  torrid  zone,  where  the  day  seemed  quieter  than 
the  night,  which  was  rendered  noisy  with  insects. 

It  is,  however,  by  the  experiments  of  Prof.  Tyndall  that  this  fact  has 
been  fully  brought  to  light ;  and  from  their  definite  character  they  afford 
an  opportunity  of  applying  the  explanation,  and  furnish  a  t«Bt  of  its 
soundness. 

Neglecting  the  divergence  of  the  bottom  of  the  waves,  a  difference  of 
1  degree  in  the  100  feet  would  cause  the  rays  of  sound,  otherwise  hori- 
Eontol^  to  move  on  a  circle,  the  radius  of  which  by  the  previous  rule 
=  1100  .  ■1^»110,000  feet.  A  variation  of  one  half  this  would  cause 
them  to  move  on  a  circle  of  220,000  feet  radius.  From  the  radii  of  these 
circles  we  can  calculate  the  range  of  the  sound  from  different  elevations. 

With  a  clear  sky,  i.  e.  with  a  radius  110,000  feet  from  on  elevation  of 
236  feet,  the  sound  would  be  audible  with  full  force  to  1-36  mile ;  the 
direct  sound  would  then  be  lifted  above  the  surface,  and  only  the  di- 
verging sound  would  be  audible.  From  an  elevation  of  15  feet,  however, 
the  direct  sound  might  be  heard  to  a  distance  of  '36,  or  ^  mile  further, 
so  that  in  aU  it  could  be  heard  1-72  (1  j)  mile. 

Witli  a  cloudy  sky,  t.  e.  with  a  radius  220,000  feet,  the  direct  «stsiA 


644  Prof.  O.  Beynolds  m  ike 

would  be  heard  to  2*4  miles  from  an  elevation  of  15  feet,  or  1*4  tunes  what 
it  18  with  the  clear  skj.  These  results  have  been  obtained  bj  taking  the 
extreme  variations  of  temperature  at  the  surface  of  tiie  ettrth.  At 
certain  times,  however,  in  the  evening,  or  when  it  was  raining,  the  wiatioiL 
would  be  much  less  than  this,  in  which  case  the  direct  sound  would  be 
heard  to  much  greater  distances. 

[So  far  I  have  only  spoken  of  the  direct  or  geometrical  rays  of  aoond, 
that  is,  I  have  supposed  the  edge  of  the  sound  to  be  definite,  and  not 
fringed  vidth  diverging  rays ;  but,  as  has  been  already  explained,  the 
sound  would  diverge  downwards,  and  from  this  cause  would  be  heard  to 
a  considerable  distance  beyond  the  point  at  which  the  direct  rays  first 
left  the  ground.  Erom  Uiis  point,  however,  the  sound  would  become 
rapidly  fainter  until  it  viras  lost.  The  extension  which  divergence  would 
thus  add  to  the  range  of  the  sound  would  obviously  depend  oa  the  re- 
fraction— that  is  to  say,  when  the  direct  rays  were  last  retracted  apwards, 
tiie  extension  of  the  range  due  to  divergence  would  be  greatest.  It  is 
difficult  to  say  what  the  precise  effect  of  this  divergence  would  be;  but  we 
may  assume  that  it  would  be  similar  to  that  which  viras  found  in  tihe  case 
of  wind,  only  the  refraction  being  so  much  smaller  the  extension  of  the 
range  by  divergence  would  be  greater.  On  the  wh(^  the  results  calcu- 
lated from  the  data  furnished  by  Mr.  Glaisher  agree  in  a  remarkable 
manner  with  those  observed ;  for  if  we  add  |  mile  for  the  extension  of 
the  range  by  divergence,  the  calculated  distuice  with  a  clear  sky  would 
be  two  miles  from  a  cliff  235  feet  high. — September  1874.] 

Now  Prof.  Tyndall  found  that  from  the  cliffs  at  the  South  Foreland, 
235  feet  high,  the  minimum  range  of  sound  was  a  little  more  than 
2  miles,  and  that  this  occurred  on  a  quiet  July  day  with  hot  sunshine. 
The  ordinary  range  seemed  to  be  from  3  to  5  miles  when  the  weather 
\i'as  duU,  although  sometimes,  particularly  in  the  evening,  the  sounds 
were  heard  as  far  as  15  miles.  This  was,  however,  only  under  very  ex- 
ceptional circumstances.  Prof.  Tyndall  also  found  that  the  interposition 
of  a  cloud  was  followed  by  an  almost  immediate  extension  of  the  range 
of  the  sound.  I  extract  the  following  passages  from  Prof.  Tyndall  s 
Eeport : — 

'*  On  June  2  the  maximum  rauge,  at  first  only  3  miles,  afterwards  ran 
up  to  about  6  miles. 

''  Optically,  June  3  was  not  at  all  a  promising  day ;  the  clouds  were 
dark  and  threatening,  and  the  air  filled  with  a  faint  haze ;  nevertheless 
the  horns  were  fairly  audible  at  9  miles.  An  exceedingly  heavy  rain- 
shower  approached  us  at  a  galloping  speed.  The  sound  was  not  sensibly 
impaired  during  the  continuance  of  the  rain. 

'*  July  3  was  a  lovely  morning :  the  sky  was  of  a  stainless  blue,  the  air 
calm,  and  the  sea  smooth.  I  thought  we  should  be  able  to  hear  a  long 
way  off.  We  steamed  beyond  the  pier  end  and  listened.  The  steam- 
clouds  were  there,  showing  the  whistles  to  be  active ;  the  smoke-puffs 


BefractioH  of  Sound  by  the  Atmosphere.  545 

were  there,  attestiug  the  activity  o£  the  guns.  Kothiug  waa  heard.  We 
went  nearer  ;  but  at  two  miles  horna  and  whistles  and  gims  were  equally 
inaudible.  This,  howerer,  being  near  the  limit  of  the  sound-shadow,  I 
thought  that  might  hare  something  to  do  with  the  effect,  bo  we  steamed 
right  in  front  of  the  atatiou,  and  halted  at  3|  miles  from  it.  Not  a 
ripple  nor  a  breath  of  air  disturbed  the  Htillness  on  board,  but  we  heard 
nothing.  There  were  the  ateam-puffs  from  the  whistlea,  and  we  knew 
that  between  every  two  puffs  the  hom-souuds  were  embraced,  but  we 
heard  nothing.  We  signalled  for  the  guns  ;  there  were  the  smoke-puffs 
apparently  close  at  baud,  but  not  the  slightest  sound.  It  was  mere 
dumb-show  on  the  Foreland.  We  steamed  in  to  3  miles,  halted,  and 
listened  with  all  attention.  Neither  the  boms  nor  the  whistles  sent  us 
the  slightest  hint  of  a  sound.  The  guns  were  again  signalled  for ;  five 
of  them  were  fired,  some  elevated,  some  fired  point-blank  at  us.  Not  one 
of  them  was  heard.  We  steamed  in  to  two  miles,  and  had  the  guns 
again  fired ;  the  bowitser  and  mortar  with  3-lb.  charges  yielded  tbe 
faintest  thud,  and  the  18-pounder  was  qiiite  unheard. 

"  In  the  presence  of  these  facts  I  stood  amazed  and  confounded ;  for  it 
had  been  assumed  and  affirmed  by  distinguished  men  who  had  given  spe- 
cial attention  to  this  subject,  that  a  clear,  calm  atmosphere  was  the  beat 
vehicle  of  sound :  optical  clearness  and  acoustic  cleomesa  were  supposed 
to  go  hand  in  hand       *       *       *. 

"As  I  stood  upon  the  deck  of  the  'Iren^'  pondering  this  question,  I 
became  conscious  of  the  exceeding  power  of  tbe  sun  beating  against  my 
back  and  heating  the  objects  near  me.  Beams  of  equal  power  were 
foiling  on  the  sea,  and  must  have  produced  copious  evaporation.  That 
the  vapour  generated  should  so  rise  and  mingle  with  the  air  as  to  form 
an  absolutely  homogeneous  mixture  I  considered  in  the  highest  d^roe 
improbable.  It  would  be  sure,  I  thought,  to  streak  and  mottle  the 
atmosphere  with  spaces,  iu  which  tbe  tur  would  be  in  different  degrees 
saturated,  or  it  might  be  displaced  by  the  vapour.  At  the  limiting  sur- 
faces of  these  spaces,  though  invisible,  we  should  have  the  conditions 
necessary  to  the  production  of  partial  echoes,  and  the  consequent  waste 
of  sound. 

"  Curiously  enough,  the  conditions  necessary  for  the  testing  of  this  ex- 
planation immediately  set  in.  At  3.15  p.u.  a  cloud  threw  itself  atliwart 
fte  sun,  and  shaded  the  entire  space  between  us  and  the  South  Fore- 
land. The  production  of  vapour  was  checked  by  the  interposition  of  this 
screen,  that  already  in  the  air  being  at  the  same  time  allowed  to  mix 
with  it  more  perfectly ;  hence  the  probatnJity  of  improved  tnuumiasion. 
lo  test  this  inference  the  steamer  was  turned  and  urged  bock  to  our 
last  position  of  inaudibility.  The  sounds,  as  I  expected,  were  distinctly 
tiioogh  faintly  heard.  This  was  at  3  miles  distance.  At  3|  miles  we 
had  the  guns  fired,  both  point-blank  and  elevated.  The  faintest  thud 
WIS  all  that  we  heard ;  but  we  did  hear  a  thud,  whereas  we  bad  i}K'da>u.\^ 


546  Prof.  O.  Bejmolds  m  the 

heard  nothing,  either  here  or  three  qnarteni  of  a  mile  nearar.  We 
steamed  out  to  4|  miles,  when  the  sounds  were  for  a  moment  hinOj 
heard,  but  thej  fdl  away  as  we  waited ;  and  though  the  greatest  quiet- 
ness reigned  onboard,  and  though  the  sea  was  without  a  ripple,  we  ooold 
hear  nothing.  We  could  plainly  see  the  8team-pu&  which  azmonnoed 
the  beginning  and  the  end  of  a  series  of  trnmpet-Uasts,  but  the  blasts 
themselves  were  quite  inaudible. 

'^  It  was  now  4  p.m.,  and  mj  intention  at  first  was  to  halt  at  this  dif 
tanoe,  which  was  beyond  the  sound-range,  but  not  far  beyond  it,  and  see 
whether  the  lowering  of  the  sun  would  not  restore  the  power  of  the 
atmosphere  to  transmit  the  sound.  But  after  waiting  a  little,  the  an- 
choring of  a  boat  was  suggested ;  and  though  loth  to  lose  the  anticipated 
reviyal  of  the  sounds  myself,  I  agreed  to  this  arrangement.  Two  men 
were  placed  in  the  boat,  and  requested  to  give  all  attention,  so  as  to  hear 
the  sound  if  possible.  With  perfect  stillness  around  them,  they  heard 
nothing.  They  were  then  instructed  to  hoist  a  signal  if  they  should  hear 
the  sounds,  and  to  keep  it  hoisted  as  long  as  the  sounds  continued. 

'*  At  4.45  we  quitted  them  and  steamed  towards  i^e  South  Sand  Head 
light-ship.  Precisely  fifteen  minutes  after  we  had  separated  from  them 
the  fiag  was  hoisted.  The  sound,  as  anticipated,  had  at  length  succeeded 
in  piercing  the  body  of  air  between  the  boat  and  the  shore. 

**  On  returning  to  our  anchored  boat,  we  learned  that  when  the  flag  was 
hoisted  the  hom-sounds  were  heard,  that  they  were  succeeded  after  a 
little  time  by  the  whistle-sounds,  and  that  both  increased  in  intensity  as 
the  evening  advanced.  On  our  arrival  of  course  we  heard  the  sound:} 
ourselves. 

**  The  conjectured  explanation  of  the  stoppage  of  the  sounds  appeared 
to  be  thus  reduced  to  demonstration ;  but  we  pushed  the  proof  still 
further  by  steaming  further  out.  At  5 j  miles  we  halted  and  heard  the 
sounds.  At  0  miles  we  heard  them  distinctly,  but  so  feebly  that  we 
thought  we  had  reached  the  limit  of  the  sound-range;  but  while  we 
waited  the  sound  rose  in  power.  We  steamed  to  the  Yarne  buoy,  which 
is  7 j  miles  from  the  signal-station,  and  heard  the  sounds  there  better 
than  at  G  miles  distance. 

"  Steaming  on  to  the  Vame  light-ship,  which  is  situated  at  the  other  end 
of  the  Vame  shoal,  we  hailed  the  master,  and  were  informed  by  him  that 
up  to  5  P.M.  nothmg  had  been  heard.  At  that  hour  the  sounds  began  to 
be  audible.  He  described  one  of  them  as  '  very  gross,  resembling  the 
bellowing  of  a  bull,'  which  very  accurately  characterizes  the  soiuid  of  the 
large  American  steam-whistle.  At  the  Vame  light-ship,  therefore,  the 
sounds  had  been  heard  towards  the  close  of  the  day,  though  it  is  12| 
miles  from  the  signal-station." 

Here  we  see  that  the  very  conditions  which  actually  diminished  the  range 
of  the  sound  ^^ere  precisely  those  which  would  cause  the  greatest  lifting 
of  the  waves.    And  it  may  be  noticed  that  these  facts  were  observed  and 


■Refraction  of  Sotmd  by  tfu  Atmosphere.  947 

recorded  by  Prof.  Tyndall  with  his  mind  altogether  tmbimed  nith  any 
thought  ot  eHtabliahiiig  this  hypothesis.  He  was  looking  for  an  expla- 
nation in  qoite  another  direction.  Had  it  not  been  so  he  would  probably 
have  ascended  the  inait,  and  thus  found  whether  or  not  the  sound  was 
all  the  time  passing  orer  his  head.  On  the  worst  day  an  ascent  of 
30  feet  should  have  extended  the  range  nearly  ^  mile. 

The  height  of  the  sound-producing  instruments  is  apparently  treat«d 
as  a  subordinate  question  by  Prof.  Tyndall.  At  the  commencement  of 
his  lecture,  he  stated  that  the  instruments  were  mounted  on  the  top  and 
at  the  bottom  of  the  cliff ;  and  he  subsequently  speaks  of  their  being 
235  feet  above  him.  He  does  not,  however,  take  any  notice  of  the  com- 
parative range  of  those  on  the  top  and  those  at  the  bottom  of  the  cliff ; 
but  wherever  he  mentions  them  he  speaks  of  them  as  on  the  cliff,  lead- 
ing me  to  suppose  that  for  some  reason  those  at  the  bottom  of  the  cliff 
had  been  abandoned,  or  that  they  were  less  efficient  than  those  above. 
If  I  am  right  in  this  surmise,  if  the  sounds  from  below  did  not  range  so 
far  as  those  from  above,  it  is  a  fact  in  accordance  with  refraction,  but  of 
which,  I  think,  Prof.  Tyndall  has  offered  no  explanation. 

[Besides  the  results  of  Prof.  Tyndall's  experiments  there  are  many 
other  phenomena  which  are  explained  by  this  refraction.  Humboldt 
could  hear  the  falls  of  Orinoco  three  times  as  loud  by  night  aa  by  day 
at  a  distance  of  one  league ;  and  he  states  that  the  same  phenomenon  has 
been  observed  near  every  waterfall  in  Europe.  And  although  Humboldt 
gave  another  explanation*,  which  was  very  reasonable  when  applied  to 
the  particular  case  at  Orinocot,  yet  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  circum- 
fltances  were  such  as  would  cause  great  upward  refraction ;  and  hence 
there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  refraction  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with 
the  diminution  of  the  sound  by  day. 

In  fact  if  this  refraction  of  sound  exists,  then,  according  to  Mr, 
Glaisher's  obsenafions,  it  must  be  seldom  that  we  can  hear  distant 
sounds  with  anything  like  their  full  distinctness,  particularly  by  day; 
and  any  elevation  in  the  observer  or  the  source  of  the  sound  above  the 

*  "  That  the  lun  itcts  upon  the  propagation  and  inteosit;  of  aound  by  the  obatAcles 
met  incmmits  of  air  of  different  densitf,  aod  by  the  partial  unduJatioas  of  the  atmo- 

■l^ere  arinng'f^^jm  uneqiinl  heating  of  different  parts  of  the  Mil During  the 

iaj  there  a  d  ludden  interruption  of  dengitj  whereTeramaUatreamletBofairof  ahigh 
temperatiiTe  riae  orer  parts  of  the  aoil  uneqiudlj  heated.  The  aonoroui  undulations  are 
divided,  as  the  rajs  of  light  are  refracted  wherever  strata  of  air  of  unequal  denritj  are 
eoDtigoone.  The  propagation  of  sound  ie  altered  when  a  stnttum  of  hjdrogen  gas  is 
made  to  rise  over  a  atrntum  of  atniospherio  air  in  a  tube  closed  at  one  end ;  and  H. 
ffiot  has  well  explained,  by  the  iuterpositionof  bubUee  ofcafboaio  acid  gas,  why  a  glow 
filled  with  champagne  is  not  aonorous  so  long  aa  that  gas  is  evolved  and  paaauig  through 
the  strata  of  the  ]iqmd:'—Humioldea  IVavels,  Bohn'a  Series,  vol.  ii.  p.  264. 

t  The  sounds  proceeded  over  a  phuie  covered  with  rank  vegetation  interspersed  with 
black  rocks.  Then  latter  attained  a  very  considerable  elevation  of  temperature  under 
tlie  eflitcts  of  the  tropical  sun,  asmueh  as  48°  C,  while  the  air  was  only  28°;  and  hence 
over  each  rock  there  would  be  a  (xdumn  of  hot  air  Moen^ttg. 

TOL.  nil.  ^  "S 


548  On  the  RtfracluM  ofSomdbg  tke  Atmotpbere. 

interreniiig  ground  will  increase  tbJB  ruige  and  diKtinctneas,  as  niU  a)>o 
a  gentle  niod,  which  brings  the  eoitnd  doui)  and  so  oount^nifta  the 
effect  of  refraction.  And  heuoe  we  have  an  explanation  ot  the  snrpnsiiig 
diatoncee  to  which  sounds  can  gometimei  be  heard,  particularlv'  th^  ex- 
ploaion  of  meteors,  as  well  as  a  reason  for  the  cnstom  of  eleratiag  churvb- 
bells  aad  souuda  to  be  heard  at  great  distanoua, — SejiUmbrr  1S74.] 


INDEX  TO  VOL.  XXII. 


AbBL  (F.  a.),  oontrfbutlona   to  the 

hiEtoiTof  (OWMtTe  want*:  MOond  ntft- 

moir,  160. 
and  Sable  (Oapt,).  nMu-diw  oo 

explodTei :  Seed  gimponder,  406. 
Absorption  phonomann,  on  k  new  dnn  Qf, 

378. 

.  —  speotn  of  potanum  and  todium  at 

low  («iDp«mtiirM,  on  ths,  iSOS. 
Actinia, <uith»j)tirToanjd»atot:  FurtL, 

44,283. 
Addreu  of  the  Preadent,  2. 
AdiabaUos  and  itothennali  of  wat«r,  on 

the.4fil. 
A^ta,  onaxploai 


&il 


AlimenlAiT  oanal,  on  the  minnte  anatomT 

ofthftWS. 
AUmaii(pTof.),  TO^  medal  awarded  to,  1 1 . 
Alps,  on  Boma  winter  thermometiio  ob- 

■eiratioD*  in  the,  317. 
Anatomy  of  the  geniu  PArontno,  on  the, 

154. 
.     .1  of  tbeljmphaCioiyiteDiof  thelnngi, 

oontributiona  to  the  normal  and  patho- 

logioal,133. 
Annireraarj  Meeting,  Deo.  1,  1879,  1. 
Atlantic,  South,  on  drediriDgi  and  deep- 

■ea  toundingi  in  the,  423. 
Atmoephera,  non-homogeneoua,  on   the 

■toppaEe  of  Mund  bj  partial  refleotioni 

ina,^. 
—,  on  the  nfinotion  of  Hund  br  the, 

265,  C31. 
,  prelimiiuuy  tMOU&t  of  an  inTeeti- 


^51 


Auditon,  Beport  of,  1. 


ed.297. 

Barlow  (W.  U.)  on  the  pneumatie  lutioii 
which  aooompaniei  the  articulation  of 
loundl  bj  the  human  Tcdoe,  na  exhibited 
b;r  a  Tcoording  inaCrument,  277. 


Beddoe  (J.),  admitted,  27. 


Blanford  (W.  T.),  admitted,  362. 

(H.  P.),  the  windi  of  Horthern 

India,  in  lelation  to  the  tempeiatura 

and  Tapour-oonatituent  of  the  atmo- 

■phere,  21 IX 
Blood,  on  some poinla  oonnected  with  the 

dnmlatioQ  or  the,  oniTed  at  from  a 

•tad;  of  the  >phv|mogra^h-tra«e,  201. 
oorpuades  m  Mammalia,  on  the  in- 

tnoellular  development  of,  243. 
Bodily  tsmperatuie,  Ac,  of  healthy  men, 

on  the  iaSuence  of  biandy  on  ths,  172. 
Bmdj  (a.  B), admitted,  380. 
Btaio,  on  the  looaliiation  of  function  in 

the,  229. 
Bnudy,  on  the  inSucnce  of,  on  the  bodily 

temperature,  the  pdIh^  and  the  rMpf- 

rotiona  of  healthv  men,  172. 
Brodie  (Sir  B.  0.)  on  Ibe  ^nllutli  of 

formic  aldehyde,  171. 
Brom-iodidee,  on  the,  51. 
Broun  (J.  A.\  on  the  lumaal  vaiiadon  of 

the  magnetic  deolination,  254. 
on  the  period  of  hemispheial  (ooeM 

of  lun-Bpota,  and  the  29-day  period,  43. 
on  the  imi«>ot  period  via  lite  taiu- 

fWll,460. 
Brunton  (T.  L.),  admitM,  362. 
and  Payrer  (J.)  on  the  nature  and 

phyiiologiral  action  of  the  poiaon  of 

Mfja  Mpudiant  and  other  udian  Ta- 

nomoue  nukM ;  Put  IL,  68. 
and  Power   (H.)   on    the  diuretic 

action  of  DigUalit,  420. 
Buchanan  (J.  7.)  on  the  absorption  of 

carbonic  ooid  bj  Mlioe  wilationjk  192, 

483. 
,  lonLG  obeervationi  on  aea-water  ice, 

431. 

Calculus  of  factorioU,  on  the,  434. 
Candidat«*  for  election,  lilt  of,  Moreh  6, 

1874,  228. 
wlwted,  liat  of,  Moy  7,  1874,  810. 

2t2 


550 


IXOEX. 


OAriKHue  aod,  on  the  timorpdtm  oi,  bt 

nlme  Mlntkiu.  19S,  4^ 
Oudwdl  QU.  Hon.  E.X  dMtcd,  42;  ad- 

iiuttod,211. 
Onre-depofiu  of  Eki^bnd,  on  the  aDmd 

cxutenee  of  rnnuBt  of  alcDmimg  in,  &1. 
CMcj  (Prof.),  a  memoir  on  the  tnnt- 

/ormation  of  cUiptie  fmietioni,  56l 
Centre  of  motion  in  the  hmnan  ere,  on 

the,  429. 
Cerebnd  hemiipherei,  on  the  cxotatian 

of  the  farfree  of  the,  bj  indueed  ear- 

icntat  9qo« 
Chemiol  action  of  total  dajU^,  on  the, 

156. 
—  eoutitntion  of  Mhne  eolntioni^  on 

the,  2». 
Chinoline  and  pyridine  Imam,  on  the  pfaj- 

giolficied  action  of  the,  432. 
Clif<nnf  (W.  K.).  admitted,  382. 
Coal-iminw,  on  the  foail  planta  of  the. 

Colour,  on  the  combiiiaHone  of,  bj  meant 

of  polaiiaed  light.  3ML 
Coniferine,  on,  and  ita  eonrernon  into 

the  aromatic  principle  of  vanilla,  tM. 
Connectire  timne.  nerre,  and  mvcde,  on 

the  anatomy  of.  with  ipecial  refemee 

to  their  eonnenon  with  the  Innphatie 

mtem.  380,  515. 
Contributions  to  the  historr  of  the  orrinfi : 

Ho,  TV.  On  the  iodo-deriratiTee  of  the 

orcins,  53. 
to  the  hietorv  of  explosiTe  ogents : 

Bccond  uxnnoir,  l60. 
to  the  deTelopniental  historr  of  the 

Mollusca :  Sections  I.-IV.,  232' 
■         to  terretl  rial  magnetism :  "So.  XIV., 

401. 
Copley  medal  awarded  to  H.  L.  F.  Hebn- 

holtz,  10. 
Copper  wire,  preliiiiinanr  experiments  on 

a  magnet  ixed,  311. 
Cottrell  (J.)  on  the  division  of  a  eound- 

waTe  by  a  layer  of  flame  or  heated  gas 

into  a  reflected  and  a  transmitted  ware, 

190. 
Coundl,  list  of,  12. 
Crrxikes  (W.)  on  the  action  of  heat  on 

grayitating  masses,  37. 
Croonian  Lecture  announced,  297. 

Daylight,  total,  on  a  self-recording  me- 

tliod  of  measuring  the  intensity  of  the 

chemical  action  of,  158. 
Decherrens  (M.),  magnetic  obflerrations 

at  Zi-Ka-Wei,  440. 
Declination,  on  the  annual  rariation  of 

the  magnetic,  254. 
Deep-sea  thermometer,  on  a  new,  238. 
Development ,  on  the,  oi  Pcrivatus  capen- 

iM,344.  I 


DigUJia,  on  the  diniccie  nelkm  oC  4SDl 
oftbe 
211R. 

tkn  of  AyAtfi^  OB  tbe.  4S0L 

Donkan  (.A.  B.)  on  an  inH H  fiir  thi 

minncMtinn  of  two 
IMl 
BonUe  TClbMtiQB.  an, 

m  mouona  4flL 
DivdcDMi  and  deco'^en  aoonoinasi  m  tin 

South  AthBtiCi  on,  42S. 
Donean  (P.  IL)  on  tlie  aerraoa  ayiCcB  of 
FM  L,  44, 989. 


Buth.  on  th*  motioni  of  ^vna  of  tht 

nebobe  towaide  or  fvom  tfaa^  SSL 
Election  of  FdlowB,  961. 
Eleetiie  condiieton»  on  the  ■liiitii—  of 


on,  57. 
Klliptic  fimftioWfc  on  the 
0^56. 


Ezpenmcnta  with  nCetr-lampa,  441. 

Ezploeire  agents,  contributions  to  the 
history  of:  second  memoir,  160. 

Explosives,  researches  on  :  fired  gun- 
powder, 41^?. 

Factorials,  on  the  calculus  of.  4M. 
Fayrer  (J.)  and  Brunt un  (T.  L.)  on  the 

nature  and  ^hyeiolcigioal  action  of  the 

poison  of  ^aja  trijntdians  and  <<ther 

Indian  renomous  snakes :  Part  II..  08. 
Fellows  deceased.   1  ;    elected,   2,   ^'Gl  ; 

number  of.  13. 
Ferrier  (DX  the  localisation  of  function 

in  the  brain.  22*A 
Financial  statement.  14,  15. 
Fireman's    respirator,   on    eome    recent 

experiments  with  a.  Syx 
Forced  breathing,  on  the  bending  of  the 

ribs  in,  42. 
Forces,  on  the.  caused  by  CTaporation  from, 

and  Condensation  at.'  a  surfiM^e.  44>1. 
Formic  aldehyde,  on  tbesyntheeis  of.  171. 
FoMil  plants  of  the  coal-moosurea,  on  the 

or^nization  of  the :   Part  VI.  Ferns, 

24d. 
Frankland  (£.)  on  eome  winter  thermo- 

metric  obeenrations  in  the  Alpe,  317. 
Franks  (A.  W.).  admitted,  380. 
Function  in  the  brain,  on  the  looalixation 

of,  229. 

Qalapagoe  Islandst  on  the  tortoisea  of  the. 
421. 


Qallomy  (W.),  eiperimmU  wilh  i»fety- 
lamp«,441. 

Owrod  (A.  H.)  on  aome  poiata  oonneoUd 
nith  the  drcuUtion  of  the  blood,  nr- 
lired  at  from  a,  atudj  of  the  aphjgmo- 
graph-traoe,  291. 

Cwological  Bgee  (or  groupc  of  formatioiiB), 
on  the  compaTatiTe  value  of  certain, 
COondered  as  item*  of  Reolceical  time, 
145.334. 

Oore  (Q.)  on  electrotoraon,  57. 

on  the  ottnctioDi  of  nuigneta  and 

dectrio  eonduoton,  245. 

(Joremment  Qrant,  account  of  appropri- 
ation of,  1873,  19. 

Gravitating  maaBee,  on  the  action  of  h»at 
on,  37. 

Grabb  (T.)  on  the  jroproremeat  of  the 


Gunpowder.'on  fired,  40e.' 

Gunther  (A.),  deacription  of  the  liTing 
and  eitinot  raoee  of  gigantic  lond-tor- 
toiaee :  Farts  I.  &  II.  Introduction,  and 
the  tortoises  of  the  Oalspagos  lalanda, 
421. 

Haannann  (W.)  and  Tiemann  {P.)  on  eo- 
niferine,  and  its  conTenion  into  the 
aromatie  priiujiplB  of  vanilla,  398. 

Habits  of  the  genus  Phrtnima,  on  the, 
154. 

Hamonic  curves,  i 


the   chemical 

ons,  241. 

Hnt,   on   the  action  of,  on  gravitating 

mssse>,  37. 
Helmbolti    (H.   L.    F.),   Copley  medal 

awarded  to.  10. 
Hemispheres,  cerebral,  on  the  excitation 

of  the  surface  of  the,  bf  induced  cur- 


i-spots,  on  the 


HemiBpheral  excess  of 

period  of,  43. 
Hemmeej  (J.  H.  N.)  on  displacement  of 

the  >oUr  spectrum,  219. 
on  nbite  linee  in  the  solar  cpectrum, 

321. 

n  the  periodicity  of  rainfall,  286. 


Howard  (J.  E.),  admitted, 

Huggins  (W.)  on  the  motions  oi  some  oi 

the  oebulie  towards  or  from  the  earth, 
_261. 
Human  eye,  on  the  centre  of  motion  in 

the,  429. 
— < — —  voice,  on  the  pneumatic  action  which 

aooompanice  the  articulation  of  sounds 

l^  the,  as  exhibited  liy  a  r^oording  in- 


~  mrav  (J 
300. 

India,  on  the  winds  of  northern,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  temperature  and  vapour- 
constituent  gf  the  atmosphere,  210. 

Indian  venomoua  snakes,  on  the  poison 
of,  68. 

lodo-derivatives  of  the  orcins,  on  the,  53. 

Isothermals  and  adiabatics  of  water,  on 
the,  451. 

Eew  Committee,  report  of  the,  20. 

Klein  (B.),  contributioiu  to  the  normal 
and  pathological  anatomy  of  the  lym- 
phatic system  of  the  luugg,  133. 

on  the  smallpoi  of  sluep,  388. 

lAnd-lortoisn,  on  the  livini  and  extinct 
noes  of:  Parts  L  &  II.  Introduction, 
and  the  tortoises  of  the  Qalapagos  Is- 
lands, 421. 

Lankeeter  (E.  B.),  oontributions  to  the 
developmental  history  of  the  Mollusoa ; 
Sections  L,  U.,  HI.,  IV.,  232. 

Leaf -arrangement,  on,  298. 

Lemming,  on  the  allied  existanFe  of  re- 
mains of  a,  in  cave-<upoeits  of  England, 

Liquid  funon,  on  the  alleged  expansion  in 
volume  of  various  substances  in  passing 
by  refrigeration  from  the  state  of,  to 
that  of  solid  ideation..  3G6. 

Liquor  sanguinis,  on  certain  organisms 
occurring  in  the.  391. 

Lockyer  (J.  N,),  rwearchee  in  spectrum- 
annlygis  in  oonneiion  with  tbe  spectrum 
ottheiun:  No.  IV-,  391. 

,  spectroscopic  notes :  No.  I.  On  the 

absorption  of  great  thioknenes  of  me- 
tallic and  metalloidal  vapours,  371 ;  No. 
11.  On  the  evidence  of  variation  in  mo- 
lecular Btructure.  372 ;  No.  111.  On  tiie 
molecular  structure  of  vapoure  in  con- 
nexion with  tfafir  densitica,  374 ;  No. 
IV.  On  a  new  claM  of  absorption  phe- 


obserrations  of  the  i 
Logan  (H.  F.  C.)  on  the  calculus  of  (ac- 

torials,  434. 
Ijungs,  contributions  to  the  nonuol  and 

pathological  anatamy  of  thu  lympbntic 

B;i1«moftbe,  133. 
Lymphatic  system,    on   the   anatomy    of 

connective    tissue,    nerve,  and   muscle, 

with   special  refcrenco   (o   their  oon- 


li  the,  S 


),  515. 


Macdonald  (J.  D.)  on  the  analom;  and 
habits  of  the  genus  Fkrcmima  (Lair.), 


552 


INDEX. 


H'Eendrick  (J.  O.)  and  Dcwar  (J.^  on  the 
pbjBiologioal  action  of  the  chinolme  and 
pyridine  bases,  432. 

Magnetic  declination,  on  the  annual  Tari- 
ation  of  the,  254. 

obseryationB  at  Zi-Ka-Wei,  440. 

liagnetiBm,  on  the  26-da7  period  of  ter- 
restrial, 43. 

Hagnetixed  copper  wire,  experiments  on 
a,  311. 

Magnets  and  electric  conductors,  on  the 
attractions  of,  245. 

Maine  (Sir  H.  8.),  admitted,  380. 

Male  of  Thaumois  pHtucida,  on  the,  42. 

Mallet  (R.).  addition  to  the  paper  "Vol- 
canic energy :  an  attempt  to  develop 
its  true  origin  and  cosmical  relations,' 
328. 

■  on  the  alleged  expansion  in  voliuno 
of  Tarious  substances  in  passing  bj  re- 
frigeration from  the  state  of  bquid 
fusion  to  that  of  solidification,  3G6. 

"■'—  on  the  mechanism  of  Stpomboli,  473, 
496. 

Mammalia,  on  the  intracellidar  derelop- 
nient  of  blood-corpuscles  in,  243. 

Maxwell  (J.  C.)  on  uouble  refraction  in  a 
viscous  fluid  in  motion,  46. 

Met'liauism  of  Stroraboli,  on  the,  473, 496. 

Medals,  presentation  of  the,  10. 

Metallic  and  mctalloidal  vapours,  on 
tlie  absorption  of  great  tliicknesscs  of, 
371. 

Meteorological  use  of  a  planiraeter,  435. 

MiUs  (E.  J.),  admitted,  362. 

Minute  aiuitomy  of  the  alimentary  canal, 
on  the,  203. 

Molecular  structure,  on  the  evidence  of 
variation  in,  372. 

'       of  vapours,  on  the,  in  connexion 

witli  their  densities,  374. 

MoUusca,  contributions  to  the  develop- 
mental liistory  of  the,  232. 

Moseley  (11.  N.)  on  tlic  structure  and  de- 
vclopiiiout  of  Pcripafv.s  capnisis.  344. 

Mucous  mcmbrnuo  of  tlio  uterus,  on  the 
structure  of  the,  and  its  pcriocUcal 
changes,  297. 

Kaja  fripvdians  and  other  Indian  venom- 
ous snakes,  on  the  nature  and  physio- 
logical action  of  the  poison  of,  68. 

Nebulip,  on  tlio  motions  of  some  of  the, 
towards  or  frr)ui  the  oarth,  251. 

Ncgrotti  (TI.)  and  Zarabra  (J.  W.)  on  a 
new  deci)-f»oa  thonuomcter,  238. 

Korvous  pvstcm  of  Actinia^  on  the,  4-1, 
^  2(;3. 

Kohlc  (C.ipt .)  and  AIk.-1  (F.  A.),  ri'scan'lios 
on  explosives:  fired  gunpowder,  408. 

Kumeric.'J  vnhie  of  tt,  on  certain  discrc- 
pancies  in  the  published,  45. 


Obitnarr  notioM  of  FbUowb  deoeMed:— 

Archibald  Smith,  i. 
Obwrratioiif,  ipeotro0oopie^  of  tht  m, 

247. 
Orcina,  oontributionato  tha  hirtory  of  the: 

No.  rV.  On  the  iodo-deriTmtirei  of  Um 

onrins,  53. 
Organisma,  on  certain,  oocurxing  uk  the 

uquor  Banguinia,  391. 
OsciUation,  on  the  uxuform  wst6  of,  350L 
Osier  (W.),  an  account  of  certain  atptt 

isma  occurring  in  tha  liquor  w^ig""^ 

o91. 
Owen  (B.)  on  the  alleged  existenoe  of  n* 

mains  of  a  lemming  in  CBTo-deporiU  of 

Enghind,  364. 

Parkes  (E.  A.)  on  the  influence  of  brandy 
on  the  bodiljr  temperature,  the  pulie, 
and  the  respirations  of  healthy  men, 
172. 

Periodicity  of  rainfall,  on  the,  286. 

Peripafus  capenme,  on  the  Btmcture  and 
development  of,  344. 

Perry  (S.  J.),  admitted,  362. 

Phronima,  on  the  anatomy  and  habits  of 
the  genus,  154. 

Planimeter,  on  the  employment  of  a,  to 
obtain  mean  values  from  the  traces  c^ 
continuou.«ly  self-recording  meteoro- 
logical instruments,  435. 

Poison  of  Naja  fripudians  nnd  other  In- 
dian venomous  snakes,  on  the  nature 
nnd  physiological  action  of  the,  68. 

Polarized  light,  on  the  combinations  of 
colour  by  means  of,  354. 

Potassium  aud  sodium,  on  the  absorption- 
8i>eotra  of,  at  low  temperatures,  3»52. 

Power  (II.)  and  Bnmton  (T.  L.)  on  the 
diuretic  actiim  of  Dii/tfalis^  420. 

Presentjition  of  the  medals,  10. 

Presents,  list  of,  48,  148,  223,  258,  320, 
473. 

President's  Address,  2. 

Prestwieli  (J.),  tables  of  temperatures  of 
the  sea  at  various  depths  bi'low  ibo 
surface,  taken  between  1740  and  ISiW: 
collated  and  reduced,  ^ith  notes  and 
sections,  402. 

Prime,  on  the  nimiber  of  figures  in  the 
reciprocal  of  everv,  between  20,000  and 
30,000.  384. 

number  below  20,000,  on  the  num- 

lx>r  of  figures  in  the  period  of  the  reci- 
procal of  everj-,  2tX). 

-,  given  the  nuiiil>er  of  fipircs 


(not  exceeding  UK.))  in  the  retMpnx^il  of 
a.  to  dotennine  the  prime  itself.  381. 
Pyridine  nnd  eliinoline  bases,  on  the  pht- 
biologioal  action  of  the,  432. 

Kaiufall.^ou  the  periodicity  of,  286. 


Boinrall,  on  tbo  nm-tpot  period  utd  the, 
469.  r-  r-  -^ 

Bamuy  (A.  C.)  on  tlie  oompusUre  ralue 

at  certain  gMilogical  UM  (or  group*  of 

fonoatioiii)  oonn^end  m  itemi  of  geo- 

logioal  time,  14&,  334. 
ItanBome  (A.)  on  the  b«nding  of  the  ribs 

in  foraed  brotthing,  42. 
Beport  of  Auditor*,  1. 

of  the  Kew  Committse.  20. 

BflMarchu  In  ■pectnim-uiBlfgle  in  con- 

nerion  with  lie  ipertrum  of  the  sun: 

No.  IV.,  391. 
Bopirator,  on  aoma  recent  experiments 

with  a  fireman's,  359. 
Bejnolds  {O.)  on  the  refraotion  of  iound 

bj  the  atmosphere,  295,  531. 
,  on  the  forces  oauied  bj  erapotation 

from,  and  oondnuation  at,  a  surfaoe, 

401. 


be  (W\  atudies  on  bioeenMii.  289. 
1  (H.  £.),  Boyal  medol  awanied  to, 

- — '  on  a  telf-reoording  method  of  mea- 
suring the  intensity  of  the  chemical 
action  of  total  dajlisht,  158. 

—  and  Bohuster  (A.)  on  the  absorption- 
spectra  of  potassium  md  sodium  at  low 
temperatuK*,  362. 

Bojal  medal  awarded  to  Prof.  AUnan 
and  Prof.  H.  B.  Boaooe,  11. 

Biieker  (A.  W.)  on  the  adi^otioa  and  iso- 
thermals  of  water,  451. 

Babine  (Sir  B.),  contributions  to  terres- 
trial  magnetism :  So.  XIT.,  461. 

Safetj-lampe,  experiments  with,  441. 

Ssline  solutions,  on  the  abaorption  of  tti- 
bonicaddby,  192,483. 

,  preUminary  notice  of  experi- 
ments ooneemins  the  chemioal  ooustl- 
tuUon  of,  241. 

Selrin  (O.),  admitted,  38a 

Sanderson  (J.  B.)  on  the  natation  of  the 
(ni&oe  of  the  oerebral  hemispheres  by 


Sehafer  (B.  A.)  on  the  intraceUular  deve- 
lopment of  blood-oorpusclea  in  Ubiq- 
nialiu,243. 

Schuster  (A.)  and  Boscoe  (H.  B.)  on  the 
abeorption-spectin  of  potasrium  and 
sodium  at  low  temperatures,  3G2. 

and  Stewart  (B.J,  preliminary  ei- 

Seriments  on  a  magnetized  copper  wire, 
11. 
Scott  (B.  n.)  on  the  employment  of  a 
planimeter  to  obtain  mean  tsIum  from 
the  traces  of  oontinuously  self-recording 
meteorologieal  instruments.  435. 
Seo,  lemperaturcB  of  the,  at  various  depths 


below  the  surface,  taken  between  1749 
and  1868;  ooUated  and  reduced,  with 
note*  and  sections,  463. 

Sea-water  ice,  some  obnerrations  cm,  431. 

"-'—'-  (G.  M.)  and  Looker  (J.  N,), 
loopio  Dbwrrations  of  tne  sun. 


,  given  the  number  of  figure*  (not 

exoeeding  100)  In  the  redprooal  of  a 

iirime  number,  to  determine  the  prime 
taelf.  381. 

on  the  number  of  Sgii 

dprocal  of  erery  prime  M 
and  30,000,  3S4. 

Sheep,  on  the  small-pox  of,  388. 

fiimpson  (M.)  on  the  bron-lodidM,  61. 

Smith  (A.),  obituary  notioe  of,  i. 

Snakes,  Indian  Tenomoua,  on  the  poison 
of,  68. 

Sodium  and  potassiuni,  on  the  absorption- 
speetm  of,  at  low  temperatuna,  3o2. 

Solar  spectrum,  note  on  diiptaoement  of 
the,2l9. 

,  on  white  lines  in  tlut,  231. 

Solid  states  of  water-substance,  a  quantita- 
tive investigation  of  certain  relations  be- 
tween the  gsseouB,  the  liquid,'and  the.27. 

Bound,  on  the  refraction  of,  br  the  atmo- 
sphere, 295,  531. 

,  on  the  stoppage  of,  I^  partial  re- 

fleotions  in  a  non-homogeneout  atmo- 
sphere, 190. 

,  on  the  transmiMion  of,  I7  the  atmo- 
sphere, 58,  369. 

wave,  on  the  division  of  a,  by  a  layer 

of  flame  or  heated  gas  into  a  refleoted 
and  a  transmitted  wave,  190. 

Sounds,  on  the  pneumatic  action  which 
aoDompaniea  the  articulation  of,  bj  the 
human  voios,  277. 
Speotrosoope,  on  the  improvement  of  the. 


Bpeotroaoopic  notee;  So.  I.  On  the  ab> 
sorptJon  of  great  thioknuses  of  metallio 
and  mMAlloldal  vapours,  371 ;  No.  II. 
On  the  oridence  of  variation  in  mole- 
cular structure,  372 ;  No.  III.  On  the 
moleoular  structure  of  vapours  in  con- 
nexion with  their  densitiee,  374 ;  No.  IT. 
On  a  new  class  of  absorption  pheno- 
mena, 378. 

Spectrum-analyiie,  researches  in,  in  oon- 
neiion  with  the  spectrum  of  the  sun : 
Ko.  IV.,  301. 


neotad  w^tbe  dronlatiaDVClibeUMd. 

■rrind  It  from  a  itn^  of  lh^  391. 
Spottinrooda .  (W.)  on  oomMnafiiw  o( 

ocdonr  In  idmim  of  polarind  li^^  SM. 
SUnlioQM  (J.),  oontrilwiBant  lolbeliHtoiy 

of  tha  OM^ :  No.  lY.  On  tlu  iodo- 
'  deiintini  of  the  orcuu,  GS. 
Btomrt   (B.)   Mid   Bdiiatar  (A.),   pn- 


ooppeririTB,  311. 
BtrwnDoli,  on  tlie  madutniim  of,  473^496. 
Stroebin  and  dDTsIopmaDt  of  Ptr^atui 

capmuk,  on  Oie,  344. 

of  nmnupf  waK«ia,oattw,42. 

BtadiM  «n  biagdMia.  38ft 

BnbrtMwai,  on  the  aUcgad  enaarion  of 

TaitotM,  oo  KilidiSatfioa,  30& 
Bun,  ipaetroaeopio  otMarratkoa  of  ttic^ 

247. 
^—  ipat  period  end  the  ntn&U,  on  tlw, 

469. 
— •■pota,  on  the  nariod  of  iMmirnhnml 

eiM*«  of,  and  ttte  SB-day  panod  of 

terraatttel  Eugnetinn,  43. 
SnrfiuM-napon^on  and  eondtnpaHon,  m, 

401. 

Temneratone  of  the  mb  at  TUJont  depth* 

below  the  mrfiioe,  4«2. 
TerreBtrial  raagnetiim,  oontributioni  to: 

No.  XIT.,  461. 
,    on    the   26-day    period    of, 

43. 
Thauvwpt  peUadda,  on  the  male,  and  Ihe 

struct  are  of,  43. 
Thennometer.  on  n  ne«  depp-tea,  238. 
Thennomctrio  obserTntioiu  in  tbe  Alps, 

on  >ome  winter,  317. 
Thin  (O.),  a  contribution  to  tbe  anaUiniy 

of  conneotiTe  tiuue,  nerre,  and  muaole, 

with  special  reference  to  their  oonnoiion 

with  the  lyniphaUo  Bjetem,  380,  515. 
ThomBOTi  (J.),  a  quantilatiTe  infeetigBtion 

of  certain  relations  between  the  gaseous, 

the  liquid,  and  Ihe  solid  stotee  of  water- 

eubatance,  27. 
(^0    on  dredgings  and  deep^ea 

soundings  in  the  South  Atlantic,  423. 
~"         m   (F.)  and   Haarmann  ^W.) 


.niferln 


n  into  Uie 
aromntio  jtrinoiplo  of  TaniUa,  308. 
Tronsfonnation  of  elliptic  functions,  on 
the,  f>G, 


Trust  fands,  13-18. 

Tuiiupr  (J.  L.)  on  the  ranire  of  motion  in 

the  huiDan  e;o.  429. 
Tpulall  (J.),(!Xpprimenta1dFm(nislnilliKii 
of  the   stoppage   of   soimd   by   partial 


Water,  on  the  adtabatiw  and  isothnnud* 

of,  451. 
subatanoe,  a  quantitaiiTe  inTestiga- 

tion   of  oertun  relations  between  Ifae 

gaseous,  the  liquid,  and  the  solid  stain 

of,  27. 
Watnej  (H.)  on  the  minute  anatomy  of 

the  alimentary  canal,  293. 
WaTe  of  oscillation,  on  the  uniform.  350. 
White  Uues  in  the  sol&r  Bpedrum,  m, 

221. 
'Willemdes-Sulmi  (S.  Ton)   on  the  mile 

and  the  structure   of  Tltaiiniops  pd- 

lueida,  42. 
Williams  (J.)  on  the  structure  of  the 

mucous  membrane  of  the  ulerus  and  its 

W periodical  changes,  297. 
dliamson  (W.  C.)  on  tha  organiutioD 
of  the  fossil  plants  of  the  coal-measures: 
Part  VI.  Ferns.  248. 
Wilson  (C,  W.),  admitted,  362. 
Winds  of  Northern  India,  on  the,  210. 

Zambra  (J.  W.)  and  Negretti  (H.)  on  a 

new  deep-ssa  thermometer,  238. 
S-Ea-Wei,  magnetie  obaemtions  at,  440. 


rsn  or  tub  TWSNTr-BBcoNB  tomjme. 


PBlNTEn  BT  TATLOB  AHD  FBAKCI9, 
BID  LlOa  CODBT,  FLBCT  STBnr. 


OBITUARY  NOTICES  OF  FELLOWS  DECEASED. 

Abchibald  SbAth,  only  bod  of  James  Smith,  of  Jordanhill,  Benfrew- 
ahire,  woa  bom  on  tho  10th  of  August,  1813,  at  Qreenhead,  Glasgow,  in 
the  house  where  his  mother's  &ther  lived.  Hie  father,  who  also  was  a 
Fellow  of  the  Hoyal  Society,  had  literary  and  sdentific  testes  with  a 
strongly  practical  turn,  fostered  no  doubt  by  bis  education  in  the  Uni- 
Tersity  o£  Glasgow  and  bis  family  connexion  with  some  of  the  chief 
founders  of  the  great  commerdal  community  which  has  grown  up  by  its 
side.  In  published  works  on  various  subjects  he  left  enduring  monu- 
ments of  a  long  life  of  actively  employed  leisure.  His  discovery  of 
different  species  of  Arctic  shells,  in  the  course  of  several  years'  dredging 
from  bis  yacht,  and  his  inference  of  a  previously  existing  colder  climate 
in  the  part  of  the  world  now  occupied  by  the  British  Islands,  con- 
stituted a  remarkable  and  important  advancement  of  Geological  Science. 
In  his  'Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul,'  a  masterly  application  of 
the  principles  of  practical  seamanship  readers  St.  Luke's  narrative  more 
thoroughly  intelligible  to  us  now  than  it  can  have  been  to  contem- 
porary readers  not  aided  by  nautical  knowledge.  Later  he  published  a 
'Dissertation  on  the  Origin  and  Connexion  of  the  Gospels;'  and  ha 
was  engaged  in  the  collection  of  furirher  materials  for  the  elucidatioii  of 
the  same  subject  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five. 
Archibald  Smith's  mother  was  also  of  a  family  distinguished  for  intel- 
lectual activity.  Her  paternal  grandfather  was  Dr.  Andrew  Wilson, 
Professor  of  Astronomy  in  the  University  of  Glasgow,  whose  specula- 
tions on  the  constitution  of  the  sun  are  now  generally  accepted,  especially 
since  the  discovery  of  spectrum-analysis  and  its  application  to  solar 
physics.  Her  uncle,  Dr.  Patrick  WUson,  who  succeeded  to  his  father's 
Gh^  in  the  University,  was  author  of  papers  in  the  'Philosophical 
Transactions '  on  Meteorology  and  on  Aberration. 

Archibald  Smith's  earliest  years  were  chiefly  passed  in  the  old  castle  of 
Boseneath.  In  1818  and  1819  he  was  taken  by  his  father  and  mother  to 
travel  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  Much  of  his  early  education  was 
given  him  by  hie  father,  who  read  Virgil  with  him  when  be  was  about 
nine  years  old.  He  also  had  lessons  from  the  Boseneath  parish  school- 
roaster,  Mr.  Dodds,  who  was  very  proud  of  his  young  pupil.    In  Edin- 

VOL,  xsii.  h 


u 


burgh  daring  the  winters  1820-22  he  went  to  a  day-sdiobl ;  and  aft 
that,  living  at  home  at  JordanhiU,  he  attended  the  Giammar  School 
Glasgow  for  tiiree  years.  As  a  boy  he  was  extremely  actiTe,and  fond 
eyerything  that  demanded  skill,  strength, and  daring.  At Boeeneath  1 
was  constantly  in  boats ;  and  his  &yourite  reading  was  any  thing  aboi 
the  sea,  commencing  no  doubt  with  details  of  adyentorers  and  booo 
neers,  but  going  on  tonarratiyes  of  voyages  of  discovery,  and  to  the  be 
text-books  of  seamanship  and  navigation  as  he  grew  older.  He  had  i 
coarse  the  ordinary  ardent  desire  to  become  a  sailor,  incidental  to  bo] 
of  this  island;  but  with  him  the  passion  remained  through  life,  an 
largely  influenced  the  scientific  work  by  which  he  has  conferred  never4( 
be-f orgotten  benefits  on  the  marine  service  of  the  world,  and  made  ooc 
tributions  to  nautical  science  which  have  earned  credit  tar  Englau 
among  maritime  nations.  He  was  early  initiated  into  practical  seamaz 
ship  under  his  fether^s  instruction,  in  yacht-sailing.  He  became  -a 
expert  and  bold  pilot,  exploring  and  marking  passages  and  anchOTagc 
for  himself  among  the  intricate  channels  and  rocks  of  the  West  Hig^ 
lands,  when  charts  did  not  supply  the  requisite  information.  His  moi 
loved  recreation  from  the  labours  of  Lincoln's  Inn  was  alvrays  a  craii 
in  the  West  Highlands.  In  the  last  summer  of  his  life,  after  a  natural! 
strong  constitution  bad  broken  down  under  the  stress  of  mathematics 
work  on  ships'  magnetism  by  night,  following  days  of  hard  work  in  hi 
legal  profession,  he  regained  something  of  health  and  strength  in  sailin 
about  with  his  boys  in  his  yacht,  between  the  beautiful  coasts  of  the  Frit 
of  Clyde,  but  not  enough,  alas,  to  carry  him  through  unfavourable  influ 
ences  in  the  winter  that  followed. 

In  1826  he  went  to  a  school  at  Bedland,  near  Bristol,  for  two  years 
and  in  1828  he  entered  the  University  of  Glasgow,  where  he  not  onl 
began  to  show  his  remarkable  capacity  for  mathematical  science  in  th 
classes  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy,  but  also  distinguishe 
himself  highly  in  Gassies  and  Logic.  Among  his  fellow  students  wer 
Norman  Macleod  and  Archibald  Campbell  Tait,  with  both  of  whoi 
ho  retained  a  friendship  throughout  life.  After  completing  his  fourt! 
session  in  Glasgow,  he  joined  in  the  summer  of  1832  a  reading  part} 
under  Hopkins,  at  Barmouth  in  North  Wales,  and  in  the  October  fol 
lowing  commenced  residence  in  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 

While  still  an  undergraduate  he  wTote  and  communicated  to  th 
Cambridge  Philosophical  Society  a  paper  on  Fresnel's  wave-surfaa 
The  mathematical  tact  and  power  for  which  he  afterwards  became  cele 
brated  were  shown  to  a  remarkable  degree  in  this  his  first  pubUshe 
work.  Fresnel,  the  discoverer  of  the  theory,  had  determined  analyticall 
the  principal  sections  of  the  wave-surface,  and  then  guessed  its  algebrai 
equation.  This  he  had  verified,  by  calculating  from  it  the  perpendicula 
from  the  centre  to  the  tangent  plane ;  but  the  demonstration  thus  ob 


tained  was  so  long  that  he  suppreased  it  in  his  publkhed  paper.  Ampere 
bf  sheer  labour  had  worked  out  a  direct  analytical  demonstration,  and 
published  it  in  the  'Annates  de  Cbimie  et  de  Phyeiqne'*,  where  it  occupies 
thirtj-twe  pages,  and  presents  so  repulsive  an  aspect  that  few  mathemati- 
cianB  would  be  pleased  to  face  the  task  of  going  through  it.  With  these 
antecedents,  Archibald  Smith's  inreatigation,  bringing  out  the  desired  re- 
sult directly  from  FreBuel's  pOBtulat«8  by  a  few  short  lines  of  beautifully 
symmetrical  algebraic  geometry,  constitutes  no  small  contribution  k>  the 
elementary  mathematics  of  the  undulatory  theory  of  light.  It  was  one 
of  the  first  applications  in  England,  and  it  remains  to  this  day  a  model 
example,  of  the  symmetrical  method  of  treating  analytical  geometry, 
which  soon  after  (chiefly  through  the  influence  of  the  'Cambridge  Mathe- 
matical Journal')  grew  up  in  Cambridge,  and  prevailed  over  the  un- 
symmetrical  and  frequently  cumbrous  methods  previously  in  use. 

In  1836  he  took  his  degree  as  Senior  Wrangler  and  first  Smith's  FriEe- 
man,  and  in  the  same  year  he  was  elected  to  a  Fellowship  in  ^inity 
College. 

Shortly  after  taking  his  degree,  he  proposed  to  his  friend  Duncan 
Farquharson  Gregory,  of  the  celebrated  Edinburgh  mathematical  £imily, 
then  an  undergraduate  of  Trinity  College,  the  establishment  of  an 
English  periodical  for  the  publication  of  short  papers  on  mathematical 
subjects.  Gregory  answered  in  a  letter  of  date  December  4th,  1836, 
cordially  ent«riug  into  the  scheme,  and  undertaking  the  office  of  editor. 
Being,  however,  on  the  eve  of  the  Senate-House  examination  for  his 
degree,  he  adds,  "  But  all  this  must  be  done  after  the  degree;  for '  business 
before  pleasure,'  aa  Bichard  said  when  he  went  to  kill  the  king  before 
he  murdered  the  babes."  The  result  was,  the  'Cambridge  Mathematical 
Journal,'  of  which  the  first  number  appeared  in  November  1837.  It 
was  earned  on  in  numbers,  appearing  three  times  a  year  under  the 
editorship  of  Gregory,  until  his  death,  and  has  been  contiaijed  under 
various  editors,  and  with  several  changes  of  name,  till  the  present  time, 
when  it  is  represent«d  by  the  '  Quart«riy  Journal  of  Mathematics '  and 
the  '  Messenger  of  Mathematics.'  The  original  '  Cambridge  Mathe- 
matical Journal'  of  Smith  and  Gr^ory,  containing  as  it  did  many 
admirable  papers  by  Smith  and  Gregory  themselves,  and  by  other  able 
contributors  early  attracted  to  it,  among  whom  were  Greatheed,  Donkin, 
Walton,  Sylvester,  EUia,  Cayley,  Boole,  inaugurated  a  most  fruitful 
revival  of  mathematics  in  England,  of  which  Herschel,  Peacock,  Babbage, 
and  Green  hod  been  the  prophets  and  precursors. 

It  is  much  to  be  r^retted  that  neither  Cambridge,  nor  the  university 

of  hia  native  city,  coidd  offer  a  position  to  Smith,  enabling  him  to  make 

the  mathematical  and  physical  science,  for  which  he  felt  so  strong  an 

inclination,  and  for  which  he  had  so  great  eapadty,  the  professional 

■  Tolume  for  1828. 

b2 


IV 


work  of  his  life.  Two  years  after  taking  his  degree  he  commenced  reading 
law  in  London ;  but  his  inclination  was  still  for  science.  Belinquishing 
reluctantly  a  Trinity  Lectureship  offered  to  him  by  Whewell  in  1838,  and 
offered  again  and  almost  accepted  in  1840,  resisting  a  strong  temptation 
to  accompany  Sir  James  Boss  to  the  Antarctic  regions  on  the  scientific 
exploring  expedition  of  the  *  Erebus  *  and  *  Terror '  in  1840-41,  and  re- 
gretfully giving  up  the  idea  of  a  Scottish  professorship,  which,  during  his 
early  years  of  residence  in  Lincoln's  Inn,  had  many  attractions  for  him, 
he  finally  made  the  bar  his  profession.  But  during  all  the  long  years  of 
hard  work  through  which  he  gradually  attained  to  an  important  and 
extensive  practice,  and  to  a  high  reputation  as  a  Chancery  barrister,  he 
never  lost  his  interest  id  science,  nor  ceased  to  be  actively  engaged  in 
scientific  pursuits ;  and  he  always  showed  a  lively  and  generous  sym- 
pathy with  others,  to  whom  circumstances  (considered  in  this  respect 
enviable  by  him)  had  allotted  a  scientific  profession. 

About  the  year  1841  his  attention  was  drawn  to  the  problem  of 
ships'  magnetism  by  his  friend  Major  Sabine,  who  was  at  that  time 
occupied  with  the  reduction  of  his  own  early  magnetic  observations 
mode  at  sea  on  board  the  ships  'Isabella'  and  'Alexander'  on  the 
Arctic  Expedition  of  1818,  and  of  corresponding  magnetic  observa- 
tions which  had  been  then  recently  made  on  board  the  *  Erebus* 
and  'Terror'  in  Capt.  Boss's  Antarctic  Expedition  of  1840-41.  The 
systematic  character  of  the  deviations,  unprecedented  in  amount,  ex- 
perienced by  the  '  Isabella '  and  *  Alexander '  in  the  course  of  their 
Arctic  voyage,  had  attracted  the  attention  of  Poisson,  who  published  in 
1824,  in  the  '  Memoirs  of  the  French  Institute,'  three  papers  containing  a 
mathematical  theory  of  magnetic  induction,  with  application  to  ships' 
magnetism.  The  subsequent  magnetic  survey  of  the  Antarctic  regions, 
of  which  by  far  the  greater  part  had  to  be  executed  by  daily  observations 
of  terrestrid  magnetism  on  ship-board,  brought  into  permanent  view  the 
importance  of  Poisson's  general  theory ;  but  at  the  same  time  demon- 
strated the  necessity  for  replacing  his  practical  formulaB  by  others,  not 
limited  by  certain  restrictions  as  to  symmetry  of  the  ship,  which  he  had 
assumed  for  the  sake  of  simplicity.  This  was  the  chief  problem  first  put 
before  Smith  by  Sabine ;  and  his  solution  of  it  was  the  first  great  service 
which  he  rendered  to  the  practical  correction  of  the  disturbance  of  the 
compass  caused  by  the  magnetism  of  ships.  Twenty  years  later  the 
work  thus  commenced  was  referred  to  in  the  following  terms  by  Sir 
Edward  Sabine*,  in  presenting,  as  President  of  the  Boyal  Society,  the 
Boyal  Medal  which  had  been  awarded  to  Archibald  Smith  for  his  in- 
vestigations and  discoveries  in  ships'  magnetism: —  ♦  ♦  ♦  "Himself 
"  a  mathematician  of  the  first  order,  and  possessing  a  remarkable  facility 
"  (which  is  far  from  common)  of  so  adapting  truths  of  an  abstract  cha^ 
*  Proceedings  of  the  Boyal  Society,  Not.  30,  18G5,  vol.  xiv.  p.  499, 


"  racter  as  to  render  them  available  to  leas  highly  trained  iatellecta,  hu 
"  derived  at  my  request,  from  Polsson's  fundamental  equatione,  simple 
"  and  practical  formube,  including  the  effects  both  of  induced  magnetism 
"  and  of  the  more  persistent  magnetism  produced  in  iron  which  haa 
"  been  hardened  in  any  of  the  processes  through  which  it  has  passed. 
"  The  formube  supplied  the  means  of  a  sufGciently  exact  calculation 
"  when  the  results  were  finally  brought  t<^tber  and  coordinated.  They 
"  were  subsequently  printed  in  the  form  of  memoranda  in  the  account 
"  of  the  survey  in  the  '  Philosophical  Traosacttons  '  for  1843,  1844,  and 
"  1846. 

"  The  assistance  which,  from  motives  of  pHvato  friendship  and  sden- 
"  tific  interest,  Mr.  Smith  had  rendered  to  myself,  was  from  like  motives 
"  continued  to  the  two  able  officers  who  had  successively  occupied  the 
"  post  of  Superintendent  of  the  Compass  Department  of  the  Navy;  and 
"  the  formulie  for  correcting  the  deviation,  which  he  had  furnished  to 
"  me,  reduced  to  simple  tabular  forms,  were  published  by  the  Admiralty 
"  in  successive  editions  for  the  use  of  the  Boyal  Navy. 

"  As,  in  the  course  of  time,  the  use  of  steam  machinery,  the  weight  of 
"  the  armament  of  ships  of  war,  and  generally  the  use  of  iron  in  vessels, 
"  increased  more  and  more ;  the  great  and  increasing  inconvenience 
"  arising  from  compass  irrogntaritiea  were  more  and  more  strongly  felt, 
"  and  pressed  themselves  on  the  attention  of  the  Admiralty  and  of 
"  naval  officers. 

"  An  entire  revision  of  the  Admiralty  instructions  became  necessary ; 
"  Mr.  Smith's  assistance  was  again  freely  given ;  and  the  result  was  the 
"  publication  of  the  '  Admiralty  Manual '  for  ascertaining  and  applying 
"  the  deviations  of  the  compass  caused  by  the  iron  in  a  ship. 

"  The  mathematical  part  of  this  work,  which  is  due  to  Mr.  Smith, 
"  seems  to  exhaust  the  subject,  and  to  reduce  the  processes  by  simple 
"  formula  and  tabular  and  graphic  methods,  to  the  greatest  simplicity  of 
"  which  they  are  susceptible,  Mr.  Smith  also  joined  with  his  fellow- 
"  labourer,  Capttun  Evans,  F.B.S.,  the  present  Superintendent  of  the 
"  Compass  Department  of  the  Navy,  in  laying  before  the  Society  several 
"valuable  papers  containing  the  results  of  the  mathematical  theory 
"  applied  to  observations  made  on  board  the  iron-built  and  iron-plated 
"  ships  of  the  Eoyal  Navy." 

This  is  not  an  occasion  for  explaining  in  detaU  the  elaborate  investiga- 
tions sketobed  in  the  preceding  statement  by  Sir  Edward  Satnne ;  but 
the  writor  of  the  present  notice,  having  enjoyed  the  friendship  of  Arehi- 
bald  Smith  since  the  year  1841,  and  having  had  many  opportunities, 
both  in  personal  int«rcourse  and  by  letters,  of  following  the  progress 
through  thirty  years  of  his  work  on  ships'  magnetism,  may  be  permitted 
a  brief  reference  to  some  of  the  points  which  have  struck  hirn  as  most 
remark^Ie : — 


VI 


1.  Hannonic  reduction  of  observations. 

2.  Practical  expression  of  the  full  mathematical  theory. 
8.  Heeling  error. 

4.  Dygograms. 

5.  Eule  for  positions  of  needles  on  compass  card,  with  dynamical  and 
magnetic  reasons. 

1.  Harmonic  reduction  of  observations, — The  disturbance  of  the  compass 
produced  by  the  magnetism  of  a  ship  is  found  by  observation  to  be  the 
same,  to  a  very  close  degree  of  approximation,  when  the  ship's  head  is 
again  and  again  brought  to  the  same  bearing,  no  great  interval  of  time 
having  intervened,  and  no  extraordinary  disturbance  by  heavy  sea  or 
otherwise  having  been  experienced  in  the  interval.  Overlooking  these 
restrictions  for  the  present,  we  may  therefore  say,  in  Fourier's  language, 
that  the  disturbance  of  the  compass  is  a  periodic  function  of  the  angle 
between  the  vertical  plane  of  any  line  fixed  relatively  to  the  ship,  and 
any  fixed  vertical  plane,  when  the  ship,  on  "  even  keel "  or  with  any  con- 
stant inclination,  is  turned  into  different  aadmuths — ^the  period  of  this 
function  being  four  right  angles.  Hence  also  the  disturbance  of  the 
compass  is  a  periodic  function  of  the  angle  between  the  vertical  plane  of 
the  chosen  line  moving  with  the  ship,  and  the  vertical  plane  through 
the  magnetic  axis  of  the  compass.  The  line  moving  with  the  ship  being 
taken  as  a  longitudinal  line  drawn  horizontally  from  the  stem  towards 
the  bow,  and  the  fixed  vertical  plane  being  taken  as  the  magnetic  meri- 
dian, the  angle  first  mentioned  is  called  for  brevity  "  the  ship's  magnetic 
course"  and  the  other  "  the  ship's  comjpass  course.^* 

One  of  Smith's  earliest  contributions  to  the  compass  problem  was  the 
application  of  Fourier's  grand  and  fertile  theory  of  the  expansion  of  a 
periodic  function  in  series  of  sines  and  cosines  of  the  argument  and  its 
multiples,  now  commonly  called  the  harmonic  analysis  of  a  periodic 
function.  To  facilitate  the  practical  working  out  of  this  analysis,  he  gave 
tables  of  the  products  of  the  multiplication  of  the  sines  of  the  "  rhumbs  " 
by  numbers,  and  by  arcs  in  degrees  and  minutes  ;  also  tabular  forms  and 
simple  practical  rules  for  performing  the  requisite  arithmetical  opera- 
tions. These  tables,  tabular  forms,  and  rules,  just  as  Smith  gave  them 
about  thirty  years  ago,  are  in  use  in  the  Compass  Department  of  the 
Admiralty  up  to  the  present  time.  From  every  ship  in  Her  Majesty's 
Navy,  in  whatever  part  of  the  world,  a  table  of  observed  deviations  of  the 
compass,  at  least  once  a  year  is  sent  to  the  Admiralty,  and  is  there  sub- 
jected to  the  harmonic  analysis.  The  observations  having  been  accu- 
rately and  faithfully  made,  a  full  history  of  the  magnetic  condition  of  the 
ship  is  thus  obtained,  and  want  of  accuracy,  or  want  of  faithfulness,  if 
there  has  been  any,  is  surely  detected.  The  rigorous  carr}nng  out  of  this 
system,  with  all  the  method  and  business-like  regularity  characteristic 
of  the  scientific  departments  of  our  Admiralty,  has  undoubtedly  done 


more  than  any  thing  else  to  promote  the  usefulness  of  the  mmpaes,  and 
to  render  its  use  safe  throughout  the  British  Navy.  Smith's  tables  aud 
forms  for  harmonic  analysis  have  proved  exceedingly  valuable  in  many 
other  departments  of  practical  physics  besides  ships'  magnetiem.  The 
writer  of  tMs  article  found  them  most  useful  fifteen  years  ago  in  re- 
ducing for  the  Boyat  Society  of  Edinburgh  Forbes's  observations  of  the 
undei^roond  temperature  of  Calton  Hill,  the  Experimental  Gardens, 
and  Craigleith  Quarry,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Edinburgh ;  and  the 
forms,  with  a  suitable  modification  of  the  tables,  have  proved  equally 
useful  in  the  harmonic  analysis  of  tidal  otwervatioos  for  various  parts  of 
the  world,  carried  out  by  the  Tidal  Committee  of  the  British  Association, 
with  the  assistance  of  sums  of  money  granted  in  successive  years  from 
1888  to  1872. 

2.  Pnutieal  ftrprewton  of  the  full  mailumatieai  (heory. — Foisson  him- 
self, in  making  pcw^ical  application  of  his  theory,  had  simplified  it  by 
assuming  particular  conditions  as  to  symmetry  of  the  iron  in  the  ship, 
and  even  with  these  restrictions  had  left  it  in  a  form  which  seemed  to 
require  further  simplification  before  it  could  be  rendered  available  for 
general  use.  Airy,  in  taking  up  the  problem  with  tikis  object,  at  the 
request  of  the  Admiralty  in  the  year  1839,  founded  his  calcuLationB  on  a 
supposition  that,  "  by  the  action  of  terrestrial  magnetism  every  particle 
"  of  iron  is  converted  into  a  magnet  whose  direction  is  parallel  to  that  of 
"  the  dipping  needle,  and  whose  intensity  is  proportional  to  the  intensity 
"  of  terrestrial  magnetism,"  This  supposition,  which  is  approximately 
true  only  for  the  ideal  case  of  the  iron  of  the  ship  being  all  in  the  shape 
of  globes  placed  at  such  considerable  distances  from  one  another  as 
not  to  exercise  mutual  influence  to  any  sensible  degree,  leads  to  a  law 
of  dependence  between  the  ship's  force  on  the  compass  needle,  and  the 
angular  coordinates  of  the  ship,  which  differs  from  that  of  the  complete 
theory,  as  shown  afterwards  by  Smith,  only  in  the  want  of  his  constant 
term  A  of  the  harmonic  development,— a  difference  which,  in  ordinary 
cases,  does  not  vitiate  sensibly  the  practical  application.  In  introdudug 
the  supposition.  Airy  correctly  antidpated  that  it  would  in  general  lead 
to  results  sufficiently  accurate  and  complete  for  practical  purposes.  But 
he  said  "it  would  have  been  desirable  to  make  the  calculations  on 
"  Poisson's  theory,  which  undoubtedly  possesses  greater  chums  on  our 
"  attention  (as  a  theory  representing  accurately  the  facts  of  some  very 
"  peculiar  cases)  than  any  other.  The  difliculties,  however,  in  the  appli- 
"  cation  of  this  theory  to  complicated  cases  are  great,  perhaps  insuper- 
"  able."  These  difficulties  were  wholly  overcome  by  the  happy  mathe- 
matical tact  of  Archibald  Smith,  who  reduced  the  full  expression  of 
Poisson's  theory,  including  the  effect  of  permanent  magnetism,  the  great 
practical  importance  of  which  had  been  discovered  by  Airy,  to  a  few 
simple  and  easily  applied  formuln.  [See  Appendix  to  this  notice.]  These 


vm 


formula  are  now  in  regular  use  in  the  Compass  Department  of  the 
Admiralty,  for  the  practical  deduction  of  rigorous  result-s  from  the  har- 
monic analysis  already  referred  to.  In  fact  the  full  expression  of  the 
unrestricted  theory,  as  given  by  Archibald  Smith  in  Part  III.  of  the 
*  Admiralty  Manual,'  is  even  simpler  and  more  ready  for  ordinary  use 
than  the  partial  and  restricted  expressions  which  Poisson  and  Airy  had 
given  for  practical  application  of  the  theory. 

3.  Heeling  error. — Poisson's  general  formulsB  express  three  rectangular 
components  of  the  resultant  force  at  the  point  where  the  compass  is 
placed,  due  to  the  magnetism  induced  in  the  ship  by  the  terrestrial 
magnetic  force.  To  these  Airy  added  the  components  of  force  due  to 
permanent  magnetism  of  the  ship's  iron,  which,  though  not  ignored  by 
Poisson,  had  been  omitted  by  him,  because,  considering  the  probability 
of  scattered  directions  of  the  magnetic  axes  of  permanent  magnetism  in 
the  isolated  masses  of  iron  existing  in  wooden  ships  and  their  arma- 
ments, he  justly  judged  that  permanent  magnetism  could  not  seriously 
disturb  a  properly  placed  compass  in  a  wooden  ship  ;  and  iron  ships  were 
scarcely  contemplated  in  those  days.  This  general  theory  of  Poisson  and 
Airy  expresses  the  resultant  force  in  terms  of  three  angular  coordinates, 
specifjring  the  position  of  the  ship.  In  the  practical  application  these 
coordinates  are  most  conveniently  taken  as :— (1)  the  ship's  "  magnetic 
course,"  defined  above  ;  (2)  the  inclination  of  the  longitudinal  axis  of 
the  ship  to  the  horizon ;  (3)  the  inclination  to  the  horizon  of  a  plane 
drawn  through  this  line  perpendicular  to  the  deck.  The  second  co- 
ordinate has  no  name  and  is  of  no  importance  in  the  compass  problem ; 
for  under  steam,  or  even  under  sail,  the  average  inclination  of  the  longi- 
tudinal axis  (chosen  as  horizontal  for  the  ship  in  still  water)  is  never  so 
great  as  to  produce  any  sensible  effect  on  the  compass  disturbance,  and 
the  magnetic  effects  of  pitching  in  the  heaviest  sea  are  not  probably  ever 
so  great  as  to  produce  any  seriously  inconvenient  degrees  of  oscillation  in 
the  compass  card.  The  third  coordinate  is  called  the  "heel ;"  and  its  mag- 
netic effect  on  the  compass  is  called  "  the  heeling  error."  The  heeling 
error  was  investigated  by  Airy  in  his  earliest  work  on  the  compass  disturb- 
ance ;  but  at  that  time,  when  iron  sailing  ships  were  comparatively  rare, 
he  confined  his  ordinary  practical  correction  of  compass  error  to  the  case 
of  a  ship  in  different  azimuths  on  even  keel.  Since  that  time  the  heeling 
error  has  come  to  be  of  very  serious  practical  importance,  on  account  of 
the  great  number  of  iron  sailing  ships,  and  of  screw  steamers  admitting 
of  being  pressed  by  sail  to  very  considerable  degrees  of  "  heel."  Archibald 
Smith  took  up  the  question  with  characteristic  mathematical  tact  and 
practical  ability,  and  gave  the  method  for  correcting  the  heeling  error — 
which  is  now,  I  believe,  universally  adopted  in  the  Navy,  and  too  fre- 
quently omitted  (without  the  substitution  of  any  other  method)  in  the 
mercantile  marine. 


4.  Dytjogratns. — This  is  the  name  given  by  Smith  to  diagrams  eihibitiug 
the  m^nitude  and  direction  of  the  resultaut  o£  tho  t«rreBtriaI  magnetic 
force  and  tho  force  of  the  ship's  magnetism  at  the  point  occupied  by  the 
compass.  The  solution  of  the  problem  of  Snding  for  a  ship  in  all 
amnuths  on  even  keel  the  dygogram  of  the  whole  resultant  force  ie 
gifen  by  him  in  the  chapter  headed  "  Ellipse  and  Circle,"  of  the  *  Ad' 
miialty  Manual,',  Appendix  2  (3rd  edition,  18((9,  page  1I>9-171).  But  it  is 
only  for  horizontal  components  of  force  that  he  has  put  dygograma  into 
a  practical  form ;  and  for  this  caae,  which  includes  the  whole  compass 
problem  of  ordinary  navigation,  bis  dygograms  are  admirable  both  for 
tlieir  beauty  and  for  their  ntility.  "  Dygt^ram  Number  I."  is  the 
curve  locus  of  the  extremity  of  a  line  drawn  from  a  fixed  point,  0,  in 
the  diiectioD,  and  to  a  length  numerically  equal  to  the  magnitude,  of  the 
horinMital  component  of  the  resultant  toree  experienced  by  the  needle 
when  the  ship  is  turned  ttirough  all  asfmnths.  This  curve  (however 
great  the  deviations  of  the  compass)  he  proves  to  be  the  Lima^on  of 
Pascal — that  is  to  say,  the  curve  (belonging  to  the  family  of  epitrochoids) 
described  by  the  end  of  an  arm  rotating  in  a  plane  round  a  point,  which 
itself  is  carried  with  half  angular  velocity  round  the  circumference  of  a 
fixed  orde  in  the  same  plane.  The  length  of  the  firet-mentioned  arm  is 
equal  to  the  maximum  amount  of  what  is  called  (after  Airy)  the 
quadrantal  deviation ;  the  radius  of  the  circle  last  mentioned  is  the 
maximum  amount  of  what  Aiiy  called  the  polar  magnet  deviation,  and 
Smith  the  semudrcular  deviation.  (When,aathe  writer  of  this  article  trusts 
befcRO  long  will  be  universally  the  case*,  the  quadrantal  deviation  is 
perfectly  corrected  by  Airy's  method  of  soft  iron  correctors,  the  dygogram 
Number  I.  wiU  be  reduced  to  a  circle.)  Besides  the  form  of  the  curve 
in  any  particular  case,  which  depends  on  the  ratio  of  the  first-menticmed 
radius  to  the  second,  to  complete  the  diagram  and  use  it  we  must  know 
■  the  position  of  the  fixed  point  through  which  tho  resultant  radius-vector 
is  to  be  drawn,  and  must  show  in  the  diagram  the  m^netic  bearing  of 
the  ship's  head,  for  which  any  particular  point  of  the  curve  gives  the 
resultant  force.  Smith  gave  all  these  elements  by  simple  and  easily 
execated  ccoistructionB,  in  the  first  and  second  editions  of  the  '  Admiralty 
Manual.'  In  the  third  editi<m  he  substituted,  for  his  first  method  of 
constructiDn  of  the  dygogram  curve,  a  modification  of  it  due  to  Lieut. 
Colongue  of  the  Eusaian  Imperial  Navy  and  of  the  Imperial  Compass 
Observatory,  Oronstadt,  and  added  several  elegant  constructions,  also 
due  to  Lieut.  Colongue,  for  the  geometrical  solution  of  various  compass 
problems,  by  aid  of  the  dygi^nun  Number  I. 

*  The  barrier  against  thia  being  done  hitherto  has  been  the  pemicioualj'  great  length 
of  the  compaes  Dsedlee  Died  at  aea.tho  ihortest  being  about  ail  inches.     Y 
eompan  the  needles  ought  Dot  to  be  more  than  half  an  inch  long. 


The  Annexed  digram  is  the  dygogrsm  Number  I.  for  the  "j^fV^ 
drawn  accurately  (by  lud  of  a  drcuhtr  board  rolling  upon  a  ^^^  Ad- 
board  of  equal  diameter,  in  the  manner  described  by  Smith  in  ^_ 
miralty  Manual,'  Appendix  H.,  under  the  heading  "  ***''**"*Tj„ced 
atroction  of  Dygogram  No.  t"),  accoi^ng  to  the  foUowii^  data  aeo  _^ 
from  observationa  inadR  at  Spithpad  in  October  1  Sfil .  Tte  untatwo    • 


RuUfoi-  aaiiuj  Dygogram  Ao.I.— In  the   diagram   Q  is  „  c 

the  "  Ltraa^c/'  called  "  the  pole  of  the  dTgogram  "  it  P"^"*  °^ 
axis  of  symmetry,  which  is  indicated  by  a  dotted  lin  at  "^  ^^^ 
are  two  hnes  throuph  Q  at  right  angles  to  one  anoJk  '*^'  ^Q™" 
are  two  points,  in  positions  fixed  by  the  ship's  mapn  *^'  ^^  ^'  ^ 
The  length  OP  represents  "  mean  force  on  comoaas^U*'  ^'ementa. 
Take  any  point  R  on  the  curve,  such  that  NOR  is  "  ,  f*,"'^''  "(XH). 
"  magnetic  course  ;"  then  is  KOP  the  "  deviation  '■  of  th  *''*'  ^""P* 
and  OR  represents  the  horizontal  coniponeiit  of  the  tor       *^™P*«8, 


C,  fit  Ci  is  that  which  wab  introduced  by  Smith  when  he  first  subBti- 
tuted  the  rigoroua  formula)  for  the  Approidmate  harmonic  formuls 
which  had  preriously  BufGced :  it  ia  explained  in  the  Appendix  to  this 
notice. 

Dygogram  Number  11.  may  be  deduced  from  djgogram  Number  I.  by 
attaching  a  piece  of  paper  to  the  half-speed  revolving  ann,  and  letting 
the  tracing-point  of  tfie  lima^on  leave  its  trace  also  on  this  paper,  which 
will  be  a  rircle,  while  at  the  same  time  the  fixed  point  from  which  the 
resultant  radins-vector  is  drawn  will  trace  another  circle  on  the  moving 
paper.  The  fresh  diagram  thus  obtained  consists  of  two  circles.  Mark 
one  of  tliese  circles  (the  second  in  the  order  of  the  preceding  descrip- 
tion) with  the  pcintB  of  the  compass*,  like  a  compass  card  ;  or  (bett«r) 
mark  simply  degrees  all  round  from  North  taken  as  eero ;  and  mark 
with  degrees  coonted  in  rererse  direction  tjie  other  circle,  which,  for 
breri^,  will  be  called  the  auziliai;  circle.  Mark  the  ship's  c<»npaBs 
course  on  the  circumference  of  the  ideal  cranpass  card.  From  this 
point  to  the  corresponding  point  on  the  auxiliary  drdo  draw  a  straight 
line.  The  direction  of  this  line  shows  by  the  parallel  to  it,  through  the 
centre  of  the  ideal  compass  aad,  the  compass  course  correspon^g  to 
any  chosen  magnetic  course.  The  length  of  the  line,  diswn  in  the 
manner  described,  represents  the  horisontal  resnltsnt  force  of  the  earth 
and  ship,  at  the  pmnt  occupied  by  the  ccanpass  needle,  in  torms  of  the 
radius  of  the  ideal  compass  card,  as  unity.  The  writer  of  the  present 
article  beHevee  that  this  construction  will  yet  prove  of  very  great  practical 
ntility,  although  hitherto  it  has  not  come  into  geneml  uset-  Its  geo- 
metrical beauty  attracted  the  notice  even  of  Cayley,  who  has  ccmtributed 
to  the  Admiralty  Compass  Manual  a  Bec<Hul  method  of  solving,  by 
means  of  it,  one  of  Smith's  compass  problems. 

Construction  from  ship's  and  earth's  m^;netic  elements.  With  O  m 
centre  and  OH  equal  to  "mean  force  on  compass  to  north  "(MI)  describe 
a  circle.    Blake 

NL=S,  OB=-B;  BC=-€:;  CD=-»;  DAs-C; 
with  C  as  centre  describe  a  circle  through  A. 

The  following  diagram  shows  (for  an  ideal  cose,  as  possibly  a  turret 
ship  of  the  future,  with  very  large  values  of  the  usually  small  magnetic 
elements  2  and  G)  the  Dygogram  of  two  circles,  modified  to  suit  the 
Chinese  compass  (or  needle  imloaded  with  compass  cord,  which  is  un- 
doubtedly the  compass  of  the  future).     This  modification  ia  also  conve- 

■  The  ancient  Sfltcm  of  marking  32  poinU  on  ^he  compua  caid,  and  sp«cir;ing 
coumn  in  terma  of  them,  has  alwafa  been  Ter;  inoonToaiont,  and  U  now  beginning  U> 
bo  genrriillv  perceived  to  be  >o. 

t  A  sliort  demonatrMion  of  it,  deduced  dircuttj  from  Siiiitli'a  fundiimetilnl  forniulv, 
IH  appended  (o  the  present  iirticlc  for  the  aake  of  mathenialiukl  readcrn  wbo  ma;  not 
have  the  Admirallj  Compnaa  Uanual  at  hand. 


nient  for  the  theoretical  explaDation  and  proof  appended  to  the  present 
notice. 

Dygogram  No.  XL. 


Use. — Make  hm  equal  in  angular  value  to  NH  ;  then  OK,  parallel  and 
equal  to  mL,  ehowa  direction  of  needle  and  magnitude  of  horiKontftl 
component  force  on  it  when  correct  magnetic  north  ia  in  direction 
ON,  and  ship's  head  OH  r  NOH  being  ship's  "  magnetic  courBC," 
KOH  is  the  corresponding  "  compass  course. ' 

5.  Ride  for  position*  of  needles  an  oampasa  card,  with  dyitamiral  and 
magnetic  reatom. — In  1837  a  Committee,  consisting  of  Captain  Beaufort, 
Hydrographer  to  the  Admiralty,  Captain  Sir  J.  C.  Ross,  K.N.,  Captain 
Johnson,  B.N.,  Major  Sabine,  E.A.,  and  Mr.  S.  H.  Christie,  uiis  appointed 
to  remedy  defects  of  the  compasses  at  that  time  in  use  in  Her  Majesty's 
fleet,  and  to  organi7:e-a  system  of  compass  management  ashore  and  afloat. 
The  labours  of  that  Committee  have  conferred  signal  benefit,  not  only  on 
the  British  Navy,  but  on>the  navies  and  mercantile  marine  services  of  all 
nations — in  the  '  Admiralty  Standard  Compass,'  and  in  the  establishment 
in  1843  of  the  British  Admiralty  Compass  Department.  The  qualities  of 
the  magnetic  needles  and  their  arrangement  on  the  card  occupied  much 


attention  of  the  Committee.  Smith's  attention  was  called  to  the  subject 
by  Us  friend  Sabine ;  and  he  gave  a  rule  for  placing  the  needles,  which 
wu  adopted  by  the  Committee,  and  has  ever  since  been  followed  in  the 
construction  of  the  Admiralty  compass.  The  rule  is,  that  when  there  are 
two  needles  used  they  should  be  placed  with  their  ends  on  the  compass 
card  at  60°  on  each  side  of  the  ends  of  a  diameter ;  and  that  when  (as 
in  the  Admiralty  Standard  Compass)  there  are  four  needles,  they  should 
be  placed  with  their  ends  at  15°  and  45°  from  the  ends  of  the  diameter. 
The  object  of  this  rule  was  to  give  equal  momenta  of  inertia  round  all 
horizontt^  axes,  and  so  to  remedy  the  "  wabbling"  motion  of  the  compass 
card  when  balanced  on  iia  pivot,  which  has  been  found  inconvenient. 
Captain  Evans,  in  a  letter  recently  received  from  him  by  the  writer  of 
this  notice,  says  that  th?  "  wabbling  "  motion  has  been  satas&ctorily 
corrected  by  this  arrangement  of  needles ;  "  it  is  transformed  into  a 
'  (u'unmit)^' motion." 

About  twenty  years  later  it  was  discovered  that  the  same  arrangement 
gives,  by  a  happy  coincidence,  a  very  important  magnetic  merit  to  the 
Admindty  compass,  which  had  not  been  contemplated  by  Smith  when  he 
first  gave  his  rule.  To  explain  this,  it  must  be  premised  that  practical 
compos  B-^justera  had  experienced  difficulties  in  correcting  the  compass 
deviation  of  certain  ships  by  Airy's  method  (which  consists  in  using  soft 
iron  to  correct  the  qnadrantal  deviation,  and  permanent  magnets  to 
correct  the  semicircular),  and  had  reported  that  in  such  cases  they  had 
found  it  advantageous  to  substitute  compasses  with  two  needles  for  a 
single-needle  compass.  The  attention  of  Captain  Bvans  was  drawn  to 
this  subject  by  the  observations  made  in  the  '  0reat  Eastern '  on  her 
experimental  voyage  from  the  Thames  to  Portland,  and  afterwards  when 
she  was  Ijdng  at  Holyhead  and  Southampton,  &om  which  he  found  that 
although  the  deviations  had  been  carefully  corrected  by  Mr,  Gray,  of 
liiverpool,  with  magnets  and  soft  iron,  and  were  in  fact  nearly  correct 
on  the  cardinal  aad  quadrantal  points,  there  were  errors  of  between 
5°  and  6°  on  some  of  the  intermediate  points.  These  observations  indi- 
cated the  existence  of  a  considerable  error,  which  was  neither  semicircular 
nor  quadrantal,  and  thus  apparently  some  source  of  error  which  had  not 
been  taken  into  account  by  Airy  in  his  phin  for  correction.  To  explain 
the  cause  of  these  and  similar  rosults  in  other  ships,  previously  considered 
to  be  anomalous.  Captain  Evans  instituted  a  series  of  experiments  with 
compasses,  and  magnets  and  soft  iron  placed  in  different  positions  with 
respect  to  them.  He  soon  found  that  the  greatness  of  the  supposed 
anomaly  in  the  '  Great  Eastern '  depended  on  the  unusually  great  length 
of  the  needles  of  her  standard  compass  (two  needles*  of  11  j  inches  in 

*  Compau  Deedles  becoming  larger  with  the  shipe,  bja  procen  of  "  Arliflciol  Selec- 
tion "  unguided  b;  intelligence,  hav^  Bometimea  AttAined  to  the  monstroua  length  of 
10  inchee,  or  eien  more,  in  aome  of  the  gnat  modern  paswngiir-Bteamcn  BtteA  out  by 
onners  regardless  of  eipenw,  md  onlf  desiring  efficiency,  trusting  to  inatrument-maJben 


xiv  ■ 

length,  placed  near  each  other  on  the  card).  The  results  of  the  obeton- 
tions  and  experiments,  reduced  by  add  of  Napier's  graphic  method,  and 
subjected  to  a  thorough  harmonic  annljsis,  are  describt.>d  in  a  joiat  paper 
by  Smith  and  Evans,  published  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society 
for  1861.  They  show,  in  the  expression  for  the  deviation,  sextantal  aud 
octantal  terms*  very  large  in  the  case  of  the  '  Great  Eastern,'  and  com- 
pantiTely  small  when  the  Admiraltj  standard  compass  was  tested  in  cir- 
cumstances otherwise  similar.  Whether  single  needles  or  double  needlea 
were  osed,  it  was  found  that  the  smaller  the  needle  the  smaller  were  tie 
sextantal  and  octMital  terras.  Single  needles  gave  greater  terms  of  this 
class  than  double  needles  of  the  same  magnitude,  arranged  as  in  the 
Admiralty  compass. 
The  merit  of  giving  abnoet  evanesoeat  sextaotal  and  octactal  tenus. 

of  the  hjgbeit  name.  Heremton  to  the  old  Cbincae  species,  with  nnsle  neodle  Icsi  than 
an  incli  long  and  unloaded  hj  a  compui  cord,  would  be  sa  impniTemont  on  the  pre- 
Hnl  otdinuy  ixage  of  fint-clas  ocean  alennion. 

The  directjon  at  part  of  the  reactioaar;  iinproTement  required  is  clearly  poml<d  out  in 
the  following  note  on  the  compaj^tive  meriu  of  Infge  and  aaaii  cumpiimnr.  eitracMd  from 
C^jMam  Evaiis'i  ■  Elementary  Manual  fer  the  Deriation  of  the  Compow  in  Inm  Sbipe:' — 
"  Of  lata  jcan  much  dliemily  in  pmolioe  Ilu  preiailed  as  to  the  «iio  of  oompaasca  for 
"  uae  on  board  ship.  The  AdmimJtj  Standard  eord  of  7}  iniihes  diameter,  foreiaiuplh 
"u  fitted  witli  npodles  tlio  mniimum  Irn^gtha  of  Kbich  nri- 7^  i!i,-L.--s.  nliilo  In  large 
"  pMMogcr  eteam-Taancli  (he  needlea  are  fraqnantlj  12  to  16  inehea,  and  eren  longer. 
"  Ibt  chief  ot^ect  id  the  emplojment  of  luge  oomjMsea  ii  to  enable  the  helmamtn 
"  to  iteer  to  degnwe  ;  and  a  more  aocuiato  ooune  ia  thua  preaomed  to  be  piueui  led." 

"  With  veferenoe  to  thi«  inewaacd  aiie,  it  muat  be  obaerted  that  competent  authoritiee 
"  limit  the  length  of  effloietit  oompaat  needles  to  6  or  6  inehea ;  bejond  thia  limit  an 
"  inereaae  of  length  ia  alone  accompanied  bf  an  increase  of  directiTe  power  in  tbe 
"  aame  proportion  ;  and  if  the  thirhiena  of  tba  needle  be  preaerred,  the  wei^t,  and 
"  oooaeqnently  the  friction,  incn«ae  in  the  nme  ratio.  No  advantage  of  direa^ie 
"  power  is  therefore  gained  b;  increase  in  length  ;  but  with  the  increaaed  weight  pf  tba 
"  card  and  appendagea  the  inereaae  of  friction  probably  far  eioeeda  the  inereaie  of  direc- 
"  tive  force :  Bluggiahneaa  ia  the  result,  which  is  further  eiaggenited  by  the  nxbone  aloir- 
"  Iteaa  of  oscillation  of  long  needles  compared  with  abort  needles." 

"  lArge  carda,  however  convenient  in  praotioe,  are  therefore  not  without  danger ;  tor 
"  Uie  course  stAered  may  deoeive  the  Mamen  bj  seeming  right  to  the  fraction  of  a 
"  degree,  but  which  avoila  little  if  the  card  ia  wrong  half  a  point,  and  the  ship  in  oon- 
"  aequenoe  hazarded.  In  the  opinion'  of  the  writer  the  present  Admiralty  staidard 
"  card  it  M  large  aa  should  be  used  for  the  purposes  of  naviffafiini,  and  tha^  as  regards 
"  safety  in  the  long,  ateadj,  and  (oat  ship,  the  choice  il  really  between  the  Admiral^ 
"  card  and  a  smaller  one^  In  short  tbe  case  may  be  thua  alaled :  the  smaller  a  card 
"  tbe  more  correctly  it  poiule ;  tbe  larger  a  card  the  more  accurately  it  can  be  read." 

When  the  needlea  of  a  standard  compaaa  are  reduced  to  aomething  like  half  an  inch 
in  length,  and  not  till  tiien,  will  the  tbeDretioal  perfection  and  beauty,  and  Iha  great 
practical  merit,  of  Airy*!  correction  of  theoompBaa  I^aoft  iron  and  permanent  mogneti 
(which  theoretically  assumes  the  length  of  the  needle  to  ba  infinitely  small  in  propor- 
tion to  il*  distance  from  the  nearest  iron  or  steel)  be  uniTersoUy  recognised  and  havs 
full  justioe  done  to  it  in  practice. 

*  Hut  is  to  say,  terms  consisting  of  coefficienta  multiplying  the  sines  or  cosines  of 
MX  Unci  and  of  eight  tJmes  the  ship's  magnetic  oiimuth. 


diflcoTeied  in  the  Admiralty  Btandard  compase,  "  suggested  the  idea,  that 
"  the  amngement  of  the  needles  in  that  compass  might  produce,  in  the 
"  case  of  deviations  caused  by  a  magnet  or  mass  of  soft  iron  in  close 
"  proximity  to  it,  a  compensation  of  the  sextantal  and  octantal  deviations ; 
"  and  this,  on  the  subject  being  mathematically  investigated  [on  the 
"  approximate  hypothesis  that  the  intensity  of  magnetization  is  uniform 
"  through  the  length  of  each  needle,  and  equal  in  the  different  needles], 
"  proved  to  be  the  case,  this  particular  arrangement  of  needles  reducing 
"  to  tan  the  coetBcIente  of  the  terms  invoUing  the  square  of  the  ratio 
"  of  the  length  of  the  needle  t«  the  distance  of  the  disturbing  iron ;  so 
"  that  this  remarkable  residt  was  obtained,  that  the  arrangement  of 
"  needles  which  produces  the  equality  in  the  moments  of  inertia  is,  by  a 
"  happy  coincidence,  the  same  as  that  which  prevents  the  sextantal  devia- 
"  tion  in  the  case  of  correcting  magnets,  and  the  octantal  deviation  in 
"  the  case  of  soft  iron  correctors.  The  consequence  is,  that  with  tie 
"  Admiralty  compass  cards,  or  with  cards  with  two  needles  eoch  30° 
"  from  the  central  line,  correcting  magnets  and  soft  iron  correctors 
"  may  be  placed  much  nearer  the  compass  than  can  safely  be  done  with  a 
"  single-needle  compass  card,  and  that  the  large  deviations  found  in  iron 
"  ships  may  be  thus  for  more  accurately  corrected." 

It  will  be  understood  that  the  preceding  statement,  even  as  an  index 
of  subjects,  gives  but  a  very  incomplete  idea  of  Smith's  thirty  years'  work 
on  magnetism.  Further  information  is  .to  be  found  in  his  papen  in  the 
Transactions  and  Proceedings  of  the  Boyal  Society,  some  of  them  contri- 
buted in  conjunction  with  Sabine  <xc  with  Evans,  others  in  his  own  name 
alone.  In  1850  he  published  separatoly*  an  account  of  his  theoretical  and 
practical  investigations  on  the  correction  of  the  deviations  of  a  ship's 
compass,  which  was  afterwords  given  as  a  supplement  to  the  Admiralty 
"  Practical  Rules  "  in  1856.  The  large  deviations  found  in  iron-plated 
ships  of  war  "  having  rendered  necessary  the  use  of  the  exact  instead  of 
"  the  approximate  formulie,"  this  article  was  rewritten  by  Smith  for  the 
Compass  Department  of  the  Admiralty.  It  now  forms  Part  HI.  of  the 
'  Admiralty  Manual  for  the  deviations  of  the  Compass,'  edited  by  Evans 
and  Smith,  to  which  are  added  appendices  containing  a  complete  mathe- 
matical statement  of  the  general  theory,  proofs  of  the  practical  formulie, 
and  constructions  and  practical  methods  of  a  more  mathematical  cha- 
racter than  those  given  in  the  body  of  the  work  for  ordinary  use.  A 
separate  publication,  of  "  Instructions  for  correcting  the  Deviation  of  the 
Compass,"  by  Smith,  was  made  by  the  Board  of  Trade  in  1857. 

It  is  satisfactory  to  find  that  the  British  Admiralty  '  Compass 
Manual,'  embodying  as  it  does  the  result  of  so  vast  an  amount  of  labour, 
guided  by  the  highest  mathematical  ability  and  the  most  consummate 

■  TnatructionB  forCompntation  ofTabtMof  DevialioiiB,  b;  ArchibBldSmitfa.  Pub- 
lished for  Ihe  Hjdrographic  Offloe  of  the  Admiralty. 


XVI 


(4 


practical  skill,  has  been  appreciated  as  a  gift  to  the  commonwealth  of 
nations  by  other  countries  than  our  own.  It  is  adopted  by  the  United 
States  Navy  Department,  and  it  has  been  translated  into  Bussian,  Ger- 
man, Portuguese,  and  French.  Smith's  mathematical  work,  and  particu- 
larly his  beautiful  and  ingenious  geometrical  constructions,  have  attracted 
great  interest,  and  have  called  forth  fresh  investigation  in  the  same 
direction,  among  the  well-instructed  and  able  mathematicans  of  the 
American,  Bussian,  French,  and  German  Navy  Departments. 

The  laborious  and  persevering  devotion  to  the  compass  problem, 
which  has  been  shown  by  British  mathematicians  and  practical  men,  by 
Sabine,  Scoresby,  Airy,  Archibald  Smith,  by  Captains  Johnson  and  Evans 
of  the  Compass  Department  of  the  Admiralty,  and  by  Townson  and 
Bundell,  who  acted  as  secretaries  to  the  Liverpool  Compass  Committee, 
has  been  an  honour  to  the  British  nation  in  the  eyes  of  the  world. 
Beferring  particularly  to  the  Liverpool  Compass  Committee,  Lieut. 
Collet,  of  the  French  Navy,  the  French  translator  of  the  *  Admiralty 
Manual,'  in  a  history  of  the  subject  which  he  prefixes  to  his  translation, 
says  : — "  Aid^  par  des  liberalit^s  particulieres,  soutenu  surtout  par 
cette  sorte  de  tdnacite  passionnee,  tout  particuli^re  h  la  nation  anglaise, 
qui,  en  inspirant  les  longues  et  patientes  recherches  conduit  s&rement 
'*  au  succes  et  sans  laquelle  tous  les  moyens  d'action  sent  impuissants  k 
"  surmonter  les  obstacles,  ce  Comite  fit  paraitre  successivement  trois  rap- 
"  ports  qui  fix^rent  d'une  mani^re  definitive  la  plupart  des  questions  con- 
trovers^s,  et  qui  indiqu^rent  nettement,  pour  celles  qui  restaient  k 
rc^soudre,  la  marche  qu'il  fallait  sui^Te  et  les  vdritables  inconnues  du 
"probleme."  And  in  an  official  publication  by  the  American  Navy 
Department,  containing  an  English  translation  of  Poisson's  memoir, 
followed  by  the  whole  series  of  papers,  theoretical  and  practical,  on  ships' 
magnetism,  which  have  appeared  in  this  country,  we  find  the  following 
passage,  which  must  be  gratifying  to  all  who  feel  British  scientific  work 
and  appreciation  of  it  by  other  nations,  to  be  a  proper  subject  for  national 
pride : — "  *  *  With  the  complex  conditions  thus  introduced,  and  the 
"  more  exacting  requirements  of  experience  in  their  practical  treatment, 
"  came  the  necessity  for  constantly  aiming  at  that  complete  analysis  of 
"  the  magnetic  phenomena  of  tJie  ship  which  has  been  so  prominent  and 
"  characteristic  a  feature  of  the  English  researches." 

The  constancy  to  the  compass  problem  in  which  Smith  persevered  with 
a  rare  extreme  of  disinterestedness,  from  the  time  when  Sabine  first 
asked  him  to  work  out  practical  methods  from  Poisson's  mathematical 
theory,  until  his  health  broke  down  two  years  before  his  death,  was  cha- 
racteristic of  the  man.  It  was  pervaded  by  that  **  tcnacite  passionnee  " 
which  the  generous  French  appreciation,  quoted  above,  describes  as  a 
peculiarity  of  the  English  nation  ;  but  there  was  in  it  also  a  noble  single- 
mindedness  and  a  purity  of  unselfishness  to  be  found  in  few  men  of  any 
nation,  but  simply  natural  in  Archibald  Smith. 


it 


Honourable  marka  of  appreciation  reached  him  from  various  quarters, 
and  gave  him  the  more  pleasure  froia  being  altogether  unsought  and  un- 
expected.    The  "Admiralty,  in    1862,  gave  him  a  wateh.     In  1864  he 
received  the  honorary  degree  of  LL.D.  from  the  University  of  Glasgow. 
The  Soyal  Society  awarded  to  him  the  Boyal  Medal  in  the  year  1SG5. 
The  Emperor  of  £ussia  gave  him,  in  I8G(!,  a  gold  Compass  emblazoned 
with  the  Imperii  Arms  and  set  with  thirty-two  diamonds,  marking  the- 
thirty-two  points.     Sis  months  before  his  death  Her  Majesty's  Govern- 
ment requested  his  acceptance  of  a  gift  of  £20{iO,  as  a  mark  of  their  ap- 
preciation of  "  the  long  and  valuable  scnices  which  he  hod  gratuitously 
"  rendered  to  the  Naval  Service  in  connexion  with  the  magnetism  of  iron 
"  ships,  and  the  deviations  of  their  Compasses."     The  official  letter  in- 
timating this,  dated  Admiralty,  July  1st,  1872,  contains  the  fallowing 
statement,  communicated  to  Smith  by  command  of  the  Lords  of  the 
Admiralty  : — "  To  the  zeal  and  ability  with  which  for  many  years  you 
have  a[jjp]ied  yourself  to  this  difficult  and  most  important  subject,  My 
Lords  attribute  in  a  great  degree  the  accurate  information  they  possess 
in  regard  to  the  influence  of  magnetism,  which  has  so  far  conduced  to 
the  safe  navigation  of  iron  ships,  not  only  of  the  Soyal  and  Mercantile 
Navies  of  this  country,  but  of  all  nations." 

The  writer  of  this  notice  has  obtained  I^n veto  quote  also  the  following 
from  a  letter  from  the  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  Mr.  Ooschcn,  of  date 
February  23rd,  1872,  announcing  to  Mr.  Smith  that  the  GovemmeTit 
had  determined  to  propose  to  Parliament  that  the  sum  of  £2000  should 
be  awarded  to  him  "  as  a  mark  of  recognition  of  the  great  and  successful 
"  labours"  which  he  had  "  bestowed  on  several  branches  of  scientific  eo- 
"  quiry  of  deep  importance  to  Her  Majesty's  Navy." 

"  I  am  aware  that  you  have  treated  your  arduous  work  in  this  direction 
"  as  a  labour  of  love  ;  and  therefore  I  do  not  consider  that  the  grant  which 
"  Parliament  will  be  requested  to  sanction  is  in  any  way  to  be  looked 

"  upon  as  a  remuneration  of  your  services I  trust  you  will 

"  regard  it  as  a  mark  of  recognition  on  the  part  of  the  country,  of  your 
"great  devotion  to  enquiries  of  eminent  utility  to  the  public,  conducted  ' 
"  in  the  leisure  hours  which  remained  to  you  in  a  laborious  profession." 

The  followingletter,  which  was  addresaedto  the  Editor  of  the  'Glasgow 
Herald,'  and  published  in  that  paper  last  January,  will  be  read  with 
interest  by  others  as  well  as  those  for  whom  it  was  originally  written  : — 
"  As  an  intimate  friend  of  the  late  Archibald  Smith  of  Jordanhill,  I 
"  desire  to  call  your  attention  to  a  passage  in  your  article  of  the 
"  30th  December  upon  him,  which  might  perhaps  convey  a  wrong  im- 
"  presaion  to  the  minds  of  your  readers. 

"  You  say  that  '  mathematics  ...  in  its  application  to  practical  navi- 
"  '  gation  was  the  amusement  of  his  lighter  hours.'  The  truth  is,  that 
"  the  profession  of  a  Chancery  barrister,  which  the  claims  of  a  large 
"  famUy  forbade  him  to  abandon,  occupied  his  beBt  energies  from  C3cl<{ 

TOL.  XIII.  0 


xvm 


"  morning  till  late  in  the  evening — ^in  other  words,  what  would  in  the 
"  case  of  most  people,  be  called  '  his  whole  time  ; '  and  compass  investi- 
"  gation  of  the  most  minute  and  severe  nature,  undertaken  after  mid- 
*'  night,  and  carried  on  far  into  the  morning  hours  bv  a  man  whose  brain 
**  had  been  working  all  day,  and  must  work  again  the  next  day,  can 
"  hardly  be  called  *  the  amusement  of  lighter  hours/  The  same  remark 
"  applies  to  vacations,  during  which  his  magnetic  papers  were  constantly 
"  with  him — on  railway  journeys,  on  board  the  yacht,  the  last  subject  of 
"  his  thoughts  at  night,  the  first  in  the  morning,  at  one  time  depriving 
"  him,  to  an  alarming  extent,  of  the  power  of  sleep ;  for,  unlike  the 
"  labours  of  law,  these  abstruse  subjects  cannot  be  dismissed  at  will. 

'*  The  fact  is  that,  in  addition  to  the  love  of  science  for  her  own  sake, 
"  he  was  penetrated  by  the  conviction  of  the  usefulness  of  his  work. 
"  His  splendid  abilities,  supported  by  a  constitution  of  unusual  vigour, 
"  were  freely  and  heartily  devoted  to  the  service  of  his  country,  and  the 
good  of  his  fellow-creatures.  *  Think  how  many  lives  it  will  save,'  was 
his  answer  to  an  anxious  friend  who  begged  him  to  relinquish  labours 
"  so  exhausting,  and  to  give  himself  ordinary  rest.  But  the  inevitable 
"  result  followed ;  and  though  in  earlier  days  it  had  seemed  as  if  nothing 
**  could  hurt  his  constitution,  and  his  friends  might  anticipate  for  him 
the  length  of  days  for  which  many  of  his  family  had  been  remarkable, 
yet  the  continued  mental  strain  did  its  work  too  surely,  and  in  1870 
he  was  compelled  to  give  up  his  profession  with  shattered  health,  to 
spend  two  short  years  with  those  he  loved,  and  then  sink  into  a  pi'ema- 
"  ture  grave.  You  observe  that  *  from  the  very  commencement  of  his 
"  career  Her  Majesty's  Government  (to  their  credit  be  it  said)  appreciated 
"  the  supreme  importance  of  his  researches.'  In  justice  to  the  Govem- 
**  ment,  it  ought  also  to  be  mentioned,  that  they  asked  [twelve  years  ao-o] 
"  what  acknowledgment  should  be  made  to  him  for  work  undertaken  at 
"  their  request,  and  when  Smith  named  a  watch,  it  was  presented  to  him  bv 
**  the  Admiralty.  The  testimonial  presented  to  him  during  the  past  year 
"  *  not  as  representative  of  the  money  value  of  his  researches,  but  as  a 
"  *  mark  of  their  appreciation  of  their  worth,'  and  still  more,  the  graceful 
"  letter  in  which  Mr.  Goschen  intimated  to  him  that  it  was  awarded 
"  gave  him  pleasure,  and  his  friends  must  always  be  glad  that  it  did  not 
**  come  too  late. 

"  The  truth  is,  Sir — and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  I  address  you — that 
"  services  such  as  his,  rendered  at  such  heavy  cost  to  himself  and  his 
"  sorrowing  friends,  deserve  the  highest  reward  which  can  be  given, 
**  namely,  the  gratitude  of  the  nation." 

One  more  extract  in  conclusion.  The  following  from  the  *  Solicitors' 
Journal  and  Eeporter'  of  January  11th,  1873,  contains  a  brief  statement 
regarding  the  estimation  in  which  Smith  was  held  in  relation  to  his  legal 
profession,  and  concludes  with  words  in  which  the  writer  of  this  article 
wishes  to  join,  and  therefore  gives  without  quotation  marks  : — 


"  When  Mr,  Jamea  Parker  was  mode  Vice-Chancellor  he  appointed 
"  Jlr.  Smith  his  Secretary  ;  and  he  was  also  Secretary  to  the  Decimal 
"  Coinage  Commission,  which  made  its  final  report  in  1859,  In  that 
"  report  there  is  a  remme  of  the  subject  by  Mr,  Smith  ;  and  one  may  see 
"  there  not  only  the  speciftl  knowledge  which  he  had  collected  on  the 
"  matter  in  hand,  but  an  example  of  his  thorough  and  exhaustive  style, 
"  close,  compressed,  and  rich  with  fruits  which  it  had  cost  him  long 
"  labours  aod  careful  thought  to  mature.  Ungrudgingly  and  without 
"  parade  he  used  to  offer  the  products  of  his  toil ;  '  This,'  be  said  to  the 
"  writer,  pointing  to  one  half  page  of  figures  in  his  book,  '  cost  me  six 
"  '  weeks  of  hard  work.'  It  was  thus  he  ever  worked  :  no  pains  seemed 
"  to  be  too  much  ;  and  consequently  a  marvellous  neatness  and  elegance 
"  adorned  all  that  he  did.  In  his  profession,  although  he  did  not  attain 
"  the  same  exceptional  eminence  as  in  science,  there  was  much  that 
"  deserves  notice.  His  mental  characteristics  were  of  course  more  or 
"  less  apparent  here.  As  a  draughtsman  few  could  compare  with  him 
"  for  conciseness  and  perspicuity.  His  opinions  were  much  esteemed; 
"  and  his  arguments,  though  far  from  brilliant  in  manner,  had  in  them 
"  BO  much  sound  law  and  careful  aud  subtle  Euialysis  that  they  were 
"  always  of  interest  and  value,  and  commanded  the  respect  and  attention 
"  of  the  judges.  The  important  change  which  substituted  figures  for 
"  words  as  to  dates  and  sums  occurring  in  bills  in  Chancery  was  made, 
"  it  is  believed,  at  his  suggestion.  The  well-known  case  of  Jamer  v. 
"  Morrit  (on  appeal  3  D.  F,  &  J.  45,  9  W.  E,  391),  is  an  instance  of  one 
"  of  his  successful  arguments ;  and  the  ease  of  Dtare  v,  Soittten  (9  L.  E. 
"  Eq.  151,  18  W,  E,  203),  in  which  the  former  case  was  reconsidered 
"  and  confirmed,  illustrates  the  research  and  industry  which  he  was  wont 
■'  to'use  in  all  matters  which  came  before  him,  A  judgeship  in  Queens- 
"  land  was  ofiered  to  him  about  the  year  1864  ;  but  he  declined  it." 

In  private  life  those  who  knew  Archibald  Smith  best  loved  him  most ; 
for  b^ind  a  reserve  which  is  perhaps  incident  to  engrossing  thought, 
especially  when  it  is  concerned  with  scientific  subjects,  he  kept  ever  a 
warm  and  true  heart ;  and  the  affectionate  regrets  of  his  friends  testify 
to  the  guileless  simplicity  and  sweetness  of  his  disposition,  which  nothing 
could  spoil  or  a£Eect,  About  the  close  of  1870  he  was  compelled  by  ill- 
ness to  give  up  work ;  but  two  years  later  he  had  wonderfully  rallied, 
and,  building  too  much  on  a  piurtial  recovery  of  strength,  had  recurred 
imprudently  to  some  of  his  old  scientific  pursuits.  A  few  weeks  before 
his  death  he  revised  the  instructions  for  compass  observations  to  be  made 
on  board  the  '  Challenger,'  then  about  to  sail  on  the  great  voyage  of 
scientific  investigation  now  in  progress.  The  attack  of  illness  which 
closed  his  life  was  unexpected  and  of  but  a  few  hours'  duration.  In 
1853  he  married  a  daughter  of  Vice-Chancellor  Sir  James  Parker,  then 
deceased ;  aud  he  leaves  six  sons  and  two  daughters.  He  died  on  the 
26th  of  December,  1872. 


.Ifhrmillintl  ^ 


1.  Sinilh'i  DMitction  of  Pnutical  Formidir  from  /'oiMon't  MitthrmatiaU 

Theory. 
Lot  the  components  of  the  terrestrial  magnetic  force*,  parallel  to  three 
rectangular  lines  of  refyrence  fixed  wilh  reference  to  tbe  ship,  be  denotwl 
by  X,  Y,  Z;  the  components  at  the  point  occupied  by  tho  compaast  of 
combined  magnetic  force  of  earth  and  ship  by  X',  T',  Z' ;  the  componeut* 
of  that  part  o£  the  ship's  action  depending  on  "  pennaneot "  or  "  snbpei^ 
maneut"  magnetism,  by  P,  Q,  E,  qnanKtiea  which  mathematically  must 
be  regarded"  na  slowly  varying  parameters,  their  variations  to  bo  deter- 
mined for  each  ship  by  obsen-ation  ;  and  the  componenta  of  that  part,  of 
the  ship'n  action  which  depends  on  transiently  induced  magnetism  by 
P,  1,'",  BO  tbat  we  have 

X'=X+i»+P,    T=T+j+Q,    Z'=Z+r+E (1) 

Laatiy,  let  (y»,  a,-),  (?,  x),  (r,  x)  be  the  values  which  p.  q,  r  would  have  if 
the  earth's  force   were  of  imit  intensity,  and  in  the  direction  of  jt; 
(p.  .V).  (7- y).  (•;;/)  the  same  for  i/ :  andjp.c),  ('/,:),  (r,  s)  the  same  for  r. 
By  the  elementary  law  of  superposition  of  magnetic  inductions  tbe  actual 
value  of  p  will  be(j>,x)X  +  (p, y) T  +  (p,  i) Z ;  and  corresponding  ei- 
pressioQS  will  give  q  and  r.     Hence,  and  by  (1),  we  have 
X'  =  X  +  (p,^)X  +  (j,,y)T  +  (p,:)Z+F,  1 
T'  =  Y  +  (5,*)X+(9,i/)T  +  (v,y)Z  +  Q,L    ....    (2) 
Z'=  Z  +  (r,a;)X+  (r,  7j)Y  +  (r,  z)Z +  -R.} 

These  equations  were  first  given  by  Poisson  in  1824,  in  the  fifth  volume 
of  the  Memoirs  of  the  French  Institute,  p.  533.  From  these  Smith 
worked  out  practical  formulie  for  the  main  case  of  application,  that  of  a 
ship  on  even  keel,  thus ;  let 

H  be  tho  earth's  horisroatal  force ; 

II'  tho  resultant  of  the  earth's  and  ship's  horizontal  forces ; 

0  the  dip ; 

a  the  ship's  "  magnetic  course ; " 

a'  the  ship's  "  compass  course ; " 

i  =  i—i'  the  deviation  of  the  compass. 

•  Thut  I«(osnj,tln>  force  experienced  bj«  unit  magnetic  polo.  Thedinction  of  the 
force  is  taken  as  tlmt  of  tlie  force  experienced  by  s  aouth  polo,  or  (according  to  Gilbert's 
original  nomenclature)  tlie  pnlcof  ■  mngnet  which  is  repelled  from  tbe  soutliem  regions 
nf  the  oirth.  British  instrumcnt-mnkers  unhappilj  mark  the  north  pole  with  S  and 
the  south  with  N. 

f  Tbe  length  of  the  needle  issuppowd  in  finitely  «m  all  in  conpariaon  with  the  diatanM 
of  the  nearest  iron  of  the  ship  from  the  omtre  of  the  oompan. 


Then,  if  the  diroctions  of  «  be  longitudinal  from  stem  to  head,  y  trans- 
verae  to  Btarboard,  r  yertkally  downwnrda,  we  have 


X  =  H  COS  f, 
X'  =  H'coai', 


T  =- 
Y'  =  - 


Hsinf, 
H'Binf. 


Besolving  along  and  perpendicular  to  the  direction  of  H  we  find,  after 
some  reductions. 


x^"'-«+» 

int+Ccoi 

t+B 

.m2{+eco.2C, 

ir 

m 

J=l+B 

io.t-e.iii 

t+» 

C0.2J 

-e.m2:.J 

where 
k  = 

.1  +  (P, ')  +  (?■»), 

a= 

X 

-(J>,S), 

»■ 

-i[^'"'»'+IJ 

e- 

1[<" 

«)-.+  §] 

B 

i(ft») 

!              ' 

e- 

Kii 

't  "■•'"■ 

Dividing  the  first  by  the  second,  of  (3)  we  find 

_3H-B  sin<+Cco3f+Bain2C+gcf 


,2{ 


"l+Bco8f-C8inf+BcoB2f-esin2{ 


(3) 


(5) 


which  gires  the  deviation  on  any  given  magnetic  course,  i,  when  the 
five  coefficients  9,  33,  C,  fi,  ft  are  known.  Multiplying  both  numbers 
by  the  denominator  of  the  second  member,  and  by  cos  i,  and  reducing, 
we  find 


n3=aco3a+B8ini'+Cco8r+fi»in(C+O+ecoB(f+0. 


(fl) 


8iQ5=flcoB2+18sinf  +  a;coai'+B8in(2{'+3)  +  ecoB(2r+3). .  (7) 
These  give  the  deviations  expressed  nearly,  though  not  wholly,  in  terras 
of  the  compass  courses. 

When  the  de>iations  are  of  moderate  amount,  say  not  exceeding  30°, 
equation  (6)  or  (7)  may  be  put  under  the  comparatively  simple  and  con- 
venient form 


Ss=A+B  sin  f'+Coos  f+D  sin  2;'+E  COB  24^, 


.    (8) 


in  which  the  deviation  is  expressed  wholly  in  tenna  of  the  compass 
courses ;  and  this  will  be  sufficiently  exact  for  practical  purpoaeB, 
-     It  will  be  seen  that  the  '&,  B,  C,  9,  ff  are  nearly  the  natural  ainea  of 
the  angles  A,  B,  C,  D,  E. 


2.  Dyyoyraitu  af  Clou  11. 
Tahe  lengths  numerically  «jual  to  X,  Y.  Z  and  X',  T',  Z'  for  the  «»- 
(HiliiutM  of  two  pointa.  T)u>  axes  of  (wonluiAt«s  being  fixed  r^tirdr 
to  the  ship,  eoacKife  the  ship  to  be  tnmed  utto  aU  positions  round  b 
fixod  point  Taken  aa  the  origin  of  coordinates  ;  or  for  siropljcitr  imapne 
the  bhip  to  1k'  fixed  and  the  direction  of  the  earth's  ivsultant  force  to  lake 
mil  ponilion*.  it«  ma^ilude  remaining  constant :  the  point  (X.  T,  Z)  will 
ilways  lip  on  B  apbencal  surface,  [(i))  below);  and  the  pobt  (X',  T",  Z') 
will  alwayB  lie  on  an  ellipsoid  fixed  relntively  to  the  ship.     For  we  ha¥o 

X-+T'+Z'=l', (9) 

wbero  I  denotes  the  earth's    resultant  force.     Now  by  (2)  tolnd  for 
X,  T,  Z,  WB  express  these  quantities  as  linear  functions  of 

X-P.    T-Q,    Z'-R. 
Substituting  these  expressions  for  X,  T,  Z,  in  (9)  we  obtain  a  homoge- 
neoiiH  quadratic  function  of  X'— P,  Y"  — Q,  Z— R,  equated  to  I",  which 
u  the  equation  of  an  ellipsoid  having  F,  Q,  R,  for  the  coordinates  of  its 
centre. 

It  i-  Tiotcworliiv  that  the  point  (X',  T'.  Z')  is  the  position  into  which 
the  point  (XTZ)  of  an  elastic  solid  is  brought  by  a  translation  (P,  Q,  R), 
compounded  with  a  homt^neous  strain  and  rotation  represented  by  the 
matrix 

^l  +  ip,^),  {p,y),  (P,^),-) 

(9-^).     l  +  (?,  y)>  (?,=).[ (10) 

(r,^),  (r,y),      l+(r,r).| 

Instead  of  drawing  at  once  the  dygogram  surface  for  the  resultaot  of 
the  force  of  earth  and  ship  (X',  T',  Z),  draw  according  to  precisely  the 
same  rule,  the  dygogram  surfaces  for  (X,  T,  Z),  the  earth's  force,  and 
(X'-X,  T'-T,  Z'-Z),  the  force  of  the  ship.  The  first  of  these  will  be 
a  sphere  of  radius  I.  The  second  will  be  an  ellipsoid  having  its  centre 
at  the  point  (P,  Q,  R).  Let  ON  and  OM  be  corresponding  radius  vectors 
of  these  two  surfaces.  On  OM,  ON  describe  a  parallelogram  MOXK. 
OK  is  the  resultant  force  of  earth  and  ship  at  the  point  occupied  by  the 
ship's  compass.  Vary  the  construction  by  taking  a  "triangle  of  forces" 
instead  of  the  parallelogram,  thus  : — Produce  MO  through  0  to  m,  making 
Cm  equal  to  MO  ;  in  other  words,  draw  the  dvgogram  surface  represent- 
ing (X-X',  T-T',  Z-Z');  and  of  it  Jet  Ombe  the  radius  vector  cor- 
responding to  OM  of  the  spherical -surface  dygogram  of  the  esrth's  force. 
Join  Nm;  through  O  draw  OK  equal  and  parallel  to  Nm,  OK  (the 
same  line  as  before)  is  the  radius  vector  of  the  resultant  dygogram  sur- 
face, corresponding  to  ON  of  the  spherical  dygogram.  The  law  of  cor- 
Fespondence  between  N  ou  the  spherical  surface  and  m  on  the  ellipsoid 


is,  according  to  (2)  above,  that  m  is  the  position  to  which  M  is  brought — 
translatioii  (  —  P,  —  Q,  —  B)  and  strain  •  with  rotation,  represented  by 
the  matrix 

](?.').     ft.  J).     (?,*[ (11) 

Take  any  plane  section  (large  or  small  circle)  of  the  spherical  surface. 
The  corresponding  line  on  the  ellipsoid  is  aUo  a  plane  eection,  but  gene- 
rally  in  a  different  plane  from  the  other.  For  example,  let  the  ship 
revolve  round  a  vertical  axis  OZ ;  in  other  words,  relatively  to  the  ship 
let  ON  revolve  round  OZ  in  a  cone  whose  semi-  vertical  angle  is  fl,  the 
dip.  The  locus  of  N  is  a  horiuiDtal  circle  whose  radius  is  K,  the  hori- 
zontal component  of  the  earth's  magnetic  force.  The  corresponding 
locus  of  m  is  an  ellipse,  not  generally  in  the  plane  perpendicular  to  OZ — 
that  Is  to  say,  not  generally  horizontal.  This  ellipse  and  that  circle  are 
Smith's  "Ellipse  and  Circle"  {Admiralty  Manual,  3rd  edition,  1869, 
App.  2,  page  168).  The  projection  of  the  ellipse  on  the  plane  of  the 
circle  is  the  dygogram  of  what  is  wanted  for  the  practical  problem,  namely 
the  horiiiontal  component  of  the  ship's  force. 

By  a  curious  and  interesting  eonatruction  (Admir^ty  Manual,  page  176) 
Smith  showed  that,  when  3  and  C  are  zero,  the  ellipse  and  circle  are 
susceptible  of  a  remarkable  modification,  by  which,  instead  of  them,  an 
altered  circle  and  another  circle  (generally  smaller)  are  found,  nith  a 
perfectly  simple  law  of  corresponding  points,  to  give,  in  accordance  with 
the  general  rule  stated  above,  the  magnitude  and  direction  of  the  resul- 
tant of  horizontal  force  on  the  ship's  compass.  But  in  point  of  fact  the 
comparison  with  Dygogram  No.  I.,  by  which  (pages  168,  169)  Smith  in- 
troduced Dygogram  No.  II.,  taken  along  with  his  previous  mechanical 
construction  of  Dygogram  No.  I.  (pages  166, 167),  proves  that  Dvgogram 
No.  II.,  simplified  to  two  circles,  is  not  confined  to  cases  in  which  Sf  and 
<£  vanish,  and  so  gives  to  this  beautiful  construction  a  greatly  enhanced 
theoretical  interest.  It  is  to  be  also  remarked  that,  although  the  necessity 
for  supposing  S  and  tt  zero  has  been  hitherto  of  little  practical  moment, 
as  their  values  are  very  small  for  ordinary  positions  of  the  compass  in  all 
or  nearly  all  ships  at  present  in  existence,  the  greatly  increased  quantity 
of  iron  in  the  new  turret  ships,  and  its  uosymmetrical  disposition  in  ttra 
newest  projected  type  (the  '  Inflexible '),  may  be  expected  to  give  unpre- 
cedentedly  great  values  to  tt  and  9.  The  happy  artifice  by  which  Smith 
found  two  circles  to  serve  for  the  "  ellipse  and  circle  "  consisted  in  alter- 
ing the  radius  of  the  first  circle  from  H  to  XH.     If,  further,  we  alter  it 

■  Thin  ttnin  must  include  refleiioD  id  a  pisns  mirror  »  ai  not  to  eiclude  DrgatiT« 
Tallin  exceeding  certam  limita  in  the  conatituenia  of  the  matrix.  It  is  to  be  borne  ia 
mind  that,  imaginaij  Taluea  of  the  elementa  being  excluded,  atratn  and  refleiioil  cm 
only  alter  ^herce  or  ellipaoida  to  ipherea  or  alLpMod*,  not  to  bjperbalouSa. 


■^ 


Ui  owigoihide  wjd  direyrtion,  auil  m.ike  it  repn-aent  the  rcAultaur  itf  Mt 
to  north  and  31  to  east,  thus  iaduding  pwt  of  the  ship's  frnw.  Daiu»-Jv 
(A— l)IIlonortliand  3  toPttst,  alcmgwith  the  eMth's  horiKOHt»]  fonv  in 
o<ie  circiilar  dygogram,  the  ivsidue  of  the  hoiisoutat  ooiniwnenl.  of  ihf 
ship's  fonx  has  also  s  circular  dvgogram.  The  constnirtion  lhu»  ublaiiied 
is  fuUv  described  and  illustrated  by  a  diagnm  uudiT  the  hetwliug  '■  Dv- 
gognm  Ho.  11.,  shore.  The  proof  gf  this  is  very  simple.  The  follow- 
ing is  the  anJj-tical  proWcm  of  uhich  it  is  the  solution: — In  the  genera! 
eauations  (2)  suppose  Z  to  be  constant,  and  put 

X'-(j..z)Z-P=X-,    Y'-(,,=)T-(J-T- (12) 


We  havi 


(13) 


X-=tI+C(.,x)]X+(p,.,)T.         , 

T"=  (,.,)X+p+(,,s)]Tj 

es  (ellipses  or  circles)  to  be  constructed 
y')  given  by  the  equations 


Now  imagine  hio  dygogram  cii 
as  the  locus  of  points  (a",?.),  (a 

3r=X+(nX+/3T5; 

y=X"-X-(aX-f^Y); 
and  let  it  be  required  to  find  a 
circles;  we  have  four  equmtic 
Then,  Bs 


y=T+(yX+aT);  I    .     .    (14) 

y-=T"-Y-(yX  +  JT);J 

(i,  y,  t  Hojliat  these  two  currea  may  be 
IS  for  these  four  unknown  quantities. 

=X",  y'+y=T; 
the  resultant  of  the  radius  vectors  of  the  two  concentric  circles  thus  ob- 
tained is  the  resultant  of  the  constituent  (X",  Y")  of  the  force  on  the 
compasB;  and  by  (12)  we  have  only  to  shift  the  centre  of  one  of  them  to 
the  point  whose  coordinates  are  (j>,  a)  Z  -|-  P,  (7,  z)  Z  -f-  Q,  to  find  two 
circles  such  that  the  resultant  of  corresponding  radius  vectors  through  the 
centre  of  one  of  them  shall  be  the  whole  horizontal  component  of  the 
forc«  on  the  compass.  Thus  we  have  Smith's  beautiful  and  most  useful 
Dygc^ram  of  two  Circles. — W.  T.,  Jaiiuary  1874. 


To  avoid  fine,  thb  book  should  be  returned  on 
or  before  the  date  Ust  stamped  below 


jui  1 3  no 


1 


I