/ ’ f } & 4 * i oe f f 4 ‘ uz " 4 , Pe + AMERICAN JOURNAL SCIENCE AND ARTS. ~CONDUCTED BY PROFESSORS B. SILLIMAN, B. SILLIMAN, Jr, AND JAMES D. DANA, IN CONNECTION WITH | PROF. ASA GRAY, or CAMBRIDGE, | PROF. LOUIS AGASSIZ, or CAMBRIDGE, DR. WOLCOTT GIBBS, or NEW YORK. SECOND SERIES. VOL. AAV, MAZ.—1858. WITH THREE PLATES, NEW HAVEN: EDITORS. E. HAYES, PRINTER. | CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXYV. | s NUMBER LXXIII. of Page Arr. I. On the Idea of Physical and Metaphysical ay by Lieut. E. B. Hunt, - - 1 Il. On the Characters, Principles of Division; and Schur Gnems of the Class Mammalia; by Professor Owen, F.R.S., F.L.S., 7 III. On the Rational Constitution of certain Organic ieee by Prof. Wotcorr Gisss, M.D.,_— - . ‘ 2 IV. The Estimation of the Weights of very small sii of te Matter; by Prof. Atrrep McMayer, - - 39 V. On the Behavior of the Carbonates of Lime and of naive in presence of various. Saline Solutions. With remarks on the Determination of Carbonic Acid in Mineral Waters ; by Frank H. Storer, - 41 VI. On the Heights of the Tides of the AindnienCoRE of the United States, from observations in the Coast Survey; by A. D. Bacus, Superintendent.—With a Plate, —- . - AT VII. On the Winds of the Western Coast of the United States, from observations in connection with the U.S. Coast Survey ; y A. D. Bacne, Superintendent.—With a Plate, - . » 6-62 VIII. Notes on the Measurement of a Base for the primary trian- gulation of the Eastern Section of the Coast of the United States, on Epping Plains, Maine; by A. D. Bacue, eveae: tendent U. S. Coast Survey.—With a Plate, - IX. On the Influence of Musical Sounds on the Flame of a me of Coal-gas; by Prof. Joan LeConre, M.D., . wis MR X. On the Motion of the Gyroscope as modified by the retard'ng forces of friction and the resistance of the air: with a brief — . analysis of the “*Top;” by Maj. J. G. Barnarp, A.M., - 67 ‘ XI. Review of the Operations and Results of the United hate Coast Survey, - - - 75 % 3 a . lv CON TENTS . Page. XII. The Open North Polar Sea ; by R. W. Hasxins, A.M., - 84 XIII. Correspondence of M. Jerome Nicxiis.—-Obituary of Cauchy, 91.—Anesthesis by means of Amylene: Anesthesis by “Projection,” 95.—Compressed air: Cultivation of Mad- der: Toxicology, Researches on Arsenic, 96.—Aquari- um, 97. SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. ' Chemistry and Physics.—Electrolytic investigations, 98—On the influence which metals | exert upon radiant heat, 99.—On an optical test for Didymium: On the employment of the salts of auidles in the analysis of plants, 100.—On some tt of gallic acid: On the combinations of tartaric acid with saccharine matters, 10].—On the action of light upon oxalate of peroxyd of iron: On the Chemistry af the Primeval y T. Srerry Hunt, 102—On the Amount and Frequency of the Magnetic Putiiatices and of the yaaa at Point Barrow, on the Shores of the Polar Sea; by jor General Sazine, 103.—On the Direction of Gravity at the Earth’s Surface ; by Prof. Hennessy, 106, Mineralogy and Geology.—Brucite at Wood’s Mine, Chester Co., 107.-—-Descriptions of | New Species of Paleozoic Fossils, by James Hatt: Cosmogony, or the or alll | t= the Sea level during different Geological Epochs, by Prof. Hennessy, 1 - Botany and Zoology.—Monographie de la Famille des Urticées, par H. A, WEDDELL, 109. —Miquel’s Flora van Nederlandsch Indié, or Flora Indie Batavee, 111.—Walpers : An- ae Botanices sedate ae Jahrbiicher fiir Wissenschafiliche Botanik, herausg, r. N. Princsuemm: Radlkofer, On the Process of Fecundation in the Vegetable Kingssta, and its “ilsden to that in the Animal Kingdom, 112 —Natural re of the Spongiade, 114.—Seeman’s Botany of the Voyage of the Herald, parts IX, a J. D. Hooker, On the Structure and Affinities of Balanophorew, 116. palace 2 Re- searches upon the influence iat assimiluble nitrogen in manures exerts upon the production of vegetable matter, etc., 120—Action of foreign pollen upon the Fruit, 122. —Structure and development of ma ‘Plowite and Fruit of the Pear, by J. DecatsNe, 123. aerarsanpe, Bidrag til en Belkrivelle of Grénland, af J. Reinaanpt, ete 124.— on to The Natural History of the United States of America, by Louis Pa a a 4 AGASSIZ, ios Astron cing —New Asteroids : New Comets, 128.—New Double Stars discovered by Mr. Alvan the Boston, U. S.; with appended Remarks, by the Rev, W. R. Daw gs, 129. iscellaneous Scientific Intelligence, Phe Richard Owen of Nashville, Tennessee, on the Outlines of the Continents, !30.—On the Supposed Meteorite from Marblehead. by A- A. Hayes, 135.—On the Vulcano of ritbdae Hawaii, by the Rev. Tirus Coan: quakes, 136.—Tables of the Division of Mankind into Races, Branches, Families and Natious, with an ratemnacraths statement of the Population; by M. p’Omaxius p’Hat- Loy, 137.—Artesian Wells in Sahara, 140.—Ascent of Chimborazo, 141.—New Electro- type Processes: On a new method of Refining Sugar, by Ur. Dauseny, 144. canes on the Development of Heat in Agitated we by Mr. G. Rewnig, 145.—Fossi South Carolina, eb M. Tvomery and F.8.H gs: On the Direction and Velo 2 the Ea California, January 9, 1857, co Dr. Joun B. od fe of Light, Hie Aacigeil View of the Animal Kingdom, by A. M. Repri ae bal ¥ ARES Se ee 5, en { 4 CONTENTS. v of Explorations and Surveys for a Railrood from the Mississippi River to the dane va Mixer: Topographical and Geological Report of Chester Co., Pennsylvania, by W. D. Hartman, M.D.: Kobell’s Determinative Mineralogy, translated by G. J. Brusn and S. W. Jounson: Volcano of Hawaii: Organic Morphology, 151—New Publications, 152. NUMBER LXXIV. Page. Arr. XIV. An Address in Commemoration of Professor J. W. Baitey, late President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; by Dr. A. A. Goutp, - - XV. On some remains of Batrachian Reptiles discovered in the Coal Formation of Ohio, by Dr. J. 8S. Newberry and Mr. C. M. ones ; by Jerrries Wyman, M.D., of Cam- bridge, Mass - - - - - 158 = Fichtelite, a <— Aiibo: ieee found in ite ** Fich- - telgebirge” of North Bavaria; by T. Eowarps Crarx, Ph.D., 164 XVII. On the Characters, Principles of Division, and Primary Groups of ay Class Mammalia; by Professor py scien F.R. fe F.L.S.. - 177 XVIIL. On Ghaicsaie by Phere 4: Been” - - 198 XIX. Agassiz’s Contributions to the Natural niaiory of re Uni- ted States; J. D. Dana, : 202 XX. Contributions to the ae ake of Ophiaites Part 13 by T. Sterry Hunt, - - - - - 217 XXI. The Chalchihuitl of the ancient Maxie: its locality and association, and its identity with Turquois; by W. P. Buaxe, 227 XXII. On a method of Preparing and Mounting Hard Tissues for the Microscope ;_ by CuristopHer Jounston, M.D., 232 XXIII. Blodget’s Climatology of the United States and of the Temperate Latitudes of the North American Continent, - 2385 XXIV. Preliminary notice of a new base containing Osmium and the elements of = 7 Wotcorr Gissps and F. A. Gentu, . - - 248 XXV. Review of the Operation sid Resi of the United States Coast Survey, 2 XXVI. Description of New Chiveantiecins Fossils from os Appalachian, Illinois and oe Coal- = ei RP, able - ~ . é : > vi CONTENTS. a SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE, . Chemistry and Physics.—Researches on indices of refraction, 265.—On the density of the vapor of certain bodies, 266.—Memvir on the equivalents of the elements, 267—On new compounds of Siieak. 270.—New researches on Boron, 27).—On the Mages In- duction of Crystals, by Professor Junius PLicKer, 272. logy.—Quarterly Journal of the Geological ER eh 274.~ Annual il of the Geological partly as the —e of Wisconsin, by Epwarp Daniets: On the Newer Pliocene a rst its of the vicinity of Smears _by J. W. Dawson, LL.D, 275. ee of Ne ‘ew York, “O77, —On the Cervus eury: “erds, by Prof. Dk Morxot, 279.—Former connéction of Anstralia, New Gilinen and the Aru Islands: Earthquake in Italy, 282.—Grenelle Artesian well: Chemische und Chemiseh Technische Unters : ll age eB i hant: Secoud Report on the Geological Survey of Kentncky. by Davip Dae OWEN, Rogret Peter and Sipney S. Leen aah ee Species of Fosril Plants from ” Coal-fields of erin; by Leo Lrsquereux: IMlinvis Geological Survey, , J. G. Norwoon, M_D., wiigag ct aivatt jee a “ater: hen Akademie der Wissen- schaften Mathematisch Classe: On the part which the Silieates of the Alkalies may play in the Metamorghirm of Rocks, by T. Steany Hunt, 287— On the Extinct Volcanoes of Vict toria, Australia, by R. Beoucn Suytn, Esq, " 289— On the occurrence of Marine Animal — artes water: Wollaston Medal, 1, 290, Bitany and Zoology--LeC: ndoMe's Predromus, 2£0.--Dr. Hooker's Flora of Tas Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean erie --Flanie Indie Batavie O —_ bony st rerplogasit sil G.C. sh pt: Lotanical Necrology for 1857, 293. lled ys slers, by W.J. Taytor; Iumming of the U, States, 294,— xk besiege: 295, Astronomy.— Note on the Feriadicity in the Sun’s Spots, by O. Reicnenzacn, 295. aaean ca bate i Intdhge pater 257 odeeuee into the wg of i throughout the Day and Night, ete., by Epw Smit, i aiicace : A System of Cccasisi in. the Rieu al Use nn the Blo ilies ee Lectures on Roman Husbandry: Medical Texi¢on; A Dictionary of Medical Sei- ence, at opert Duxesison. M.D., LL.D. : Cormos, 202 —Graham's Chemistry + E K. Kane, by Dr. Wm Exper: Next Meeting of the. American Associa- e Advancement of Science, 3C3.--New Lublications, 304. NUMBER LXXKYV. Art. XXVII. Geographical Notices. No.1, - ‘ XXVIII. Agassiz’s Contributions to the Natural Hivory ar the United States; J.D. Dana, - ; XXIX. Recapitulation of the * Ee of the ‘Turlle,” as given in Professor Agassiz’s **Contributions to the Natural History of the United States of North nd mariana, by H. James Cuarg, - — - . . | aes CONTENTS. vii XXX. Abstract of a Meteorological Journal, ma at al Ohio; by 8. P. Hixprern, M.D., - XXXI. On the Extraction of Salis from Sea-water ; by £ wguibe “Hunt, of:the Gevl. Commission-of Canada, = . 361 XXXII. Contributions to Analytical Chemistry ; by Henry Wurtz, 371 XXXIII. The Passage to the North Pole; by Dr. I. I. Haves, 384 XXXIV. A Chemical Examination of the Commercial Varieties of Brown Sugar; by Joun H. ALexanoer and Camppett Morrit, 393 _ XXXV. Fifth Supplement to Dana’s Mineralogy; by the Author, 396 XVI. On the effects of Initial Gyratory Velocities, and of Re- tarding Forces, on the Motions of the eae by ee J. G. Barnanp, A.M., - : XXXVI. Supplement to an Svabetihe of ‘North Aion Lichenes : : Part first, containing brief eee of New Spe- _ cies; pee TucKERMAN, A.M, - - - 422 dence of J. Wicriis? Sivetash- -jcal notice of Pheiied ° Death of Peclet, 430.—Submarine railroad between France and England, 431.—Perforation of ~ Jead by insects, 432.—Academy of Sciences—Distribution of Prizes, 433.—Prize in Chemistry : Prize in Physics, 434 Prize in Geology, 485.—Correspondence of T. Srrerry Hunt: On the origin of Feldspars and on some points of _ Chemical Lithology, 435.—On Euphotide and Saussurite, 437. — - SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. Chemistry and Physics—On the equivalents of certain Metals: On the preparation of a pure compounds of Coriurs m, 433. Geology.— Fossils of Nebraska, by F. B. Meex and F. V. Taypen, 439; and by Dr. J. F Lerpy, 44!.—Permian of Kansas and New Mexico: Remains of pose, Animals among Post-pliocene Fossils in South Carolina, by Francis S. Houmes, 442.—On the ‘slow rise of the shores of the Baltic: Mean Density of the Earth: Casieusend F ossils from Vancouver Island: Temperature of the Earth at great depths, 443,—Ger Survey of Canada, by Sir W. E Locan, 444.—fowa Geological Survey : The Che _ istry and Metallurgy of Copper, including a description of the principal Copper Mines of the United States and other countries, ete., by A. Svowpen Piacot, M.D.: The Wheatley Collections: Third Report of the Geological Survey of Kentucky, made during the years 1856 and 1857, by Davip Date Owen, etc., 446.—Descriptions of New Fossils from the Coal Measures of Missouri and Kansas, by B. F. Suumar G. C. SwaLtow, 447. ss Rs 4 ae ean A : : _ * = Ed ” i * viii CONTENTS. ony Mee new Planets: First Comet of 1853, el ae Comet of 1858, 448. eous Scientific Intelligence. —The Annual Seppane of ri a Pressure in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, by Wittiam Keuiy, M.D , 448.—The Hand-Book a Practical Receipts of every day use, by Tuomas F. iaere 449. — Report of the Su- perintendent of the U. S. Coast Survey for 1856: Reports of Explorations and Surveys — for a Railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, 450.—Obituary, .—S. G. Deeth: Carl Freidrich Plattner, 450 .—Discovery of the Permian i in Kansas : Big } phy, by J. Nicklas, 451. aoe Index, 452 me x # ua * ~ ie é ait 4, ‘ . a ie : i | ERRATA. ¥ Fos : Page ats foot) line 19 from top, after “water,” add “or bry gna Sa » 2 : * 18 from m bottom, after the” inse i ‘ A dele last paragraph of note. . “ 487, dele 5th and 6th lines from bottom. Vol. XXIV, p- 314, 211. from bottom, for propositions read proportions. 7 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND ARTS. » uses ie lll FSi 0 Onl > -S2At Biot a gi? oa oF 3 Arr. si On the Idea of Physical and Meaphysical Jie ; ae Lieut. E. B. Hunt, Corps of Engineers, U | Few. eee of reflection have engaged the shedielieatt ner- gies of so large a portion of the leading intellects of all ages | as that great idea which.under a vast diversity of forms and mani- _ festations is expressed by the word infinity. So true is te. that. » the charge of rash confidence would naturally arise who- | _ ever should now profess to contribute any great additional light where so much thinking has already been expe ended. In spite | of this resumption, I shall venture some suggestions towards a » precise “definition of the idea of infinity, ‘which have served to Sar aga to my own mind what before was vague and in- a: Teh seemed to me a correct criticism on the usual modes of E e sidering the iden i ieee a wey Bg it too exclu- ok ed usive u peste ognizance and pence bis the a ‘eeich nature “affords n intedpneenie it to our finite comprehension, That such a hasty ransfer from the conerete to the abstract form of contemplation involves a fault, may be appreciated at once by a simple consid- tion in w hich all | healthful minds will doubtless agree. The a of infinity must dwell in the divine creative mind in its up ae bea memes its aptsal embodi- z OS? ¢ 2 E. B. Hunt on Physical and Metaphysical Infinity. ments must possess a wholesome and intellectual truth far e2 ceeding what could originate from the abstract speculations: human mind. Therefore, whatever hints towards a pp ciation of infinity can be gleaned from the contemplation of ac- tual created nature, will rest on a more solid basis than any un- infinities thus fundamentally involve homogeneous physical prehension of infinity involves an apprehension of unity as it initial point, and this is equally true whether the magnitude ealled infinitely great or small is physical and actual, or meta — physical and only abstractly conceivable. Hence our first neces sary step is to analyze the idea of a unit of measure. oe When we _. of a foot, a cubic yard, a pound, an hour, 4 thermometer degree, &c., the ideas expressed are among the elearest which the human mind ean entertain. Our mental ! moral . though intrinsically capable of equally exact” units of measure, being actually without well defined units, thet ovina get comparisons become vague and wanting in precisiol et we are quite as prone to speak of infinite intelligence or 12 finite love as infinite distance or infinite time. This mode speech rests on precisely as real a unit of measure as E. B. Hunt on Physical and Metaphysical Infinity. 3 optical pereeption of perspective distances involves an | Pivaal process of reference of all dimensions seen, first to those | distances near at hand which are readily compre ehended, and in turn the reference of these to the actual lineal distance between the optical centres of the two eyes. This interocular pi or stereoscopic base line, bears the same relation to exteri distances that the base line in a geodetic triangulation does to the entire network of the angles. “Thus when we guage the per- spective of a landscape, there isa direct visual perception or “sensational measurement of external distances. Still we are so line that we do not make it an object of conscious ae tion, in our references of actin distances to this base as | unit of measure. Such a reference however really enters as 3 vital part of every perspective perception, hence we are con- stantly applying unawares a standar measure, essen tially con- stant for each individual during his whole life, to all external | objects of our earthly surrou oundings. * In like manner the length of nee habitual step enters largely as a basis in our estimation of | distances because we are constantly measuring distances seen, | by Ser + habitual mechanism of locomotion. Thus all our means | of knowing external distances are found at last to rest solely on | the pian imensions of the human body to which as a standard ' the rred. wbing into account all the elements of our perception of lin- eal magnitudes, it will be found without doubt that the average lineal unit is very nearly that length which is most readily cog- nizable by a man of average person and capacities. High multi- ples and low submultiples of the casniord of length are diffi- cult of appreciation; thus a mile or a line are much less clearly appreleen: ed units than a foot. If a thousand miles ora thou- sandth of a line is submitted to our consciousness, our notion be- comes extremely inadequate, and if it be a million or a millionth we fail almost entirely to conceive the fact. When it is a question of billions or trillions of miles our apprehension is so totally at fault that we give over all attempts to comprehend the fact, and so the distance becomes infinite for us, as referred to the mile as a unit. Onur real idea then is when we speak of an infinite or infinitesimal distance, that when it is compared with our famil- iar standard of length, our perceptive powers utterly fail to ap- preciate the relation with any approach to accuracy. If in place of the unity and infinity of distance, we consider those of time, space or force, we shall ‘find a like genesis of prac- tical standard units for each, based on the actual dimensions or sensational capacities of the human organism. Along the grad- uated line of connection between those values which by their pei 3 pry elude our perception and those vast values = __actualities of nature. We may well believe that this trae co 4 &. B. Hunt on Physical and Metaphysical Infinity. which in their entirety wholly transcend our comprehension, — there is in each case a particular value which is apprehended with the maximum precision and facility by each individual mind. The natural unit of measure for each subject of measure is that particular value which is best appreciated by an average man. The same rule holds in the more transcendental subjects. of measurement. Thus a man of average intellectual power and capacity becomes a natural unit of mentality, and a man of aver- age morality becomes a unit of morality. If a particular moral — quality, as benevolence, for instance, be quantitatively consid- ered, we refer all to the man of average benevolence. When ~ we speak of Divine Benevolence as infinite, we mean that it is _ so exhaustless and all prevailing, that when we compare it with =e benevolence of an average man our limited human powers “utterly fail to take in its relative immensity. From these con- siderations we may conclude that whenever we predicate infinity of any particular existence, attribute or quality of the external world, man’s capacity to appreciate the various values of the subject matter considered, enters directly as the standard of com- arison. Thus to say that space is infinite is simply to say that the extreme exercise of human power to perceive space as an “l existence is transcended by the actuality of nature. If we speak of infinite time we but declare that the brief periods of duration — of which man in his earthly life is conscious are relatively s0 small that we can by no means conceive the number expressing : the true ratio of man’s hour or lifetime to the infinite duration referred to. : Whatever physical infinity engages our consideration, an anal- oka ogous limitation of the special powers of the human organism is defined. We might almost say that for us, the grand sphere | of physical infinity is the circumscribing sphere drawn around | the aggregate perceptive faculties of man. It is not at all the absolute cosmos or circumscribing sphere which contains all the mic sphere in which all created existence is contained is itself an infinity as compared with that specifie infinity which is as it were the defining or tangent surface around the faculties of © r would be to them what the radius of the earth is as there may be intelligences to which the earth is but an ato f E. B. Hunt on Physical and Metaphysical Infinity. 5 | dto which our entire sphere of visible stars makes but a sen- ar le mass of matter. Throughout the entire range of organic existence there mill be in fact fur each species a specific infinity, and we cannot say but in the treasure house of the actual uni- verse, there may be an infinite series of organic perceptive powers which bear to each other the relation of the successive orders of differences in differential calculus. Whatever may be the fact as to actual nature, such an infinite series of successive infinities is metaphysically conceivable. The clear apprehension of the idea of infinity which may be gleaned from physical grounds gives a basis for indefinite metaphysical fabrications without | i the least departing from the true inductive idea of intinity. But science has not to deal with the supposable except as it is ty involved in the actual, and it belongs not to _ piss or to a | cussed are en aye Metusted all specitic intelligences are in it . ignored, and even the Divine Intelligence may ‘be supposed in some way concrete in conditions too specific to be truly stated in respect to limits, by the abstract infinity of pure analysis. The very possibility. of positive definition as applied to any being however exalted, excludes the abstract: symbo ee infinity from entering a correct exegesis of its nature. For what then does the abstract symbol of infinity stand? It at least ee as a formula for all specific infinities which by the interpolation of the proper constants expresses the quantitive relations in any actual case of infinity. The abstract symbol is a grouping of specific cases: whether it is more than this may not be for man to say. One inference from these views of infinity is that the ordinary . definition of the asymptotic curve needs correction. The math- ematical formula of incessant and incessantly diminishing ap- roach between a straight line and a curve or between two curved. ines, or the same relative to plane and curved surfaces is not uppose an intellect of the proper or differential grade to be dul cognizant. of asymptotic lines at an infinite distance; it would find no actual contact, but the same law of approach | expresse in the analytical formula would still go on until an intellect of ential “esa. and so on to infinity. The order of perceptions Raion would be progressively higher than that dem suet entials of the variable, Here then there is no true i use with the other idea of tangency at an infinite distance. _ a the second differential order would have to be called inas the cognizant power: this in turn must give place to a third differ- required to ap ppreciate the second, third, &c. differentials of the - : anded for 6 E. B. Hunt on Physical and Metaphysical Infinity. = 5 G Be JG ro) =] ou eS fo < o) act fq°) j=} =e t=} 0g ro) 3 So ° A. 8 io) er. ° pe! me = n er Oo = ou, oo Lea) me 3 < S. Te fundamental idea on which its processes and algorithm rest, is ¢ one of relation between quantities cognizable by two orders of of cognitions oe conforming with first, second, third, &. differentials. h even suppose such an exalted spiritual organism as that the ab- solute and entire cosmos shall be the true limit of its perceptive — Prof. Owen on the Class Mammalia, ~ 7 This symbol affords no basis fer the commonly received idea that infinity means an absolute unboundedness, a quantity abso- lutely without end, a quality or nature transcending all bound- aries. Such an idea has no right in the mind of man, for the pee so far from stating an absolute ee end- lessness or illimitable ono ape Ale states simply the limitations f of finite perceptive pow t is the expression, not 0 immeasurableness of nsiaea or of pe Deity, but of the finite limitations of the human mind. It stands for a negative and not for a positive: it symbolizes not seen ge but ignorance. if we group infinite attributes under a divine name, we have not defined Deity but we have defined the limits of our own concep: tions. The limits of our knowledge lie near at hand: the limits of our ignorance are known only to the All-knowing. Art. IL—On the Characters, Principles of Division, and ean Groups of the Class Mammalia; by Professor OwEN F.RS., | Se) ee eens of the Natural History Departinctitsel in the British Museum THE class Mammalia, the most highly organized of the animal kingdom and that to which we ourselves belong, appears to have been the class of animals last introduced on this planet, and not to have attained ee Pimete until the tertiary division 1 of as Ney time. glands, and suckle their young: the embryo or foetus is Revaloced in the womb. Their leading anatomical character is to have lungs, composed of a highly vascular and minutely cel- lular structure throughout, and sus eee freely in a thoracic oy separated by a tec! and tendinous septum or dia- phragm from the abdom . Mammals, like birds, ee a heart composed of two ventricles and two auricles, and have warm blood: they breathe quickly ; but inspiration is performed chiefly by the agency of the dia- hragm ; and the ae air acts cae on the capillaries of the pulmonary circulation This paper is cited from the Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean as ea aagll Pcead February 17th and April 21st, 1857 uz From mamma, a pap. The Platypus wf Echidna are the only known e gas to this rule. The Mare is an apparent one, from the a —— position of t nipples. The fetal Cetacea show tufts of hair on the m en * Prof. Owen on the Class. Mammalia. The blood-dises are smaller than in Reptiles, and, save i ‘ eamel-tribe, are circular. The night auriculo-ventricular valve 18 membranous, at least never entirely fleshy; and the aorta bends beyond the kidneys into the iliac arteries, from which spring both the femoral and ischiadic branches: the caudal or sacro- — median artery, which in some long-tailed Mammals assumes the character of the continued trunk of the aorta, never distributes : arteries to the kidneys or the legs, as in Birds. The kidneys are | nourished, and derive the material of their secretion, exclusively — from the arterial system. Their veins are simple, commencing — by minute capillaries in the parenchyma and terminating gener- — ly by a single trunk on each side in the abdominal vena cava: — they never anastomose with the mesenteric veins. ; The kidneys are relatively smaller and present a more com- pact figure than in the other vertebrate classes; their parenchyma — 1s divided into a cortical and medullary portion, and the secreting — tubuli terminate in a dilatation of the excretory duct, called the — pelvis. +. _ The liver is generally divided into a greater number of lobes than in Birds. The portal system is formed by veins derived exclusively from the spleen and chylopoietic viscera. The cysti¢ uct, when it exists, always joins the hepatic, and does not enter — the [aay separately. ‘The pancreatic duct is commonly — single. = __ The mouth is closed by soft flexible muscular lips: the upper — jaw 1s composed of palatine, maxillary and premaxillary bones, — and is fixed; the lower jaw consists of two rami, which are sim- ple or formed by one bony piece, and are articulated by a con vex or flat condyle to the base of the zygomatic process, 2 not to the tympanic element of the temporal bone; the base the coronoid process generally extends along the space betweet the condyloid and the alveolar processes. The jaws of Mammals, with few exceptions, are provided with teeth, which are arrange in a single row; they are always lodged in sockets, and never Ps lottis: the rings of the trachea are generally cartilagi incomplete behind: there is no inferior larynx. The cesop! is continued without partial dilatations to the stomac varies in its structure according to the nature of the f quantity of nutriment to be extracted therefrom. Prof: Owen on the Class Mammalia. 9 pore ae are ena ntti, a sometimes, as in the a of certain Ruminants, they are concave behind and convex in front: such a vertebra, however, may be distinguished from a vertebra of a Reptile, with a similar ball-and socket structure of the artic: ular surfaces, even when found in a fossil state, and when the test of the articulating medium cannot be applied, by the com- plete anchylosis or confluence of the annular with the central part or a and by the large relative size of the canal for the spinal chord. The cervical ‘verte re, with one or two excep teens are seven in number, neither more nor less: the Mono- tremes, which are the instances commonly opposed to other gen- eralizations, form no exception to this rule. aa lumbar vertebrae are pikes constant and usually more numerous than im other classes of vertebrate animals, The atlas is articulated by con- cave ieucaiar processes to two convex condyles, which are developed from the ex-occipital elements of the last cranial ver- tebra. The typanic element of the temporal bone is r —— in function to the service of the organ of hearing, and n enters into the articulation of the lower jaw. The elaetory nerves escape from the cranial cavity through numerous foram of a cribriform _ The optic foramina are always dase from one another he scapula is generally an expanded plate of bone; the coracoid, with two (monotrematous) exceptions, appears as a small process of the scapula. The sternum consists of a narrow , i aes simple series of bones : the sternal portions of the - The pubic and ischial arches are hae eles and united together by bony confluence on the sternal aspect, so that the interspace of the two pelvic arches 3s converted into two holes, called foramina obturatorfa or thyroidea. The sclerotic eoat of the eye is a fibrous oS and never contains bony plates. In the quantity of aque s humor and the convexity of the lens Mammals are ge perally intermediate between Birds and Fishes. The organ of hearing is characterized by the full development of the olan with a lamina spiralis: there are three distinet ossicles in the tympanum; the membrana tympani is generally _ concave externally; the meatus auditorius externus often com- mences with a complicated external ear, degrees: a distinet cartil+ aginous basis. The external apertures of the organ of smell SECOND SERIES, VOL. XXV, NO. 73.——JAN., 1858, 2 10 Prof. Owen on the Class Mammalia. 7 are provided with movable cartilages and muscles, and the ex- — tent of the internal organ is increased by accessory cavities or sinuses which communicate with the passages including the tur- binated bones. a There are few characters of the osseous system common, and at the same time peculiar, to the class Mammalia. The following © may be cited: " 1. Fach half or ramus of the mandible consists of one bony — piece developed from a single centre: the condyle is convex or _ flat, never concave. This has proved a valuable character in the etermination of fossils. ta 2. The second or distal bone, called “‘squamosal,” in the bar — continued backwards from the maxillary arch, is not only ex- anded, but is applied to the side-wall of the cranium, and evelops the articular surface of the mandible, which surface is either concave or flat. 3. The that of the basisphenoid. _ In no other class of vertebrate animals are these osteological — characters present. ; e cancellous texture of mammalian bone is of a finer and unsupported by more obvious and constant ones, in the inter pretation of a fossil. a _ Dental characters—The Mammalia, like Reptilia and Pisces, include a few genera and species that are devoid of teeth; the true ant-eaters (Myrmecophaya), the scaly ant-eaters or pangolins — « 7 (Manis), and the spiny monotrematous ant-eater (Hehidna), a presphenoid is developed from a centre distinct from 4 | : q examples of strictly edentulous Mammals, The Ornithorhyncbus — "1 the upper jaw-bones; one of these becomes developed into. name of its genus Monodon. : ‘The examples of excessive number of teeth are presented, 1 the order Bruta, by the priodont Armadillo, which has ninety eight teeth: and in the Cetaceous order by the Cachalot, which has upwards of sixty teeth, though most of them are con ed to the lower jaw; by the common Porpoise, which has be eighty and ninety teeth; by the Gangetic Dolphin, which one hundred and twenty teeth; and by the true Dolphins ( Prof. Owen on the Class Mammaiia. ii phinus), which have from one hundred to one hundred and ninety teeth, yielding the maximum number in the class Mam- malia. When the teeth are in excessive number, as in the Armadillos and Dolphins above cited, they are small, equal, or sub-equal, and ee of a simple conical form most other mammals particular ‘teeth have special forms for spain uses; thus, the front teeth, from being commonly pee 8 ted to effect the first coarse division of the foo d, have bee called cutters or incisors ; and cir back teeth, which complete its comminution, grinders or molars; large conical pointed teet situated behind sh incisors, ed ndnaptell by being nearer the in- sertion of the biting muscles, to act with ‘greater r force, are called Polder tearers, ‘acation or more commonly Proven, from being we developed 3 in the Dog and other Carniv t is peculiar to the class Mammalia to has "teeth implanted i in sockets by two or more fangs; but this can only happen to teeth of limited growth, and generally characterizes the molars and re-molars: perpetually growing teeth require the base to be ept simple an iad excavated for the persistent pulp. In no mal does anchylosis of the tooth with the jaw constitute a sera mode of attachment. Each tooth has its peculiar socket, to which it firmly adheres by the close co- adaptation of their opposed surfaces, and by the firm adhesion of the alveolar periosteum to the organized cement which invests the fang or fangs of the tooth. True teeth implanted in sockets are confined, in the Mamma- lian class, to the maxillary, premaxillary, and mandibular or lower maxillary bones, and form a single row in each. They may project only from the premaxillary bones, asin the Nar- most Bruta (Sloths, Armadillos, Getaarsives} In most Mam- mals, teeth are situated in all the bones above mentioned. The teeth of the Mammalia usually consist of hard unvascular dentine, defended at the erown by an in fears of enamel, and every where surrounded by a coat of cem The al cement is of extreme sete in Man, Quadru- mana sind the terrestrial Carnivora; it is thicker in the Herbiv- ora, especially in the complex grinders of the Elephant. Vertical folds of enamel and ce ment Picco the crown of the tooth in the ruminating and many other Ungulata, and in most oe characterizing by their various forms the genera of those o No Marna’ has more than two sets of teeth. In some spe- cies the tooth-matrix does not develop the germ of a second 12 Prof. Owen on the Class Mammalia. tooth, destined to succeed one into which the matrix has been converted ; such a tooth, therefore, when completed and worn down, is not replaced. The Sperm Whales, Dolphins, and Por- — h. In. the © Armadillos and Sloths, the want of generative power, as it may be called, in the matrix is compensated by the persistence of the — poises are limited to this simple provision of teet matrix, and by the uninterrupted growth of the teet n most other Mammalia, the matrix of the first-developed * tooth gives origin to the germ of a second tooth, which some- — times displaces the first, sometimes takes its place by the side of the tooth, from which it has originated. All those teeth which are displaced by their progeny are called ‘temporary,’ deciduous, or milk-teeth; the mode and di- rection in which they are displaced and succeeded, viz. from — bove downwards in the upper, from below upwards in the — lower, jaw, in both jaws vertically—are the same as in the Croc odile; but the process is never repeated more than once in any mammalian animal, A considerable proportion of the dental — series is thus changed; the second or ‘permanent’ teeth having — a size and form as suitable to the jaws of the adult, as the ‘tem- porary’ teeth were adapted to those of the young ani: The teeth between them and the canines are called ‘ remolars;’ they push out the milk-teeth that precede them, and are usually — | of smaller size and simpler form than the true molars. Thus the class Mammalia, in regard to the times of formation — and the succession of the teeth, may be divided into two groups, — monophyouonts,* or those that generate a single set of teeth ; and the diphyodonts,+ or those that generate tavo sets of teeth. this dental character is nut so associated with other organic char: i. acters as to indicate natural or equivalent subclasses. In the Mammalian orders with two sets of teeth, these organs _ acquire fixed individual characters, receive special denomin& tions, and can be determined from species to species, This indi- vidualization of the teeth is eminently significative of the hig grade of organization of the animals manifesting it. Originally, indeed, the names ‘ incisors,’ ‘canines,’ and ‘mo lars,’ were given to the teeth, in Man and certain Mammals, %& in Reptiles and Fishes, in reference merely to the shape and offices indicated by these names; but they are now used as arbl trary signs, ina more fixed and determinate sense. In § * udvo;, once; piv, I generate; ddodz, tooth. e t ols, twice; péw aud ddods. See “ Philosuphical Transactions,” nal. Those permanent teeth, which assume places not previously — occupied by deciduous ones, are always the most posterior 1 their position, and generally the most complex in their form. — he term ‘molar’ or ‘true molar’ is restricted to these teeth. — Prof. Owen on the Class Mammalia. 13 Carnivora, e. g. the front-teeth have broad tuberculate summits, adapted for nipping and bruising, while the principal back-teeth are shaped for cutting, and work upon each other like the blades of scissors. The front-teeth in the Elephant project from the upper jaw, in the form, size and direction of long pointed horns. In short, shape and size are the least constant of dental charac- ters in the Mammalia; and the homologous teeth are determined, like other parts, by their relative position, by their connexions, aud by their development. ‘hose teeth which are implanted in the premaxillary bones, and in the corresponding part of the lower jaw, are called ‘inci- sors,’ whatever be their shape or size. The tooth in the maxillary bone which is situated at or near to the suture with the premax- illary is the ‘canine,’ as is also that tooth in the lower jaw, which, in opposing it, passes in front of the upper one’s crown when the mouth is closed. The other teeth of the first set are the ‘deciduous molars;’ the teeth which displace and succeed them vertically are the ‘premolars;’ the more posterior teeth, which are not displaced by vertical successors, are the ‘ molars’ Three of the seven teeth may be ‘premolars,’ and four may be true ‘ molars ;’ or there may be four premolars, and three true molars. This difference as | have own, forms a character of a secondary group or order in the mammalian class,* The essential nature of the distinction is as follows: true molars The Gymnure, the Mole, and the Hog are among the few ex- isting quadrupeds which retain the typical number and kinds of a MF se of a Classification of the Mammalia, Trans. Zool. Soe. yol. ii, p. 330 14 Prof. Owen on the Class Mammaiia. teeth. In a young Hog of ten months, the first premolar, p. 1, | and the first molar, m. ‘L, are in place and use together with the — three deciduous molars, hi ts¢. By and d. 4; the second molar, 7 m. 2, has just begun to cut the gum ; ps gether with m, 8, are more or less Cpekatiebe and will be found concealed in their closed alveoli.* The last deciduous molar, d. 4, has the same relative oe ority of size to d. 3 and d. 2, which m. 8 bears to m. 2 and m. a and the crowns of p. 3 and p. 4 are of a more simple form ‘al | those of the milk-teeth, which they are destined to succeed. When the milk-teeth are shed, and the permanent ones are all in place, their kinds are indicated, in the genus Sus, by the wee ing formula :— 3-3 4—4 3-3 ity Oi pep m. yaad: which signifies that there are on each side of both upper on lower jaws 3 incisors, 1 canine, 4 premolars, and 3 molars, making in all 44 teeth, Ba tooth being distinguished by x rs age symbol, e. g., p. 1 to p. 4, m. 1 to m. 3. This n bes = teeth is never surpassed in the placental Diph yoriont : When the premolars and the molars are below this typical number, the absent teeth are missing from the fore part 0: the — premolar series, and from the back part of the molar series. The — most constant teeth are the fourth remolar and the first true molar; and these being known by bes order and mode of de- velopment, the homologies of the remaining molars and premo- _ re are determined by ¢ counting the molars from before backwards, ‘one,’ ‘two,’ ‘three, ; ans the premolars fron behind forwartiig four, ‘three,’ § two,’ ‘on e incisors are counted from the median line, commonly the foremost part, of both upper and low wer jaws, outwards and backwards. The first ineisor of the = duniber and kinds of teeth e.g. “the yn oo and third inci- sors,—the first, second, third, and fourth premolars,—the first, second, and third molars; and of one side of both jaws in any case. * T recommend this easily acquired ‘subject? to the young zoologists for onstration of the r macraciive li arities 0 f the’ ma corsation, dentition. will sett - the premolars must ite : molars have no such relations, le ee ee ee ee ree ee et er mee Prof. Owen on the Class Mammalia. 15 I have been induced to dwell thus long on the dental charac- ters of the class Mummalia, because they have not been clearly or accurately defined in any systematic or elementary work on zoology, although an accurate formula and notation of the teeth are of more use an see in characterizing genega -in this than in any other class of anim I next proceed to review brie efly the a om primary divi- sions of the Adammalia hitherto proposed. est authorities in Natural History have adopted different Phelan, drawn from different systems of organs, for the primary groups or dhivikious of the class Mammalia. Aristotle chose the locomotive system, and divided his Zo- the Wha pe is su ad velba into those weit claws, and those with aie The unguiculate quadrupeds are again subdivided according to the nature of their teeth; the ungulate quadrupeds, according to the divisions of their hoof, as e. g. into Poly yschidee, or multungulates, Dischide, or bisuleates, and Aschide, or solid- ungulates. I nee scarcely remar that. this, in most r respects admirable system, docks have commanded greater attention, een now recognized as more manifestly the basis of later systems, had its immortal author more technically expressed his appreciation of the law of the subordination of characters; but he applies to each of _ groups siamaees their value, the same denomination, viz. 0 Ray, with a less shied pees 6, of the extent and nature of the class Zootoka or Mammalia, arranges his eee group of “ Viviparous Four-footed animals” chiefly on the Aris- totelian characters; the primary division being et Un a LATE and Unavicunare, and the subdivisions being based on locomo- tive and dental characters Linnzeus, restoring the ‘class Mammalia to its Aristotelian in- tegrity, primarily subdivides it into Unevicutara, UNGULATA, “ Mvur the latter being the ‘Apoda’ of Aristotle : the aaiiay. groups or orders are founded chiefly on modifications of the dental system. uvier, adopting the same threefold primary division of the class, subdivides it into better and more naturally defined orders, according to various characters derived = the dental, the osseous, generative, and the locomotive system lliger, in primarily dividing the Mawnan into those with free, and those with fettered limbs—the ‘pedes exserti distincti,’ contrasted with the ‘pedes retracti obvoluti,—made a more unequal and less natural partition than the threefold one of Aris- 16 Prof. Owen on the Class Mammalia. { totle; the Seals and the Whales balance all the rest of the class in the Illigerian system. The subdivisions, also of these primary — groups, based exclusively on characters of locomotion, have met with little acceptance beyond some of the schools of Germany. De Blainville appears first, 1816, to have adopted a character from the reproductive system for the primary division of the Mammalia, viz. into the ‘Monodelphes,’ ‘ Didelphes,’ and ‘Orni- thodelphes.’ His orders are in the main a return to the Linnean — Pha aud nomenclature, with some peculiar views, as ¢. 9. of the quadrumanous or primatial affinity of the Sloths, which have never gained acceptance. But his system indicates a clearer appreciation or stronger conviction of the value of the character of parity and imparity in the number of toes of the Ungulata, — first suggested by Cuvier,* than was subsequently entertained by the originator of the idea. : The position of the marsupial and monotrematous quadrupeds — at the bottom of the class Mammalia, and the higher value as signed to the group which they constituted, than that in the ie See aS ing from all other mammads in the absence of a placenta, and of : the great commissure of the brain, in certain bird-like characters of the heart,t and from all other diphyodont Mammals in a less number of premolars, and a greater number of true molars,— — depending essentially on the retention of a milk-tooth (m. 4) which is displaced and changed in the placental diphyodonts,— _ that the true affinities of the didelphid and pomrrivar te bee mam mals to each other, and their true position in the class Mammalia, were finally recognized. 4 n_the ‘Systema Vertebratorum,’ communicated in 1840 to the Linnean Society by that accomplished and indefatigable zoologist Prince Charles Lucien Bonaparte, the primary subdivi © sion of the Mammalia according to developmental and generative — characters is adopted; and the first diyision or series Placentalia is subdivided, agreeably with M. Jourdan’s distribution of Mam-_ malia in the Leyden Wasim, into the two subclasses Hlucabilia and fneducabilia, the latter including the orders Bruta, Cheirop, tera, Insectivora and Rodentia, with the common character of ‘cerebrum unilobum.’ This I regard as the most important im — ahchig a it the classification of the Mammalia, which has — en proposed since the establishment of the natural character — of the implacental or ovo-viviparous division. —— * agence a ed. 1812, p. 9; tom. ii, ed. 1822, p. 72. + Ont on of the Marsupialia ii, Pe 815 (1889). supialia, Zoological Transactions, vol. il, P- = BEE oT RET a ae Prof. Owen on the Class Mammalia. i Cuvier had early noticed the relation of the Australian mam- mals, as a small collateral series, to the unguiculate mammals of the rest of the world, “some,” he writes, ‘corresponding with the Caurnaria, some with the Rodentia, and others again with the Edentata.”* of Cuvier by placing its subdivisions, as orders, in parallel equiv- alents with the orders of the Placentalia. R . 174. Natural History of the Mammalia, 8vo, 1845, part i, p. 14. I must remark, however, that in stating “ by Prof. Owen and some other naturalists, the present sec- tion (Marsupiata) is ranked as a subclass,” the reader, from the peculiarly extended signification given to the term ‘Marsupiata? might be misled. ipialta form one of the orders of my subclass Jmplacentalia, See the articles ‘ Marsupialia’ and ‘ Monotremata, in the “Cyclopedia of Anatomy,” vol. iii, 1841. y ii Ph SECOND SERIES, VOL. XXV, NO. 73.——JAN., 1858, 3 i ae ff * 18 W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds. Nothing more than a passing allusion seems needed to the system of classifying the Mammalia on the modifications of the — placenta, originally proposed by Sir Everard Home,* and since reproduced and moditied by a few other naturalists. The group, e.g. associated by the character of the discoid placenta, is as_ little natural as that which would be composed on the basis of © the diphyodont dentition, or the unguiculate feet. The associa: tion of the Rodentia, and Insectivora, with the Quadrumana, as in the latest modification of the placentary system,+ is not likely to command acceptance. The diffused placenta, as in the Mare, | orpoise, Peccari, Rhinoceros, »and Camel, would lead to aa equally heterogeneous assemblage. In two well-defined minor groups, @. 7. the true Carnivora and the true Ruminantia, there — exist characteristic modifications of the placenta, viz. the zonular — and cotyledonal respectively; but thongh the zonular type is common to the Carnivora, it is not peculiar to them; it is that of the placenta in the Hyrax and the Elephant, amongst the Ungu- t. So likewise the on Botha type characterizes the pi of the Sloth among the sie % continued.) a oat TI1.—On the Rational Constitution of certain Organic BT unds ; by Wotcorr Gis, M.D., Professor of Chemistry Physics in the Free Academy i in New York, In the following memoir I shall endeavor to sainblish the ra tional constitution of several po diate pirat bodies by bee ring ther to the type of one or equivalents of water, 10 which hydrogen is wholly or parily replaced by compo radicals. pane premises are as fol! 3 ie electro-negative or aka hydrocarbons, formyl i CH, wet yl CsHs, and their homolo, ues, Day replace hyd equivalent for equivalent, but by su ak replacement diminish th electro-positive or zincous character of the primitive. facts are well exhibited in the acetyl-ammonia of Natanson, formula of which is C+H3 N : 2. The radicals formoxyl, Cs “HO: 2, acetoxy], CsHs0 their homologues and analogues, similarly replace fo iM re ee more yrbibin y or chlorous derivatives. — tamin has the fi C+H2O2 sti : H * Lectures on Comparative Ana vol. iii, 4 + Gervais, Zoologie et at Paléontologis' Peksasa te ios 1853, p- 194. ° Tk i W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds. 19 while acetic acid is referable to the type of two equivalents of water, and has the formula C130 . O°} On. 3. One pe of any ammonium may replace one equiva- lent of hydrogen. Thus the formula of the hydrate of the oxyd of the primitive ammonium, NH:10+HO, is also referable to the type of two equivalents of water, and we have for it the expression Ni H 4, Certain radicals, whether divisible or indivisible, are binary or ternary in character, and replice two or three equivalents of hydrogen. Thus the radicals C202, CsO;, and S20: are binary while nitrogen, phosphorus, &c. are ternarv. These premises, as every chemist knows, are not new. I formulate them for t j O2. - convenience of reference, and to save repetition. a ro now to apply these principles to certain bodies to whic they have not Rian bean eetended and will consider the compounds in question seriatim. Glycocoll or glycosin—The empirical formula of glycosin was first definitely established by Horsford* in an elaborate memoir to which I shall frequently have occasion to refer. Of its ra- tional constitution no satisfactory theory has been proposed. I refer it to the type of hydrate of oxyd of ammonium, and con- sider it to have the formula 428 Papi H This view of course (8) ultimately reduces glycosin to the type of two equivalents of water, Oz Glycosin, as is well known, combines with acids, bases, and salts. Its feebly acid character is explained, upon my view, by the presence of the two chlorous adicals; its basic properties, by the existence of two equivalents of hydrogen in the ammonium molecule; while its neutral char- acter—which resembles that of water—may be explained by po ral that the chemical sum of the chlorous and zincous affinities in the ammonium approaches the charaeter of an equiv- alent of hydrogen, so that we have the functionul equation (nearly true), { CeHO2 N ag =H, H * Ann. der Chemie und Pharmacie, lx, 1. be 20 W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds. The formulas of the principal salts of glycosin upon this theory — are as follows. | Chlorhydrate, | N(O2HOz.C2H .H2)Cl+2HO. itrate, N(C2HO2.C2H. He ( oo | O2-+2HO. Sulphate, No(C2HO2.C2H. H2)2 P 3 SM $0; ¢ O20. Potash-sulphate, N2(C2HO2.C2H.HK):2 < : S204 t Oe 1) Potash-nitrate, N(C2HO2.C2H.HK ( nO. | O24 HO. a lycosin-lead, WN 2. mA Wo ae Glycosin-lead, (C2HOz.C2H.H ee to: +HO. lycosin- ts Hi Glycosin-copper, N(C2HO2.C2H.H y t O:+HO. | The platinum salt of glycosin contains, according to Horsford’s analysis, 83-2 per cent of platinum, and he considers it to be CsH1NOs. PCl2, ; which requires that percentage. But Cahours* assigns to this : salt the formula a OsHsNO1.HC1+-PCh, which, upon the view which I have proposed, becomes C2 2 i : nj OH Scl4+PtCh+2HO0. | H . The other salts of glycosin are easily formulated upon the am monium theory, and do not require special notice. The combi nations which glycosin forms with metallic oxyds are however — of no small interest from the point of view suggested. Thus — Boussingault found for the compound with oxyd of silver the CsHs NOs, AgO. a I believe that in this body silver simply replaces hydrogen true formula being : res ceca C2HO2z ig Ag Jono 3 * Comptes Rendus, xliv, 569. iad * W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds. 21 C:HO2) al C2H inn 2 N4 on Ghetiags beet CukbOn 0-+HO-+ ZnCl. H Hippuric acid is consequent also the hydrate of an ammonium oxyd, a view W I shall develop more fully in another part of this paper. The cuminuric, anisuric and salicuric acids, which Cahours* has described, are formed in a similar manner, and must therefore have a similar constitution. By the action of the chlorids of acetoxy] C1HsO2.Cl, butyroxyl C»H7O2.Cl, &c., upon glycosin-zine, similar acids must be produced, while it appears to say the least, extremely probable, that the ethyl radicals, CsHs, &. may also be made to pe eg an equivalent of hydrogen in elycosin, yielding bodies of an analogous acid and basic character. Thus by the action of iodid of ethyl upon glycosin-silver we should have C2HOz x {8H oso, and it is of course possible that the last equivalent of hydrogen may be also replaced by an equivalent of a chlorous or zincous radical, as in the case of Hofmann’s tetrammoniums. The. products of the decomposition of glycosin strongly sup- sai the view that this body contains the radicals formyl and coor as above assumed. ‘T'hus when fused with caustic h, ammonia and hydrogen are evolved, while the fused ia monies cyanid of potassium and oxalate of potash. It is however well established that formic acid, Cs “4 Oz, under he same circumstances yields oxalic acid, and the facility with which formyl, C2H, in contact with nitrogen or ammonia yields cyanogen, 1s also familiar to chemists ith oxydizing agents glycosin yields carbonic and cyanhydric acids and water. “This so is in exact accordance with the theor OsHsNOs--NOs = 2N+0:H:0s+-HO. If 1 we compare ammonia, NH, with three equivalents of water, we find that from the equation : NH3=0sHa, one equivalent of nitrogen may be considered as Jormally though not functionally replacing three equivalents of oxygen. Hen * ©. R,, xliv, 567. Tae 22 W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds. in the action of NOs upon oxyd of ammonium we may suppose that a species of substitution takes place, 80 replacing N, while, in ordinary cases of substitution, a double molecule NN is separated. Thus the action of NOs upon oxyd of ammonium, considered for the sake of simplicity as i pe may be rep- resented by the equation H H H H H H N i O-+NO:=03 Hy OF2N= 5p O1-+2N. H H H When the oxyd of the ammonium is a monohydrate an equiva- lent of water is usually set free. This mode of considering the action of NOs upon ammonium molecules possesses advantages sufficient, as I think, to justify its employment. The formation of glycolic acid from glycosin may then be represented by the ~ equation : wrt C2HO2 ee 0+HO+N0:=03 og 0--2N-+HO. H H 3 Glycolic acid has therefore the rational formula C2HO2 C2 Os, - - far) -Q a —T < = — a) ee ct 2) ry fy | = io) 3 B - ® E oO > 2 — ta) o Sj r=) = @ co Pp rt “4 8 3 = wn me co s x Y Z A : Strecker has shown that the action of NOs upon hippuric acid produces a new acid which he terms benzoglycolic acid. — constitution of this acid must be represented by ormu. EF C2HOe2 C2H Shon Oi==CisH80s, H W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds, 28 and I shall endeavor to show, farther on, that there are other reasons for taking this view. Strecker’s elaborate study of the bile has shown that cholic and hyocholic acid may each, like hippuric acid, be split into glycosin and a new acid. I apply to both these acids the theory which I have above developed, and consider them rationally represented as follows, C2HO2 eer 2 CeH Cholic acid, N Ca3HasOs H 0+HO=Cs2H:sN Oi, C2HO2 Hyocholic acid, N CootnOs ¢ OTHO=OnHisNOw, H That there are homologous compound molecules having the formulas CasH300s and CsvH11Qs, is shown by the existence of cholalic and hyocholalic acids, the empirical formulas of which are CasH4s0QO10 and CsoHs2010, and which when reduced to the type of two equivalents of water become . ag i tie” and oe : 02. I may here remark that by the action of NOs upon cholic and hyocholie acids we ought to obtain two new acids haying the formulas C2HO2 C2HO2 co O:=0s2H12014, and tos Oi=Cs1Hss0u. H H I may further remark, in this connection, that we ought to be able to regenerate cholic and hyocholic acids from glycosin and cholalic and hyocholalic acids, by processes exactly analogous to that employed by Dessaignes in preparing hippuric acid. Thus cholalic acid by distillation with perchlorid of phosphorus should give chlorhydric acid and chlorid of cholalyl, according to the - equation tafe C1s Hs0010+-PCli==Css H390s.. Cl4+- PO2Cls+ HCl, chlorid of cholalyl with glycosin-silver should yield cholic and chlorid of silver. As cholalic and hyocholalic acids. mologous and have very high equivalents, it is almost cer- at they are among the upper members of a complete se- ries. Of this series chinovie acid, CssH30Q10, is probably a r fs Hippuric acid.—The formation of this acid by the action of chlorid of benzoxyl upon glycosin-zine has already been ex- plained upon the ammonium theory as a simple substitution of the radical C:1sHsOz for an equivalent of hydrogen. It remains to show upon the same theory that the separation of hippuric acid into glycosin and benzoic acid may be equally well ac- 24 W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds. counted for. The following equation appears to ‘contain a sim- q ple solution of the question, since we C2 N {Bot 0+2HO=N a 0-+4+CuH0:, H H A the glycosin-ammonium of course uniting at the moment of its | formation with an equivalent of water. By this view of the constitution of hippuric and other similar acids, we explain at once its formation, its decomposition by boiling with acids, and its unibasic character, since its molecule contains only one equiv- alent of hydrogen replaceable by a metal. But the products of | the decomposition of the acid by other agents also confirm the view here taken. eo By boiling with peroxyd of lead, hippuric acid yields benza-— mid and carbonic acid, while with peroxyd of manganese and sulphuric acid, benzoic acid, carbonic acid, and sulphate of am-— monia are formed. These reactions are expressed by the equa _ tions j nie 0+60=N 1H +2C201-+HO, ates 1 E ask ig C2HO2 and ss So 0-+HO+60-+480s. HO=NHi0.809-4+-CuHsO24+4C0% i In both these cases the easily oxydized radicals, formyl and formoxyl, are destroyed, yielding carbonic acid and water, while in both the radical CisHsOz2 is found unchanged among the C2HO2 C2HO2 . Glycolic acid - oe O04, Benzoglycolie acid ae Se Os. H H BY boiling an aqueous solution of benzoglycolic acid, solved into glycolic and benzoic acids, the reaction being Pt C2HO2 i 3 OusHis02 | OMFSHOS { CAH | 9,4 CuHsOs} oy H ~ Now this decomposition is precisely analogous to the resolutiol of hippuric acid into glycosin and benzoic acid, explained b, the equation So NO+2HO= {3 No+ CuHis0#} oy H ‘ W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds. 25 NH } pn: } ny BY Upon this view, which is thrown out merely as a suggestion, Gerhardt represents glycosin as NHe.(C2H02)2 } . . . H and hippuric acid as 2 NH.(C2HO2)2C1s11502 } ’ H Strecker considers glycosin as possibly an ammonia having the formula O1Hs01 Ni H To this theory it may be objected that it does not explam the formation of alanin and other bodies of the same class, or the roducts of their decomposition. Laurent looked upon glycosin either as amido-acetic acid—a ; also recently taken by Cahours—or as the acid amid of c acid. But Dessaignes has actually prepared glycolamid, shown that it is only isomeric and not identical with .—This body was obtained by Strecker by evaporating e of aldehyd-ammonia and cyanhydric acid with chlor- hydrie acid, and its empirical formula is CoHzNOs, so that it is homologous with glycosin. Its mode of formation appears to me to show in the clearest manner its molecular structure, and [ L consider it to have the rational formula } C+H302 N eg ono, } H SECOND SERIES, VOL. XXV, NO. 72.—JAN,, 1858. ; 4 26 W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds. If this view be correct we ought to find the radical Cia among the products of the decomposition of alanin. In point of fact, when heated with peroxyd of lead it yields aldehyd, am- monia and carbonic acid, the carbon of the radical formyl C2H alone being oxydized. With nitrous acid alanin yields lactic acid, the formula of which is thus found to be aie CsH302 O2H H O41, H Now lactic acid, when heated with sulphuric acid and peroxy of manganese, yields carbonic acid and an abundance of aldehy as Stideler has shown. Both the mode of formation and th or {oso In this case it should give with nitrous acid a species of lacti¢ acid isomeric with that derived from alanin and having the — formula C2HO2 ne O04, N ; C1302. O2Hs. CuHsO2,H O2 Alanin-hippuriec acid. H CHHs02.C:H..Culls0.H $04 — Benzolactie acid. be ae -'F = 2 os W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds. 27 _ Itis clear that alanin, sarcosin — ese some hem will yield an indefinitely great number of new acids, of which one series will contain nitrogen, the sha ae The almost perfect analogy between alanin and glycosin justi- fies the inference that the internal molecular structure of these two bodies is the same. _ the formula of alanin Bios is assumed hon two radicals are in alanin so fused together as to constitute a single a -atomic radical, CeHsO2, homologous with the glycolic radical, C1H2Oz. In this case the formulas of glycosin an alanin will be Glycosin, N | ae ' 0+HO. Alanin, MET t O-+HO. Upon this view the rational formulas of glycolic and lactic acids become see Or ad ie 01. The decision of the question obviously turns upon the molecular structure of the radical C1H2Oz. Isthis diatomic and indivisible, or is it a de radical C2H.C2HO:? a the other hand The rational formulas which I have jh eee to Tycosin and sion appear, in ths a. state of our knowl- ‘upon my view becomes 0+HO, and the products of its decomposition bear out the theory com- ‘ate. Limpricht* has prepared leucin from valeric a dehyd y a process exactly similar to that employed by Strecker in the formation of alanin. From this it follows that leucin is consti- tuted, so far as the character of the radicals is concerned, * Ann. der Chemie und Pharmacie, xciv, 243, CisHs01 N OH 0-LHO, H it being remembered that C1eHsOu. has the value of two equiv” lents of hydrogen. Farther researches are required to settle this question. 28 W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds. ' alanin and not like sarcosin. It appears, however, probable. that — there exists another species of leucin having the formula, oa But the high equivalent of leucin points out to us the possible — existence of three other bodies of a perfectly analogous structure — and isomeric with ordinary leucin. Thus we have CsHs02 CsH702 CsH302 - N {a O+HO, N \e OHO, andN |e" joo H H H 7 Hach one of these five species of leucin must yield a homologue — of lactic acid, the only one yet discovered being the leucic acid — of Strecker, which belongs to the series of the lactic acid of fer- — mented sugar, and is derived from leucin by the action of nitrous — CusHs02 . C41H30: ee 0+HO, * Ann. der Chemie und Pharmacie, ci, 314. W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds. 29 acid plays the part of a weak base with acids, yielding well de- fined salts with nitric, sulphuric and oxalic acids. The products of its decomposition by heat, viz., anilin and carbonic acid, ar Ci12HisNO4 = C2014 CiHhisN, CuH7NOs = C201+Ci2HiN. It is therefore probable that anthranilic acid belongs to the same type as leucin. Schwanertt adopts this view, and considering anthranilic acid as carbanilic acid, regards leucin as amyl-carba- mic acid, a view which explains only one of the modes of decom- position of that body, and which is irreconcilable with all the I suggest that anthranilic acid may contain the salicyl radical, C11HsOz, and that its rational formula is CuHi02 Nio O+H0. H In the decomposition of anthranilic acid by heat, all the oxygen unites with two equivalents of the carbon of the salisoxy]l, 14H4Os2, while all the hydrogen remains united with the other twelve equivalents of carbon and one of nitrogen to form anilin. The radical C11HsOz2 is of course to be regarded as diatomic. That anthranilic acid actually contains the radical C1+H4Oz ap- pears most clearly from the fact that with nitrous acid it yields icylic acid, by the process of replacement already explained. Thus we have C1u4Hi02 CuHsO2 ; 2 NO+HO0+NO;= ~ Oi+-2N-++-H0. Taurin.—This substance may be readily reduced to the type of hydrate of oxyd of ammonium, if we remark that the radi- cal S2Os replaces two equivalents of hydrogen. We have then for taurin the formula S201) | N 2 Ci:Hs }0+H0. By fusion with caustic potash taurin yields acetate and sulphite of potash, a result which is easily explained upon the supposi- tion that the ammonium molecule contains ethyl. By the action of nitrous acid taurin should yield an acid having the formula CsHS20s, since we should have the equation $204 S204 N ag forHosxo-—| a O1-+-2N+-HO. * Ann. der Chemie und Pharmacie, cii, 236. + The same, ci, 295. _ $ Ann. der Chemie und Pharmacie, cii, 221. 80 W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds. The experiment has not to my knowledge been tried,* but J Strecker's discovery that isethionate of ammonium by ‘losing — two equivalents of water is converted into taurin leaves little doubt that taurin is the ammonium of isethionic acid, and that the latter acid is to be referred to the type of four equivalents of water. Strecker’s Pose is cues by the rational equation OE Bs 0:—2HO= Oitt io NO-+LHO. NH Choleic acid may be egeitied: as an in which an equivalent ‘of hydrogen in the ammonium is replaced by an equivalent of the radical of Becleie acid. Its formula upon this view is S204 vo C1Hs {0-H C4sH2508 4 It must be remarked however that this formula contains one equivalent of water less than that deduced by Strecker from his analyses. Assuming it to be correct, it shows that there exists the same relation. between ee and choleic acid as beta Ee eT a ee 5 3 ao =e oO c | | @ ss ha] = oO Aut 3 Rr = ae °Q "$9 ne rc © "hy R - E a cumstances, Should this result be obtained it would show that the kidneys are capable of producing under certain circumstances a true biliary secretion. Asparagin.—The formula of this body may be reduced to the type of two equivalents of oxyd of ammonium, but the data for | determining the particular character of the radicals replacing pean gee are not at present sufficient. I shall therefore eontent myself with suggesting that asparagin may have the formula x | C2HO2. CoH. He } 02, n4 C2HO2. 2H. He t — oe ve los mi relations to ayooet are obvious. It may also e referr e same type by supposing that it contains gly- oxal, the formula being th .S PY SEPP ioe wes N } Ci02.H: | 02, Nj O:H202, He a a views will be discussed more fully in speaking of malic * Since the above was written, I have made the experiment in question and with complete success, obtaining isethionate of Poteet the action of nitrite of upon taurin dissolved i in dilate nitric acid.—w, wae ie W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds. 31 equivalents of these bodies are high, and as they contain more m one equivalent of nitrogen, they may perhaps be referred to the type of two or four equivalents of oxyd of ammonium or its hydrate. Another view which may be taken is that they contain, as substitutes for hydrogen, amids of the type N it : each such amid replacing a single equivalent of hydrogen. In this manner they may possibly be reduced to the type of one equivalent of oxyd of ammonium. Thus a body containing four equivalents of nitrogen may be represented by the formula ‘ NY2 N 4 Nz ¢ OHO. v small quantities of sulphur ‘and phosphorus which they always l fue bumen of white of eggs are nearly represented by the empir- cal formula* ‘ Cx2H2:N 1010, Theory. * Scheerer found Carbon, 543 §4°5 Hydrogen, se ab Nitrogen, 1 it 7 ae 32 W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds. Lai Upon the view above taken that albumen is reducible to the | type of hydrate of oxyd of ammonium in which hydrogen is | partially replaced by certain amids, we may assign to it the — ormula | . N.H.CeHu02 a i N.H.CsH302 0+ HO=C22HaiN +O. C2HO2 T again observe that I bring forward this formula simply as an illustration of a particular view, and not as a definite expression for the constitution of albumen. Speculations of this kind are not without value, since it is, to say the least, possible that all the crystalline nitrogenous vegetable and animal products are re- ducible to the same general type of two or more equivalents of water in which hydrogen is more or less completely replaced by complex ammonium molecules. I will even venture to hazard N.H.OuHs502 N cule taking the place of the oxygen displaced. If we admit that : oxygen and nitrogen replace eac other in the manner supposed, jong to the same type. Substitutions of oxygen for nitrogen sometimes occur, as in the conversion of acetonitril into acetic acid, since we have C+HsN-+-3HO=01H:03-+-N Hs, W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds. 38 82. > The views above developed have led me to the consideration of the rational constitution of certain organic acids, some of whic . have been already mentioned. In en eavoring to establish the from the products of its decomposition, and not merely from the number of equivalents of replaceable hydrogen which it con- tains. Thus the empirical formula of lactic acid is CoHeOc, and as the acid with this forthula is monobasic, it is usually reduced to the type of two equivalents of water, CsH504 H ' 03, the compound CeHsO. being considered as having the value _ of one equivalent of hydrogen. eae _T have endeavored to show that, inasmuch as lactic acid is de- rived from alanin by the replacement of Os by N, and separa- tion of an equivalent-.of water, the true type is that of four equivalents of water, the rational formula being O1H302 C2 0:, H and upon this view I have endeavored to Re the difference etween the lactic acid derived from flesh and that formed in the fermentation of sugar, this difference being explained not by the assumption of two isomeric radicals, CcHsOs, but by an actual - ' difference in the structure of the acid. I haye su also | that there may be a species of glycosin having the formula yf OHS born. In this case there must also be a body isomeric with alanin, and aving the formula y { OFS |o+Ho, Supposing of course that the two radicals which I have assumed ethyl correspond rol ly upon the supposition BP ponds to four volumes only up ‘that the acid is monobasic. The rational formula above pro- _ SECOND SERIES, VOL. XXV, NO. 18.—JAN., 1858. 5 34 W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds. posed contains two equivalents of free hydrogen, and it would therefore appear that lactic acid, even upon my view, should be bibasic. Ihave already stated that—as an empirical result— when an acid belonging to the type of four equivalents of water is derived from an ammonium or its hydrated oxyd, it is only the last equivalent of hydrogen which is replaceable by another radical to form a salt. ‘There must be a reason for this, and per- haps either or both of the following may be satisfactory. : the first place it appears probable that in all the salts of ammonium the fourth equivalent of hydrogen is differently com- bined from the other three, and if this view be correct it is réa- sonable to suppose that this peculiarity will exist also in the acids which are derived from ammoniums. Again it may be | that in glycosin, alanin, &c., and therefore in the acids derived from them, the two molecules constituting the aldehyds from which these bodies are derived, enter in connection and not sepa- rately, as I have all along represented them in the present paper. Thus alanin may be CiH302.H C2 0O+H0. } . | . In which case the lactic acid derived from it will be - ‘ C1H302. A t OsH } Os, | and it is easy to see from this formula that there will be but one _ equivalent of replaceable hydrogen in the acid. This latter view is perhaps supported by the mode of formation of acetoni¢ acid which Stiadeler obtained by digesting acetone with hear t dric and chlorhydric acids, and which has the empirical formula CeHsOc. Its rational formula upon the above view will be CsH302.C2H3 C2H } 01. H ae My reason for not adopting in the outset the slight modification — of the rational formulas just proposed is to be found in the fact that in glycosin, alanin and their congeners one equivalent of hydrogen—the last but one—is replaceable by an equivalent of silver or another metal. If now we suppose that these bodies — contain aldehyds, we must admit that it is in each case the hy- — drogen molecule of the aldehyd which is replaced by the metal, — or that there are compounds like CsH3O2. Ag, which is not sup —_ by any experimental evidence. The point is after all of | ut little importance, and does not affect the theory in any essen” tial particular. The so-called anhydrous lactic acid which has — the empirical formula CcoHsOs may be reduced—after Gounlie a its equivalent—to the type of siz equivalents of water, and wil then have the rational formula & W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds. 35 C+H302.H C2H ( , C1H302. H ae Ceo : Lactid, CcoHsO4, may be reduced to the type of two equivalents of water, and is rationally C+H302 } G, C2H jy ~~ to lactamic acid. a ; Malic acid—Some idea of the rational constitution of malic acid may be obtained from an attentive consideration of the pro- ducts of its decomposition. Caustic potash at a high tempera- ture converts the acid into oxalie and acetic acids, two equiva- lents of oxygen being required for the oxydation, since we have the equation OsHeOw-+-20 =01H101+-0:H208. Bromine decomposes the acid with formation of bromoform. According to Vauquelin, nitric acid converts it into oxalic acid. A ak acid gently heated with the acid yields carbonic oxyd and, according to Liebig, acetic acid. Finally, a mixture of sul- phuric acid and bichromate of potash converts all the carbon into carbonic acid. I refer malic acid to the type of six equiva- lents of water, and consider it to contain either formyl and form- se or glyoxal and formyl, so that its rational formula will be either C4+H204 C2oHO2 OH O2HO2 is C2H Ha If we admit that two equivalents of formoxyl, C2HO:, may be So fused together as to form one equivalent of glyoxal, we may suppose that two of formyl, C2:H, may unite to form one equivalent of a diatomic radical having the formula CaHe. this case the rational formula of malic acid, still referred to the type of six equivalents of water, will be CiH204 (8.) CaHe ton He In his memoir on glyoxal and its derivatives, Debus has sug- gested that a relationship betweep glycolic, malic, citric, gly- oxylic and tartaric acids, may be traced by means of glyoxa Without however attemptin g in this way to express the rational 36. W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds. constitution of these acids, or in fact anything more than their ormation and modes of decomposition. Representing glyoxal CsH2Os« by the symbol gly, we have for the acids im question the following scheme. Glycolic acid, gly. H202. Glyoxylic acid, gly .O2. Malic acid, gly 2.H202. Anhyd. tartaric acid, gly 2.02 Citric acid, gly 3. H202, Debus shows further how citric, malic and glycolic acids by losing two equivalents of water form aconitic and maleic acids, _ and glyoxal. Iam disposed to go much farther and represent the rational constitution of a number of organic acids by sup- posing them to contain glyoxal or diformoxyl, and formyl or di- formyl. It appears to me that it may reasonably be doubted whether the glycolic acid obtained by the action of nitrous acid upon glycosin is identical with that which Debus obtained by boiling glyoxal with milk of lime. I mean of course here to assume that ordinary glycosin may be formed by digesting formic aldehyd, C2HO2.H, with cyanhydric and chlorhydric acids, so _ that its structure is similar to that of alanin. There may be more than one species of glycosin, one being for instance N.CeHO2,C2H . H2 Ht ¢O% while another is But bearing these distinctions in mind, I shall endeavor to give | rational formulas for certain organic acids involving as few as- sumptions as possible, and connecting those which are not ho- mologous. The formula (1.) which I have given for malic acid explains sufficiently well the products of its decomposition, since glyoxal by taking up two equivalents of hydrogen becomes — acetic acid, while the oxydation of C1H2O. or of CaH2 will § account for the formation of oxalic and carbonic acids. Maleic | and fumaric acids have the formula CsH«Os. If we suppose | that the action of heat simply splits the equivalent of glyoxal in malic acid into two equivalents of formoxyl, C2HO2, and that one eq. of formoxyl loses two eq. of oxygen, the formula | common to the two pyrogenic acids becomes a N.C#H202.H2 fe * H Oz. a 2 This formula gives no explanation of the difference between the two acids. It may be that, in one of these, two molecules 0 formyl, C2H, are united to fosma molecule of diformyl, CsH:, but further researches are necessary before any satisfactory eX- planation can be proposed. 4 RS NT FS ee eo ee W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds. 37 The formulas which I have given for malic acid lead to the conclusion that asparagin, CsHsNaQz, is referable to the type of two equivalents of oxyd of amiieibern: and it may have the rational formula C+H20s ° i ot | , Hi By the action of nitrous acid asparagin becomes which immediately splits into one equivalent of malic acid and two of water. Aspartic acid may also be reduced to the type of six equivalents of water, if, as is certainly admissible, we Suppose NH: to replace H, so that we have as the rational formula CsH204 O2H C2H }0s, NHe2 On the other hand this view does not account for the basic prop- érties of aspartic acid which, as is well known, forms definite compounds with the stronger acids. We meet here with the Same difficulty which occurs in formulating benzamic acid and many other similar bodies. Tartaric acid.—The researches of Dessaignes have shown that glyoxal is a product of the oxydation of tartaric by nitric a d, and the facility with which oxydizing agents convert tartaric acid into formic and carbonic acids has lon been known. By fusion with caustic potash tartaric acid yields acetic, oxalic, for- Siven off: this gas appears to be only an impure hydrogen. If We regard tartaric acid as bibasic I suggest that its rational ; yeh © oH ¢ % He Which places its relation to malic acid in the clearest light, and at the same time accounts for the facility with which it is decom- Posed, and for the products of its decomposition. Our knowl- edge of the modes o decomposition of pyrouvie and pyrotartaric acids is not sufficiently complete to permit us to form any idea of their rational constitution. algae : rie acid—The combinations of citric acid with ethyl and methyl] conclusively show that this acid is tribasic and that its 38 W. Gibbs on the Constitution of Organic Compounds. formula is C12HeO14. Those chemists who have endeavored to reduce it to the type of water refer it to six equivalents and represent it by the formula Ci2HsOs 12. Hs Os. I suggest that it may be referred to the type of eight equivalents of water and that its rational formula is Hs ql so that it contains the radicals of acetic and oxalic acids together — with two equivalents of formyl. The view here taken of the phuric acid disengages pure carbonic oxyd almost without the aid of heat. P I had obtained. I conclude with the expression of my conv! a tion that every complex organic molecule is built up, not directly © of the elements which it contains, but of simpler organic mole | New York, Oct. 27th, 1857, ¥ ee ee ee ee eee a e A. McMayer on Weights of Small Portions of Matter. 39 Art, IV.—The Estimation of the Weights of very small portions of Matter; by AtrRED McMayer, Professor of Physics and Chemistry in the University of Maryland. THE chemist, in the course of his analytical investigations, often meets with what are called traees of substances; y which is generally understood, quantities of matter too minute to have any appreciable weight in the analytical balance. Now it some- times happens that these traces are of as much importance con- sidered scientifically and commercially as the ingredients present i appreciable quantities; and in order to estimate these small portions of matter he is often obliged to go over his work, usin very considerable weights of substances, whereby his time I care are nearly doubled. It was this inconvenience that first in- duced me to try to determine in one operation the components peeut in large and in very minute quantities; and although I ave succeeded beyond my expectations, I am confident that the process is susceptible of improvement, both as regards sensibility and accuracy. a er making many investigations on the sensibility of the most delicate levers as to small weights, this method was found Tatus with which I have succeeded in estimating portions of matter equal in weight to the thousandth part of a milligram. Heating a rod of soft glass in one spot to bright redness, I drew it out quickly, and thereby obtained a, filament uniformly cylin- Cneal, of about the diameter of fine human hair. Taking from _ the middle of this fine glass thread a piece of such a length (about three inches) that its weight would barely reduce it from the horizontal, one end of it was fastened by means of goo Sealing wax to the edge of a Serer ar block, and the other end slightly hooked by approaching quickly a small spirit flame. In Oder to obtain a pan in which to place the substance whose Weight I would estimate, I eut with the common microscopic Section-cutter some disks of elder pith from ‘001 to ‘002 inch in thickness. and drawing out a still finer filament, the end was ewise hooked, and the other extremity being passed rer & pith disk, a small knob of glass was made on this end by the Spirit flame, just of sufficient size to prevent this disk slipping ree Be ‘% 40 A. McMayer on Weighis of Small Portions of Matter. off the suspending rod. The filament with attached disk was now hooked on the end of the rod fixed to the block, and was | then ready for graduation. a Not being able at the time to procure silver wire of sufficient — fineness, I substituted some very fine and long hair, taken from _ the head of a child; and having brought the centre of gravity | and centre of motion of a very sensitive analytical balance almost to coincide, I obtained a piece of the middle of a hair weighing exactly one-half milligram. This being divided into— five equal parts (each about one inch long) gave us tenths ot | illigram. One of these tenths being placed on the pith | pan, the glass filament was deflected a certain quantity, which © was marked on an are formed of bristol board, and so as to be almost touched by the deflected rod in its revolution about the — edge of the block. Another tenth was added and another divis: | ion obtained: and so on, until all five divisions were marked. The length of the divisions being about one-fourth of an inch, they were very readily subdivided into ten equal parts which | gave me immediately ;1,ths of a milligram. The weight of any © ‘quantity of matter less than one-half milligram may be noW | estimated to ;}5th of a milligram by placing it on the pan and — observing the deflection. 4 For the thousandths, still more care and patience is requir the filament being much finer and somewhat shorter, and the p disk smaller and as thin as possible. In order to obtain the | primary graduations of hundredths, one of the above pieces of hair equal to ;;th milligram is divided into ten equal parts, | which gives us weights of ;1;th milligram. The deflections caused by these weights, divided into ten equal parts, give 77 of a milligram. | As the least breath of air interferes with the graduations and | es the whole instrument is protected by a glass case, the end ©: rf the weight; in those of circular section this law is sligh bounded patience. From the great simplicity of the above arrangement, it see™§ very strange that some person did not long ago invent it; bw to my knowledge, it has never been attempted. Baltimore, Md., Oct. 26th, 1857, F, 1. Storer on the Carbonates of Lime and Baryta. 41 Art. V.—On the Behavior of the Carbonates of Lime and of Baryla in presence of various Saline Solutions. With remarks on the Determination of Carbonic Acid in Mineral Waters ; by Frank H. Srorer. THE object of the following article is to call attention to the very general influence which aqueous solutions of the alkaline salts, including those of ammonia, exert in preventing the pre- cipitation of the carbonates of lime and of baryta. It will more- over be shown that solutions of the hydrates of baryta and of lime when diluted with water, or with dilute solutions of the caustic alkalies, are no longer precipitated by carbonic acid gas. or convenience the latter subject will be first treate E current of carbonic acid gas passed through baryta water, diluted with two or three times its volume of water, until it was completely saturated, afforded no precipitate at any moment uring the process, nor was any produced when the excess of carbonic nai was driven off by long continued ebullition. The solution even regained its strong alkaline reaction and a precipi- tate was at once formed in it, on addition of a solution of an alkaline carbonate. If a dilute solution of caustic soda, potash, ammonia or of lime be added to the baryta water, from which the excess of carbonic acid has been driven by boiling, and the solution again boiled, a recipitate of carbonate of baryta is pro- duced ; this precipitate does not form, however, if a sufficiently ute solution of the caustic alkali has been used, unless the so- lution be heated, while that formed on addition of a solution of an alkaline carbonate falls even in the cold. There is Point where less dilute solutions of the caustic alkalies produce 3 ey in the cold when added to a solution which has ed no precipitate on boiling. It should f : of hydrate of baryta of constant strength, since at different de- Precipitate only when heated; in a solution still more diluted no loses, in great (2.) That a 42 F. Storer on the Carbonates of Lime and Baryta. forms on boiling, but if the lime water be much diluted no pre- yo oat will occur even on actual ebullition, although solutions the alkaline carbonates produce at once precipitates. ; Tf to the lime water in which carbonic acid gas has produced no precipitate even after boiling, a dilute solution of caustic — mmonia or lime be added and the mixture heated, a pre- | water which has been exposed to the air, as when kept in bottles _ with loosely fitting stoppers, affords an abundant precipitate of int the appearance of rectangular plates, while those of ear its indisposition to separate from the water. Moreo e@ actions of carbonic acid gas on solutions of caustic lime or baryta when mixed with dilute solutions of the caustie alka ‘may be mentioned here as it seems to be connected W that where water alone is present. . F. 1. Storer on the Carbonates of Lime and Baryta. 48 acid gas is passed into it, unless the solution is boiled. a water yields analogous results. If with the latter, instead of xli, 315; Brett, London and Hdin. Phil. Mag. and Journal of Science, x, 95). Solutions of the salts of potash have also been noticed to possess the Same power, though to a less degree, and I find that the salts of soda stand midway in this respect between those of ammonia and of potash, and that even chlorid of calcium exerts ore apg solvent power upon recently precipitated carbonate or lime, Soe _This solvent action may be seen by treating the recently pre- cipitated carbonate with a great excess of a solution of a any alkaline salt, but is observed more distinctly in the great on boiling, if the alkaline chlorid be present in sufficient quan- to that of the alkaline chlorids, ot so far as I have observed, @ precipitate always forms on boiling. A splation of caiptels of ammonia or of sulphate of soda, When mixed with lime water exerts an influence almost pre- cisely like that of the alkaline chlorids, carbonate of lime not being precipitated even on boiling if they are present in suffi- Clent quantity. . 4 solution of sulphate or of nitrate of potash behaves much lik on of sulphate of soda; but its influence is less strongly ~ ak 44 F. H. Storer on the Carbonates of Lime and Baryta. soda. lorid of sodium and of potassium also retard in a with equal facility by mixing their solution with that of an alka- line carbonate and adding a solution of a lime or baryta salt to — the mixture. A few examples will illustrate this point. : (1.) A solution of chlorid of calcium produces no precipitate, except on boiling, when added to a mixed solution of carbonate — of soda and sulphate of soda excepting when the carbonate 18 — in excess. In this experiment the sulphate of soda may be re — placed by any of the alkaline sulphates or chlorids. Ps (2.) A solution of;chlorid of barium produces no precipitate, except on boiling, when added to a mixed solution of carbonate of soda and chlorid of ammonium and if the latter be ) in considerable quantity there will be no precipitate even On — boiling. When the chlorid of ammonium is cectaa in smaller — uring twenty-four hours, but on being filtered and the cleat — filifate oiled, anes (4.) When a mixed solution of carbonate of soda artd nitrate of potash is quickly added, in large excess, to a small quantity — of a solution of chlorid of barium or of hydrate of baryta, 20 — immediate precipitate is produced except on boiling. ee The most remarkable solvent action which I have noticed 18 seen in the inability of the alkaline carbonates to precipitate — baryta, and especially lime, from their solutions, when added in — great excess. That such solvent power exists may be proved — by precipitating a small quantity of a salt of lime with carbon — ate o and then redissolying the precipitate in a very — great excess of the precipitant. Buta much more satisfactory — proof may be obtained by adding quickly a large excess of the — solution of the alkaline carbonate to a small portion of a dilute © solution of a lime or baryta salt; so quickly that the precipitate — Compounds with the salts of ammo Ff’. H. Storer on the Carbonates of Lime and Baryta. 45 may not have a sufficient time to form. This'is readily accom- plished by swinging rapidly the vessel containing the solution of the lime or baryta salt and suddenly turning into it the solution of the alkaline carbonate. If the solutions have been used in proper proportion no trace of a precipitate will appear, owing to the complete mixture obtained by this method of experimenting, although a fractional amount of the lime salt used would have for the carbonates of the alkaline earths is sufficient to retain the tter in solution until heat is applied. ese e well known fact that a current of carbonic acid gas pro- Auees no immediate fab ee in a solution of a salt of lime or of baryta neutralized by ammonia seems to depend on a mixed action: in part, like that previously alluded to, which prevents Nic acid gas is passed through dilute baryta water, and a on the tendency of the carbonates of lime and baryta to form the precipitation of carbonate of baryta when a current of car- bias lime may be substituted for caustic ammonia in the a mixture with like result, no precipitate appearing until after the lapse of considerable time unless the solution be heated, ‘fe action of the fixed alkali being, to all appearance, en- nia. I find that a weak solution of caustic soda, potash or tes v + 46 F. H. Storer on the Carbonates of Lime and Baryta. tirely analogous, in kind, to that of ammonia, although less in o demonstrate this it is only necessary to employ sufficiently | dilate solutions of the caustic alkalies and to pass throug! mixture a stream of carbonic acid gas diluted with air,—air ex- pired from lungs, for example,—when no immediate precipitate will be produced unless the solution be heated. Even if the so- lution of caustic ane e used in so concentrated a form (not sufficiently so however to precipitate a hydrate of the alkane tering and boiling the clear filtrate, — a copious precipi of carbonate of lime will be produced at once. This havior - is more marked with lime salts than with those of baryta, soda evidently exerts a greater influence than potash. If a solution of chlorid of sodium, of chlorid of potessliay on of chlorid of ammonium be added to the mixed solution before . carbonic acid gas the precipitation of the carbonate of or baryta is attended with still greater difficulty. Attention has been called by several hapa (among others _ a Pr Che, ii, 4405 Vogel, ibid., vi | Asa ae it has been pee, (Kolbe, loc, cit. ; Mohr, Te trirbuch, i, 110 and 113) that the solution should be boiled, in ontee to throw down all of the carbonate of lime. This would, | is true, in most cases cause the entire precipitation of the cat poe But it is possible, especially in the analysis of some i mineral waters, that alkaline salts may be present in sufficient quantity to prevent the procipuaie® of a portion of the carbon: | ate “i lime even on ebulliti be (Handwoerterbuch der Chem., 1 eaagen S, sts ——— er penasi of the pod ae of aca: of calcium or barium neutralize rie: < with a dilute solution of caustic soda or potash instead of ammo’ be On the Heights of the Tides of the Atlantic Coast. 47 of ammonia being evolved. This appears to have been over- looked by the above cited observers, but the fact can be easily proved by adapting an abduction tube to a flask containing a ART. VI—On the Heights of the Tides of the Atlantic Coast of the United States, from observations in the Coast Survey; by A. D. Bacux, Superintendent.—With a Plate. {Communicated by authority of the Treasury Department to the American Associa- tion br the Advancement of Science. been enabled to extend these results to the coasts of New Bruns- wick, Nova Scotia, and to part of Newfoundland. 48 On the Heights of the Tides of the Atlantic Coast. : The following table of stations on or near the exterior coast- line of the United States, is taken from the more cee tables — of the Coast Survey, omitting stations which are up rivers or — bays, except in special cases the object of insemiing which will — obvious. tidal station, the state to which it belongs, the latitude, the longi- Table A contains a number for reference, the locality of the | tude, and the mean height of the tide in feet and tenths. TABLE A. : Heights of Tides on the Atlantic Coast of the United States. > Y La 33 e| Zu Z| Locality.” |Stato| — = 7 nf Locality. —_|State. — aa oe ‘ Ee ||| 1/Portland,..... Me. |43/39/70)14 88; ane Y./40|38/78|13) 21 N.H.43/04'70/42 los Sands Point,. cael © (40/52/78/48) 77 Mss. 142148170152 ma 24/San k,. a0 28°74 00 8 ..| © |42/37/7040) 8-9|/95 Cold Spring Inlet, N. J.|38 677445 4 | « |42/31/70/54| 92/19 Ne May ci ccxs “ 138567457) 48 « 42/29/7103 10°0||27, Old Pt. Comfort, .| Va. 37/00,76)18) 2 ahs ek 57/70 40,101 a Hatteras Inlet, . .'N.C.)85)1275.43) 20) — “- |42/03,70)11| 9°2||29 Beaufort, ....... « |34|42 76/40) 28. 11/40.67'45, 7-0 80. Cape. Feat wewee| “ |33/52,78)00) 44 Mss. |41/33'6959) 3°8 81 Winyah Bay,....8. ©. 33 1479 8) 58 « |41 15/7000 2°2||32 Charleston, ..... « |32|46,'79)/54/ 50 “ |41/15,70.05) 1-2 88 Nth Eso iver « 139/33 80\18) 5 “ |41/177016) 2-1/|34/Port Royal,..... « 139/17 80/40) 770 “ 141)21)70 30) 1°7|/3 Sedaret Entr.. .| Ga. |32/02 8053) 7 is 1207045 2°7||86 Sapelo, ........ “ /31/21/81/24| 66 R. 1. /41/22)71'29) 3:1)/87)St. imine cous “ 131} 881 « [41/29/7120 3-9|/38 St. Mary’s River,.| “ |30|42 81/36) 59] «441 10,71 84 2'8 a9) St. yee River, .| Fla, |30|20 81/38) 46 N.Y}41 04/71, | 1-9 0 St. Augus « [99152 81/25/42) FF Ct. [41/20/71 54 23 2341 Hindlinn River Taist « /97/98 8019125) & “ 141 \42\ Cape Florida,....| “ |26 40 801091 15 | 801091 1°5 a —— table of tides of localities on the coast of Cape , by him. I have taken from his table the heights which were rived from the greatest number of observations. The column means is the average of ee heights of spring and neap tides 12 feet and tenths. The localities are arranged from the north southward on the outer coast; and in the Bay of Fundy from the entrance up t From the table of ( aptain Shortland I have selected onl few jooalities as specimens, having no wish to anticipate, throug) his pr the use which, he ‘vill doubtless make of his own * Major Graham, U.S. A. } Capt. Wilkes, U. 8. N. . £ TABLE B, Heights of Tides on the Coast of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. “a at at. | Lon.| Rise of Tide. _| s a Localities. Remarks on Localities. |~~77~ Ord. | Ord, Remarks and authorities. o} ite 9} ¢ Spring) Neap. lysean. wl llsvdof Cope Breton. ft.| in.|ft.|in.| ft, |Admiral Bayfield. | 1/St. Ann’s Harbor, .| Entrance, 46 17 60/33) 5| 0} 3) 3) 4-1 |A complete semi- lp pine Nba ts | 2/Sydney ieee . .|8. E. Bar,.. 46|12.6013) 3| 9] 2] 4) 3-4 /At full moon and a da: o before and after. * | 3)/Menadou Harbor, .|Near Scataria Island,.|46/0059'50| 5| 6] 3] 4) 4-4 |G A complete eee ntiation observed. <4 | 4\St. Peter's wee 45\36 60/49) 6) 0) 4) 0) 5-0 |At new moon and a day or ae and after. S | 5iSt. Pe eter’s Bay, ...|Haul-over at head of Good observations, four times o nibs a at the full, and twice at : Bay, <- 45/39 60/52) 5) 9) 4] 1) 4-9 oon, with several an e and after. je 6/Grandigue,....... In Lennox . | 4518 366 61/01) 6 4) 4) 6) 5-4 Ae a complete semi-lunation 0 a ay 4 Sa Harbor, . . Jerse ee pear N. port 46 30.61)03) 5) 0) 4) 0) 45 ditto. ditto, Seibcabedindie tides, rise 6 feet. cot 3 8|Canso Harbor, . ba OF * sults Is’ |45 eat 6) 6| 4| 6) 55 |A complete semi-lunation observed, but tides very irregular. ~ | 9| White Haven, ....|Mar «+ (45/15 61 : 6} 1) 4] 1) &1 JA preeplate semi-lunation observed, good observatio + 110 a Island, ,..{N. . Pet CXSG the: 5 08,61 36) 6| 6) 4| 6) 55. |A complete semi-lunation observed, extraordinary tides, rise 7 fee I 11|Liseomb Harbor,,. .| Pye’s Wharf... Cases ws 45 yok 01) 6) Ol 4! O} BO ‘aphae ater. observed at full and new moon, and several days Soe > n er, ? 12\Sheet Harbor, . - Ww eeees ake |4415 54 62 30) 6} 8} 4| 6) 5-6 Good—two complete a pee po vara |13)Pope Harbor, arbor Isd N.E.Point, “ 48.62/39) 6) 6) 4) 2) 5:3 /Three times ‘Shared at full and new m ® {14|Ship Harbor, .... Salmon Point 4147 62\49\ 6) 5| 4|10) 5:6 |Good, a complete se Apiautation, extraordinary spring-tides, rise 7 feet, : and extraordinary neaps, only 4 fe 15|Jedore Harbor, arsh Point, 44 48 63/00) 6) 6) 4| 8) 56 |Two good and comp semi suas 16) Halifax Harbor,.. ‘ ‘Noval Yard,....... -|44|40.68/35 6) 0) 4} 6) 5-2 |Mean of a complete P iw observations reared a oo gauge, y of Fundy. Captain Shortland, 17|Cape “Sable, ....../Cai ~~ Island, } Glarke's arbor,. . .|48]25 65/39/11} 6| 4i11| 8-2 18) Eenwond’s Island, Bird 43 ae cana 12) 7) 7} 0} O97 19] Yarmouth Harbor, |] our fl che se 43/47 6610\10) 9116] ol1a-8 20|Bryer’s Island,.... ’s Isd. Besibe mse 15 66 21 20) 6) 9) 314-8 21|Gampbell’s Island, heed n’s House, .....- 54 6658/25) 0111) 0118-0 ‘(22\8t. John’s, N. B... .| Battery Point eed sire 66,04'26) 8112) O19 28|Shadwood Point,.. Cumberland basta . ‘las 54 64'22|50} 0/22) 0186-0 ‘WDD IUD ay fo sapyy ay? fo sryFrazy 2y2 UQ 6h 50 Onthe Heights of the Tides of the Atlantic Coast. These numbers may be extended beyond the turn of Cape Race, _ where the coast trends to the west of north, by further results — of Admiral Bayfield, though the remarks which he makes show ~ them to be only approximate. Thus two stations on the coast — of Labrador, St. Lewis Bay in latitude 52° 19’ and longitude 55° 87’, and Henley Island in latitude 52° 00’ and longitude — 55° 53’, give each for the mean of the height of spring and neap — tides 2°3 feet. St. John’s, Newfoundland, gives 5:0 feet. Tre- 8 feet. ee ee 2 < ra) S Ss ro) |= 4g © S fu ey a ce bo (o) Se al ir (e\e) Lewd ~- Qu Sc ell hs 5 i oO [@) Lar) = oO gt. Q. ol a Qu oer = = (=) my iq?) a (qr) eb oO th pS] j= Q jam oO [@) Kr S m6, » Oo. oO ie) a fh [@>) 5 = oO 3 g 5 Nantucket Island. Next is a less regular regimen requiring & : more detailed examinati cates Cape Hatteras, and not the inlet, which was the tidal station, | as the point of least height. The physical cause of this phenome | non is well understood if it has not yet been reduced to measure. | The next curve shows us plainly the middle bay, having Hat | teras for its southwestern cape, and Smith’s Point or Weeweed@® | On the Heights of the Tides of the Atlantic Coast. 51 for its northeastern entrance. The form of the shore is less fa- at Provincetown. At Cape Ann they are nearly of this same height and increase in passing up and into the bay to 10-0 feet at on and 10-1 feet at Plymouth. The height at Newburyport is probably local, depending upon the position of the tide-gauge. ‘There is but little change from cae to Portland, and from Cape Sable to Ellenwood’s nd, ing of the waters into this greater bay? If so, why are net the heights of Cape Breton greater than those of Nova Scotia? Fundy, and the rise increases with extraordinary rapidity. Complicated character of the cotidal lines in this imme 52 On the Winds of the Western Coast of the U. States. vicinity is indicated by the chart, the lines from xi to xv hours being crowded into the very small space of a few miles on the south side of Nantucket. T'o return to the more limited scale within which our induc — crease in the height of the tide im ascending. On the contrary, in Chesapeake bay, which widens and changes direction at 4 right angle immediately from the entrance, the tides diminish in height as a general rule in going up the bay. The results of the heights of tides along the coast are very satisfactorily shown upon a model which is now before the A& sociation, for superintending the execution of which I am mm debted to Mr. Pourtales. The basis is a map of the Atlantic coast from Cape Florida to Cape Race, upon which the cotidal lines of the United States are traced. The tidal stations are — marked upon this, and rods cut to length and proportionate to the rise and fall of the tides at the several stations, are inserte¢ — in holes drilled at the station points. The steel rods refer to the heights at exterior stations and the brass rods to interior ones. Paper cut to the form of the general curve of heights, which has already been explained, and placed behind these rods, serves to show the generalizations with great distinctness. i I propose to call the bay between Cape Florida and Cape Hat — teras the Southern bay, that between Cape Hatteras and Nam — tucket the Middle bay, and that between Nantucket and Cape Sable the Eastern bay of the coast of the United States. The general figure of the coast line has of course heretofore attracted the attention of geographers. The connection with the heights of the tides could only satisfactorily be made out by sucha series of tidal observations as those embraced in the Coast Survey: _ Art. VIL—On the Winds of the Western Coast of the United States, from vations in connection with the U.S. Coast Sur — vey; by A. D. Bacus, Superintendent.—With a Plate. : {Communicated by authority of the Tr ican Asso” — ' ciation for the conan "Selence peau ‘ THE observations, of which I propose at present to commun cate the results, were made in the year 1855, in connection with © the tidal observations on the Pacific coast, at three permanent stations, Astoria, San Francisco, and San Diego. The approx mate latitude and longitude of each of the stations is as follows: — Astoria, Oregon, —_—_at. 46° 11’ N.., long. 123° 49’ W. San Francisco, California, “ 87 48 | ete bs ee San Diego, ‘ * 82:40 S347 48 On the Winds of the Western Coast of the U. States. 58 The mode of observing was that described in my paper on the winds at Cat Island, read before the Association in 1850. The observers were posted and practised together by Lieut. W. P. Trowbridge of the U.S. Corps of Engineers, under whose su- pervision the observations were made. Survey, to whose care, assiduity and knowledge I am indebted for the opportunity of presenting them. The computations and e diagrams were made by Miss Mary Thomas. ., The observations were taken three times each day, at 6 ae Table for deducing from the three daily observations the mean of the day, DIEGO. 6 SSA cal hecraa BAN FRANCISCO. SAN : — Wind. nee © Gs Wind. ~ = Wind. | g 2 <7 tach eltte eiftis eicis N.E, 6h| 6h! gh| n.& Ne | 9b| 6b| Ob} w.aw.e. | 6b) 6b) Gh % ve toMar. incl.) | 9 | 6 | 9 z 31313 z |8\|8\8 is Pr. to Sept, incl.)| 8 | 8 | 8 |8B,548.W.|9 | 6 |) 9] SRas | 9 | 6/9 8.E. 6161/6 v. 9 | 5 |10| sw.aw. [18 | 6 | 6 | 8. ) ‘ : SW. & Ww. M : : N.W. 9/619 NW, 18 | 7 |e ; NW. 8 5 7 * : a 8 13-3 oe 54 On the Winds of the Western Coast of the U. States. In this way the above table was ee which was applied to the reductions of the daily observat : From the tables of velocities in ania per hour deduced from | the observations by the method just explained, the folio ; table of quantities of wind from different directions for : QUANTITIES OF WIND. ASTORIA Month. N. | NE. E. S.E. 8. S.W. Ww. NW. January,......| 6 | 795 | 987] 150 | 824 | 2719 | 1539| .... ‘ebruary, 138 | 282 | 1623 | 295 | 3079 | 225) 850] .... farch, : 53 | 509 | 933 | 585 April, io. ce. 24/ 180] 3 282 | 1218 | 969 | 1651 | 1801 May, 102 | 105 | 186 | 536 | 1487 | 876 | 1393 une, 9 | 258 | 2104 | 2760 July, 150] 18]... +. | 688 0 | 4221 August, ....... . 6{ 12] 60{ 380] 279| 180 | 2543 September 54 102 | 872 2 431 October, ......|....| 754] 294] 2... | 1245 1} 128 | 86 I scoleees] 588 | 182) 899 | 2252 | 2927 | 9848 | 447 | December,...../....| 1535 6 | 693 | 2849 | 1 10 91 168 | 4501 | 5268 | 2676 {13347 [10461 | 9150 |14048 | SAN FRANCISCO. | Month. | N. | wee. | B. | sz. {> s. | ow.:| w. | x.w January, ...... 2302} 875 | 147 | 179 21 | 1471 | 264 | 1161 bodeee| 618} 180 8 | 147] 992/| 860} 80 March, 2 0 28} 639 | 470] 1984 | 2447 | 426 pri + 80} 78 168 | 3812 | 29999 | 4845 | 2 MPS wees bei oe meat 348 24 | 1578 | 4928 | 2580 A ae ree Oi eee 18 | 8388 | 842 ., AOR A Bere ‘ 9 | 8725 | 2020 | 3862 August, ....... lives reer Pat 2608 | 3908 | 216 ptember, baits 54 | 2588 | 4219 | 500 ctober, or ‘ 6 136 | 4396 November, .. | 630} 252 231 | 28 508 | 2056 | 222 ber,. 414| 850 18 | 652] 489 | 1290 | 1576 | 2 goltthe 4212| 1795 | 238 | 2773 | 1889 |38160 [84947 | 8214 SAN DIEGO. 2 Month. N.{ NE E S.Es 8. s.w.| W. | N.W. af pee anuary,......| 91] 147 45 | 481] 818] 884] 6438] 987 February, ..... 48 07 | 1291 | 7771 688 78 | 2461 bees 284 114] 114] 1095 | 726} 912] 1194) 3219 Apak: ...¢,..i| TOy ig 900 | 1019 | 798} 810! 250 fan 15 24 57 | 3896 | 8384/1296] 930 | 2296 une, 2} «648 66 | 1100 | 82 882} 892 | 2145 A ee oe 39} 192 16 | 285 | 1320} 607] 120 | 4066 Avpeat, 6 05 <7. 48) 79 ee 8} 595| 690 | 8828 September, 48} 186) 89 54 | 265] 838] 496 | 2418 October, ..,.. <1 42 168 21 3 132] 186| 254 | 2411 14 November ..... 108} 93 | 240] 231) 542] 198 | 1226 | 2638) — I 14 24] 162] 845| 686| 528| 764 bi 1314] 1282 | 742 | 6094 | 7382 | 7914! 6808 (98311 | On the Winds of the Western Coast of the U. States. 55 _ From this table the diagrams representing the quantities for each month from each direction (figs. Nos en, and also those showing the total annual quantities of wind from each direction, and the total quantity of wind from all directions for each month (figs. Nos. 16 and 17). It seems to me altogether probable from the study of the fig- ures of these tables, that the scale adopted by the observer at San Francisco is greater than that at the two other points. . total quantities at Astoria, San Francisco and San Diego are as 59, 87, and 60, and it is hardly probable that there is so large an excess of quantity at San Francisco. I have also the same Temark to make as on the observations at Cat Island, on the ab- Sence of observations upon the intermediate points between the cardinal ones, showing the tendency to designate the winds only by the cardinal points. From these diagrams we see at once the simple general regi- men of the winds on this coast. : 1. The great prevalence of westerly winds, representing a flow of the air at the surface from the ocean in u 2. The general absence of easterly winds, showing the absence of a return current at the surface. ce Te ge = The proportion of westerly to easterly winds is as 8 tol. 8. The increase of westerly winds in the summer and their decrease in the winter. Ee Pg That when easterly winds blow at all, it is as a rule during € winter. : _ 5. The N., N.E., and E. winds blow more frequently in the morning than in the afternoon hours. _ 6. The S.E., S., and S.W. winds are in general pretty equally distributed over the morning and evening hours. 7. The N.W. is the prevailing direction of the ordinary sea breeze at Astoria and San Diego, and the W. at San Francisco. Sometimes the W. wind has that character at the first named Stations and sometimes the S.W. wind at the last named. _ A closer inspection of the same diagrams will lead to other interesting results. 56 On the Winds of the Western Coast of the U. States. es with that of the other spaces. All show the same defi ciency of easterly winds, and San Francisco is deficient also in southerly ones. The monthly curves grouped in two periods, from November — to March, both included, and from April to October (figs. Nos. 14 and 15) show that the annual curve has the summer type im- pressed upon it. The summer is in fact the windy part of the ear. The N.W. wind prevails in August at Astoria and San iego, and the W. and 8.W. at San Francisco. The scale of diagram No. 14 is less than that of 15 in the roportion of 10 to 14. There is scarcely any wind from points — fiatirecs North, around by East and South. The form of the rose is exceedingly simple and the generalization very obvious. — The winter system is less simple. The axes of the spaces for Astoria and San Diego make angles of more than 110° with each other. The N.E., E.,S., and S.W. winds are considerable at Astoria, and the N.W. wind is deficient. At San Francisco the W. winds give the prominent feature to the rose curve. ee As the winter is not the windy season, so the months of March and September are not the windy months. On the contrary, July is one of the windiest months of the year. oy SAN FRANCISCO. At San Francisco the great current of air flowing from the sea to the land comes generally from the W. or 8.W., rarely from the N.W. In the period from November to March inclusive, (diagram No. 14,) the W. is the prevailing wind, exceeding in ques both the others, the S.W. wind exceeding in quantity the N.W-— In oo from April to October (diagram No. 15) the W- and 8.W. winds are nearly equal, and each exceeds the N.W- The W. wind has in general the features attributed to the se breeze, beginning after the rising of the sun, increasing unt! — after the cic on ai of the day, and dying out or much dimm — ishing at nigh : The W. and S.W. winds give the prominent features to the a cisco ceeded by an easterly land breeze—but rising and falling. The rose curves for May and August resemble each other, the N.W. | On the Winds of the Western Coast of the U. States. 57 October, November, and December to January. The N.W. wind increases again from April towards December, and is ver small in October and November. The S.W. wind disappears in October, changing the form of the rose curve, but rea pearing in November and December and increasing towards anuary. The W. wind has a maximum in April and May and another in September and October, the minima being July and January. The N. wind in December, January and February, reaching a maximum in January, is the only other point to be noticed for San Francisco, partaking with the other places in the general ab- sence of easterly winds. The fables show a little in the winter. There is also but little S. wind there, ASTORIA AND SAN DIEGO. In general the winds at these two places resemble each other more than those at San Francisco do either. The rose curves for April, May, June, July and August (Nos. 4 to 8) have the Same general character. ‘The mean curve for the year (No. 13) and for the summer period (No. 15) have also the same general character, The N.W. wind is the summer wind and has the characteris- ties of the sea breeze, but there is no return land breeze. The -W. wind reaches a maximum in July and a mininum in De- cember. It is the great prevailing wind of the year (diagram No. 13) at San Diego. As it decreases it is generally replaced y W. and S.W. winds of less quantity. In December the quantities of the three winds are nearly equal. sone The resemblance of these winds at San Diego and Astoria is Temarkable, the remarks just made applying generally to both places. There is, however, much less N.W. wind at Astoria than at San Diego. Except in June, pt 5 and August there is Some S. wind each month at Astoria, and especially from Sep- tember through October, November, December and February, it Tesents a marked feature of the rose. At San Diego this is re ered, the two agreeing most nearly in quantity in March, and May. ‘The S.E. ae is a distinct feature in both places in February and March, and at San Diego in April and June. e KE. wind is prominent at Astoria in January, February and March, and the N.E. from October to January inelusive. Astoria has the most easterly wind, the N.E. beginning in Oc- tober and blowing until February, and being replaced by the E. wind in March, | sei SECOND SERIES, VOL, XXV, NO. 73.—JAN., 1888. 8 58 On the Measurement of a Base on Epping Plains. Art. VIII.—Notes on the Measurement of a Base for the primary triangulation of the Eastern Section of the Coast of the United States, on Epping Plains, Maine; by A. D. Bacus, Superin- tendent U.S. Coast Survey.—With a Plate. {Communicated by authority of the Treasury Department to the American Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science. THE reconnoissance for a base of verification at the eastern extremity of the primary triangulation in Section I of the coast as commenced by Charles O. Boutelle, Esq., and Major Henry Prince, U. S. A., Assistants in the Coast Survey, in 18538 and continued through 1854 and 1855. The absence of long and Major Prince being relieved from the survey, the final minute — examination of the site and the determination of the best line which could be obtained on the plain, devolved upon Assistant Boutelle, who was assisted at different times by Sub-Assistant J. A. Sullivan, Lieut. J. C. Clark, U.S. A., and Mr. F. P. Webber. Epping Plains, or “ Barrens,” as they are called, lie betwee the Narraguagus and Pleasant rivers. They present a m rately rolling surface of sand, generally destitute of trees, except in the lower and swampy parts, and are traversed by sand midges” of different elevations, resembling very much the surface whicd — the sounding line develops, in such regions as the Nantucket shoals, at present below the surface of the water. The plain is quite elevated and falls suddenly from an irregt cats curved margin, by a steep slope to a lower plain or wide — Vv alley. _ Portions of the plain are strewed with boulders of various sizes, some of them containing not less than 4000 cubic feet, and of various granitic materials. Schoodiac Hill was found to limit the position of the base, so that the problem became to draw the” longest line through a point at the a of that hill, the ends of which would be easily visible from the secondary and primaly * stations. Before the final selection of the line a topographical survey — was made under the direction of Assistant C. O. Boutelle, bY . to break them ys rr ‘ On the Measurement of a Base on Epping Plains. 59 Sub-assistant J. A. Sullivan and Mr. Webber, and the profile was studied upon a sketch of the plain made by Lieut. Clark. In 1856 I examined the site, and took steps to obtain the necessary estimates of the cost of preparing it for measurement. The profile of the line as graded gives a good general idea of = — as it varied but little from the natural profile. (See tc etch. The whole length of the line is about 8719 meters or 5°4 miles. Its general direction is E. 16° S. (true bearing.) From the eastern end for about four miles the plain is quite level, rising in the first mile pretty regularly about fifteen feet, escending nearly as much in the next to rise by the same quan- ¥ in the third mile. It then runs along an elevated level for aiourth of a mile and descends gradually to the rougher part of the base which is included between the 3% miles from the east end and the western end of the base. This line was skillfully graded by Mr. Boutelle, so as to follow the natural surface when the grade did not run above three de- grees, and to give as long slopes as possible of the same grade for the convenience of measuring. (See sketch.) As it was found more economical to make the temporary embankments than to excavate, a profile giving a considerable excess of embankment was selecte ; _This was executed in the cheapest way which would give sta- bility for the time during which it was required to stand. The east width was twelve feet, of which nine feet was on the south and three feet on the north side of the line to be measured. Th was very carefully aligned. High signals were placed over the termini which are inter-visible. On the Schoodiac a signal of moderate elevation is visible from both, and the distances be- tween this point and the termini were gradually subdivided, until the smallest limit, the distance easily reached by a small transit, was obtained. : , : he verification of the alignment at different points of the Measurement when the seeing was good was complete. Tn all these preliminary operations Mr. Boutelle was assisted by Sub-assistant J. A. Sullivan and Mr. Webber. iS grading partly consisted of the farmers and lumbermen of the district who served with great cheerfulness and skill in the use of the heavy implements for rough grading. One of the Sreatest difficulties was the removal of such boulders as were in the line, many of them being of such size as to require blasting : , and some being actually removed to the re- quired distance from the line by heavy blasts. The signals erected at the two ends are very substantial, each forty-three feet in height to the top of the tripod and fifty-three %© the cone which surmounts them. 3 60 On the Measurement of a Base on Epping Plains. traverses and which determines the length of the oh ag eg i i i . W. Dean, divided. : The usual comparisons of the apparatus with the standard six metre bar, were made before and after the measurement to ascer- tain that no change had taken place in the length from damage by transportation, and to add to the results of former comparisons. [he measurement was begun at the west end of the line on ~ Saturday the 18th of July, but the next week proved so rainy that it was only resumed in earnest on Monday the 27th. ae The work of the first Saturday (24 tubes) was remeasured on’ — the following Monday with precisely the same result as to length, — the end of the second measurement falling on the marks which | had been hao as terminating the first, and which were fine dots _ upon the head of a copper nail, placed in a stake some eighteen inches in length driven into the ground until its head just pro- — jected above the surface. The position of the mark was deter mined and verified, as all others of the sort in our measurements, by using a transit placed at right angles to the line and at& moderate distance from it. is was on a descending slope OF the strongest grade adopted and there was a difference of tem- | perature of some five degrees in the two measurements. oe On Tuesday a length of eighteen tubes, which had been meas: ured on Monday was remeasured with an identical result. This | was on an ascending slope. On Monday the work was in part | reaching the east end of the base on Monday evening. Thu ype in the broken days, 5:4 miles were measured in eight ays. This time included the marking of five permanent points neat to the ends of the successive miles, where stone posts have since | been placed. The ends of the base will be marked by regular | monuments. The base of the monument at the west end iscut | from the ledge of rocks upon which the signal stands. sy On the Measurement of a Base on Epping Plains. 61 By the kindness of Prof. Fairman Rogers I have been enabled to collect approximately some of ew statistics of the measure- comparison with the other five Coast Stace bases which I have measured. EPPING BASE.—TABLE I, Whole length of base i in tubes, —- - 1453 metres, - - - §8718m iaaees added at east Se making - - 8719™4245 or 28,607 feet, or about 5-4 m Diff. of level between ene aa sia ees: - 104 ft. nearly. Mean level of Base above n tide, 257 ft. or 7843 Approx. corr. - ite uction rs ah level of the sea, - 010714422 or 4 inches No. of tubes inclined, - ae re 643 “evel, - - §810 Ratio of tubes juiclined to whole number, - 0°442 nearly. level - - 0°55 Gieetion ra versed sine te hak base, - 28038437 _ or 9-2 ft. to be subtracted, *j Maximum inclination, 8° 14’ Somber inclined. Number of tubes inclined, 8° andover 31 0-048 305.4 * Bea 0°364 “ «“ “ “ “ é“ "9 0123 Pater @ ooo ¥. 3054 “5190 0°186 “ “ PN Sats 1 & “« 110 O171 bad & «& “ 0 30 * een 0-032 “ “ « “ 48 s ON 643 me day’s work si, ao 1:05 mile in 11 10™ working time. ‘Averaging 1 tube in 2 Greatest number in one oo 37, or 1™ 378 for each tube. Tk TABLE II __ Comparative Table of the Measurements of sir U. S. Coast Rie Bases. os he treraeadicdaeral. ered Dauphine | Bodies ; Edisto | Key Epping Island. | Island. iat Biscay ne Selle, Plains. Whole No. of tubes measured,| 1777 | 1807 | 1787 | 965 | 1072 | 1458 “days 10 B " holies seg ee 143) 17"1814.08"/97: 2866: 31”| 46% 26" [69° 43” a tubes level, 961 | 1496 | 862 | 473 | 994 | 810 a inclined, gi6 | 811 | 925 | 492 ae | 648 "AE oth of working dy. Sn 25m 7Ts| 8407") Th 80”| 7A 23715448" 18*|104 07” — of one sabe, bm 821 9m 542| Bm 29s| 4m 207} 2m Ble | 2m 588 in of tubes per day, | 1045 | 1807 | 1875 | 1072 | 184 | 1816 “ No.of tubes ped’ ay of 9 $i, 1080 | 197°9 | 1659] 1800|, 2000 | 1872 hour. 1185 | 2198 1840) 1440) 2247 | 208 | Ps inna, 17°6 | 1671 | 24%5°] B1'0 | 12/0 {1° 58) 2 iia + & 16 “ of greatest vile inclin, 40'8 geet | 65"4 | 5870. | 14’0 2° §2' “ 4 2s 62 Influence of Musical Sounds on a Jet of Coal-gas. The photographs of the apparatus and operations which I sub- mit to the Association, were taken by Mr. Black, of the firm of Whipple and Black, Boston, who exerted himself especially in the matter and succeeded, under many disadvantages, from va- riable weather and the roughness of field arrangements for pho- tography, in making satisfactory representations, | he views of the apparatus and operations (see Plate) in- clude the placing of the apparatus over a mark, the aligning, the setting of the trestles in advance of the measurement, t shows the topographical features of the ground, and another gives the profile of the base as graded for measurement. Art. IX.—On the Influence of Musical Sounds on the Flame ofa Jet of Coal-gas ; by JoHN LeConte, M.D., Professor of Natu: — ral Philosophy in the South Carolina College. oe sHort time after reading Prof. John Tyndall’s excellent at ticle ‘‘On the Sounds produced by the Combustion of Gases in entertainment. Three instruments were employed in the : tM ee from the brick wall near the piano. Both of them | urnt with remarkable steadiness, the windows being closed and man might have seen the harmony. As the evening advanced, an¢ the diminished consumption of gas in the city increased the pre’ — sure, the phenomenon became more conspicuous. The jumping — of the flame gradually increased—became somewhat irregulat— — and finally it began to flare continuously, emitting the character” — istic sound indicating the escape of a greater amount of gas tha? = * Vide Philosophical Magazine, 4th Series, vol. xiii, p. 473, 1857. a pia ce ga ors Influence of Musical Sounds on a Jet of Coal-gas. 68 ing j submitted to an experimental test. Fe de As in Prof. Tyndall’s experiments on the jet of gas burning ‘ With regard to the mode in which the sounds are produced oe combustion of gases in tubes, it is universally admitted, that the explanation given by’Prof. Faraday in 1818 is essentially Correct. It is well known that he referred these sounds to the Successive explosions produced by the periodic combination of ’e Atmospheric oxygen with the issuing jet of gas. While ing Prof. J. Plateau’s admirable researches (third series) on 9 a lheory of the modifications experienced by Jets of Liquid Suing from circular orifices when exposed to the influence of ph menon which had fallen under my obse ation, was nothing y observ : More than a particular case of the effects of sounds on all kinds . Philosophical Magazine, 4th series, vol. xiv, p. 1 et seq., July, 1857. s = , 9 *., this first impre jet b, The note which produces the » greaiest shortening of the con 64 Influence of Musical Sounds on a Jet of Coal-gas. of fiuid jets. ince reflection has only served to fortify. | The Scie. enacasen of Felix Savart on the jnfluence i of sounds on jets of water, afford results presenting so many — points of analogy with their effects on the jet of burning gas, that it may be well to inquire whether both of them may ‘be Te: ferred toa common cause. In order to place this in a otra light, I shall subjoin some of the results of Savart’s experim Vertically descending jets of water ragelg the following modi cations under the influence of vibratio € continuous portions peso shortened ; the vein. re | solves itself into separate orp neat er the orifice, than when i : under ~ influence of vibratio ; of the masses, as ‘dio, detach themselves from the ex: _ tremity ee the continuous part, becomes flattened iors in a vertical and horizontal direction, presenting to the eye, under the influence a their translatory motion, regularly disp ose ] series of maxima and minima of thickness, or ventral segments ’ and nodes. : 8. The donegone modifications become much more developed and regular, when a note, in unison with that which would be — pr by e against a stretched membrane, is sounded in its neighborhood. © ‘The continuous part becomes considerably shortened, and the ventral segments are enlarged. 4, When the note of the instrument is almost in unison, the peonucts part of the jet is alternately lengthened and short. ened, and the beats which manage with these variations i Saath can be recognized by the ear. : 5. Other tones act with ath energy on the jet, and some pro ql duce no sensible effect. 13 ema jet is made to ascend obliquely, so that the discontim ee appears scattered into a kind of sheaf in the same vé tical ote M. Savart found :— hat under the influence of vibrations of a determinat period, this sheaf may form itself mto two distinct jets, each pos sessing regularly disposed ventral segments and nodes; some times, “with a different note, the sheaf becomes replaced by inne tinuous part, always reduces the whole to a single resenting : a perfectly regular system of ventral segments wate ac aa m the dast memoir of M. Savart—a posthumous one—pre sented to the Academy of Sciences of Paris by M. Arago @ 1853,* several remarkable acoustic phenomena are noticed in ven comptes Rendus for August 1858. Also Phil. Mag, 4th series, vol. vii, p. 186, ee ‘ : e . Influence of Musical Sounds on a Jet of Coal-gas, 65 te relation to the musical tones produced by the efflux of liquids through short tubes. en certain precautions and conditions are observed (which are minutely detailed by this able experi- mentalist), the discharge of the liquid gives rise to a succession of musical tones of great intensity and of a peculiar quality, some- what analogous to that of the human voice. That these notes were not produced by the descending drops of the liquid vein, was proved by permitting it to discharge itself into a vessel of water, while the orifice was below the surface of the latter. In this case, the jet of liquid must have been continuous, but never- theless the notes were produced. These unexpected results have been entirely confirmed by the more recent experiments of P’ Tyndall.* According to the researches of M. Plateau, all of the phe- homena of the influence of vibrations on jets of liquid, are re- ferable to the conflict between the vibrations and the forces of Sigure (* forces Jiguratrices”). If the physical fact is admitted,— and it seems to be indisputable,—that a liquid cylinder attains a limit of stability when the proportion between its length and its lameter is in the ratio of twenty-two to seven, it is almost a physical necessity that the jet should assume the constitution indi- cated by the observations of Savart. It likewise seems highly of all kinds of vibrations. It must be confessed, however, that Plateau’s beautiful and coherent theory does not appear to em- race Savart’s last experiment, in which the musical tones were roduced by a jet of water issuing under the surface of the same ‘quid, It is rather difficult to imagine what ageney the “forces of figure” could have, under such circumstances, mm the pro- duction of the phenomenon. This curious experiment tends to _ corroborate Savart’s original idea, that the vibrations which produce the sounds must take place in the glass reservoir itself, he that the cause must be inherent in the phenomenon of the ow. To apply the principles of Plateau’s theory to gaseous jets, we molecu- the law of Mariotte and of Gay-Lussac,—especially in the case ee + Regnault —clearly prove, that the hypothesis of the non- existence of cohesion in aeriform bodies is fallacious? Do not : the expanding rings which ascend when a bubble of phosphu- * Philosophical Magazine, 4th series, vol. viii, p. 74, 1854. ts _ SECOND SERIES, VOL. XXV, NO. 73.—JAN., 1888. * 66 Influence of Musical Sounds on a Jet of Coal-gas. retted hydrogen takes fire in the air, indicate the existence of some cohesive force in the gaseous product of combustion (aque ous vapor), whose outlines are marked by the opake phosphorie — acid? In short, does not the very form of the flame of a “‘fish- tail” burner demonstrate that cohesion must exist among the pat- _ ticles of the issuing gas? It is well known that, in this burner, — the single jet which issues is formed by the union of two oblique jets immediately before the gas is emitted. The result is a per pendicular sheet of flame. How is such a result produced by the mutual action of two jets, unless the force of cohesion is brought — into play? Is it not obvious, that such a fan-like flame must be — produced by the same causes as those varied and beautiful forms — of aqueous sheets developed by the mutual action of jets of water, so strikingly exhibited in the experiments of Savart and — of Magnus? If it be granted that gases possess molecular cohesion, it seems to be physically certain, that jets of gas must be subject to same laws as those of liquid. Vibratory movements excited i the neighborheod, ought, therefore, to produce modifications m them analogous to those recorded by M. Savart in relation to jets” of water. Flame or incandescent gas presents gaseous matter in our ideas in relation to the agency of tubes in developing musical — sounds by means of burning jets of gas? Must we not upon all burning jets,—as in the case of water-jets,—as mus inclined ; and that the use of tubes merely places them in a C0 dition favorable for developing the tones? It is well known, that burning jets frequently emit a singing sound when they are pe fectly free. Are these sounds produced by successive explosiol> analogous to those which take place in glass tubes? It is vey rtain, that under the influence of molecular forces, any cause which tends to elongate the flame, without affecting the velocity J. G. Barnard on the Motion of the Gyroscope. 67 of a moving mirror, an indication that the flame became discon- tinuous, precisely as the continuous part of a jet of water becomes shoriened, and resolved into isolated drops, under the influence of Sonorous pulsations? But I forbear enlarging on this very in- teresting subject, inasmuch as the accomplished physicist last named, has promised to examine it at a future period. In the hands of so sagacious a philosopher, we may anticipate a most searching investigation of the phenomena in all their relations. In the mean time, I wish to call the attention of men of science to the view presented in this article, in so far as it groups to- gether several classes of phenomena under one head, and may be considered a partial generalization. Columbia, South Carolina, Oct., 1857. ART. X.—On the Motion of the Gyroscope as modified by the retarding forces of friction and the resistance of the air: with a brief analysis of the “ Top;” by Maj. J. G. Barnarp, A. M., Corps of Engineers, U.S. A. the direction and velocity of this gyration are determined by the direction and velocity of axial rotation and the distance of the Center of gravity of the figure from the point of support, and that the remarkable phenomenon exhibited by the gyroscope is but a particular case dae to a very high velocity of axial rotation, ch general laws of motion of such a body as describ ‘that of the gyroscope in the other, and that intermediate between 68 J. G. Barnard on the Motion of the Gyroscope. these two extreme cases (for moderate rotary velocities) the un- | dulations of the axis, will be large and sensible. : I have likewise shown that whenever, to the axis of a rotating solid, an angular velocity is imparted, a force which I have — called “ the dejlecting force” acting perpendicular to the plane of — motion of that axis, is developed, whose intensity is proportional to this angular velocity, and likewise to the rotary velocity of the body; and that it is this deflecting force which is the imme- diate sustaining agent, in the gyroscope In the above deductions of analysis is found the full and com- plete solution of the “self-sustaining power of the gyroscope.” make the character of the motion indicated by analysis, — sensible to the eye, it is only necessary to attach to the ordinary | gyroscope, in the prolongation of the axis, an arm of five or six — inches in length, and having an universal joint at its extremity, and to swing the instrument as a pendulum; or, the extremity — of an arm of such a length may be rested in the usual way, — upon the point of the standard, when, with the centre of gyra- _ tion removed at so great a distance from the point of support, — the undulatory motion becomes very evident. _ But it cannot fail to be observed that the motion preserves — this peculiar feature but for a very short period. The undula- — tions speedily disappear; instead of periodical moments of rest — (which the theory requires at each cusp) the gyratory velocity — becomes continuous, and nearly uniform and horizontal; andit | increases as the axis (owing to the retarding influences of friction | and the resistance of the air) slowly falls. In short, the axis — soon seems to move upon a descending spiral described about a — vertical through the point of support. eo. The experimental gyroscope, in its simplest form consists of — two distinct masses, the rotating disk, and the mounting (or ring — in which the disk turns). The point of support in the latter, — though it gives free motion about a vertical axis, constrains more or less, the motion of the combined mass about any other — The rotating disk turns at the extremities of its axle, upod — points or surfaces in the mass of the mounting, with friction ; it is rare, too, that the point of support, of the mounting, is ag justed in the exact prolongation of the axis of the disk. Without attempting to subject to analysis causes so difficult — _ to grasp as these, I shall first attempt to show, by general con siderations, what would be the immediate influence of the Te — tarding forces of friction and the resistance of the air upon our theoretical solid; and then point out the further effect due to the discrepancies of figure, above indicated. Leaving out of con sideration the minute effect of friction at the point of support these forces exert their influence, mainly in retarding the rolary velocity of the disk. Friction—at the extremities of the axle . ie. ae, fs: neous diminution, and remained constant through another undulation, a curve, of larger amplitude and sagitta a/b’a” would be de- scribed, and the axis would again rise to its original elevation @’’, and again be brought to Test, e might then, on casual considera- tion of the subject, expect to see the undula- tions become more and more sensible as the oing Se gradual diminution between a and a’. the axis up to the theoretical curve aba’, but alower curve a b,a, is described ; €culmination a, is reached, it is below the orginal elevation a’. ut the 2d of our general equations for the 8¥toscope (4), [afterwards put under the sim- ple form eq. (f) V,? 29 h] which is inde- Pendent of n, shows that the angular velocity Of the axis will always be that due to its actual fet = h below the initial elevation. On reaching ie culmination a, therefore, the axis will not come to rest, but will have a horizontal veloc- Pel due to the fall a’a,, and the curve will not nt & cusp but an injlexion at a,. a ¢ axis will commence its second descent, cole tefore, with an initial horizontal velocity. “will not descend as much as it would have J. G. Barnard on the Motion of the Gyroscope. -” Pin) - - - - se eas a en ae ot 70 J. G. Barnard on the Motion of the Gyroscope. done had it started /rom rest with its diminished value of n; and, for the same reason as before, will not be able to rise again as high as its starting point a, but to a somewhat lower oint @, and with an increased horizontal velocity. These im crements of horizontal velocity will constantly ensue as the cul- minations become lower and lower, while on the other hand, the — ha become less and less marked, as indicated by the — gure. I have stated in my former paper (p. 71) that a certain iniiial — horizontal angular velocity such as would “ make its correspond: ing deflecting force equal to the component of gravity, g sin 4 would cause a horizontal motion without undulation.” This — horizontal velocity is rapidly attained through the agencies just described: or, at least, nearly approximated to, and the axis, a8 _ observation shows, soon acquires a continuous and uniform hort — zontal motion. Be On the other hand, this sustaining power being ere pro- portional to the rotary velocity of the disk, as well as to the ai gular velocity of the axis, diminishes with the former, and asi diminishes, the axis must descend, acquiring angular velocity due to the ea of fall: hence the rapid gyration and the de scending spiral motion which accompanies the loss of rotary velocity. the living force generated by gravity be directly el the height of fall, and involves as a corollary that t * The first of these equations (as I have remarked in a note to p. 59) is the pression of another fundamental principle—more usually called the “ principle | areas. : : J. G. Barnard on the Motion of the Gyroscope. 71 The discrepaney here exhibited between the motion proper to our theoretical solid of revolution and the experimental gyro- Scope is due to the division of the latter into two distinct masses, one of which rotates, with friction, upon points or surfaces in the axis of the disk. But the mounting is perfectly free to turn about the vertical axis through the point of support, though not about any other. If we decompose, therefore, the rotation which Would be impressed upon the mounting into two components, ee ation due to gravity, and adds to it; if the axis is below the orjzontal, the component is the reverse of the natural gyration, and diminishes it, But I have shown that the axis soon acquires, independent of . series of agencies. : ‘ The phenomenon may be best illustrated in the following man- ner, Let the outer extremity of the common gyroscope, i its axis inclined above the horizontal, be supported by a thread tached to some fixed point vertically above the point of support, at gyration shall be free. Here gravity is eliminated, and the axis of our theoretical solid of revolution would remain per- fectly motionless; but the gyroscope starts off, of itself, to gy- Th Mm the same direction that it would were its extremity free. his € point of su ort, (the action of the deflecting force being “re reversed, ) Rt tae supporting itself on the ape 72 J. G. Barnard on the Motion of the Gyroscope. tre as if it were fixed. Calling # the resistance of the ater M the —— and Mg the a, of the top, andz the height of © the centre of gravity above the plane, we shall have for the q equceal ‘of motion of the otitis of gravity* s Mae —R— Mg (1.) As the angular motion of the body is the same as if the centre of gravity was fixed, and as 2 is the only force which operates — to produce Se anpie about that centre, if we call C the moment — of inertia of the tup about its axis of figure, and A its moment — with iitince th a perpendicular axis through ee centre of — gravity, and y the distance, GX (fig. ay of the point of support — that centre; the equations of rotary motion will become — identical with equations (3) (p. 53),+ sbestintite R for Mg 3 Cdv,=0 a Advy,—(C—A)v,1,dt=yaRdt (2.) : Adv,+(C—A)vyv.dt= —ybRdt The first of — (2) gives us v, as for the gyroscgiiee ;. ge ; equal a consta Multiplying, the 2d and 3d of equations (2) by vy and Ur Te spectively, gnc Pages and making the same reduction as on Pe 53, we shall A (vydvy+-v,dv,;)=Ry d.cos 4. | * As there are no horizontal forces in action, there can be no horizontal motion of the centre of gravity a ie from sien ae ulse, which a here exclude. : The references throughout this peg 2 my paper e gyroscope in the nal. July number of this Jour J. G. Barnard on the Motion of the Gyroscope. 73 But z (the height of the centre of gravity above the fixed plane) =~7y cos 6; hence 7d.cos@=—dz; and equation (1) gives : 2 = (Ta +0). Substituting these values of Rand 7d.cos@ in the preceding equation, and integrating, we have dz20 + A(ey? +2?) + I(T +292) = (3.) From the 2d and 84d of equations (2) the equation (c) (of the 8yToscope, p. 54) is deduced by an identical process. A (bvy,--ar,)-+ Cn cos 0=l, and a substitution in the two foregoing equations of the values of the cosines a and d, and of the angular velocities v, and vy, m terms of the angles , @ and w (see pp. 52, 58), and for 2 and 2 ois y q, their values, —y cos, and ysin 6s and a determination of the constants, on the supposition of an initial inclination of the axis | 3 *, and of initial velocity of axial rotation », will give us for the 7 equations of motion of the top: : dy Cn : PE hy MOE Sood F Wiakoy © vouedgmeeudaes | cougud? goer : d 62 A ined te + ia) + Aan 20a 280 (om — cone) from which the angular motions of the top can be determined. | The first is identical with the first equation (4) for the gyroscope. 4 ~The second differs from the second gyroscopic equation only in _ Containing in its first member the term My? sin 707 or its ‘equivalent M =, expressing the living force of vertical transla- fon of the whole mass. % ie The second member (as in the corresponding equation for the - 8)TOscope) expresses the work of gravity, and the first term of the first. member “Tt motion, part of it is expended in vertical translation of the - Cehire of gtavity. The angular motion takes lace not (as in is 8Y?Oscope) about the point of support (whic in this case is ot fixed), but about the centre of gravity (to which the moments Of inertia 4 and B refer); and that centre, motionless horizon- tally > Moves vertically up and down, coincident with the small angular undulations of the axis through a space which ore and more minute as the rotary velocity n is greater. SECOND SERIES, VOL, XXV, NO. 73.—JAN., 1858. 10 . 74 J. G. Barnard on the Motion of the noes An elimination of = mi between the two stead (4) and a | st, oO 2 5 CL ae) i=) ce = a) i fo iq>) a it 8 B cp." m a>) 4 ie) 14°) ia?) Ad = OF " @ 8 S 4 oa as m ‘the gyroscope. All the results and conclusions few lal 60) would be d As, however, the centre of gravity, to which these angular motions are referred, is not a fixed point, but is itself constantly rising and falling as @ increases or di- minishes, the actual motion of the axis is of a more complicated racter. H Gi” (see fig. 2) is the 9. initial position of the axis of q the top, the motion of the cen- 4 tre of gravity will consist in a are falling and rising thro the distance G@’= GK “ad G! G" —cosz, FG”) =7 (cos 9, —cos@) (in which 6, while the extremity of the axis or point, K, describes on the upporting surface and about the projection ” of the cen- curve a, 0, a, U', a'', &e., hav- ing cusps a, a’, &e., in the circle . described about @” with the ae radius G K'=7sine, and tangent, externally, to the > circle de- scribed with a radius Q" =z sin n6,. But as in the case of the roscope, these little undulations ‘speedily disappear thromge the ene. influence of friction and _ resistance ot the air, a the Sari of the top describes a circle, more or less mt about The par of the self-sustaining power of the top is identi- cal with that of the gyToscope ; the stl force due to” Review of the Results of the U. S, Coast Survey. 75 angular motion of the axis plays the same part as the sustaining agent, and has the same analytical expression. Owing to friction, € top likewise rises, and soon attains a vertical position; but the agency by which this effect is produced is not exactly the same as for the gyroscope. : If the extremity of the top is rounded, or is not a perfect a of Testing permanently on the surface, will strike wt, at each revo- . lution, and in so doing, propel the extremity along, The condi- = g =] Ds CORRECTION. : «it the No. for July, 1857, vol. xxiv, No. 70, p. 65, 8th line of note, for Vertical,” read “horizontal,” and for “horizontal,” read “ vertical. 10th line, for “the first,” read “the second.” ren Arr. XI.— Review of the Operations and Results of the United States Coast Survey. _ Txoven the annual reports of the United States Coast Sur- vey have been frequently noticed in this Journal, no general nO adequate idea of the real magnitude and ee “ ee e 1 attentive and well repaying stu are apt in the = ae 76 Review of the Results of the U. S. Coast Survey. An organized being, said Kant, is that of which all the parts _ are mutually ends and means. We are forcibly reminded of the | definition in studying the operations and results of the Coast — Survey. the results, in geography, in physics, in geology, in short in every branch of science, are at once means and ends: means, as they form necessary and integral parts of a great and symmetrical whole; ends, as they all possess a fixed and definite _ value in the sciences to which they belong. This remark, if true as applied to the Survey considered simply from a scientific point of view, is far more forcibly illustrated by the practical bearings of the work, every one of whose details ta an immediate prac- tical value, while the enduring, far-reaching utility of the whole is second to that of no other human undertaking. It is our purpose in the following pages to offer a concise view of the operations and results of the Coast Survey, regretting only that the necessary limits of a scientific review will scarcely permit us to give more than an outline sketch. s The survey of a coast so extensive as that of the United States is even in its general features a work of immense extent. That — coast stretches from New Brunswick to Mexico, and from the Straits of Fuea to Old California; upon the Atlantic and Gulf © Sac ts ase ci + % a 5 No pene eS ates 3 Pt ae GD kaa Te Sea er dy 2 A aS A eee i must accurately locate every prominent point, map out the bot tom of every bay and harbor, fix the bearings of every reef and — shoal, trace the course of every current, deduce from long con- tinued observations the laws of the tides, and in short, observe — 1d measure every peculiarity in the physical geography of the — coast which the most refined science, the most delicate methods _ of observation and the most perfect instrumental means can measure or detect. ce After a preliminary reconnoissance, the Survey begins with — measurement of a base, that is to say, with the accurate de termination of the length of a line upon the earth’s surface, the — two extremities of which shall serve as starting points. Setting | out from these two initial points, the survey proceeds by great | 4 Y steps of thirty or forty miles till the whole coast is covered with a network of large sig 2, constituting what is termed 4 rimary triangulation. The angles only of these triangles measured, the sides being successively calculated by the ai the angles and base. The accurate measurement of this line lf volves the most delicate instrumental methods. The expansion Review of the Results of the U. 8. Coast Survey. 77 inclinations, and flexures of the measuring bars, and the con- tacts of their extremities must be observed with exquisite nicety. Here at the very first step in the work, the science of physies is called upon for its indispensable aid, and the reflecting pyro- meter measures the expansions of the bars with an accuracy which is almost without limit. Delicate levels give the corree- tions for the inclinations and flexures, while the contact level de- termines the contacts of the successive bars. To such a degree of perfection have the measurements been brought that the probable error in determining the length of a base five miles in length does not under favorable circumstances exceed a. few tenths of an inch. The base line being measured, the triangula- tion begins. Signals at distances of ten to twenty miles from either end of the base are observed in suecession, and their an- gular distances determined with all the precision which modern mechanism has given the theodolite. The sides of the great imangles thus obtained being calculated, the signals form them- Selves fixed points for new angular measurements, and so the triangulation stretches from hill to hill till the prominent points of the entire coast are determined. The signals them- selves are of no small interest. Bright tin cones mounted upon Poles are often used, and reflect to a distance a brilliant line and from the extremities of this we may work backwards, so as 78 Review of the Results of the U. 8. Coast Survey. The base which serves as the commencement of the primary _ triangulation for the eastern and middle states lies within the state of Massachusetts, a little to the north of Rhode Island. Its length is over ten miles and its direction nearly northeast and southwest: it was measured in 1845. Surveys for a verifi- cation base have been made in the northeastern part of the state of Maine, on Epping Plains. Since the commencement of the survey not less than nine primary and thirty-five secondary bases have been measured, making a total length of about 180 iles. i As the different stations of the primary triangulation are at different heights, it is necessary to measure vertical as well as horizontal angles, and finally, in consequence of the spheroidal figure of the earth, to reduce the plane triangles, which are the direct results of the measurements, to spheroidal triangles, at the level of the sea. In this manner after immense labor, both of — observation and of calculation, the positions of the primary sta- _ tions are at length fixed, and these now serve as starting points for the secondary triangulation which determines the general outline of the coast in detail, and the positions of rocks, reefs, _ and islands. The triangles observed are now smaller but very — much more numerous, and the labor of observation and reduc- tion even greater than before. Then comes the topography of — the coast, the work at every successive step running more and more into detail. The coast line is now traced and laid down in © charts of elaborate minuteness and finish. Harbors are surveyed — and mapped out by innumerable soundings; the exact character — and value of each being determined. The nature of the bottom with reference to anchorage, the depth and direction of channels, currents, tides and prevalent winds, the proper position of light houses, buoys and fog-bells, all form subjects of special and mi nute attention. In this manner the entire coast from Mt. Desert island to Cape Fear has been almost completely surveyed, and — that portion of the sea-coast may be regarded as nearly finished. But beside the bays, harbors, and sounds of the coast, the rivers receive their share of attention, small triangulations being cat ried up to the head of tide waters, based upon one of the sides of the larger work. In this manner the river shores are accU- rately mapped, while careful soundings determine the bars and channels. The mouths of the larger rivers offer special subject’ of examination of the highest interest and importance. We refer to the changes in the depth and position of the channels — produced by the effects of currents. The characteristics of the — delta of the Mississippi, and the enormous quantities of matter annually brought down by the current are too familiar to require notice in this place, but the changes in the entrance to the ha bor of New York have not until very recently attracted attenti to the same degree. | Review of the Results of the U. 8S. Coast Survey. 79 The extension of docks and piers into the North and East rivers, and the amount of new made land, excited such serious alarm in the mercantile community that a Board of Harbor Commissioners was appointed in the year 1855 to consider the whole subject and devise means for averting the impending nger. ‘l'o the action of that Board the assistance of the Coast Survey was cheerfully and gratuitously rendered, and the results of the survey and of a careful and accurate examination Most eminent mathematician whom our country has produced, operly by the Coast Survey. T'his met d results of great value to the eyvey 80 Review of the Results of the U. 8. Coast Survey. and even of experience, Wheatstone’s determination was sup — posed to hold good, at least approximately, for galvanic currents as well as for electricity of high tension, and for bad as well as- good conductors. The telegraph operations of the Coast Survey demonstrated at the very outset the inaccuracy of received ideas preparing. To determine the difference of longitude between Cambridge, Mass., and Liverpool, four distinct chronometric expeditions have been sent out, namely: in 1849, 1850, 1851, and 1855. In the last expedition the number of voyages made was six, and the number of chronometers sent out fifty-two. The first 8. _ In connection with its astronomical and geodetical observ tions, the Coast Survey has been enabled at a trifling expense earry out an extensive series of determinations of the tr magnetic elements at very numerous stations. These elem it will be remembered are the declination, inclination, a zontal intensity. So great has been the amount of mate Be Review of the Results of the U. S. Coast Survey. 81 ments of the different ports. ‘The necessity of both these classes of observations is sufficiently obvious, but the superintendent has mon staff gauge. The former possesses th esent the times and the ordinates the corresponding heights - The number of principal stations for tidal observa- ‘Was 78, of which number 45 were on the Atlantic Coast, “nstruction of accurate and reliable tide tables. _ tis not saying too much to assert that no single series of —afal observations yet made possesses so high a scientific value as 7.28 of the Coast Survey. Not only is the range of coast /Mtudied greater, but the character of the tides themselves is 1n & _ SECOND SERIES, VoL, XXV, NO. 18.—JAN., 1889. 11 82 Review of the Results of the U. 8. Coast Survey. great measure sufficiently free from the offsets of local causes to — enable us to obtain from them results of definite value for the — general theory. On the other hand the Gulf of Mexico and — particular portions of the Atlantic Coast exhibit peculiarities of | much interest, as yet imperfectly investigated, but seeming to — show the importance of a careful study. While the tidal obser- — vations hitherto discussed have been for the most part isolated, made at different points upon the earth’s = by individuals, : during a period of about 200 years, those of the Coast Survey have been made systematically, at numerous carefully selected stations, upon the coasts of a continent lying between two great oceans, ‘and under the direction of a single person ; An elaborate discussion of these observations has led to the construction of maps of the cotidal lines of the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacitic coasts, which are of especial interest not merely from — their connection with our own shores, but from the fact that they F . lig line” it will be remembered was first introduced by Mr. Whewell to denote a line passing. through all those points which have high water at the same hour of the day. It is convenient to anne twenty-four aaah lines, and they may obviously be re ed as forming the crests of successive advancing ed gent thie shape, velocity, and mes of motion, will de configuration of the coast, the depth of ‘the ocean ~e the | si local causes which disturb the uniformity of their pro- — gress and cause divisions and interferences of divided waves. Were no disturbing causes present, the cotidal lines would cor respond with the meridians, each line at a certain distance be hind the meridian of the moon at its culmination. It is easy to see too that the cotidal lines must differ upon the eastern and — western shores of a continent like that of North America, since _ the tide wave moves from east to west and is therefore upon the — eastern coast an incident and upon the Mees a receding wave, - the character of which is determined by the flow of water and its pressure from north, south and west. The cotidal lines of the Atlantic coast follow the general outline of the coast itself in@ - remarkable manner, the velocities measured 1 in a direetion pe ar semi-diurnal class; the diurnal inequality is not large @ generally difficult to trace, though easily recognized at particu periods. On the Gulf coast, on the contrary, the tides are small, — the semi-diurnal being masked by the diurnal waves. The tides _ of the Pacific coast are remarkably regular, both in the diurnal and semi-diurnal waves, and moreover rise to such pt am render observation easy. eens the extent of coas Review of the Results of the U. 8S. Coast Survey. 83 ined, the cotidal lines for the Pacific are either sensibly parallel to or make but a small angle with the coast. Tide tables for the principal sea ports of the United States have been published by the Superintendent of the Coast Survey by authority of the treasury department; they are based exclu- sively upon the observations of the survey, and will be extended and corrected as the survey advances. Meantime their value to navigators places then among the important results of the Coast The tidal observations of the Pacific coast have casually led to a determination of great scientific interest, that of the averag depth of the Pacific Ocean between the coasts of Japan a @ California. On the 23d of December 1854, an earthquake oc- : curred in Japan. by which the town of Simoda im the island of _ Niphon was destroyed. From the imperfect accounts which 3 have reached us it appears that at 9 A. M. on that day the severe ; shock of an earthquake was felt on board the Russian frigate Diana, then lying in the harbor of Simoda. Half an hour later ‘he sea came into the bay in an immense wave thirty feet in height, overwhelming the town and then receding. This advance and recession occurred five times, and by 2°30 Pp. mM. all was again quiet. The depth of the sea during these changes varied less than eight to more than forty feet. Upon the same da 4n extraordinary rise and fall of water was observed at Peel's Island, one of the Bonin Islands, and the tide continued to rise and fall during the day at intervals of 15 minutes, gradually lessening until evening. ee alg he self-registering gauges at San Diego and San Francisco, , Move at about the rate of 360 miles per hour or 6_ miles per Origin of the disturbance upon the 25th of December. (Zo be concluded.) 84 R. W. Haskins on the Open North Polar Sea. Arr. XII.—The Open North Polar Sea; by R. W. Hasxuss, A.M. THE physical condition of our globe, though intimately con- nected with the daily walk and welfare of man, is a subject which never has occupied more than a very slight share of the popular attention. There are features, however, of this condi- tion, which occasionally force themselves’ upon the attention of all men; though seldom for more than a brief period, and then only as an element of alarm or of idle curiosity, rather than as one of investigation, and as forming the basis of knowledge. Such are earthquakes, sudden eruptions of voleanoes, and the like. The more fixed and stable forms of surrounding nature, as they lack the stimulant of unusual and violent change, can excite, m the public mind, none other than the most feeble attention, and that only under circumstances of specific incentives. Among — the direct consequences of this state of things is a constant pro- pensity to generalize, and to base ultimate conclusions upon appearances only, and with none other than a superficial obser- vation of these. It is to such a propensity, and to the apathy it so naturally produces, that we may, perhaps, most safely ascribe esent condition of the popular mind, in regard to the im- mediate object of this notice. That to recede from the equator towards the poles, upon the surface of the earth, is to encounter increased cold, is a general fact, well known to all; and it was easy for even the mos’ drowsy quietude to znfer, from this, that the law thus known is a constant one admitting of no exception, and that, consequently, the geographical pole must be the coldest point of our globe How far the votaries of science may have concurred in this sentl R. W. Haskins on the Open North Polar Sea. 85 the earth’s surface a reasonably successful study, had ample cause for real astonishment at the great extent to which all the teachings of the past, in regard to this open northern polar sea, had been either overlooked or forgotten, Since the occasion in question has fixed so much attention upon this open sea as a new thing to us all, and is still employ- ig sO Many pens upon it as such, it seems a fitting time to place the more general public in possession of the past knowl- edge of this sea, in a collected form, by way of giving profitable direction to the laudable public zeal which is just now so ear- hestly manifested in the case. his unfrozen polar sea, then, has been Jong known and often navigated, at different periods, and by different nations and ves- sels. The earliest no less than the most persevering navigators of high northern latitudes, were the Hollanders or Dutch and the Greenlanders, 'These pe did not resort to these lati- tudes year after year for the purpose of scientific discoveries of ay kind. Their purpose was whale and seal catching, and to whatever regions they penetrated, they were led solely by the pursuit of these creatures. Now it is from these early naviga- tors thus employed, and chiefly from the log-books of their ships, that we have derived almost all we know of a constantly combat, and no end to serve or aim to accomplish, by falsify- Mg or perverting the record, Again, this record of the log is 5 gain, scard. Of the great mass of this species of evidence that has doubtless been brought home by the ships from the polar re- -Blons, We may well suppose we possess but a very small propor- Hon, since all we have owes its preservation either to accident or the Individual efforts of devoted men. In proceeding to cite the -€vidences we possess in this matter, we may premise that a large uon of them were collected from their various sources by the y erg Barrington, and by him published at London in 1776. As the citations we are about to make are numerous, and also seed a very considerable range of time, we have thought to add ney more clear understanding by: sree estar den. Of chronological order, so far as it has been p a8certain this, shin tS 22 English navigator, who was sent north with two aes in 1585, to discover a northwest passage, and who . ~over the straits that bear his name, is, by modern authors, 86 R. W. Haskins on the Open North Polar Sea. credited with having reached only 66° 40’ north latitude, while — Camden, in his annals of Elizabeth, asserts that Davis attained to 83°. - Moxon’s account of a Dutch ship that sailed to the pole, and — Greenland company, sailed unto the north pole, and came back again. Whereupon (his relation being novel to me) I entered into discourse with him, and seemed to question the truth of what he said, but he did insure me that it was true, and that the ship was then in Amsterdam, and many of the seamen belong: — ing to her, to justify the truth of it; and told me, moreover, that they had sailed two degrees beyond the pole. I asked himif | they found no land nor islands about the pole? He told me no, there was a free and open sea. J asked him if they did not meet — with a great deal of ice? He told me no, they saw no ice. a asked him what weather they had there? and he told me fine, — warm weather. i This ‘conversation, &c. at Amsterdam was about the year 1624, at which time the vessel had lately returned. Moxon, who rela | ted this statement, was not an obscure nor an illiterate individual, — since in the title to his published statement he calls himself Fel _ low of the Royal Society, and Barrington states that he was Hy- drographer to Charles the Second, and author of several scientifie _ rs. It was probably his professional calling, therefore, that fixed his attention upon this subject, and thus caused his inqul — ries at Amsterdam. A map was early published by the Acad: — emy of Sciences at Berlin, which places a ship at the pole, & — having arrived there, according to the Dutch accounts. We are — not aware that the date of this map is preserved, but it seems — probable that one of the authorities for that ship’s position is the account of Moxon, cited above. a ood sailed on the discovery of a northeast passage to Japa) — in 1676; and in his account of his voyage, which he suds — quently sent to the press, he says he was chiefly induced to the ager es by the account given by Capt. Goulden, of a Dutch — ship, who had made some thirty voyages'to Greenland. This te R. W. Haskins on the Open North Polar Sea. 87 Captain’s statement was, that being in company with two other Holland ships to the eastward of Edge’s Island, in pursuit of whales, and these not appearing there, the two Hollanders re- solved to go farther north. They did so, and at the end of two weeks returned again and said they had sailed to latitude 89°; and when Capt. Goulden doubted this, they produced out of the two ships four journals or log-books, which confirmed the state- ment, and did not differ from each other in all but four minutes of adegree. In this run to the north they encountered no ice, but had a free and open sea. ‘This occurrence is stated by Capt. Goulden to have taken place some twenty years before its narra- tion to Wood, which places it somewhere about the year 1650, » In 1662 Mr. Oldenburgh, Secretary of the Royal Society, London, was ordered to register a paper entitled “ Inquiries con- cerning Greenland, answered by Mr. Grey, who had visited 3 ose parts.” To the question “How near hath any one been _. known to approach the pole?” Mr. Grey answered, — “lTonce met [date not given, but of course prior to 1662] upon the coast of Greenland, a Hollander that swore he had been but half a degree from the pole, showing me his log-book, Which was also tested by his mate; where they had seen no ice or land, but all water.” ; Yr. Campbell, who compiled Harris’s Travels, states therein this: “ By the Dutch journals they get into north latitude 88 56’, and the sea open.” On being asked his authority for this Statement, Dr. Campbell answered that he received it from Hol- and as being an extract from the journals produced to the States General, in 1665, eae Martin, in his voyages, says, “in 1671 we sailed to the eighty- 55 degree, and no ships ventured farther that year. Fleet Street, as a practising physician, about the year 1746, 0 Sea wholly free from ice. The date of this voyage may ve been about 1685. ae : é _ Jacob Schol, who resided at the Helder, in 1700 sailed to 84 horth in pursuit of whales, and had open sea there without ob- — Struction, 3 8nd went no higher north, but had no doubt he might have done * through all the ice there was, had he been so minded. 88 R. W. Haskins on the Open North Polar Sea. In 1751 Capt. MacCallam, in the ship Campbeltown, in the — Greenland whale fishery, sailed to latitude 83° 30’ north, where the sea was not only wholly open at the north, but where 4 had not seen a particle of ice for the last three degrees, and the weather warm and pleasant. In this case, to make certain of their position, careful observations were made, both with Davis’ and with Hadley’s quadrants, and by no less than three different persons. The captain feared to go farther, lest he should be blamed for neglecting his fishing, which was his only reason, as there was no obstruction. In the year 1752, Mr. John Phillips was mate of the ship Loyal Club, in which ship he reached 81°; and he stated that it was very common to seek whales in such latitudes. ~The year 1754 was more fruitful than any prior one in re corded visits to this open polar sea, since we have records of no less than three such visits during this single year. Capt. James Wilson, of the whale ship Sea Nymph, made his way through _ all the ice, the last of which was seen below 81°, sailed thence _ north to 82° 15’, where the sea was perfectly clear as far as could be seen with the ship’s glasses. Here the ship’s officers discussed nas oceeding directly to the pole, but the sailors fearing to do so, the proposition was abandoned. In the same year the whal- — ing ship Unicorn, Capt. Guy, reached 83° 8’, determined by careful observations; and here, from the mast head, they saw the sea as free of ice as the Atlantic, on every side, and nothing in the way of sailing directly to the pole. The third instance — of this year is that of Mr. Stephens, who, in company with an- — other, a Dutch ship, was driven off Spitzbergen by a south- — southeast wind to latitude 84° 80’. This was within 5° 30! of — the pole; and he met with little ice, and the less the farther he — went north. a _ In 1756 Capt. Montgomery, of the ship Providence, pursued whales to latitude 83°, in the month of June, with open sea up- on the north. ‘ In 1759 Capt. H. Ford, in the ship Dolphin, went as far north as 81° 30’, and he states that he has since that been several times — as high as 81°. oe James Bisbrown, in the ship Prince Frederick, in 1765, reached — latitude 83° 40’ north, where he was beset with ice for three weeks, do the southward, but saw, during this time, open sea to the north. . The year 1766 has furnished us two instances of high north: ern navigation. Jonathan Wheatley, not finding whales soonel, sailed to 8L° 30’ north, in which latitude he could see no 1¢é whatsoever in any direction from the mast head, though the was a very heavy sea from the northeast. Capt. Thomas Ro inson, in the ship Reading, was this same year in latitude 82° 30 with an open sea. ge 2 Sa R. W. Haskins on the Open North Polar Sea. 89 In 1767 Samuel Standidge sailed from Hull, England, on board the ship British Queen, of which he was owner but not master, for the north sea: northern penetration by water. Capt. Jan ass Castricum, im the ship Jonge Jan, fished with success in latitude 81° 40’, m the northeast, with a fresh wind. Capt. Bateson, of the ship Whale, on June 14th of this year, was in north latitude 82 15’, e year 0 given, but sup- to be then recent—had been in latitude 82° 20’ north, and > that the sea was open. : ne This mass of testimony, it is seen, has been chiefly gathered = foreign languages, and been furnished by other than Eng- % , aud promulge the details of the voyages made by these people; a nce oa know not what pehechion of such abacae the 7 Ove may be still unknown to us by having been lost. Certain _ 4,8 that many instances of such are found, scattered here and Te; which are not so fully authenticated as to seem deserving = g, Place here, and they have therefore been excluded. lice the concluding date of the foregoing list of proofs of an “tt Sea at the north pole, we have no evidence that ships have ww Stated that sea as they formerly did. Modern explorers, SECOND sERiEs, vou. XXV, NO. 73.—JAN., 1858. : 12 90 R. W. Haskins on the Open North Polar Sea. * within the last forty years have been numerous, have not - done so, having invariably been stopped by ice, and usually at aiuah lower latitudes than where this open sea has ever been known to extend. But, although these modern explorers have not reached that sea, and sailed ‘their ships upon it as their pre- decessors et still some of them have brought us as demonstra- tive proo the existence of that open sea as if they had actu- ally floated. thereon. One of these is Capt. Parry, who wintered at Melville Island. in latitude 74° 45’ north. He tells us that there a north wind, in the long winter of that frozen region, modified the cold, and if continued, produced a thaw. Now this single fact, if well established—and we take this one to be— without one particle more of evidence, would establish beyond all doubt or controversy, the existence of an open sea, in the direction whence that wind came. Such an effect from a wind is wholly incompatible with the assumption that it has passe only over a frozen surface. This statement of Capt. Parry 18 fully confirmed by other proofs—or rather those other proofs, ing of prior date, are confirmed by it. Barentz, when his ages oh pe we must s suppe from like reasons, thas the sea is open, on the north of Nova Zorvtlas all the year. The testi- mony of persons who have passed the winter at Kola, in Lap- land, coincides —s with this, namely, that, in the most severe weather, whenever a nort erly wind blows, the cold Brings on diminishes, and that, if the wind continues, it always — rings on a thaw, as long as it ‘lasts, f we ask why these more recent navigators could not reach the high fguundes their predecessors did, the only and the sufii- cient answer is, that the icy barriers which always exist on the way to this open sea and south of it, vary greatly in once and width : : in different years. These barriers have e always been through by those who have entered the open polar sea, and ier: | a have often proved too broad and solid to be Senetrnted at The fact of these wide differences in the extent and strength of : the ice in the northern seas in different years, is attested by 4 we know of the regions in question, whether by Jand or sea — All the history of Greenland attests it, and the fact is no less constantly proved by the experience of northern whalers. +° cite a single case in ‘illustration, and that a reeent one, we may mention that of Capt. Parry. This navigator, during his third voyage in 1824, found the i icy barrier in Baffin’ 3 Bay one hund and fifty miles broader than when he passed it in 1819. _ i differenees, then, that exist in these Le — in lat = south of the open polar ocean, and in t Obituary. —Cauchy. 91 of different years, sufficiently account for both the successes and the failures of navigators in reaching that open sea; while the heavy ocean swell, and the warm winter wind, both of which approach this icy barrier upon the north, and that, too, during the fiercest frosts of the northern sunless winters, appear to prove that the ocean towards the north pole is, even then, still open, and that it warms and tempers those winds which pass over it, and which so constantly drive its waves against that ity rampart by which the frost king has fixed and defined its southern shore, Art, XUI.— Correspondence of M. Jerome Nickles, dated Paris, A 857. ; ugust, — ,, Obitwary.—Cauchy.—In my last communication I gave some F biographical details respecting the great mathematician Cauchy. € recent publication of a notice by Biot, one of his cotempo- Taries and friends, Jeads me to return to the snbject. Cauchy was born on the 21st of August, 17389. At an early age he was distinguished by great versatility of talents. His classical education, commenced by his father, was continued un- a der able professors at the “Heole Centrale” of the Pantheon. @ left the school at the age of fifteen, after two vears of literary ~ Wades, tuking the second prize in Latin composition, the first In Greek, and the first in Latin verse. On account of this so universal success, the Institute decreed to him the highest honor reserved for the student of the central schools most disting In classical literature. ; ler two years at the Pol ytechnic School, he left it to become ® engineer in the Department of Roads and Bridges. On the Sth o May, 1811, at the age of twenty-two, he presented to the Institute a inemoir of remarkable character, on geometric poly- hedrons, in which he generalized a theorem of Euler and com- Pleted the theory of a new species of regular polyhedrous dis- Covered by Poinsot. M., Legendre, the most severe of our geo- Metriciang, regarded the memoir “as the production of an adept Whose ability promised the highest success.” Ile engaged the Young author to pursue this line of research, and to endeavor to €stablish theorem equally applicable to certain polyhedrons &mbraced in the definitions of Euclid for which no demonstra- = ha vet been made out. Cauchy accomplished this in 1812. n his report thereon to the Academy, Legendre expressed, his sPprobation With an earnestness quite unusual for hin. Bi te ese two earliest memoirs seemed to show a special pe hig robles purely geometrical. But it was soon evident = ~S Capacity was far wider. In the years 1818 and 1814, Cauchy 92 Correspondence of J. Nickiés. produced two remarkable memoirs in transcendental analysis; in 1815, he published his memoir on the theory of numbers, in the course of which he demonstrated in full a theorem an- nounced by Fermat, a theorem which had hitherto been demon- strated only in some of its particulars by mathematicians most skilled in these departments, as Gauss and Legendre. The Academy proposed this year, as a subject for the great mathe: a prize,—To establish the theory of the propagation of waves on the surface of a heavy fluid, and of indefinite depth. Cede resolved the question completely. His memoir was crowned in 1816, and bore this epigram ‘from Virgil, ‘ Nosse quot lonii veniant ad littora “mao (Georgics II,) a very happy selection, as the line contains a complete and altogether exact announcement of the proposed. orbit uccesses so rapid and fertile for a young man of 27 years, assured him the first place that should become vacant in the ee emstical Section of the Institute. A circumstance which Acai rimitive designations, ‘of Académie Fran- aise i gabe des scriptions et Belles-Lettres, Soa. Beatie Arts; and carried out the new organization. In the Academy — ence, two celebrated names, those of Carnot and Monge, — of Sci were replaced by two new names, those of Breguet and Cauchy. Towards the end of 1813, Cauchy was named Adjunct Pro fessor of Analysis at the Polytechnic School. He became’ fall — Professor in 1816. He was eminently a man of duty. Call to instruct, he turned all his thoughts to instruction. From — 1816 to 18 26, he published his course of Algebraic analysis, — Analysis _ Differential Caleulus, and Application of Infinitesimal to ee el of Curv es,—three excellent: works, well arranged, — with demonstrations that are both vigorous and in new defile, In this period he also published a memoir on : the Integrals taken between imaginary limits—a subject ‘ has ee rise to several important works among our young . geomet In 1826, he undertook the publication and authorship of aS iodical review, styled “Exercises Mathematiques,” in whi all departments of mathematics, elementary as well as transceD’ — ental, were treated with so much generality, fertility and i ventive power, that Abel, one of the profoundest analysts | our times, after reading one of these publications, wrote to friend, “Cauchy is the geometer who best understands how mathematics should be studied.” In fact the inventions of neW — methods and devices scattered through these ‘“ Exercises,” he been not only for the author, but also for many other geometers a . a GaN NM rsy BRE PO RS RET ate an ys Obituary.—Cauchy. 93 the fertile initiatives of numerous brilliant works. Cauchy con- tinued the publication of this Review until his death. The revolution of 1830 interrupted his quiet life. At this time he was married and the father of two daughters. Besides - his oer abip in the Polytechnic School, he had a chair in the Faculty of Sciences at Paris, and was supplying the course of mathematical physics in the College of France.. The new goy- ernment imposed. an oath of allegiance on all its officers, even those engaged in teaching physics and mathematics. Cauchy 5 i his place and went to Switzerland. The king of Sar- Inia, informed of his voluntary exile, created for him in the University of Turin, a special chair of mathematics, which he lled with distinction, still continuing his other labors. In 1882 the Princes to Goritz ; during six years at this place he bis sic a large number of valuable memoirs, which are now spread over Germany. Towards the end of 1838, his duties as preceptor Sthle in results, or will yet do so, They treat of the highest Subjects in mathematics :—-the perfecting and extension of pure ___ Nalysis—the direct determination of the eocag motions and a eory of light, pees the initiatives of ideas which have either already proved | In 1840 = ffered him. the death of Poisson left vacant a place in the Bureau des; and Cauchy was nominated unanimously by the ih 94 Correspondence of J. Nickles. board. But it was evident to all that Cauchy would not and could not take the oath, and so his nomination was not ratified the government. It was to the loss of science; for with astro- snoiical labors thus raadles his duty, he would have carried into them his usual ardor, and the “ Mécanique Céleste” would pro! ably have been advanced by new discoveries, for which we shall now have long to wait. It was his fidelity to a sense of duty, which was afterwards the occasion and cause of his rendering a great service to astron- omy, in furnishing it with the means of estimating, directly, by nine ytieal formulas universal and certain in their application, the secular inequalities of planetary movements, which inequalities render any tables of these moveinents more and more faulty. In 1848, Cauchy was charged by the Academy with verifying the determination of an inequality of this kind which M. Verrier announced he had discovered in the motion of the planet , the period of which embraced 795 years. It was highly important to know it, for its maximum effect on the longitude of a exceeded fifteen minutes of a degree, according to the valuation of LeVerrier. A direct analytic process being imprac- per > secu the desired result by a very bold sage interpolation, which required immense calculations. ‘'o relieve himself from the labor of verifying such an array of n amber 4 Cauchy invented an analytic method by which errors of this sort are determined directly, in all cases and with a ois i in Amery as they belong to a higher order. He t duced the results of LeVerrier; and henceforth in probleme this nature, the power of abstract science will supersede individ- abor. : After the revolution of 1848, the Republic, more tolerant than he the preceding Monarchy had been, restored to Cauchy the math- ematical chair in the Faculty of Sciences of Paris, the only one of the ancient professorships which had remained vacant from : 1830. J ustice to him requires that it oo be told that he gave a to the poor the emoluments of the plac u M. Biot concludes his sketch with ‘the following remark: — ‘The view which I have given of the external circumstances the life of Cauchy, shows us not only what he was, bs als what he might have been as a mathematician. Ha able, like Euler and Lagrange to spend his life, without pre ance, in quiet study, he would have been one of the grandest — lights of mathematical seience. By reason of the irregularity : and a which external events impressed on his genius, his influence on this science will not be aly ad gree “until time shall hive! devidoned all their consequen ; Note.—The preceding is derived from ae article by Biot. We. add to it the following. a Anesthesis.—Amylene. 85 , aving a gauze partition on which the chloroform is The working of the bellows throws a stream out 0 the 8. The jet is established only on working the bellows, 18 no waste of chloroform during the operation. 96 Correspondence of J. Nickles. which made thirty revolutions a minute in driving a blast may be used as pasturage for cattle for several years, without the roots, at the end of this time, losing any of their tinctorial qualities. submitted to the examination of competent men; and t From these observations it results, that we may make, without great expense, artificial meadows on land deprived of any means — of irrigation, and derive a crop of madder having all its coloring principle preserved. | Toxicology.— Researches on Arsenic_—Dr. Blondlot of Nan¢ has just observed a fact which explains the contradictions e” countered by inexperienced chemists in attempts to detect arse”! in connection with organic matters. It is this:—that when s™ Aquarium, 97 stances poisoned have been left to putrefy, some sulphuret of arsenic is formed at the expense of the sulphuretted hydrogen, and this, as is well known, escapes detection by Marsh’s appara- tus. Sulphuret of arsenic also forms when the'suspected matters are carbonized by the action of sulphuric acid after the process of Flandin and Danger. The sulphuret of arsenic may be extracted by washing the carbonized mass with ammonia; this dissolves the sulphuret; then convert the arsenic into arsenic acid (AsO) by means of boiling nitric acid, so as to obtain a second solution ; t u i ie . arrington, on what is called the organic equilibrium for waters, ve progress of science. SEConD SERIES, VOL. XXV, NO. 73.—JAN., 1858. : 13 98 Scientific Intelligence. SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. I. CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS. 1. Electrolytic investigations.—Under this title Magnus has published an elaborate and important memoir reviewing the aia i B phen: 1 vestigations std containing many new and import We shall here give — the author’s summary, referring “ay ibe cia to the original memo {1.) To axpiain the so-called double decomposition observed by Daniell and Miller, it is not necessary to assume an oxysulphion, oxynitrion, &e. This assumption is refuted by the fact that compounds like S+-40, N-+60 are never separated at the positive electrode. It is true that at this elec trode a full equivalent of oxygen, corresponding to the metal separated, is found, but of the acid there is only a portion, frequently only 60 percent. By employing a porous diaphragm the remainder of the acid is found in the en ce 2.) When several salts are present in the same solution, the current at a certain intensity decomposes only one of them. In like mannet the current only the salt, and not the water, is decomposed. There is therefore for every com und electrolyte a limit of intensity, at which only one of its constitu =e is decomposed. 1en currents are employed the intensity of which is less than the can pass to this substance, or to the maximum of the substance which — can be decomposed in a given time with unchanged electrolytes and ul changed electrodes. (4.) This limit depends upon the size of the electrodes; on the decom posability of the different constituents of the electrolyte; and on the tive quantity in which they exist in it. (5.) Since, in the application of the merit intensity, the migra? may be nearer to or farther from each other, the a of the con- ducting substance which is decom a b same current me “he same electrodes is = same, whether the Rhee are nearer to or fat ther from each othe (6.) The limit of ‘the intensity is proportional to the magnitude of the. electrodes, provided that this section of the electrolyte is the same size of the electrodes, This $e orler es holds good wing only 80 ras as the constitution of the electrolytes remains unchar 7.) The conduetion of electricity through an electroly Z aa the de- composition which takes place thereby, may Regeey to the case of the induction = electricity upon insulated condue (8.) In this manner the Aosictor of the wo-talled double decomposition — raised by Daniell may be 9.) It requires the same take ve separate a simple substance from & binary combination w is n necessary to separate it from a more comp™ saline compound. Es Chemistry and Physics. 99 tine from the protochlorids as from the perchlorids of tin and copper. But we obtain in this way from the protochlorids twice as much metal with the same current as from the perchlorids. (11.) The same force is also necessary to obtain equal quantities of oxygen from a solution of iodic acid and from dilute sulphuric acid whic’ are decomposed in separate vessels. In this case however onl fth of an equivalent of iodine is obtained for one equivalent of hydrogen separated from the sulphuric acid. (12.) Faraday’s law is applicable in its fullest extent inasmuch as equivalent quantities are always separated from complex saline com- pounds. But the galvanic are not the same as the chemical equivalents. _{13.) Saline particles change their position in eletrolytes partly by con- tinual decompositions and recombinations, partly by diffusion. The den- sity of the solution exerts a sensible influence upon the diffusion, which 1s however different in different saline solutions—Ann. der Physik und Chemie, cii, 52. 2. On the influence which metals exert upon radiant heat—Knopiavcn has communicated a memoir upon this subject the most important results of which in the author’s own words are as follows. (1.) Metals like gold, silver, and platinum in thin plates are to be re- garded as diathermanous bodies, which allow a portion of the rays of heat to pass through, which portion diminishes more and more with in- creasing thickness of the metal. : this transmission certain metals, for example gold and silver, exert an elective absorption upon the rays of heat analogous to that of trans- Parent colored bodies upon rays of light; while others, like ! . partly absorb and partly transmit ath kinds of rays of heat ‘ee an opal r i ig as is the case with transparent colorless bodies with respect : i Rays of heat, according to the foregoing statement, exhibit, after their Passage through the metals of the first class, different relations, with re- th ge through diathermanous bodies, from those which they show before their entrance into these, and this peculiar- uy 'S expressed more distinctly in proportion as the metallic layer pas through is thicker. In metals like platinum this thickness exerts no in- hee on the quality of transmitted heat. These last would behave like gray substances with respect to the “T of heat as well as toward the visible rays. Substances which can Compared with those which are transparent and white with respect to M eonsequence of which this becomes changed in its properties. Others on the contrary, platinum, iron, tin, zinc, lead, alloys of lead and tm, and german silver, reflect all kinds of rays of heat in equal proportion, 100 Scientific Intelligence. white bodies act upon light. The peculiarities which distinguish rays of heat reflected from metals from those which are not reflected, with re- spect for instance to their capacity to pass through diathermanous bodies, depend upon the nature of the source of heat to such a degree e that dif _ ferences which are strikingly marked in the case of the sun’s heat, are di- minished in the rays of a Locatelli lamp, sy disappear completely with e heat of a dark heated metallic cylin The quality of the metallic surface sesso as it determines . diffuse or a regular reflection has such an influence as either to permit the dif ferences mentioned to be exhibited to their full exte ent, or again *e ae pear to such a degree that the rays are not to be distinguished from each other before and after reflection. The same is true of a change in the angle of incidence. As this grad- ually permits the diffuse reflection of a rough metallic plate to pass into regular reflection, = a constantly i increasing intensity, as the rays be- me more and more obliquely incident, so it also diminishes the differ- ences between the reflected and non-reflected heat, till both at last exhibit a extrem liquid renders its existence a very delicate and valuable indication of the presence of didymium. The salts of lanthanum and cerium produce no similar effects. One part of sulphate of didymium dissolved in 1 parts of water showed the line in the yellow asa distinct =o when half an inch of the solution was looked through. The presence of other bodies does not interfere with the application of the iar so far ab least as other metallic solutions have been studied — Quarterly Journal of the Chemical Society, No. xxxix, 219. oe os 8 employment of the salls of alumina in the analysis of plants. ER has pointed out the superiority of alumina over hydrate of rit of "lead for the separation of the proximate constituents of plants The e first place remarks that organic substances may be 4 vided into two classes with reference to their behavior toward alumina. Many coloring matters, as well as other substances, are presipitated by alumina from their solutions, while others on the contrary 2 Alumina rps gives us a method of separating tie one class from the other, recipitates are less gelatinous than alumina and more washed oat te many cases a solution of alum may be added directly to method, an aqueo’ lution of alum and then w ae ammoni es a faw sobhend precipi The filtered solution is wine-yellow. The seine neatrliaed ith aceti¢ acid and evaporated to dryness in a water-bath mass contai taining oe sulphates of potash and pease a little mun as ammonia and 4 esculin. This may be separated by boiling with a little strong alco hol and filtering. The ssculin i on evaporation and after 4 Chemistry and Physics. 101 single reerystallization is perfectly pure. The tannic acid is easily sepa- rated from zu Wien, xxii, quoted in Journal far prakt. Chemie, 71, p. 414 %. On some derivatives of gallic acid —N acusaur has instituted at the suggestion of Prof. Hlasiwetz and under his direction, a series of experi- determine whether ternary radicals can be introduced into the molecule of gallic acid. The process employed consisted in heating gallic acid with the chlorids of the radicals, acetyl, butyryl, &c. The author a four substituted acids, the names and formulas of which are as lows :— Tetracetyl-gallic acid, Cu + Se ast t Ove, Triacetyl-gallic acid, Cis + 0 na O10, Dibutyryl-gallic acid, Cu + ogre O10, Dibenzoyl-gallic acid, Cu + a O10. 8. On the combinations of tartaric acid with saccharine matters—In arine “gar, sorbine, pinite, quercite, and erythroglucine, as well as a com ¢ Of glucose and citric iy t woh nod may be prepared and purl fied by the following process, Equal weights of tartaric acid and saccha- c re .@ May be separated by oxalic acid. The author represen Hons which seca in the Hepes of the new acids by the simplest pos~ rmulas representing the ratio of the ies concerned. These : hat, as in the case of alcohol in the sulphovinates, the seiarine body minus a certain quantity of water, replaces in the acid a irs on of the base necessary to saturate this acid in the isolated state. 38 probable that, as in the case of the compounds of glycerine, the 102 Scientific Intelligence. same sugar may form many compounds with tartaric acid. The author — describes only those which he has obtained. For the formulas we must refer to the original paper.— Comptes Rendus, xlv, 268. {Note.—From the above it will be seen that we owe to Berthelot the discovery of the true constitution of three entire series of organic bodies, viz., the glycerids or fatty bodies; the sugars and their congeners; an the glucosids or acid and neutral bodies which split into sugar and other - acid or neutral bodies by boiling with acids, alkalies or water. undergoes absorption in doing so, since a sunbeam which has pa = author points out several methods of employing this salt in photometry, —— the most advantageous of which is to collect and measure the quantity fa) ic acid absorbed in a given time. The solution is sufficiently sensitive for all ordinary purposes. When great sensitiveness is required the author recommends the use of the tithonometer invented by him in — 1843 and since employed in a modified form by Bunsen and Roscoe— _ L.and E. Phil. Mag., Sept. 1847, No. 92, p. 161. W. Oe 8. On the Chemistry of the Primeval Earth; by T. Ry Hunt. (Extract of a letter to Prof. J. D. Dana, dated Montreal, Nov. 25, 1857.) —The primitive rocks which filled so large a place in the geological sys tems of the last century are now being forgotten. We have learned that the oldest visible portions of the earth’s crust are made up of sediments, presided over the formation of the most ancient rocks known. But although the materia prima of the sedimentary rocks has long — since been buried beneath its own ruins, its nature offers an interesting — subject of consideration to the chemical geologist. ee. neous theory of the earth, we may obtain a conception of the nature of og be liberated as a volatile acid, Chemisiry and Physics. 103 Precipitation of water from this dense atmosphere it would descend as an acid rain, which attacking, at an elevated temperature, the silicates, would give rise to chlorids of calcium, magnesium and sodium, mingled with Waters of g Which potash has been eliminated from it by marine vegetation, and a nic life, offers considerations of great interest which I hope soon to able to develop at greater length than I have done in these few lines. 9. On the Amount and Frequency of the Magnetic Disturbances a he Aurora at Point Barrow, on the Shores of the Polar Sea ; by te General Saprve (Proc. Brit. Assoc. Athen., No. 1559)—Point ' Trow is the most northern cape of that part of the American continent Which lies between Behring’s Strait and the Makenzie River. It was the f H S. Plover from the summer of 1852 to the summer - bh he was now about to lay before the Section, and in part discuss. They Were furnished with nies of provisions, &e. for Sir John Frank- 104 Scientific Intelligence. the Colonial magnetic observatories. These were sent apt. Maguire to the Admiralty, and were in due course transmitted to General Sabine, by whom they were subjected to the same processes of reduction as those made in the Colonial observatories. : The author then exhibited to the Section six long rolls, containing the results of this discussion, giving the reduced observations at each of the hours of the twenty-four. A sufficient body of the larger disturbances having been separated from the rest, it was found at Point Barrow as elsewhere, wherever similar investigations had been made, that in regard frequency of their occurrence, and the average amounts of easterly Chemistry and Physics. 106 ut p.m.; and the author suggested the probability that the anomalies which have sometimes been supposed to exist in the tu f force at the two stations, (which is the antagonistic force opposing all Magnetic variations,) whilst on the other hand the increase in the range _ of the disturbance variation is many times greater than it would ‘be ae- = Cording to the same proportion, It would appear, therefore, that the absolute disturbing force must be greater at Point Barrow that at Toronto. SS The author then proceeded to point out the concomitant occurrences the auroral manifestations, The observers noted at each hour whether not there was an auroral display: from 11 A.M. to 3 P.M. no auroral displays were ever observed ; but the number of them was found progres- | sively to increase from 3 p.m. to 1 a.M., and then again in regular pro- Session to decrease to 0, at 11 a.m. The frequency of the occurrence of the aurora may be judged of, when it is said that during six months, Pal 9-53, and the same ? J i =u o = PS) be ) 3 a > xy é Fed 3 | s eg ° mh _ iv 6) Gr found at the same hour of westerly disturbance—viz. 1 a.m. The fre- qteney of the aurora, also, and the arnount of westerly deflection of the e uso accord ; whilst on the other hand the auroral in ton 9 have little ith the turning hours or the pro- _.» Were taken into account, there could remain no doubt that such » Hons had been made and recorded, and that these records still ex- iy some of the places he had last been in. When he (General the he) was with Capt. Parry, in 1818, they had made observations with Shasta, um for determining the figure of the earth, and others of great been: a Importance, on their way towards Behring’s Straits. They had ‘posed to considerable risk of the ships being lost, and were about ‘he boats and proceed overland, and in preparation for this hs ly prepared to carry with them abstracts of the observations, leaving “OND SERIES, VOL, XXV, NO. 73.—JAN., 1858, 14 106 Scientific Intelligence. the original full records safely deposited in secure cases in the cabins « the ships, to be found by those who doubtless would be sent out to loo scientific treasures; and this was one of the reasons why men of science were so anxious to have the ships carefully looked for, and it was a sacred duty even to the memories of those who had sacrificed their lives in pro- curing such results to do them the justice and honor of having them re- covered if possible. At the conclusion of General Sabine’s address, the President requested Capt. Macurre to favor the Section with a portion of what he had ob- served in these most inhospitable, but, to the scientific inquirer, deeply in- teresting regions. Capt. Maguire, with that modesty so charatenaa a very lengthened period, to his brother officers, he himself only occa- et helping, particularly when he was out with exploring parties. e said h i year. F 10. On the Direction of Gravity at the Earth's Surface ; by Prof. Hex nessy (Proc. Brit. Assoc., Athen., No. 1559).—If the earth’s surface be considered to coincide with that of the liquid which covers three-fourths of the entire spheroid, gravity should be considered as perpendicular to at every point, If, however, the earth were stripped of all its seas Mineralogy and Geology. 107 ans, the surface would present considerable inequalities. From what now known regarding the depth of the ocean, the continents would assume that such a surface is perpendicular to gravity. e mean sur- face of the solid crust of the earth would not be perpendicular to gravity, * if, after the process of solidification had commenced, any extensive changes ce. If Scag of the plumb-line from its normal position, and some of them ch § cat The tention to Il. MINERALOGY AND GEOLOGY. eae at Wood’s Mine, Chester Co., Pennsylvania. —In a letter r. W ‘ wri 108 Scientific Intelligence. 2. Descriptions of New Species of Palaeozoic Fossils from the Le Helderberg, Oriskany Sandstone, Upper Helderberg, Hamilton and Ch mung Groups; by James Hatt. 146 pp. with wood-cuts. Extracted from the Report of the Regents of the University. Albany, 1857.—This pamphlet is issued by the State in advance of the third and fourth quarto volumes on the Palzontology by Prof. Hall, of which the third is etongatus, The pamphlet closes with a short paper by Mr. Hall on his genus Tel- linomya (see Pal. N. Y., vol. i). The paper was published originally m the “Canadian Naturalist and Geologist.” From recently discover specimens, he has found that the teeth of the hinge have a close relation to those of the genus Nucula, and he is enabled to give the following corrected description : LLINOMYA.—Shell equivalve, equilateral or subequilateral, closed, th or marked by lines of growth, ligament external; hinge-line~ curved, sometimes subangular, with a continuous series of small curved transverse teeth, which diminish from the extremities to the beak, be- neath which, they are much smaller. Muscular impressions double, two anterior and two posterior, one large and strongly impressed, the other smaller, lying above and between the larger one and the hinge-line; pallial impression simple. | e refers to it, Ctenodonta of Salter. 3. Cosmogony, or the Mysteries of Creation; by Tuos. A. Davies. 8vo. New York.—There is quite an extensive show of science That the theory that boulders or rounded stones are water-worn rocks ‘ entirely untenable ;’—that all “vegetable mould was made undoubtedly in connection with the vegetable kingdom in the primitive creation,” and that we may as we say milk comes from granite as ingredients that 1m- prove or make soils ;—that fossil bones and shells, ancient sca beac and ripple marks, ete., are primitive creations, spoken into existe i the all ¢ oe = M4 ® £ ef 3 Q. = et cS = oO fas] a = Ss for] @ a ] et o al Sy the order in which the laws of matter were established in the course the first four days ff creation :—namely, Attraction of Gravitation after Form, Color, Electri is and ¢ Attraction, Cohesive Attraction, Endgsmosis Botany and Zoology. 109 _ Exosmosis; Electric attraction, ete. after Chemical affinity; Chemical _ affinity after Aggregated Existence ; and Motion and Equilibrium /ast. The author is to be commended for his desire to agai nachiap truth ; but he has made s stupid book that will damage . On the Existence of Forces oe of changing we pig level ached different Boclatae Epochs ; by Prof. Hennessy (Proc. Brit. As Athen., No. 1559).—If, in assuming its present state from an anterior condition of entire fluidity, the matter composing the crust of the earth underwent no change of volume, the direction of gravity at the earth’s surface would remain unchanged, and consequently the general figure of the liquid coating of our p anet. f, on the contrary, as we have reason to believe, a change of volume should accompany the change of state of the materials of the earth from fluidity to solidity, the mean depth of the ocean would undergo gvadual though small changes over its entire extent at successive geological epochs. This result is easily deduced from the general views contained in other writings of the author, whence it ap- ears, that if the surface stratum of the inter nal fluid nu ileus of the exist to increase the ellipticity ‘of the liquid covering of the outer xarfate mean ellipticity of the ocean increased from >}5 to zdq, the level of the sea would be raised at the equator by about 228 feet, while under the parallel of 52° it would be depressed by 196 feet. Shallow seas and banks in the latitudes of the British isles, and between them and the pole, would thus be converted into dry land, while low-lying plains and Islands near the equator would be submerged. milar pheno oc- curred during early periods of geological history, they would manifestly, influence the distribution of Jand and water during these periods, a With such a direction of the forces as that referred to, they would tend to increase the proportion of land in the polar and temperate regions of the earth, as compared with the equatorial regions during uecessive geologi- cal e epochs, Such maps as those published by Sir Charles Lyell on the distribution of land and water in during the tertiary period, and those of M. Elie de Beaumont, ¢ fester Beudant’s ‘ Geology,’ would, if sufficiently extended, assist in wari or disproving these views. III. BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY. hands, have been anxiously waiting for his full monograph. This, we understand, is now completed, although the last fasciculus has not yet sgt this country, The greater part is before us, and an admirable aph it is, worthy of a place in the Archives which contain that indilel one on the Malpighiacee of his lamented botanical master. It illustrates in detail about 470 species, under 40 genera, and is accompa- nied by 20 well-filled plates, drawn by the author. It opens with a Con- e 110 Scientific Intelligence. class than as suborders of an extensive order, fu ully admitting, how their close affinity énter se), followed by a brief indication of the prineip investigators of these plants, and of the resources at his own command. general account of the organs of vegetation and reproduction, of the affinities, of the dps are write of the plants of the group, and of = properties and uses, conclude the preliminary matter. The bod of the work is occupied by ‘their vadaaes arrangement and description. rsa being viewed as degenerations of Polypetale, our author upuliferce pallies deiteresath them. "Spon this ingenious plan ntation, the apetalous orders throughout may be most conveniently and preci ‘rw? oe their superior types ;—bearin g in mi types much within an order (¢. g. Huphorbiacee, : Onagracee inclusive of Hadorogen, Caryophylacem eat Iilecebrea) as eas do through a series of two or three orders, or even as the same es (e. g- ae aoc a series of sie on the other — ae of ‘dhe pyr The reason nee this mode’ of representation will exhibit botanical affinities so well is, that (as we have elsewhere remarked) the ve egetable kingdom does not culminate, —as the animal kingdom does,—and there fore offers no foundation whatever in nature for a lineal arrangement of its great groups. But it would appear that the Dicotyledonous orders might be arranged under a considerable number of short series, in groups ce upon the most fully developed or representative order of each so as to exhibit what we now know of the system of satel much better than in any other way. i that Dr. Weddell’s idea of the woe of Urticacee is a good he floral and seminal characters, the true criteria of affinity a7 not eee rrent, but present some strong points of relationship, as do organs of vegetation, These, once established, allow us to feel the font of the striking coineidence in the bast-tissue of the bark, so remar in all this allianee for the length, fineness, and toughness of the fibres ing them for their woe as textile materials, in which Urticacee vie with Malvacee and Tiliac to Bidiephical distribution, Europe is very poor in Urticee, poor even than would at first view be su »_ as the authox remarks. as — like an iS geinnge soil, the five or six European species an so abound around habitations that they make up in the Botany and Zoology. 111 Malay region, India, Mexico, and the West Indies together possess two-thirds of the known species. sulnesque's genus, and figured the species, in an earlier and more con- siderable work (Flora of the State of New Y ork), which, having unfor- tunately been published by the State, and in a large edition, has it consequence remained almost unknown to science. Considering that the three sepals of the fertile flower in this species are nearly equal and not gibbous, it may be doubted whether the single species of Blume’s genus Achudemia, dffering only in having five sepals, should not rather be appended to Pilea. We dare say that Dr. Weddell would have so ar- tanged it, if Blume had not published the genus. : Since the appearance of the third part of Weddell’s monograph, but vetore It had reached this country, Dr. Torrey has published, in the Re- ae on Dr, Bigelow’s fine California collection made in Lieut. Whipple’s ilroad Survey to the Pacific, a new Nettle, allied to Baehmeria but with ‘ - : ut 1 the penicillate stigma of Urtica, viz. his Hesperocnide tenella (Pacific Present monograph. The stigma is intermediate in character between of Chamebaina an eanwhile, his other undertakings are carried on with ina, a flora of the higher Andes, three fasciculi have rmer notice of the work, and we understand that 112 Scientific Intelligence. complete this volume. The second, devoted to the Monopetale h tended to the third fasciculus. Thus far it is mainly occupied w Composite, Rubiacee, Apocynee and Asclepiadca. Meanwhile thei fatiguble author has “ag two parts of the third volume, devote Monocotyledones. The work appears to be faithfully elaborated, and must be highly useful to xi stematic botanists and creditable to the author ral ot 8. Walpers: Annales Botanices Systematice.—The second fascia of Dr. Mueller’s continuation of this work has come to hand. It extends on a the Vympheeacee to the Sterculiacee,—at which rate a series f volumes will be mt soir to bring up the arrears of scattered —_ pb since the yea ahrbiicher fir Wissenschaflliche Botanik : herausg. von Dr. N ce Berlin. Vol. I, part 1, 1857, large 8vo, pp. 138, with 10 plates—This new work is to be devoted to original articles upon scienti botany | in the strictest sense, and especially to the departments in which its editor is so distinguished, viz. Vegetable Anatomy a gic The first ara is by Dr. —— himself, one of a seri nee = a connexion with, t 1e Sewicapanie &: gether have thrown new light upon this part of vans e physiol demonstrating that their reproduction is as truly sexual as that o t hight e plants and more directly com parable with that of animals The remainder of this fasciculus is oceupied by New Researches u h bane, we rium. He Dies that in some eases traces of a cell-w been the germinal vesicle anterior to their Teasnlintion by the poll 5. Radlkofer ; on The Process of Fecundation in the Vegetable. our previous artic sto Fungi and Lichenes,—thanks to the observations of Itzigs se upon the latter, and the most careful and persevering investigatio’s 7 . ] 7 bility are discovered, i: their general presence recognized ; but the the fact of fecundation is not made ont. In the lower or gen a fecundation was first demonstrated by Pringsheim. The of Vaucheria which Vaucher half a ey | ago o observ ed ‘seibbesdels: to ie male organs, Pringsheim m proved #@ Botany and Zoology. 113 ie be so, having seen them open at the summit and emit a great number of me free-moving corpuscles (spermatozoids), many of which found their way into the now open orifice of the protuberance which contains the forming trates the protoplaiie and so is ‘ietoded within ha ell-m is un- certain; but Pringsheim thought it was the case, from Seuvite dakota a colorless cor puscle like one of the spermatozoids inside of the membrane. Next Pringsheim demonstrated a similar feeundation in Cdogonium. His results, briefly published in the Proceedings of the Berlin Academy, and thence translated into French and English, are now given in detail in the first part of his Jahrbiicher, noticed above dogonium consists of a row of cylindrical cells. Some of these cells, usually shorter than - rest, become tumid, and, without conjugation, have their whole contents transformed into a dares a Pringsheim has ascertained int their sabia rip cag -. office, he names rat hear : these esca of androspores fix themselves by the smaller end upon the surface of the cell in which a large ordinary spore is forming, or in the vicinity, and germinate there, growing longer and narrower at ‘the point of attachment, __while near the free end a cross partition forms, and sometimes another, co one or two small cells; this is the — persis for pba it a Goce ohn (see nn. Sci. . 4, vol. 5), the spore : directly dorianp into the normal or caishenia plant. Instead of this, ; y an alternation of generations (to at ae dnt an ee the spore proceeds to convert its contents by successive division into a number of zoospores, different from the androspores, viz. small, ra or _ oblong bodies, furnished with two long cilia on a short beak at one end, _ and for a time moving actively about by their vibration. Coming to rest these zoospores germinate, by elongation and the formation of transverse haere tes acak: thread-like — ee of a row of Cah a 114 ! Scientific Intelligence. lobul : Reproduction by conjugation of course had long been familiarly known in the lower Algz. But it was questioned whether this was really analo- gous to sexual reproduction, since what appeared to be similar spores are often formed of the contents of a single cell without conjugation. A choug shows that these are abortive spores, incapable of germination; while those which result from actual conjugation will grow into new plants, without further metamorphosis, Vaucher’s old observations to this. effect having been confirmed by Braun and Pringsheim. Thuret in the year 1850 gh direct contact of the spermato dicecious species are perfectly decisive upon these points. He o wee the lively spermatozoids playing over the surface of the still-naked spore — tozoids actually penetrate the spore-mass; but there is no direct proof ndeed Thuret, in a very recent article (in Aun. Sci. Nat., ser. 4, 00 7, 1857,) indicates the grounds of Pringsheim’s probable mistake. most interesting point in this last article by Thuret relates to the sudde In the higher Cryptogamia and in the Phanerogamia, Radlkofer’s treatise, though interesting for the history, offers nothing new re 3 > 7 H w # referred to in the preceding paragraphs. But the subject is still to be continued, A. Ge 6. Natural History of the Spongiadea—J. 8. BowErBank, mets" 4 Highbury Grove, London,—eminent in this and related departments Botany and Zoology. 115 ‘fom two or three to several hundred fathoms deep; and they are found m considerable quantities attached to rocks or sea-weeds, &c., between high and low water mar , and in the line of sea-weeds and other mat- ters thrown up by the sea at high water mark. In every case the more , they contain of their fleshy or gelatinous matter the more valuable they are. They should never be washed in either salt or fresh water, a should be dried as speedily as possible, either in a shaded, breezy place or ma slack oven, after having been well drained of salt water ; and if at- tached to small stones or other substances they should be preserved in the attached state. They may be packed in boxes from one to three feet Square, or, if longer, a partition may be put in; and the best packing is , ed sea-weeds that have not been washed in fresh water. The small sponges should be placed in the cups or hollows of the larger ones, an, 1 very small or delicate, in chip or card boxes, or a screw of stout per: Sawdust or cotton should never be used. The box should be led Up and closely packed, but without crushing. In selecting from ue rejected matter at high-tide mark, plenty of horny zoophytes put in, and especially those which are full of parasitical matters, as Such have frequently growing on them the most minute and curiou of the sponge tribe, and also numerous minute and beautiful in If a large stone be appended to the sponge it is best to secure 18 /_ 2 Corner of the box, by ring two or more gimlet holes near the eet PB d the stone and through the holes, and drawing all tight from without, plug the holes and string firmly with wooderw eb . z writer would also be particularly obliged by specimens of Spon- fresh-water sponges, as he is engaged on a They are found in rivers, lakes or tanks, and pools, attached to ood, roc ches of trees, dipping into the water during periodica oods; a 9 oer sponges in fluid, the best material is strong spirit, or water ay .* Considerable excess of undissolved salt in it, but mever alam. J ars Pickle and frnit bottles, well corked and sealed, or tied over with. bladder. the bes: a 2 Syd ree eT 116 Scientific Intelligence. The Editors of this Journal, or Prof. Gray of Cambridge, will glad receive collections of Sponges and Spongillas made in this country, a forward them to Mr. Bowerbank. ere are indications of two or more species of Spongilla in our lakes and streams, different from the two Euro pean species, and as yet undescribed; and the present opportunity for their thorough investigation should by all means be improved. A. @ 7. Seeman’s Botany of the Voyage of the Herald ; parts IX, and X— The latter just issued, complete this creditable botanical work. It ex- tends to 483 pages, and to 100 plates, all well chosen and well executed. The 9th fasciculus finishes the collections in North Western Mexico, and give a general introduction to the Flora of Hong Kong: the 10th com- prises what purports to be a synopsis of the known plants of this island, 778 in number, a full index to the volume, and 14 pages reprinted to correct errors and give additional information® In one of them is cor rected a mistake by which a Tephrosia was taken for so peculiar a plant as our Galactia marginalis, Benth. The Hong Kong Composite are, elaborated by Dr. Steetz, with his usual conscientious care and good a judgment; the Orchidacee by the younger Reichenbach; the Cyperace@ — and Graminee ol. Munro; and the Ferns by Mr. John Smith, In _ a neat preface Dr. Seeman takes just credit to himself for having pro- e the German is the staple ; but most of the technical matter relatin systematio botany is in Latin; and articles are admitted either i or in English. As one 8. Dr. J. D, Hooker: On the Structure and Affinities of Balanopho- __ * To help on a little this laudable diminution of nominal species, we may remark that the only species which Dr. Seeman has pro as new in the Flora of bho ern Esquimaux-land (and admirably figured,) viz.: his Artemisia androsacea. ™ doubtless A. Senjavinensis, of Besser, from the opposite coast. a. @ a Botany and Zoology. 117 2 I Lex J o g, ot Cas) Q 4 ° 3 10°7| 91 29) 54,10) 08 7 20 Dee. 1853, | Weisse’s Nath 109../ 6 43) 94 38) 64, 9 Tl vi 6 Feb. 1854. 4) Wiesse’s sel, y 1291, 6 422104 59) 6,9 10 4 17 Feb. 1852 i}3 sextatis ian van 3 9 45:11 9794] 6,64 06 | 4% | 7 April, 1852 4 bd oa OC a 12 08109 32 42 | 19 May, 1852 "i \u Mereui BE Ole (17 406) 62 a 104,11) 18 | 7% | July, os S\# dey eh evs AF 474 6 60 v3 | 72 | July, 18 Oh Hercalls cosas 13. 487 #8 Q 10H 2h Tae 1836, tana eyere or 16: 37 26 11) Wei Bessel, xviii, 391 18 172, 91 39 7 7 05 | 72 | 80 July, 1854 {12 Weisse’s Bensel, xix, 1273/19 50°6} 92. 38| 72,8 | 09 ut ed ae 1s. 1854. ( “The places of mee difficult objects have been from o time communicated to mein letters from their discoverer, who hes and the plan of testing the ‘ehiciancy of his object- arg when completed by weeping for new double stars of the last degree of difficulty, rather than y the examination of objects whose character was previously known, At first, under the impression that every such object in the northern hemisphere visible with telescopes of moderate aperture must already ai e been apes ed up and i Seer during the careful craminations of Minute combanio te Fercul. is), and are su Cont. 20 Stow that coaake Much which may rb achieved by a diligent use of instruments of mode- rate dimensions, provided they are also of extreme perfection. A few notes on some of the most interesting of these objects may not, perhaps, be wnaceey nie m ie sufficiently favorable siderite stances, 5 Ceti I have repeatedly obtained measures; but it is a deli- cate leak: and from its mode rate altitude here requires fine cireum- stances. The small companion, which has a purplish tint, is faint and close, and may, therefure, have easily escaped detection at Dorpat. ~ 6. Sere gaa the moderate meridional altitude of 8 Sztantis at Dorpat (a bout 24°), 1 it may reasonably be doubted whether its duplicity _ SECOND SERIES, VOL, XXV, NO. 73.—JAN., 1958, 17 130 Miscellaneous Intelligence. would have been left to be discovered with a 43-inch object-glas ever perfect, if no change had perien he in its appearance since Struves sore of that part of the heave : e position and distance of ‘the small star with respect to # Hit ¢ culis were observed by Struve at Dorpat on one night in 1829, on two . nights in 1832, and on three in 1836; and also on one night at ’ Poulko- va with the 15-inch refractor in 1851. Yet no suspicion was recorded on any occasion of the companion being double. It is, therefore truly aston ishing that ‘Mr. Alvan Clark should have detected itsginsuspected duplic- ity ae an object-glass whose aperture is only a. ches! I have sue dinates * the faintness of the components almost forbidding the slightest illumination, though they bear a high power on Clark’s 8-inch object — glass,—about 700 suiting them best. My results are P=58°97; D= "B54. a I FS Se ee itett 7 soampetent to deal with it. As the small star precedes da! lacie: one, me the coco is pro’ perly “1, and the latter, u?, if that nomenclature be a opted. 8. This star is about as difficult as the closest of the Poulkova cata fairly to divide it. That it attracted Mr. Clark’s attention as a dou star is sufficient to prove that xa — as well as his telescope must poses z extraordinary power of defini a “9, This double star au 8 a good introduction to the small one of # Hercutis ; its components being brighter by about half a magnitude of th “eins Ahgis my i i object-glass and power 697, I have obtained, pwase 46+ D1" » et. ue very difficult wheat though decidedly peta a poe: a en aperture. My measures in pote gave, P=178"-10; D= ter a mean of two estimatio “12. A neat and not ver . “difficult object; it ought certainly to have been seen at Dorpat if it were as separate then as it is now. 6: pater Clark’ "h-inch object-glass gave in 1854, P==833° 78; “ Haddenham, Thame, July 9, 1857.” +e a SCIENTIFIC oe mistake made the se hiiee of Prof Owen’s work s Miscellaneous Intelligence. 131 two or three months. His account is explicit. As some general interest is attached to these views, whatever their bearing or geological import- ance, we cite a few paragraphs from Prof. Owen’s work. Aiming to bring out the “fixed rules” in the earth’s structure he says; p. 36— “The first step, in accordance with the above plan, is to collect the facts regarding the Direction of the Coasts, in their great outlines; also of - mountain ranges, rivers, ete. “ w depress the north pole 234° below the horizon, and you brin the eastern coast of North America, (Atlantic seaboard of the Unit hees spanned by 234°, and several smaller measurements which seem '0 be the eighth part of 664°, or nearly 8}°; near enough at least. for Tactical purposes P . The ibmar of the two measurements, viz. 234°, will Be found to be the distance from the Alps to Palestine, as well as, in a due south direc- oo to the Tropic of Cancer; also from the Alps successively to the Lak Islands, to Mount Hecla in Iceland, to near the Malstrém, te es Genoa to Etna ; from Tunis (ancient Carthage) to Barca, and fror 132 Miscellaneous Intelligence. As we have expressed our dissent from the general principle: work, we cite further a few paragraphs in order to give more definiteness _ to our objection, and at the same time to show those who may be inter ested, the nature of some of the discussions in the volume. The subjects of the chapters of the work are—1. rhe Rapes, Statical 0 or Geographical Geology; 2. Dynamical; 3. Anatomical; 4. Botanical; 5. Zoological; 6. Anthropological ia Ethnological ; 7. Pathologie nd Therapeutical ; ; and Jast (8.) Ethical Geolo Almost immediately following the last citation, in - 2nd chapter, he ste and afterwards discusses this cr ei p- he di equator, Although certain layers pr st invest the globe, in a ee sion never inverted, yet, where upheaved, the edges or vertical sections of these formations appear to have been brought to the surface along ¢on- centric (or subconcentric) lines, which are parts of great circles, inter- secting each other in such a manner as to form equilateral spheri triangles on the earth’s surface : each angle of intersection being equidis tant Mom our present north pole; also in such a manner as to cause hypozoic comp in the edie triangles, palzeozoic in the next, and cainozoic in the la Gs e occurs the following strange paragraph * By este down, on accu Baca ao al the ‘prominnaut points: at which the H e rocks are found in close oy to Secondary rocks, and the latter Aes to Tertiary rocks, rae ectin which occur chiefly at or near the above desc bed longitudinal lines d upheaval ; by carefully noting the chief touslieinae in which coal and ° ordinary inetals have been found, there seems no doubt that these ger logical lines of junction and of greatest metalliferous surface-wealth, form as already states, equilateral spherical oan, the rns e sides of each of edron, on the curved faces of which there appear to have accumula — ted successive layers of deposition. Ilowever, whatever the theory may — be, the practical result is, that by following the lines indicated on the map we connect nearly all the enige at which mineral wealth has thus far bee nd, and in which ranges therefore we may most reasonably expt to fi at intermediate points or on extensions of those lin Chagee Il. is devoted to “Anatomical and Physiological or Strat — graphical Ge Neinces attempt to demonstrate the —— between we moisture deposited additional materials, derived from the m yet later period, a part of these same mat one were bodys Miscellaneous Intelligence. 133 eal mixture, partly in chemical solution, to promote the development of later formations, forming new continents, etc.; just as a portion of the seed (the albumen) and the food-yolk of the egg go to nourish the ex- pauding germ. | “The separation of continents typifies the propagation by off-shoots, or artificially by cuttings, in plants; and seems to yesemble the fissiparous : mode of reproduction observed among the lowest animals. In some of the earlier cataclysms, we have the type of the ruptured Graafian vesicles, while at a final convulsive deluge, the period when the Western Conti- adom. * But the analogy may be carried much farther: the earth, like man, has its mountain masses giving stability to the length and sometimes Ps of cells around a centre, or as the earliest animals partake of the radial When an abundant supply of carbon has been furnished for the stowth and subsequent decay ‘of vegetation on the earth’s surface, we “ have the type of an extra-uterine nourishment. | We have the coal period forming its vast layers of carbonaceous de- Posits, which, by slow chemical action under a portion of the earth great centre of circulation, the heart, as the small streams unite into int i carry the dissolved materials to the great deltas, and finally “4 fs “Turning our attention first to the Western Continent, we find, as just tated, the smaller streams anastomosing, (as the veins do to form the ee) and at last discharging the chief waters of North America, by the Mississippi, into the Gulf of Mexico; while the Orinoco, Amazon, oo de la Plata send the jnosculated waters of South America also » “Ward the same gulf, through the currents tending to the Caribbean Sea. “Here we have the type of that venous or vitiated blood, which is now mto the great central heart, and thence propelled, in the Gulf- 134 Miscellaneous Intelligence. Stream, chiefly north and east, toward those regions where the ocean is ] as the Baltic; entering also the Mediterranean, and leaving there large saline deposits, the water of the ocean is evaporated by the heat of the sun, increased in intensity by reflection from Africa’s sandy carry nourishment to that earth, its plants and animals, and again per form the same circulating course of evaporation, purification, and con- densation. “The atmosphere, then, besides forming the type of aerial communica tion between parent and offspring, as indicated in the tabular view, is the type too of the great aerating organ, the lung, (whether under the form of external branchial tufts or internal parenchymatous structure, forming pulmonic sacs. the maternal type, corresp & lactation, the greatest pelvic width typified in the highest tin layers have been torn away, leaving an arid country around the “In the attraction exerted by the moon over the tides, we have the he riodicity, to be enlarged upon more in the Chapt Pathological variations; and it may suffice now to ask again, whether we have not, in the periodical flux and reflux, the type of normal an ab Miscellaneous Intelligence. 135 normal, regularly recurring exacerbations, as in intermittent and remittent fevers, in the periodical excretions, alvine, urinary, ete., in the catamenia, and even in the arrival and departure of epidemic agency ? 2 observe that the older rocks (the Hy- pogene, crystalline, non-fossiliferous) are chiefly found in the arctic and | Compact parts being crystalline; while numerous elongated and nie pe sie bubble cavities rendered other parts porous and uneven. Much o _ Teeent as well as the exposed part of the fracture exhibited a pseudo-me- -" ose of the color of copper, which also appease in the cavities. 4 part of the exposed surface was coated by a light yellow ochry cover- ( po ace was y a lig ee wie ta Rh 28 comp ili 3 posed of silica, proto-perox sulphur, copper, which are the 136 Miscellaneous Intelligence. oe at Volcano of Kivu Hawaii; by the Rev. Trrvs Coan — (Fro rom ¢ er to J. D. Dana, dated Hilo, Sept. 1, 1857.)—I_ was at Kilauea fei the younger Binghne and others in June last. Pele wat — quiet. The ice change is the subsidence of the vast dome, some 00 feet high and two miles in circuit, which covered ma area of the aie fire-lake, Melesachcan, All that area is now a deep basin, en cled by a rim consisting, in some places, of a bold per rpendicular prec ; mi and in others of an inclined plane of unequal angles, prents numerous yawning fissures and strewed with immense masses The bottom of this basin is rent and smoking, and studded with a a cones. Near the centre, and enclosed by a jagged rim from 20 to 50 feet high, is the lake of fire, which has burnt from time immemorial. It 8 about 100 feet below the rim and some 500 feet in diameter. When out party approached it, opts was oe little action; but in about half aa hour, = ieee Pele, as if to give us a special bencke began to fire up in earnest ; the great one ae eae faciedaly on the southern side; the sthesbte fusion rolled in a fiery wave over the black and hardened i which covered the Jake like i ice, breaking it down by sections, and. tilting eastern ban have approached the southern bank. After a ade season, all wi was = again and the surface of the lake blackened and crusted over; Pele ad dropped her curtain. These scenes were repeated in the night, as we = see from the great brilliancy oceasionally displayed. oan, in the same letter, states it as his opinion based on his sur vey of the region, that the lavas of the last ee eruption of f Mount Loa, which began in 1855, and continued on for fifty miles, all flowed i k on from a single opening,—that of the first great outbrea . Ei kes—About four o’clock on the morning of October 5 an earthquake at St. Louis, Missouri, “made the more subs hock of a: buildings tremble.” Seven minutes later there was another shock shocks were felt at Springfield, Illinois, and elsewhere. At Centralis nois, there were three distinct shocks at intervals of five minutes, ¢ the same hour in the morning, the first of the three being enough to throw down chimneys. On the 23d of October, soon after three o’clock in the afternoon; © earthquake shock was felt at Bufialo, N vee It was also perceived to ee westward in Ohio, at Dayton, F orestville, of Another shock occurred at Charleston, 8. Carolina, on the morning he the 19th of December, about nine o'clock. It is much to be desired that som en rson in the region of these pe quakes should collect all the information respecting them, especially #1" reference : e time and intensities of the shocks at different ever these times accurately det agree being the data necessary for d the ainelion from which the earth uake came, its course, th, progress, and the intensities, gine the point of greatest action. “seco SERIES, VOL. XXV, NO, 73.—JAN., 1858. 18 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 137 5. Tables of the Division of Mankind into Races, Branches, Families and Nations, with an approximative statement of the Population ; by M. ele p’Hat.oy, (Bull. de l’Acad. Roy. Belgique, tome xxiii, 1856, 12.) I. Division into Races a“ Branches. View Bie, waren branch, . 289,586.000 50,390,000 Se bia Ot er Se a ee 30,747,000 = 370,723,000 Ynuow Race—Hyperborean branch, 160,000 MR Score tecah edecdiwnceves 7,000,000 Sinic 338, 300, 000 = 345,460,000 Brown Race.—Hindoo branch,.......0...eececeeees 171,100,000 Ethiopian “ , 8.300,000 Malay « 25,600,000 = 205. 000,000 a Ren Race.——Southern “9 226250000060 0000 008. 9,200,000 orthern * 4(}0,000 = 9,600,000 Back Race. sp loci ? 56,000,000 3 ae OP rere es 1,000,000 = 57,000,000 Hysarps, eta ik ee ar are % 12,217,000 Total, 1,000,000,000 Il. Subdivision of es Wate Race into Families and Nations, . European Branch. sap 7 “ently nsuding hr lsc 64,000,000 Scandina —Sw ea ees 00D vec ee eck iakeeeee BS U00 Danes 1,709,000 _ English, including the Scotch, a 014,000 = seni Cetric AMILY. Cymry.—Welsh, ........ ~ , 650,000 tinct Bretons, .. i ‘ ; pak, 000 els—trish, . es Highlanders, . {pee Ry . 600,000 == 11,750,000 Latry ohh ih, eg ae 5900.008: = including the Portuguese, .......+++++ -++ 22,865,000 Bieri ecco ne 7005000 = 86030000 aks, Sale ee PEO Secs ck te tee eee years 2, 990) “Seg Poke FU oe ae vues 1 280,000 = 4,470,000 Russians pete the sre and Cossacks, ... 49,874,000 APOE af eer) Senn oe ene 387,000 Bene Lal: Be ee eeeges sc: ° 6.500000 A CUE R SEC We balcere EON ee ewes ve’ 1,306 000 Rc i eS Aen or 142,000 Chechs.— fohemians, eis otk bi pauetatt veces 3,144,000 isi. err es 1,000,000 RNR Set i il viet ss 6 nt io ee 280,000 mo thats wens wee e's SHOR OO0 nue Ree wee 9,804,000 000 seuaee 473,000 = 78,426,000 Total,... sees ~ 99,686,000 138 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 2. Aramean Branch. Basque at Lysian F AGRI Ber bee — Amazin, Sees eeeee 4,700,000 1,500,000 aoe ‘ 00,000 BE owed ae . 150,000 Fellahs, 1,500,000 = ee, ee e 14,650,000 ; ony +. ete tae 4,074,000 Syrians, 500,000 . 4 Maltese, ..... ee 106,000 = 19,330,000 Persian Famtty. ajiks, ve 8,775,000 aginst he —— eee aE re ee fe .+.. 8,500,000 nis : 1,600.000 oa Cea ee wees 5,000,000 Kurds, thading the Lures, 500,000 a 1,228,000 Race ete 32,00 0 rrr val including the shame and Lazians,.. 600,000 = 22,130,008 135,000 Rotel, 7,000 SPO bk saetouette sheesh : 8,000 Mena, oF Oe : 20,000 Greeblanders,. 2 o.02 Ss 5,600 ee x Kurilian ee PNR A, Cee ee haere 40,000== 160,000 — & Moxgottan Bray compe = Yakut fail. ate 90,000. ongolian Bike ane sth eats Pam 170,000 Mongolians, awh tue eet 2,560,000 TIQIAAPT cs cao vias 120,000 Tungusian family.— cagusis Tita See Deh oon e : 000 Ma wichiviaien inekeeennst 4,000,000 = 7,000,000 Sisic Brancn, Chinese family, e Vbdie ea pave tl. Cert soe 282,000,000 pita iokk seats ccvedue Sees ieee 2 COUR OM eS 25,000,000 : Anamitic «© .. : . 12.000,000 Siamese “ ,, 4.300.000 Peguan * ae ee tee ere ee , : Peg Pe 2,500,000 eco teal ene cess 6,000,000==388,300,000 Total, ....s++++ 845,460,000 IV. Subdivision of the Brown Race into branches, families and nations, Hixpoo sraxcut, Hindoo family, § Hi neler; Gente; Mate } 111,100,000 dq Beng: Ori s; ?Taiga Telingas ; " Oar tics; Tan Malabar family. tSingalese; 7 Gonda: at 60,000,000=171, 100,000 ot Ee harias ; ”? Kachari : lOPIAN BRANCH, Abyssinian family. { ‘nine, Galas ome en. 4,300,000 Fellan family. —Fellahs; Ovas, ete.......++++++ 4,000,000 = 8,800,000 Y BRANCH, Malays; Battas; Javanese; Macas- Malay ami.) pom Bugis Tarajas ; Dayaks; 24,600,000 Bissayis ; Thgulis, ie er onss i { N. Zealanders ; seo Be pugainvi illi- + ans; ae Is lan der : Tahitians » Paumot s; Marq eans ; San awh 1,000,000 = 25,600,000 Tsl lanier ‘Cuvillign Talandets Mul- ae ‘ “905,000,000 140 Miscellaneous Intelligence. V. Subdivision of the Rev Race into branches and families, SournEenn BRANcit. Aztec family, 4,435,000 RG ib cs Soh iatense oc Se a tee . 300,000 MFRICRURES aaens cele td citi bauer! ee nie a ks Pee DC . 2,620,000 IG TATISINER eo ais oils, fae Se eS a eda Site aus «» 100,000 Araucanian family,... 00. ee ccc cee ete ees es 340,000 : ‘anipean SOs Cas Ea Se Orc ke an Windle elle iw Sees Chiguiteaan “ 20,000 Mee PS igh a Se oe ees er Me ese ea 80,060 My Guaravian “ iso455. 1,105,000 = 9,200,000 — Norreern prancn. loridian family, piuorrreiaeeiets In the accomplishment of this cherished design, we have labored ended 01 termination, due notice of our purpose will be given in a prospectus; ai@ — we shall h to receive a continuation of the patronage so libe “= / | Miscellaneous Intelligence. 147 Deen demolished in San Diego from its violence, while the facts in the case are, that the steamer left that port twenty-four hours before the shock occurred there. i. earthquake, or more properly n . , Lf ast, excepting, perhaps, that of the wave of the Simoda earth- 854. The linear distance over which we are able course, amounts to six hundred and two miles, and its breadth, 80 far as now ascertained, is two hundred and ninety miles. Tt has all Violent commotion at a distance from our coast, rom the best evidence attainable at present, it seems to have h 3 _ Sively proved from the fact that it was felt earlier at San Francisco, than at any other locality east of this city within the State. We have no time, at which the shock between eight and nine o'clock on the morning of the 9th took place, at four localities east of the city of San Francisco, mm this State; the shock at that hour seems to have been more gene- sia is proper here to state that three minutes four seconds was the the appearance of having been the terminal, movement of some more — pai 5 aaeaalinel Lat, | Lon. {Time of shock.|Elapsed time.| Velocity. |. ees ane Ai. Qielia miles. Ci ekdchaweg 87 48|12225| 8 13 30 0 00 00 Py ere 88 82112128; 8 20 00 7 30 66 tenes vse scutes Of O21 191 34} 8 23 00 30 65 ¥ TOR SESE 9h 4 eS Oe ew 85 rare) 118 46 8 45 00 $2 80 60. BO) nodes es cee esses | 8242111713 | 8 50-00 | 386 80 70 ne 148 Miscellaneous Intelligence. : The velocity is given in miles per minute; and by dividing the sumof the same by their number, it will be found that the movement of the — wave at that time averages a fraction over 6-2 miles per minute } : | i ae ag 8 2 ; 5 ee es Ee | Hee cl ymnomsnt0,] 255 PALS - = ae Ee Reha GEE ' ones eee : wea \ \ { | cates BS ve bees Sd - DLOAATHGMAN es = if, Zs Fp Sea .. tat, | APA ma i : i - t)80INOPD ) yas : ; ‘ERE = ‘ yes S53 ee aes ne : Se . ~ pee WOOT a he > T™ =) ; : : a2 Ss leiosn — 1HOULA | eles ARG YeAUL eee & : UMOJDIUTNO, [ \ $F fl (4) Ar a a > ; 25 3 3 — ts ILO? = = | -— | sti \ | 1 | | ; ” | ie Se | —f}—$——} — - ppAomou0yy’ 3 UOLSOTPY, ) SSS | | | | } st | oe JOSUOISUTS OTP AN’ SoS Ss e wh Ht 1 one os} ee , Cz Ss | |_ § TBAOT 11TCT Aztsas | s Urpin, YRUURARS’ | mS | | 5 1 & ‘pl opades* SUOMI S17 | : ; | | | | | ! a SAM 3s? A SRS" ) SIE pas 81s saa i§ : “a EE S85 ounsnsny’;s’ | ons f. Ela 28 8 site | glee oa = | cal a F | | wu. | | oo | | a aa | | — ee — ee -_ > | | ee ee j ica] th i) | : me oF a a, < 5 — ee ta _— ars SER ne SS . ia <4 = e ro pisces . > o 5 Oo ay ig oy mel | : : : ~ ie oe Io - ene E Nee fri @ o Ww a2 e P= | Bae ee 2 ‘4 ae E = 5 Riper a Mites ii Ney oC ads B . ye A 2 =e i ss LSx 8 we eae 8 e ; , SE EOL 2 eg Poh = oom S 4 — a © a u o Ss. | | eS 4 + gO a 8 3 a > a Sm Sf he: =e | iP — iS] “4 " . 5 os lant So = <4 | “|| S46 iS _ . ol 7, co r & 4 SS Ss § = a Ne op S| fm g Se : i 9 : = | 8 ee 4 or D é 8 = es ~ wt Be! © Ess : po Bs8e eS . eee fae. Pah « gga - . ~ SS ee ee wk? CB te ~ ~~ os ® &.&% 3 — es a | re] RFs «6 foal 1 ¢ Ss niet st = : ms was es" hee ASSES ee S388 8 bt m | = 4 5 & 3 = | ee Ea oa ; pain per Ts Sailing Lines. —_3-£e-— of tides. XI Xt XL 43° | Cal oe , 37 oe = No. 3. MARCH | No. tl. JANUARY Se ee 2 al + £500: ! +4000 | +3500 +3000 { ‘ t ! » tioloo ' ee Bo a te = . A, No.8. AUGUST Pate Lease ae | L 4, Pot | 2000 ae +3500 3000 Pos —. i 4 f ‘ Prone tt. mae Te Ares Tew ee ee Hom Ss ‘ wold PpRIL to OCTOBER a RT ara ; 350007-—~__ 32500 Se ~ 18000 ~ 24500 +RMooo9 ¥ r o S ° \¥ 3 Ff a 7 oo eee Sap __No.16. Diagram yepresenting the total quazitity of wind from, ®ach direction durin, € th SE. ee wind from each. / rs 1e U.S.Coast Survey’ pass rose repres the year 1855. The curve for San Diego is represented do:....da.....do.. Sar isc do. a. + t a eet + peseagensse i i Tee * Base Line a | .S.COAST SURVEY WEST B. oo ; Boulders ~~ ad, marking Terminus. : - AD.BACHE Superintendent cae eon ate Gueea ie pitlg Soe 8 rene ' pace bel f Block Breet square by 2.5 feet high, Pe sie, Sepsis . mac i: ; eae : A MEASUREMENT OF EPPING BASE — vi : ; 'é ‘ \ 8 7 MATNE, = sides of Plank. Curb; Sia feet square. FP Marhle Monument with inscriptions er B ea ie Scale 20.600 olt with cross,marking Terminus. a 1857. eee Se pees Se | aria s ¢ : Kors ; Be VERTICAL SECTION OF MONUMENT : Sage aes AT sts. ae EAST BASE and the feet of s : . - } iN; Gully ~~ ™% Itt deep 4 = - 2 oe 2 a: Sea = | Tes . | oy i | castieetiestieriestiedindtentntettedates attests PROFILE OF BASELINE. FS sid ye Fe re lr ting ensinentin "eC . oo 5 z iso feet 2 . 40 CROSS SECTION metres south 103 0) 75 60 45 30. I % metres north Lao te Ey ee ee ee CROSS SECTION AT EAST BASE 75 7o ae Be Oh ae ae, OS eat 65 60 55 So 4h T ee ee ; Tae } i > rofile horixontal shading cainiteat hades [Sedonfe Abrde Mark ry. T i Nl. PLAN, SECTIONS AND PROFILE. THE ARs = “ a | ART, XIV. iid ia in a eee of pegs 7 W. Bailey, late President of the rats ican Wage jor the Ad- van neement of Setence ; by Dr. A. A. Gou | | | [Delivered before the Association, Actignet 19, 1802)» i ‘i President and Gentlemen of the American Association for | Pee cae shal of Science—We are called upon, at this time, ila t to an event such as has not before pee eg in the tory of t this Association during the seventeen years sinze inception. He who was elected at our last session to preside his meeting, has in the mean time been taken from us. m Ae all delighted to honor, foe Z ms EF eC, r, though he sought not publi om men, and who required no higher stimulus to his 3 hor reward of his toil than the ai gee derived ree on and sae of the of | > wonderful works and perfect tly harm aie so ae ged and delighted hi con earth. ‘ somton ming that we should Beeisye a few Be ob tio com- ~ malo pt sis life and labors. gre are others, who knew rec 18 "aaertide i ie aaeis uested to cress 0 hae on this occasio ND tise ot “i NO. 74.—MARCH, 1858. 154 An Address in Commemoration of J. W. Bailey. - : y- ie ment as cadet in July, 1828, and graduated July, 18382. He was appointed second lieutenant in the Artillery, April, 1888, and was promoted to first lieutenant, February, 1837. During this time he was stationed at Old Point Comfort, Bellona Arse nal, and Fort Moultrie. But with the development of his of Chemistry, Mineralogy and Geology in the United Sta Military Academy, which appointment he held, first as assistant, incl He was mal- ried in 1835, and, with his wife and only daughter, then seven teen years of age, was on board the steamer Henry Clay which a 3 ociety. 4 f the 138u¢, practica 2 iH, But it is ‘more with his scientific position that we are His taste for science was very early developed. Address in Commemoration of J. W. Bailey. 155 ning with botany and mineralogy, and passing from these to geology, chemistry, and microscopy, he traversed a large portion of the fiell of natural science. In the departments more espe- _ cially relating to his position at West Point, he held a high rank, and his publications show that he introduced many improve the most difficult points of analysis and general physics. His observations were always of the most careful and accurate char- . recollection or mere indefinite statements; thus having always ryt } vol- ume containing these, which he denominated ‘‘ Microscopic tehes,” is, i Sketches,” is, of itself, a surprising evidence of his industry and skill. There are four hundred and fifty sheets, containing about three thousand ske By his great skill with the pencil he ee Sb, 2 2 ° of vegetable and animal tissues, and occasionally an entire ani- _ talor plant. “In January, 1839, while examining some aquatic Plants, bs pe ria Rew one, to which Ehrenberg gave the complimentary name tronema Baileyi ; and finally he devoted himself with great to the varied objects included under the general term Infu- vtime see and correct his puper. He, however, sat “ «J Possessed himself of all the important works on 3 stag ind becam active correspondent of Ehrenberg, Ontagne, and very many otbers. Fossil deposits, mind, ano, were collected from every quarter for Hivestigatien, e the ane a ng, Agardh, Quekett, Ralfs, Harvev. Greville, De Brelis- 156 An Address in Commemoration of J. W. Bai across the Atlantic, made in reference to the laying of the tele: graphic cable, occupied his attention. In pursuing these exam- inations, he found the relics from the bottom so well characterized in certain localities and at certain depths, that he suggested the possibility of being able, in some instances at least, to determine the safety or otherwise of a vessel, by an examination of the few among us have ventured upon the purchase of a valuable instrument, without first consulting him in reference to it, and ~ perhaps taxing him with unwelcome negotiations; and his letters show that numerous applications of this kind m e been a most serious tax upon his time. It is said that his own early — observations were made with globules of glass blown by himself. _ After he became possessed of a proper instrument, many modi: fications in the construction of the stage and its movements, and in other appendages, were made by him; and it is to his experience and scientific deductions, coupled with the genius and incomparable optical skill of Spencer, that we are indebted _ for the most powerful microscopes that have yet been made. Px. is masterly and triumphant defense of them against the de- __ tractions of transatlantic pens, also exhibits his complete mastery of the subject. One of his last essays was to construct an Ind cator, by means of which the place of any object on a si might readily and certainly be found. No one, in looking at tl eard, would credit the labor and thought which he, in con) ton with his friends, Judge Johnson and Mr. Gavitt, bestow! uponat. Many futile efforts were made, and many quires we ‘ Sed'm correspondence, before the accuracy of its measuremen _ anda method for the unerring application of it, were satisfact = ~ ddress in Commemoration of J. W. Bailey. 157 Contributions to Knowledge, except one in the first volume of the Trausactions of the Association of Geologists and Natural- ists, which embodied his previous papers on the Infusoria of the __-United States, with additions, and which gave him at once a high position as a scientific naturalist. - is Microscopical Collection will constitute his most splendid Monument. The slides, of which there are five hundred and’ ilty, are arranged in boxes in the form of octavos, of whi Mere are twenty-four volumes. More than three thousand ob- ects, fixed upon slides, are catalogued and noted with reference to Bailey’s Indicator, thus enabling any one readily to find with certainty the identical specimens described by him. - There are also very many other slides not included in the regular collee- _ tion. Being objects either described by himself or given to him by other describers, this collection must always possess the high- a, enna and must be our ultimate reference in all cases of ouDdt, : The collection of Algz is equally complete and authentic. It Consists of thirty-two portfolios, containing about 4,500 speci- mens; and it may safely be said that few collections in the world o Performed in addition to the full daties of a professorship, - 3 Nimwae 2 military precision and punctuality. He has won for u ‘ ihe oh, a place by the side of the most eminent microscopists Stent te ‘ 8 by the unassisted eye. Are they not equally the handi- : faithfully ex plored, and the shores and dry lands which coéxis . Advancement of Science at their meeting in Albany, in 1856. 158 J. Wyman on Batrachian Reptiles from Ohio. work of him who made and sped the spheres, and forrned man in his own image? And if he, by the microscope, demonstrated the vegetable structure of coal, illustrated the lowest habitable depths of the ocean, settled the nature of some of the important geological strata, and of the vast deserts otherwise deficient in geological indications,—questions of practical importance in our investigations of the crust of the earth,—let him receive a corre- sponding rank with him who points the telescope to the mighty orbs above, determines their magnitudes and movements by ser entific induction, and thereby enables us to determine our place upon that crust. I cannot refrain from quoting, in conclusion, the words of an intimate friend in a letter to him, on learning of his appoint ment as President for this meeting. He says, “‘I am sure every epee nent CE 4 Art. XV.—On some remains of Batrachian Reptiles discovered in the Coal Formation of Ohio, by Dr. J. 8. Newberry and Mr. ©. ML. Wheatley ;* by Jerrries Wyman, M.D., of Cambridge, Mass. tologist for investigation, is that relating to the’ determina the period when the Creator gave forms to organized beings, ane phere, and made them living things. But the history of geology, shows, that generalizations as to the time and circumstances io the creation of given animal forms have approached pre h * A short verbal account of these fossils was given to the Am. Assoc. for he x lg the l, Wyman on Batrachian Reptiles foam Ohio. 159 that their creation took place during the triassic period. The coal formations had been largely examined, thousands of fishes and still lower animals had been discovered, before the first life to.a period older than the Coal. How ever, in view ; of our as yet imperfect knowledge of the Old-red fauna, the question © May still be raised woetliet we have even now reached the period of primoidal rep isi remains a ae in this paper are important oe 0 the proofs of the presence of reptilian life during the Carbo Tepes aa Nie the existence of at least three species ad Archegosa s, Ber’ } Deseri iption ar fos footmarks (of Thenar heterodactylum) found in the pirboniferous series, in Wes correla Co., Penn, by aa f- King, M.D, Am. ournal of Stlencis | vol. xlviii, p. 348, and in vol. i, new ser in On the evidence of fossil footmarks of a qu sirtired ailted t to ‘Cheirotheriam tse ii of ae aga by Charles Lyell, Esq., F.R.S., &e., A ‘ts nee, vol. ii, ne , 25. ‘ rein nf a repel ile, Niger sit ie Acadianum, Wyman and Owen,) lott poe scovered in the interior of an erect fossi pr Maen the coal Qu n Scotin, by Sir Chastin Lyell, F.R.S.. &e., and J. W sun, Esq. arterly Pity 7 the Geol. Soc., London, May 1853, vol. ix, p. 5 On Reptilian footmarks in the gorge of the Sharp eee A near Pottsv tsville, Isaac Lea, Es sq. Pr rice a the Am. Phil. 9, p. 91; also in the in, Journ, of Science, Mie ix, new series, 1850, p. 1 od Tra An . Phil. ety, vol. x, Art, xxi, p. 3 8; a pile in his splendid nongraph blac a hs e Von Meyer. Palsantoaraphiie I, p. 112. ot On ey, rus has been disputed, but the investigations of ve ve eye Speen ben _ remains of a great number of individuals belonging to two Species, hay 1at_in addition to double occipital consis this animal pos- ssi well, cadery arms and legs, pt 34 are sufficient to establish its reptilian p, 1855 ptilian ae of r based upon len "Xo otice of a Reptilian in the Coal -y hase by J. W. Dawson, Esq, PGS, We nal of Geol, S Soc, London, vol. xi, p. 8 Coal shale, b otice of a Batrachoid fool ( Par aires Colei) in British agi . hee iy ee F.RS, &., Quart. Journ. of Geol. Soc. London, vol. Po 1E Was first recognised be ‘Prof. Miter | in the Museum of the Ear nnis- «&e., Quart. Journ. seh Soc. 1 Eien, ports, on cae Geol. a Pennsylvania, nite otaipsat of Am, Acad. of Arts and Scien 160 J. Wyman on Batrachian Reptiles from Ohio. — two genera, not hitherto noticed. Two of the species were dis- covered by Dr. J. S. Newberry of Ohio, and a third by Mr. C. M. Wheatley of New York, who have entrusted them to me for description. Raniceps Lyellii—This was found by Dr. Newberry in com- pany with many other remains, for the most part of fishes, and was regarded by him as Batrachian. He gives the following de- scription of their geological position. “The locality which furnishes the fossil fishes and reptiles is at Linton, Jefferson Co., Ohio, on the property of the Ohio Diamond Coal Co., at the mouth of Yellow Creek. This point is about fifty miles distant from the northwest margin of the Alleghany coal-field, and therefore about as near the centre of the basin as any part of Ohio. The hills bordering the Ohio at the mouth of the Yellow Creek, con- tain six workable beds of coal, while there are at least two others which lie beneath the bed of the river. Of those exposed, the fourth in the ascending series contains the fishes and reptiles; it is known on Yellow Creek as the “big run” being nearly eight feet in thickness. Of this thickness, the lower four inches is of Cannel coal, and this forms the nidus of our fossils. The “big run” I have traced over several hundred square miles, and there can be no doubt of its position. The animal remains of this deposit lie in immediate proximity to the most characteristic carboniferous plants and shells.” Dr. Newberry also gives a section of the different strata, which lie in the following order from above downwards, 1. Shale and sandstone; 2. coal; 3. _ the skeleton (fig. 1,) was exposed on splitting open two lam- Inve of matrix, and in the act of separation, the tuil (if it had One), some of the dorsal vertebre, and a portion of the pelvis were destroyed. As is usually the case with fossils from the _. coal, all the bones were very much obscured by compression and ___ by their intimate union with the substance in which they are imbedded. They are seen from the underside and measure about four and one-half inches in length. ~The Batrachian characters are strongly marked, and were Te . a C ized by Dr. Newberry ; yet they do not strictly conform with : either one of the two great groups, but rather combine the od features of the Urodel and Anourous types; the first predomina- _ ting in the trunk and extremities, and the latter in the head. € general form of the head resembles that of frogs; it 18 U1 angular, and its greatest breadth nearly equals its length. Exist: ing Urodels are characterised by having the lower jaws either fee J. Wyman on Batrachian Reptiles from Ohio. 161 shorter than the cranium, so that the tympanic bones to which hese are articulated are directed obliquely forwards; or as in they are directed out- ossible to de- vered, especially on y separated from each other 162 J. Wyman on Batrachian Reptiles from Ohio. and are provided with small single pointed teeth. That on the left side is sufficiently exposed to show that it is bifurcated towards the median line, as in Anoura. The palatine bones could not be traced. The atlas is in close apposition with the occiput so that the articulating surfaces are not visible, ‘The expansion of the atlas indicates however, that two condyles probably exist. No portions of the hyoid bone or of branchial arches were recognized. The vertebra are very imperfectly preserved, and are remark+ ably small in proportion to the size of the animal, and though several of them are destroyed, it is estimated that about twenty existed between the occiput and the pelvis. The transverse pro- cesses, if any exist are not visible, nor is there evidence of ribs. The Anoura are destitute of ribs, but these are replaced by very largely developed transverse processes. A slightly raised outline appears to be the only thing to i 7 ie ‘ cate a scapular arch, but there are no details of structure. arm is better preserved, the humerus is much contracted in the — middle as in Batrachians generally; the radius and ulna are sep> ~ i we arate as in Urodels, and not united as in Anoura. In conse quence of the displacement or concealment of some of the phalanges the number of fingers could not be ascertained with precision. ‘There were certainly four, but a fifth is doubtful. It would be of great importance if a fossil should be detected with ve fingers, since no.existing Batrachians have more than four, While many of the supposed Batrachian footprints of the coal formations have five. ‘Ihe pelvis was destroyed, but traces of the right and left femur and of the right tibia remain. ‘rom the above description it appears that this, one of the earliest created reptiles, combines in the same individual] some the characters of both of the two principal groups of Batra chians, viz: Urodels and Anoura. It agrees with the Jatter the shape of the head, the length of the lower jaws, and in the absence of ribs; and with the former in the regular conve* outer border of the lower jaw, and in the separation of the bones of the fore arm. f the anatomical characters of the species just described are b ; in any way remarkable, those of the two closely allied ones — Which remain to be noticed deviate still farther from wage!’ orms. One of them was discovered by Mr. Wheatley and thé — other by Dr. Newberry, in the same locality as the fossil already mentioned in the preceding pages. In both instances abou twelve or fifteen dorsal vertebree and the corresponding 11D € only parts of the skeleton which are preserved; but as sat are only very slight differences in the successive vertebre 20 ribs in each specimen, it is probable that several additional ones Were necessary to complete the series, and this would indica? & a | a J. Wyman on Batrachian Repiiles from Ohio. 163 that the animal had a very long and slender body. ‘There are ‘Ro traces whatever of limbs, head or tail, in either case The specimen, of which a small portion is represented in the accompanying figure (fig. 2, seen from ‘ above) is about two and a half inches : long. There are in all thirteen or four tidge, on each side of which posteriorly, are two rather large lobes forming the articulating processes which overlap the succeeding bone, The transverse processes are well preserved throughout nearly the _ Whole length of the specimen, and are situated near the anteriar _ &tremity of each vertebra, just exterior to the posterior border of the articulating processes. The ribs, well developed throughout, are remarkably well pre- served; each has a short head, and behind this, a well marke tubercle, showing two points of articulation, and consequently tot ose of Batrachians than of any other vertebrates, but the rin which respect they resemble those of scalv reptiles. Fs very existence of ribs separates them from the Anoura, and er length from Urodels; for the first have no ribs and the “ye4 Only very short, and for the most part pointed ones. have a’type of which there is no living representative, i g to a group higher in the scrics, they become sti Mteresting, aud give evidence of the existence in the Coa The phe of animals hitherto referred to later gecien Yage moth Unrd specimen consists of a portion of t aston oa s"Teptile discovered by Dr. Newberry, closely allied to the man ths bat much larger, and with vertebra presenting the the b Batrachian features in the ridge-like spinous ‘2 ah and ad lobes of the articulating processes, but having also com. a a fe ss 164 T. E. Clark on Fichteliie of North Bawavié. _ Ihave given no names to these last two reptiles, notwithstand- ing their great interest, as their remains were not sufficiently their specific or generic characters. ‘To add names to parts of animals, unless the remains are very characteristic, can only Art, XVIL—Fichtelite, a fossil carbo-hydrogen found in the “ Fich- telgebirge” of North Bavaria; by T, Epwarps CLARK, Ph.D.* which I obtained for analysis through the kindness of Professor : 4 : Liebig, was collected by Mr. Schmidt, apothecary in Wunsiedel. Near the neighboring town of Redwitz are beds of turf several e greater portion of this is pine wood, which is so little changed after lying in these turf beds for certainly hundreds of ears, that, to all appearance, except that it has become quite The other woods found in these turf beds are in a much worse remains of birches (Betula alba), , tion. The : alders (Alnus glutinosa), and hazlenut (Corylus avellana), a7@ quite numerous. The same species exist at present in the neigh- borh It is in this pine wood, which is still growing so plen- tifully as to give a name to the mountains of Nort Bavaria (Fichtelgebirge), that this fossil resin is found. It occurs print ly in the form of shining scales between the annual mi0g Rae ey of re pore first appeared in the “ Annalen der Chemie und Phar August, 1857. + Annalen i. Physik u. Chemie, vol. lix, p. 55. ee eee ae re ee ee ee ee ee a ‘ i. T. E. Clark on Fichtelite from North Bavaria. 165 which have separated from one another. The method of ex- tracting it, and its crystalline form we will consider farther on. In 1837, Trommsdorff* received from Mr. Fikentscher a fossil in the well preserved stems of buried pines. e analysis, which he caused to be made, shows, however, that it is the same a Fichtelite for th wn as an oil. This he considered to be identical in composi- Hon with Fichtelite; but erroneously, for he overlooked the fact €dwitz; and all have been found in the well preserved stems of this One species of pine tree. But the same has been remarked 1 other places where similar fossil resins have been found, In the neighborhood of Utznach in Switzerland is a bed of brown coal from two to three feet in thickness, which contains tumerous remains of pines, firs, birches and other trees, in va- Tlous stages of preservation. The pine stems are almost un- More closely the age of this bed of brown coal. I found that me Neumiietion of the plants contained in it has ntly been made by Professor Heer,§ who has published a * Annalen d. Phar., vol. xxi, p.126, + Annalen d. Phar. vol, xxxvii, p. 304, sinalen d. Ph I. lix, p. 55. i Neues Jahrbuch fur pee ae Geo "y. Leonhard u. Bronn.,, 1846, p. 213. 166 T. E. Clark on Fichtelite from North Bavaria. fine work on the “Tertiary Flora of Switzerland.” He remarks that “the pine which Géppert describes as Pinites sylvestris, is evidently the same which we have in our brown coal at Utznach, and which is in every respect not to be distinguished from our living pines. The same is, true of the birches and firs. We have fuund very few animal remains, but these appear to belong to species which still exist with us.” Thus showing, as J antici pated, that this brown coal is of the same age as the turf beds of Redwitz. Stromeyer* was the first to call attention to the existence of a fossil resin found in the wood preserved in this coal bed. To this he gave the name Scheererite. Later in 1828, Kénlein,t who had charge of the working of this bed of coal, described a resin which he had discovered as early as 1822 in the stems of pines occurring in the brown coal. For this, not knowing that Stromeyer had already described a fossil resim from the same bed under the name of Scheererite, be but 2 degrees lower than that of Fichtelite. Macaire Princep accepted the name scheererite which Stromeyer had proposed. Further, in 1838, Krauss§ analyzed a substance which be had obtained from the same locality. This resin in appearance Te sembled scheererite, but the analysis showed it to be different 10 composition. In this as well as in the melting point, it does not differ materially from the substance analyzed by Trommsdorff, Which was found in the turf beds of Redwitz. Schrétter, who considers the two identical, proposes the name Kénlite for them. While scheererite distills undecomposed, kinlite yields a sub- stance which melts by the warmth of the hand, and has a com position perhaps identical with that of tekoretin, which we have yet to notice, Krauss proposed the name pyro-scheererite for this latter Later, Haidinger|| in an article comparing the crystalline form — of hartite with that of what he supposed to be scheererite, which he had received from Utznach, remarks that the latter melts at 46° ©. Steenstrup,§ who has written considerably on the marshes and coal beds of Denmark, discovered in the stems of the pe trees, which are found in these in an almost perfect state of pres * Kastner’s Archiv... vol. ix, p. 113. + Ann. d, Phys, u. Chem., yol xii, p. 336. $ Ann. d. Phys. u. Chem, xv, p. 294. § Ann, d. Phys. u. Chem, xliii, p. 14. nn. d. Phys. u. Chem.. vol. liv, p. 261, Videnskab, Selskabs naturvid. og Math, Afhandlinger. 9 Deel., 1842. r ~ ' 8 T. E. Clark on Fichtelite from North Bavaria. 167 Was supposed to be scheererite. The other woods oceurring with this pine (P. sylvestris) are the same as those of Redwitz and Utznach. ‘he resin found by Steenstrup was shown by the analysis of Forchhammer to be composed of two carbo-hydro- gens, and both quite distinct from scheererite. They were sepa- rated by dissolving in boiling alcohol and allowing to crystallize. Tekoretin, being less soluble than phylloretin, crystallized first. The former melts at 45° C., the latter at 87° rom this cursory view of the different carbo-hydtogens dis- covered in the three localities which have been mentioned, we Perceive, that in each place a fossil resin occurs which melts at 45° or 46° C.—viz., Fivhtelite described by Bromeis from Red- witz, scheererite (?) by Haidinger from Utznach, and tekoretin by Forchhammer from Holtegard. The relation which they r " one another, through their actual composition, is noticed ond, al _ We have stil] another locality to mention where a fossil resin found, from the fact that this fossil, which was analyzed by ‘hrotter,* was considered by him to be very similar to scheer- rite and to have the same composition as tekoretin. ‘ort of pine tree, which are preserved either as bituminous, or Petritied wood, i. e., quartz in the form of wood. In the dif- © only carbo-hydrogen fossil found in the coal beds of Ober- ag) While at Redwitz there are at least two; at Utznach three been described, including one derived from the distillation ite; and from Holtegard two have been analyzed by a cet Iner, Ff ' a , nae’ thus briefly alluded to the various fossil resins found sary? 22 different localities mentioned, because it will be neces- to speak of the relation which they bear to one another nu Position of several of these fossils much doubt exists, for of the analyses were made at a time when the atomic * Ann, d. Phys. u. Chem., vol. lix, p. 37. ’ + Ann, d. Phys. u. Chem,, vol. liv, p. 261. Ann. d. Phys. u. Chem; vol. lix, p. 41. ee ee Ee ee eS ees Se ee ey ee =. ervation in the neighborhood of Holtegard, a fossil resin which — — : — weight of carbon was considered to be 6°125, and the method of 168 ‘T. E. Clark on Fichtelite from North Bavaria. ‘ poured off, fresh ether 1s added, and again submitted to two of three hours boiling. The two extracts are now poured together and considerably concentrated by distilling off a part of the ether. Strong alcohol is added to this till all remains dissolved. From this it was found impossible to obtain crystals, although exposed to a temperature below 0° C.; a reddish oil went down instead. Soin order to separate the resin from other organl¢ bodies, which were presumed to be present, and which were sup" _ posed to prevent the forming of crystals, the acetate of lead was added. ‘The large and heavy precipitate, which went dowm, was thrown on a filter, and the filtrate, after being freed from the excess of acetate of lead by sulphuretted hydrogen, and ea boiled with the precipitate for a time to decolorize it, wase® sed to a cold of a few degrees below 0° C., when long pris# Shaped crystals were formed. me Any foreign substance, or a crystal of this resin thrown) the alcoholic solution, assists the first forming of crystals” materially. Sia, Before eutting up the wood, it is best to scrape off as much resin as possible, for this portion, dissolved in alcohol and ether crystallizes quite easily. ee he ae oceasioned by the acetate of lead, which 8 not soluble in ether, was mixed with alcohol and decom cue by a current of sulphuretted hydrogen. In the filtrate of ti new precipitate, crystals were formed when exposed to a tem perature below 0° C. These we have not yet examined. (24 a adjusted in the stauroscope with the sides au € measurements could be made only b the reflection of candle light with the use the lens. at it suffered no change by distillation. We ma ¥y that the boiling point is above 820° C., for the ther- Was rapidly rising when it was taken out. A peculiar fable odor was given out during the distillation, and a part of the resin was decomposed, accompanied by t aration of coal, oe hathydrous sulphuric acid produces a total decomposition of this qestance. A small portion was put into a test tube, and to Tenctia en Royal College of Surgeons, I believe to be the ‘ Wrinkled Baboon’ of Shaw feacus rhesus, Desm, , Professor Breschet ses described and figured the two sep- irate discoid Placente in the small South American S uirrel-monkey (c oagaete in i sabe sm.), and in the of 54 3 One general term as as applica cable es the whole. te ; cond argument for the association of the Znsectivora, ne era and Roden- ‘ = the Quadrumana i is taken from ailag ed pera ‘of cereb aap stru wag ; erveau d'un R. 4 celui d'un Insectivore ; il existe aussi Une resem paneer différe 4 peine de ! » ccllie de am es elance piimten t the brai . : Io m F in Rodentia and certain poirot n my paper a y, Ne Bra rains of the Marsupialin (Phii. Trans., antl I have described and figured aie; ‘ease the us te of a Beaver (see fig. 2, p. 178) and that of a small Monkey bi 180). showing? the laa of cerebral con volu — in no tia and 1 z nse fndetbore sper it is mitended by pte more important t difference nimal mal Econom Sci Nat., tom. cit., p. 96, , 4to, 1780. ae des rogers oy { Bidrage tot de Kenn ennis van den P at an Bosman, 4to, 1851, V.der Hoe Ptes Rendus de l’Acad. des oko, » daciter 19, 1869, 7 mists have assigned to even in the Capybara, in which there are a few shallow anfractuosities, the ogre e 182 Prof. Owen on the Class Mammalia. —* intelligence predominating over blind instinct—which are associated with the higher development of the brain, the Gyrencephala ‘afford those species which 5.—Negro. have ever formed the . =< most cherished com- strongly marked than that by which the pre- ceding subclass was distinguished from the ot terior development is so marked, that anato- that part the peg ter of a third lobe; - as to the a 0, and equally sae is the ‘ posterior horn of the lateral wetticls, and the ‘hi vines minor,’ which chara ian ~ the systen m of Classification propore in the pr resent paper, I — lahtelions of the brain of the Mids $, Aj” extend, of nae of t umana, over the er part of the cerebellum (C),” (Phi he n 1837, p. ai, it resembles, in short, the brain of the Human embryo before rebral surface begins to be folded; whereas in the Jnseclivora, In hemispheres leave Ne cerebellum quite exposec With regard to t e alleged contrast betwe een the brains of the Ro and the Civet Cat, leaves me entirely unable to appreciate the force of — . The third argument a - high position of the ge Cheiroptera tivora in the Mammalian scale, is deduced from some particulars of their PR sg NF St ileal Fes ee ee a ee mee Ste thn ots as being of a nature so prea as to i is § ] . i Prof. Owen on the Class Mammalia. _ 188 terize the hind lobe of each hemisphere. The superficial gre matter of the cerebrum, through the number wr ee of th ne convolutions, attains its maximum of extent in eculiar mental powers are associated with thie higtion form of brain, and their consequences wonderfully illustrate the value of the detebral character; accordin ng to my estimate of which, I am led to regard the genus s Homo, as not merely a representative of a distinct order, but of a distinct Sci of the aoa SI et for which I propose the name of ‘A RCHENCEPHALA’t (fig. 6). With this preliminary definition of pri organic characters, Which appear to guide to a conception of the most natural pri- simple others pail subdivided. or complicated te accessory a ig encephala with simple optic lobes are ‘edentulous’ or without caleitied teeth, are > devoid of external ears scrotum, nipples, and “4 mn epicoracoid and episternum, as in Lizards; they are un- guiculate and pentadactyle, with a supplementary tarsal bone “ipporting a perforated spur in the male. The order so charac- neipally from the eommon presence of the ai in them, as cont trasted Un and pri reid. poet absence j in the Carnivora and a, The cla avicle is present ten and of the ak avieclata Roder va rith a lower vertebrate type, might and Man he inferred from the elavicle e, at least with as much reason, as with A dif m. As to the sha fn pen ore from th Qua ome Rodan’ of the size, form, and persistent aidualte of the tympanic bone, the te Pliny show their more whiasee oo est o the oviparous type; the the Quadrumana in ies etna of the petro-tym- esti ureahte i of the “3 evi, neh are he sm of the considerations chat have ee me to set a different es than M. Gervais doe 8, ty n the arguments adduced by Prof. Milne-Edwards in "ef the seg tag™ of t aap with the Paiediedincind in a highly Soup of the Soha clas * tea Not bein, ing able to appreciate, or conceive of me pen peat i tool Uraje Somena of a Chimpanzee and of a i bay sp fi bet - AO 8s ae other than a difference of degree, I cannot shut my a to the of that all-pervading similitude of strueture—every tooth, Ha homolo ni Lair gree ee determination of the cyto between for the nd Pithecus the anatomist’s difficulty. And, therefore, with e respect oy tad of t he “ Records of Creation,” (8vo, ee be 3 peta, ) Ti fo “ieee Ad classification, in regarding man as a legitimate subject of zoologic G70», to overrule, and éyxéqadog, brain. a 184 Prof. Owen on the Class Mammaiia. . terized is called ‘MoNnoTREMATA,’ in reference to the single ex- cretory and generative outlet, which, however, is by no means peculiar to them among Mammalia. e Monotremes are insec- e reduc- stru tion of the food to small particles by acts of rapid and continued the order. The orbits are not * “ Outlines of a Classification of the Marsupialia,” Trans. Zool. Soe., vol. i, 186% + For other Osteol ical and Dental Ghathidertelin of the Marsupialia, | oe bee above cited, and that “On the Osteology of the Marsupialia, Trans. vol. ii, p. 379 (1888). Prof. Owen on the Class Mammalia. 185 tion. In all these inferior psychical manifestations we are re- minded of Birds. Many Rodents hibernate like Reptiles. They Specimen over all continents. by an equally easy ste through the smaller Opossums to the RNOTIVORA. This ea is given to the order of small smooth- cusps unguiculate, plantigrade, and pentadactyle, and they have com- plete clavicles. The testes pass periodically from the abdomen Into a temporary scrotum, and are associated with large prostatic and vesicular glands: like most other Lissencephala, the Insecti- tion of their digits for supporting the large webs that serve as of te repeat the chief characters of the Insectivora; but a few C e H ; ve tera, and would seem to conduct through the Colugos or Flying Lemurs, directly to the Quadrumanous order. The Cheiroptera | are cosmopolitan. 8etera which are devoid of teeth; the rest possess those organs, Waich, however, have no true enamel, are never displaced by a a divided from the temporal fossa. I have already adverted to Biss aton of affinity to the ovip | : $ loths afford by the supernumera | vertebri ’ ye porting false ribs and M the convolaticnd of the windpipe in Oe thorax ; and I may add that the unusual number—three and “ony SERIES, VOL, XXV, NO. 74.—MARCH., 1608. 24 186 Prof. Owen on the Class Mammalia. twenty pairs—of ribs, forming a very long dorsal, with a short lumbar, region of the spine in the Two-toed Sloth, recalls a lacer- tine structure. The same tendency to an inferior type is shown by the abdominal testes, the single cloacal outlet, the low cere- bral development, the absence of medullary canals in the long bones in the Sloths, and by the great tenacity of life and long- enduring irritability of the muscular fibre, in both the Sloths and Ant-eaters.* The order Bruta is’ but scantily represented at the present period. One genus Manis or Pangolin, is common to Asia an Africa; the Orycteropus is peculiar to South Africa; the rest of the order, consisting of the genera Myrmecophaga, or true Ant eaters, Dasypus or Armadillos, and Bradypus or Sloths, are con- fined to South America. monotrematous animals. The anatomical peculiarities of the edentulous Lyencephalat appear to me to be, at least, of ordinal importance. In these deductions I hold the mean between those who, with Geoffroy St. Hilaire, would make of the Monotremaia a distinct class of animals, or with De Blainville, a distinct sub- class (Ornithodelphes) of Mammals,} and those who, with Cuvier, house) as forming a group of higher rank than an order, I do . classes of the Mammalia; that its true equivalency is with the Li ions are to be found * This latter vital character attracted the notice of the earliest observers of one us "2 , 0) Brasilix, P 322, well remarks, “Par ces rapports, ce quadrupéde se rapproche Di + See m article onotremata, in the Cyclopedia of Anatomy, part xxvi, 1841, raphie, fascicule premier, 4to, 1839, p. 47. Nat, of Mammalia, part i, 1845, p. 18. Prof. Owen on the Class Mammalia. 187 The following table exemplifies the correspondence of the groups in the Lyencephalous and Lissencephalous series :— LyENCEPHALA, LIssENCEPHALA. Rhizophaga* Burrowing Rodentia. Poéphaga Dipodide re Leporide. claus eromys, ; Phalangistidee Sciuride and prehensile-tailed arboreal Roelents. Phascolarctos Bradypus, Pevameles and Mymecobius FErinaceide. Chero acroscelis, Didelphys and Phascogale Soricide. Dasyurida Centetes, Gymnura. Echidna Manis. Ornithorhyncus Orycteropus. The classification proposed by M. Gervais, already cited (p. 179), in which the Rodentia, Cheiroptera, and Insectivora are asso- Jn the same high primary group with the Quadrumana we Bimana, is avowedly adopted from that previously proposed by Prof. Milne Edwards.+ next proceeding to consider the subdivisions of the Gyren- la, we seem at first to descend in the scale in meeting wi + Stoup of animals in that subclass, having the form of fishes; but a high grade of mammalian organization is masked beneath this form, "The Gyrencephala are primarily subdivided, accord- ing to modifications of the locomotive organs, into three series, for which the Linnean terms may well be retained; viz. Muélata, "gulata and Ungwiculata, the maimed, the hoofed, and the clawed series, : *se characters can only be applied to the Gyrencephalous ~48S; 2. e. they do not indicate natural groups, save in that Tot of the Mammalia. To associate the Lyencephala and lissencephala with the unguiculate Gyrencephala into one great Tey group, as in the Mammalian systems of Ray, Linnzeus tha Cuvier, is a misapplication of a solitary character akin is “twhich would have founded a primary division on the discoi “ita or the diphyodont dentition. No one has proposed to An. the unguiculate Bird or Lizard with the unguiculate Pe, and it is but a little less violation of natural affinities SSO¢iate the Monotremes with the Qaudrumanes 1n the same Rmary (unguiculate) division of the Mammalian class. it ra eae Classification of the Marsupialia,” in the Zoological Transactions, vol. t See note at p. 179, 188 Prof. Owen on the Class Mammalia. The three primary divisions of the Gyrencephala are of higher value than the ordinal divisions of the Lissencephala; just as those orders are of higher value than the representative families of the Marsupials. marine, and, for the most part, range the unfathomable ocean; limits respects species. The nostrils are two, situated at the upper part of the snout ; the lips are beset with stiff bristles; the mamme are pectoral; the testes are abdominal, as in the Cetacea, but are associa With vesicule seminales. The Sirenia exist near coasts or ascend large rivers, browsing on fuci, water plants or the grass of the shore. There is much in the organization of’ this order that 1 dicates its affinity to members of the succeeding division. _ In the Ungulata the four limbs are present, but that portion of the toe which touches the ground is incased in a hoof, which blunts its sensibility and deprives the foot of prehensile power With the limbs restricted to support and locomotion, the Ung lata have no clavicles: the fore-lez remains constantly in the which the * Philosophical Transactions, 1858, p. 291. Prof. Owen on the Class Mammalia. oo ae the under jaw, in another genus (Elephas) from the upper jaw, and in some of the species of a third genus (Mastodon), from both jaws. There are no canines; the molars are few, large and transversely ridged; the ridges sometimes few and mammillate, _ often numerous and with every intermediate gradation. The hose is prolonged into a cylindrical trunk, flexible in all diree- hons, highly sensitive, rae terminated by a prehensile append- age ike a finger: on this organ is founded the name PRogos- CIDIA given tothe order. The feet are pentadactyle, but are indicated only by divisions of the hoof; the testes are abdominal ; placenta is annular ;* the mamme are pectoral. th the present and preceding orders of Ungulata may be called aberrant: the dentition of the Toxodon, and several par- ueulars of the organization of the Elephant, indicate an affinity o the Rodentia; the cranium of the Toxodon, like that of the invthere, resembles that of the Sirenia in its remarkable modi-. -Neations, , The typical Ungulate quadrupeds are divided, according to the odd or even number of the toes, into PERISsSODACTYLA and ARTIODACTYLA.+ Ports are large, in some disproportionately so, and the digit is Symmetrical: the same applies to the ectocuneiform and the tof the penultimate one. The pte ‘ i p ) ) . Thy taick base, and is perforated lengthwise by the ectocarotid. crown of from one to three of the hinder premolar? is as * Besi each pole of ides the annular placenta there is a subcircular villous patch at pole the ‘onic bag, by which it deckied additional attachment to the uterus, in the t From Aone : ero; and Ggrvog, par AEE esti, ir np er ee ’ 190 Prof. Owen on the Class Mammalia. Hippopotamus and twelve in the Camel. And the value of this distinction has been exaggerated owing to the common concep- tion of the ribs as special bones distinct from the vertebre, and their non-recognition as parts of a vertebra equivalent to the neurapophyses and other autogenous elements. The vertebral formule of the Artiodactyle skeletons show that the difference in the number of the so-called dorsal and lumbar vertebre not affect the number of the entire dorso-lumbar series: thus, i g Ee Ps 5 me) S 5 B is] =, @ fet 2 = = incisors,* and 5-5 broad tuberculate molars ;+ perfect clavicles, pectoral mamma, vesicu- lar and prostatic glands, a simple or slightly bifid uterus, anda discoid, sometimes double, placenta.t ‘The Quadrumana have a well-marked threefold geographical as well as structural division. The Strepsirhines are those with curved or twisted termi nostrils, with much modified incisers, commonly an ; premolars — or — in number, and molars with sharp tubercles; the sec- ond digit of the hind limb hasa claw. This group includes the os, Pottos, Aye-Ayes, Loris, Indris, and the true Lemurs; the three latter being restricted to Madagascar, whence the group diverges in one direction to the continent of Africa, in the other to the Indian Archipelago. The Platyrhines are those with the nostrils subterminal and wide apart; premolars = in number, e molars with blunt tubercles; the thumbs of the fore-hands not opposable or wanting; the tail in most prehensile; they are peculiar to South America. The Catarhines have the nostrils oblique and approximated. below, and opening above and behind the muzzle: the premolars are = in number; the thumb of the fore-hand is opposable. They are restricted to the Old World, and, Phy a single species on the rock of Gibraltar, to Africa . founded on cerebral characters. In this primary group ied forms but one genus, Homo, and that genus but one order, cal BIMANA, on account of the opposable thumb being restric the upper pair of limbs. The testes are scrotal; their geroug sac does not communicate with the abdomen; they are ee with vesicular and prostatic glands) The penis is pendwiow * With few exceptions in the anomalous Lemuride. + Reduced to >— in the Marmosets (Hapale, Mydas). } gi _$ Among the Platyrhines, the placenta is single in Mycetes, double in Callithrs: ng the Catarhines, the — is double in acacus, Cercopithecus, and Sen single in 7; roglo ytes. ; Sears Z Bee wird ee Ss i " Prof. Owen on the Class Mammalia. 195 and the prepuce has a frenum. The mamma are pectoral, Sn placenta is a single, subcireular, cellulo-vascular, discoid Y. Man has only a partial covering of hair, which is. not merely Reciye of the head, but is ornamental and distinctive of sex, he dentition of the genus Homo is reduced to thirty-two teeth by the suppression of the outer incisor and the first two premo- _lars of the typical series on each side of both jaws, the dental formula being :— bina oe Eee g ie Sp Gy pt m C= oe, e € human foot is road, plantigrade, with the sole, not in- verted as in Quadrumana, but applied flat to the ground; the leg bears vertically on the foot; the heel is expanded beneath ; the toes are ort, but with the innermost longer and much larger than the rest, forming a ‘hallux’ or great toe, which is Placed on the same line with, and cannot be opposed to, the other toes; the pelvis is short, broad and wide, keeping well apart the thighs; and the neck of the femur is long, and forms a0 open angle with the shaft, increasing the basis of support for the trunk, The whole vertebral column, with its slight alter- Position, The widely-separated shoulders, with broad scapulee and complete clavicles, give a favorable position to the upper limbs, now liberated from the service of locomotion, with com- Plex Joints for rotary as well as flexile movements, and termin- ated by a hand of matchless-perfection of structure, the fit instru- ein for executing the behests of a rational intelligence and a free will Tival all native vestments in warmth and beauty; though de- ess and become the ‘e on f : most. terribly destructive of animals. ‘quis his destiny as the supreme master of this earth, and of ® lower Creation. ; Tn these endeavors. to comprehend how Nature has 3 oe ee her mammalian forms, the weary student quits if i 4 conviction that, after all, he has been rewarded with but al imperfect view of such natural association. The rer tad 88 existed, probably from the triassic, certainly from the forms a litie period; and has changed its generic and specific 196 Prof. Qwen on the Class Mammalia. high grade of organization. Not any of the mammalian genera of the secondary periods occur in the tertiary ones. No genus such later and less typical Mammalia do more effective work by their more adaptively modified structures. e Ruminants, @. 9., tantly prolonged jaws could have been. Much additional and much truer ee, oh has, doubtless, been gained into the natural grouping of the the debris of a Broup, known at a subsequent period to be if er, respects the number and variety of the families, genera, 20 ee cies of such orders, because the paucity or multitude of instan no manifesting a given modification or grade of structure 1D © essential degree affects the value of such grade or modificatio™ 2 Prof. Owen on the Class Mammalia. 197 The order Monotremata is not the less ordinarily distinct from the Marsupialia, because it consists of but two genera, than is ¢ order Bimana from that of Quadrumana, because it includes only a single genus. So likewise the anatomical peculiarities of the Proboscidia, Strenia, and Toxodontia call, at least, for those general terms, to admit of the convenient expression of general Propositions respecting them; and some of these general propo- sitions are of a value as great as the organic characters of more sg, wang orders, there are residuary or aberrant forms in some of the orders, which, to the systematist disagreeably, compel modifications of the characters that would apply to the majority of such orders, The fly ing Lemurs (Galeopitheci), the rodent Lemurs (Chetromys), 74; the cases are very nearly parallel. ie ature, in short, is not so rigid a systematist as Man. ere tively adjusted. class ‘ 198 G. J. Brush on Chalcodite. Table of the Subclasses and Orders of the Mammalia.. Crass. Susv.ass, Orprr. f Archencephala* ............ BIMANA ...4.6 ( hi QUADRUMANA .. J Platyrrhina. . Strepsirhin [; Poggeeniats Digitigrada : CaRNIVORA.... 4 Feats Pinnigra Ommnivora. ARTIODACTYLA . » Ruminantia. Solidungula, Gyrencephala + { typ oujatn 4 | Multungula on Elephas. PROBOSCIDIA .. - Dio Phertiaih. Toxopontia... 4 phate Manatus. MAMMALIA < : SIRENIA . -. +++} Falicore, eMatiiate «33 C Delphinida ETACEA oscee _ B al ome - Bradypodide. {Bavra ....... , PALEY dentula. Frugivora. CHEIROPTERA Lissencephala} ............. 4 cert pe Insrcrrvora .. 4 Hrinaceide. ‘— ( Soricide. | RoDENTIA .... pe pa 0 , ( Rhizophaga. f Marsurratia .. | genrphar | Lyencephala§ .............. Jintomophage na, MonorrEMATA « } Onnithorhynchts Wiiiberliniintissstiee — Art. XVIUL—On Chalcodite; by Guorcx J. BRUSH. ae rel i 99°77, Fe 40:84, Hn tr, Kl $52, Ca 5°98, Mg 1:97, H 551—=1025% part of the lime was supposed to be as carbonate and probably Gg J. Brush on Chalcodite. 199 a small portion of the iron existed as sesquioxyd. Dr. Mallet also communicated his results to Prof. Dana* with the remark that he had too little of the mineral for a satisfactory examina- tion, and that the results of his analysis could hardly be depend- ed upon for even a probable formula. _ During the past summer I have had an opportunity of exam- ning this mineral at its locality in Sterling, and from the speci- mens there collected I have obtained the following physical and chemical characters inclining to bronze, while the other has more of a yellow color, and strongly resembles aurum musivum. Streak olive-green to Yellow. The lustre of both varieties is submetallic. Hardness ay ° 2, =. phorus gives reactions for both iron and silica. cay a Twas unable to get enough of the lighter colored variety for : What Species they belong, The mineral forming these erys- tals is perfectly raat and inkhered the exterior of the crystals Tus . . Rute and irreoula ly disposed scales. ‘The pulverized mineral is decomposed by edie pn acid without gelatinizing; a qualita- vi analysis showed the presence of silica, alumina, protoxyd 5 0 i Ne a * This Journal, vol. xxiv, p. 118 / 200 1 Quantity taken in milligr’'ms, 485 Silica, 45°06 Alumin 5 Sesquio f iron, 38°85 Protoxyd of iron, ees “of manganese, trace. Lime, trace, Magnesia, 455 Potash and Soda, trace, Water, ay The mean of these analyses gives :— Si 45°29 xl 3°62 Fe 20:47 Fe 16°47 Mn trace. Oa 0-28 Mg 4-56 Na, K trace, 9-22 99°91 This ratio gives a formula which may be expressed by ok Si+ 8 Si+3H. gives the amount existing as sesquioxyd. Oxygen. 23° G. J. Brush on Chalcodite. protoxyd first obtained 3. 4. 338 217 20-92 20:02 16:04 1691 ‘aE aa gs 23°53 et 783 1 5:56 t 8-18 I ares tee) | ees 2) = G. J. Brush on Chalcodite. ; 201 This composition approaches’ that given: by Rammelsberg,* (analyses 1, 2, 8, and 4,) and Siegert,+ (analysis 5,) for Stilp- homelane: : Si lo 6fe «=6rFe «6OMg «6Ga KNa Tf * 4819 816 1... 8705 884 119 1... 695 run f % 4650 719 .,.. 3389 189 020 .... 7-90 poe Dake nae ‘ : 3. 4543 588 4... 3538 168 O18 .... 92 bites Silica 4 4617 588 2... 3592 267 .... O75 879 From. Weilbure' i : ; ; : rom We g m 6 4207 492 4198 1... 094 167 ..., sai} Wash Siegert assumes the iron to exist as sesquioxyd while Ram; , melsberg gives it as protoxyd, with the remark that if it be cal- culated as Fee, the analyses will give an excess, and therefore . Perhaps it only exists as protoxyd in the mineral. It is evident from the results of analyses 1 to 4 that the stilp- nomelane analyzed was not entirely free from foreign substances, and Rammelsberg mentions that it may possibly have been mixed with some chlorite, and that this is the reason for the difference in the results, Analyses 8 and 4 correspond very closely with the analysis of c s . . . . ° acids, while chaleodite is entirely decomposed, may be to the eme delicacy of the scales in the latter; the same cause wil account for the difference in hardness. The specific gravity is 0-3-4 Glocker, or according to a more recent determination by Breithaupt, 2°769. Chaleodite has a density of 2°76. Stilp- , the marked similarity in chemical, as well as in many of the priysical characters of these two minerals renders it not improba- that a reéxamination of pure stilpnomelane would pera’ those discrepancies which at present prevent their being unt Under one species, Yale Analytical Laboratory, Dee. 15, 1857. ] The fact that stilpnomelane is but imperfectly 4 part. by ue : i E. & S a 1a) 4 % a < é Es &, e] e Qa 3 a>) 5’ 4 é 3 * Poggend. Ann,, xliii, 127. _ Rammelsberg, Mineralogie, Fifth Suppl. 208. SECOND SERIES, VOL, XXV, NO. 74,-——-MARCH, 1858, 26 a 202 Agassiz’s Contributions to the Art. XTX.—Agassiz’s Contributions to the Natural History of the United States. TuE publication of the first two volumes of the ‘“ Contribu- tions to the Natural History of the United States” by Professor Agassiz was announced in our last number, and a statement, In brief, made of their contents. The philosophical merits of the work, as well as its national character, entitle it to a more de- tailed notice. While the special subject in American zoology selected for the volumes is the Embryology of Turtles, the first of the two is mainly occupied with general considerations on the system Im the kingdoms of life—a topic of wide import to science, making an appropriate introduction to the great work. These opening chapters have also a peculiar interest for the y: ate A successful searching out of nature’s laws requires faith 10 the fullness of the revelation, and in finite mind as the interpre ter. This faith, moreover, should be coupled with a profound of nature's oneness in law, purpose and Author. sense d mind should also be open to the slightest breath of trath —_ va Whatever source, quick in its perceptions of parallelisms and relation, so that all shall take their true position, and evolve, from their thoughts and vision; they are apt to be drawn aside by s ial vi o often seek novelty am self-exaltation ‘in place of truth: and all systems of philosop hy suffer more or less from these sources of evil. He is the tt student of nature, although thus imperfect, who seeks that es should speak through him, and strives to express the sentiments at come forth at her dictation. And far profounder is his appre hension of truth when he realizes, in all its significance, that 3° L 3 Natural History of the United States. 203 Infinite Spirit—infinitely good, just and wise—speaks through hature to man’s heart as well as mind. Only a short-sighted naturalist fails to perceive that the affections and moral senti- ments, in their perfection, are among the creations, and that pre- eminently they manifest the character of the Creator. In striking contrast with the searching philosopher is the one Who stands aside and doubts research, while he dictates self find others, instead of taking the facts as they are known, and eras from them the impression they are calculated to make 4 i the laws they dictate, saying, perhaps geology in the end will nd the past very much like the present, with no system of pro- to case in a cabinet illustrating this life according to the ages, ye si There Was doubt in many minds when the “Vestiges of Creation” was first the i But the facts aE ge 8 g 8 o a 3 5 » and birds of the Triassic or Jurassic. These facts and the actu of species, according to both geology and zoology, so stand before the World at the present time, that the bahective centr os must wait for new } velopment th in the spirit of his pt osophy, ,propound od ‘ent theory, Let him st ut facts respecting variations of speci se ons basis t pri . ee y wages m veh, nafely to his conclusions ; the 8 great subject for study. But to push forward iew ; let ie and against the present parley of an is indulging in deluding speculation. my bring i and tell us, what species of ox or astodon was developed g. Wecite beyond other The mind becomes - .y ~ ¢ 204 Agassiz’s Contributions to the thought as no property of matter, and God as not nature. He pronounces the study of natural science the study of the thoughts or ideas which the Creator has embodied in his works, and 4 true classification of objects in nature as an exhibition of the = ‘obpng by Him in his omniscience and wisdom. On page we read :— © _ “I disclaim every intention of introducing in this work any evidence irrelevant to my subject, or of supporting any conclusions not immedi- . there is an essential difference between inorganic and living and ai beings, I shall not be prevented by any such pretensions of a false ee ction between the facts of nature as direct proof of the existence ae thinking God, as certainly as man exhibits the power of thinking when he recognizes their natural relations.” _ Through the discussions which follow, the question of cre® tion by means of physical forces or agencies is considered. On 13 he says :— page 13 $ Natural History of the United States. 205 The arguments bearin g on this topic, which are numerous and ed illustrated, are recapitulated in brief on pages 182 to “In recapitulating the preceding statements, we may present the fol- lowing conclusions :— “1. The connection of all these known features of nature into one sys- tem exhibits thought, the most comprehensive thought, in limits trans- cending the highest wonted powers of mati. ., % The simultaneous existence of the most diversified, types under identical circumstances exhibits thought, the ability to adapt a great va- spa of structures to the most uniform conditions. 3. The repetition of similar types, under the most diversified circum- stances, shows an immaterial connection between them; it exhi its thought, proving directly how completely the Creative Mind is indepen- dent of the influence of i meh long intervals of time, unless it had been framed in the beginning with immediate reference to the end. ndence, now generally known as special homologies, ely the power of ex i iti pressing a general propos an inde! te deat 8, equally complete n themselves, nee air in all - The various degrees and different kinds of relationship among animal ki “ye “combinin ngdom, exhibits * . he Ay The gradation based upon complications of st oe at animals built upon the same m ag iq > ‘2 power of distributing harmoniously unequ ts. dhe 9. The distribution of some Spe over the most extensive range of cal Uurface of the globe, while others are limited to particular geographi- reas, and the various combinations of these types into zodlogical : of unequal extent, exhibit thought, a close control in the distri- 0 of the earth’s surface among its inhabitants. * ¥ealso prescience, as far as such series extend through a succession of geo- * 206 « Agassiz’s Contributions to the “10. The identity of structure of these types, notwithstanding their wide géographical distribution, exhibits thought, that deep thought which, the more it is scrutinized, seems the Jess capable of being exhausted, though its meaning at the surface appears at once plain and intelligible to every one. “11, The community of structure in certain respects of animals other wise entirely different, but living within the same geographical area, ex- hibits thought, and more particularly the power of adapting most diversi- fied types with peculiar structures to either identical or to different condi- tions of existence. : “12. The connection, by series, of special.structures observed in ani- mals widely scattered over the surface of the globe, exhibits thought, unlimited comprehension, and more directly omnipresence of mind, and es. “logical ag ‘*- 13. The relation theré is between the size of animals and their struc- eR ow . . . . . ‘ ; } tion in e is an essential element of all finite beings, while eternity 'S an attribute of the Deity only. ditions of existence, in a manner which implies a considerate adaptation — “18, The limitation of the range of changes which animals during their growth, exhibits thought ; it shows most strikingly the re and space, and of the value of time, since the phases of life of animals are apportioned according to the part they have to perform ¥ e world. nt i pies Natural History of the United States. 207 may be included in the same conception, without yet departing from a orm expressed more directly in other combinations. “21. The order of succession of the different ager of animals and lants characteristic of the different geological epochs, exhibits thought. tshows, that while the material world is identical in itself in all ages, ever different types of organized beings are called into existence in suc- cessive periods “22. The localization of some’ types of animals upon the same points of the surface of the globe, durihg several successive geological periods, exhibits thought, consecutive thought: the operations of @ mind acting in conformity with a plan laid out beforehand and sustained for a long Periods, exhibits thought; it exhibits the power of sustaining nice dis- Unctions, notwithstanding the interposition of great disturbances by phys- ual progress, ending with the introduction of man at the head o the animal creation the same train of thoughts in the phases of growth of living anim © Successive appearance of their representatives in past ages. “26. The combination, in many extinct types, of characters which, in ter ages, appear disconnected in different types, exhibits thought, pro- phetic thought, foresight ; combinations of thought preceding their man- €station in living forms. i nd th “or The parallelism between the gradation among animals and ut e@ changes they undergo during their growth, exhibits thought, as it dis- Rot be understood otherwise than as established by a thinking being: “28. The relations existing between these different series and the geo- Staphical distribution of animals, exhibit thought; they show the omni- Presence of the Creator, bp 29. The mutual de ndence of the animal and vegetable kingdoms for their aintenance, eichie thought; it displays the care peri all condi ions of existence, necessary to the maintenance of organ ve been balanced. “30. The de endence of some animals upon others or upon plants for _ existence, exhibits thought; it shows to what the most 10 Picated combinations of structure and adaptation can be rendered inde- eon of the physical conditions which surround them. ie iectak Sn ®May sum up the results of this discussion, up to this point, ds :-— still fewer wor bs 208 Agassiz’s Contributions to the of physical causes, but have made their successive appearance upon ear by the immediate intervention of the Creator. As proof, I may sum up my argument in the following manner: “The products of what are commonly called physical agents are every- tween two such series of phenomena there can be no causal or genetic connection. “31, The combination in time and space of all these thoughtful con- ceptions exhibits not only thought, it shows also premeditation, power, wisdom, greatness, prescience, omniscience, providence. In one word, these facts in their natural connection proclaim aloud the One God, whom man may know, adore, and love; and Natural History must, m time, become the analysis of the thoughts of the Creator of the Universe, as manifested in the animal and plant [and crystal] kingdoms.” If after all, we hear it said still,—that perhaps creations may have been due to physical forces—we would repeat, that the notion comes not through science or true: inductive philosophy; in all the search thus far, no authority for such an inference has been found. Electricity and ‘its associates we know, but nothing about life-creating force; the daily progress of science is defining, at The Another topic introduced in connection with the discussion. on classification, is that of the relations of the grand system ° life and also individual history in species to geological a Although the subject is but briefly and collaterally brought 1% it is of too much general interest to be passed by who, : mention of the views sustained by the author. We arrange points with reference to their geological bearing. ; Professor Agassiz argues with truth that the oldest fossils Hi" resent the beginning of animal life on the globe, so far atl ss as to give a correct exhibition of the earliest types. Fort series has its initial point in the same kinds of species OD 2” 7 continents, reaching down, on each, to salt-water Articulate i ake) oe ete a = ‘ id iy * if , . Brachyura ; Higher Brachyura ;—is the series in Crustacea i s: Heptiles : Quadrupeds: Man ;—is the series Vertebrates, Natural History of the United States. 209 - Molluses and Radiates, if not also to salt-water Vertebrates (Fishes). The great Branches of the animal kingdom thus begin in the inferior or salt-water species; and any obliterated records its end in man, and that it admits of proof on anatomical evi- dence that man is the last term in the series; that upon the fact from the simple progression of form among Vertebrates from the fish onward ;—for there is first the horizontal or prone posi- n of the nervous cord with which the series begins,—then the shown to be illustrated through the whole range of geological which series is understood, may be easily followed by the mind towards its limits, Of this nature are the facts in geology. The Searveeds :aFerns and Conifere :. Angiosperms and Palms ;—~ Such is a brief statement of the series in the plant kingdom. niomostraca : Tetradecapod, Anomoura, Macrowra: Lower 2. among he same general idea is illustrated among all the great groups. ‘om wa facts, instead of favoring the idea of discovering — ately in the Carboniferous, renders its probability almost infi- : lL For if such a b : ~ 8€&number, then strata like the Coal Measures, abounding — SERIES, VOL. XXV, NO. 74:-—MARCH, 1858. 27 210 Agassiz's Contributions to the ving great activity and thoroughness to the investigation. he answer to the simple problem would be, some hundreds i not thousands; and yet, notwithstanding all the chances, and all the labor thus far. bestowed, not a specimen has been found. _ There being some system of progress, the great question 18, What is that system ? Is it a law of uniform progress for the Animal Kingdom asa whole? No:—for each of the four Branches, as Professor Agassiz observes, are wholly independent of each other in their whole system of structure and progress. Is it a law of uniform progress for each of these Branches? or for each of the Classes they contain, as for the class of fishes, oF _ of birds, or of mammals, ‘ete.? The same argument which 1s used above for the Branches, holds in fact against any such kind and which certainly holds as a general truth. We shou fore no more look for lineal progression between different Orders An a Class, or different Classes in a Branch, than between dif ferent systems in the heavens. : Re fd In addition to this, a class has not generally been first intro duced through the creation of its very simplest specie 8, On this point, Professor Agassiz says: “he earliest repT® sentatives of these classes do not always seem to be the low et through all the intricate relations, there runs an evident te dency towards the production of higher and higher types, until, at last, man crowns the series.” And he closes this aragraph with the sentiment which seems to be ever dwelling in his mint. Who can look upon such series, and not read in them the suc’ cessive manifestations of a thought expressed at different 29 in ever new forms, and yet tending to the same end, onwal hesied in the ~ “ee ares = a | 2 a tha eee ae ee aie a Natural History of the United States. 211 Mor groups, but yet, when so, these earliest forms were not gen- ; as the expansion of the type after- ward took place through new creations, there were downward steps as ite as upward, though the upward were eminently the to the higher; in all cases, it brought out a purer development of the type and a fuller exhibition of its various capacities. I he fact of progress is none the less true under such a system. 's actual law is daily receiving new illustrations from geological discoveries and becoming gradually intelligible to us in its va- . A hope, which some seem to have, that new facts will throw despite on all general views, is of shallow growth. one need fear that nature will ever prove her own lawlessness. €lmportant principles connected with this system of pro- ox brought out by Prof. Agassiz, are as follows :— IRST, ss parallelism between the geological succession of animals and: the embryonic growth of their living representatives.” The : The investigations of Miller upon the larve of all the families of Ming Asterioid beet d these .comparisons to ae sa ble us to exten se ,comp the igh nd Echinoids ena tee cbeigivde her Echinoderms also. The first point which operate from the t thr Again, en ts te olGaghe firm] ie ese ar cranium ber the inferior quadruped: that is, san — ates ises. ieee aay explained appears to be a general one. But re hese espace: be- nue E a ~ usions onl n made among ht species or groups afford right com whole Ie is inferior in grade © same typical series; for when a ae © cannot of course pass from one ted wing § en- or d reover each type has its degradations (that is, species rep’ ting degraded to they wee te forms); and in this depauperai there is an abbreviation an one arising from the opposite principle, cephalization W tape-worm is of the lowest of species, ther rs still i which are better it rises jn ae nt of the tape-w While, again, the Btade, has its abd Ris tened till it becomes ‘ £0 at - lower end of per of Dew ene pods (the onthe pena aun that ina + Bat * gig which have a mvsiberlale 4 abdomen. e princi aes a iat e, arising of grade i is. anes ¢ rasp tration a With mane tiny > anda Fach pts Saber ; striae a ati iL engine. eriorly, and sometimes so sstectol \A oer 2 ay stem. It is pate gaa | to add that no ny pe rasa ‘into tioned. . is here implied, but that actual species aaceinak e conditions men- 214 Agassiz's Contributions to the Tarp. The frequent synthetic character of the earlier types. The Ganoid fishes are a familiar illustration, being often called Sau- roid fishes, as they include certain reptilian characteristics in their structure. They are synthetic types. T'o the Ganoids (and in other cases when a future group is foreshadowed), the term prophetic type is applied by Agassiz. In after time, fishes come out purely fishes in the Ctenoids and Cycloids, and this is, in _ part, the kind of expansion or evolution the Fish type under- went. The arborescent Acrogens of the Coal Period appear also to have been synthetic types, combining certain Coniferous char- acteristics with those of the Fern type. In this case the two wider range in their characters; as time moved on, the same a manner to favor the notion of the creation of ppt from an etween gro A FoURTH law is that of the culmination and disappearance of n the examples. This is obviously parallel with the fact in embry". logical development, that parts may fulfil their end and disapp® _* This subject is illustrated in its geological bearings at some length in Carpe? ter’s Comparative Physiology, 4th edition. . — ° «. 4. ‘ Natural History of the United States. 215 before the final adult stage is reached. Professor Agassiz, in his temarks on the succession of types, appears to argue that through- out clusses and orders in the Animal Kingdom there was a rising of grade among the species to the last; that is, among the species now existing as representatives of an order, the higher are of superior rank to those representing that order in any earlier time. But perhaps this point requires a farther survey of the facts. It 0¢8 not seem to be established that the Carnivora of the present age are superior in grade to those of the Post-tertiary, or the Cephalopods of our own seas to those of the Reptilian Age. After considering many of the laws of relation among animals and between the animal and plant kingdoms, Professor Agassiz introduces an illustration of still wider unity embracing the paaical world at large, first suggested by his associate at Cam- bridge, Professor Peirce. As the facts have not been published. in this Journal, we cite a few paragraphs from the chapter. It is well known that the leaves of plants are arranged in spirals, Series 2, 4, 2, 3, vs) 2% 2, 21, etc.; in which the numerator an denominator of each term equals severally the sum of the nu- eat and of the denominators, of the two terms next pre- cedine : D e “Now, upon comparing this arrangement of the leaves in plants with ac : the law of phyllotaxis and the fourth column, finally, gives the normal Series of fractions expressing the law of phyllotaxis. Neptune, ——-60,129 62,000 Uranus, 30,687 31,000 4 Saturn, 10,759 10,333 4 Jupiter, 4,333 4,133 z Asteroids, 1,200 to 2,000 1,550 3 Mars, 687 596 ts Earth, 365 366 a's ; St Venus, 225 227 at 3 Mercury, 88 87 az z ‘n this series the Earth forms a break; but this apparent irregularity admits of an easy explanation. The fractions 3, 3, $1 8) Ty 21 sar Cte, “xpressing the position of successive leaves upon an axis, by the rs 2 216 Agassiz’s Contributions to the Natural History, &c. way of ascent along the spiral, are identical, as far as their meaning is concerned, with the fractions expressing these same positions, by the long way, namely, 4, 3, 3, 3, fs, 23, 34, ete. “ Let us, therefore, repeat our diagram in another form, the third column giving the theoretical time of revolution. eptune, 4 62,000 60,129 “ 4 62,000 — Uranus, 3 31,000 30,687 “ 15,500 a Saturn, Z 10,333 10,759. “ 2 6,889 — Jupiter, a 4,133 4,333 “ 2.480 —_ Asteroids, ’ 1,550 1,200 ~ 3 96 es ee Mars, #3 596 687 Earth, ae 366 365 Venus, 33 227 225 es Pa 140 —— Mercury, 24 88 3 j “Tt appears from this table, that two intervals usually elapse between two successive planets, so that the normal order of actual fractions 18 4, relatively to Uranus, and Jupiter relatively to Saturn, and the planets thus formed engross too large a proportionate share of material, and this is especially the case with Jupiter. Hence, when we come to the Aste- ids, the disposition is so stro e end of a single interval, that “* outer Asteroid is but just within this interval, and the whole material " the Asteroids is ispersed in separate masses over a wide space, inst ais being concentrated into a single planet. A consequence of acs persion of the forming agents is, that a small proportionate materia’ ™ exterior to its true place, that when the next interval elapses the residual force becomes strong enough to form the Earth, after which the n° a law is resumed without any further disturbance. Under this ‘law, can be no planet exterior to Neptune, but there may be one interior Mercury.”—pp. 128, 129. The subjects to which we have thus far alluded in our noes of Professor Agassiz’s work are, as before said, incidental to os author’s main purpose, the illustration of the relations of pce with reference to principles of classification and the fundamen ideas of system in nature. To this topic we now turn. (Zo be continued.) ‘ Dei igo ee T. S. Hunt on Ophiolites. 217 Arr. XX.— Contributions to the History of Ophiolites. Part I; by T. Srerry Hunt, of the Geological Survey of Canada. Iv the published reports of the Geological Survey of Canada, Sir W. HE. Logan has already shown that the id entines of the Green Mountains occur in the form of beds, and that they Occupy a constant position in the series of altered Lower Silu- nan strata which make up the principal part of the Green ountain chain. These metamorphic strata consist of feld- spathic, micaceous, epidotic, chloritic, taleose and argillaceous schists, with quartzites, limestones, dolomites and magnesites; 1 P to the present time, geologists, with few exceptions, have cooked upon serpentine as a rock of igneous origin ; is oe to show, the result of the alteration of beds of silicious olomite and magnesite, which have been transformed into sili- whic a les us to explain the production of those silicates of lime, mag: ee and iron which play such an important part in the mineral tory of the crystalline stratified rocks.* se results of my examinations of some of the so-called serpen- herocks of the Green Mountains, The following pages are | 9 B fa) < ro) — g 5 ® ° ro) =} e. =] ta = f°) o wm =} ros 78 ° = ® oO 5 Ce e * 3 ie) a In ot a B ie) ° | ct # Qu =a i} E o A B 8 B ot B QO 3 » &te., are repeated with certain differences, offering an in- oldest known sedimentary rocks were similar to those which Prevailed during a portion of the Lower Silurian period, and * See this Jo i urnal (2), vol. xxiii 31, Proceedings of the Royal Society for May 1, 1857, and ne ee Peclogical Survey, cited below, p. 477. SECOND SERIES, VOL, XXV, NO. 74.—MARCH, 1858. : 28 - 218 T. S. Hunt on Ophiolites. n represented by silica ate 0: cose serpentine. In addition to these, the'same author describes . an tes from brecetas, erate, or breeciated in their structure. I have been om vv ticular in distinguishing these different varieties, because mt “have doubtless a common origin, and because their study T. S. Hunt on Ophiolites. 219 my in getting an idea of the mode of formation of serpentine TOCKs The ophiolites of the Green Mountains often contain diallage, and more rarely actinolite and garnet. Calcareous, dolomitic rom the township of Orford, where these rocks are very exten- sively displayed, has furnished me with a large number of the Specimens about to be described. i@ analysis of the serpentines was generally effected by treating the mineral in‘ fine powder with sulphuric acid diluted with its own volume of water, and heating the mixture in a pla- tinum capsule until acid fumes were evolved; it was sometimes Ty to repeat this process with the undissolved residue. The purity of the separated silica was in all cases determined by dissolving it with the aid of heat, in a solution of carbonate of soda, The action of a boiling solution of nitrate of ammonia ron the mineral, either before or after ignition, was generally recourse to for the determination of any earthy car . color deep olive-green with small bluish veins; it was sub-trans- hone, aud wr highly argillaceous odor. This serpentine Ids in very small quantity, disseminated grains of magnetic " ; ' ‘ 0°30 Magnesia (by difference), ‘i B ; : . be | ; oxyd of iron, - ' 4 id “26 xyd of nickel, - > ’ nf ahvewe, " -< ‘ . : ager Water, by ignition, - ; i : 0000 rv 2. A fraem entine. from a conglomerate dolo- Mitic ophiolte about tbe dameaitiad had a density of 2-622, a ackish- n color, a eonchoidal fracture, and was almost “Que. The pulverized and ignited mineral yielded to nitrate ammonia, 0-40 of carbonate of lime and 0°27 of carbonate of i 220 T. S. Hunt on Ophiolites. magnesia. This serpentine contains a small quantity of chromic iron. The oxyd of nickel, determined upon four grams of the mineral, gave no trace of cobalt before the blowpipe. Its analy- sis gave as follows :— Silica, - . - - - . 42°90 = - - - - 36°28 Protoxyd of iron, - - - 2 i TAT Oxyd of nickel, - - - = : mn 15 Chromic iron, - ped . F 35 “25 Loss by ignition, - - - - - 1314 100719 3. I may cite in this place the analysis of a serpentine given in my Report for 1852, p. 99. It forms the rock in contact with of chromic iron ore in Ham, has a hardness of 3°5, and a density of 2:546. It is massive and compact, with a splintery acture; color greenish-white, and translucent. The analysis, which failed to detect either chrome or lime, gave as follows:— Silica, - - “ . 43-4 Magnesia (by difference), - - - - 400 Alumina and oxyd of iron, - - : - 36 Water, - - - “ - . -"..180 100°0 Silica, r i m E 43°70 Magnesia, - - . - - - 40°68 Protoxyd of iron, — - : 2 . - 3°51 Oxyd of nickel (undetermined). - = ter, - ‘ F 12°45 100°34 5. Caleareous Ophiolite—The specimen of this variety whicl I have analyzed is from the saath lot of the sixteenth range ° Orford. It is fine grained and sub-crystalline, with @ scaly, somewhat conchoidal fracture. Color, mottled greenish-gt)+ T. S. Hunt on Ophiolites. 221 with an occasional purplish tinge. Translucent on the edges, and resembles, except in color, many common limestones. In powder, the rock ie ade with acetic acid, even in the cold, and by the aid of heat fifty-seven per cent of the mass were dis- solved, consisting of carbonate of lime with a little magnesia anda trace of iron, The residue effervesced in the cold with dilute nitric acid, whose action, aided by a gentle heat durin halfan-hour, dissolved 10-76 per cent of carbonate of lime an Magnesia, with a little iron, corresponding to a ferriferous dolo- Silica, z 41-20 Magnesia, ; : : 3 : - 3216 Protoxyd of iron, - - - - - 1116 Lime, - = 3 x = - “65 Alumina, = - P Z - ‘ - 2°67 Water, - ‘ : i F - - 12°70 100°54 The portion soluble in acetic acid (I) and that dissolved in nutri acid (II.) had the following composition for 100 parts:— ; I I. pordeate of lime . . - *. ae x “ magnesia, - 8°67 2 % “son (traces) 6°87 10000 10000 It will be scen that the dilute acids attack but slightly the aaetine, and that the nitric acid dissolves an intermingled dolomite, Which is but little acted upon by the acetic acid. I " hay en advantage of this reaction to separate the dolomite from the carbonate of lime in a crystalline magnesian limestone, Whose analysis is given in my Report for 1854. The proximate analysis of the rock in question shows it to be a mixture of car- ane of lime, dolomite and serpentine, and we have for 100 Soluble in acetic acid, .* . : : Be ie “nitric acid, - : - - ' etnias Insoluble, serpentine, - = “ ™ a 8200 99°76 6. Dolomitic Ophiolite-—This granular variety is from the . pe Brompton Lake, in the aeventh range of the thirteenth of Orf : 222 T. §. Hunt on Ophiolites. crystalline spar. A fibrous coating is sometimes apparent in the joints of the rock. Its hardness is about 4. When reduced to Wwas:-— ilica, - - - - - : - 4320 Magnesia (by difference), - - — . 3611 Protoxyd of iron with nickel, - . : - $829 Water, - . - - - - - 12°40 100:00 The dolomite dissolved, gave for 100 parts :— Carbonate of lime, - . - - - - 4958 agnesia, - - - - - 46:32 # “ iron with manganese, - : - tae 100°00 average specimen of the conglomerate was pulverized - examination. ‘he powder effervesced even in the cold, wit acetic acid, which with the aid of heat, took up by prolonged digestion, twenty per cent of carbonates of lime and mae and 0-2 of oxyd of iron. The soluble portion contained car nate of lime 88°30, carbonate of magnesia 11°70. The residue from acetic acid effervesced slightly with warm dilute nitric ean and the solution was found to contain a quantity of magne) ' iginal mass (11°70 per “4 but no lime, the whole of that base poe been removed by the acetic acid. The residue from the act! of mine acid, was decomposed by fusion with carbonate of an ga — ae Pi i eee | aa as MET aba er et. ene ee ae oc AS at et Ean fe ja 2 ha pil a shes = T. S. Hunt on Ophiolites. 223 Silica, , - ; ; - : - 4510 Magnesia, (by difference), - : - - 5468 Protoxyd of iron, — - ;. . : F ae Alumina, - - : . 2 ‘ . ‘80 Water, : . A : : ‘ - 1880 100°00 This residue when ignited, yielded but a trace of magnesia to a boiling solution of nitrate of ammonia, showing that it retained no carbonate; but from the excess of silica it was evident that 4 partial decomposition of the serpentine had been effected by @nitric acid. In confirmation of this, I found that a second sats of the pulverized rock, when submitted to a prolonged gestion with acetic acid, left 75°5 per cent of matter dried at 212° F.; this residue gave a feeble effervescence with nitric acid, which by prolonged digestion, took up 18:0 per cent of magne- Sia, although when previously ignited, to a Solution of nitrate of ammonia only a trace of lime, and but 0°3 per cent of magnesia, Its analysis by fusion with carbonate of ave :— Silica, ; : z _ : ‘ - 48:10 Magnesia, : ; he oe pic ee ee Protoxyd of iron, - - - . : < wae Water, - F Se : : : 11:90 99°34 Another specimen of the conglomerate was now pulverized, and eight grams of it were digested for a Jong time with boil- 8 acetic acid: the insoluble residue, after Jevigation, was sub- st & second time to the same treatment. The matters thus ved for 100 parts of the mineral, were :— Carbonate of lime, - ; y : - 986 “© magnesia, - inocn Rule 772 2 Siren, >'+ ‘ ‘ : : nag 16:85 Re residue, still containing these 3°66 per cent of carbonates, & by analysis with carbonate of soda, the following results :— Biliea, (by difference), é -~ 4898 Magnesia, ¥ i é a at - 85°64 Protoxyd of iron, - : : eliched Lime, : . . e : . (traces.) Loss by ignition, — - - . . F dees 10000 = 224 T. 8. Hunt on Ophiolites. A portion of the powder of this last specimen of the con- glomerate was ignited for ten minutes over a spirit-lamp, and then boiled with a solution of nitrate of ammonia, so long asa erceptible odor of ammonia was evolved; there were dissolved y this means 6°50 per cent of carbonate of lime, and 7°65 of carbonate of magnesia. Veins of from four to six lines in breadth are often met with in this conglomerate. Their walls are covered with a thin layer of pale green serpentine, having a fibrous structtre perpendicu- lar to the sides of the vein; upon this is deposited a bluish-white fine grained dolomite, while in the middle a nearly pure cleava- ble calcite occurs. The analysis of a portion of this dolomite gave :— Carbonate of lime, - - - : - - 59:32 “ “ magnesia, “ = . - 84:15 a ©. 300, 1 = - - - - - 4°83 98°30 would however be ee without the description of another marble of Roxbury in that state; it has been examined by ¥™ ©. T. Jackson and Dr. A. A. Hayes of Boston. . Jackson (this Journal, [2], vol. xxiii, p. 125,) peg “tion of ‘ ,) su I separating from the rock a mineral having the compos rbonate of magnesia, and others of ferriferous dolomite, whic tra 9) the mass. According to Dr. Hayes, (ibid, [2], vol. xx1, P a the rock is an aggregate of fibrous and compact asbestus, Oe and argillite, the whole cemented by carbonate of magnest® which forms according to him, on an average, 38 p. ©. 4 mass. He has also shown that the ophiolites of Cavendish, of Lynnfield in the same region, contain carbonate of a without any lime. Through the kindness of the above? By, ae | * T. S. Hunt on Ophiolites. 225 gentlemen, I have been furnished with a series of specimens, which have permitted me to make a.careful examination of the Roxbury ophiolite, : - _ Some portions of the rock appear as a mottled granular mass, having a hardness of about 4-0, with an uneven fracture, and pre- _Senting cleavable grains of magnesite; the colors vary from blackish-green to greenish-white, and the rock is susceptible of a high polish. Other specimens are white and crystalline, with humerous greenish-grey bands, the whole arranged in parallel yers, as if stratified, and resembling closely some varieties of gneiss. The rock cleaves with these layers, which contain ser- pentine and tale, intermingled with carbonate of magnesia. This mineral, as described by Drs. Jackson and Hayes, is nearly pure in the white portions, and has a hardness of 4’0, and a density of 2°99—3-00, according to my determinations. Dr. Hayes found for its composition, carbonic acid 48°80, magnesia 45°60, et a little silica 8°60, silicate of protoxyd of iron 1°96 This result corresponds clos@y with my own. I obtained from 100 parts, 2-76 of tale, and 1:82 of silica, besides 2°40 of per- oxyd of iron, corresponding to 8°48 of carbonate of iron, the nitrate of ammonia; but there is also present a portion of silicate ‘ron and magnesia, decomposed by acids. In my analysis the peered magnesite was digested fora long time at a boiling fat with hydrochloric acid; the insoluble portion was then boiled with strong sulphuric acid, and from the residue the ita Was removed by a solution of carbonate of soda, the tale ning. # he tale thus purified from magnesite and serpentine by suc- edi treatments with hydrochloric and sulphuric acids and car- eag of soda, was gently ignited, and then decomposed by on with carbonate of soda; it gave:— ilica, e 3 2 62°60 sia, . * 2 ‘ - - 31:30 Alumina and i . 3 é - - 406 rT and ribs . zs eB , P : 204 ei 100-00 bon; the analysis of Dr. Hayes just cited, the 48-80 parts of car- acid are sufficient only for 44°36 parts of magnesia, 8 Silicate, 9 dark i f the rock was pulverized . ’ ark-green portion of the Tut , . boiled for a long time with dilute nitric acid, whi dissolve SECOND SERIES, VOL, XXV, NO. 74.—MARCH., 1858. 29 226 T. S. Hunt on Ophiolites. a large amount of magnesia with disengagement of carbonic acid; the solution contained besides, magnesia, iron, manganese, and a trace of nickel, but no lime. The undissolved residue was then boiled with a solution of carbonate of soda, which took up a considerable amount of silica derived from the silicate which had been partially decomposed by the nitric acid, and le a dense granular matter, mingled with silvery scales of greenish tale, which were in great part removed by washing. The denser silicate was then dried at 250° F., and submitted to analy- sis. By ignition it lost 11-40 per cent, and then gave toa boiling solution of nitrate of ammonia a quantity of magnesia equal to 1:21 of carbonate. Another portion was decomposed by sul- phuric acid, and the silica separated from the insoluble tale by 4 solution of carbonate of soda. The results of the analysis were as follows :— Silica, : : ‘ : : ‘ Y Wee * = 2 . - - 36°72 Protoxyd of iron, - - - . “ - 486 Oxyd of nickel, - : a - {traces.) ale, - - - - “ . = - 6°80 Water, - - : 3 ™ “ > 10°77 Carbonic acid, ; . . ; é nen 99°38 Deducting the talc, the carbonic acid, and the amount of mag nesia required to form with it 1-21 of carbonate, we have for the composition of this silicate dried at'250° FE. :— Silica, - . - ' P > - 43°34 Magnesia, baad > - al - - 89°55 Protoxyd of iron, - - . * . «| 682 Oxyd of nickel, - : . . “ (traces.) Water, - - - " s w - ANd 100-00 This is the composition of serpentine, and the ophiolite of Roxbury is thus shown to consist of serpentine and tale, inter mixed with a ferriferous carbonate of magnesia; the compa asbestus of Dr. Hayes is nothing more than serpentine. In the second part of this paper I propose to describe among ers, some of the ophiolites of the Faarensian series. ile se W. P. Blake on the Chalchihuitl of the Mexicans. 297 Art. XXI—The Chalchihuitl of the ancient Mexicans; tts locality and association, and its identity with Turquois; by W. P. BLAKE. Tue Navajo Indians in the northern and western portion of New Mexico wear small ornaments and trinkets, fashioned out of a hard, green stone which they call Chalchthui*® It is pay 'y in dykes. The sandstones are probably of the age of the arboniferous and are much uplifted and metamorp , SO the extent of the excavation. It is an immense pit with precip- tous sides of angular rock, projecting in crags, 8towth of pines and shrubs in the fissures. On one side the tocks tower into a precipice and overhang so as to form a cave; “© only opening : eral pits in t ; hg ing; there are sev p ntly much more extent, some of them being appare Traces of the Ch a o the broken rocks, alchihuitl were found amon but almost every Guana of large size and good color had bi This name is now pronounced chal-che-we-te by the Indians, and Pema ime ome of the N ew Mexicans. The Indian pronunciation 1s p : 928 W. P. Blake on the Chalchihuitl of the Mexicans. been carefully collected. A recent heavy shower had, however, brought many small pieces of the nine in view on the surface, and other specimens were procured by breaking open the rocks. The specimens present in color various shades of apple-green and pea-green, passing into bluish-green. Some fragments hav- ing a blue color were found, but these are not so dense and hard as the green. Some of the specimens very closely resemble crusts or coatings of chrysocolla both in fracture and color; differing, however, very essentially in the hardness. Some of the bluish specimens are very soft and earthy, and appear to be the result partial decomposition of the green portions by long exposure. One of the compact green fragments has been successfully cut by a lapidary; it takes a fine polish, and has a pleasing color and lustre suitable for jewelry. The hardness is a little less than that of feldspar, and the specific gravity varies from 2°426 to _ 2°651, the compact, green fragments giving the highest numbers. Before the blowpipe, it fuses with intumescence on the thin ges only; in other respects, the reactions are similar to those of turquois. An analysis of it forme by J. M. Blake of the. and iron, colored with oxyd of copper. The fragments which were ae gk ad? uarters of an inch in length and one quarter of an inch 1 ickness. They appeared to have caries rock are compact and homogeneous, and pi closely to the walls on each side. It is therefore difficult cases 1t is compact and without any trace of crystalline sro : : rs Specimens are nearly identical in appearance with the turqu from Steine in Silesia, for a fragment of which I am indebted to Prof. G. J. Brush. - d y Ke 4 2 Be ai | ee Ps eee | EY tre, ee eee | ee W. P. Blake on the Chalchihuitl of the Mexicans. 299 On breaking open one of the dark green’ fragments a small cavity was found in the centre, like the interior of a geode, with the color gradually shading into white. The interior‘surface is ‘ smooth and finely mamillated, reminding one of the inner sur- face of nodules of chalcedony. There are not any distinct layers a8 in agate but the color gradually diminishes from the surface to the center. A variation in the amount of the coloring matter in different specimens according to the circumstances of forma: tion is thus indicated, and it is seen that the composition of the. mineral cannot be regarded as constant. This variation of color, and the structure, indicate an origin, or formation, similar to that of chalcedony and agate,—a deposition in thin layers from either a vapor or liquid. , There did not appear to be any principal vein or well defined deposit of the mineral; it is apparently distributed in thin seams srough a great body of the rock. It is possible that there is a large vein or seam covered from view by the debris. rock ering, and very much resembles a sandstone. Veins of copper be determine whether it was possi , oe nin part made for ores or the precious metals, but i . dent that the chalchihuitl was the only mineral which had been Sought for a The evident antiquity of this excavation, and its extent, ren- — It peculiarly interesting. Little or nothing appears to own of it in that region, and I am not aware that it has ever n visited except by the Indians and New Mexicans. It the Country by the Spaniards. It does not appear that anything ‘ has en Sane in thei aba pit for a long time. This is shown - ae my by the pine trees growing in it, but by the i =e Sides, ‘and by the piles of rock, gray with age, gues ti Margin. F ragments of ancient Indian pottery can ei y My! - Che place is, however, occasiona b % 230 W. P. Blake on the Chalchihuitl of the Mexicans. How this is accomplished, I could not ascertain. T'wo or three Indians, only, go to the locality at one time, and while there they live in the cave or recess in the face of the cliff. At one side of this there was a litter of cedar boughs, and on the other, a great accumulation of ashes, the residue of camp-fires. more pic turesque abode can hardly be imagined. The entrance fronts upon, and overlooks, the ancient excavation, with its crags and forest of pines; the broad sloping plain or plateau of Santa Fé stretches out to the north, with the lofty peaks of the Rocky - Mountain chain rising above it. On the west and southwest the country is open towards the Rio Grande, the monotony of the broad plains being relieved by the Sandia or Albuquerque mountains, On my return from New Mexico I became curious to know whether any mention of the ancient excavation or of the chal- chihuitl was made by the early historians or travellers in Mex: ico. Iwas much gratified to tind that the mineral is mentioned by Bernal Diaz, the companion of Cortes, and others. Bernal huitls intended for the Spanish Sovereign. These, the ambassa ors said, were each worth. more than a load of gold.* remarks that they were a species of green stone of uncommon value, which were held in higher estimation among the Indians han the smaragdus [emerald] with the Spaniards. ‘orquemada makes frequent mention of chalchihuitl and Te- garded it as a species of emerald. He states that the Mexicans gave the name Chalchihuitl to Cortes, intending thus to show their respect for him as a captain of great valor, “for Chalchi- huitl is of the color of the emerald, and emeralds were held 10 at esteem.”+ Offerings of this stone were mad by ndians in the temple of the goddess Matlalcueye,} and it was their custom to place a fragment in the mouths of the | guished chiefs who died. 'Torquemada, in recording this fact, ae ape of the Conquest of Mexico, by Bernal Diaz, Lockhart’s translation, ¥ol- 4, p. 3 Pp. 9. + Torquemada, Monarchia Indiana, ii, p. 435. ‘ | Ibid, p. 288. § Ibid, Ae 521, Ibid, i, p. 48% ¢ q Al eet eo | W. P. Biake on the Chalchihuitl of the Mexicans. 231 stated that the art of cutting and polishing chalchihuit] was taught them by the god Quetzalcobuatl. Sahagun considered the stone to be a jasper of a very green color, ora common smaragdus,* He remarks that they are green and opaque, and. are much worn by the chiefs strung on a thread around their wrists, being regarded as a badge of distinction. Tn the year 1539 Friar Marco de Nica made a journey among the Indians of New Mexico, and in his narrative frequently mentions green and bluish stones which were worn as ornaments by them, pendant from the ears and nose. He also mentions ™M none so much walls of the porches of their houses and their apparel and ves- sels, and they use them instead of money through all the coun- tty.t Coronado, who visited Cevola in 1540, denies De Niga’s Statement respecting the turqnoises upon the porches of the lt ed a vast amount of quarrying, fully equal to that at the ality, Names similar to chalchihuitl, or derived from it, were com- mon among the ancient Mexicans and the word is doubtless of me Origin. It is differently written by the early historians. “rguemadd gives Chalchihuitl as the Indian name but fre- atently writes it chalchihuite, Lockhart, the translator of the mar ave by Bernal Diaz, writes chalchihuitls, but says that the €S were called chalchuites by Diaz. It is singular that De og -_ Coronado do not mention this name; it would appear Was notin use i i . Of the fact that the stones were called cacona by one of the tribes of Indians renders this more probable. As the stone was recog: i. Historia de la Conquista de Mexico. Ist. de Nueva Espafi ‘ 7:3 : : : Fag Extracts from the Scena : of Friar Marco de Niga, published in the < Pp 106-105 Lieut. A. W. Whipple, Pacific R. R. Explorations and Surveys, vol. iii, at Tae: 232 C. Johnston on Microscopical Preparations. nized as identical with turquois by these travellers, it is possible that they neglected to give the Mexican name. It is also possi- _ ble that this name originated in Mexico and not among the tribes near the locality, although it is now in use there. It is desirable that this ancient name should be retained and I suggest that this New Mexican variety of turquois may be appropriately known among mineralogists as chalchihuztl, ee Art. XXII.—On a method of Preparing and Mounting Hard Tissues for the Microscope ; by CHRISTOPHER JonNSTON, M.D. and certain method of preparing and mounting hard tissues, such as bone, teeth, shells, fossilized wood, &c. ‘ I am aware that treatises upon the microscope give a few in- dications for making sections and embalming them in Canada Isam; but they are unsatisfactory either by reason of theif brevity or their want of precision. Specimens may be procur ed ready-made from the hands of Topping, Bourgogne and others, but while they are expensive, persons in remote situations are obliged to purchase by catalogue without the opportunity of se lection. Besides, it is oftentimes difficult or else impossible to obtain series of particular objects; so that the student must either limit his researches or “prepare” for himself: im the ee er case he may increase his number of objects indefinitely, ad supply himself with many such as are not attainable from abroad, and divided in any direction he may require. ; microscopic section should be as thin as the structure i the object will allow, of uniform thickness, and polished on Oe sides, whether it be mounted in the dry way or in balsam. ? meet these requirements I proceed as follows :— pei | provided wi t Pe A coarse and a fine Kansas hone, kept dressed flat with fine emery ; 2. A long fine Stub’s dentist’s file; 3. A thin dividing file and fine saw; : ‘th 4. Some Russian isinglass boiled, strained, and mixed Wl aleohol sufficient to form a tolerably thick jelly when cold ; 5. A small quantity of Canada balsam ; 6. Slides; 7. Cover glass; tas 8. One ounce of chloroform; 9. One of F.F. aqua ammonia; ~ 10. Some acaaganie of thick plate (mirror) glass 1 inch square finall orl by 2 inches; an y> ic el cl Be eee les C. Johnston on Microscopical Preparations. 233 11. An ounce of “ dentist’s silex,” a 12. Thin French letter paper, of which 500 or more leaves are oe ag to fill up the space of an inch: I examine the object and decide upon the plane of the proposed section. Coarse approximative sections may be obtained with the saw or dividing file (excepting silicified substances), but these instru: ments are not applicable to longitudinal sections of small human or other teeth, small bones, &c. Take now the object in the fingers if sufficiently large, and grind it upon the coarse hone with water, to which add “silex” if necessary, until the surface coincides with the intended plane, Wash carefully: finish upon the finer hone; and polish upon soft linen stretched upon a smooth block, : ._ If the object be too small to admit of immediate manipulation It should what is better, upon thin paper well glued with the same sub- With thin French letter - next apply a paper guard, as be- paper; next apply & pi a : fore stated, but not thicker, for teeth ae bone, than ;3sth inch; Q Yof a specimen being prepared may be appreciated ee ally moisten the “space” with isinglass to the extent ot the Semented in its place. Gentle pressure should now be employed, and maintained with a wire spring, or thread wound round about. '0rm. fo ib Mountin g. =e me 234 C.’Johnston“on Microscopical Preparations. slide, being careful to employ the least possible heat. Now carefully depress the section and withdraw every air bubble with a stout needle set in a handle towards the ends of the slide: put on the cover glass, slightly warmed, not flat, but allowing one edge to touch the balsam first, press out superfluous balsam, and the specimen is safe. The slide may now be cleaned with @ warm knife, spirits of wine, and ammonia. This communication would be incomplete without some very important hints concerning ‘cover glass.” It is easy to clean cover upon a large a bit of linen damp clean slide, and wiping one side only with : Ap The other side with aqua ammonia, and then with a dry piece. : erlie it without breaking, ges ee y too muc ape be | aid over the cover and upon this a thick slide; if a moderate et be applied to both the slides, over and beneath the ue direct pressure evenly exerted with the fingers (or spring clo tion pins) will force out all unnecessary balsam, and leave the secile and the protecting cover perfectly flat and unbroken. ke The reader will not deem me too prolix P first preparation, or when, after having scantily given in the books, he feels the nee cisely definite. It is certain that neither Canada b mastic will retain the first ground side of a specimen upon ae ee ea Climatology of the United States. 235 thereby warped or cracked; and furthermore the paper guard, — J Tespect: and the highly ereditable performances of friends, to whom I have given the method forming the subject of this com- munication, lead me to believe that with the facilities it affords the observers of our country will need no Topping for objects Within their reach, and I beg leave to add that the profitable P ure [ have enjoyed induces me, through the American ournal of Science, to invite participation. ‘ Baltimore, Nov. 15th, 1857. Art. XXUI.—Blodyet’s Chimatoloqy of the United States and of the Lemperate Latitudes of the North American Continent. Tats work relates to a subject of great practical importance to the people of the United States, and one which hitherto has Teceived but partial attention. In 1842 there was published a Yolame on “the Climate of the United States and its endemic Influences, by Samuel Forry, M.D.” This was an octavo volume of 880 pages, more than two-thirds of which were devoted to an application of the laws of climate to the elucidation of disease. a ~ The work of Mr. Blodget contains a summary of the statistics of Meteorological Observations, furnishing the mean tem ture h f erat month at 250 stations scattered all over the United States, i ~ psi h ry Climatology of the United States and of the temperate poonin nad Mad beaines of ad wi Continent, embracing a full comparison of beragice the oF Aarienltare, Seer latitudes of Enrepe and Asia, ad especially pagar * 'Y vestigations and Engin istics of Season, ‘the extreme months and the year, including a Peconngtd - a hay een 1s ’ é s, com * ; te ‘ogieal observations in th aptgperot rge 8vo, with m: 1857. ‘Nd official publications. By Loriw Bionast. 686 pp. , delphia, J, B. Lippincsis & Co.; London, Triibner & Co. 236 Climatology of the United States. and at 150 stations for other portions of the northern hem — , sphere; also the average amount of rain for each month at 200 : _ stations in the United States, and more than 50 stations on the - Eastern continent. It contains an outline of the Physical Geog- ~ , raphy of the United States; it describes the general character of ’ the climate of the Eastern United States; as also that of the in- , terior and of the Pacific coast ; it institutes a comparison between the arid and interior areas of the two continents; between the Eastern United States and the West of Europe, and also a com- ison between the basin of the Gulf of Mexico and that of the | editerranean sea. It describes the distribution of heat in the | The author moreover assures us that “no part of this work ts the result of hasty or superficial discussion, and that all the steps of analytica The distribution of temperature in the United States 1s i Ai yi and the isothermal lines pay very little Tespect to parallels of latitude. Throughout the whole — east of the Mississippi, these irregularities are less remarka 7 and the position of the lines of equal temperature 1s substantially — t the same as has been long since assigned them; but between : rought to light by the publication of the Army Meteorol Register and the a ae of Mr. Blodget. ae ss Climatology of the United States. 237 ' _ 1. In latitude 33°, within 150 miles of the Pacific coast, is a district whose mean temperature during the three months of summer is 90°. This is shown by the observations at Fort Yuma. _ ‘ort Yuma is situated on the west bank of the Great Colorado, eighty miles from the Gulf of California in latitude 82° 43’, and longitude 114° 36’, The locality-is a rocky bluff, 75 feet above the river, and 120 feet above the sea, with sand hills and rocky bluffs bordering the wide valley, and connecting with an immense sand desert on the west. The following are the results of three years observations. Mean temperature of Mean of bila adl , | June. | July. | August. | Sept. rime og tempture, 1852 | 87°00 88°65| 88:10| 8355 87°92 108 1853 at 94°12] 92:16} 89:33] gi-g2 | 121 1854 8 40} 94:05} go 62! 85:48} goo2 | 113 Mean | 87:29 92:27; 90:29! 86 12| 8995 | From no other station on the American continent do we find observa- y ns indicating a mean temperature for summer so high by more than v0 degrees, On the Eastern continent a few instances of higher Saye ss and among these the following are the only instances Which furnish a mean summer temperature as high as 90°. Mean temperature of ls Summei|No. ‘of La . * aC ae RT SPY ay ah a . . se titude, Longitude. Pree | Toh: August | Sept. | months. (years . ° ° Yd : Bandichery, ov 1156 N. 79. 52E, 96 40 93°80 92°00 | 89°50, 9373 | 4 Cnet tt 33 21.) 44 22 | 92:08! 93-20! 94:10 87-35) 93-13 v i Egypt, ...| 26 ow.| 33 40 | 9050) 9444| gt-06| 8656) gr02 | 1 ae te ey. 28 15N.| 50 54 | 8978! 9374] 92°48) 8852) gor | 1 a oe 36 19 N.| 43 10 87°10 | 94:10} 90°64 | 80-98 gob 7 _At each of these stations the observations embrace only a : one year, and it is not improbable that the results is ¢. t place at present known on the Western continent, and ata by only a very small portion of the Eastern con- 4 ee @ mean temperature of the coast of California Poe ger, is about twenty degrees colder than at places 100 miles the f interior upon the same parallel. This will appear from lowing comparison, ca Ce, q 4 233 Climatology of the United States. On the Coast. |ginmer Interior. Summi| Differ ; Lat. | Long. | *™P- Lat. | Loog. | Oe j ° Fort Humboldt...) 40 46 |124 9| 57:4 || Fort Reading | 40 30 |122 5| 80-0 | 226 3 3 San Francisco 7 48 [122 26, 57-3 || Sacramento. | 38 34 [12 4o} 73-0 | 15:7, Monterey ....... 36 36 |121 52} 58-6 || Fort aha .| 37 0 [119 40} 85:5 | 26 San Diego....... 32 42111714! 712 |] Fort Yuma, . | 32 43 1114 36| govo | 18 8. Through about 20 degrees of latitude, the mean summer increases slightly in going from California to Oregon. This wi j appear from the following ehacergint Mean Latitude, Longitude. Summer. Years, . temp’re, Monterey ....... 36°36 12 15a 586 5 | San Francisco...) 37 48 | 122 26 | 59°3 4 Fort Humboldt, ..) 40 46 | 124 9 | 574 | 18 | Fort Orford ..... 42 44 | 124 29 | 59:9 | 2 ; Astoria 46-11 | 123 48} 616 | 1 | Sitka 57_ 3 | 135 18 | 542 | 7 . 4, The mean temperature of the California coast 1s s nearly con- stant for six months of the year—from May to October,—and at | some places the warmest month of the year is either Ma ay, a2 caked or October. This will appear from the following 0 ati | May, | Juse. | Joly. | Aug. | Sept. | Oct. | Years. 56 8 | 585 | 596 | 593 | 5641 5 San Francisco ...| 55:3 | 568 | 57-9 | 572 | 58:3 | 579] 4 Fort Humboldt...| 55-3 | 586 | 56-9 | 570 | 570 | 530 4 At Monterey in 1847, and also in 1850, September was the warmest month of.the year; and in 1349 Ma ay was the pies « : month. At San Francisco in 1858 and also in 1854, Octobe was the warmest month of the coast in fntitude 40°, during summer is 56° 5; which it ye ns observed is a little below the foniviebtitte of the coast stati given Ties The distribution of rain on the Pacific coast presents anomall™ quite as remarkable as the distribution of temperature. At gee places not a drop of rain falls for three months or more in oe - eon, and the total fall for the year does not exceed fr from “ths nches; while other places are literally delaged with rain. 7 ll appear from the following table, showing the fall of rain at sixteen stations near the Pacific coast. Climatology of the United States, 239 Lat. | ‘Long. jAlte! May.|June | July.|Aug. Sept Oct. Spr’g.|Sum’r|Aut'n,| Win’ Year. # o 7 ° 1) fe t Sag a oe 32 43|114 36; sein 0-00] 0-16) 1 3o58lo0 13 0'27| 1:30 O86 0°72} 3-15 4 ++/92 | 0°57) 0°15) 0-01/0°39 o'03}0°05) 2: ‘ ‘gol ro-43} 5 dest 87-4 °"|° leek cede 2 ced Sass at wa hino -../34 of117 201 1°14! 0°00 5g] 0-09] 1 67| 7°42{13- ort Tejon 5 31118 48 1447] 0'61| 0'00 0°00)0°00, 1'00/0'05} rh eae 2°GEL is. « scald : rey..../36 36/121 | ee: 3 33) 4°43) o- 165} 5:g1/12°20] 4 ort Miller. . 5 ot19 4o 402 1°36) o-o Ol 5)0°16} 9°57 2°80) 9 79/22°18 Francisco 7 48} 122 26, 4 0 07\|0 63 8-81 5)11°25}22 84 4 ait. .4.)38 3]122_ 8) 64,059, 0-01 69| 6-40 2-65) 7 56)16-60] 5 orgie . 1 OO OOM ses O or ooo; O 12°11/29°73] 1 eg ee eSti29 7/20 18) 150 0:86) 0:00} 0-00\0-00 0° 36)o 06) 10 0°00} 2°40} 6°79/19°85} 1 oF SaeR 46 t 9, Sor 96) 1°15] o-00/0-00 0°65}2°11/13-51| 2 4 87\ 15-0 an 2 2 44\1 2 bd o16)1 8 2°34 31 12 = I 2)2 * storia»... 46 11\123 48 50 5-95 288 0:00 1°15.1'876-7016-43) 4: P9741 86-35] raceme «147 1o}122 25| 300. 1°86] 1-97 4) 54 2-67)4-43)11-19, 3°85)15 83 92°62)53 4g) & SUA see es (57 3113518] 20 5 29| 3-79] 4:15\7 81 11°27 '8°3.[18-32,15-75)32" 10,23-77/89 94! 7 Thus it is seen that for a period of two years no rain fell at Del Chino during the months of Jane, J uly, September rh October, inc ho rain fell during July, August and September. Only ;}; inch date June the observations appear to have fa suspended. At Fort Tejon and Camp Far West no rain ell during the months of June, July and August. At eleven of the prece ing stations, we find the aggregate fall of rain for five quot the year was less than one inch, viz. at Del Chino 0:09; a Luis Rey 021; Sacramento 0-21; Fort Miller 0:23; Camp git West 0:42; Monterey 0:55; San Francisco 0°58; Benicia 0°61; an Diego 0°63; Fort Tejon 0-66; Fort Yuma 0°87. — . the large amount of rain at Sitka, Astoria, and Fort Orford All the facts with reference to the distribution of temperature ia 4 Fain are palpably exhibited to the eye In a series of charts, Jor which Mr, Blodget deserves great credit. We cannot how- Cution of the work is not equal to its pretensions. We have : g more or less serious, and Some of th i ion seem a ese we propose briefly to mention. - “Wperfluous act of feuly-finding to criticise the literary merits of 240 Climatology of the United States. es. On page 89 Mr. Blodget speaks of “the Rocky Mountain 98 a tnrowing out some exceptionable districts.” We su before heard of rating therthometers. On page 92 he says “the great plains of the Columbia River form a climatological basin.” It has puzzled us nota little to ascertain what is a climatological asin. We can only guess that it must be a lasin having a cl mate ; but this does not remove the difficulty, for we are no less perplexed to determine what is a basin not having a climate. On page 345 he says, “As a pendant to the general notices of the quantity of water falling in the winter months, some distinctions Should be made,” ete. Here again we were foreed to consult Webster and found eight significations of the word “pendant;” ut after a strenuous effort to determine in what sense Mr. abandoned the pt as fruitless. On page 348, he says, “the contact o heric volumes with those altitudes rid - eS ‘ . . . ; applied to the distribution of rain and heat. Occurs several times on a single page, and frequently in such a n the sense of Uniform, but we have searched our dictionaries in vain for any could form any distinct idea of what ‘that tone of proof’ aie we might assent to the possibility of the demonstration yao alluded 10, Wwe will refer to pages 346 and 347. Mr. Blodget frequently bat et al ree Climatology of the United States. 241 We will pass over a variety of passages in which there is apparently some typographical error, as on page 308 where the word “ Observatories’ should evidently read ‘Observations ;’ but there is a large number of passages of which we are unable to divine the meaning, and*where if there is any typographical error, 1t 1s not ‘obvious what the error is. : . On page 20 we read of ‘a record of meteorological observa- tions mainly for the interest its startling phenomena gave, isa Sort of interest it will never fail to have, and in which though having a philosophical air, there can be no progress as positive science,” On page 162, we read that “the localization of all the features of the climate is, from this point of comparison, the leading point of difference after that of the contrast in humidity.” On Page 855 we are told that “in a fluid mass which is aeriform € agitations are extreme in comparison with its other condi- Hons.” On page 875 we are told that “the difference between the distances originating in the tropics as hurricanes, and the general rains originating inland, is merely one of degree.” On Page 519 we are told that “the winter and summer would mark ‘se extremes of accumulation of heat first, and refrigeration Rext, were not each retarded by the operation of laws inherent fein or condition we designate as heat.” e would respe ali Y Suggest to the author that in case a second edition of the F sereggf should be called for, it would be desirable to add a W notes explanatory of the above passa = been Written without due consideration. Thus on page 502 he bo <92 he says “there are no sufficien — Similar latitudes in Europe,” referring to the a “® of frost in autumn. We 8 ®COND SERIES, VOL. XXV, NO, 74.—MARCH, 1858, 31 242 Climatolagy of the United States. care in the hope of finding some particulars of these observa tions, but in vain. We do not intend to express any doubt the accuracy of the above statement, but we think that a degree dryness so remarkable is worthy of a more extended. notice. On page 396 he says that “at Goldsborough, N. C., snow fell jor an hour or more on the evening of Sunday, Aug. 31st, 1856. Among the many remarkable facts stated in the Climatology, this is one of the most remarkable, and we think Mr. Bl should have been more careful to give his authority for the statement. On page 482 he says, “It is certain that no changes of subsidence, elevation, or continental outlines are now in pro gress.” We cannot help regarding this conclusion as the most important addition which has been made in modern times 1 the science of geology. Perhaps some would question it. On page 481, he says, ‘Laplace has shown that the mean tem- perature of the mass of the earth cannot have changed in any appreciable measure within the entire period embraced by astronom tal calculati a hundred thousand ora million of years; we can assigD it ne calculations have actually extended, we shall find them suffi. ciently long. Leverrier has computed that the eqoaniene , the earth’s orbit will continue to diminish during the oe ihe | that the eccentricity of Jupiter's orbit has a variation whos 6 Now Laplace has shown that the mean heat of the earth 6 not shown that it may not have changed sensibly in 10,000 y eal and geological phenomena unequivocally prove that the ag ure has changed sensibly within a period which is not long W"" 4 ] Climatology of the United States. 248 compared with the entire duration of the earth. Mr. Blodget'’s state- ment is here most seriously in error. On page 356, it is stated that Professor Dove has expressed s dissent from the generally received theory of the trade winds, which theory requires a belt of prevalent westerly winds in the middle latitudes of the temperate zones. This statement has excited our unqualified surprise. In a volume published by essor Dove in 1887 entitled “Meteorologische Untersuch- ungen” he has given a very full account of the trade winds and of the prevalent westerly winds of the temperate zones, and to that volume page v, Prof. Dove says, “In the year 1730, Had- ley established a theory of the trade winds founded upon the rotation of the earth and the unequal temperature of the differ- cep ntitudes, which even in the details of the phenomena has shown laws On being lifted up 'b the West Indies. the force of hurricanes in the 1 In one fasta nee a iece of lead 4000 pounds in weight was . “ses of lifting weights, and the convective electric one ie oA Obvious and adequate solution of the fucts.” If Mr sin Closed this sentence with the word perhaps, it i yanaaciedeyag 0 more appropriate than in some cases where so int ue +f + Pages 144, 308, etc. As he has not given the psa re *Pinion we shall not enter into any argument on the su 8 ue u entent ourselves with recording our firm conviction t . e - ity in any form does not afford an adequate solution of the facts. 244 ; Climatology of the United States. On 4 On page 402, he says that “tornadoes are often evolute, throw d” We the The lower + movement often lyi ying beneath that from the west, yet the stratum from 4 westerly point usua ; Y 9 at lly deposits the rain.” On page 359 he ~~ tes fal e ~ : { | wee Si tisaatate cloud, in all cases.” On pa mag ior 8, impossible aerigill cern fall from the bia : : Ny Goa ch a storm should receive its prineipal supply apne: ag other source than the mass of air moving rom prevalent westerly winds must the off: : 4 f ie : charged with vapor, and must exhibit a pac constant po Bake te ba Climatology of the United States. 245 a violent winter storm, is the ane half of the atmosphere, an the month of January on the parallel of 40° is about 82°. ase of temperature as we ascend is about one degree of Fahrenheit for 300 feet; or 53 degrees for an elevation of three *s, making the mean temperature of January in lat, 40° at the height of three miles —21°. In order however that we may hot be Suspected of exaggeration, we will assume the temperature to be that of zero. Now at zero of Fahrenheit, the elastic force of vapor of water is equal to ;85 inch of mercury, or less than one inch of water: that is, if air at the temperature of zero were were precipr- Now it not unfrequently happens in one of our winter storms, at over a circle of 500 ack in diameter, the average fall of for the Si : he . ‘4 simple reason that more water falls than was ever con- tained in that stratum; and moreover it is highly probable that this Upper stratum contains well nigh as much moisture at the Sonclusion of a great storm, as it did at the commencement. / ar. are no’ ‘Nery great clearness, ‘On page 807 he says, “the on 20n-periodic oscillations is exterior to the continent, an Bil wolf oeFessive movement, In no case is it apparent that t mr _ pitds, or an inflection of the polar atmosphere southward.” Mr. a # 246 Climatology of the United States. The different degree of severity in the winters of of the elements of a perturbation so induced, utterly culation ; since the primary and oye west elements of the change are beyond the possibility of being known.” This 18 ® owever mentions some conclusions which we - of great iniportance with reference to the phenomena of storms. On page 195 he says, “On the Pacific coast, rain always bene — at the northernmost stations than ’ the = adele j and on page 381, he says, “the general winter storms O° ” United States come from 4 point meth of west at the MississiPF river.” If Mr. Blodget means by these statements that in 0% ordinary winter storms on the Pacific coast and near the Missis- Sippi river on the parallel of 40 degrees, the point of grea ors barometric depression travels from northwest to southeath Te confess that this is something new to us, and invite him to a case and produce his testimony. , On page 387 Mr. Blodget states that about the Ist of Januny’ 1855, storms were experienced well nigh simultaneously a Ab Pacific coast, throughout the Mississippi Valley, along the Jantic coast, in England, on the Baltic Sea, and even to 7 ough Indiés and the Sandwich Islands; and seems to intimate t od 8 in asomewhat guarded manner, that all these constitu’. effect but one great storm. If Mr. Blodget _ —— nf ; storm, tracing its progress clearly from day to day ov distance hese and, he will pisoreniak vhs no one has bith erto succeeded in doing. os Climatology of the United States. 247 On page 182 Mr. Blodget says, “The great winter storms are special proofs of the uniformity of the field over which the mass of our atmosphere, and the elements of heat, moisture, and per- magnetism which move it, pass through their succession of changes.” If Mr. Blodget can show any necessary connexion ween our winter storms and the phenomena of terrestrial magnetism, he will make a positive addition to the science of Meteorology, and will have done something to show that storms are subject to laws. On page 380 he says, “In the colder months the change of condition, both as regards temperature and the quantity of queous vapor suspended, affects the whole mass in greater degree than when the rain is deposited in showers. For this Teason the range of the barometer is greater, and this range is a very direct measure of the relative condition, so that the readings may be taken as simple representatives of the quantity of heat and mosiure present compared with the average.” Mr. get here seems to advance the doctrine that the oscillations of the barom- tier which are so common in winter are adequately explained by changes in the temperature of the air and in the amount of queous vapor. If this is Mr. Blodget’s view, we differ from him totally, Changes in the temperature. of the air and in the amount of aqueous vapor, would doubtless cause changes in the height of the barometer; but these causes are 2 explain the actually observed oscillations of the barometer, In Some pers of England the observed range of the barometer is Nicahes the barometer has been observed to fall about two inches Perature or moisture will account for such extreme oscillations of the barometer. Moreover it is not uncommon in Europe for fall of the barometer to be accompanied by a fall of the ther- Mometer; so that the barometer may even fall in spite of an in- eased specific gravity of the air. ; toe wea sum up our judgment of the Climatol- gy in a single sentence. The field which Mr. Blodget has ag is a new one, and portions of it have hitherto been who ly unexplored—Mr. Blodget has enjoyed unusual advanta- = 248 On a new base containing Osmium, etc. — Art. XXIV.—Preliminary notice of a new base containing Osmi- um and the elements of Ammonia; by Wotcorr Gisss and F. A. GENTH. . AN investigation of the ammonia-cobalt bases, the results of which have appeared in this Journal, has led us to direct our at- tention to the production of similar compounds with other metals. We have in particular studied the action of the mixed oxyds of nitrogen, NOz, NOs, and NOs, upon ammoniacal solations, and have obtained results which will form the subject of a future communication. In the course of an extended study of the pla- tinum metals, for which we have enjoyed peculiar facilities, we have remarked that osmium forms with ammonia a well charac- e have however found that the substance in question 184 true chlorid which yields a beautiful salt with bichlorid of ple tinum, and which by double decomposition with salts of silver enables us to form a well defined sulphate, nitrate, oxalate, &c. The best method of forming these salts however is precisely that which Fremy employed for the chlorid, and consists in adding & solution of osmite of potash to a cold solution of an ammonia salt, when the new salt, is immediately formed and crystallizes from the solution. The salts of the new base have a very beautiful orange ¥ ellow color. They are nearly insoluble in cold water; hot water dis solves them more readily, but the solutions are easily decom " with evolution of osmic acid. We are not as yet prepare pronounce with certainty upon the constitution of these the analyses being difficult and tedious. We may however Te mark that Fremy’s analysis of the chlorid appears to be corre® and that we attribute to it the rational formula 2NH3.0s02, Cl, | according to which the base will be uniacid. The results of eo complete investigation will form the subject of another comm nication, Iridium and Rhodium form with ammonia and tho an hy of nitrogen bases analogous to Xanthocobalt, with study of which we are also occupied. _ * Annales de Chimie et de Physique, 3d series, vol. xii, p. 521. \ Review of the Results of the U. S. Coast Survey. 249 Arr. XXV.— Review of the Operations and Results of the United | States Coast Survey. [Concluded from p. 83.} Sal of these an immense amount of labor is bestowed, tae value of the work consisting chiefly in the accuracy of the etails. In fact the whole subject may be fairly considered as me once settled, and the triangulation and plane-table work 0g finished, the maps are drawn and the work of the engraver Ms e. e pr Mary charts serve nearly the same purpose as the sketches, but Tees. They embrace the shore line, the interior as far as the ta main road, and the hydrography for about fourteen miles’ theshore. The second class embraces what are termed off- mes atchorage, & ibiting the soundin th ge, &c., exhibiting the so ; in utline of the shore, the topography of th dhivts: presenting the complete results of the survey. SOND SERIES, VOL. XXV, NO. 74,—MARCH, 1858. 32 7 250 = Review of the Results of the U. S. Coast Survey. The finished charts require the work of first class engravers. These are so difficult to procure that in spite of the urgent neces- sity of the case and the unceasing efforts of the superintendent, there were but four first class engravers in the office at the be- ginning of the year 1856. Even these were only obtained by a special agent sent to Europe for the express purpose. With a wise liberality the charts are sold at the lowest possible rates, while the gratuitous distribution of the annual reports of the Coast Survey gives a still wider circulation to its graphical results, As the greater number of maps and charts are engraved upon copper, and as the softness of this metal renders it impossible to obtain more than a limited number of impressions from a single plate, a method of reproducing the plates themselves becomes indispensable. Such a method is found in the electrotype pro- ¢ess, which is now applied in the office of the survey upon 4 very large scale, and which has there received a development and a perfection which leaves little to be desired. We believe that we hazard little in asserting that as regards the thickness and quality of the metal precipitated, the size of the plates, the prevention of adhesion between the original plate and that de- osited, and the absolute command of the whole process, the electrotype operations of the Coast Survey are unequalled in any country. ‘ It has very recently been found possible to print from ~ electrotypes merely folded over the edges of a stout plate metal which serves as a support or back. In this manner plates of the first quality can be furnished for about one-third of the cost of those deposited of the usual thickness. Processes at also employed by which small plates can be pieced out in any direction and to any desirable size, no line of junction being visible between the original and the addition. _ The particular apparatus and arrangements It was just that an elaborate and complete survey of the Pe nomena of the Gulf Stream should be executed by a descend ies of Franklin, and it may well be conceived that the pepe of that magnificent current, alike interesting from the practi and the scientific point of view, have engaged a specia attention. In accordance with the direction of Congre map exhibiting the state of our knowledge of the ' ulf § ‘on should accompany the report of 1853, the work of investiga” was pushed forward during that year and results of gree? 1 share of ss that 4 Review of the Results of the U. 8. Coast Survey. 251 port. erally supposed, a single broad current of warm water flowing i @ northeasterly direction, but that it is in reality an agere- Oms, In this manner ten sections were surveyed, the temperatures being deter thermometers, and for greater depths with Saxton’s metallic ther- rents flowing from the Gulf of Mexico into the north Atlantic, & glance at the Coast Survey map shows us at once the existence of at least fo by eold bands, a fourth eold band separating the first or inner fined. The most cursory observation shows that these bands are et to the outline of the coast, and that as we recede from re shore upon any section they become broader, ess. i d masses. The Gulf - te. As might naturally be ex oot water tends to occupy t b orming a level plateau it follows the irregularities of the bottom W , . wha currents, and we find accordingly that in each section, as “S examined, the curves which represent the depths corres- dat We find a range of hi : dred range of hills, ‘les on the seaward side. \ é 252 Review of the Results of the U. S. Coast Survey. One hundred and thirty-six miles from the coast occurs another range of hills fifteen hundred feet high and twenty-eight mi base toward the shore, and six hundred feet high with a base of about seventeen miles on the outer side. Beyond this there isa more gradual rise. Now the forms of the curves of equal tem- perature resulting from multiplied observations at different depths along the section correspond exactly to the outline of the bottom, Perhaps the most remarkable peculiarity of the Gulf Stream is what has been appropriately termed the “cold wall,” a mass of cold water lying between the warm water and the shore, and sharply defining the inner boundary of the great current. the change from the warm water of the stream to the cold body of water inside of it toward the shore, is particularly sudden and well marked in the northern sections, but may also be easily distinguished south of Cape Hatteras. In the cold water m- shore from the Gulf Stream a current setting southward has been observed, as also in the cold band outside the axes. Itis fath- oms beneath the surface, there is, as a general rule, an increase of The underlying polar currents are as distinctly marked in ” southern as in the northern latitudes. Thus in latitude 87° 2 this place that the most recent observations fully con re theory of Franklin that the Gulf Stream makes a complete X- cuit in the Atlantic, returning again to its jah ie pie? e coasts © Treland and Norway, and is thence reflected toward the Ane ocean. This branch appears to offer the most feasible passag® Lien Bia Soi a igs Calis WM ee les ee . he favorite Review of the Results of the U.S. Coast Survey. 258 to the open polar sea, to the discovery of which so much atten- tion has been recently directed, and which appears to be in fact only a forgotten reality. ave adverted to the observations of latitude, azimuth and longitude as requisite to determine the position on the earth’s surface of the stations, the relative situation of which as to dis- tance and direction is ascertained by triangulation. They serve thus incidentally to determine the figure of that portion of the over which the work extends. While in other countries extensive operations have been executed for the special purpose of measuring arcs of meridians and parallels, the Coast Survey furnishes those important additions to one of the highest depart- the results already obtained. They exhibit a general conformity to be not only such as would result from want of uniformity in the geological structure in the immediate vicinity of stations, but to extend like undulations over considerable regions h e Vertical transit, the zenith telescope (or equal altitude instru- lat — Sector of the British Ordnance Survey, the only other of Tivalled by those of the zenith telescope, the application of which to Webereasione of latitude by equal elias altitudes of stars 46 the north and south of the zenith is of American origin and has en greatly perfected in the Coast Survey. Combining Portability and facility of use, with great aceuracy, it has become av instrument, and no observer, who has ever used it, 8 willing to return to others , . “n order to bring out the various elements of error, observa- instruments, with the same instrument by different observers, Y the same observer with two different instruments of the ~ 254 Review of the Results of the U. S. Coast Survey. same class. By a consistent application of the method of least purpose and may affix to the observations a statement of facts affecting their quality, but here the influence of his judgment or and there are probably classes of errors which no num ations or variety of methods can entirely eliminate ; always be necessary to discriminate, and to apply smal] corree tions to the results in order to make them fulfil the theore relations existing between them. When this is done acco 2 to fixed mathematical rules all uncertainty vanishes, and tru od must be the gainer, while on the other hand when it 1s allow t to be done according to personal judgment or bias, 3 vary with different computers, and the door is opened to 1 cation and fraud. ’ Se oe ES Saeed * Review of the Results of the U. S. Coast Survey. 255 The Coast Survey is at present under the general control of the Treasury Department, which appoints its officers and regu- lates their compensation. The Department furthermore author- wes all expenditures, approves tlie plans and estimates of the superintendent, and makes general regulations for the work un- der the law. The immediate agent of the Treasury Department is the superintendent, who arranges the plan of conducting the work, attends to its business details, issues instructions for its €xecution, and is responsible for the scientific accuracy of the ol i Work done during each year. The annual ‘reports are amply illustrated by maps and charts, and are extensively and gratuit- ously distributed. The distribution is made by the assistant in charge of the office who has all the reports in his possession and Who distributes them according to a prepared list. ae Tn addition to the laborious duties of the general direction of the Survey, and inspection of the parties, the Superintendent himself personally assists in the execution of the work, taking the field and making observations as required. The different as Occasion may require, the organization of ‘the survey three classes of persons are "eognized by law. ‘These are civilians, officers of the army, Department, and they are promoted or lowered according = their ‘Merit as measured by the results of their work. As they are : fhe Save only in exceptional cases, subject to frequent changes, Mig form a constantly efficient Ducleus js obviously indispensable as the whole work might Stherwise be disorganized by calls for the professional services Of officers of the fest and fei . Thus on ee breaking out of the Mexican war all the officers of the line of the army and par’ fn of the staff, serving on the Coast Survey, were detached active military service. ; Z The Officers of the army and navy are detailed by the heads of their res ective departments on the application of the super- ugh t Mtendent thro gh he T Department. They receive no. “xtta emolument ra paged ie and are of course liable - * a veys and obse Be oe tfinat rvations of various ki hocagi down i ation. The methods of edenaarsiaev’ om id ing the work are ai he office ; work i : consists of computing, drawing, engraving; of the as nd distr roperty are lio gives utati putations of the Coast Survey is well exhibited om ma s well exhibited in the system checks emplo mpule ployed. The field parties in the first place co en . . jnde- Review of the Resuits of the U. 8. Coast Survey. 257 tween them. The engraving of the maps and charts is under the charge of an assistant who verifies all engraved maps; from him they pass to the assistant in charge of the office who finally teporis them to the superintendent, The prices of the maps and charts are fixed by the Treasury Department upon the general principle that the sale should pay for the cost 6f paper and printing. The small maps are sold for bursements and transmits it to the general disbursing agent who ——-SUpplieg funds, audits accounts, and is responsible to the Treas- nt. le Best € the very numerous duties of supervision and of per- — -80nal €xertion which are discharged by the superintendent, there 258 _R. P. Stevens on new Carboniferous Fossils. work demands, and which it has called forth. . The Coast Survey is a national work of which we may well It is esti- mated that if the annual appropriations are continued upon the .. scale, the survey can be completed in about twelve years. oe anna VI.—Description of New Carboniferous Fossils from the Art. XXVI. » Appalachian, IUinois and Michigan Coal-fields; by R. P. STEVEN BELLEROPHON.—B. globosa, n. s. Shell globose, Lei | um Ears extended and artially enrolled around a small th, Outer lip moderately inflated, Sinus wide. Pillar lip or scarcely projecting into the mouth of the shell. Surface, hil iting ndges, extending from one umbilicus to the other, ph curved backwards on the dorsum. No carina. Width 0 an inch, height 0°6 of an inch. pen _ Geological position. In the upper shales of the coal meas rn Associated with B. urii, B. inatus, Myalina su Pleurotomaria virgillati, and other carboniferous fossils. Localit: < e, Til. “R. P, Stevens on new Carboniferous Fossils. 259 Actis (Loven).—1. A. minuta, n.s. Shell turreted, pone ted, slender. Whorls 10, rounded, gradually diminishing to the apex and ornamented (on the body whorl) with 12 very minute - longitudinal lines, which are stronger on the lower half of each whorl. Apex polished. Length 0-2 of an inch, width (body _ Whorl) 0:05 of an inch + é°D an inch Position and locality: roof of the Danville, Ill. coal seam, which is the third in the ascending series. - A. robusia, n.s. Shell turreted, tapering. Whorls 7, body whorl more robust than the others, one-third as wide as the total length of the shell. Ornamented with longitudinal lines, which are obsolete on the upper side of the apicial whorls. Pillar lip curving outwards to meet the labrum, which is thin and regular and united to the body whorl at right angles. Dimensions: length 0°3 of an inch, width of body whorl nearly 015 of an inch. ; Position and locality as the preceding. CHEMNTTz1A (D’Orbigny).—C. attenuata, n.s, Shell turreted, elongated, slender. Whorls 12, flattened, regularly diminishing until lost in a smooth, minute apex. Whorls exhibiting numer- ous Scooped indentations, which are continued to the upper edge of each volution, giving at the suture a nodulated appearance. mensions: length 0:8 of an inch: body whorl, width 0-1 of Position and locality as the preceding. \ LOXoNEMA (Phillips) —1. Z. Newberryii, n.s. Shell rob Position and locality as the preceding. - carinata, n.s. Shell robust, elongated, spire more rap- idly tapering than in the preceding species. Whorls 7, slightly pounded, and at their suture bearing a sharp carina extending fom the upper angle of the mouth to the extremity of the ire. Mouth twice as long as wide. Columella with a distinct fol : 4 Dimensions: length 1 inch, width of body whorl 0°4 of an inch. sition and locality as the preceding. ==, * £. Danvillensis, “é s. een 4 rapidly diminishing, gen- i Tounded, ornamented with numerous oblique hair-like Tew Pj), Whorl inflated equal to the spire. Apex minute po ilar lip with a slight fold. Labrum thin and effuse. * ® ail ie. 260 R. P. Stevens on new Carboniferous Fossils. Dimensions: length 0°45 of an inch, width of body whorl 020 of an inch, width of mouth 0°10 of an inch. Position and locality as above. his shell is the shortest of the family which has come under my observation, and for some time it was classed under the Mae- rocheilus: but after examination of numerous specimens it 1s placed among the Loxonema. 4. L. polita, n. 8, Shell slender, elongated. Whorls 6? ob- lique, slightly rounded, under the glass exhibiting numerous filiform strix, which converge at the sutures. Apex? (wanting in the specimen). Labium with a slight fold and slightly re- flected. Labrum thin and not effuse. Mouth one-half the width of the body whorl. Dimensions: length 0°5? of an inch, width of body whorl 02 of an inch, width of mouth 0-2 of an inch. Position and locality: roof of Danville coal. 5. L. nodosa, n.s. Shell robust, elongated. Whorls numer ous, flattened, and exhibiting rudimentary nodes. Mouth and body whorl equal. Pillar lip smooth. | : Dimensions: length 1-00? inch, width of body whorl 0°40 © an inch Position: in the unproductive shales between the upper and lower coal series of the Appalachian coal measures. gil Locality: Summit, Columbiana Co., Ohio. > 6. L. tenui-carinaia. Shell slender, elongated. . Whorls 6 very slightly rounded, a hair-like carina at the sutures. Apex (wanting). Body whorl not inflated. Pillar lip smooth. 0 Dimensions: length 0°50? of an inch, width of body whorl of an inch, Position and locality as above . L. minuta, n. s. Shell small, slender, Whorls 6, smooth, gently rounded, body whorl more than one-half the total length of the shell, apex minute, suture well defined, columella pen and gently curving outwards to meet the labrum. Mouth 0B half the length of the body whorl. 10°05 ensions: length 0-2 of an inch; width of body whor of aninch, Position and locality: in the roof of Danville coal and uppet shales of Sangamon Co., : : ys curve first downwards and then upwards, crossing on Mouth | ‘i i bs uN F . P. Stevens on new Carboniferous Fossils. 261 Dimensions: height 0:7 of an inch, width of body whorl 0°5 ofan inch. ae _, Geological position: in a thin band of argillaceous limestone - twenty feet below the Danville coal seam. Locality: Danville, Ill. , A. ovalis, n.s. Shell galeated. Volutions two and one- half, contiguous, the last whorl great] y inflated. Spire delicate, depressed. Surface smooth, mouth oval. Height 0°10 of an inch, width of body whorl 15 of an inch, n Archimedes beds of mountain limestone. Il. Union Co., I bt and umbilicus in the specimen covered with the matrix. La- brum t ick. The surface is of cinnamon color and polished, men, what portion is left is rugose. Right valve: beak acute, ‘pressed to the hinge-line, polished. ‘Disk rounded, surface Geo ogical position : in the apper shales of the coal measures, ll. 1 Lena (Schumacker).—1. ZL. bellistriata, n.s. Shell twice as ; id : Tor to the middle of the shell, sharp incurved, i 4 towards the posterior extremity. Margins smooth. Hinge- he curved, armed with twenty-five teeth, about five of them Baye Ustered under the beak, and weaker spas renee — utch 9 . Surface marked by numer- eon long, as and narrow. a disk but fading before ‘rior extremity broadly rounded. Posterior produced, at- ‘ and acutely roun : : ' ® s., 262 R. P. Stevens on new Carboniferous Fossils. " Length 0°7 of an inch, height 0-4 of an inch. Geological positions: in the roof of the Danville coal, and unproductive shales; Summit, Columbiana Co., Ohio. 2. L. dens-mamillata, n. s. Cast twice as long as wide. Beak nearly equal to the anterior of the shell, obtuse, does not touch the hinge-line, surrounded at its base with 7 distinct nodes with corresponding pits—impressions of the pedal muscles. Hinge ornamented with 25 mammillary teeth, slightly elevated and surrounded by a faint ring. Teeth under the beak are feeble, all are posterior. Anterior extremity slightly projecting beyond the beak and truncated. Posterior slightly produced, thin and rounded. Shell inflated at the umbones. Length 0°9 of an inch, height 0°5 of an inch. Locality: Battle Creek, Mich. Geological position: in ochreous shales belonging to the coal measures of Michigan, as is supposed, although found farther west than these are generally thought to extend. It is associates with an Orthoceras, Nautilus and Bellerophon Urii, which is evidently carboniferous, and the following fossils. 8. LD. nue Shell inflated at the umbones, nearly twice as long as wide. Beak at the anterior third appressed to the et ae Anterior and posterior extremities nearly e ually rounded. Posterior slightly produced and attenuated. Hinge line curved, with 25 teeth posterior and 5 anterior. Under the beak the teeth are feeble and more robust proceeding backyards, the last 10 are large, sharp, and set obliquely to the hinge margi. Length 1:4 inch, height 0°6 of an inch. Battle Creek, Mich. 4. L. pandorcformis, n. s. Shell (cast) flat but moderately 10- flated at the umbones. Beaks near the middle of the shell, wide at the umbones. Anterior extremity broadly rounded. Poste rior much produced, attenuated and rostrated. In the oI a strong ridge is seen, descending from the beak and curving WW" the hinge-line, reaches the posterior extremity. Another strong in the rostrated extremity, leaving a wide deep fo them. Shell exhibits on the surface strong longitu growth, arranged in triple series. Cast resembles t and hence the specific name. Teeth scarcely visible, 10 anterior, 20 posterior, long and slender. Battle Creek, Michigan. ms: Nucuta (Lamarck).—N. Houghtoni, n. s. Shell equiva - longer than wide. Beaks obtuse, not incurved. Anterior a tremity truncate. Posterior acute. Surface smooth. The pak shows pedal muscular impressions at the base of the beak. sini r adductor muscular impression strong, elevated, semicHt™ he Pandora, probably 4 . “ . +" eatewes Wee are ae ength 0-7 of an inch; height 0-4 of an inch. Battle Creek, Mich. CHONETES (Fischer).—C. Michiganensis, n.s. Shell small, in- equivalve. Cardinal area formed at the equal expense of both valves, Receiving valve with the disk highly and regular] arched. Hinge-line straight, not equal to the width of the shell. liquely—the outer stands at right angles to the margin. The outer spine is only to be seen in mature specimens—spines more in. The punctate strie are more distinct than on ae T'wo conspicuous lateral teeth on each aa ) the deltidium project inwards and downwards. One arises from : Pa larly impressed upon the margin. Entering valve shghtly — COheaye, shell, 0-05 of an Inch, which space is marked by 80-90 fine, regular striz. . ey th "100 to be seen only on the interior of the entering valve. ceed strengthened by an elevated carina of a horse-shoe shape and extending in front two-thirds of the length of the valve. The dorsum is elevated, somewhat conical, a ridge extending from the anterior edge to the middle and ending in an acute apex. From the apex the, valve slopes regularly to the margin. The last seven valves have on either side of the ridge and projecting anteriorly from the lateral areas an accessory plate, which when In the roof of the Danville coal. ; “2 2. CO. parvus, n.s. Anterior valve semicircular conical. A ,pointing posteriorly, sloping regularly to the margin. Made valves acutely subrhomboidal, scooped in front, sharp bas dorsum elevated, terminating posteriorly in an acute apex. terior valve semicircular behind, abrupt in front, rising into an acute ridge, extending to the middle of the valve, terminating an acute apex, from which the valve slopes to the margin, bis is thickened and turned up. Accessory plates more broadly rounded than in the preceding species. Surface under. the glass, Is minutely granulated. ength: plates, 0-1 of an inch: shell 1-2 inches. Archimides limestone, Bergen Hill, Ind. Appendix. ig Avievta (Klein). —1, A. orbiculus, ns, Shell cireular, fat tened, thin, attenuated at the margins. Hinge-line straig bal half the width of the shell. Auricles small, corrugated, be small, scarcely prominent, surface smooth. a aa : height 0°75 of an inch. Width, ditto. tower coal series of the Appalachian system, at Summit, Slana Co., Ohio. In the upper black shales at Springfiel # : rv ierease in the length of the compressed co >. Chemistry and Physics. 265 2. A. triplistriata, n.s. Shell small, inequilateral, hinge-line straight, and sloping posteriorly. Anterior’auricle the argest, bordered by an elevated ridge, umbones moderate, beaks hidden. Anterior portion of the surface ornamented with 80 crenulated ® for the most part arranged in triple series. The posterior Portion has 12 crenulated striz, which are stronger than those of the anterior portion. mensions: height 0:5 of an inch; width, ditto. ‘ Position and locality: in calcareous shales at Summit Station, Columbiana Co., Ohio. Posipoxomya (Bronn).—P. striata, n.s. Shell small, subdis- coidal, Hinge-line straight, nearly equal to the width of the GERVILLA (Defrance).—G. Auricula, n.s. Shell elongated, _ inflated, almost cylindrical, apex appressed to the hinge-line, near the anterior extremity which is rounded and earless. Posterior -xitemity prolonged, curved, acute; posterior ear winged, reach- ing one half the width of the shell; dingo line straight. Surface smooth, save at the anterior extremity, where a few incremen lines are visible, pemensions : length, 0°75 of an inch; height 0:20; length of nge-line with ear, 0-45 of an inch. . sition and locality: in the roof of Danville coal, Danville, Til. orth Egremont, Mass., Dec. 10, 1857. . SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. I. CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS. 2 into a trough full of water, so that the interfering rays traversed th of th 266 Scientific Intelligence. “ pressibility of water from the optical experiments, we find the coefficient to be 0°0000500 for common distilled water and 0°0000511 for water deprived of air. According to the direct measures of Grassi this coefli- of 8 fringes between dry and saturated air. More than fifty measurements made under very different circumstances of temperature, pressure, and of d vapor would only affect the seventh decimal of the nunber 1°000292 ... found for that index, and that consequently in astronomical refractions It f useless to trouble oneself about the vapor of water.— Comptes Rendus, xlv, 892, On the density of the vapors of certain bodies—DeviLte and Troost * ; ra) th densi- containing the substance into the vapor of some other substance W boils at a high temperature without decomposition. In this manner no thermometer is necessary. The authors employ for this purpose su'P be t 440° U,, ord latter at 350°, ‘The apparatus used consists of a mereury ra the ial o hold the he bottle. upper part of the bottle to earry off the vapor of the mereury % phur for condensation; one kilogram of sulphur and one or two Mie eae , = | Chemistry and Physics. 267 grams ! ‘Mercury are usually employed. In this manner the following lensities were determined i Sesquichlorid of aluminum in the va mercury 9°35; in the vapor of sulphur 9°34: the calculated density (Ale i found to een the atomic weigh bodies belonging to the ame natural Troup. The author gives the following as the results of his numerical terminations : Silver, 108 Fluorine, 19 Tungsten, 92 Chlorine, 35+5 Selenium, 40 Manganese, 26 Bromine, 80 Tin, 59 oron, 11 Iodine, 127 Molybdenum, 48 Silicon, 21. Sulphur, 16 ~ equivalent of silver was calculated from Marignac’s analyses by tak- an mtrogen = 14 and oxygen== 8. To determine the exact number for = orme the author heated weighed quantities of silver in a current of chlorine gas, maintaining the temperature until the resulting chlorid was Md. These numbers agree with those found by Mangnae. ui lent of fluorine was determined by the analysis of a very pure native ‘Wor spar as well as by that of crystallized fiuorids of sodium and potas- Sm. The number 16 for sulphur was verified by burning a know p by the ‘mploy a purer selen nd hive method of Berzelius, that is to say, by heating the bichlorid with nitric a : Seas seca ited in a mat- Units from that of d Struve who found 45°92, and from that of Berlin whe agin Pega g.] The equivalent of tungsten was 268 Scientific Intelligence. determined in a similar manner. [The author’s result in this case with those of Schneider and Marchand.] In the case of manganese the number 26 was found by igniting an artificial binoxyd in a current of hydrogen so as to reduce it to protoxyd. umas’ equivalent for man- anese differs so greatly from that of Berzelius, 27°6, as to make further researches desirable——w.¢.| The number 11 for boron is calculated d asily shown by agitating the chlorid with water when carbonic acid gas is disengaged. The author is still engaged with the subject of a revision of the equv- alents and the publication of his results—which cannot be looked for till the close of the present year (1858)—will be awaited by chemists with special interest. In order to exhibit the numerical relations between the equivalents of the different elements the author, after referring to the previous investiga- tions of Prof. Cooke, takes up in the first place the examination of cer- tain groups and series presented by organic chemistry. If we consider the homologous series C2Hs, CaHs, CeH7, &c., we remark at once that there is a common point of departure for and a common difference be- tween the equivalents of the successive terms. The formula a-+-nd rep- resents the generation of all these radicals, a being the equivalent of the first, and d the difference between the first and second term. The author remarks that if we did not know the law of progression we might easily be led to think that the ratio between the numbers 141 and 281, 127 and 253, 113 and 225, is the simple ratio of 1:2, especially as chemis- of the elements rof, Cooke supposed the organic radicals a not always produced by addition but sometimes by substitution as we se? in und ammoniums. We may have for instance the following ammoniums a a+td a+2d a+3d a+-4d a atdtd’ at2d4d’ a+3d+a' a-+-2d’ atd42d' a+2d+2d a+3d’ a+d+3d atd+d’+d"+d’", where a represents ammonia NH4, and d, d’, &c. represent the equivalent of hydrocarbons of the series CnHn. : here In the next place there are certain radicals in organic chemistry W gk the fundamental molecule itself changes as well as the bodies added t0 or substituted in it. Thus tin and ethyl form six molecular groupe sessing all the properties of organic radicals, If we represent et y and ethy) by d’ we have for the six species of stannethyl the formulas : a ; d’ 2a , 4a-+d it 4a+3d' 4 ‘ ‘* Chemistry and Physics. 269 (na+-nd") being the general formula. With these premises the author presets ) compare the equivalents of the elements. The elements F, |, Br, I, do not form a single progression, The relation between their equivalents is however exhibited by the scheme a, ad, a+2d+d’, 2a-++-2d-+-2d’, or in numbers, Fluorine, ~ - - 19 Chlorine, - - - = 19-++-16°5=35°5 Bromine, - . . 19+33-+28=80 Iodine, - - - - 38-+33-+56=127. Nitrogen, phosphorus, arsenic, antimony and bismuth form another natu- ral group, and for their equivalents we have the scheme, a, ad, a+d +0’, a+d+2d’, and a--d--4d’, or in numbers, itrogen, - _ Phosphorus, - - - 144+17=31 Arsenic, - - - 14--17+44=75 Antimony, - . - 14417-488=119 Bismuth, - = = 14-+4-17-+-176=207. The author gives similar series for carbon, boron, silicon, and zirconium, 48 well as for tin, titanium and tantalum, which we omit. sulphur, selenium, and tellurium we have either of the series a, 2a, 5a, ord, a++-d, a+4d,a+t-7d. Analogy points out the latter as prefera- ble, and we have in numbers, Oxygen - - - 8 Sulphur, «ig: bainhd: * port #o BERT Selenium, = - - - 8-++32—=40 Tellurium, - = + 8+4+56=64, f common difference of 8 also connects Mg, Ca, Si, Ba, Pb; thus we ve Magnesium, - -— - 2 ium, - - - . oi peo Strontium, = - - - 124+32= arium, - - - 12+56=68 24-+-80= 104. a, Lead, 2, 7 : -“Githinm, sodium and potassium belong to a similar series with a common difference of 16. Lithium, re es eee | Sodium, - ee oe - 7+16=23 Potastinmy, <0 cet a AAS cs wilybdenum, tungsten, chromium, and vanadium form a similar series ich the common difference is 22, the prog ng Dr. Prout ho author considers his results as favorable to the idea of Dr. Prout, determines the chemical character of all the other terms. eh, — he °ns, the author remarks, will have more weight when he agin Study of a natural family of which hydrogen is the first. term, a ~ 270 Scientific Intelligence. é a exhibits the connection between the physical properties of the elements and the position which each occupies in the series of which it forms a member.— Comptes Rendus, x|v, 709, Nov., 1857. A new compounds of silicon—Burr and Wouter have continued their investigation of the compounds of silicon with chlorine, &e., am ave arrived at many interesting results. When crystalline silicon 1s heated below redness in a current of chlorhydrie acid, a volatile liquid is formed which appears to be a mixture of various compounds. On distil- lation this liquid usually begins to boil at 28° or 30° C.; the temperature rises, however, rapidly to 40°-43°, when the greater portion of the liquid The boiling point finally rises to over 60°, and in one case even to 92°. é gies morphous drated sesquioxyd Siz03s-+-2HO is a snow Mey x ‘Akalies «At acid a Which when mixed with air exploded on gentle heating. Chemists will wait the final results of this important investigation with especial interest. —Ann. der Chemie und Pharmacie, civ, 94, 5. New Researches on Boron.—Wéu.er and Devitte have communi- th 60 grams of Sodium and project the mixture into.a red-hot cast-iron crucible, Th i "on rod, and the fused mass poured into water acidulated with chlorhy- dric acid and contained in a deep vessel. On filtering, the boron remains on the filter and is to be washed first with acidulated and then with pure Water. The boron may now be dried upon a brick at ordinary tempera- ture, as it might otherwise take fire and burn rapidly. Amorphous boron May be transformed into crystalline boron by lining a crucible with it and putting in a piece of aluminum. Ata high temperature the alumi- um becomes charged with boron from which it is easily separated by disengages torrents of ammonia. Boron heated in a current of nitro- 80 forms the same white infusible compound, and a similar result is ob- > When a mixture of charcoal and boric acid is heated in a current i nitrogen or of ammonia. From all this it appears that it is impossible tlt at boron in ordinary crucibles or furnaces without the formation of a % uret. The only mode of overcoming the difficulty consists in sur- ‘nding the crucible containing the boron with a mixture of rutile and 4, In which ease the nitrogen is absorbed by the free titamum, a red heat amorphous boron decomposes the vapor of water, boric nd hydrogen being formed. Sulphid of hydrogen is also decom- Y boron with disengagement of hydrogen and formation of a sul- i com lignign’ the , bro gr pee Pa hea the chlorid boiling at 17° C,, and the bromid at 90 ‘ Por-densities correspond to 4 volumes. There is also an oxychlorid, an *xybromid, an oxyiodid and an oxyfluorid, which however are not de- ibed in the notice before us. 272 Scientific Intelligence. ae Amorphous boron reduces the chlorids of mercury, lead, and silver, at a high temperature with production of chlorid of boron. Galena is re- duced in a similar manner, metallic lead being set free and a sulphid of boron formed. In conclusion the authors direct attention to the fact that nitrogen, hitherto considered a passive and inert substance, may under cer- tain circumstances become an active agent. They announce the discovery of a simple mode of preparing the nitruret of silicon which will form the subject of another memoir.— Comptes Rendus, xlv, 888. W. G. 6. On the Magnetic Induction of Crystals ; by Professor Juius Piicxer of Bonn, For. Memb. R. S., Hon. M.R.L, &e. (Proc. Roy. Soe. ° fa) a2 & has 2) 3 @® =) ° S ° “ Qu = Ss §Q eS] Ss ta . aud a j=] tie} ° = o et = ~ to] oO * ~~ = oO & o ft fod -- oS oe the new definition, directions whic in common with the an" crystallographic axis of uniaxal crystals, the property that if the eg “ be suspended so that either of t “ax vertical, and t i which or author had been led by considerations of a dif ne : verification had the most complete success. But ‘lore rather to it, it was found necessary to aa Poisson's theory itself (o* n verification of the hypothetical conclusions and their page Y nd. fe Chemistry and Physics. 273 the results following from it), with respect to an ellipsoid of finite dimen- sions influence by an infinitely distant pole. By means of a beautiful Periment, by observations made on two carefully worked ellipsoids. of soft ton, executed by M. Fessel of Cologne. cnitacterized by the property that if a crystal be suspended along any of them, the two others set, one axially, and the other equatorially. there are two optic axes, situated in the plane of the axes of greatest and least elasticity, so there are two magnetic axes, characterized by the Property already mentioned. “Yanid of iron, sulphate of zine, and formiate of copper. The first is Patamagnetic, the second diamagnetic, and in both cases the principal - 8Xes of Magnetic induction are determined by the planes of crystalline and short cylinders or circular plates, cut in various selected directions fom the crystals, is described in detail. The use of both cylinders and ;acular plates, cut with their axes in the same direction, obviated any ob- San ae might be raised attributing the setting to the external form, ? ar as fa) Would Set with their axes in rectangular directions. : ommiate of copper differs from the former erystals in having but one ra. axis of magnetic induction determined by the crystalline form. “tistence of three principal magnetic axes, having the property already 2 : determined, theip 2UClusion, the author gives a list of erystals, ¢ ‘ie “oned, was demonstrated experimentally, and the directions of those ide of the magnetic inductions in the direction of their principal axes. orphous substances, 274 Scientific Intelligence. * #. : ok Il. GEOLOGY, Ls 1. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, No. 52.—The most important memoir in this number is one r. Faleoner on the Species ; dance” in France, Germany, Switzerland), 7. pyrenaicus (Earope) ralophodon longirostris (Europe), Tet. lutidens (Southern India), Zét. d Vv i) - yi bombifrons (India and Sewalik Hills), S.? Ganesa (ibid), S. insignis (ibid); 4 - In the Pho- regarded as probably Postpliocene, . The British species of Mastodon is the Tetralophodon Arvernensis. a i occurs in what is called the Older Pliocene “Red Crag,” at Fels oe a ay ier e period upwards (which have led to the suspicion of an ie . * j ed within the Pliocene period. “The Red Crag sea appears to have vee 4 previously established and populated Pliocene land, and to baat | the bones referable to various epochs in the same sea bottom. ab ae M4 I Of iron (limonite) occurs in the Potsdam sandstone. * Montreg) 3 by J. W. Dawson, LL.D., Principal of MeGill Coll ae labe P Wenoo y : he reviews the facts before Be Mtn ang Lot Montresl. In he ee ee eid the localities, Geology. ‘ 275 rt cad by Dr. Falconer is preceded by the able anniversary addr esident Colonel J. E. Portlo species from the Coal Measures at Medlock Park Bridge, named Pygo- cephalus Cooperi, which he regards as related to the Squillidee. = 100. The same kind of ore oceurs also at Hartford, Washington Co., fourteen miles southeast of Iron Ridge, where the bed is six to seven feet thick; and in the town of Depere, eighty miles north-northeast of Iron aos six and a half feet thick. , ore is conformable to the lamination of the schists and is sometimes banded with quartz; the beds are six to forty feet wide, occurring in Several alternations, and are inexhaustible. They are related in charaeter f the Lake Superior region described by Foster and Whitney, and also to those of Northern New York ; : xd. Specular and titaniferous ores occur in Baraboo valley in quartzite Which is the hardened Potsdam sandstone. It is laminated, slightly aboaae and has a high lustre; it is slightly magnetic. The ore is sot Undant, 4th. At ronton, in the town of Marston, Sauk County, hydrated oxyd The bed averages five feet in thickness, : piel. On the Newer Pliocene and Post-pliocene deposits of the peor. e na- dian Naturalist and Geologist, ii, 401.)—Mr. Dawson has added much by 'S labors to our knowledge of the Post-pliocene deposits of the St. Law- Wn and gives descriptions of some new ; apacther with prdtesiy Lptioe on the region. We cite some of the Ments, ‘ _ The mountai i real has strongly marked sea-margins at heights of ereeerace eet feet shore hike St. Peter on the St. hi rence (or 450, 420, 366, and 200 above the river at Montreal). The “st contains sea shells of existing species. : Res ee és 2 276 * Scientific Intelligence. oie One hundred feet below the lowest spreads the plain of Lower Canada, containing abundant marine shells, all of them, with one or two excep- tions if any, recent. It consists (1.) of a sand deposit, sometimes gravelly beneath, and containing marine shells in its lower part; (2.) an unctuous often scratched and polished. The trap boulders derived from the Montreal mountain, as Dr. Bigsby early pointed out, were drifted southwest, and have been traced 270 miles ) to the south shore of Lake Ontario. But the terraces are most distinet on the northeast side. Under the boulder clay the surfaces are striated, | and northeast of Montreal mountain, the directions observed were S. 70° W., to 8, 50° W. . ; | The deposits of the plain appear to be in part at least of littoral or shallow water origin.. This is indicated for the upper layer, near the Tan- neries, by the great numbers of Sazicava rugosa. But the clay below abounds in Nucula (Leda) Portlandica, which probably lived in muddy bottoms 10 to 15 fathoms in depth, The same arrangement Is 0 served at other localities. Mr. Dawson names the upper layer the Saicava sand, the lower the Leda clay. | From the Leda clay near St. Denis, at the cutting of the Montreal and | ir W. gan has obtained a number of caudal ver- tebree of a Cetacean, part of the pelvis of a seal, and fragments of woo | of the cedar (Thuja occidentalis). At one locality, the: following spect’ (on Stones and valves of Mya truncata), Watica clausa, Buccinum ciliatum,* B.undatum, Admete viridula,* Acmaea caca,* Nucula minuta, Lacuna neritoides,* Natica helicoides?* Fusus scalariformis,* Serpula vermew faris* Margarita arctica,* Modiolaria discors, Rissoa minuta,* Bulla de- Bilis 2* Trichotropis arctica,* Cytheridea Mulleri?* Velutina zonal Yesides several species of Foraminifera,* masses of siliceous spicu Sponge (Tethea*). From the associated shells it appears that the brated locality ker (Cy clop terus Lumpus), at Green’s Creek on the Ottowa belongs to this level, other reported species of the Canada post-tertiary. ; The locality at Beauport near Quebec, described by Captain B and Sir C. Lyell, belong to this same level, and has afforded, ae others already named, the following not enumerated above: B pe Hameri, Natica Groenlandica,* Natica Heros,* Turritella erosa,* Sco® a ty, Geology. 277 palliata, Cardium Groenlandicum, Cardium }}, SAF Behenae nrcenatiint: PL Hameri (abundant), Mya truncata, Sazicava rugosa, Astarte Lauren- tana, Trichotropis borealis and Buecinum undatum. The bed—of hard- ened clay—was probably formed in deep water. At the terraces of 220 and 386 feet on Montreal mountain no shells orknean found. But westward of Montreal, near Kemptville, Sir W. rugosa, 53 feet; (3) 6 Ps of stratified sand with few shells. On the Ottawa, in the 4th concession of N. epean, Logan has found a similar beach at 410 feet. “On the west, the highest terrace observed by the U. 8. Geologists on the south side of Lake Ontario, appears to correspond With this sea level, and the gravel and sands containing elephantine re- , ear Hamilton, may have been washed into its western extremity Fae neighboring land.” Marine shells have not yet been found west : ngs t=] . Among the shells, Leda Portlandica and Astarte Laurentiana belong to the Leda clay, and are suspected to be extinct, the first, if recent, is stated to be the Z. truncata, and the other the A. sulcata, All the de- Posits overlie the inferior or “unmodified drift. eae This valuable paper is accompanied by two plates, containing figures of Several of the species noticed. Ne Upper part of the Upper Silurian, and the Oriskany Sandstone, generally Tegarded as Dereitian: The watvor remarks that the subdivisions of the e to blend intimately. But ups, “is fully justified by their rk.” ler n the southwest, the Oriskany sandstone contains many Crinoids simi- 1 genera to those of the Lower Helderberg limestones. Among the 278 Scientific Intelligence. > peculiar forms in both, is the genus Edriocrinus (Hall)—“a crinoid which is sessile in its young state and firmly attached to other bodies by the base of its cup, but becomes free as it advances and gradually loses all evidence of a cicatrix; the base becoming rounded and smooth, or very rarely siren a depression or pit near the centre, which marks the original point of attachment. The following is a list of the genera and number of species of Crinoidea and Cystidea in the Clinton and Niagara groups, and the Lower Helder- _ berg and Oriskany Sandstone. 1. Clinton and Niagara groups.—Closterocrinus 1, Glyptocrinus? 1, Homocrinus 2, Gispies aster 1, Thysanocrinus 4, Dendrocrinus 1, Ichthyo- | erinus 1 (+ 17), Lyriocrinus 1, Lecanocrinus 4, Saecocrinus 1, Mae 3 stylocrinus 1, Eucalyptocrinus 3, Stephanocrinus 2, Caryocrinus 1, Melo- | eg Hleteroeystites 1, Callocystites 1, Apiocystites 1, Hemicystites : 1; Pale 2, ae. "dolderberg Group and Oriskany Sandstone —Homocrinu 1, Mariacrinus 8, Platycrinus 4 (the first occurrence of this een Aspidocrinus 9, Edriocrinus 2, Brachiocrinus 1, Coronocrinus 15 nomalo- oe 1, Sphzerocystites 1, Apiocystites (=Lepadocrinus) Lae | eh . The new genera are: . Marracrrnus,—the Astrocrinites of Conrad but not of other Authors or pelvic plates four, Radial plates three in five series (3X5). Interradial plates three or more. Anal plates numerous. Brachia | plates two resting on each third radial; beyond this point the structure ditfers in different pad Sa of plates marked by elevated radiating strie or ridges which re or less prominent, or by nodes or short ~aees a = varying in structure in different species. Resembles most RACHTOCRINUS.— Body unknown or none. Arms composed of numer ous articulations arranged i in single consecutive series (or of pentagonal joints in double series?). Base of arm rounded, without articulating s°_ . Tentacula composed of thickened node-like joints. __ Epriocrinvs. —Body subconical. Base solid, without division into “Plates: upper margin marked by six angles, with depressions between 10F — Insertion of radial plates. Radial plates five, eee in the five lar depressions on the med edge of the calyx. Ana | plates two, the one inserted in the smaller of the six impressions on the upper ™ the calyx; the second anal plate placed ke the upper edge © of t Brachial plates merous, consisting of thin Pal in coneesty “a gpm = broadly circular, depressed hemispherie ye : telliform : upper margins plain or plicate exteriorly ; the articulatin edges irregular. Radial plates and arms unknown. Point of at bases for column distinct, small. The specimens are broad scutelliform of Crinoids, sometimes near hemispherical. i aes : i % 2 sf ie “j Geology. 279 _ Cononoortnus.—Body very broad, hemispherical? towards the upper _ wnargins composed of numerous plates. Arms numerous, proceeding the upper margin of the body: summit flat, composed of numerous _ mall plates. Column and base unknown. Spa #rocysrires.—Body spheroidal, wider than high. Arms in two a pairs, with numerous bifurcations, Brachial sulci obliquely MM ; s Pg Ce Se ems = ie NG Mined. Base de eral aspect of Callocystites or Lepadocrinus, he vertical outline oval or ovoid, plan x or concavo-convex; the transverse outline semielliptical, the base of which is straight or more or con h sides osed of a ual number of plates. the two Basal plates three on the convex side, two on the concave side: second _ Series, two large plates at the angles, and four (or five?) on the convex Side; third series, four on the convex side, one at each angle, and a large Plate on the concave side; a fourth, fifth, and sixth series of plates on the “onvex side, and a fourth series on the concave side. Base oblique, with © convex side longer, and a deep concavity for the insertion of the col- umn. Pectinated rhombs apparently none. Arms unknown. Column deeply inserted into the body, compused of large joints above, becoming ler below, Py _, Liravoonivs, noticed in the Annual Report of Mr. Conrad for 1840, : ; 8 the same as Apiocystites, and has the priority of this last name in time. Se, Ae of about 70 feet in length and 50 feet broad along the bank of the n industry and art in its lower portion. . Y & thousand specimens; viz. fragments of pottery, stone-cl isels, he-arrowheads, pieces of cut bones, and perforated bear-teeth, w — stion and contained carbonized grains of barley. er with the above-mentioned ities of art were found apes d ents of the bones both of domesticated and of wild animals; viz., horned cattle, horses, swine, dogs of. various size, goats, sheep, eats, elks, > aurochs, bears, wild boars, foxes, beavers, tortoises, several birds, biqctler animals still undetermined. An atlas and canst eden by M. Trogon to Prof. Pictet, of Geneva, were ascertained by this emi- 4 > . ame erie pee P - ‘3 : 280 Scientific Intelligence. nent paleontologist to belong to Cervus euryceros. The length of the atlas is 0265 metre, and its breadth 0-088 metre; both differing only by soos from the measurements stated by Cuvier. 6. Former Connection of Australia, New Guinea and the Aru Islands. —Mr. A. R. Watvace in a paper on the Aru Islands, a group 150 miles South of Western New Guinea (Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., xx, Jan. 1858, R 473), shows that the zoology of the Islands is closely related to that of ew Guinea and Australia; and that shallow seas not only connect the two last, as others had before stated, but that they extend and include the Aru group. The depth of water over the whole to Australia is very. nearly uniform at about thirty to forty fathoms. Mr. Wallace says:— supposing them to have been once true rivers, having their source in the mountains of New Guinea, and reduced to their present condition by the subsidence of the intervening land.” Nearly one half of the Passerine birds of New Guinea hitherto de- seribed are contained in the author’s collections made in Aru, and a num- ber also of species in the other tribes. st The or ma farther observes on the absence of the peculiar East Indian 4 “ orne' o and the ride, Picide, Bucconide, Trogonida, Meropida, and Eurylaimide ; but doubt- several New Guinea), and this, with three or four species of Bee pe f. , ich 7. Harthquake in Italy; (Athen., No, 1577.)—The sang wa interest from that of the afflicting details of the suffering occasiont” it, as many things occurred to show that before the event there Was o | i ubterranean agitation going on. Similar indications of exisung oe a tion now continually manifest themselves. That Vesuvius bas oa. a Ag 55 Sas ema DSR age erat i= Asie Se Geology. 281 state of chronic eruption for nearly two years, and the wells at Resina for the last. few months nearly dried up, I have already noted; that the no shocks of earthquake, may not be so generally known, but such is th and to those signs of impending danger the Official Journal of the 80th of December adds the following: “The Syndié of Salandro (one of Communes which has suffered much from the recent scourge) reports that for nearly a month at about two miles distance from the town a gas has been observed to issue from a water-course ; the temperature of it Was about that of the sun. A few days siuce, too, from another similar osse, the same kind of gas issued. These exhalations were observed oe ii the morning, however; during the rest of the day they were not ceptible. On the 22d of December, they ceased altogether, and there was an expectation that hot mineral springs would burst forth from that able fact. In the territory of Bella, about two miles from the town, the farthquake on the night of the 16th of Decembeevelled the neighboring hills, rolled the earth over and over, and formed deep valleys. Half an hour Same in width. A letter from Vallo, now lying before me, and writ- ten much in detail, speaks of “ those two terrible shocks,” and of the in- Humerable minor shocks which have continued from the 16th of Decem- up to the present time—the letter being written on the 29th of De- rember. “A few minutes before the first shock,” adds the writer, “a hissing Sound was heard in the river, as if vast masses of stones were ae brought down by a torrent. It is to be noted, too, that all the * ei the neighborhood howled immediately before the first awful Let us visit some of the ruined places at the centre of the disaster a : : and [ wil] speak in the words of a gentleman who has just returned: “ eecp > Jisit to Polla. Once a beautifully situated township, with 7,000. Is, itis now half in ruins, and the survivors were 0g ic nee eee ee On the aight of the 26th of De- pon SEConp SERIES, VOL. XXV, NO. 714,——-MARCH., 1858. 36 is 4 282 Scientific Intelligence. siderable interval—and so it stands, On t De ber, both in Sala and Potenza, strong shocks were felt, followed by many 0 Resina says, that on the night of the 29th, from 10 P.M, to 5 A.M. bration Every three minutes a sound was heard as of a person attempting t wrench the doors and windows out of their places, followed by a quiver The next morning the mountain was observed to vomit forth much smoke and a cloud of ashes. Friends, too, who reside at Capo di Marte, near the city, speak of the deep thunders which they hear from the mountain in the stillness of the night. The same phenomena are observed at e & English gentlemen who have just returned from the eens disaster give the following interesting though harrowing dye % “hag e 0 doned told us thrown to the ground; the landlord of a tavern now aban that he had the good fortune to escape with his wife, but that his aa and servant had been both killed. He himself bore the mat! heavy blow on his face. The population of this place w i 3 ; - whilst and 143 bodies only had been dug out on the Ist of January; it 200 more were knov be missing. The whole town was gs with the exception of six houses, which were in a falling state. i Pertosa and Polla the strength and caprice of the earthqu ake were made manifest in a remarkable way. Crossing a deep ravine, we found the depth the limestone caverns in the bowels of the earth. re seamed with fissures; and we could put our arms into them ie fallen shoulders. Polia has a population of 7,000 persons :—1,000 | sition: the mountain above it h en cleft in two, revealing to a ad been e ‘h, The ground was | wu Geology. 7 283 the bodies, was insufferable. ‘Three shocks of an earthquake were felt on this day, January 1. The first was very early in the morning; the see- ond about half-past 12, When we weré standing on the ruins of a themselves with ropes as they walked. On leaving the town, we reste on the wall of a bridge just outside, where some priests begged ns to Wh in danger, for the ground was continually trembling. ilst sitting there, we felt the third shock, and required no other hint.” last moment, I add, from ocuments, that wpwards of “se which a winding staircase with three landing-places, each of which the its own fountain, leads to the platform of the graceful building. On top one enjoys a beautiful view, and, under the three watery tents, Produced by the three jets d’cau of the well, the coolest and most retresh- ing of shades, ische und Chemisch- Technische Untersuchung der Steinkohlen ; ar Konig The fo teal value for fuel and lighting of the coal of the Saxon co tis llowing are a few of the results of the analyses : > Ash Carb. = Hyd. Nit. Sulph. ; pute Ox. OF My elnt : 984 3 2 $34 2269. G=T21T | Puickau coal orf, =§»« PSHT1 55984 3878 0233 IT a rickau, 2640 T7211 5149 O242 19321 P7189. G=1294 cant 4950 81410 5222 0345 9735 2955. G=l192 ’ Hinichen “An : G.=1°353: , 12607 71:258 3882 0493 11478 1149. G= yc estappel 14-521 66696 S481 0225 15046 0796. G.=1 340 _Yol ge te Products of distillation in 2, 32°518; in 3, 37°333; in 4, 203 in 5, 21-531 s ooth of the pee Elephant.—Remains of the American eX- ods lephant (or Mammoth) cae 60 miles north of the City of Mexico. h ; Mr. E. L. Plumb, comes that region. Others 284 ‘ Scientific Intelligence. Topographical Assistant. 392 pages, large 8vo.—The geological survey of Kentucky, as this second report evinces, is carried forward with energy and ability, and with important results to the State. The general report by D i The Falls of the Ohio are a noted locality for fossil a The follow- ing is given as a section of the rocks at that place, commencing tf with the Devonian black slate, a well known horizon in the west. 1. Black bituminous slate or shale. 2. Upper crinoidal, shell, i coralline nee consisting of a, White o r yellowish-white earthy fractured layers, containing vast numbers of Crinoids (Actinocrinus abnormis, most common), & Favosite, a large Leptana, and Atrypa prisca 6. Middle layers; containing a few cate c. Lower layers; containing many Cystiphylla, a Syringopora, and on Corn laid remains of fishes, st called the Upper Fish bed, 3. Bidesulic limestone, an bi y magnesian limestone; contains Atrypa prisca, a Spirifer, &e. Thickness 21 feet and less 4. Lower Site! esas and coralline limestones ; consisting in a great measure of comminuted remains of Crinoids, and conta ining Spur ifer Sather eeu Atrypa prisca, a Leptena near euglypha, and remains 5. Olivan ites Seal thickness 6 inches net the mill on the south side of the mg 6 to 7 feet on "Fourteen Mile eek. ical masses of Stro matopora and a fercihide 3 to 5 feet thick; next, the Lower Fish Beds, a limestone stratum 19 feet thick, containing 4 Jar, and. beautiful species of undescribed Turbo, a large Mi i limestones : soaked ing 0 f " a Dark "be d, containing hemispherical — 0 vie. 3 8 Bn fPrs FA Se at = =: it. Sy 7 8 ay basaltica, sometimes as white as milk, Favosites polymor b. Black coralline layers, being almost a complete mass of oun pce. including C. ystiphylla, Favosites cornigera, Zaphren lea, Syringopora, e j These 1 Det onian beds rest naar an Upper Silurian stratum containing the a Coral (Catenipora). er sections are given and much important detail. almost The chemical report of Dr. Robert Peter, exhibits a “_ and stele incredible amount of research. 206 analyses of i “ae salts, 43 of soils, 31 of limestones, 30 of coals, 16 of mineral tell ers of rocks and ores. In the analyses of coals, the author Favositts of Se Lee pee = aeak Geology. 285 not only ascertained the proportions of moisture, volatile matter, ashes and coke, but also the chemica composition of the ashes, the proportion aa and the relative proportions of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and trogen. The Breckenridge cannel coal afforded by proximate analysis (p. 211): Moisture 1:30, volatile combustible matters 54:40, carbon in the coke 32-00, ashes 12°30 = 100, age other specimens, the volatile matters varied from 55°70 to per cent, the coke from 28°30 to 44°30, the ashes from 7:0 to 12°30 Per cent, in the undried coal. The ashes contained Silica 3-49, alumina and oxyd of iron 7°78, lime 0°55, magnesia 0:39 = 12°21. By ultimate analysis it afforded Carbon 68'128, hydrogen 6489, sulphur 2°476, nitrogen 2274, oxygen and loss 5°833, ashes 14°800 = 100. ‘ Excluding the ashes and sulphur, the Breckenridge coal and the Bog- ead of Scotland compare as follows : B f Carbon. Hydrogen. Nitrogen. Oxygen. reckenridge, 82-355 1-844 2749 7051 Boghead, 80-487 11235 0°874 6-726 fe The Breckenridge coal is already noted for the mineral oils obtained om it by distillation. It affords per 100 Ibs. 32 Ibs. of crude oil. About eoils. Ammoniacal Coke. Gas B . water. (cub. in.) He cnridge eannel, 318-20 5210 455 445 U Udock’s cannel, 248'50 54:50 589 370 Mae company’s coal, bottom part, 148 38 750 465 Rr 8 five-foat, or main coal, 15650 64°75 684 567 bert’s, or Muddy river coal, 10210 119°80 659.50 370 House coal, 108 "3 714 46 Youghiogheny coal, 136 52 710 545. The topo. . ‘ f bs tions graphical report of Mr. Lyon contains an account ot observa- Upon the Eastern ‘ad Western Coal Fields, tracing out the beds of | B . : n extending from the Lower Silurian (Blue limestone) to the beds base of in Carter Co., showed a total thickness the coal measures; 75 Tigert’s creek); 100 feet muddy shale with thin beds of lime- 0 feet subcarboniferous limestone 286 Scientific Intelligence. Leptena alternata, Orthis occidentalis, Orthis (Spirifer) Lyra, and also Murchisonia bicineta : This volume is to be soon followed by another giving the remainder of the Report. 12. New species of Fossil Plants from the Anthracite and Bituminous coal-fields of Pennsylvania ; collected and described by Leo Lesquerevx, with Introductory observations, by H. D. Rocers, (Jour. Bost. Soc. Nat. ist., vi, No. iv, 409)—This memoir contains deseriptions of 106 new species of coal-plants from the coal-fields of Pennsylvania. Prof. Rogers, in his introductory observations, states that M. Lesquereux: has found that out of over 200 species examined by him, 100 are “identical with species already recognized in the European coal-fields, and some 50 more of them show differences so slight that a fuller comparison with better spect mens may result in their identification likewise ;” moreover “ those new species which seem to be restricted to this continent are every one of is genus. si: Tek the Coal- Pub- fields ; : lished by order of the Governor.—Fifty-eight. pages of this pe wg ing the general outlines of the coal-fields and of the formation: fe borders. The author remarks on the fact, that the coal-fiel by apis lacements y and these ne valleys and basins were filled with new deposits of coal, the termination of the carboniferous epoch. We regret _ " ‘ 5 = en ae ‘ > i and so on up @ that Geology. 287 is geologically so meagre, as a few facts and sections proving the exact age of these uplifts would be of great interest. The details are promised in the full Geological Report. : : These uplifts were alluded to at the Albany meeting of the American Association by Mr. Worthen, who stated that the strike of them was On the Paleontology of the Thuringian Forest, by R. Ricurer and Fr. User. 100 pp, 1 plates. ith 15 or the Fossil Fishes of Austria, by. ded: eee RS Pee Plates, On the Gasteropoda of the Trias of the Alps, by Dr. M. Hérvzs, with plates, eae On Foraminifera of the Family Stichostegues of D’Orbigny, by J. L. i plates. here are also other papers.—by Dr. K. M. Drestne on the Acantho- ] h, : Metamorph is Rocks ; by T. Sterry Hust, Esq., of the Geological Survey a ef (Proc. Ray. Soe,, in L, E. and D, Phil. Mag., xv, 68.) ~4n my last ; Silurian’ Strata of Canada, I endeavored to show, from the — snd analyses of the altered and unaltered rocks, that it is the reaction betw ie Sedimentary deposits, which has given rise to the serpentines, tales, . = d n of carbonate of soda has the power of dissolving quartz un lar Conditions.* te ng to conte these observations, I have since made llowing e dea te, 5 Volorless Caan quartz was ignited, finely 0 5 — boiled for an hour with a soliition of its weight « pe we yp a hate of soda; the amount of silica thus dissolved was 1°5 per c * Bischof ’s Chem. and Phys. Geology, Eng. Edition, vol. i, p. 7. we 288 spina Intelligence. quartz, but on repeating the treatment of the same quartz with a second portion of the apn re only ‘35 per cent was dissolved. The object of this process was to r move any soluble silica, and the quartz thus purified was employed Sy thie following experiments, which were performed in a vessel of platinu I. 1000 parts of quartz and 200 of carbonate of soda were boiled with water for ten hours, and the mixture was several times evaporated to dry- ness, and exposed for a few minutes to a temperature of about 300° F, The amount of silica taken into solution was 12 parts. drocarbonate of magnesia was prepared by mingling boiling solutions of sulphate o of magnesia and carbonate of potash, the latter in excess ; the precipitate was washed by boiling with successive portions of - water. 1000 parts of quartz were mixed with about as pos of this magnesian carbonate and boiled as above for ten lou cess ’ a hydrochloric acid was then added, the whole evaporated to dr #2 oat e magnesian salt washed out with dilute acid. The residue was then boiled for a few minutes with carbonate of soda, and gave 33 parts soluble silica. IIL. A mixture of 1000 da of quartz, 200 of carbonate of soda with water, and an excess of carbonate of magnesia was boiled for ten hours, and the residue, treated as in the is experiment, gave 148 parts of solu- ble silica. The alkaline liquid contained a little magnesia, but no silica in solution. That the soluble silica was really combined with magnesia was shown by boiling the insoluble mixture with sal-ammoniac, which, dissolving the carbonate, left a large amount of magnesia with the silica. This silicate was readily decomposed by hydrochloric acid, the greater part of the silica separating in a pulverulent form The third experiment was suggested by some observations on the bie tions a silicate of soda with earthy carbonates. Kuhlmann has remar the power of carbonate of lime to abstract the silica from a boiling see tion of soluble glass,* and it is known that chee exerts & — ae ion. I have found that when artificial carbonat magnesia in a Is boiled with a solution of silicate - —s the batter’ js completely ae wet soda, and a silicate hier” result, If we boil for some pay a mixture of. sgnived “silic from the decomposition of a silicate by an acid (and edi “A oni In all alkaline carbonates), with a small portion peer a dente and an excess of hydrocarbonate of magnesia, we obt oe y be | . a powder which contains all the silica united with magnesia, and peer iled with carbonate of soda and er nae without decompo 4 aie may be : It is obvious from the above experiments that ped res éit rs! doubt- tained with quartz, although the process is much slo ess be accelerated under | pressure at a somewhat atin ated tem which would dediana the solvent power of the alkaline restate her® Comptes Rendus de l’Acad. des Sciences, Dec. 8rd and Dee. se 1855, W will be found many important observations on the alkaline si t Reports of the Geol. Surrey o of Canada, 1851-53-54. Geology. | 289 “seed < potash and soda are everywhere present in sedimentary “cee G goeipoeng feldspathic materials are seldom wanting, and hese in the presence of a mixture of quartz and earthy carbonates, and we : ft the Hien back again to silicate, the only limit to the process would be Breen: ying of the mutual affinities of the silica, and the -basic oxyds eal the Extinct Volcanoes of Victoria, Australia; by R. Broven Ess q. C.E., F.G S., (Proc. Geol. Soc., in L. E. and D. Phil. Mag, : and other evid in Southern Australia in which lavas, basalts, ae Pleat ences of recent igneous action are found, extends from the nN Goat (@ tributary of the Yarra), on the east, to Mount Gambier ‘é Loddon) its most northern point is Macneil’s Creek (a tributary of “ie in 37° 8. lat., and its most southern point is Belfast, in 2 at. Its extreme length is 250 miles, and its extreme breadth were enumerated an j h isti mark a cation oe ae a d described as the most distinctly about Satoh the source of the Merri Creek, on the Dividing Range, the Govern iles north ot Melbourne, and already described by Mr. Selwyn, sea-level ® s = 2 = ~s dy 3 ~~ eal i >? ae o> to a — * 8g So of Céevallia, the true place of which our author seems pot to how, although given in the Flora of North Ameri y years ity. Indeed, if at this day any aracters of Petalonyx, in Mem. Amer. Acad., 5, p. 319 7 zaanits, have bestowed so much labor and P Kate e@ was to have been included in the present volume. ua aeth extended the volume unduly. But, unfortunately, or fortunately, —— may be, Professor DeVriese has gone to Java overn- how Mission without finishing the work; and the indefatigable Ee takes it in hand. It is to form the leading part of volume 15, the | et the genus Huyhordia whi ee is undertakes. 4 By Sled to commence with ake 47 by Weddell, or the at Prof. Andersson and we beg of all Nort Mincee by Tulasne. We are pleas e Willows 292 Scientific Intelligence. and Poplars of their districts, — pains to procure blossoms, foliage, and fruit from the same trees. And for DeCandolle himself, who will probably undertake the Cupudifere, we likewise ask for good and copious specimens of every species or form of our American Oaks. Specimens communicated to the writer of this article will be duly ore and will doubtless a very useful. Such arrangements are made as to render it probable that the Dicotyledonee may be completed in the Prodan in the course of three or four years. 2. Dr. Hooker’s Flora of Tasmania has been issued as far as t Pat V, which completes the first volume, and the Dicotyledonous class, Conif- ere included: 359 pages, ate 100 admirable plates, The work is: pub- 6, 1857 ate Tho canis interesting paper upon ‘the ins be and g % nation of Barringionia and Careya is concluded. The embryo 3s chown to be’ exalbuminous, wesapiny a se jt mt radicle, destitute of on edons, developing from one end a nearly naked plumule, and from other a primordial slender sare -. Drs. Bitlon _ Thompson an secon t up a Hydrangea, &c.), Crassulacee, Droseracee, Parnassice, te Hamamelidee, and Philadelphew. The very pir, relahonete of t group or alliance to Rosacee on the one hand a nay other is pointed out. The resemblance of Passau to ‘Sazif g indicated by Brown, is insisted on, and the abiaiig strengthened by ie , as in the jatter a and the exalbuminous seeds. But he omits ‘aboot the. seca al osition of the stigmas, which is decidedly anti-saXx oe i as also is the division of the. styles or stigmas in Droseracee. (Th : ion an oversight or misprint on p. 78, in speaking of the par rietal placen ye of Elodea.) The transference of Droseracee to the Saxifragal alliane suite to Parnassie, is surely a happy thought, pie eg t we ur statement that “Droseracee and ed sign seem to be rather aberrant members of Sazifragee in its exteD ficance, than separate orders.” But, if there be here mu in admitting variations” of the order, there is on the other hand, as its zs to us, “too much stiffness in refusing” to admit the Philadelpio whi a8 our authors limit the groups, are distinguishable from Saxifragu’ . Pe i ° ng ees . Botany and Zoology. 293 no one assignable character. If limited to Philadelphus and to Carpen- teria (which is as it were a Philadelphus with an almost free ovary) the group may indeed be distinguished by the convolute xstivation of the petals; but this is of no great moment in such a case, especially since Jamesia exhibits a transition into the ordinary imbriecative mode. Bot. U.S, Expl. Exped., 1, p. 663, note.) In Paéleostegia our authors bring to our knowledge an interesting new Hydrangeous genus. ey also have a new Crassulaceous genus, Triactina, a sort of Sedum with the carpels reduced to three and connate half way up. So that, with this genus, Penthorum and Diamorpha, on the one hand, and Spireanthemum on the other, the interval between Crassulacee and Saxifragacee, so far 48 respects technical distinctions, is completely bridged over. A, G. 4. Plante Indie Batavice Orientalis, quas .... exploravit Casp. G. C. Retrwarvr. Digessit et Illustravit Gur, H. pe Vrrese. Leyden. Fasc. I, Miquel, the Myristicacec, by De Vriese, the Graminee by L. H. Buse, Cyperaceee, Aroidece, Combretacecee ; (commenced), by Miquel. Miquel’s new Cunoniaceous genus Spirwopsis Smnuch closer to Weinmannia than our Spireanthemum. The plates : i A. G. 5. Botanical Necrology for 1857.—Charles Girou de Buzareingues of the South of France.-—A, WV. D i in the earlier part of the century, when he was the editor of a laborated the Grasses W. hae in 18038-1806 !—Z. W. Dillwyn (born in 1778), of Swansea, § P ood of Dresden and other works.—M. Graves, of Paris, a well known Tench botanist, but scarcely a botanical author. ’ To.this list we may add the name of the venerable Madame de J ussiet, Widow of 4. 7, Jussieu, and the mother of Adrien, who died in Paris * 294 Scientific Intelligence. Philadelphia. They were planted about four years ago, at time from some unknown cause numbers of them ied. sania they thrived greatly and were prized for their superior size and fine r __ After two years had elapsed, a peculiar green color was observed in the gills which continues; it is particularly intense and marked in the fal and winter when the mollusc is fat, and nearly disappears in the spring and summer. The color is only in the gills, the mantle bei ‘ may be termed a pea-green. By cooking it becomes darker; but | ws regularly about four inches. The same peculiar green gee noticed in oysters at this locality fourteen years ago, ¢ ae | disappeared. The same color not so strongly marked has been oe near Chincoteague inlet. ist [2h 7. Humming Bird of the U. States, (Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist) l Xx, 520).—Mr. Gould reg returned from a visit to the ae ‘ 2 of studying the hab) or the purpose of st idying portion of the ina State of nature, he noticed that its actions were very obs quite different from those of all other birds: the flight is perfor ®. Se ae ae : ae ee Oe. ee ee a ag pee Astronomy. 295 a motion of the wings so rapid as to be almost imperceptible; indeed the muscular power of this little creature appears to very great in every Tespect, as, independently of its rapid and sustained flight, it grasps the small twigs, flowers, &c., upon which it alights with great firmness, and if wounded clings to them with the utmost tenacity: it appears to be Most active in the morning and evening, and to pass the middle of the day under the shade of the thick leafy branches, Occasionally it occurs in such numbers, that fifty or sixty ma seen on a single tree, hen captured, it so speedily becomes tame, that it will feed from the hand or mouth within half an hour. Successful in keeping one alive during a long railway journey, in a gauze bag attached to his breast-button, for three days, during which it readily fed from a small bottle filled with a sytup of brown sugar and water, Mr. Gould determined to attempt the bringing of some living examples to England, in which he succeeded, but Unhappily they did not long survive their arrival in London, and died on the Society’s Gardens, where they would doubtless have been objects of great attraction. Mr. Gould added that he was certain that they might be readily brought to this country; that they would live in the gardens at least during the months of summer, and that the captains ot any of Leptosiagon, Trask, nov. gen. (Proceedings of the California Acad- Moveable mandibular process. Eight species are described occupying ag €xtended geographical range, from Mexico to Japan.” e Ne plate are well executed ; and to judge from them, these forms must ‘ our conjectures be true, all of these objects may belong to two or three Pecies of Annelides, W. 8 IV. ASTRONOMY. O. RercnENBACH, fre 858).—The ete il bserved mainly by Mr. Se Ng I passing from maximum to minimum, @ Ut which 4 a theory framers, - 298 Scientific Intelligence. The period is about 11 years, the number of our year giving an ill- defined mark. eriod by a primary cause oscillates by secondary causes. The revolution of Jupiter, the largest planet, is 11°86 years, There is affinity in these numbers. The maxima occurred in 1828, 1837 and 1848; another draws near; farther off, six periods correspond to six revolutions of Jupiter; but I may be mistaken, and by a constant accele- ration seven periods may take place. When we try to combine the days of observation, the number of spots and of spotless days, we find the in- crease and decrease to be in a slow ratio before and after the maximum, the decrease and increase in a rapid ratio before and after the mink mum, a coincidence with the requirements of elliptic motion. In 1828, 1837 and 1848 occurred the maxima. In 1827, 1839, 1851, 1862, Jupiter passes its aphelion, The first numbers coincide, The frequency of spots corresponds to the aphelion of Jupiter. The pressure at the perihelion, as my theory supposes, expands and “increases e envelop; the aphelion condenses it, introducing a rapid alternation of precipitation and evaporation; the mass is thereby allowed to descend and meet in the equatorial regions, and the temperature is there increased, The numbers do not all coincide. But (1.) Do the maxima by groups of spots correspond to the greatest area and darkness? No days were spotless in 1829, 1838 and 1839, all those years produced spots of largest dimensions, (2.) There is a number of other planets; if we abstract from the far e ponding to the aphelion of Jupiter) in advance of its perihelion, : number of spots was considerably less than in 1837 or 1848. fs elions, and the greatest number of spots occurred before 1839. The reason . si sition pe seal r of th yerage dis tance diminished, the angular velocity of the greater augmented, whereat : , —o A § 5 § he latter half pretty near coincides) advancing to its aphelion, and the max e delayed till near that time. There is here a coincidence wt iod, aphelion of Jupiter, but the maximum is in itself small. The next pe 1874, is brought down to. 1872. ue A relation between the “spots” and the oscillations of magne” suspected ; it must exist. The planets must influence the magnets’? the effect from Jupiter on the earth must be large, as the | . umes revolving, passes at one time between the sun and th atter twelve at planet in 18 pe ii i oko: 4 se. a area Miscellaneous Intelligence. 297 perihelion an} then in its aphelion. The earth is now pressed, now elated, its envelop now expanded, now condensed, between" those two ro- lating balls, or magnets, or voltaic piles, or weights, or whatsoever they are called with reference to phenomena classed under those various de- Nominations, V. MISCELLANEOUS SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. 1. Telestereoscope—Professor Tetmuotrz has described an instrument over the landscape itself, The instrnment is made up of four mirrors and two eye-glasses, Two mirrors placed, alike, at an angle of 45°, one to the right and the other to the left, receive the rays of light from the andseape, These mirrors throw the rays horizontally towards one an- other to two oblique mirrors, which throw the rays through the eye- ‘ses to the eyes. In a window, place on either side, say three or four feet or the width of the window apart, a mirror, at the angle stated, to course to a point in the room. The mirrors will have the position the halfopened shutters of the window, The rays from j reaching them will be thrown parallel to the window, those of one Mirror towards the other. Now b placing at the middle of the window to smaller mirrors meeting like the legs of a V, but at an angle of 90°, and facing in the room, the rays will be thrown into the room; and if these two mirrors are not too large or are properly placed, the rays will me just the distance apart required to pass into the eyes. A box or Me May enclose the mirrors, and a couple of Jenses be inserted as eye- Pieces, and the effect thereby be improved ; thongh the lenses should have we Pethi ‘ i The mirrors should ma y Window 3 altl > although not to any very great advantage. g. eae & reflectors must be turned 0 Tound their Vertical axes so that the angle between their surfaces and the exa dimensions in the di- rface are to mirrors must always remain parallel . the small ones, The aspects of near objects, ney. of the human on, om the reduction produ « one that it is ie eri | pictures that the observer imagines he sees, reduced bodies. SECOND SERIES, VOL. XXV, NO. 14-—MARCH, 1864, 33 ™ * * £93 Miscellaneous Intelligence. hess. totally : the objects look exactly as if they were painted on a plane sur- face. |B e ordinary combination of the two Galileo’s telescopes, bs 0 telief than a single one. But in the usual construction of the instrument the relief is false: the objects appear as if they were squeezed together in the direction of depth. In the case of human faces, on which, for the most part, opera-glasses are directed, this is very striking. When they are regarded from the front, they appear much flatter than they really are, and when looked at in profile, they appear too narrow and sharp. In both cases the expression of the countenance is essentially altered. 2. Inquiries into the Quantity of Air inspired throughout the Day and Night, and under the influence of Exercise, Food, Medicine, T empera ture, ake. by Eowarp Sart, M.D.. (Proc. Roy. Soc., L. E. and D. Phil. Mag, xiv, p. 546)—This communication cousists of three parts and contains the results of 1200 series of observations. The author was himself the subject of all the investigations. Ile is thirty-eight years of age, six “ in height, healthy and strong, and with a vital capacity of the lungs The paper concludes with a summary of the principal results obtained ion or elucl g facts are for intervals amounting altogether to 40 minutes, during W vot recorded) was 711,060 cub, ins.; or an average of 29,627 cud the per hour and 493 6 per minute. The quantity was much less during: uight than during the day. There was an increase as the morn) woah and a decrease at about 84 30™ p, m., but most suddenly atl 11 p.m, During the day the quantity increased immediately after 4 Mine es ts ey ins. per 0 the average 1-7 per 1 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 299 and then subsided before the next — but in every instance it rose again Senne before a meal. The rate of frequency of respiration generally corresponded with the quantity but the Pr of the day and night rates were greater. The period of greatest parallelism was between tea and supper, An increase was occasioned by one meal only, namely breakfast. The average depth of respiration was 26°5 cub. ine., with a aha of 181 cub. ins. in the night, and a pene of 322° cub, ins. at 18 30m p, ~The mean rate of the pulse 6 per min- ute, iia minimum at 34 30™ a.M., the maximum at gb “ae A.M.; the difference being more than one-third of the minimum rate Sleep came on in two of the series of continuous hetrridtenng and tho i. of its occurrence was also that of the Jowest quantities of airin- The amount of breathing was greater in the standing than in the sitting posture, and greater sitting than lying. It was increased by riding on horseback, accordin ng to the pace, also by riding in or upon an omni- bus. In railway travelling the increase was greater in a second- than in a first-class ae and greatest in the third-class and on the engine. An increase was also produced by rowing, swimming, walking, running, carrying weights, ascending and oe ae ng steps, and the labor of the ad-wheel ; and in several of these cases the rate of increase was de- termined for sithenes degrees of na used. Reading = and he Spay of inspired air was increased by exposure to the heat and light of the sun, and lessened in darkness. Increase and smear: of i heat produced corresponding effects; and the depth of re as greatly increased by great heat. An increase in nantity was ese also by vil tething, and sponging, and the cold shower-bath ; by breakfast, dinner, and tea—when tea actually was taken, but when Se was substituted there was a decrease, Supper r of bread and milk also caused a decrease, Milk by itself or with suet caused an increase. An increase was obtained with the following articles of diet, viz. eggs, beef-steak, jelly, white bread (home-made). ontmeal, potatoes, sugar, tea, ( . ase, viz.: butter, fat "of beef, olive a“ cod-liver oil, arrow-rovt, brandy (1 0z. to bi 04. ) and ie noe nate vat ammonia (15 grains) eausec vena increase at then a small decrease ; at en medicines had a like effect. Chloroform 25 ™ and 33s), by the stomach, varied the quantity so an average in- ease of 28 cub. ins, to an average deerease of 20 cub. ins. per minute, With a maximum increase of 63 cub. ins. per minute. “Chlorie ether (3s) inerease of }7 cub, Varied ity also the eu: , but there was fie, : v quantit in the rate; whilst the pulse fell rofurin, by inhalation (to just short of hlo Ousniess ), ner ne quantity a little during the inhalation, and 300 Miscellaneous Intelligence. more so afterwards, The rate was unchanged, but the pulse fell, onan average, 1-7 per min. Amylene similarly administered and t o the same degree, increased the quantity during inhalation 60 cub. ins. per min, but shetstheds decreased it to 100 cub. ins. per min, less than during the inhalation, The rate of respiration was unchanged: the pulse fell 6 per min. at the end of the observation. Digitalis ct a a Zi) varied the quantity, increasing it at first and then decreasing it. The rate of inspiration was unaffected, whilst rte of pulsation somewhat increas se paper is accom wore tables of “pamcig statements, and by s exhibiting the aang in a series of cur uorescence.—Prof. J. W. Mallet states in a letter to one of the editors of this Journal (dated —— Ala., Jan. 29) that an old solu- tion o ny of orange-flowers (Oleum Neroli) in alcohol—one part of the former to twelve or fifteen of the latter—fluoresces strongly with a beau- tiful pale purplish light. The solution was made some six or seven years did not exhibit this phenomenon at first. . 4, mA System of Instruction in the Practicul Use of the Blowpipe, being a > os gest course of analysis for the use of Students and all those en- in the examination of, metallic combinations, 268 pp. 12mo. foe. York, 1858. H. Bailliere-—The use of the blowpipe has been so thoroughly perfected by Berzelius and Plattner that now-a-days it 1s hardly possible . produce an original treatise on this subject. Those who have hit undertaken to prepare blowpipe manuals, have wisely a the pane observations of these masters, and have roduced na more or less altered form and arrangement, to suit the couven- ience of students. The book before us is neenmicngm to be chiefly 4 copy, but it is — and unfortunately ori The work is due, as appears from the satielaen advertisement, to Prof J. Milton Sanders oO Cincinnati, Ohio, though a modest 8 . appended to the is all of the name the present volume contains. ‘We had occasion recently to criticise a publication issued over the same name; and we could wish that now we had only to commend. But w wit: - uld not be just to English or good science if we were so to tre leper incorrect use of plain English, w tik: ‘nett idioms strangely intruded on the language of the Iboratory and also owner stood. He says, “If insoluble substances are fused with others for purpose of causing a combination which is solnbled in water and acid, operation is anclosing” (aufschliessen ?), Again, “If we detent {as it is tersued by the German chemists) the > suiphide of nee the sulphide of arsenic with nitrate of potash, we get the nitrate of ant Mony or nitrate of arsenic.” We are not aware that either our ow? “ the Latin language is indebted to the Germans tor the word vary Thea moreover we do not see any propriety in its use in that place. from may have meant to say deflagrate, though this would not be a term ‘ the German chemists. The science of the: passage is its most ih feature ; for we have here announced for the first time in the wie chemistry, the existence of a basic oxyd of arsenic and tls nitrate—a i even mentioned in the 4th American edition of Gregory's : edited by Prof. Sanders himself! ey re Miendibeel Intelligence. 301 The above may be Pe to exhibit both the literary and scientific merits of the work. We would not however do the author injustice, and therefure _ a few siden Statioon The italies beyond are ours. Page 160 we read: “Arsenic acid (AsO) is a white mass which readily eet dist and dissolves. {t will not volatilize at a low red heat, ‘nor wild it decompose, Exposed to a strong heat it is decom yielding oxygen, and passing into arsenious acid.” Under arsenious acid We are told that “ Upon charcoal it instantly volatilizes, and when the characteristic garlic smell is perceived.” Of silver is said (p. 163), “it is not oxydizable, neither at common tem- peratures nor at those which are considerably higher.” The merest tyro in chemistry will henceforth have an infallible means of recognizing this useful metal. On page 59, in donttinn the behavior of silver on char- coal before the blowpipe, the language of Plattner and ) i wd followed, and also on page 264, where Blanford’s account of the tons of native silver is copied—the well known red deposit of oxyd Of sven formed when the metal or its oxyds are strongly heated on char- coal is of course duly noticed ; but in the chapter on Special eactions, which oe to be the most original part of the work, in giving the Gtieral characters of his “ninth group” of metals, viz., copper, silver and gold, Prof. S. states that: “In the reduction of the oxyd of this Stet uo sublimate is visible on charcoal.” Platinum is repeatedly said to be infusible, We are however in the it to our classes the fusion of a fine wire of this metal in the flame of outh seme in accordance with the observations of Fiedler, Plattner ror others, According to the author, boracie acid bleaches brazil-wood-paper, bu Nothing is said of the action of sulphurous acid, the latter having as ‘hing effect while the former has not. We also learn that phosphorie acid tinges it yellow i in the same manner as hydrofluoric acid. ~ blowpipe i is concisely dedertbed § in the pepter language. : , th rig: . description, It “is sige of the following parts : (fig. 1) A is a linle "ervoir made air-tight by grinding the part 'B into it.” After 178 pages _ a pcoper atch on the blowpipe, the author ; Fishes his labors by copying bodily, typographic PAPO ineluded, about i a from Blantord on the Behavior of — 2 8 preface thus acknowledges; we quote Saple of his style: “In Part Third of thi ee eaeel . icit deseri Pa 109, the student will find a suflicient y ae 08 ciate Healy t0 pe s ubstan Pk, tarred of _ P Roem g tabular statement of those —_——. as an —o we ores y Scheerer and Blanford’s excellent little — pe—will be of t benefit, asa vehicle for ron- tiation, vie edn se jime—or daring the hurry of an examina- precludes ona rove perusal of the more Jengthy description in a text,” i tic animals of all kinds, the cultivation of the garden and other collateral 302 Miscellaneous Intelligence. | he # ures on Roman Husbandry—delivered before the Universi of Oxford, escent such an account of the System of Agriculinre, the Treatment of Domestic Animals, the Horticulture, ete. pursued i ancient times, as may be collected from the Seriptores Rei Rustice, the Georgices of Virgil, and other classical ng ang with notices of the plants mentioned in Columella and Virgil; by Professor Cuarues Dav- University of Oxford. 328 pp., 8vo. Oxford and London, 1857.—T scientific and classical world are under equal obligations to the learned author for his valuable and attractive work on the condition of agricul- ture and horticulture, and the breeding of domestic animals, in the most flourishing period of the Roman power, The author alludes in his pre- face to his indebtedness to the earlier treatise of the Rev. Mr. Dickson on the * Llusbandry of the Ancients,” published in 1788, but states that he has embraced a wider range cf topics, adding to the subject of tilla that of the culture of the vineyard and orchard, the treatment of domes- topics. Dr. Daubeny has brought to the task a familiar acquaintance with classical learning as well as with the sciences pertaining to the sub- ject. As a chemist and botanist and also a man of general scie ience he lias long been known. It is impossible, within the limits of a brief no- tice, to present an analysis of a work which is ee an analysis of the i e@ “he ft on the tiquity ; we travel —- pleasantly with the author through his lea and agreeable volum j The work is illustrated by a plan of Pliny’s Laurentian villa an ounds, another of a Villa Urbana Rustica and Fructu aria wei “a olumella, of a Garden and Portico at Pompeii, pictures © eultu operations from Egy zyptian monuments, ancient Greek agric vakuth tel ments, plan of a n Egyptian garden, and drawings of plants wae by ancient ms edical Lexicon: A Dictionary of Medical Science, &c.; f nites Dexeuison, M.D., LL.D., revised and very largely corrected: pn a phia: Blanchard & Lea. 1857. 8vo, pp. 992,—This ac -complished = learned author here presents us with a thoroughly revised n of medical terms. It is prepared with great care 4! Widest and most catholic spirit. The literary and the mechan ° oabsinane { uce ine % ered universally as the buat wo os of the kind in any ylang a Nat 7. os.—I]HTumboldt, in a letter to the German Assoc uralists and ] . recently published, announces sore a we ‘volun of ary oe a (the first Abtheilung of the fourth and last B ‘he ai ll pce ubl secu tt will present, as a counterpart to the rey ome ranologie, an introduction to the special presentation e Miscellaneous Intelligence. : 303 trial phenomena, The contents are stated as follows. Book I: Size, Shape and Thickness of the Earth, Internal Heat, Magnetic Activity of the Earth, Intensity, Inclination, Declination, Magnetic Equator, Four Points of the Greatest Intensity, Curve of the Weakest Intensity, Extra- ordinary Disturbances, Magnetic Storins, Polar Light. Book If: Reae- tion of the Interior of the Earth upon the Surface, Earthquake, Thermal Springs, Voleanoes, Naphtha Springs, Volcanic Phenomena. The second part of the fonrth volume, which will complete the whole work, will contain, Classification of Mountains and Strata according to their different modes of rigin, Confuimation of Plains, the Sea and its Currents, the Atmosphere, Meteorological reflections, Isothenmal Lines, me Life, Geography of Plants and Animals. 8. Graham's Chemistry, Vol. 1.*—This long expected volume is at last published, forming volume xiii of Mr. Bailliere’s ‘Library of Ilustrated Scientific Works.” It is a very acceptable addition to the library of Standard books of every chemical student. i translator of the Cavendish Society edition of Gmelin’s Chemistry—has ieee The modern views of the constitution and classification of Chemi- eal Compounds are explained at considerable length chiefly according to Gerhardt’ Unitary Svstem, The work is beautifully printed, and, as far yr ty have examined it, praiseworthy in its freedom from typographical 9 Life of Dr. E. K. Kune; by Dr. Wa. Evver. Philadelphia, 1858. Childs & Petersen, 8vo, pp. 416.—Every thing connected with the ro- mantic and selt-sacrificing life of Dr. Kane is read with avidity by people 7 conditions, Dr, Elder’s memoir is a glowing eulogy of lit H€ Most valuable portions of it are the numerous extrac t c derings in Africa, Europe. 10. American Association for the Advancement of Science —The next hee of the Association will be held at Baltimore, spores with P last Wednesday in April. Prof. Jerraies Wyma of Cambridge is fesident elect for the coming year. on of the Science to the Arts, Hos, Grauam, FS 2d edition, + York, Chas, E, Builliere, 1857, 8ve, pp. 804. Y * ieati Eler t ‘ : . licath , ents of week: ar, the 70 by Hesay Warts, B.A, FCS, we - ae 304 Miscellaneous Intelligence. , a O. Retonexnact: Einige Gedanken eines Nichtgelehrten bei Lesung des Kosmos. 138 pp. 12mo. Philadelphia, 1857. Boston Pegg of Natural History, Vol. V1, No. IV. Contents —Art. XXV, New 8 of Fossil Plants ts Km om the Anthracite and Bituminous Coal fields of Feey enh. by Leo Lesquererx, with introductory observations, by H. D. Rogens. Art. XX VI, icitentionce on mths Development of Auableps Gronovit, by Jerrnins 5 pa gg oa On the Crustacea and ci (ate eG of the Pacific shores of North America, by W. 5171 mapek em" ~XXVIIL of the Pubes collected in Cali by Mr. ee Samuels, biatib es criptions of new pee, y C. Ginarv. lof the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphi ste Series, Vol. nh it IV—Art “XIX, Deserpton ot — on Genera and ae s of the Family Uri with plates 2 2 nia 7 on a group of on retaceous bao ell ‘oun iq Tippin Gn, iis, wer de exription of fifty-six epee 1 phi . by T. —Art XXI, e Caducibran- hate Uradele Turachian ‘by oh ‘Waites ar t. XXII, On i a rugi- eeps oe ws "y g. HatLow ge: : ire Proor Nar. Set, shleans 1857.—p. 101, Six new species Fresh- water an: ‘I hand hel of Texas; I. Lea 7 102, Examination of a Nickel Meteor ite from Mississippi; W. J. 7a ylor —p. 109, Ne Ae reece nd of a Map and Section illustrating the Geology of the Nebras . ‘Territory: ¥. V. Hayden—p. 117. De- scriptions of New Open from the Nebraska erty and Cretaceous; mi and Hayden.—p. 148, the Larva of Thyreus Abbottii intland.—p. | Bone anl Copr rolite from ame siete Re . ring 2 of Penns aylva ania; od. Lally p. 150, The Insectivorous mammal of th Carolina, ony ys a: therium sy!vestre by Emmons, is “gst ly ‘lied to ye “oa erium ¢ the English Purbeck beds of the Oo litie formation Leidy. Chain re ei ‘the s deseri —p. 165, Descriptions of two new genera of shells, one ineluc a species nea Anodonta from the Sacramento, he other an Becies ne fossil hitherto referred to Ros- tellaria, and named Calyptraphorus ao. rig mp heat > Rost. rite of Conrad, Tert. 5, tifi ge : E Teh 4); . U.s. S. Tertiary fossils; 7! A. Done ad —A new w Myacites pie the Black shale 1¢ New Red Sandstone of Pennsylvania 7. A. Conrud—p. 167, A new Http ei to Mytilus; 7. A. Conrad —p. uy: Notice of seme remains t Fishes (Cretaceous, Tertiary in New Red) Leidy.—p. 168. Examination of Ena ip id ee or.—p, i164, i pe of me new species of Uniones hie I. Lea. —p. 173, Fish coal fi Red “ —— es of Gwym Pa, a abi identical vith Radiolepis “pec E mons, of N. Carolina; 4 4 p 174, On three new species of Ve e:pertilior vide; mys ay) LeConte rain Lee in pl. pote acl 133, Notes on Am merican Land Shells; W. G. Binney.—p. = 2110, = of new genera and species of Marine and Freshwater Fishes from ae ofa Nort fire i America; ©. Girard —A new Cypselus from P ms Cc Kennerly.— Notes on Goriius, larves of an ares ts a pouc’ eh ——— lcule; J, Leidy. p. 205.—p. 206, On the experiment o f introducing. ¢ fae “Camel in » America; Dr. Hammond.--p. 213, Qn N. gener ican gfe Archibuteo and oat anil ae! tion of a gin Toucan; J. Cussi weg 5, New ory pe ie te te E. yes! Lowell.-—p. 2 eg Paseti vis 4 everteb. &c, North Peciti | Expedi ition,--Species of Crustacea ( Muivids); gg SO es 305* sd APPENDIX. 1, On Permian Strata in Kansas Territory; by Prof. G. C. Swattow. (From a letter to J. D. Dana, dated Columbia, Missouri, Feb. 16, 1858.) Ihave just finished the examination of a collection of fossils from Kansas Territory, made by Maj. Hawn, who was formerly connected with our Survey. The larger part of the collection is from the Upper Coal Measures; but by far the most interesting part can not be referred to the oe, or to any other formation heretofore known to exist in the est. : From the beds in doubt there was but one known Carboniferous species, Terebratula subtilita of Hall. It is quite certain they are not Cretaceous, After a somewhat careful comparison with the Permian fossils of Russia, We are satisfied that they are Permian. ; ree out of the four species of corals, are without doubt Permian. Thamnicus dubius, King, is certainly in our collection. ; ' Thamnicus. Species undetermined, but identical with a Permian spe- imen figured in the Geol. Trans., 2d Series, voly iii, pl. x11, g. 7. _ Fenestella retiformis, King, Our specimens are identical with the Rus- g : _ an species referred doubtfully to this, by Mr. Lonsdale, Geol. Russia, p. 630. 7 u and 8. We have chizodus Rossicus, Vern., Russ. pl. xrx, figs. 7 Many specimens of this Permian species. Both varieties and mediate forms are represented. Avicula antiqua. Geol. Russ., pl. xx, fig. 13. : _ Productus horrescens, Vern., Geol. Russ. pl. xvi, fig. 1. Our collection contains specimens which are more nearly allied to these than to any other known species, sae TOE . @ also have species which are very nearly if not quite identical with Murchisonia subangulata, Vern., Mytilus Pallasi, Vern., Solemya biar- mica, Vern., Ostodemia Kutorgana, Vern., of the Permian in Russia and Cardinia Listeri of the English Lias. We also have one or two species ‘A onolis, a genus seldom, if ever, extending down into the Carbon- erous, EToucey, Secretary of the Navy, dated Feb. 18, 1858, Prof. J. M. Gilliss ‘ : : m commonly adopted ; corresponding to a mean distance of the Sun from earth of 96,160,000 statute miles. SECOND SERIES, VOL, XXV, NO. 74.—-MARCH, 1858. Rte Es she f-3 (kta z hak Food ? oy peter cank 54 a nett ae ies Le < EERE a Re el. ¥ oe ? wha. ees 3 J THE = s AMERICAN A auth ' : * = . , | * sf JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND ARTS, eg so fe BCORD. ok RIT REe . : 3 ms im % ps rouuts of Scientific expeditions in different parts of the Bor Paring these articles, free use will be made of the best bean journals and especially of the excellent repository : ah by Dr. Petermann Hi Gotha, Die Geographische Mitthei- wea this periodical is new and not widely circulated in America Sta “sire to call particular attention to its value. It was com- Tee im 1855 at Gotha under the editorial charge of Dr. A, me long been distinguished for his geograph- al labors. ‘Twely « that he is ie re Vas Geographical Notices. AFRICA, Bg Barth's Travels. Dr. Vogel. neue attention is now di- neg rected toward Africa ie all civilized ae as and explora- tions are in progress at numerous point e pu oo Germany and England and the reprint i in og es of the three volumes of Dr. Barth’s Travels in North an Central ‘ Africa, followed immediately by the publication of Dr, Living: stone’s work on his journey andy residence in South “Wee gives especial interest to all expeditions on that con These important volumes being generally accessible it is. bation ary to state here their character. It is however desirable that stw dents should know that the relations of Barth's work to other Sage and cotemporaneous journies are well shown in Map the English EF but this and all the other care of that sdition are omitted in the American reprint, An outline map only, which Se nally appeared months ago in Peten 0 gem Sa is given in the New York editi ‘ 4 Kiepe w Wand-Atlas, Lieferung 2, nbadicl the more Secpatont of Barth’ 8 topographical determinations. So toal extent does a map in the new Encyclopedia ety illustrat: gis po article on Africa which is attributed to Dr. | i esting matter not before ublished, in respect to dence in Timbucktu bit iger to Gogo. They are printed in Petermann’s Mittheil., vol. iii, Nos. 9 and _ 4 in advance of the publication of the fourth and fifth volumes q els. Hopes are still entertained that Dr. Vogel, one of Barth's com panions, was not murdered as reported, but is still-alive. Diree- : tions have been forwarded by the British Government to their . Consul at Chartum directing him to make - possible inquiries in respect to the fate of this intrepid trave ot 4 On the other hand, letters have been eels in England an) 4 German y fro m Cairo, mentioning the arrival of an Envoy the Sult Sultan of Dar Fur, who states that Vogel was murde adai by command of the prince of Wadai eal Later dates say that Baron Neimann, who has lately ris traveling in Arabia, having heard that Vogel was ye in imp onment at Wadai, had determined to 20 and ascertain 7. Livingstone’s return to Africa.—Dr. Livingstone i nounced will return immediately to South Africa. Hi Operations there is thus stated in Sir R. I. Mu rchison’s Address before the Roy. Geog. Soc. of London he returns to Sine and Tete in the spring of 18 of the healthy season, and after he hast Geographical Notices. 307 he growth of cotton, as well as to teach the natives how to till their lands, taking out with him for these intents cotton-seed, g ERole s, &c. He will further endeavor to bring to the “Xnglish market a vegetable called Buize, which possesses so Tough and fibrous a tissue as to render it of great value even to the hatives in their rude manufactures. Specimens of this plant, Which grows in profusion on the north bank of the Zambesi, have been converted into a substance that has been pronounce by al iding manufacturer to be worth, when prepared, between ty and sixty pounds per ton, and applicable to all purposes, for which flax is employed. In this material, therefore, alone, fo say nothing of indigo, cotton, beeswax, ivory, and the ores of ron, with much good coal, we have sufficient indication that no d be lost in establishing a regular intercourse with the so prolific a region. : fare Aus, acting as the pioneer of civilization, Dr. Livingstone engage the good will of the natives through their love of barter, and, having secured their confidence b mp of ye escribed as perfect sanatoria, he will endeavor to extend oe 4 ¥ the truths of that religion of which he is a minister, and of the nd, through that part of the country which he has already eed a pathway by means of the river Zambesi, which may where, by opening up communication and establishing commer- cial Intercourse with the natives of Africa, they may slowly but ov wae 308 Geographical Notices. Men experienced in geology, botany and photography are also — .. tojoin in this expedition, and under a leader of such acknowl ? edged ability important results may be anticipated. ny 4 It is proper to remark that Mr. W. D. Cooley, who has long § been distinguished for his attention to African geography, diss utes* many of Dr. Livingstone’s generalizations and inferences” in respect to the structure of the southern portion of the contr — nent, and especially his statement of the union of the Leeambye — and the Zambesi. ie ae the British berated j Sakatt an English commercial station. In another season the Benue ® to be ascended, and the regions of Adamawa and Hamarrawé = to be explored, and perhaps the higher part of the Old Calabar river may be het red 1¢ geological instructions of this expedition were prepa by Sir R. I. Murchison, who expresses the hope (in his annu address before the Royal Geographital Society, from which pig ” of the above facts are taken) that much mineral wealth 1s 0% A ound, ; _ In fhet,” he says, “if the survey be completed in the manner ised, the whole western side of Central Africa will haves . ‘ail ‘aversed, as to yield two important sections, which canny te the knowledge we desire. The Niger or Kwara | _ * London Atheneum, Feb, 18, 1858. Geographical Notices. 309 _ Magorge across such thick ribs of rocks as must surely e ie 0 gil to read off a clear lesson, whilst an ole ae pee pper part of the Tchadda to the sources of the Calabar, on _ te one hand, and to the heights of Aed Hamarrawa on the £ er, will also afford an instructive parallel traverse of no less = sib Tegion are noticed by the author. The volume contains Ga Mags profile of the country between the mouths of the -trati wats and the Takkasi valley, a map and some other illus- of Zanzibar—Major Burton, who is ibar, has been heard from as far in rica. D rolume entitled “Skizze der volkswirthschaftlichen soe ers Schlagintweit (well known from their earlier journeys Ut ae’ 310 Geographical Notices. Soundings and Surveys near the African coast.—The following information is derived from the Address, before mentioned, or 7 Sir R. I. Murchison : ae “On a recent route from Malta to the Dardanelles, Captain Spratt had an opportunity of obtaining a line of deep-sea sound- ings between that island and Candia in which the greatest depth was 2170 fathoms. ‘The section is very striking; fur a distance of 50 miles to the eastward of Malta the depth does not exceed 100 fathoms, after which it drops almost suddenly to 1500 and 2000 fathoms, and continues near that level below the surface of the sea until within 20 miles of the east end of Candia or Crete, where the White Mountains and Mount Ida rise up to a nearly equal height above the level of the sea. Between Crete and the — Dardanelles the greatest depth is 1110 fathoms. : On the North coast of Egypt, Commander Mansell in the Tartarus, with his assistants Lieut, Brooker and Mr. Skead, have completed a survey of the coast from Damietta eastward t0 El Araish, an admirable plan of the port of Alexandria, anda survey of the Bay of Suez, a place daily becoming of more im- portance, as our direct mail communication extends to India, China, and Australia. a While on this subject I should mention, that in October, 1 ‘ Messrs. Delamanche and Ploix, Ingénieurs Hydrographes of Ke j French Imperial Marine, carried a line of soundings across te Mediterranean between Port Vendres in France and Algiers, * SS which the greatest depth was about the same as in the Levant, — namely 1600 fathoms. 7 a In the Nautical Magazine, Captain Mansell reports the wee ing soundings between Alexandria and the west end of Rhoades. — 10 110 Sand and mud, 110 1550 Yellow mud. 20 i; 2 200 Sand and coral. 130 1600 ‘ 30 450 Fine black mud. 150 1600 . ‘ 50 850 Yellow mud. 170 1500 “ ps 70 1000 “ “ 200 1300 “ 90 1800 “ ‘“ Between the west end of Rhodes and Nicasia he obtained thes? soun Ings: 10 500 Yellow mud. 55. 1400 Yellow mud. ee ee ea 15 eae . ASIA. -oth: _ The Brothers Schlagintweit in India.—The report of the b the pect to their recent travels in In * v. Peterm. Mitth., vol. iii, No, 12. Geographical Notices. 311 their visit to the Trans-Himalayan chain of Kuenluen, may be looked for at an early day. Notwithstanding the jealousy with which this expedition has been regarded in England,* there is eason to believe that. it will make important additions to our knowledge of that region. In Petermann’s Mittheilungen, 1856, p. 104, there is an outline _ Map of the route which the brothers followed. Robert Schlagint- weit pave, before the British Association in August last, a brief sketch of the journey, which is thus reported in the Athenzeum: In 1854 they reached India, and passed from Bombay to Madras through Central India, each by different routes, malting geological, geographical, and other scientific investigations as they proceeded. On their sea voyage, previously, they had a = ca2] for > 2. be) ey : 2 Lae | © o oO TR 95 a" — pa) — ° =| eis) a ia] a3) ios res te ) wa th = =e Las ag °° < ans fas] 4 2) Lar) € world at present known, being considerably over 29,000 feet above the level of the sea. The natives have two names for it—one of them, Gorishanta, which is mythological, is to be found only in the Nepaulese, and the second name Chingofan- mara, is that by which aachegg leaving Sikkin, Hermann, having examined part of Hostin, the Himalayas, and Upper Assam, returned to Calcutta, : Brahmapootra and the delta of the Ganges. Robert and his brot a . non for hundreds of miles in parallel lines, separated only As Small rise in the surface of the valley. They then went to at and having encamped on a glacier there, at the ag ight of 19,220 feet, on the evening of the 18th of August, po * See Athen., Feb. 6, 1858. , ar Geographical Notices. they succeeded on the 19th of August in reaching Abiganuti, — at the height of 22,260 feet, the greatest height which had ever been attained on any mountain. They returned by different routes, each pursuing his inquiries. bac! “He then entered into some details respecting a journey which they took in the subsequent year to Central India, where they visited the plateau of Amerkantak, which is only about 8,300 feet in height above the level of the sea, though it is commonly ect to be 8,000 feet. Four rivers take their rise in the neigh- “H. Schlagintweit stated that he had arrived at the conclusion, a m . being sometimes 90 degrees. The snow line at Karakoin _ tion « Geographical Notices. 313 variety of fossil species,—long-winged Devonian Spiriferze, Pro- ducti, Orthites, Terebratulz, but no Trilobites. Next above the ic st With strata of reddish sandstone, intermixed with occasional fossils. Still higher up there are large masses of whitish and yellow nummulite limestone, containing various fossils. The fossils imbedded in the tertiary sandstone. But neither va- nety, so far as my observation has extended, is ever likely to Ssess any practical value, occurring as they each do, in such thin beds, ‘ot ee “Many of the fossils that I found here, are such exact coun- terparts of those that I had brought from the Himalayas and hibet, that I must conclude that the sedimentary stratified Tocks of all these regions were formed under the same ocean. “From Dehra Ismail Chan I went to the Mandi district. I found the salt here similar in formation and date to that of the z. fac} ete, I am on my way to Kulu, whence I shall cross the lofty oa. , Ravi in the Tschamba District.’ ; fiver Amur,—Russian travelers have lately examined the re- tions, translated from the Russian, form the basis of a valuable droge, Petermann’s Mittheil., 1857, p. 296, in which the hy- by ethnography, geology, zoology and botany 0 the 314 Geographical Notices. EUROPE. * seg Hofmann’s Expedition to the Urals—The first. volume of Hot mann’s scientific expedition to the Northern Ural and the Coast Mountains Pae Choi, in the years 1847-50, was published in 1853. The second volume of the same work has recently 4 t . geologic era of its formation. The North Ural, pee vers wh terest. Prof. Bache states that on the coast of the Atlantic half. and Gulf of Mexico, the work of the survey 18 more than ran; completed and the present rate of progress being more Pid than the former, he estimates that in ten or twelve years He field work will be essentially completed in all the sections two. Forty-one plates have been completely engraved dur- ng the year, beside twenty-eight which have been in progress. a x ge tions of that establishment bring under tribute so large “1 316 Geographical Notices. 2. The chronometer expeditions for the determination of longi- tude begun in 1849, have been continued, but in the prospect of telegraphic communication between Europe and America are now to be suspended. ‘The final longitude for these voyages is reported by Mr. G. P. Bond, as Cambridge, west of Greenwich 4h 44m 31°89s, with a probable error of 0-198; or from Liverpool 4h 32m 31-848, with a probable error of 0719s. Prof. Bache re- marks that after a careful comparison of this and former results e has come to the conclusion that the previous expeditions must be considered as mainly preparatory, their use having been in pointing out the errors to which the methods were liable, and in suggesting the proper means of eliminating them. 8. The survey of New York harbor, conducted at the request of the Commissioners on the Harbor Encroachments of New York is still in progress. Important results have been reached in respect to the well-established fact of the increase of Sandy ook to the northward, thus narrowing the main ship-channel entrance. It is found that the deposit is caused by a slowly moving northwardly current on both sides of the Hook, running” on the outer side more than seven hours out of the twelve, am on the inner, eleven hours out of the twelve, during both ebb and flvod tides, and meeting at the point of the Hook. _ inner current is the one by which the flood and ebb tides. by the lateral communication of motion, the water from piven for 1856. It is og to publish the whole series as . his E. B. Hunt makes a report on the progress yer ; ical transactions, — ion of the arena of physical science, that the volume W!" service to all who are interested in geodesy, geography: “ Geographical Notices. 317, me S, - = 7A 0g *y $ [— 7 4 fe, pa = 3 io) ao “os i) od ® a ec oa ° lk — ~ =) < % . 3 2) a o B for) ell a trueys in California for the Pacific Railroad —Volumes 5 and Just appeared of Reports of Pacific railroad surveys un- ie government of the United States. Vol. 5, con- ‘Mander, gives a general view of the country examined, ' having at lar reference to the best course for a railroad. It is fully _ “sStrated by tinted lithographs and wood cuts. bs ~ This is followed by a Report of Mr. William P. Blake on the divided into two parts, (1.) an Itinerary, with gen t Survey for 1855, entitled, “ Observations on the Physical aphy and Geology of the coast 0 San Diego.” 318 Geographical Notices. r he Coast mountains, the two systems of ranges being sep sa DC Sh of San Bernardino. his is described in the notes as the Trae the peninsula of Lower California to its extremity at Cape tr the : | Geographical Notices. 319 iS _ ~The following account is given of the two principal valleys ofthe state. “The great valley between the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Mts. is traversed in its lowest portion by the Saera- mento and San Joaquin rivers, which, flowing from the north south, unite in the latitude of San Francisco and empty into the bay. It however extends farther south than the sources of 1¢ San Joaquin, its southern limits being determined by the wnion of the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Mts. under the par- allel of 85°, and its northern limits extending beyond the paral- lel of 40° near to the head waters of the Sacramento, or over , p. 545. _ ‘Smmanded by Lieut, Whicipl, Herr Mollhausen, whose ske d landscapes illustrate vol. 2 of this i pi views hes which are now in the ession of the King of Prus- v7 These are about to be publistied in an elegant — by éndelssohn in Leipsic, accompanied by Mollhausen’s diary